Simon Green: Spirits from Beyond

“All that matters is that you’re back,” said JC.

“Not quite,” said Kim. “I’m sorry, JC, but we’re not alone here. Something unfriendly is here in this place with us.”

“What?” said Happy. “What?”

He spun quickly around in circles, as though hoping to catch something by surprise. Melody slapped her scanner with the flat of her hand again.

“Still not picking up anything!” she said angrily. She shook the thing fiercely. “You are seriously underperforming! You can be replaced!”

“I’m not Seeing anything!” said Happy. “I Spy with my third little eye. . nothing out of the ordinary! So to speak.”

“The Flesh Undying knew I would reappear here,” Kim said calmly. “I had to return to this place because this is where I’d left from. Closing the circle was the only way I could come back, to the material world I left. There are rules, you see, for the dead as well as the living. Perhaps especially for the dead. And The Flesh Undying took advantage of that. It’s set a trap here, for me, and for you. It’s not too late for you to leave if that’s what you want.”

“Never,” said JC.

“Well, I don’t know about never,” said Happy. “But I’m here now.”

“He’s so brave,” said Melody. “Isn’t he wonderful? Of course we’re not leaving, Kim! You’re part of the team.”

“Then brace yourselves,” said Kim.

JC and Melody and Happy moved quickly to stand back-to-back-to-back; so they could watch and cover all the open space around them. So nothing could sneak up on them or catch them by surprise. Melody put her scanner away and produced a machine-pistol. She swept it smoothly back and forth with professional ease, looking for a target. JC had to smile.

“All right,” he said, “I give up. Where do you keep that gun, Melody?”

“Trust me,” said Happy. “You don’t want to know.”

Kim stood very still, looking at whatever ghosts looked at.

“I can See layers of protection, still in place,” said Happy. “Laid down around Chimera House. But it’s standard off-the-shelf stuff. The kind of defences that would collapse in a moment if anything seriously demonical even leaned on them.”

“The threat to us isn’t inside the building,” said Kim. “It’s out here, with us.”

“Okay,” said Happy. “I am now running for the car. Try to keep up.”

“Too late,” said Kim, sadly.

The ground before them split violently apart-soundlessly, jaggedly. Solid stone and concrete tore like paper. The ground shook and juddered, and the three living Ghost Finders staggered back and forth, clinging to each other for support. A deep chasm opened up, stretching across the open square, full of darkness. Kim turned a stern gaze on the wide gap, and like that the ground was still again. Everything was quiet. Melody took a cautious step forward, peering down into the great dark crevasse. Happy moved in behind her, staring over her shoulder. JC looked at Kim, who looked calmly back at him.

“More major structural damage, right in the heart of London’s business centre,” said Melody. “Someone’s insurance premiums are about to go right through the roof. What do you want to bet that the powers that be will find some way to blame all of this on us?”

“No wonder the security guards were called off,” said JC. “Someone didn’t want any witnesses. .”

“This isn’t like the last time,” Happy said slowly. “It feels different. .”

They all eased forward, right up to the edge of the chasm, and looked down. A long range of old stone steps headed down into the darkness. Scuffed and much-used stone steps, without any banister or railing, falling away, apparently forever.

“Impressive,” said JC.

“They’re not real,” said Kim.

“What?” said Happy.

“The steps aren’t really there,” said Kim, apparently entirely unimpressed. “This is merely a transition, from one place to another. Your mind interprets what’s there as steps to make life easier for you.”

“How come you can See that when I can’t?” said Happy, frowning hard at the steps, which still insisted on looking like steps.

Kim smiled. “Because I’m dead. It’s very revealing, being dead. You should try it sometime.”

“Not right now,” said JC. “We’ve got work to do.”

Melody took out her hand-held scanner again and aimed it down into the dark chasm. Smoke immediately poured out of the machine, from every side at once, and the whole thing overheated so quickly, Melody had no choice but to throw it away before it burned her hand. It dropped away into the darkness and quickly disappeared. Happy looked at Melody but had the good sense not to say anything. JC peered dubiously into the chasm.

“All right,” he said. “Where do these steps that aren’t actually steps go, Kim? And why do we want to go there?”

“Hold everything,” said Melody, blowing gently on her scorched fingers. “Before we go into that, I want to know; who actually broke open the ground? Who provided this extremely dramatic transition; and who wants us to go down there, into London Undertowen?”

“Into what?” said Happy.

“Is this you, Kim?” said Melody. “Did you crack open the world?”

“No,” said Kim.

“Is this the trap?” JC said carefully. “The trap The Flesh Undying has set for you, and us?”

“Yes,” said Kim. “But for once, I think The Flesh Undying has outsmarted itself. It’s so used to thinking of itself as the most intelligent and superior creature on this planet that it has never stopped to consider that wasn’t always the case. There’s something else, waiting for us down there, that we can use against our enemy.”

“Will somebody please tell me,” Happy said doggedly. “What the hell is London Undertowen?”

Melody sighed loudly. “Am I really the only one on this team who takes the time to read the regular reports the Carnacki Institute circulates among its field agents every month?”

“Yes,” said Happy. “You sweet little girl swot, you.”

“We get regular reports?” said JC. “Really?”

“Information is ammunition in our line of work,” Melody said primly.

“That would look good on a T-shirt,” said Happy.

“Never wear them,” JC said firmly.

“We noticed,” said Happy, crushingly. “Maybe we could stencil it on the back of your jacket.”

Kim looked at Melody. “They haven’t improved while I was gone, have they?”

“No,” said Melody. “Men. . Evolution; I’m looking forward to it. Hey! Both of you shut the hell up and listen! Thank you. . London Undertowen is the city beneath the city. Or perhaps even the world beneath the world. Catacombs, set deep in the earth, that the Romans and everyone else built London over.”

Happy glared down the long series of stone steps, concentrating hard, as though he thought he could make them look like something else if he tried hard enough.

“Don’t,” said Kim. “Steps are good. Learn to love the steps. Because all the alternatives are worse.”

“So. . what’s down there, exactly, in this Undertowen?” said Happy.

“I’ve been trying to get a straight answer on that for months,” said Melody. “I’m pretty sure someone somewhere in the Institute knows, but I’ve never been able to hack the security around those files. You’d have to turn up at the Carnacki Institute’s Secret Libraries, in person, and read what they’ve got there. Except mere field agents like us don’t have a high enough security clearance to get in there.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” said Happy, bouncing cheerfully up and down on the spot. “I’ve always wanted to get inside the Secret Libraries!”

“The Boss did promise us access,” JC said slowly. “But she never got around to updating our security rating. . Which may or may not have been an oversight on her part. . Kim; do you know what’s down there, in the Undertowen?”