Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London (18 page)

“But don't worry, Johnny,” said Bram. “I'm giving you your own ship.” Johnny stared at the Emperor with his mouth open. “And I'm not even going to ask you what language I spoke that in,” said the Emperor, laughing.

“Aldebaran,” said Johnny, actually thinking he really had heard a difference this time.

“Very good, Johnny,” said Bram. “I think you're getting it.”

It was instinct, Johnny thought. He'd been so surprised by what Bram had told him that he hadn't been concentrating. Maybe he'd been trying too hard? “My own ship?” he repeated to Bram. “But how will I know what to do?”

“Oh you'll know,” said Bram. “When the time comes, you'll know.”

“Can I see it?” Johnny asked.

“Why not?” said Bram. “After all—there's no time like the present.” The Emperor got to his feet, smiling broadly. Johnny jumped up and they started walking. They hadn't gone far before Johnny saw the Dauphin striding on its long legs toward them. Or he thought it was the Dauphin at first, but as it came closer he saw this phasmeer, as Alf had told them they were called, was a good four meters tall. “Chancellor Gronak,” said Bram to the splindly creature whose robes were a pale
cream, in keeping with the surrounding buildings. “What an unexpected pleasure.” Chancellor Gronack bowed to the Emperor who continued, “Allow me to introduce Johnny Mackintosh, a Terran.”

“How do you do?” said Johnny. The Chancellor looked at him dismissively before turning back to the Emperor.

“Your Divine Imperial Majesty,” Gronack began, in clipped Universal, Johnny thought. “There are important matters of state we must discuss. You have become even less visible than normal with the arrival of this,” it turned to Johnny, “this distraction. The Regent has asked me to insist on an audience to discuss important matters of state.”

“Has it now?” asked the Emperor, smiling at Johnny. “Tell me, how is the Regent?”

“The Regent is … perplexed by your treatment of these …
creatures
from the periphery,” Gronack continued. Johnny felt it looked at him as if he was something it would normally wipe off its shoes, which were encrusted with garish pink diamonds. “There is legislation requiring your approval.”

“Alas,” said Bram, “we are rather busy at present. Perhaps you could return later, Chancellor?”

“I am sorry Your Divine Imperial Majesty,” said the creature, its robes now showing a hint of pink. “I must insist on seeing you now.”

“Well then,” said Bram. “If you must insist, but if I have business with Johnny here, then I see only one solution. You shall have to accompany us.” The Emperor set off, weaving his way through the different colonnades and squares and back toward the rooms where Johnny and Clara slept. The Chancellor, thought Johnny, was clearly not amused.

“I can't wait to see what happens when we get back to Earth,” said Johnny, getting more and more excited as they walked. “It'll be amazing—I'll land near the UN—The United Nations I told
you about. And I'll teach them to build—or grow—more ships. And not to fight—not each other anyway. I'll tell them about the Andromedans … and the krun.”

“Slow down, Johnny,” said Bram.

“Am I to understand,” said the Chancellor, “that you intend to provide this infant with a spaceship? And when resources are so limited right now? Even if they were not it would be wasted on him. His planet would requisition it the moment he landed.”

“The Chancellor is partly right,” said Bram to Johnny. “Do you think they'd listen to a thirteen-year-old boy? This ship I am giving you will have immense power—your many governments would war over it. In trying to win this prize they could even destroy your world. Besides,” he continued, “this is my gift to you—not to the Earth. You cannot share this technology. To be valued, such knowledge should not be easily won. It has to be earned. The human race is not yet ready.”

“But what can I do on my own?” Johnny asked.

“You won't be on your own,” said Bram. You'll have Clara—and I'll give you a crew. You can protect the Earth. You can be my eyes and ears there. Perhaps one day you can even show me round—in secret of course.'

“You'd come to Earth again?” Johnny asked.

“Of course I will,” said Bram. “Though not just Earth. I must say Saturn is one of the most splendid sights in all the galaxy. And as for Titan—there is something there I really must go back for.” Johnny didn't get to hear what it was because the Emperor had stopped suddenly, right in front of the upward-flowing waterfall. “Prepare yourselves,” he said. “This won't be pleasant for either of you.” The Chancellor looked nervously across to Johnny. Bram said, “Follow me,” and stepped smiling into the waterfall.

Johnny woke up feeling really cold. It had never been cold on Melania before. And the light was different, like gloomy twilight back on Earth. Confused, a hand reached down and took hold of his, helping him to his feet. It was easy getting up. All of a sudden he felt much lighter.

“I'm sorry,” said Bram. “I would have given you more warning if it weren't for our interruption.” He nodded at the slender figure of Chancellor Gronack, unconscious on the ground next to where Johnny had been lying a moment before.

“What happened?” Johnny asked, reaching down to pick up the container holding the cornicula worm. “Why's it so cold? And dark? Where's the waterfall?” He peered into the thick murky air, where there were some tall plants unlike anything he'd seen around the Imperial Palace.

“If you think everything appears different,” said the Emperor, “that would be because it is. We have traveled through a wormhole—a portal between worlds. We are no longer on Melania.”

The Emperor pointed into the sky behind Johnny, who turned and looked upward; dominating the heavens was an enormous planet—a gas giant with broad bands of clouds layering its surface, dotted by occasional spots that he knew must be massive storms bigger than some worlds. “That's why I passed out?” Johnny asked. “It was a fold?”

“Exactly,” said the Emperor, “but only for a few seconds. You are becoming more accustomed to the manipulation of space. Now before we proceed there is something I must do.”

Johnny hadn't seen that look on Bram's face before—it was as though the Emperor was in pain. “Are you OK?” he asked.

“I will be fine,” said Bram, forcing a smile. “If I may, can I borrow your locket?”

“Of course,” said Johnny, lifting the chain over his neck and handing it to the Emperor.

“Thank you, Johnny. Excuse me just one moment,” and Bram turned his back on Johnny who watched as, for a second, a brilliant white light silhouetted the Emperor and then was gone. Bram turned round, looking drained, and handed the locket back saying, “I must ask you not to open this again until you see me on another world. You will know when the time is right.”

Johnny nodded his head slowly. He would miss the times he spent staring at the picture of his mum and dad and Bentley, but he saw how important it seemed to the Emperor. “What did you put in it?”

“I cannot speak of it, but you will know soon enough,” said Bram. “Now come quickly—before the Chancellor wakes up. I have something to show you.”

Johnny followed the Emperor through the gloom, fingering his locket, which felt warm, unlike their surroundings. It was raining, stinging his eyes, which slowly became used to the dim light as they walked though a gray wasteland, with diffuse streams of eerie blue mist rising up through the surface at different points on the horizon. “Where are we?” he asked Bram. “What is this place?”

“This place,” the Emperor replied, smiling again, “is my biggest secret. It is my spaceship plantation—where I've been growing your ship. Even by my standards she's very special.” The two were walking along the bottom of a steep cliff. And as they went further, Johnny could see a blue glow up ahead, coming from something around a corner. His heart started to beat faster.

“Is that it?” Johnny asked, pointing toward the light. The Emperor nodded. “I can't wait to see what it looks like,” said Johnny.

“Well that's really up to you,” said Bram. They turned the corner and Johnny stopped dead and just stared. In front of him, swirling with life, and with power, was a tower of light—
like a two-hundred-meter-high pillar of blue fireflies. It was hard to focus on it. The closer he looked the more it didn't seem to have any form—it was just a blur of energy.

“Your ship,” said the Emperor. “Or at least she will be.”

“What do you mean?” Johnny asked. “Isn't it … she finished? I can't really tell.”

“Perhaps not, but I know you can sense her power,” said Bram. “You can hear the music in her.” Johnny nodded. “That is one of your gifts,” the Emperor continued. “This moon, where we stand, is almost unique in all the galaxy. Only one other bursts with energy like this—it is alive.” The blueness engulfed Johnny, swirling all around him. He laughed. “She likes you,” said Bram. “She's bonding with you … drawn to your energy … but you must give her form.”

“How?” Johnny asked.

“You must
will
it,” said Bram. “Focus. Create something beautiful—a shape in your mind for her to take. Perhaps something you have seen on Melania … or in your lessons.”

“No,” said Johnny. “I know what she should be. Something from home … from Earth.”

“If you are sure,” said Bram, “then concentrate. And I will give her some help.” Bram Khari plucked a single silvery hair from his head and blew it gently into the swirling mass of blue light.

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked, catching sight of the Emperor out of the corner of his eye.

“Nanobots,” replied the Emperor, “the minute organisms that now maintain me. What you see is the soul of your ship—her mind. The nanobots will build a structure for her. The form you have willed her to take.”

Johnny knew how he wanted the ship to look. He tried to hold every last detail he could remember in his mind and, as he watched, the blue lights were echoing his thoughts—and the
echoes were growing stronger. He saw the curved shape. He saw the triangular windows and the banded patterns around the outside. He saw two parallel lines encircling the nose cone. And from the bottom, building up, from the entrance with the “M” above a “W,” the ship was solidifying, all gleaming metal and glass rising upward from the surface of the strange gray world.

“Good … good. Keep your focus, Johnny,” said the Emperor beside him. “Nearly there now.”

The line of matter rose higher until the blueness disappeared completely inside it. Finally, Johnny sensed it was done. He relaxed and slumped to his knees, exhausted by the effort he'd put into his ship.

“Very impressive,” said Bram. “I like her Johnny. She is your ship, but because my nanobots built her she bears my mark—the mark of House Khari. It will give you the same protection as if I were on board.”

“What is that monstrosity?” came a voice behind them. Johnny was too drained to turn round but knew at once it was the Chancellor, who he was rapidly beginning to dislike as much as the Dauphin. “I have never seen such an ugly thing—if this is the ship you're giving this Terran then good riddance to it. No one else would want to fly it.”

“It is not often I say this and mean it,” said Bram, “but I think her beautiful.”

“Me too,” said Johnny, as he forced himself to his feet, thousands of light years from Earth, in front of a carbon copy of the London Gherkin. For a moment it was almost like being home. And despite all the wonderful things he'd seen on Melania he still thought it was an amazing building. “Can we go inside?”

“You must go alone,” said the Emperor. “I shall remain here with the Chancellor until you return. We have things to discuss and you have a friendship to begin.” Johnny looked curiously at the Emperor, who continued, “You will find it hard to leave, but
remember there is always tomorrow. Plus the ship is newborn—you must not wear her out.”

“Your Divine Imperial Majesty,” said the Chancellor. “I will not stay here another moment. I don't know where we are but I demand I be taken back to the Imperial Palace.”

“I am the Emperor,” said Bram Khari softly, but Johnny could feel the power behind the voice. “When I say we stay here that is exactly what we will do. We will wait while Johnny makes his acquaintance with the ship.”

Johnny didn't need telling again. He took a deep breath and walked toward the entrance of the Gherkin. The way in through the giant “W” looked exactly as he remembered it from London—he supposed it was only a few days ago. He hadn't thought about it before, but now it seemed so perfect: “M” for Mackintosh and “W” for his symbol, Cassiopeia—it really was his ship. There were four sets of revolving doors. He entered through the ones furthest on the right, walked between two shining pillars, past the reception desk and up to the silver statue facing the lifts. He pressed the “lift call” button and a set of doors opened in front of him. This, he realized, was where his memory of the Gherkin stopped and where the spaceship design took over, though something didn't seem right. He was peering not into a lift but what looked more like an empty lift shaft. There was no floor and no lift. He looked out to where the Emperor and Chancellor stood together. Bram spotted Johnny and gestured for him to step inside. Johnny felt really stupid—there was no actual lift to step into. He really should have picked a building he knew what the insides of looked like. Now he would have to walk back and face the Emperor without getting beyond the ground floor. Then a booming female voice, like an old teacher, said, “Enter, Johnny Mackintosh.” It was the ship talking … in English. He wanted to say something back, if only to drown the noise of his heart thumping violently in his chest.