Secret Histories 10: Dr. DOA by Simon R. Green Read Free Book Online Page A

entrance point marked on my map, the cold was back and the wind was rising again. It turned out to be a single square hatch, securely bolted on the inside. I knelt down beside it, and Molly craned over my shoulder.
    “What is it, Eddie? A fire exit, or maybe an inspection hatch?”
    “It’s our way in.”
    “If Cassandra really can predict the future, there’s probably a whole army of security guards down there waiting for us.”
    “Good,” I said. “I feel like hitting a whole bunch of people.”
    I armoured up one arm and ripped the steel plate away. The closed bolts sheared clean through, the hinges flew away like shrapnel, and the steel plate crumpled in my grip like tinfoil. I tossed it to one side, and it clattered loudly away across the desk. I barely heard it over the rising wind. I peered down through the opening, couldn’t see anything, and dropped down into the corridor below. I landed easily and looked quickly around, but there was no one waiting. I wasn’t sure whether I felt relieved or disappointed. Molly dropped down, landing as lightly as a cat beside me. I armoured down my arm, not wanting to draw unwanted attention, and considered my new surroundings.
    Steel bulkheads everywhere, with all kinds of pipes and conduits, but no frills or fancies. Just a loud background hum of straining machinery, as though only a constant effort from the hidden alien technology held the Secret Headquarters this high in the air. I set off along the corridor, following the map in my head and moving deeper into the flying ship. Molly strode along beside me, looking happily around like a tourist on a day out. I was glad she could still enjoy the game; the mission had gone sour for me. I just wanted it over and done with.
    “Do you need to call up your armour again to check the map?” said Molly after a while. “Only we do seem to have taken rather a lot of turns without actually getting anywhere.”
    “I know where I’m going,” I said. “I memorized the route.”
    “You always say that, and I always end up having to ask people for directions.”
    “Only because you don’t have my sense of direction.”
    “Oh come on! You can get lost trying to find the bathroom in the middle of the night!”
    She was trying to cheer me up. I played along as best I could.
    “So, how far is it now?” said Molly. “To wherever it is we’re going?”
    “You didn’t read the briefing notes on the plane, did you?”
    Molly sniffed. “I have you for that. I had some important beauty sleep to be getting on with.”
    “According to the map, there should be a communications centre up ahead. That’s why we came in through that particular hatch. We can use their computers to find the source of Cassandra’s predictions.”
    I stopped abruptly, and Molly stopped with me. A large group of uniformed people were bustling down the corridor, straight at us, chatting loudly together. Molly looked at me.
    “Do you want me to whip up some kind of invisibility spell? My magics are only just returning, but I should be able to manage something basic.”
    “No need,” I said. “Just look confident. If we act like we belong here, they’ll assume we do. On a ship this big, they can’t know everyone.”
    “What if somebody does challenge us?”
    “Then I get to hit a whole bunch of people after all.”
    “Suits me,” said Molly.
    Sure enough, when the uniformed technical people finally reached us, they were too wrapped up in their own conversations to pay us any attention at all. I walked straight at them, Molly stuck close to my side, and the crowd just parted automatically to let us through. I nodded briefly to anyone who glanced in our direction, and they nodded back and kept going. Sometimes confidence is the best weapon a spy has.
    The communications centre turned out to be just a few minutes away. There was even a helpful sign on the door. No one standing guard, no obvious security. Some people don’t deserve to have secrets. I