The Chronicles of Jonathon Postlethwaite: The Seed of Corruption (12 page)

Jonathon studied the disillusioned giant. He meant what he said.

“Where will you go Rislo?" he asked. Rislo shrugged, his eyes narrowing in surprise.

“Out of Dubh, through the rifts in the Field Walls. I don't know exactly where, but anywhere must be better than here." he paused as he began to realise the apparent naivety behind Jonathon's question.

He began again with questions of his own.

“Do you mean that you know nothing of the portals, doors, gates, call them what you wish, from this dimension to others? - Cornelius knew of them."

Jonathon shrugged his shoulders.

“Only through rumour and another man's insane dreams, I've never seen one."

Rislo continued, he felt that Jonathon should know more

than he did.

“You have never seen the fissures that occur in the Field Walls and other places in the city where a man can walk through to other worlds?"

Jonathon became uneasy.

“They are real then? I have heard that such doors exist, but never knew that there were more than a few." Jonathon, shivered. If there were so many had Flax already found his door? Rislo continued and confirmed that the rifts in the energy fields were many and that they were increasing, the Tallmen scientists had no idea why.

But Rislo had a theory of his own - corruption, the malign spirit of this city was feeding on energy from the Field Walls as well as the dark energy of human depravity, the energy loss was destabilising the Field Walls.

“Jonathon? Rislo asked, “I am right to understand that your motives are the same as Cornelius, aren't I ?" Jonathon nodded.

The Tallman was confused.

“So how would you save yourself, if you know little of the doors, how would you escape, Jonathon?

Jonathon had no real answer to the question, he had only assumed that he would eventually find the gate Flax searched for and use that, but now he realised that his plans lacked any practical substance. He shrugged, embarrassed by his own stupidity.

“I never really thought it all out. The desire to end the ills of this place sometimes overpower me, I don't think straight. I'm just urged on by something from deep inside of me" The Tallman's green eyes widened in surprise. “You never planned escape for yourself and your friends, yet you found me just as Cornelius did and share his quest, what drives you drove him. But if you do not think Jonathon it will drive you to destruction too, it will use your anger as a weapon against you!"

Jonathon felt embarrassed. A thousand questions uncovered themselves in his mind. Questions he had never considered. Rislo, however, had never  meant to ridicule him. Jonathon's self-less quest actually impressed him.

“The spirit of your Grandfather lives in you Jonathon Postlethwaite. You are prepared to sacrifice yourself for a greater good. Cornelius would be proud of you..........but even he did not see himself as dispensable.

“Sacrifice...." Jonathon echoed. He had never seen it that way. When he had sworn his oaths against Flax and the city, the consequences of achieving the his goals had never really been clear to him. His love of the roof top dwellers and his deepening relationship with Milly had never affected his plans. But now he began to consider their implications. When the city died so would they. His own safety, his own end, had seemed of no consequence.

                            Now what? Rislo had brought him down to earth with a bang. He really had to think what he was doing. A shadow of doubt had been cast in his mind. Was he really intent on sacrificing his friends, those he loved, for his own goals? The Tallman sensed his dilemma.

“It need not be that way, the ultimate sacrifice is not necessary. Your Grandfather's plan's included a way out for him and his friends. Did he not tell you of it? "

Jonathon looked at Rislo in surprise. A moment ago he had begun to doubt himself, now a splinter of light had been cast by the very person who had cast him into that darkness.

" I knew nothing of these plans, or that we might meet in this way, but something guides us Rislo, something has brought us together like this.....it's more than fate or coincidence. We must make the best of this situation...... we're not alone in our quest. We must work together. You are part of this. “he looked determinedly at Rislo.

“You must tell me all of Cornelius's plan"

Rislo, until this moment, had felt like an outsider watching some great drama unfold, this historic individual poised to sacrifice all in an emotional, revenge driven and suicidal  crusade.  If  Jonathon  had   already   known the means to the end of the destruction of Dubh, he would already have done it, Rislo sensed;  and  to  hell with the consequences it appeared.

                            Now the potential suicide was showing some signs of sanity, Rislo felt  relieved.  And  Jonathon  was  right, he Rislo, was also part of this.

He  could  just  give   Jonathon   the   information he required, but that would have been wrong. Their destinies had become entwined, brought together by some force opposed to Flax and the city, just as Cornelius  and  he  had  been  brought  together   all those years ago. And what was more he owed it to his friend Cornelius Postlethwaite, who had made his own life bearable when he had become lost in his own lethargy and cowardice.

                            Cornelius had been right when he had said that the Tallmen would become like the humans of the city. Rislo had been too proud of his own race, their integrity, and denied that it could happen, but now it was happening.

If  Jonathon  had  not  arrived  when  he  had Rislo knew that he would eventually have allowed himself to be swallowed up by it. He had not the courage to do anything on his own. He dreamed of escaping alone, but they were mere dreams. Jonathon was a catalyst.  He  had  the  courage  and  conviction  to carry out his task. He had already infected Rislo and drawn him from the refuge of the Towers, where he dreamed daily of escape, but was paralysed by the fear of the consequences of failure.

                            This young man              was                            a              powerful                            force  in Dubh, Rislo  saw  this  clearly.  He  plunged  headlong towards a seemingly impossible goal, despite the odds stacked against him. Something had to give, and it had. He              had              punched              a              fateful              hole              in              the web              of predictable  events of in Dubh, coincidence had bent to fate,  they  had              given              Jonathon                            Rislo who woudl become a weapon in his hands. Now he was no longer alone and the knowledge he required was within his reach in the mind of his giant friend Rislo.

He turned to him now.

“You will tell me how then Rislo, you'll help me?” Rislo nodded, enthusiastically.

“Of course, I have the means of destroying this place, I have worked for years on it, waiting for Cornelius to return. And  there  are  many  potential  escape  `doors' I  have  located which we can use to escape." He spoke with a new determination in his voice.

“Now is the time then Rislo, we must begin. " The giant nodded,

“You are right my friend, we must move quickly, soon I will be missed and I have many things to show you and we  both have much to do. "

                            The giant lifted his pack onto his back and prepared to move from the chamber. Jonathon realised he had moved closer to fulfilling his oaths. Possibilities had become probabilities, thoughts and dreams – now threatened material realities.

The foul soul of Dubh cringed as  a  chill  wind blew through its heart. It  feared  for  its  existence,  yet the fear spurred it  into  action  and  its  allies  were already scheming. Its enemies were vulnerable and, after all, merely human. Jonathon cared - that was his weakness, she was the key, she was his soft spot, and the Tallman; without him he was weak and fragile. It laughed to itself and all across the city many humans laughed inexplicably with it as its darkness shone through their souls. Already its dark champion was moving against him, It had failed once, but this time It would not fail; It had to destroy the sickly sweet goodness that threatened It, the city and Dubh.

Chapter Nine

Rislo led Jonathon down a steep flight of greasy, steps from the small chamber in which they had met into a maze of corridors that spread out beneath the Halls of Machines.  The  corridor  walls  were  constructed  out  of finely cut stones and slabs fitted together with an enviable precision and accuracy, but they now seemed deserted and filled with the dust and cobwebs which accumulate only after years of disuse.

                            These underground passageways were clearly made for the use of Tallmen, their ceilings high enough for Rislo to walk with ease, tall and erect. Carrying his light globe before him Rislo turned to illuminate the multitude of chambers that led off the corridor they now walked along.

                            The rooms were small and large, Jonathon strained his eyes too peer into their dusty, dark interiors as they passed by. Jonathon noticed furnishings still intact. These places seemed to have been inhabited by Tallmen once, he deduced by the size of beds and chairs, but now they were silent,  eerily  deserted,  and  covered  with  the dusty sediments of the years.

Above them, the throb of rank upon rank of hungry machines filled these catacombs with a permanent vibration. The hum disturbed the stonework to fill the air with clouds of tiny dust motes, which sparkled in the illumination from Rislo's light orb as the pair made their way through the former Tallman residences.

                            A few Tallmen still resided here however. Rislo stopped at a large carved wooden door and pushed it inwards on its stiff creaking hinges that complained noisily at  their  intrusion.  Inside  the  long,  heavy  bones  of  a

Tallman had been laid to rest on a huge bed where they reflected Rislo's orb light, their stark whiteness contrasting with the grey dust which lay around them.

“Tombs ' whispered Rislo.” Once we lived here before the expansion of the Halls, and now our dead rest here."

                            He stood in silent respect for a while and looked at the   skeleton.   Its   dark   eye    sockets    stared, almost   accusingly back at him.

They moved on. They passed many more doors closed to the living, denoting their change from living chambers to crypts. The two moved in silence, each locked in his own thoughts. Rislo with memories of the departed who lay here and of whom he had personal memories. Jonathon with thoughts of Milly and his apparent disregard for her safety, whilst he pursued his reckless, vengeful goals.

                            A  cold  chill  swept  suddenly  through   him, pictures surfaced into his consciousness. Men in black, High Hats, grinning faces flickering yellow and red. He felt threatened, afraid for Milly. He shrugged it off. Of course, she was safe, he told himself. No one could approach her and the Whisperers on the rooftops. The Tans had tried and failed. She had Dale and Tefkin to protect her anyway. He laughed quietly at  his  illogical fear, yet it persisted, he pushed it from his mind, out of his thoughts.

                            The  two  moved  on  leaving  the  Tallmens’  tombs behind them. The passageways became bleaker and coarser as they travelled ever downwards, leaving the fine masonry behind them. Now they walked in tunnels cut into the naked rock that cradled the city. Water dripped from above and formed oily black, lightless puddles, which they splashed through on the uneven floor.

The deeper they travelled the brighter Rislo's orb seemed to glow yet seemed  to  penetrate  less  into the darkness which pressed in around them. In the artificial light, Jonathon studied his new ally closely. He was tall, of course, but there was little to make him different from a human.

                            His head and all of his facial features were elongated, but it made for a friendly combination. Rislo's eyes drew Jonathon's attention, deep green but sad eyes, which seemed sparkle when he spoke to him. They were so different from  the  deathly,  glazed  look  of  most of  Dubh's inhabitants.

His dress was of a substantially higher standard of quality than he had seen in anywhere in the Upper or Lower City. Even though his attire was one of a lowly soldier. His one piece leather coverall was alien to human fashions, decorated lavishly with brass buckles and buttons, badges of rank even as lowly as Rislo's displayed and embroidered with the faces of unknown, and terrible looking beasts.

                            Despite the attire of a soldier, Rislo seemed  to carry none of the conventional weapons Jonathon associated with such a profession. No swords, daggers or muskets, just a long black rod which hung by a coiled cable from a bulky, pocketed belt.

                            On top of his coverall, he wore a long, red cloak and a large backpack that Jonathon judged not to be part of his regular equipment. He had brought it along for this journey, wherever it would take him, he was not thinking of returning to the towers it appeared.

                            The passageways cut into the rock now  ended. They found themselves travelling through natural  clefts and faults in the wet rock, which widened  here  and there into caverns of various sizes. Here, their footfalls echoed from the pitch blackness of high roofs where Rislo's light could not reach, a darkness which seemed to fold behind them again as they travelled on. In the darkness, Jonathon heard the screams and shrieks of disturbed subterranean animals, accompanied by the scrabble of many claws over rock or the dry slither of scales through the pebble moraine which gathered on the cave floors.

                            When the caverns closed back around them they found themselves in narrow, cramped passageways, where Jonathon was forced to crouch low to pass through and Rislo, leading the way, squirmed and crawled to make

progress.

                            Jonathon wondered where they were going, but the Tallman's determined progress instilled in him the confidence that they were not lost. He guessed that now it was dawn on the surface and he and his companion had travelled miles beneath the city.

                            Eventually Rislo halted and beckoned  Jonathon into a narrow crevice which struck upwards away from the main tunnel, a mile long fault in the rock strata, they had travelled for the last hour. After a short, steep climb, they came upon steps carved into the natural rock. The stairway wound upwards to end in a large unadorned stone door. There were footprints in the dust on the small landing before the door, indicating that someone used the place regularly.

                            Rislo adjusted the intensity of his light orb and held it to a rectangular keyhole in the door, so that a beam of light shone into the room beyond. Then followed a loud clunk, and the heavy door swung inwards slightly.

The giant smiled proudly and nodded to Jonathon.

“Light lock" he informed Jonathon. " The light, set at the correct intensity, shines through onto a sensitive plate and activates the opening or closing of the lock mechanism."

Rislo pushed the door inwards to allow them to pass inside, then closed the door behind them, carefully sliding a plate over the lock aperture.

                            As  they  had  entered  the  room,  the  source  of illumination had come on of its own accord, triggered by a similar mechanism to the lock, causing two brightly shining orbs suspended from the ceiling to glow brightly. Rislo smiled contentedly at Jonathon's surprise and approval. “My hideaway, craved out of the rock with my own hands when I was off duty - many years of lonely and hard work." he looked around at his handiwork. " The light lock and ceiling lights is my own design - my Father was a technician I learned much from him. The power for the lights comes from a generator driven by an underground watercourse not far from here."

He  removed  his  heavy  backpack  and  cloak, dumping  them amongst the collection of boxes and a vast jumble of unfamiliar equipment, which covered the floor.

                            Jonathon surveyed Rislo's hideaway. It had been expanded out of a small natural cave to form a large room the size of the Tallman crypts they had passed at the beginning of their journey down here. There was room for a bed, a table, and chairs. Around the edge of the room hung odd garments and the stone floor covered, in some places, by off cuts of different coloured carpet. Bottles, jugs and cutlery cluttered the table and the numerous shelves which had been fixed to the walls. Rislo walked over to the far end of the room to a large object covered in a large green dustcover. Jonathon

moved to his side as the giant threw back the covering. The contraption that Rislo triumphantly revealed did not immediately impress the Tallman's companion.

“What is it?" Jonathon asked in bemusement as he studied the tangled network of glass tubes and small orbs that seemed to have been thrown together in a random fashion before him.

Rislo laughed quietly.

“It’s a Field Imploder." he replied, as a matter of fact. Jonathon shrugged.

“A what?”

“A Field Imploder". Rislo repeated. “The very opposite of those machines which hold the walls of this dimension apart. His eyes twinkled.

A smile grew on his thin lips.

Jonathon's  eyes  widened  as  he  began  to understand.  Rislo continued.

“We              Tallmen."              he              frowned              and              corrected himself,              divorcing  himself from his race. “The Tallmen have three machines similar to this. One continuously          to keeps the Field Walls stable and enables the Great Gate to remain open.  The  second  is  a  reserve  in case  that  the  first  malfunctions. A third is kept to replace either at any time." he turned and pointed to his own device. "I constructed this from spare parts and parts I made or removed from the service expander," he said proudly. "This…." he said as his long fingers followed the crystal tubes fondly. "This, this works in the opposite manner. It collects energy rather and expending it to keep the dimension inflated - or at least it will when I have a power reservoir."

Jonathon was slightly confused.

“So you do not have this power reservoir then. What good is this machine then?"

                            Rislo pointed to a gap in the network of tubes and globes. “All it needs is the power reservoir… and the device will function." He explained.

Jonathon nodded , understanding what Rislo implied. “And where might we get one then, can you make one?” The giant shook his head.

“The Power Reservoir which fits here is a little like this light globe. The energy from the Halls of Machines is fed into the reservoirs and dissipated through the mechanism of the Field Expanders.......to keep the Field Walls inflated. What we need is one that's fully discharged. When it is placed in my machine it will draw all of the energy in Dubh into the globe, the Field Walls will fail and all of Dubh will slowly collapse into the reservoir. Do you understand? “he looked quizzically at Jonathon.

Jonathon nodded his comprehension.

“If  we  get  this  reservoir,  then  we've  the  means of  destroying Dubh and all those in it, yes? "

Rislo nodded.

“Yes, but its not quite that simple. The only place we can get one from is the Great Dome, a hall beyond the Towers and it must be from the discharged machine."

Jonathon saw their plan taking shape.

“So,  we  enter  this  Dome,  steal  the  reservoir,  set  this machine              functioning              and              escape?"              Jonathon              looked questioningly at the giant who nodded affirmatively again. “In essence  yes.  The  difficult  part  will  be  getting  the discharged  reservoir  out  of  the  Dome  to  wherever  we have located our machine, the Tallmen won't be giving it away" he laughed. “They won't give up their future that easily."