Surya sat at the front of the carriage, his face illuminated by the console screen before him. Ravana saw the railcar had a large fuel cell strapped to the rear and guessed it had been modified, presumably by Fenris, to run on its own power. Another fuel cell on the floor near the door was connected to the lighting circuits. Fenris was evidently a man of more talents than previously revealed.
“We need a plan,” Ostara said to Ravana. “Surya has been speaking to Endymion and we think we’ve found Fenris and the mad priest.”
“Taranis is on the other side of that hatch,” Ravana told her. “Reactor A.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because we’ve just come from Reactor B and he’s definitely not there!”
“Well deduced,” Ostara remarked. “I’ll make a detective of you yet.”
“Have you seen anyone else?” asked Ravana. “Zotz thought there was a woman on the stairs. He is however wearing a mask and it was very dark,” she added hastily.
“Not a soul. The palace was deserted, but we found a secret passage from Fenris’ room that led up to this tunnel. It was quite a walk! It’s taken us an hour to get this far.”
“Access Tunnel A,” said Surya. “All four kilometres of it.”
“Fenris took the train, I presume?” remarked the birdman. “Resourceful man.”
Ostara gave The Flying Fox an odd look and discretely pulled Ravana to one side.
“Why is Zotz dressed as some sort of superhero?” she asked, her voice hushed.
“It’s a long story!” Ravana whispered back. “Now we’re here, I’m not sure it was a good idea. Zotz is so much more confident as The Flying Fox, but to see him in action is like watching a really bad actor. Does that make sense?”
“What was that?” asked the birdman.
“He has bat-like hearing though,” murmured Ostara, making Ravana giggle.
Surya glanced up from the screen. “Are you coming to look at this?” he asked grumpily.
Ostara, Ravana and The Flying Fox went over to where Surya sat in the carriage. The railcar’s console was connected to the Dandridge Cole’s network. On its holovid screen they saw the familiar grinning features of Endymion, though given the circumstances Ravana was starting to find his perpetual air of blissful ignorance wearisome. Endymion was speaking into his wristpad, with Philyra visible in the shadows over his shoulder.
“Ravana!” greeted Endymion, when she moved into view. “Can I talk to you instead? The professor told me you’re studying engineering.”
“He thinks I’m stupid,” Surya said, speaking in a mock whisper.
“I never said that!”
“Tell Ravana what you found,” Ostara interrupted, sounding exasperated.
“Fenris’ slate,” Endymion declared. Behind him, Philyra held up the slate as if she were selling merchandise on a holovid shopping channel. “It contains technical information and plans for the Dandridge Cole. I think I’ve found what is causing the power drain!”
“Taranis is causing it,” Ravana replied wearily. “He’s holed up near Reactor A.”
“Okay, so you know that bit,” Endymion retorted irritably. “What you may not know is that he has linked the two fusion reactors together, bypassed the overload prevention circuits and switched off remote network access. Both reactors are now controlled solely by the console for Reactor A. The only way to put it right is to go into the engine room.”
“None of us know how to program fusion reactors!” exclaimed Ostara.
“I’ve studied basic maintenance,” Ravana told her, thinking of her classes with Professor Wak. “What about Hanuman? Is he on his way?”
“They’re still working on the Platypus,” Endymion replied, with a tinge of frustration. “As for the reactor controls, I may be able to talk you through it,” he said doubtfully.
Ravana looked glum. “Is there nothing else we can do?”
“We shall force Taranis to undo what he has done!” declared The Flying Fox.
“He doesn’t strike me as the sort of man who could be forced to do anything,” Ostara remarked. “Besides, we have Fenris to deal with too.”
“There is another option,” Endymion said cautiously. “The plans show that the reactor and engine assemblies were built as self-contained modules. The system is designed so that in an emergency the entire engine room can be ejected into space.”
“Gosh,” murmured Ostara. “That’s one way of disconnecting Taranis’ handiwork. What sort of emergency?”
“A meltdown?” suggested Endymion. “Something like that.”
“The reactor chamber is secured by explosive bolts,” said Ravana, remembering the red barrel-shaped devices on the wall in the other reactor room. “I saw them inside the engine room for Reactor B.”
“So we smash something vital then make a quick exit,” the birdman announced. “But will justice be done if we send Fenris and Taranis into deep space?”
“It gets my vote,” muttered Ravana.
“It’s not much of a plan,” mused Ostara. “But it is the only one we’ve got.”
Ostara turned from the spy hole in the hatch and regarded Ravana gravely, though it was hard to be serious with a cat bouncing up and down between them. The electric pet was trying to eat the fronds of purple fungus splaying from the air vent in the wall.
“Fenris has tried to blow us up once already,” said Ostara. “I’m pretty certain he and Taranis are not going to be pleased to see us. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Not really,” Ravana admitted. “But there’s four of us and only two of them.”
“Assuming we can get in,” added Surya. “When we tried earlier it would not open.”
“The hatch has been jammed from the inside,” declared The Flying Fox, who had already tried the door mechanism. The torch was at his feet, so all anyone else could see was a brightly-lit pair of red legs. “But do not fear! I shall prevail!”
Surya turned his own torch towards the hatch. The birdman grasped the wheel firmly in both hands and strained hard against the jammed lock. A thin whine was heard from his jet pack, then the feeble bulge of his biceps became impossibly impressive as the birdsuit’s electrically-powered muscles did their utmost to amplify the wearer’s own movements. There was a creak of metal and the wheel turned a fraction.
“Those fake muscles are very distracting,” murmured Ostara.
Ravana heard a note of approval in Ostara’s voice and smiled. The hatch gave another groan and then with a sudden bang the wheel began to spin freely in the birdman’s hand. Surya handed Ravana his own torch and went to help, then together they pulled open the hatch to reveal the short passage beyond.
The Flying Fox stepped over the fallen steel bar that had been jamming the lock, spun the handle on the second hatch and pushed it open. Beyond lay an eerie, green-tinged blackness. A damp smell gusted through the doorway and Ravana wrinkled her nose in disgust, then was almost swept off her feet as her frantically-meowing cat darted ahead with the fury of a piranha at feeding time.
“Jones!” she called. Her words vanished unanswered into the dark.
“That pet of yours needs its chips examined,” muttered Ostara.
“The lights were on in the other engine room,” Ravana murmured apprehensively.
“You want me to go first?” asked The Flying Fox.
As one, the other three nodded. Ravana handed the torch to the masked birdman and stood back as The Flying Fox defiantly followed the beam through the hatch.
The lights of the engine room abruptly blazed into life. Before any of them had time to react, a figure waiting beyond the hatch sprang out of hiding and pointed a gun at the birdman’s padded chest. The Flying Fox gave a startled yelp, dropped Surya’s torch to the floor and hurriedly raised his hands.