Justin Fisher - The Gold Thief

As shocking as the news was, Ned still didn’t understand how it had anything to do with the disappearance of his parents.

“Naturally the media have kept very quiet,” said Mr Cook, taking over. “If this news were to become public, the effect on the world’s stock markets would be disastrous. It is the motive that concerns us more.”

There was a long pause.

“Which is …?” asked Benissimo.

A pause, as Mr Cook blinked. “Oh,” he said. “You misunderstand. We have no idea what the motive could possibly be. That is what bothers us.”

“And now the same liquid we found at Fort Knox, and all the other gold robberies, has been found at Master Ned’s house,” said Mr Smalls. “Presumably, the culprit is the same. Just as with the other kidnappings.”

“The other kidnappings,” said Ned. “You mean the ones on the news?”

“ Oui ,” said Madame Oublier. “It is not only gold zat is missing but people, very particular kinds of people, who have been taken from their homes and always in their wake a trail of zis liquid metal. Ned, your father is ze last in a long line of scientists, engineers and construction workers who have been taken from their homes. As soon as we saw ze connection in disappearances we sent word for your parents to come into our care. Zey would not budge.”

Ned thought back to all the reports on the telly. Even as he faced the bargeist at home, the radio had been doing a piece on kidnapping. And all the while his parents had known.

“They knew they were in danger?!”

“ Oui .”

Ned’s rising concern over his parents’ safety started to shift into something else. Why make him train night after night and then, when they knew trouble was near their door, say nothing?

He felt the ring at his finger crackle and to his left a cup rose from its saucer without him trying to lift it. Madame Oublier’s eyes sharpened.

She turned to Mr Cook and Mr Smalls.

“Sank you, gentlemen, you may leave.” She motioned for her bodyguards to follow and waited till the tent’s opening was properly closed before turning back to Ned with a kindly expression.

“Monsieur Ned! Remain calm. Have you asked yourself why your parents did not seek shelter with the Hidden?”

The cup clattered back down to its saucer.

“No, no, I haven’t.”

“For you, Ned. Zey wanted more zan anything to give you a normal life, despite knowing ze grave danger zey were in. Ze heart makes a fool of us all, Ned, do not judge zem unkindly.”

The tingling at his finger and arm subsided, and his anger gave way to guilt. Yet despite his change of heart, his spike in powers had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the gathering, particularly Lucy.

“Do we know anything about what the villains want?” said Benissimo.

“Nothing,” said Madame Oublier. “But zere is great cause for concern. You are aware we have lost contact with Gearnish?”

“Yes.”

“What you may not know is zat this happened at ze same time zat the major gold reserves went missing. Gearnish is of great tactical importance. Its factories are ze very heart of the Hidden’s industry, capable of building anything and in any number. Ze minutians have always sided with us, always. I fear ze city has come under ze control of darker forces, as do our allies. As we speak, ze Hidden are talking of war. You of all people, Bene, know the seriousness of zis – you fought with my grandmother against ze demons, did you not?”

For a brief moment Ned was reminded of the enigma that was Benissimo’s age.

“Were it not for St Albertsburg’s lancers and the machines of Gearnish we would surely have lost, Madame.”

“Precisely why the Iron City’s lack of communication has us all so worried.”

“So … a load of gold has gone missing. Lots of people have been kidnapped, including my parents. And you’ve lost the city where most of your weapons are made. Did I miss anything?” said Ned.

“ Non .”

“But … what does it all mean?”

“Nothing good,” said Madame Oublier. “Luckily, we are not alone in our search for answers. London’s own Scotland Yard have been tracking ze thief’s movements and are also aware of ze liquid, and how it links both robberies and abductions. ‘Project Mercury’ is a surveillance operation zey are running tomorrow night at ze British Museum, where zey apparently believe ze next break-in will take place. How zey have this information before it has come to us I don’t know, and it is frankly embarrassing, but it is our one and only lead.”

Benissimo, Ned noticed, had visibly stiffened. “Did you say the British Museum?” he asked.

“ Oui .”

“Vault X, Madame?”

“I fear so. George, I hear it told zat you are something of an encyclopaedia on ze Hidden and its treasures. Why don’t you tell ze children what you know about Vault X?”

“Yes, Madame, and thank you,” began the ape, who clearly enjoyed being referred to as an encyclopaedia on anything. “Society at large believes that there are seven wonders of the ancient world. Were they to travel beyond the Veil, they would know that there are in fact eleven, and that the remaining four are still intact. The British Museum concerns itself with wonders of every kind, a staggering construction of some nine hundred and ninety thousand square feet, its marbled corridors—”

“Ze Vault, monkey.”

“Ahem, indeed. Of its staggering thirteen million objects, there are some that originate from the Hidden side of the Veil. This is not known even by the people who procured them, though they do know that these objects are peculiar, and they treat them as such. They abstain from any categorisation, or even rudimentary analysis by the museum’s learned custodians. Instead, they lock them away. On a secret floor of the building’s never-ending underground storage, in vault ‘X’. It was decided that the items in question would pose less of an academic problem if nobody knew they existed.”

“But ze Twelve are not ‘nobody’,” cut in Oublier again. “We have always monitored ze museum. Some of its artefacts are extremely powerful and I have no doubt zat zis mercurial thief is after one or more of its treasures.”

“Let us deal with it, the museum is not far from here,” offered Benissimo.

“I am not here to ask or to allow, Bene, I am here to order. The sum of gold taken could build a hundred armies with which to wage war, yet combined with such ‘particular’ kidnappings I fear a more obscure purpose.”

“Indeed,” said Bene.

“So,” said Madame Oublier. “Your mission is simple. Find zis thief, find out who he is working for and report only to me. Until I know what is happening, I do not know who is on our side, or who has been compromised.”

“Well,” began Bene. “You can trust us to—”

“Yes, yes,” Madame Oublier said with a dismissive wave. “I know. But I trust nothing to chance. I shall have my men unload an item for you before we leave. To watch over Ned. For … protection.”

“What is it?”

“Oh,” she said. “A little extra insurance.”

With that, she stood and swept out of the tent.

ater, when Madame Oublier had left on her airship, Ned sat on the edge of his makeshift bunk in George’s trailer. The rest of the troupe had turned in hours ago and George was sound asleep.

Though the great ape had lost much of his beloved library to a fire, the comforting wall-shake of his snore was at least familiar. Less so were the howls of anguish and what sounded like sobbing, coming from a trailer nearby. George’s trailer was always placed next to the Darklings and their cages. More as a deterrent for any would-be escapees than anything else. Jonny Magik’s trailer was right beside it, in a similarly distant plot to the rest of the troupe, and Ned was starting to see – or at least hear – why. Whatever the man was suffering from, it didn’t sound like indigestion, and his howling formed a constant and unpleasant serenade.