Marcel was about to ask why he serves such a crooked man, but he thought better of it. “You are free to do what you want, right?”
“I'm a disgrace to my family back home,” Kamau replied in a faraway voice. “I often disobeyed my commanders' orders and was dismissed from the military. In Nubia, being a warrior is everything. Geller gave me the opportunity to be my own kind of soldier and rewarded me for my loyalty.”
“I hope I'm as smart as you think I am,” said Marcel.
“Oh, you are.” Kamau chuckled. “You will outsmart your masters, and who knows. Maybe you'll carve out your own kingdom someday. If you are able to create and build new machines, the kind no one has ever seen before, imagine what kind of power you could have. You could have whatever you want. Look what you did today with a rusty old car and piles of junk.”
Marcel turned to him. “What if I come back for you? You could be my protector.”
Kamau flashed his white teeth in a smile. “Now that would be something.”
“I would reward you handsomely. Pay you better than Geller does. I wouldn't have you doing bad things like kidnapping children or keeping them from escaping.”
“I'm sure you would.”
He wondered if Kamau was being his friend again. “Are you mad at me? I nearly broiled you today.”
Kamau reached over and touched Marcel's head. “No, I am not mad. You are a sly one, that's for sure. It helps keep me employed. That marks the twenty-third time I've saved Master Geller's life. The second time from your clutches.”
Images of giant machines toppling empires filled his mind, and Marcel wondered if it was possible. Power meant freedom. Kamau was right. One day, he would make it so he was no longer a victim. He'd find his mother, and he would create powerful machines to protect them from whoever intended to hurt them.
“You can be the king of your destiny,” whispered Kamau. “Take advantage of the situation you are in, no matter how bleak it seems right now. Learn all you can and gather all the resources you can. You'll have your freedom eventually.”
They talked about being masters of their own dominions for several minutes until Marcel began to drift. The last thing he remembered was Kamau putting his hand on Marcel's forehead and whispering something in his ancient native language.
KAI FOUND HIMSELF IN THE basement of the palace when he emerged from a small metal door. The corridor was extremely narrow, filled with the echoes of distant workers in the kitchen somewhere beyond the short hallway. The underground tunnel system was easy to find, and it had been described in great detail by one of Geller's men. It only cost Kai a sack of gold bars.
These mercenaries were poor soldiers. They lacked loyalty.
He reloaded his pistol, having used three bullets already on the employees he encountered while using the passageway. Kai took no pleasure in killing these innocents, and having to hide the bodies took up precious time. As he pressed his body up against the wall and slid down the corridor, it became clear the kitchen was some distance away.
There were no windows, and only dying torches lit this level. The main corridor was slightly wider than the one he left, amplifying the voices of Geller's servants. He scanned the area, despite the darkness, and knew there were two stairways he could take, one at each end of this main hall. The kitchen was to his right, so Kai chose the less traveled stairs to his left.
Sounds reverberated too well in this castle. Kai relied on silence and surprise, so he put his gun away and slid his sword from its sheath. His eyes were fully adjusted to the lack of light, and he felt all of his senses amplify while he maneuvered in silence up the stairwell. His body's vibrations increased in frequency, and the energy was both stimulating and calming. Kai immersed his whole being in the state of Ishen; his muscles twitched, ready for anything.
Time was against him, as the two soldiers Geller had assigned to spy on him were likely due to check in soon. He had slit their throats shortly after getting off his ship, and when they would fail to return, Geller would put his entire personal army on high alert. Kai climbed the steps. He led with his sword. After gliding up three more flights, he realized he was on the floor housing a museum. Ancient weapons stood on display, protected in glass boxes. Kai now doubted if the child was being kept in this tower, as it seemed too quiet here.
Heavy footsteps thundered above him. Kai closed his eyes, letting his acute hearing take over. He surmised that two men were coming his way. He reached over and snuffed out an already dimming lantern, giving his eyes enough time to adjust to the dark.
The two men were conversing about spear fishing as they made their way down the stone steps. After taking a final deep breath, Kai emerged from the shadows and sliced through both men's necks with one fatal slash of his katana.
REFERRING TO THE MAPS HE had memorized, Zen easily navigated his way back to the main marketplace and followed the dirt road towards Geller's estate. He came to a fork in the road. He knew the one to the right lead directly to the front gate of the castle, and the road to the left was the way to the servant's cottage. Without hesitation, he went left and continued down the cobblestone path.
Zen hoped to avoid Geller's employees when he reached the modest cottage stationed at the rear of the grand estate. Thankfully, the cottage was deserted. The door wasn't locked, and the main room contained only a large table and bench and an ancient and empty gas lamp.
Finding the door to the underground tunnel was easy, as the square wooden hatch on the floor was already open. He supposed the servants came and went from there, and he made sure to listen for the sound of approaching footsteps. Using the peering moonlight to see, his feet found the thin rungs below, and he lowered himself into the tunnel.
The brick-lined tunnel was much wider than he expected, and Zen was relieved to find old, lit lanterns lining the brick walls. He kept a tight grip on his revolver and followed the winding passageway until the scent of gunpowder brought him to a halt. Zen inhaled deeply, and the lingering, acrid smell indicated that a firearm had been discharged recently. He cocked the hammer of his own pistol before proceeding through the damp tunnel.
Zen felt for the tele-relay in his pocket, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. The edges of anxiety tugged at his throat, and he led with the barrel of his pistol as he traveled deeper within the underground path to Geller's castle.
The closer he got to the palace, the wider the tunnel grew. Zen noticed shallow paths veering off of the main passage. They were filled with old crates and served as small storage areas. Referring to the map in his mind, he quickened his pace. Zen kept his guard up, but he let out a panicked breath when his boot caught on something while in mid-stride.
Zen nearly lost his balance as his momentum made him stumble forward. When he regained his footing, he turned back to see what had tripped him. He tapered his eyes and spotted a brown leather boot protruding from one of the short storage alleyways.
He retreated backwards when he spotted a dead body dressed in servant's clothing laying on the soft earth. When Zen peeked his head inside the tiny outlet, he discovered a second body stacked on top of the first one.
Zen removed a lantern from its hook and brought it into the opening. The two dead men appeared to have been Geller's hired employees. As he lifted his light, he noted both men had been shot straight through the forehead. One of them twice.
Someone else had come here before him and was likely after the Machine Boy too.
ZEN'S PREMATURE ENCOUNTER WITH ONE of Geller's men on the docks had amended their original plan, and DePaul was obviously shaken by it. He uncharacteristically began barking orders at everyone.
Enapay found the well-stocked arsenal near the entrance to the control room, and he already found boxes of cartridges compatible with his rifle. The weapons DePaul kept were not the Iberian auto guns, but comprised instead of standard Francian rifles and sidearms. That was a good thing.
There was one surprise, however, and DePaul pushed aside his panic long enough to instruc
t Enapay on the proper use of his strange looking grenades.
“Choke bombs,” DePaul explained as he held one of the spherical grenades in his hand. “Wind it up, and it'll give you up to a three second delay. It releases a toxin that can render five or six full-grown men unconscious for about ten minutes.”
“Those will come in handy,” Enapay said as he took two and stacked them in his leather satchel.
“We must hurry.” Neva stood near the ladder stretching up to the exit hatch. “We were supposed to go to the underground entrance with Zen. He's alone out there. He could be in trouble at this very moment.”
Orsini and Lopez rushed to get their gear together. They pulled a pair of bandolier belts filled with bullets around each of their torsos. Meanwhile, DePaul continued his nervous pacing. Simon finished up with stuffing his own satchel with medical supplies and tried to calm his uncle down. Enapay and Neva exchanged anxious looks while they waited beside the steel ladder.
“This was all a big mistake,” DePaul stammered. “We should never have sent your friend Zen in there. I don't understand why you insisted, Enapay.”
“Calm down, Professor.” Enapay threw McMillan a quick look. “I'm pretty sure he's fine.”
“Professor, Enapay is right.” McMillan left her pilot seat and interrupted DePaul's pacing. “I saw it for myself. I watched Zen kill one of those mercenaries with little effort.”
Neva took hold of one of the ladder rungs. “I'm tired of waiting. Let's go.”
DePaul double checked the hand held receiver once more, giving it another three or four cranks. Enapay wondered what the range was on the gadget, and a stone of hysteria formed in his throat. He followed Neva up the ladder to the surface in haste. Although it was only four miles away, Enapay couldn't get to Geller's castle soon enough.
KAMAU LINGERED IN MARCEL'S CHAMBER for a moment, retreating gradually while watching the child sleep. He said an old Nubian prayer over him, a blessing of protection. It surprised him that he remembered it after so many years.
At the conclusion of dinner, Geller had ordered him to double the guards outside of the boy's door. Kamau handpicked the eight soldiers himself, and his mind now turned to finalizing the security details for tomorrow's transport of the child to the winning bidder's ship. That would be when danger would be at its peak. The stakes were high, and a sore loser might try to steal the child from the rightful winner. He most certainly did not want Marcel trapped in the middle of a gunfight.
The representative from Nihon who was absent at dinner was Kamau's top suspect. Geller refused to deal the child before the formal auction, and Kai looked like he had murder pouring from his slanted eyes. The fact that Kai didn't attend Marcel's demonstration made Kamau even more suspicious.
Kamau's hand touched the door's lever when he heard a thump come from the other side, followed by a wet gurgle. His body jolted to action. He drew both of his pistols and pressed his body flat up against the wall adjacent to the door's hinges. The intruder's footsteps were light and erratic, as if he were stepping over bodies.
Shards of splintered wood burst past Kamau's head, and several gunshots punched fist-sized holes through the door. Marcel let out a shriek. Kamau motioned for the boy to hide under the bed, but Marcel hesitated until the wooden door began to open. The child scampered onto the floor and took cover. The tip of a bloody sword crossed the threshold first, and Kamau dared not even take a breath. He was about to extend his left pistol when the dark figure swooped inside the room and struck the gun out of his hand with a flash of his blade.
Kai had come for the boy.
The speed of the intruder shocked Kamau. He managed to raise his other pistol, but Kai kicked his right arm, sending the bullet up into the high ceiling. Kamau threw himself off the wall to avoid the next swing of Kai's sword.
Kamau felt the whirl of the blade above his head as he spun away. He pulled his gun's trigger. Kai staggered and grasped his left shoulder before leaping out of the room and using the damaged door as cover.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kamau scanned the floor for his other pistol. His hands shook, and he felt his heart crashing against his chest. He gave an exasperated groan when he spotted his lost weapon. It lay about twenty feet near the center of the chamber. He needed to draw Kai away from the child to give Marcel a chance to flee. Kamau pumped another two rounds at the door.
Kai blindly returned fire from his own weapon and tore more holes through the door but harmlessly struck the wall above Kamau. He knew Kai's next round of bullets would surely find their mark from such close range.
The room was bare except for the small chair and nightstand beside Marcel's bed, and the dread sank into the pit of his gut. He couldn't risk hiding behind the furniture and putting the boy in the line of fire. Kamau had one desperate move left.
With two bullets remaining in his pistol, Kamau launched himself from the wall and sprinted towards the center of the room. He spun around for the briefest of moments to fire once again towards the door. A searing sizzling stab through Kamau's left leg made his body seize and stumble onto the hard floor.
When Kamau raised his head and opened his eyes, he expected Kai to be leveling his pistol at his head, but instead the sweet symphony of a squad of boot steps and distant gun blasts came from the corridor. More of his men had come to the rescue, and Kamau heard Kai grunting and returning fire from the other side of the door.
He noticed a flicker of movement where Marcel was hiding. With struggling breaths, he endured the excruciating fire smoldering in his left thigh and staggered towards the boy.
“Are you hurt?” Marcel cried from underneath his bed.
“Stay down. Don't worry. My men will get him.”
He had only one bullet left. His other pistol still lay ten feet away. The gunfight outside continued, and he fought to get his legs pumping again.
Out of his periphery, he saw Kai shove the door open and dive into the room with the barrel of his gun lighting up. The hammering punch to Kamau's abdomen made it impossible to breathe, and his weakened body collapsed to his knees. He heard Marcel cry out again, and he wanted to scream at the boy to stay hidden until his men took Kai out. But Kamau was unable to fill his lungs with air.
Kai rushed at him again, and with his final burst of strength, Kamau raised his revolver and discharged his final bullet with a pull of the heavy trigger. The sound of his own gun never reached his ears as blackness consumed his vision. He saw Kai's eyes bulge. But his sight failed him. Kamau didn't even have the chance to see if Marcel was safe when he surrendered to the dark veil overcoming him.
AT THE EXACT MOMENT ZEN placed his hand on the underground door to Geller's castle, he heard a wild commotion coming from the other side. He backed away. Zen hid in another storage outlet seconds before the first hurried footsteps of what sounded to be an entire brigade came crashing into the main artery. Zen remained immobile as dozens of Geller's servants rushed into the passageway and stampeded past him. It was mass hysteria, and Zen knew he was running out of time.
Whatever the reason, security surrounding Marcel was going to be escalated. Zen considered using his tele-relay now, but he decided against it. This was going to be a bloodbath, and he needed to get Marcel out of there as quickly as possible. The fastest way to do it was alone.
When the mob of retreating servants finally stopped, Zen left his hiding place and hurried through the open door. Stepping into a tiny hallway, he listened to the distant yells and the angry smashing of boots against the stone floor.
The frenzied sounds of Geller's mercenaries echoed from up ahead. Against his own logic, he decided to follow the sounds. He breathed a short prayer and hoped Marcel was safe.
Zen visualized the blueprints once again to get his bearings. He was in the western tower, standing next to a spiral staircase on the first floor. A kitchen and an adjacent stairway were to the right. He shuffled to the nearest set of stairs to his left, and the sounds of gunfire thundered from above.
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Zen kept his pistol steady as he lunged up the steps to the second floor, but he paused for a moment. A group of men were hurrying downstairs, coming from one flight above him. He left the stairwell and ducked into a large dimly lit chamber. He flattened up against the wall flanking the threshold. Zen waited until the group of men scurried past him and continued their descent to the first floor.
More gunshots rang out from above. Zen rushed up two more flights of stairs, once again stopping to make sure the way remained clear before proceeding. This third level held a gallery, he recalled. The sounds of battle were much louder now, followed by the shattering of glass.
Zen prepared himself to enter the fray. He commanded the sea of calm to engulf his body, and the brisk awakening of Ishen took over.
The first thing he noticed in his altered state was the overwhelming fumes of discharged gunpowder. With short bursts of muscle twitches in his legs, he leaped up the final handful of stairs.
NEVA LED THEM TOWARDS THE abandoned servants' cottage, but she signaled for them to take cover behind the trees. She peered from behind her hiding spot to watch more than fifty servants bust the door open and pour out of the building in a crazed frenzy. They continued fleeing up the dirt road cutting through Geller's estate.
Enapay shrugged his shoulders as the uniformed men and women screamed past them. Even if Neva and the others had stood out in the open, she knew that the servants would have ignored them during their flight.
“What do you think?” Enapay came out from behind a tree. “You think it's Zen?”
“He hasn't given us the signal,” DePaul cried in a shaky voice. “I thought he said he specialized in stealth.”
Neva said, “I'm going in. Signal or not. Something's wrong, and I'm going to get Marcel and Zen out of there.”
She had been patient long enough, and no one was going to stop her from going into Geller's palace. Neva's grip on her pistol's pearl handles tightened. She approached the small building's door, only to get out of the way of two women in white uniforms shrieking and running past them as if they weren't there. Neva's spirit sank, and she hoped Zen and her Marcel were alright.