Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools (3 page)

‘He mentioned Claridges Hotel. Does he know about Room 13?’ he asked anxiously.

‘Even if he does then it will be of no consequence. Room 13 at Claridges Hotel doesn’t exist. It is a code for the headquarters of the Bureau of Antiquities, not the place itself.’ Charity didn’t continue because there, coming towards them, picking her way through the hundreds of people in the room, was Madame Zane. As she walked through the crowd of eager sojourners every head turned to look at her.

‘She’s coming to talk to you,’ Mariah muttered under his breath, as a small waiter with a scar across his cheek attempted to force him to eat what looked like the squashed remains of a dead crab.

‘And we cannot escape.’ Charity grimaced through gritted teeth.

‘Captain Charity, I feel I must again try to give you my thanks,’ she said politely as she held out her hand.

‘No need – it was Mariah who was of greatest help,’ he replied.

‘And so like young Lorenzo – they could be mistaken for brothers,’ she said. She turned to watch as the last bars of gold were placed on the catafalque and covered in a gigantic glass case. ‘We will have to stare at all that gold for the next five days.’

‘A fortune for all to see,’ Mariah said.

‘Yet so ugly,’ she replied. ‘I feel I have met you before, Captain Charity – do you remember where?’

Mariah noticed that Charity appeared to be embarrassed. He coughed and covered his face with his hand as if to wipe his brow.

‘I can’t say I do. But then I meet so many people. Perhaps you have been a guest at my hotel, the Prince Regent? Do you know of it?’ he asked.

‘A friend of my husband stayed there recently, an American … Dedalus Zogel – do you know him?’ she asked.

‘We met,’ he said politely.

‘I quite forgot,’ she said, interrupting Charity. ‘I have taken the liberty of bringing you a gift. I know it is something quite small but in terms of my thanks for helping me on the train it is just a token. I hope you both like it.’

Madame Zane reached into her purse and brought out a small wooden box. It was covered in thick black lacquer that made it shine like a mirror. Madame Zane held it in the palm of her hand like a dark offering.

‘We couldn’t possibly,’ Charity tried to say.

‘I insist – it is just a token,’ she said with a giggle as she twitched her long nose and sniggered at the same time.

Charity instinctively held out his hand and Madame Zane slid the box on to his palm.

‘See,’ she said as she blew upon the box. ‘It is full of surprises.’

With that the lid of the box began to move slowly until it suddenly sprung open to the sound of a chiming bell. From inside appeared a small ebony figure, half man and half beast, that flicked upwards and began to dance in time to the chimes.

‘Amazing,’Mariah said. He watched the jewelled eyes of the bull-headed creature sparkle as it danced.

‘It is an invention of my husband. It can dance with your mood – however you feel, the Minotaur will dance in that way.
If you are sad it will skip a lament and if you are happy it will dance a jig.’

‘But how do you get it to stop?’ Charity asked.

‘Quite simple, just blow upon it and it will be gone.’

Charity blew upon the creature and just as she said, the beast stopped dancing and curled itself within the box as the lid slid tightly shut.

‘An amazing invention. We can’t possibly have such a gift,’ Charity said as he handed it back to her.

‘Once given, it cannot be taken back. I will be deeply offended.’ As before, Madame Zane’s manner changed suddenly. It was as if the wind had blown upon her and all her goodness had vanished in one breath. ‘I will not have my charity rebuked by your Charity, Mariah,’ she scoffed.

The
Triton
shook as a grave sounding of the horn rattled the glass case covering the gold.

‘I think we are ready to set sail,’ Mariah said as he took the box from the palm of Charity’s hand and placed it in his pocket.

‘Then we can go to our rooms,’ said Madame Zane, again restored to politeness.

O
N the bridge of the
Triton
Captain Tharakan stared out to sea. The ship towered above even the largest buildings of the city and dwarfed the quayside cranes.

‘Soon be ready for the race,’ he said excitedly as a tall, silent man in a neatly pressed uniform ushered Mariah and Charity onto the bridge. ‘Thank you, Mr Ellerby,’ he said to the chisel-faced officer before turning to Charity. ‘I hear you have not met Lorenzo and I so much wanted you to experience the full force of the Zane Generator.’

Lorenzo Zane nodded from the far side of the bridge. He was in his shirtsleeves with the cuffs rolled back and the collar removed from the neck. Mariah thought he looked more like a servant than a famous inventor. He was tall and thin with a narrow face that looked like a horse and did not fit on board a ship. All around him, officers of the watch checked the steel dials and gauges and shouted instructions into the mouthpiece of a brass speaking-tube that vanished through the floor. A guard with a pistol in his hand stood by the crisply painted doorway next to Mr Ellerby, the officer who had shown them on to the bridge.

‘Thanks for what you did for my son,’ Lorenzo said as he noted down the numbers on the dial in front of him. ‘The generator has to be watched at all times – if the pressure becomes too great then the ship will explode.’

‘Dangerous machinery for a passenger ship?’ Charity asked.

‘Not at all, Captain Charity. As long as this dial is maintained at a constant pressure then all will be well. You seem to be familiar with my work … Did you enjoy the gift from my wife?’ he asked.

‘Totally entertaining,’ Mariah said as he took the box from his pocket and held it out for all to see.

‘I have one myself, given to me by Lorenzo,’ said Captain Tharakan appreciatively. ‘It is in my stateroom and I shall keep it with me always.’

‘I invented it for my son – to help him sleep. He says the music and the dancing soothes the mind.’ Lorenzo handed his clipboard to the officer of the watch and muttered something under his breath. ‘In two minutes we shall depart on the greatest adventure the world has ever seen.’

‘I thought we were just going to the colonies?’ Charity asked sarcastically.

‘But at what speed and in what style!’ Lorenzo replied. ‘We are to race the
Ketos
– the fastest ship afloat, and we shall beat her.’

‘Is your generator tried and tested, Lorenzo?’ Charity asked.

‘In the heaviest seas of the North Atlantic as far as Engronelant,’ he replied.

‘A truly amazing experience – we cut through icebergs as if they were cheese,’ added Tharakan like an excited child.

‘Then we shall be amazed also,’ Charity replied, as there was a sudden shudder from far below. Slowly the ship began to move. At first it was hardly noticeable. Then as each second passed by, the lights of the city began to move away. ‘I wonder
if we could watch from outside?’ he asked as Lorenzo Zane returned to peer at the pressure dial.

Captain Tharakan ordered the guard to open the doorway and Mariah and Charity were escorted to the long metal balcony that ran across the width of the bridge. From there they could see the two ships moving slowly from the quayside like waking sea monsters. On the pier below it looked as if the entire city had gathered to see them set sail. Thousands of people screamed as the
Triton
shuddered with the sound of its own horn. Without warning the sound came again and Mariah was blown backwards with the force.

Then, from high above them, a searchlight beamed from the clouds and illuminated the decks of both ships. The crowd on the quayside fell silent and stared towards the heavens as lightning sparked from cloud to cloud. From far away came the rumbling of what Mariah thought was thunder.

‘It can’t be,’ shouted Charity as he ran across the bridge gantry.

‘What is it?’ asked Mariah, fearful that a creature was coming from the skies.

‘Look!’ Charity said as he pointed to the source of the light.

From the distant east, as if it had slipped through the peaks of the far mountains, came a bright light. As it drew closer the beam dimmed to a soft glow like a full moon. The crowd below cowered back, not knowing what was about to befall them. The
Triton
and the
Ketos
sailed slowly on into the deep Mersey.

It appeared that the ships were being followed by a gigantic, menacing shadow that cut across the night sky. Then, as the moments passed, Mariah could make out a long cylindrical shape as big as the
Triton
. It edged closer, as if it were about to strike. Around it sparked shards of jagged lightning as its murmurings turned to thunderous groans.

‘What … what is it?’ Mariah asked as he stared upwards.

‘It is something that I never thought possible,’ Charity said, straining to see the approaching manifestation.

The ship’s horn shuddered once more, sending the crowd fleeing from the harbourside and screaming in fright. From out of the air the sound was answered as if a shot of thunder was blasted towards them.

Tharakan stepped onto the bridge gantry with Lorenzo Zane.

‘I wanted this to be a surprise for you, Captain Charity,’ he shouted above the noise of the fleeing crowd. ‘It is another of Lorenzo’s inventions. It has been waiting until we set sail.’

‘A skyship?’ Charity asked Lorenzo. ‘How have you kept such a device a secret from the world?’

‘I built it where no one would ever guess,’ he said coldly. ‘Inventing a sailing ship is one thing – inventing a skyship is another.’

‘It is to follow the race across the Atlantic as far as New York,’ Tharakan said proudly. ‘Imagine it, Charity. With a skyship any land or sea can be crossed without peril – no more seasickness …’ He laughed.

‘My skyship can travel to any city in the world – nowhere is out of its reach,’ Lorenzo said proudly as the skyship drew closer through the thunderous clouds. ‘We shall tell it that the race is about to start.’

‘How do you communicate with a ship that sails the sky?’ Mariah asked as the wind blew around him.

‘By light,’ Lorenzo said eagerly as Mr Ellerby took hold of a large brass-rimmed signalling lamp that was on the corner of the gantry. ‘We flash a code in light – it is translated and they will reply.’

‘Like a telegraph?’ Mariah asked.

‘Exactly,’ said Captain Tharakan. ‘Mr Ellerby – tell the
Bicameralist
that we will be at the race line in five minutes.’

Ellerby nodded without speaking and appeared to look to Lorenzo Zane for confirmation of the order. Mariah saw Zane smile at Ellerby. The man then took hold of a wooden handle on the side of the lamp and clicked the shutter back and forth as if he was tapping out the notes of a song.

In the dark night Mariah saw the canvas of the skyship light up with each letter of the code. All then was dark again. The searchlight on the
Bicameralist
dimmed even more until it faded to naught. Moments passed. The
Triton
sailed on as the
Ketos
drew alongside. In the distance the people on the quayside became like tiny creatures wailing against the sea.

‘They seem to be taking their time,’ Charity said as he leant against the gantry.

‘Presently, Captain,’ Tharakan said quickly. ‘They will respond …’ His words were interrupted by five flashes of white light that lit up the sea, the land and the distant hills. ‘They are ready!’ he shouted. ‘The race is about to start.’

Soon, both vessels were level with the Bidston Lighthouse on the dark Wirral shoreline. Mariah looked towards the
Ketos
as it drew close on the starboard side. He could see hundreds of passengers on deck and the bow wake spurning up from the cold black water below. It was like the back of a gigantic whale being chased by the ship, as it was about to dive to the depths. Both liners sounded their horns as if to bellow a warning to the sea. Then from the land came the flash of a cannon, then another and another. Twelve guns blasted, spitting fire and ash upon the water and lighting the dark lowlands with their flaming tiger-eyes.

From Bidston Hill, rockets shot high into the air. They burst with flashes of sapphire and crimson sparks. As the land was lit and then shadowed with each heaven-bound detonation, it looked to Mariah as if the sky would burst into flames.

The sound of the cannon rumbled across the channel as the
ships broke out of the Mersey and into open sea. The
Ketos
gave a long, loud blast upon her horn as she turned towards deep water. Everyone upon her deck was waving towards the
Triton
. Mariah could hear the faint sounds of a dance band playing upon her deck and see the misted shapes of people dancing and throwing streamers to the wind.

‘She is somewhat faster, Captain Tharakan,’ Charity said, stepping back inside the bridge as the salt spray billowed like snow from the sea.

‘Only for tonight,’ Lorenzo Zane replied as they all followed on. ‘It takes time for the generator to reach full power. The
Bicameralist
shall keep us informed as to how many leagues the
Ketos
is ahead.’

Mariah listened intently as the man explained the finest workings of the Zane Generator. It appeared that the ship was powered by a steam boiler. It was made even more formidable by the seawater that it sucked in from jets in the keel, pressurised by steam pumps and then forced out from the stern.

‘You are a man of another age,’ Charity said to Zane when he had finished his long explanation.

‘In making my inventions I am limited by the devices I have. It is a deceitful trick to have been born in such a primitive time as this,’ Zane answered with a sigh.

‘But not for long,’ Tharakan said as he barked orders to the crew. ‘Lorenzo Zane will be a name the world will never forget and the
Triton
shall go down in history as the greatest ship ever built.’

‘How will the
Bicameralist
follow us so far from land?’ Mariah asked as Ellerby opened the door for them to leave the bridge.

‘That, dear Mariah, is a secret that I am not allowed to share with anyone.’ Zane was obviously uncomfortable that he had been asked such a question.

‘It is too late for talk of such a thing, Mariah,’ Charity said to break the silence that followed. ‘We have travelled the breadth of the country upon a most uncomfortable train and I feel in need of sleep. I am sure Zane will be willing to talk more of his inventions during the voyage.’

‘I will make sure Ellerby takes your cases to your room,’ Tharakan said as the bridge door was shut firmly behind them and they descended the stairway.

‘Did you know the
Bicameralist
had been invented?’ Mariah asked as they walked along the deck.

‘There was rumour of such a craft, an amazing invention and far bigger than I ever thought possible to fly,’ Charity replied as he counted the suite numbers outside each room. ‘I think we are here. From the instructions I do believe you slide your ticket into the door and it will open.’

‘Like magic?’ Mariah asked.

‘Like science,’ Charity replied as Mariah slipped the metal ticket into a narrow slot next to the door. There was a sudden click and then the whirring of a small motor as the door opened without being touched.

‘How does such a thing work?’ Mariah asked.

Charity looked back. Mr Ellerby was at the far end of the passageway, watching them. He made no secret of what he was doing. He stood by the open door, smiling arrogantly.

‘Ignore him,’ Charity said as Mariah looked nervously towards the man. ‘He wants us to know we are being watched. I don’t think our presence is as welcome as I thought.’

‘Do they know we are from the Bureau of Antiquities?’ Mariah asked.

‘We would not have been given this welcome if they didn’t,’ Charity said as he stared at the door. Mariah looked again and Ellerby was gone.

‘There,’ Charity said as he took a small magnifying glass
from his pocket. ‘A fingerprint on the brass. And look there,’ he said, pointing to a splinter of wood in the opening of the door. ‘Someone has slid a knife into the lock.’ Then he motioned for Mariah to be silent. He took a pistol from his pocket and clicked back the hammer. ‘They could still be here.’

Charity pushed open the door with the tip of his boot as Mariah kept watch for Ellerby’s return. The door opened slowly. Mariah looked in on a pitch-dark room. The whirr of the Lorenzo Generator dimmed as the ship moved gently back and forth in the growing sea. Charity reached in and flicked the brass switch on the wall by the door. A chandelier flickered into light.

‘I think that we have had unwelcome visitors,’ Charity said as he stepped inside.

Mariah followed and looked about the suite. The room had been ransacked. The large brass porthole swung open on its hinges. The doors to the two sleeping cabins on either side were unlocked and the contents of the sea-trunk had been tipped across the floor.

‘What were they looking for?’ Mariah asked as he sat on the lid of the trunk and sighed.

‘That we will never know, but they have unpacked for us – even if we have to pick every garment from the floor,’ Charity replied. He made safe the revolver and slid it back in his pocket. ‘Whoever was here has left in a hurry,’ he said, pointing to the porthole.

‘But that goes to the outside of the ship – how would they have escaped without falling into the sea?’ Mariah asked as he picked Charity’s telescope from the floor.

Charity thought for a moment and looked about the room. He seemed to be searching for something quite invisible. He raised one eyebrow and scowled. Mariah had seen this many
times before. It always came before Charity would announce some great idea or grand scheme.

‘I am beginning to think that we should see Captain Tharakan. We should ask him to search the ship,’ Charity said in a loud voice as he gestured for Mariah to get up from the trunk and walk towards the door. ‘I will ask the steward to come and make the room ready whilst we are gone.’

Charity opened the door. He motioned for Mariah to stand on the far side. He then flicked off the light and slammed the door shut. For a moment they stood in the pitch black. The
Tri
ton
moved gently in the swell. In the cabin, all was quiet and nothing stirred. They waited in the dark. Mariah realised that Charity thought someone was hiding in the room. He felt scared, his mouth was parched. He tried to breathe as quietly as he could as he listened for the slightest sound.