Chapter 7: Dragon in a tower
Granny and Jacoby had argued about the share of any loot most of the way from New Franklin to Bedford. Jack and Graham had kept to themselves at the rear of the small gondola, the knight sharing the odd tale of wingcore daring do, but Jack at the controls not really listening as he spent his time mainly trying to balance the swinging airship as Granny angrily paced from side to side. The Jacobys' had plotted a course back to the desolate playground where they had first met the Princess, it seemed like the best chance of meeting her again given their lack of any other means of communicating.
“We’re here” said Jack as he levelled off the airship over the park, grateful of an excuse to break up the bickering.
“Already?” time flew for Granny when she was arguing about something and nothing “Ok then. Eyes out for a white Transit van”
“I’d have thought it better to look for a white steed, or maybe a carriage and footmen” Graham’s Princess fantasy was starting to get out of hand.
Granny looked at the Knight with grim disdain, shook her head and continued “Listen out for that bloody hum, sure sign she is lurking”
“What makes you think she’ll be willing to talk?” Jacoby spoke up “Rather than just put another hole in my airship?”
“She wants something bigger than your poxy airship fatso, challenge is figuring out what” Granny squinted out over to a small collection of residential buildings on the far side of the playground, looking for movement.
“You think she knows how to get into London?” Jack shuffled to Granny’s side, he had been enraptured by Granny’s description of the sealed off city; born in the skies he had never known of an existence groundside before the haemorrhages.
“Maybe kid, she certainly knows how to replicate that damn hum. But why’d you live here” she swept her arms out to indicate the barren cityscape if you could get into the dome?”
“Maybe what is inside is worse” Jacoby was feeling morose, still not quite sure how negotiations that had begun at 50:50 had ended up being 75:25 in Granny’s favour.
“Well the only way to solve the riddle is to rescue her” Graham had stood up, hand shielding his eyes, even though the sun wasn’t shining on him, while he dramatically surveyed their surroundings.
“Or you could just ask me nicely” then a giggle from the bushes not 15 metres below the airship.
Jack had to pull the fan jet hard to starboard to offset the effect of the other three occupants of the airship surging to the side to look for the source of the voice.
“Peekabo!” the Princess cried, jumping out from behind the bush.
“Your Highness” Graham attempted a bow, only to succeed in nearly falling right out of the gondola, Jacoby grabbing the back of his flight suit to steady the now flailing Knight.
“Who’s your new friend?” Princess asked Granny
“Don’t worry about him” she said shrugging before continuing “I saw London, a beautiful construction like you said”
“Isn’t it just”
“A familiar sound as well”
“A sound we are sadly lacking right now” the Princess looked round, a slight element of concern on her pale face
“You want to get off the ground?” Granny sensing her unease
“No. You come here, my van is around the corner. But be quick”
Jacoby refused to leave the airship, but was unable to persuade his son to take the same caution and so Jack joined Granny and Graham in climbing down the tatty rope (sack still at the end of it but no cat) and following the Princess into the darkening evening.
She led them at a brisk pace out of the playground, down the road and behind what had been a drive through restaurant, yellow plastic sign hanging lopsidedly from the roof. There the van stood, dipped headlights on and engine running gently.
“Get in” the Princess urged, sliding open a creaky side door. Once everyone had jumped aboard the Princess went back round to the front and clambered up behind the steering wheel. With a slight crunch she had put it into gear and they moved off.
“How’d you find us so quick?” Granny asked over the rumble of the engine, leaning over the front two seats to look at the Princess.
“I got the sense from our previous meeting you weren’t the sort of lady to dilly-dally. Then it was just a case of looking out for a large out of place airship” the Princess said without looking back, eyes instead on the road as she negotiated their way round the rusted hulks of the aged vehicles that littered the road.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Just to the ring road, then we can grind the van against the central reservation barrier, let me go hands off but keep moving”
“That how you keep ahead of the haemorrhages?”
“Uh-huh”
“But I thought you could delay them from emerging, with that infernal music?”
“Not me, her” the Princess nodded at the dark form curled up in the passenger seat. It took Granny a moment to realise what she was looking at. A small sleeping girl, maybe ten years old.
“Who’s that?”
“My sister, she’s tired, been a long day looking out for you guys”
“I must say, that is a mighty fine harpoon you have” Graham emerged next to Granny, having been investigating the weapon that had nearly taken the Jacobys’ airship down, “but what is that foul smelling container behind it? “He nodded to the big grimey-white cube that took up much of the space next to the double rear doors of the van.
“Our micro-refinery. Fuel goes bad after a time, water gets into it, but we syphon and clean it. Keeps us one step ahead” the Princess explained, Granny nodding along, quietly impressed by the younger woman’s ingenuity.
“So what do you want with us” it was Jack who first felt the need to get to the meat of the matter “You didn’t just want to give us a tour of Bedford”
“Hang on” the Princess instructed, steering the van towards the metal barrier that divided the dual carriage way they had emerged onto. With a scrape and a shower of sparks they grinded alongside it. The Princess leant over to the passenger side and opened the glove compartment, returning with two hefty looking concrete bricks, one smaller than the other. The smaller one she put underneath the accelerator pedal, the larger one on top, pushing the pedal half way down until it rested on the smaller block. A mild mid-acceleration saw them grind along the central reservation at a moderate speed. She turned to look at the passengers, slightly smug look upon her face. “So, you were asking?” she nodded at Jack, speaking loudly to overcome the grind of metal on metal from outside.
“I was just wondering what exactly it was you wanted” the young man slightly uneasy now the focus was on him, squirming slightly, breaking eye contact.
“I need some assistance in solving a minor mystery”
“How about the mystery of what the heck you know about London?”
“I know about as much as you do. Big dome, loud humming noise” and then she shrugged.
“But you can conjure the hum too?”
“As I said, my sister can. She doesn’t talk much, not after our parents….” she drifted away for a second “...but she has a talent for sound. When we were fleeing the hemorrhages, trying to find a way into London, she found an old keyboard, battery powered. Replicating the noise from the city by ear alone. Obviously a little keyboard wasn’t powerful enough stop the haemorrhages entirely, but she kept them from engulfing us as we searched for a vehicle to escape in, just playing these awful sounds” another shrug “eventually we cobbled together a more powerful sound system, mounted it in a van” a nod to an assorted pile of electronics shoved in between the harpoon and fuel tank “but powering it has always been the constraint”
“How comes no one figured out the sounds before, when we were invaded?” Granny scratched her head.
“Too busy shooting at the haemorrhages I imagine, and Bree, my sister, says the sounds are like nothing she’s ever heard before, something about the arrangement of the notes, almost like it doesn’t conform to our usual language of music. She say’s she’d have never have figured it out if she hadn’t heard the noise at London and that kid is a damn prodigy” a nod off fondness from sister at sleeping sister
“Why not just camp out next to London, in the safety of the sounds?” this question from Jack
“You can’t eat sound, and the ground there is completely decimated, nothing survived the haemorrhages for miles, Bedford is the closest town that got evacuated in time for the buildings to have survived”
“So you stay mobile here” Jack pointed outside as the non-descript potholed road raced past.
The Princess nodded
“And what is the mystery you mentioned, before Granny so rudely interrupted?” Graham interjected.
At this the Princess brightened slightly “We’re not the only ones here that can play the sounds”
“Other survivors? Maybe they know how to get into London?” said Granny
“Maybe, but I’ve no way of asking them”
“How come?”
“The hum comes from one of the old council house towers on the north of the city. When we go past, you’ll see, tall tower and one of the top floors lit up”
“They have light as well?” Jack was increasingly impressed, only ever being told at school that those that lived ground side were essentially savages to be avoided and derided.
“Yes, always on, no idea where they get enough power for it all”
“So why not go and ask them?”
“It’s about 30 floors up, we can’t power our hum long enough to give us enough time to get up there, let alone back down again if whoever is up there doesn’t want to say hello”
“How’d you expect us to help then kid?” Granny pointed towards herself “You think I’ll be any quicker up the stairs than you?!”
“She doesn’t want us to go up the tower with her, but to come from above” it was Jack that figured it out, to be rewarded with a smile and playful punch from the Princess that caused him to blush.
Granny slapped her forehead, annoyed she hadn’t figured it out “Of course, hence the harpoon, right? Catch yourself a big fish to go exploring with”
The princess nodded “Your airship city is a nice regular visitor round these parts, figured we could hit up one of its scrounging expeditions. Then we had the pleasure of meeting you Granny”
The old woman smiled “The pleasure of meeting my drone in any case”
“That was certainly a surprise. You are a lady of notable ingenuity”
“I could say the same about you pair” a nod at the occupants of the driver and passenger seats, then back to the collection of equipment in the rear of the van “How’d you even start building a pneumatic harpoon down here?”
A shrug “Resources are not so hard to come by so long as you don’t call the haemorrhages down upon yourself”
“But engineering smarts don’t grow on trees”
“My dad is...was….he used to build things, from junk, I would sit and watch in awe, even as a kid”
“You still are a kid”
“I don’t know about that, seems like you age faster down here” she slumped a little “it gets kind of lonely”
“Well now you have us, your majesty, at your service” Graham attempted another bow, this time banging his head on the roof of the vehicle
“You get that I’m not actually a real…..” the Princess gave him a slightly pitiful look, before Granny nudged her
“Just go with it” the old lady whispered
Their circuitous route continued out and around the town, Jack fascinatedly leaning forward to peer out of the windows and at architecture he’d never seen so close at hand before. Meanwhile Graham attempted to engage the Princess in conversation, the young woman nodding along but not really paying full attention. Granny investigated the various devices at the rear of the van. They were hardly elegant in their construction - the welding downright ugly - but certainly impressive given the constraints. Granny certainly wasn’t sure how straight her welding would be while chased by an expanding hemorrhage.
“We’re coming up to the tower” the Princess said a few minutes later “It’s on our left side, you’ll see the glow from the top levels”. The three passengers from New Franklin strained to see, the Princess scooting out of the way and into the seat currently occupied by her little sister “Budge up sleepy head” she said gently to the little girl.
“Woah” said Jack as the tower came into view. The dimming of the emerging evening meant the light stood out like a beacon from the top floor of a grotty looking tower that had once provided accommodation to hundreds of families. “What do you think is causing it?” he asked.
“The dragon” came a sleepy reply.
Jack frowned and looked away from the window and over to the Princess with her now awake sister. “What did she say?” he spoke to the older girl
“Bree thinks a dragon lives up there”
“And the light is his fire” Bree added adamantly
“Ok…..” Jack began
“It’s as good as an explanation as any I can come up with” said Granny “can’t see how otherwise you’d power a whole floor of light, as well as the speakers needed to pump out that damn racket to keep it all safe”
“Solar?” suggested Jack
“Not enough roof space” Granny countered “those old towers are tall but not all that wide. Besides, whoever’s up there would need a massive power bank to keep it all going through the night. The light ever go off?” this to the Princess.
“Nope” with a shake of the head for emphasis.
“Probably magic then” stated Graham “makes sense when there’s Princesses and Knights around” his chest swelled a little with pride.
“You’re a second rate pilot with a superiority complex” replied Granny.
“I’m a proud Knight of the Wingcore” Graham was adamant.
“Proudly incompetent…”
“So when are we going to go to the tower then?” Jack interrupted, partly to head off another dreary session of Granny berating Graham, but also with a thought for his dad, alone back on the airship.
“No time like the present” the Princess replied “We can head back to your airship now”
“Fine by me” said Jack, Granny and Graham nodding their approval “We’ll need to go quick though” Jack continued “as the darker it gets the more grumpy dad will get about maneuvering the airship”
*****
Jacoby was indeed grumpy about their latest destination, especially when he heard mention of a dragon. But he’d come this far on a harebrained plan, no real reason to stop now, especially with Jack looking at him so pleadingly. The Princess needed to stay groundside to drive the van back round to the tower, but Bree was keen to experience a ride on the airship. Sensing his opportunity, Graham forthrightly stated that he would go in the van too, to keep the Princess company. The distaste on the Princess’ face as Graham announced his plan had made Granny snigger.
The sun was close to the horizon when they cast off from the playground. Bree excitedly pointing out the local sites to Jack from the bow of the gondola. Granny sat at the back with Jacoby who was steering the airship. A warmer hearted person would have found it difficult not to smile at the two children - maybe a year or two between them - happily chatting without much a care in the world.
Granny smiled.
Granny chastened herself for getting soft in her old age. Maybe she could distract herself by insulting Jacoby some more. “So lardy, you weren’t tempted to make a cowardly run for it once we went to see the Princess?”
“Maybe if Jack hadn’t have been with you” he stated honestly
Granny harrumphed, but couldn’t really begrudge Jacoby the urge to get away. “Won’t be much longer now. We sort out what’s in the tower then back to New Franklin in time for breakfast”
“Then what?” Jacoby changed their course slightly now he could make out the light from the tower “You just going to let London be? Maybe forget about the fact that people can hold back the haemorrhages? And also, why the bloody hell have the Steering Committee never mentioned any of this? They must know, they’ve been avoiding London for years”.
Jacoby spoke with a passion Granny had never seen in the man before, even when they were arguing about money. She clapped him on the back “My man!” she declared “Is he growing some balls at long last?”
“It just ain’t right Granny. Anyway, we’re nearly there” he pointed to the now close at hand tower. They first headed lower, picking up the Princess and Graham at the base of the tower. Granny noticed that Graham was moving a little awkwardly, as if he had been kicked somewhere where men generally don’t like being kicked. The Princess, still in one of her trademark ballgowns, also hefted a large crowbar and a toolbox.
Taking the airship up and around the tower, when they got to the top floors the gondola’s occupants tried to make out what was inside. But it was just well lit empty rooms on one side and some kind of pinkish material blocking the windows on the other. None the wiser, Jacoby took the airship up above the roof, Jack jumping down to moor it to an array of satellite dishes. The others followed him onto the roof, Graham politely offering to take Granny’s handbag while she negotiated the rope. “Maybe the Princess knocked some sense into him” thought Granny as the Knight then came to her side to steady her landing on the roof.
The rag tag group gathered at a stout looking metal door that led to the fire escape stairwell. Jacoby, considering himself a bit of an expert with a crowbar after his efforts at the convenience store a couple of days ago, attempted to give the Princess some advice on how to tackle the door. She nodded along, then when the time came, crushed the locking mechanism in one pull.
“Just like I, er, said” Jacoby scratched his head
“We’ve done a few doors in our time” the Princess curtseyed next to him, then disappeared through the door, the rest of them in tow.
Down two flights they went, gloom of the stairwell gradually losing its battle with the light from the top floor. They emerged onto a landing space, two long dormant lifts to one side, then a door ajar at the other. That was where the noise was coming from. But not just the hum.
“Is someone watching TV?” it had taken Granny a few moments to make sense of the sounds .
“What’s TV?” asked Jack at her side.
“Something from way back” his father answered, deep frown on his face.
The Princess moved forward first, crowbar tightly gripped. She pushed the door further open, stepped inside. “Oh my" she said.
“Hello” said the giant slab of gelatinous flesh that occupied the room “I’m Gary”
The rest of the members of the band of explorers entered and stoody similarly aghast as the Princess in front of them.
“Er, hello” ventured Jack, at least dimly aware of etiquette when someone greets you, even if that “someone” was blocking out most of the windows with its masses of sloppy pinkish flesh.
“What are you?” asked Granny, not one for politeness.
“I’m prototype 34,657c, but like I said you can call me Gary. I’d offer to shake hands, only I don’t have any bones. They were kept for the d series prototypes”
“Prototype what?”
What passed for a face frowned a little “Can’t you tell? How disappointing. You should have seen the 20k batch, they were even worse”
“A prototype, er, human?” it was the Princess who made the guess
Gary brightened “Bingo!”
“But who?”
“Who created me?”
“Yes”
“Hmmm, well, ok, beings though you asked. But I warn you now that it is going to sound weird”
“I’m not sure this evening can get any weirder” Granny interrupted.
“It was the mind controlling aliens that came to Earth from Kepler-438b”
“I was wrong”.
“We’re here” said Jack as he levelled off the airship over the park, grateful of an excuse to break up the bickering.
“Already?” time flew for Granny when she was arguing about something and nothing “Ok then. Eyes out for a white Transit van”
“I’d have thought it better to look for a white steed, or maybe a carriage and footmen” Graham’s Princess fantasy was starting to get out of hand.
Granny looked at the Knight with grim disdain, shook her head and continued “Listen out for that bloody hum, sure sign she is lurking”
“What makes you think she’ll be willing to talk?” Jacoby spoke up “Rather than just put another hole in my airship?”
“She wants something bigger than your poxy airship fatso, challenge is figuring out what” Granny squinted out over to a small collection of residential buildings on the far side of the playground, looking for movement.
“You think she knows how to get into London?” Jack shuffled to Granny’s side, he had been enraptured by Granny’s description of the sealed off city; born in the skies he had never known of an existence groundside before the haemorrhages.
“Maybe kid, she certainly knows how to replicate that damn hum. But why’d you live here” she swept her arms out to indicate the barren cityscape if you could get into the dome?”
“Maybe what is inside is worse” Jacoby was feeling morose, still not quite sure how negotiations that had begun at 50:50 had ended up being 75:25 in Granny’s favour.
“Well the only way to solve the riddle is to rescue her” Graham had stood up, hand shielding his eyes, even though the sun wasn’t shining on him, while he dramatically surveyed their surroundings.
“Or you could just ask me nicely” then a giggle from the bushes not 15 metres below the airship.
Jack had to pull the fan jet hard to starboard to offset the effect of the other three occupants of the airship surging to the side to look for the source of the voice.
“Peekabo!” the Princess cried, jumping out from behind the bush.
“Your Highness” Graham attempted a bow, only to succeed in nearly falling right out of the gondola, Jacoby grabbing the back of his flight suit to steady the now flailing Knight.
“Who’s your new friend?” Princess asked Granny
“Don’t worry about him” she said shrugging before continuing “I saw London, a beautiful construction like you said”
“Isn’t it just”
“A familiar sound as well”
“A sound we are sadly lacking right now” the Princess looked round, a slight element of concern on her pale face
“You want to get off the ground?” Granny sensing her unease
“No. You come here, my van is around the corner. But be quick”
Jacoby refused to leave the airship, but was unable to persuade his son to take the same caution and so Jack joined Granny and Graham in climbing down the tatty rope (sack still at the end of it but no cat) and following the Princess into the darkening evening.
She led them at a brisk pace out of the playground, down the road and behind what had been a drive through restaurant, yellow plastic sign hanging lopsidedly from the roof. There the van stood, dipped headlights on and engine running gently.
“Get in” the Princess urged, sliding open a creaky side door. Once everyone had jumped aboard the Princess went back round to the front and clambered up behind the steering wheel. With a slight crunch she had put it into gear and they moved off.
“How’d you find us so quick?” Granny asked over the rumble of the engine, leaning over the front two seats to look at the Princess.
“I got the sense from our previous meeting you weren’t the sort of lady to dilly-dally. Then it was just a case of looking out for a large out of place airship” the Princess said without looking back, eyes instead on the road as she negotiated their way round the rusted hulks of the aged vehicles that littered the road.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Just to the ring road, then we can grind the van against the central reservation barrier, let me go hands off but keep moving”
“That how you keep ahead of the haemorrhages?”
“Uh-huh”
“But I thought you could delay them from emerging, with that infernal music?”
“Not me, her” the Princess nodded at the dark form curled up in the passenger seat. It took Granny a moment to realise what she was looking at. A small sleeping girl, maybe ten years old.
“Who’s that?”
“My sister, she’s tired, been a long day looking out for you guys”
“I must say, that is a mighty fine harpoon you have” Graham emerged next to Granny, having been investigating the weapon that had nearly taken the Jacobys’ airship down, “but what is that foul smelling container behind it? “He nodded to the big grimey-white cube that took up much of the space next to the double rear doors of the van.
“Our micro-refinery. Fuel goes bad after a time, water gets into it, but we syphon and clean it. Keeps us one step ahead” the Princess explained, Granny nodding along, quietly impressed by the younger woman’s ingenuity.
“So what do you want with us” it was Jack who first felt the need to get to the meat of the matter “You didn’t just want to give us a tour of Bedford”
“Hang on” the Princess instructed, steering the van towards the metal barrier that divided the dual carriage way they had emerged onto. With a scrape and a shower of sparks they grinded alongside it. The Princess leant over to the passenger side and opened the glove compartment, returning with two hefty looking concrete bricks, one smaller than the other. The smaller one she put underneath the accelerator pedal, the larger one on top, pushing the pedal half way down until it rested on the smaller block. A mild mid-acceleration saw them grind along the central reservation at a moderate speed. She turned to look at the passengers, slightly smug look upon her face. “So, you were asking?” she nodded at Jack, speaking loudly to overcome the grind of metal on metal from outside.
“I was just wondering what exactly it was you wanted” the young man slightly uneasy now the focus was on him, squirming slightly, breaking eye contact.
“I need some assistance in solving a minor mystery”
“How about the mystery of what the heck you know about London?”
“I know about as much as you do. Big dome, loud humming noise” and then she shrugged.
“But you can conjure the hum too?”
“As I said, my sister can. She doesn’t talk much, not after our parents….” she drifted away for a second “...but she has a talent for sound. When we were fleeing the hemorrhages, trying to find a way into London, she found an old keyboard, battery powered. Replicating the noise from the city by ear alone. Obviously a little keyboard wasn’t powerful enough stop the haemorrhages entirely, but she kept them from engulfing us as we searched for a vehicle to escape in, just playing these awful sounds” another shrug “eventually we cobbled together a more powerful sound system, mounted it in a van” a nod to an assorted pile of electronics shoved in between the harpoon and fuel tank “but powering it has always been the constraint”
“How comes no one figured out the sounds before, when we were invaded?” Granny scratched her head.
“Too busy shooting at the haemorrhages I imagine, and Bree, my sister, says the sounds are like nothing she’s ever heard before, something about the arrangement of the notes, almost like it doesn’t conform to our usual language of music. She say’s she’d have never have figured it out if she hadn’t heard the noise at London and that kid is a damn prodigy” a nod off fondness from sister at sleeping sister
“Why not just camp out next to London, in the safety of the sounds?” this question from Jack
“You can’t eat sound, and the ground there is completely decimated, nothing survived the haemorrhages for miles, Bedford is the closest town that got evacuated in time for the buildings to have survived”
“So you stay mobile here” Jack pointed outside as the non-descript potholed road raced past.
The Princess nodded
“And what is the mystery you mentioned, before Granny so rudely interrupted?” Graham interjected.
At this the Princess brightened slightly “We’re not the only ones here that can play the sounds”
“Other survivors? Maybe they know how to get into London?” said Granny
“Maybe, but I’ve no way of asking them”
“How come?”
“The hum comes from one of the old council house towers on the north of the city. When we go past, you’ll see, tall tower and one of the top floors lit up”
“They have light as well?” Jack was increasingly impressed, only ever being told at school that those that lived ground side were essentially savages to be avoided and derided.
“Yes, always on, no idea where they get enough power for it all”
“So why not go and ask them?”
“It’s about 30 floors up, we can’t power our hum long enough to give us enough time to get up there, let alone back down again if whoever is up there doesn’t want to say hello”
“How’d you expect us to help then kid?” Granny pointed towards herself “You think I’ll be any quicker up the stairs than you?!”
“She doesn’t want us to go up the tower with her, but to come from above” it was Jack that figured it out, to be rewarded with a smile and playful punch from the Princess that caused him to blush.
Granny slapped her forehead, annoyed she hadn’t figured it out “Of course, hence the harpoon, right? Catch yourself a big fish to go exploring with”
The princess nodded “Your airship city is a nice regular visitor round these parts, figured we could hit up one of its scrounging expeditions. Then we had the pleasure of meeting you Granny”
The old woman smiled “The pleasure of meeting my drone in any case”
“That was certainly a surprise. You are a lady of notable ingenuity”
“I could say the same about you pair” a nod at the occupants of the driver and passenger seats, then back to the collection of equipment in the rear of the van “How’d you even start building a pneumatic harpoon down here?”
A shrug “Resources are not so hard to come by so long as you don’t call the haemorrhages down upon yourself”
“But engineering smarts don’t grow on trees”
“My dad is...was….he used to build things, from junk, I would sit and watch in awe, even as a kid”
“You still are a kid”
“I don’t know about that, seems like you age faster down here” she slumped a little “it gets kind of lonely”
“Well now you have us, your majesty, at your service” Graham attempted another bow, this time banging his head on the roof of the vehicle
“You get that I’m not actually a real…..” the Princess gave him a slightly pitiful look, before Granny nudged her
“Just go with it” the old lady whispered
Their circuitous route continued out and around the town, Jack fascinatedly leaning forward to peer out of the windows and at architecture he’d never seen so close at hand before. Meanwhile Graham attempted to engage the Princess in conversation, the young woman nodding along but not really paying full attention. Granny investigated the various devices at the rear of the van. They were hardly elegant in their construction - the welding downright ugly - but certainly impressive given the constraints. Granny certainly wasn’t sure how straight her welding would be while chased by an expanding hemorrhage.
“We’re coming up to the tower” the Princess said a few minutes later “It’s on our left side, you’ll see the glow from the top levels”. The three passengers from New Franklin strained to see, the Princess scooting out of the way and into the seat currently occupied by her little sister “Budge up sleepy head” she said gently to the little girl.
“Woah” said Jack as the tower came into view. The dimming of the emerging evening meant the light stood out like a beacon from the top floor of a grotty looking tower that had once provided accommodation to hundreds of families. “What do you think is causing it?” he asked.
“The dragon” came a sleepy reply.
Jack frowned and looked away from the window and over to the Princess with her now awake sister. “What did she say?” he spoke to the older girl
“Bree thinks a dragon lives up there”
“And the light is his fire” Bree added adamantly
“Ok…..” Jack began
“It’s as good as an explanation as any I can come up with” said Granny “can’t see how otherwise you’d power a whole floor of light, as well as the speakers needed to pump out that damn racket to keep it all safe”
“Solar?” suggested Jack
“Not enough roof space” Granny countered “those old towers are tall but not all that wide. Besides, whoever’s up there would need a massive power bank to keep it all going through the night. The light ever go off?” this to the Princess.
“Nope” with a shake of the head for emphasis.
“Probably magic then” stated Graham “makes sense when there’s Princesses and Knights around” his chest swelled a little with pride.
“You’re a second rate pilot with a superiority complex” replied Granny.
“I’m a proud Knight of the Wingcore” Graham was adamant.
“Proudly incompetent…”
“So when are we going to go to the tower then?” Jack interrupted, partly to head off another dreary session of Granny berating Graham, but also with a thought for his dad, alone back on the airship.
“No time like the present” the Princess replied “We can head back to your airship now”
“Fine by me” said Jack, Granny and Graham nodding their approval “We’ll need to go quick though” Jack continued “as the darker it gets the more grumpy dad will get about maneuvering the airship”
*****
Jacoby was indeed grumpy about their latest destination, especially when he heard mention of a dragon. But he’d come this far on a harebrained plan, no real reason to stop now, especially with Jack looking at him so pleadingly. The Princess needed to stay groundside to drive the van back round to the tower, but Bree was keen to experience a ride on the airship. Sensing his opportunity, Graham forthrightly stated that he would go in the van too, to keep the Princess company. The distaste on the Princess’ face as Graham announced his plan had made Granny snigger.
The sun was close to the horizon when they cast off from the playground. Bree excitedly pointing out the local sites to Jack from the bow of the gondola. Granny sat at the back with Jacoby who was steering the airship. A warmer hearted person would have found it difficult not to smile at the two children - maybe a year or two between them - happily chatting without much a care in the world.
Granny smiled.
Granny chastened herself for getting soft in her old age. Maybe she could distract herself by insulting Jacoby some more. “So lardy, you weren’t tempted to make a cowardly run for it once we went to see the Princess?”
“Maybe if Jack hadn’t have been with you” he stated honestly
Granny harrumphed, but couldn’t really begrudge Jacoby the urge to get away. “Won’t be much longer now. We sort out what’s in the tower then back to New Franklin in time for breakfast”
“Then what?” Jacoby changed their course slightly now he could make out the light from the tower “You just going to let London be? Maybe forget about the fact that people can hold back the haemorrhages? And also, why the bloody hell have the Steering Committee never mentioned any of this? They must know, they’ve been avoiding London for years”.
Jacoby spoke with a passion Granny had never seen in the man before, even when they were arguing about money. She clapped him on the back “My man!” she declared “Is he growing some balls at long last?”
“It just ain’t right Granny. Anyway, we’re nearly there” he pointed to the now close at hand tower. They first headed lower, picking up the Princess and Graham at the base of the tower. Granny noticed that Graham was moving a little awkwardly, as if he had been kicked somewhere where men generally don’t like being kicked. The Princess, still in one of her trademark ballgowns, also hefted a large crowbar and a toolbox.
Taking the airship up and around the tower, when they got to the top floors the gondola’s occupants tried to make out what was inside. But it was just well lit empty rooms on one side and some kind of pinkish material blocking the windows on the other. None the wiser, Jacoby took the airship up above the roof, Jack jumping down to moor it to an array of satellite dishes. The others followed him onto the roof, Graham politely offering to take Granny’s handbag while she negotiated the rope. “Maybe the Princess knocked some sense into him” thought Granny as the Knight then came to her side to steady her landing on the roof.
The rag tag group gathered at a stout looking metal door that led to the fire escape stairwell. Jacoby, considering himself a bit of an expert with a crowbar after his efforts at the convenience store a couple of days ago, attempted to give the Princess some advice on how to tackle the door. She nodded along, then when the time came, crushed the locking mechanism in one pull.
“Just like I, er, said” Jacoby scratched his head
“We’ve done a few doors in our time” the Princess curtseyed next to him, then disappeared through the door, the rest of them in tow.
Down two flights they went, gloom of the stairwell gradually losing its battle with the light from the top floor. They emerged onto a landing space, two long dormant lifts to one side, then a door ajar at the other. That was where the noise was coming from. But not just the hum.
“Is someone watching TV?” it had taken Granny a few moments to make sense of the sounds .
“What’s TV?” asked Jack at her side.
“Something from way back” his father answered, deep frown on his face.
The Princess moved forward first, crowbar tightly gripped. She pushed the door further open, stepped inside. “Oh my" she said.
“Hello” said the giant slab of gelatinous flesh that occupied the room “I’m Gary”
The rest of the members of the band of explorers entered and stoody similarly aghast as the Princess in front of them.
“Er, hello” ventured Jack, at least dimly aware of etiquette when someone greets you, even if that “someone” was blocking out most of the windows with its masses of sloppy pinkish flesh.
“What are you?” asked Granny, not one for politeness.
“I’m prototype 34,657c, but like I said you can call me Gary. I’d offer to shake hands, only I don’t have any bones. They were kept for the d series prototypes”
“Prototype what?”
What passed for a face frowned a little “Can’t you tell? How disappointing. You should have seen the 20k batch, they were even worse”
“A prototype, er, human?” it was the Princess who made the guess
Gary brightened “Bingo!”
“But who?”
“Who created me?”
“Yes”
“Hmmm, well, ok, beings though you asked. But I warn you now that it is going to sound weird”
“I’m not sure this evening can get any weirder” Granny interrupted.
“It was the mind controlling aliens that came to Earth from Kepler-438b”
“I was wrong”.
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