Goliath

Page 42

"No use, ma'am?"
"This is a Clanker attack upon sovereign territory of the United States. We can hardly let it go unnoticed."
Deryn looked down at Long Island Sound, her eyes widening. The exhaust trail of the surviving walker was still moving, following the coastline toward Tesla's machine.
"But we can't just . . ." Deryn's cry faded as she saw the eyes of the officers upon her. She dropped her eyes and said softly, "Alek's down there."
"Indeed." Dr. Barlow cleared her throat. "Captain, perhaps we should send a warning to His Highness."
Captain Hobbes thought a moment, then nodded. "If you would, Mr. Sharp."
Deryn snatched up a piece of paper from the decoding table and began to scribble. "It'll take an hour for an eagle to get there!"
"Steady, Mr. Sharp," the lady boffin said. "That walker's barely making fifteen miles an hour. Half the speed of an eagle at night."
"But Alek thinks we're protecting him, ma'am. He doesn't know we'll wait till that contraption's on his doorstep!"
The woman sighed. "It is unfortunate, but these are orders from Lord Churchill himself."
Deryn froze, making a fist around the writing pen. So this had been the plan all along, to destroy the last walker only after it emerged onto land. The Admiralty, of course, wanted a German war machine sitting on American soil for all the world to see, not some wreck lying beneath a hundred feet of water.
This was all about dragging the United States into the war.
But Goliath stood only half a mile from shore. The Leviathan would barely have time for one bomb run. If they missed, the water-walker would destroy Tesla's weapon and everyone within.
Alek was down there among the scattered lights of Long Island, without Deryn Sharp to protect him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Dinner was unspeakably tedious. The turtle soup had led to saddle of lamb in sauce bearnaise, and that in turn to breast of hazel grouse. Now that the cheeses were done, dessert was "black cow" - ice cream floating in something called root beer, a concoction that had sparked a childish glee in Mr. Tesla and Master Klopp.
"A fencing lesson tomorrow, I should think," said Count Volger, leaning back from the table and loosening the lower buttons of his jacket.
"An excellent idea." Alek stared at his unfinished dessert, his ice cream melting into slurry. He'd been too impatient to eat much, but his reflexes were growing rusty from parties and dinners. He needed the feel of a sword in his hand.
Adela Rogers seemed to be in her element, though. She was holding forth at Tesla's right hand, telling the host's end of the table how Hearst had managed to wrangle his new movie deal with the famous Pancho Villa. She didn't seem bothered that she was the only woman in the room. Indeed, she seemed to thrive on it. She was describing Hearst's flattery and bribes of Villa as if it were a romantic adventure, giving her female viewpoint incontestable authority.
Alek tried to imagine Deryn using the same strategy, if she were ever stuffed back into skirts. Could her swagger ever translate into the sort of flair and charm that Miss Rogers deployed?
Perhaps, Alek thought. But Deryn would also be ready with a good solid punch if one were needed. He could testify to that himself.
"Your Serene Highness?" It was a servant at his shoulder, presenting a letter on a small silver tray. "Just arrived by messenger eagle, sir."
The envelope was the apple green of the Leviathan's stationery, and Alek's name was written in Deryn's hand. But she'd sent him a letter just yesterday. . . .
Miss Rogers had paused, and Tesla was staring at him. Alek nodded an apology to them, then ripped open the letter.
The writing was rushed, even worse than Deryn's usual scrawl.
Water - walker headed your way. You have an hour at most.
The Admiralty are bum-rags, so we won't engage till it reaches the shore. But we'll be there.
Take care,
Dylan
"Ah," said Alek, his pulse quickening.
"News from our friends on the Leviathan?" Tesla said. "They must be in London by now."
"No, sir." Alek hesitated a moment, glancing at Miss Rogers - but every reporter in the world would know soon enough. "They're stationed only fifty kilometers away, at the mouth of Long Island Sound."
A stir went round the table.
"But why?" asked Tesla.
"They've been watching over us. There were rumors of a German surprise attack."
"A surprise attack?" Tesla said. Then his face broke into a smile. "Your Highness, please tell Dr. Barlow that she is invited to observe my experiments at any time, no excuses needed."
"I'm afraid that's not it, sir." Alek held up the letter. "Their fears have proven correct. A German underwater walker will be here within the hour."
The table went silent, and all the guests turned to Mr. Tesla. The inventor stared at Alek for a long moment, then dropped his gaze to the table and began to rearrange his forks. "An underwater walker? What an absurd notion."
"They exist, sir. My man Klopp has seen working models."
Tesla looked at Klopp, who appeared to be only half following the English, then brought his dark eyes back to Alek.
"How large is this machine?"
"Large enough to destroy Goliath. Otherwise, why would the Germans bother?"
Tesla spat out an angry noise and pushed away his dessert. "Pardon me, gentlemen and Miss Rogers, but unless this is some sort of joke, I must prepare my defenses."
Taking up his walking stick, he rose to his feet. The engineers jumped up from the table in unison.
"Defenses?" Miss Rogers asked.
"I am not naive, dear lady. I knew that the Germans would make plans against me." Tesla waved in the direction of the compound. "That's why Mr. Hearst provided us with that Pinkerton."
"But, sir," Alek said. "That Pinkerton machine is designed to frighten workers on picket lines. It can't stand up against a proper military walker."
The reporters had broken into a nervous hubbub, some of them heading for the doors out to the observation deck. Others were asking the waiters to take them to a telephone.
Alek rose to his feet, waving Deryn's letter. "All of you, listen. I am assured that the Leviathan is on its way. It's more than capable of taking on a single walker."
Adela Rogers laughed. "So we should sit here and sip brandy?"
"Not at all, miss," Count Volger said. "We should retreat to a sensible distance and let the Leviathan handle this."
"That won't be necessary." Tesla turned toward the stairs up to the control room. "I shall stop them myself!"
"Sir . . . ," Volger said, but the inventor ignored him.
"It's no use," Alek sighed. "This is a man who took on three fighting bears with nothing but a walking stick."
"That hardly fills me with confidence," Miss Rogers said.
"Nor me. I'll talk to him." Alek made for the stairs. "If only to make sure he doesn't do anything rash."
"Your Highness," Volger said. "We can still put some distance between us and this place, even if we have to walk."
Alek shook his head. "That won't be necessary, Volger. The Leviathan will protect us."
The control room was abuzz with shouted orders and sparking electrikals. The engineers were rushing about, wheeling equipment into a new configuration. Tesla was at the center of it all, a telephone receiver in each hand and several more tucked under his arms.
"Deploy the boats!" he shouted into one. "We'll destroy them as they come out of the water!"
He slammed a receiver down and glared at Alek.
"How long have you known about this?"
"As I said, it was only rumors," Alek said calmly. "Mr. Sharp heard something two weeks ago."
"The very day we arrived in New York." Tesla turned to the control room windows. The ocean was just visible in the distance, a silvery plane of reflected moonlight. "Every time I'm on the brink of a genuine discovery, someone tries to snatch it away."
"Sir, you needn't worry. Mr. Sharp has assured me that the Leviathan will deal with this walker."
"Then, more will come." The anger had left Tesla's voice all at once, and he only sounded tired now. "They'll keep coming for me, one way or another."
"That's a bit dramatic, sir. These water-walkers are experimental weapons. I can't imagine the Germans have too many of them."
"You don't know what smaller men are capable of, Alek. Edison, Marconi, and now the kaiser!" Tesla began to place the telephone receivers back into their cradles, till only one was left in his hand. He lifted it to his mouth. "Boiler room? Please go to full."
"Mr. Tesla, we should abandon the test for tonight. Please!"
"I am abandoning the test."
Alek frowned. "But you told the boiler room - "
"Don't you understand? These men, these little men, want to destroy my life's work, to rob the world of everything Goliath will one day provide. Free power anywhere in the world, all of man's knowledge coursing across the airwaves! I can't allow that all to be snuffed out by this idiotic war."
The inventor turned to face the windows, his dark eyes gleaming, and Alek felt a cold drop trickle down his spine as Tesla placed the last telephone firmly back onto its cradle.
"I'm afraid this is no longer a test."
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The walker was still half a mile from shore, but already its topside was cresting the surface. Water sluiced across its decks, swirling black with brine and seaweed. But beneath the ocean's detritus, wet metal gleamed. With a roar of its engines, the machine's kraken-fighting claws reared above the waves.
Deryn raised the field glasses to scan the deck for gun mounts.
"Doesn't look damaged at all," Dr. Busk was saying to the captain. "It must be designed for tremendous pressures."
The first officer snorted. &8220;A direct hit should make it a bit less waterproof."
"Best to blow its legs off." Captain Hobbes lowered his field glasses. "Let's leave the Americans something menacing for tomorrow's papers, eh?"
A bit of laughter went about the bridge, but Deryn's mouth was dry. Tesla's tower was already visible in the distance, lights shining in every window. The great barking fool of an inventor hadn't evacuated, after all.
"Alek's still there, isn't he?"
"Our young prince would hardly leave an ally behind." Dr. Barlow stared out at Goliath and sighed. "I'd hoped that Mr. Tesla would not stoop to bravery."
"It'll be all right, ma'am," Deryn said, trying to keep her voice firm. "At least that walker hasn't any big guns."
The entire topside of the machine had cleared the surface now, and Deryn could see only a three-and-a-half-inch cannon, like the deck armament of a U-boat. The first crewmen were coming out of the hatches now, working to unplug the seals that kept the barrel waterproof.
"That's as we expected," the lady boffin said. "The Germans mean to tear down the tower with their krakenfighting arms. Rather brutish of them."
"Aye, but it worked for us in Istanbul," Deryn said.
The captain had spotted the deck gun too. "A bit more altitude, Pilot. Ready in the bomb bay."
The Leviathan was almost on top of the enemy now; Deryn could feel the walker's great Clanker engines rumbling through her boots. The smokestacks had popped their water seals, and the machine was roaring at full power.
But there was something shiny in the surf, halfway between the shore and the walker. She raised her field glasses again.