Shanks stared in astonishment as the Radiant thrashed and danced wildly just a few yards away from him, giving every appearance of being in unbearable agony. Its piping had risen to a continuous, almost inaudibly high pitch that sounded to the scientist like a scream. A scream that just went on and on and on. Shanks’s hand was still on the main switch that was delivering power to the experimental alternator, and he stared at the apparatus in dawning wonder.
Was it working? Was the apparatus he and Andrea had spent so long working on actually working, delivering the mysterious side effect that so tormented the creatures? He noted that there was a bright arc of electricity between the two graphite contacts. An arc that had a barely perceptible flicker as if it were coming and going almost too fast to see. It was alternating! he realised. The tuning circuit was working, causing the current flowing across the contacts to change direction nearly a hundred times a second.
“We did it, Sophie,” he said, his voice hushed in awe. “We did it! You should have seen this. And you too, Andrea.”
A series of heavy thumps came from the Radiant as one of its tentacles pounded the floor hard enough to split its skin and spill green blood onto the tiled floor. It was trying to get away, he saw, but it seemed to be having trouble finding the hole in the wall it had come in through. A sudden fear came over him as he realised that it could destroy the machine with a single blow from the smallest of its tentacles. Why didn't it do that? It was almost as though the alternator was tormenting it so much that it was literally incapable of rational thought. Incapable even of delivering the simple blow that would still have given the Radiants victory and meant the end of human freedom across the whole world. It could still destroy the machine by accident, though. A wild spasm could still bring a tentacle crashing down on the apparatus at any time! Shanks took hold of the table, therefore, and tried to pull it away from the tormented creature.
It screeched as its legs scraped across the floor, but he'd only moved it a couple of inches before the apparatus wobbled and swayed, coming within a hair of toppling over and crashing to the floor, to the ruin of all mankind. He let go of the table and grabbed hold of the nearest support scaffold, holding it steady. At the top the upper coil wobbled, and he stared in terror at the clamp holding it in place. If he'd failed to tighten it enough, the coil might slip from its grasp and fall to the table... The wobble stopped and he breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of the scaffold and stepping gingerly away from it. Forget about moving it, he told himself, but the Radiant was still so dangerously close, still thrashing wildly...
The thrashing stopped and the Radiant just sat there for a moment, trembling as if a current of electricity was passing through it. Its eyes were staring at nothing, wild with madness, as if the agony it was suffering was so great that it had destroyed its very sanity. Then, with one last shudder, it collapsed, its tentacles suddenly losing their ability to support it. Its eyes lost their focus and it settled onto the floor, sagging, going limp, until it resembled a jellyfish washed up on the shore. It then lay still, except for one last tentacle that continued go twitch for a moment or two longer before also falling still.
It was impossible to tell if it was dead, but it no longer showed any signs of life and Shanks allowed himself to hope that the device he'd helped to create had somehow killed it. The assault on the building from the other Radiants outside had also stopped. There was a ladder standing in the corner, used while replacing the charcoal contacts of the electric candles in the ceiling, and he moved it to stand below one of the surviving windows. Then he climbed it and looked out.
There were no Radiants in sight. The entire city seemed to be deserted and empty, the only movement being fallen leaves and small pieces of litter blowing along the street below. His heart soared with joy. They'd done it! They'd created the Electric Messiah! The machine that would be the saviour of mankind! With it he would avenge the destruction of his people's civilisation, three thousand years before!
He went back to the machine, where he checked that the steam pump driving the cooling water had plenty of fuel, and prepared another couple of batteries for when the first one began to run out of power, which it would very quickly. Then he just stood there, staring at the flickering spark passing across the graphite contacts, savouring the accomplishment. Wishing that Sophie Bellhine and Andrea McCrea were there to share the moment.
☆☆☆
Shanks was still standing there when King Leothan and the other defenders of Marboll Tower entered the room a few minutes later, to stare in astonishment at the dead Radiant and the machine that appeared to have killed it.
“Is that it?” said the King, staring at the machine. He was trembling with excitement and relief and grinning in a most un-regal way. Having resigned himself to personal death, not to mention the end of his whole kingdom, the realisation that the end might not be coming after all was leaving him a little light headed. “You did it? You built the machine?”
“Yes,” replied the inventor without turning to look at him. He remained staring at the machine, his back to the King. A serious breach of etiquette that made the other members of the King's retinue frown with disapproval. “We built the machine. It sent that creature mad, then killed it. The others seem to have just been driven away, because they were further away, I assume. Whatever emanates from this machine seems to get weaker with distance.”
The flat, emotionless tone of his voice told Leothan that something was seriously wrong, though, and it wasn't hard to figure out what it was. “Where's Andrea? he asked.
Still Shanks didn't turn. “She... She didn't make it.” He turned his head to a pile of scattered clothing in the middle of the room, then returned his gaze to the flickering electric spark.
Leothan stared, then walked over and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I'm sorry,” he said. “She was an exceptional woman.”
“Can you build the machine without her?” asked Amberley.
“George!” snapped the King angrily. “Some tact, please!”
“I’m sorry, Sire, but this is a matter of the most urgent national security. If the survival of our nation depends on the production of these machines, then we need to know whether we have someone who actually knows how to build them.”
“We already have a functioning machine. I assume any reasonably competent engineer would be able to duplicate it. Is that right, Mister, er...” The King realised to his embarrassment that he couldn't remember the man's name. Darnell hurried over to whisper in his ear. “Mister Shanks.”
“Yes,” replied the scientist, his voice still flat with grief. “Certainly.”
“Mister Shanks,” said Leothan, “What happened to Andrea McCrea was terrible, but the Kingdom is still in danger. I know you're grieving, as are we all, but there is still work to be done. I need you to build more of these machines, as many as you can. Whatever you need, just let me know and it will be provided. We have to get them to the other cities of the Kingdom before the Radiants decide to attack them instead. Can you do that?”
Shanks finally turned to face him. “Yes. I’ll do it. I'm sorry I... I'm sorry I didn't...”
Leothan waved it away. “I’m going to summon as many engineers as I can find and bring them here. You will teach them how to build these machines. We have to spread this knowledge as widely as we can, as fast as we can. Finally, I need you to write down a series of instructions that can be sent by telegram to scientists in other countries, telling them how to build these machines...”
“Majesty!” cried Amberley in shock. He got a grip of himself and spoke with more self control. “Your Majesty, this machine clearly gives us a significant tactical advantage over other countries. It should be kept highly secret. Every measure taken to ensure that the secrets of its construction don't leak out.”
“Not this time, George. This isn't a war of one human country against another. It's a war of humans against Radiants. If all other human nations succumb to those creatures, it’s only a matter of time before we fall as well, no matter how many of these...” He broke off and turned to the scientist. “What is it called, this machine?”
“We've just been calling it an alternator. I suppose a more accurate name would be an arc oscillator.”
“Alternator will do.” He turned back to the Field Marshall. “The Radiants can easily do to us what they did to Carrow. Cause a draught, cause our crops to fail. Invading another country to survive, as the Carrowmen tried to do, will not be an option if there are no other countries. That is why we have to disseminate this machine as widely as possible. We won't survive unless everyone survives.”
“Your Majesty,” said Shanks, “I should point out that this machine has many other applications. It will transform any society that possesses it. That's why we were trying to invent it in the first place. The long distance transmission of electricity, new forms of communication. It could even form the basis for new kinds of weapons, the nature of which we can't begin to imagine yet. The Field Marshall is right to be concerned.”
“Thank you for telling me. Nevertheless, my orders stand. Make sure Kelvon is the first country we give it to. Then Carrow.”
“Your Majesty!” This time the Field Marshall made no attempt to hide his dismay.
“Carrow,” confirmed the King, giving him a sharp look. “They have more reason than most to fear the Radiants.” He turned to Darnell. “Is the telegraph link to Charnox still intact?”
“It was the last I heard, Sire.”
“Arrange for a message to be sent to King Nilon. Tell him everything that's happened here. The destruction of his army, the rout of the Radiants. Tell him that we're on our way to arrest him, and that the continued life and health of my daughter is the only thing that will save him from the gallows.”
“Your Majesty, the deadline he gave us has long since expired. He said he would...”
He couldn't finish the sentence, but the King nodded nonetheless. “We have to hope that he decided to extend the deadline, to keep the pressure on us. Send the message, Peter.” Darnell nodded and gestured for one of the runners to obey.
Balhern and one of his guards had been talking, meanwhile, and the head guard was looking increasingly concerned. “Is something wrong, Balhern?” asked the King.
“It's nothing, Sire,” relied the head guard.
“It doesn’t look like nothing. It looks as though something's bothering you.”
“Just something one of my men said to me, Sire. I'm sure it’s nothing.”
“This is currently the most important room in the world, Balhern. Nothing in here is nothing. If there's something here that's bothering you, we need to know what it is.”
“Yes, Sire. Well, perhaps Manner should tell you himself, Sire.” The guard shook his head in terror, but Balhern waved him forward. “Tell the King what you told me,” he commanded him.
Everyone was staring at him expectantly and he wilted nervously under their gazes. “Well, Sire,” he began hesitantly. “You see, before I began working in the palace, I was a detective in the city guard. When you enter a crime scene, you have to examine everything in it, try to work out what happened in it. It became such an ingrained habit that I still do it whenever I enter a room where something's happened, like this one.”
“And what do you think happened here?” asked the King.
“Well, it’s pretty obvious for the most part,” said the guard, gaining confidence. “The Radiant broke in through the window. It cursed the lady scientist. The other scientist turned on the machine which killed the Radiant...”
“And?” prompted Leothan.
“Well, Sire, no matter how I turn things over in my head, I can't see how this chap here...” He gestured towards Shanks. “...avoided being cursed as well. We have a pretty good idea what their cursing range is now, and the machine is well inside that range from where the creature is now. The creature can’t have moved here after he turned the machine on because it came down through that hole in the wall, which is directly above it. The lady scientist can't have turned the machine on just before she got cursed because her clothes are way over there. The man must have turned it on, and he must have done it while the Radiant was right there, easily close enough to curse him.”
“So how is he still human?” asked Balhern, eyeing the scientist suspiciously.
Leothan relaxed in relief, but noted that Shanks was staring at him in alarm. We need him, he told himself. I have to reassure him, let him know that neither he nor his people have anything to fear, or he'll be too distracted to do what he has to do. “It's not something you need to worry about,” he said, therefore. “Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention, but it’s of no importance.”
“With respect, Majesty,” said Balhern. “If this man has found a way to protect himself from a Radiant’s curse, he needs to share this information with the rest of us.”
“It's not something that can be shared, Balhern. Be reassured that I already know the man's secret and I'm happy for him to keep it. Now put it out of your head. That's an order.”
The head guard nodded, but the King saw his eyes darting to Amberley and Darnell, both of whom were carefully keeping their eyes away from him. Balhern would be realising that they both knew Shanks' secret as well. The King was relieved to see him relax, though. Classified information was something Balhern was well used to. He gestured for the guard to accompany him to the doorway, therefore, where they joined the other guards on the lookout for threats to the King.
“Summon a platoon of men,” the King then said to Amberley. “No, make that two platoons. This building must be guarded. There may still be Carrow soldiers roaming around. Make sure mister Shanks is kept safe while he does his important work."
The Field Marshall nodded and gave orders to the soldiers around him.
“In the meantime," the King continued, "I'm going back to the Tower," added the King. "The Queen is no doubt waiting with growing impatience for an explanation for everything that's been happening.” He left the room, heading back to the carriages, and Balhern and Darnell fell in behind them, along with his men.
Finding himself once again alone in the room, Shanks took another long look at the alternator, still humming and buzzing busily to itself as it emitted the mysterious emanations that were so agonising to the Radiants. Then he headed into the storeroom to find what he needed to build more of the machines.