1889: Journey To The Moon (The Far Journey Chronicles) (27 page)

Tesla reached for the speaking tube again, but Ekka was there beside him, giving him a start.

“Ah! Miss Gagarin. I have a thought about the alien ships.”

“Yes?”

“When they come alongside, or rather, if they should happen to come alongside, we will pull a little trick on them.”

“Explain, please,” she stated.

Tesla regarded her. The woman was clearly exhausted, and the blood-caked wound on her scalp looked serious.  She hung limply in the air and her eyes seemed to stay open by sheer power of will.

“I dare not explain in great detail. Suffice it to say, energy is created in this universe from a difference of potential between two terminals. The
Arcadia
generates a great deal of energy from its engine, which your Billy is about to repair for us.”

“Then he’s found a way to do it?” Ekka’s eyes widened in interest.

“He believes so. I prefer not to know his modus operandi. Let me say that I have faith in him.”

“Billy is wonderful, Nikola.”

Tesla smiled. “All women have to think so of their mate, or the whole sexuality thing is rendered moot. But what I was talking about was energy. When Billy comes into close proximity to you, energy is produced, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes. I would say.”

“It’s the same kind of thing between the two terminals in a battery, for instance. A bolt of power will arc between the two when they are close enough. There is always an exchange of energy. That is the underlying principle on how the
Arcadia
runs. So, when the alien ships draw close enough to us—and they must be very close to us—then we will reverse the polarity of the ship for a mere, say, three seconds. At that moment we must send all of the electricity from the coil out into space.”

“But there is nothing in space for it to go
to!
” Ekka said.

“Yes. Exactly. Nothing but the alien ships. A few trillion volts of electricity should take care of them.”

“Nikola,” Ekka said gently. “When they get close behind us, I am certain that they will fire upon us from
behind
. We will likely never get the chance to try your plan.”

Tesla nodded slowly, then sighed.

Ekka held out a velvet bag to him.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Denys’s diamonds. They were a gift from his Cecil Rhodes.”

“Ah yes. I remember the man.”

Tesla unknotted the drawstring and allowed the diamonds to drift before them in the air.

“It’s too bad we no longer have Cyclops,” Tesla stated.

“Oh, but we have his head. Why would you want the thing? It attacked us. It very nearly killed us all.”

Billy’s voice intruded into the cabin, “I’m about to...um...fix the transmogrifier. There may be a bit of a roar.”

“A roar?” Ekka asked. “Billy, what are you going to
do
?”

“Never you mind. Prepare for a roar in one minute. Not sure if this will work. If it doesn’t...”

“You have to make it work, then,” Ekka said. She turned back to Tesla. “What about the robot?”

“I have an idea. Can you bring me its head?”

“Ugh. Yes. I can.”

Tesla smiled. “Wait here until after Billy slays his lion.”

Tesla began picking Denys Jay-Patten’s Rhodesian diamonds out of the air.

[ 103 ]

Billy Gostman retrieved the small box of matches from his shirt pocket that he and Ekka found while ransacking Jay-Patten’s stateroom.  He tried to pull one of the matches from the box and a dozen matches spilled into the air, floated before him. He selected one, and then placed it at the end of the long metal dowel rod he’d found earlier in Ross’s tool box. He carefully wrapped the match and the rod with a bit of wire until satisfied it would hold. He set it in the air close by and maneuvered himself to the side of the transmogrifier. 

He unstoppered Jack Ross’s bottle of whiskey and quickly placed his finger over the hole. A bubble of amber liquid floated into the air before his eyes. Billy opened his mouth, leaned forward and snatched it out of the air. It burned its way down his throat as he swallowed it and in a moment a warm glow suffused his stomach.

“Ahhh,” he sighed. “Well, here goes nothin’.”

Billy held the bottle out before the transmogrifier and watched as the contents spilled out and were pulled toward the running machine. There was a loud wet chopping sound as the whiskey flowed into the inner workings of the machine.

Billy struck the match and held it close to the machine.

He had expected a small, momentary flash. What he got instead was the Fourth of July.

HuuUUU-WAP!

The flash was more of an explosion of yellow light mated with a thunderclap. The ball of flame leapt out ten feet in a straight line from the transmogrifier, immolating the spot where he had been floating moments before. The ball divided into to six equal mini-balls of fire that came rushing back to slam into the face of the machine once more.

In less than ten seconds the flames were gone and the gears inside the machine began whirring at a much higher rate of speed.

Billy listened. There was no unsteady thump to it, as had been there before.

“What the hell was that?” Tesla’s voice came over the speaking tube.

“That was a Shanghai Fire Dragon, Mr. Tesla. And your machine is fixed.”

“God Bless you, Mr. Gostman. You’ll see Ekka headed aft along the way. Tell her not to switch the robot head on until she brings it back.”

“Will do. What about the company we have coming?”

“They’re still coming. We have about five minutes, maybe less. One of you will need to get in a space suit.”

“That would be me,” Billy said.

“I understand. All right, change of plans, then. Since we’re limited as to time, I’m coming aft. Tell Ekka to check the robot’s head for a power source we can work with.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Turn it into a weapon. If all goes well, it’ll be the biggest six-shooter you’ve ever shot, Billy The Kid.”

“Mr. Tesla, I think you understand me. Perfectly.”

[ 104 ]

Ekka stuck her head down into the engine room.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were Billy The Kid?” she asked.

Billy looked up. “I didn’t think it mattered,” he said.

“Grab a wrench and a few other tools. There’s no telling what we’ll need.

Billy retrieved the tools, then tensed his legs and shot upward toward her. She caught him as he emerged from the wide hatch and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Does it matter?” he asked her.

“It doesn’t. I still love you.”

Billy grinned. “Same here.”

“Let’s get aft,” she said. “I overheard the last part of that conversation. Are you sure you want to get in one of those damned suits?”

“I don’t want
you
in one of those damned suits,” he said. “And that’s final.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

[ 105 ]

The rear cargo hold appeared to be a shambles through the window beside the closed hatch. The pressure gauge beside the hatch showed a complete absence of pressure beyond the portal. The disembodied and dimmed head of Cyclops tumbled about in the vacuum beyond.

“It’s dead space in there,” Billy said.

A number of empty suits floated in the corridor. Several had punctures in them.

Ekka began gathering up suits. An alien suit appeared to be the only one not riven and torn.

“I don’t want to wear one of those things,” Billy stated.

“You will wear it, Billy The Kid,” Ekka said, and pushed the large alien suit into his arms.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Billy put on the suit.

Tesla came up behind them. “Where’s the robot head?”

Billy hooked a thumb toward the glass. “In the cargo hatch. I’m going out there. You need to tell me now what to do. Out there, I’ll have to figure out things on the fly. Apparently sound doesn’t do so well without air.”

“No. Indeed it doesn’t.”

Ekka handed Billy the helmet. Before he could don it, she gave him a quick kiss.

“I know. Don’t get myself killed.”

“Yes.”

Tesla talked as he handed Jay-Patten’s diamonds to Ekka while Billy tightened the alien helmet.

“You have to pop the face plate off of the red eye chamber. A knife or a screwdriver should do it. You will then have to remove the ruby and replace it with one of these diamonds. Hopefully, the power cell for the head works. Once the diamond is in place, you go into the last chamber and through the wreckage so you are exposed directly to space so you will have a clear field of fire.  Aim the head manually at the alien craft, then switch the robot head ON. If all goes well, the diamonds will turn the light into...something else. Something highly focused. Place my monocle over the diamond before replacing the cover. Make sure they perfectly align. Test it at long range first, then...fire at will.”

Ekka pointed. Through the window and past the wreckage and into the blackness of space beyond. Three points of light grew in intensity. The aliens were coming.

“I’ll try,” Billy said through the helmet. His voice was muffled, but they could understand him. “One of you is going to have to open this hatch and then close it behind me. Fast. There will be a windstorm for a second or two.”

“I’ll do it, of course,” Ekka said. “Nikola, please get back to the bridge.”

“Yes. Yes ma’am. Certainly.” Tesla turned and launched himself forward.

Ekka turned to Billy? “Are you ready?”

“I was born ready. Are you ready?”

She nodded.

“Brace yourself, then,” he said. When he saw she was beside the door with her legs spread to wedge herself between one of the ship’s ribs and the panel beside the doorway, Billy looked into her eyes and said, “Do it.”

[ 106 ]

The moment the door was partially open, Billy ducked and allowed the rush of air to bear him inward. Behind him Ekka began cycling the door closed. Likely she was freezing to death with each passing instant.

The door closed.

The head of Cyclops spun about in the fresh gale, and when Billy put his hand on it the thing slowed, yet it pulled him into the slower spin along with it. He fought to ignore the blurring spin and focused on the visor of the robot head. There were two points where something could be wedged beneath the glass plate—one on each side. He took the screwdriver and pushed gently, hoping the glass wouldn’t shatter. If it did, then this particular plan would likely have to be abandoned.

The glass moved perhaps one tenth of an inch forward and then Billy saw what the problem was. There were two small bolts top and bottom that held two small plates down to the plane of the robot’s face. The plates likewise held the visor glass in place.

“Damn,” Billy said. He placed the screwdriver against his chest and hoped it would stay there in case it was needed again, and then bent and changed hands with the wrench. He had never been truly left-handed, but while dextrous with his left, his right was far more accurate. He tightened the head of the oversized spanner nearly closed and applied it to the head of the top bolt. Too tight. He readjusted it and fitted it into place again. It fit, though not perfectly snug.

“What the hell,” he said, and tried to turn the wrench anyway. The wrench slipped free of the bolt.

Billy’s stomach tightened in a contraction. He knew he was turning somewhat green, but then again he’d eaten nothing in the last thirty hours or so. If he threw up in his helmet, he could either lose all vision or possibly asphyxiate on his own vomit.

“Nope,” he said to himself. “The Kid ain’t going out that way. You behave,” he commanded his stomach. The nausea instantly abated.

He tightened the wrench down less than a quarter of a turn and applied it again.

It was a perfect fit.

Billy turned the wrench and the bolt turned once. He moved to the other one and tried it. It turned as well. He continued until the bolt loosened enough that the face plate moved outward past the plane of the robot’s face. He turned his attention to the other bolt and turned it until it was even with its twin. The screwdriver drifted up to bob against his own helmet. He parked the wrench against his chest and replaced it in his hand with the screwdriver and applied it to one end of the faceplate and gave an ever-so-gentle push. The plate popped fully outward. Billy slid the faceplate glass out of the way and regarded the ruby beneath. It was as large as his palm. He removed it from its setting with a delicate tap of the screwdriver and took one of Jay-Patten’s diamonds from his left hand. He examined the diamond. The thing was beautiful as he turned it about in his hands. Something, however, didn’t feel right about it. He let it go to drift away. There was one diamond remaining in his left hand. He had lost the other somewhere—perhaps when he came through the cargo hatch. There was no looking for it now.