The Black Crow Conspiracy (17 page)

XVIII

Penelope and Monty retraced their steps through the heart of the ship, scurrying past deserted staff cabins as they climbed the decks in search of the bridge. With every moment that passed, Penny could feel herself weakening, the strange fire from Röntgen’s rays threatening to consume her at last. She stumbled as she reached a final flight of stairs, the sign pointing upwards indicating that they had at last reached their goal:
Kommandobrücke
– the ship’s bridge.

“Are you all right, Penelope?” Monty asked, stooping to her aid, but then the actor froze as he heard a clatter of boots from the deck above. With a trembling hand, Penny grabbed hold of Monty’s arm, glancing round their surroundings in search of a hiding place. The nearest door lay directly behind them, but as she turned to try the handle she discovered it was locked. The thunder of footsteps was now descending the stairs – a dozen or more men perhaps: in another second
they would be discovered.

Concentrating her mind, she pulled Monty close to her; the two of them slipped through the door like ghosts before the fire in her veins was finally extinguished. For a moment Penny stood there, her head spinning, as on the other side of the door the heavy tread of footsteps stomped past: the Kaiser’s men hurrying to discover what act of sabotage had brought the ship to a standstill.

As Monty wheezed, Penny glanced around the room. They were standing in what looked like a sick bay. A row of empty cots separated by flimsy curtains filled most of the room, whilst a tall medicine cabinet was set on the facing wall. But Penelope’s eyes were drawn to the mirror fixed to the wall directly in front of her, a gasp escaping from her lips as she saw her own reflection.

Apart from her usual pale-green gaze, Penny’s face was drained of the luminescence that had once shone from her skin. The shining green glow was now replaced with a deathly pallor. Dark shadows lurked beneath her eyes as what felt like a deadweight hung heavy on her frame, the pained creaks of the ship as it drifted with the tide echoed by the ache in her bones.

Half turning, she pressed her hands to the door. Penelope tried to focus her mind one last time, but felt only unyielding wood beneath her fingers. Amsel had said that the effects of Röntgen’s rays
would pass. Now it looked as though all hope of raising the alarm was gone with them too.

“The effects of Professor Röntgen’s rays have left me. We’re trapped,” she said, turning to Monty. “The only way we can get out of here is by breaking down this door.”

Monty paled. “But if we do that then they will discover us for sure,” he said, the faint echo of footsteps still within earshot outside the door. “They will probably march us right up to the bridge and deliver us into the Kaiser’s hands.”

At Monty’s reply, a glint of inspiration sparkled in Penny’s eyes.

“Then that’s what we have to do,” she said. “Convince them to take us to the Kaiser himself. If we can reach the bridge, then maybe we can find a way to stop him at last.”

“But how—”

“You have already fooled the guards once, making them believe that you really are King Edward the Seventh. Now you have to do it again. Insist that you must speak to your nephew, the Kaiser, on a matter of the utmost importance. It is the only chance we have left – a performance to save the nation. The fate of the Empire itself rests upon your talents as an actor, Monty, and I do not think you will disappoint.”

At Penelope’s glowing words of praise, a new light shone in Monty’s eyes. Throwing his shoulders back, he stared hard at his reflection in
the mirror. Beneath the peak of a Field Marshal’s cap, his silver-streaked beard lent his features the likeness of King Edward, whilst the gold buttons and braid on his dress uniform glinted royally.

Monty turned back towards Penny, his countenance set in an expression of stout determination.

“I must admit, Penelope, that I had not imagined taking my final bow in front of an audience of Kaiser Bill and his ghostly crew, but I suppose it is not for any of us to choose the manner of our leaving the stage.”

Penelope looked up at Monty, a stray tear glistening in the corner of her pale-green eyes.

“This won’t be your final performance, Monty,” she said. “We will get out of this, I promise you.”

“Come what come may,” he replied with a faint twinkle of the old Monty in his gaze. “Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.” With a gentle bow, the actor turned back to face the locked door. “Now, you had better step back, Penelope,” he said, raising his boot as he braced himself against the doorframe. “Once more unto the breach, dear friend, once more.”

Kicking out with all the force he could muster, Monty sent the door flying open with a splintering crack. Straightening the buttons on his uniform as they strained to contain his ample frame, Monty held out his hand for Penelope and the two of them stepped out into the corridor as a
band of imperial sailors bore down on them.

Before any of the sailors even had the chance to speak, Monty turned towards them with a peremptory stare.

“What is the meaning of this delay?” he barked. “Has my nephew forgotten how to pilot a ship? I certainly gave him enough lessons at Cowes in his youth.”

The sailors stared at him dumbfounded, the groans of the
Hohenzollern
adding weight to Monty’s words as the ship drifted with the tide.

“I demand to see the Kaiser,” he continued, his regal tone brooking no argument. “I must speak to him now before he imperils us all.”

As the ordinary sailors exchanged anxious glances, their senior officer stepped to the fore. The single stripe on his sleeve revealed his lieutenant’s rank.

“The Kaiser gave strict orders that you and your family were to be confined to your quarters for the duration of the voyage, Your Majesty.” The officer raised his voice above the creaks of the becalmed ship. “May I ask what you were doing in the sick bay?”

“My daughter has been afflicted with a bout of seasickness,” Monty replied brusquely. “Thanks to my nephew’s bungling navigation. I was looking for a tonic to soothe her constitution, but your medical supplies seem to be sadly deficient. Now, take me to see the Kaiser without delay or
do you wish to go down with the tide?”

A flicker of uncertainty passed across the lieutenant’s features, but as the
Hohenzollern
let out another groan of protest, he quickly made up his mind.

“Very well, Your Majesty,” he said, gesturing towards the flight of stairs in front of them. “I will escort you both to the bridge.”

Behind the collar of her robe, Penelope allowed herself a faint smile. So far Monty’s performance as the King had been a theatrical tour de force. Now the fate of them all rested on her finding a coup de théâtre that could bring the Kaiser’s plot to an end. She crossed her fingers as they climbed the steps to the bridge. It was time to make a final stand against this silent invasion.

XXIX

The bridge lay in darkness but the frantic sound of barked commands cut through the gloom. Shadowy figures scurried between the ship’s telegraphs, ringing down orders to an engine room that no longer responded. Through the windows that spanned the deck Penelope could glimpse a veil of scattering fog. Faint lights on the shoreline seemed to loom perilously close, the
Hohenzollern
listing slightly as it drifted with the tide.

She strained her eyes to make sense of the scene, the dim light cast from a compass binnacle revealing the figure of a man at the helm of the bridge. As he turned his gaze from starboard to port, Penny saw this was the Kaiser, now resplendent in the uniform of a British Admiral of the Fleet. The Emperor’s face was a mask of barely suppressed fury, his right hand gripping the wheel as he struggled to keep the ship from floundering.

Behind Monty and Penelope, the nervous cough of the lieutenant drew the Kaiser’s gaze in their direction.

“What are you doing here, Uncle?” he snarled, addressing the question to Monty alone. “You are meant to be confined to quarters with the rest of your inconvenient brood!”

“I – I – I thought you could do with some fresh sailing lessons,” Monty began, the faltering quaver in his words betraying his nerves. “Since you seem to be incapable of navigating our safe passage on this voyage.”

In the darkness of the bridge the actor’s features were hidden beneath the shade of his peaked cap, but as Monty spoke, the expression on the Kaiser’s face changed to one of bewildered rage. He stepped away from the ship’s wheel with a snarl, the ship lurching as he lunged towards Monty.

Losing her balance, Penny was thrown forwards, crashing into the teak housing of the fore bridge. Dazed, she slumped to the floor as the Kaiser grabbed hold of Monty’s throat.

“Montgomery Flinch,” he roared as the shadows fell from Monty’s face. “Where is my uncle? Where is the King?”

The two men clung to each other as the ship reeled towards the shore, the lookout on the foredeck shouting out an oath of warning. On the bridge, one of the sailors dived to take the
helm again, pulling hard on the ship’s wheel as the
Hohenzollern
skirted the Isle of Dogs.

Monty’s eyes bulged as the Kaiser squeezed hard.

“How dare you!” he snarled. “This is my ship. This will soon be my country to rule over too and yet still you persist with your meddling.”

Spittle flecked the Kaiser’s pomaded moustache as he tightened his grip. Penny saw Monty’s eyes roll back in his head, the Emperor’s rage choking him to within seconds of his life. As the sailors advanced towards her, she looked up at the forest of instruments arrayed on the fore bridge controls. There were countless dials and switches, gauges and buttons, their purpose known only to the most practised of mariners. Time was running out. No chances left now to raise the alarm.

Then she saw it, a single word printed beneath a dangling lanyard: NEBELHORN – the ship’s horn.

Reaching up, Penny grabbed hold of the lanyard. Pulling hard on this, the ship’s horn responded with a prolonged blast. The advancing sailors covered their ears as its deafening bellow sounded across the Thames. A noise loud enough to wake the city itself: the universal signal for a ship in distress.

Releasing his grip on Monty’s neck, the Kaiser strode towards Penelope. With a swipe of his right arm, he knocked her off her feet. The ship’s
horn finally silenced as she crashed against the bridge.

“You English are mad – mad as March hares,” the Kaiser hissed, turning towards Penny with murder in his eyes. “To send a mere girl to fight for your country. Once you had splendid troops, officers and men. Where are they now?” Fixing her with a venomous glare, his hand reached for the hilt of his sword. “I only trust you will die as bravely as any soldier.”

Penny stared up in horror as the Kaiser drew his rapier, the blade glinting in the moonlight. But before he could strike, a deafening chorus of ships’ horns sounded in reply, their ear-splitting roars seemingly coming from every direction.

“What is this?” the Kaiser gasped. “It can’t be…”

Taking advantage of his distraction, Penelope scrambled to Monty’s side. The actor’s face was as grey as his beard as she helped him to his knees, but as the two of them turned to look through the window of the bridge there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Penelope shook her head in stunned disbelief as she saw the spectacle that was causing the Kaiser’s despair.

As the fog slowly cleared, they could see that the Thames was thick with a flotilla of ships. Frigates, cruisers, corvettes and countless gunboats: the pride of the Royal Navy bearing down on the
Hohenzollern
from all sides. Before
the Kaiser could even give his crew the order to take arms, dozens of Royal Marines were boarding the ship from the foredeck and aft. At the sight of Britain’s naval might, the German sailors lay down their weapons without protest, the Royal Marines advancing upon the bridge with a singular purpose. In the shadow of the lifeboats she saw the royal family being escorted to safety, Queen Alexandra lifting her gaze with a look of thankful relief.

As the Kaiser cursed, Penny caught sight of two unexpected figures amidst the boarding party. The portly figure of King Edward the Seventh, dressed in the uniform of the First Admiral of the Fleet, now accompanied by the more soberly dressed First Lord of the Treasury, Arthur Balfour. And behind them, his features half hidden beneath a Royal Navy cap, she glimpsed a face that caused her heart to quicken: Sea Cadet Alexander Amsel, the boy now wearing the borrowed uniform of a British sailor. Penelope flushed with relief.

Entering through both wings of the bridge, the advance guard of Royal Marines quickly disarmed the German Emperor and the rest of his officers.

“This is an act of war,” the Kaiser spat, surrendering his sword with a snarl.

“How dare you!” his uncle’s voice boomed in reply. King Edward marched onto the bridge, fixing his nephew with a furious glare. “You
have abducted my family from their beds, held us captive in the dungeons of the Tower, attempted to force me into exile so that you can steal my throne, and yet you have the audacity to accuse me of warmongering!”

Penelope watched as the Kaiser returned his uncle’s glare with a withering stare.

“You would have done well to heed my advice, Uncle Bertie,” he replied coldly. “And spend the rest of your days safely in exile. You may have your grand coronation, for all the good it will do you. I will soon return to these shores, but with my New Atomic Army by my side. Britain will fall along with the rest of Europe as well, but this time I will not spare you the bloodshed.”

In response to his nephew’s chilling threat, the King stared at him open-mouthed, his worst fears taking flight as he pictured the prospect of war. But before he had the chance to muster his reply, Balfour’s bloodless tones cut across them both.

“Your Majesty, if I might reply on your government’s behalf?”

With a nod of irritation, the King acquiesced and Balfour now turned to address the Kaiser.

“Your Majesty,” he began again. “Any act of provocation on the part of the German nation would be dealt with most severely. You only have to look out of the window now to remind yourself of the strength of the Royal Navy. There is no way your troops would even make it across
the North Sea – the British fleet would sink every one of your ships.”

Beneath his ridiculous moustache, a sly grin spread across the Kaiser’s face.

“Britannia may have ruled the waves in the last century,” he sneered, “but your navy will be defenceless before a German fleet powered by the rays of twentieth-century science.”

“Ah yes,” Balfour replied, steepling his fingers as if prompted by a fresh recollection. “I am afraid to report that there has been an unfortunate fire at the Society for the Advancement of Science in Carlton House Terrace. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was able to put out the conflagration before it reached the German Embassy, but in the basement of the Society, Professor Röntgen’s laboratory was completely destroyed. The professor himself escaped with only minor injuries, but in the interests of his recovery I do not believe that he will be able to return to Germany for quite some time.”

The Kaiser scowled, the hidden meaning behind Balfour’s words instantly clear. There was no way that Great Britain would allow the secret of Röntgen’s rays to leave her shores now. Professor Röntgen would be put under house arrest; the only experiments he would be allowed to conduct would be in the service of the British Empire.

“You will pay for your insolence,” the Kaiser
hissed. “I swear I will bring this nation of shopkeepers and wayward children to heel. It may take a decade or more, but I promise you war.”

“And Great Britain will be ready,” King Edward growled in reply. “As long as I live, you will never set foot on these shores again. It goes without saying, Wilhelm, that you are no longer welcome at my coronation.”

A malevolent cloud passed across the Kaiser’s face, his right hand reaching for his empty scabbard. But before he could act, two Royal Marines stepped forward to seize hold of his arms.

“These men will accompany you to your quarters,” Balfour declared as the Kaiser struggled in protest. “Once the King and the rest of the royal family have safely disembarked with the Crown Jewels, and our engineers have attended to the problem with the ship’s engine, HMS
Revenge
will escort the
Hohenzollern
to the North Sea. I am sure you will be able to find your way home from there.”

Still muttering darkly, the Kaiser was marched from the bridge, casting a murderous glance in Penelope’s direction as she stood by Monty’s side.

“We did it,” the actor breathed.

His nephew now banished below decks, King Edward turned towards Monty and Penelope. He advanced towards them, his arms thrown
wide in a gesture of thanks.

“Mr Flinch, I am forever in your debt. You have kept my family safe and through your endeavours rescued my throne. If it hadn’t been for your timely sounding of the ship’s horn in this maddening fog, then the
Hohenzollern
would have slipped unseen through the net cast by my rescue flotilla. I do not know how I can ever thank you.” He stared at Monty with a look of wonder in his eyes. “Although I must admit I almost feel as though I am thanking myself.”

Forgotten again, Penelope silently fumed.

“It was my honour, Your Majesty,” Monty replied. He turned towards Penelope, presenting her to the King with a bow of his head. “And I couldn’t have done any of it without the assistance of my niece, Miss Penelope Tredwell.”

Behind his broad smile, a flicker of panic passed across the King’s features. His gaze searched Penny’s face for any sign of the strange glow he had seen when they last met in the dungeons of the Tower. Finally satisfied that she was restored to full health, he took her hand in his own in a heartfelt gesture of thanks.

“Miss Tredwell, you are a credit to the nation,” he declared. “Is there any way I can show my appreciation?”

Penelope curtsied in reply, a shrewd smile slowly creeping across her lips.

“Well, there are a few things, Your Majesty…”