The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two (92 page)

Mueller, who had been sitting in his chair drinking a cup of coffee, stood up when he saw Sun Koh. “I trust the accommodations are to your liking?” the captain asked.

Sun Koh could sense the man’s discomfort. “They are more than adequate. If I may ask, Captain Mueller, why is it that so many of your men seem uneasy in my presence?”

“Well, since your disappearance, your adventures have become a bit of modern folklore. I myself have a nearly full set of your heldromans.”

Sun Koh nodded, suddenly understanding. During his last visit to this time, he had allowed several enterprising authors to fictionalize his adventures for consumption by the German masses. These pulp novels took certain liberties with the truth but all of them were inspired by actual events. “Käthe told me of the last to be published. The one where I raised Atlantis, made Thule whole again and made the interior portions of the world safe for Aryans.”

Mueller caught the tone in Sun Koh’s voice. It was full of sardonic humor and it was quite apparent that the Atlantean didn’t think much of the heldromans. “So none of it was true?”

“Oh, there were kernels of truth in all those tales, Captain. But I have not read my final adventure.” Sun Koh smiled wistfully. “I would imagine that they would have changed some of the details so that I might have gone out as a hero and not as a fool.”

“I don’t understand.”

“My companions and I journeyed to that location for the expression purpose of raising Atlantis. That part of my plan worked exactly as it should have. But something was wrong… there were no remnants of our civilization, save for my father’s throne, his iron crown and a few hieroglyphs on a cave wall. It was as if… all of my life had been condensed into that one cavern.”

Mueller pursed his lips thoughtfully. He wasn’t at all sure what to say. He had always regarded Sun Koh as the perfect Aryan warrior—an ideal to which he could secretly aspire. But now he was seeing that the legend had feet of clay, eaten away by self-doubt. But almost as soon as he was thinking these things, he saw a change come over his hero’s face. It was if Sun Koh, too, had realized how he looked and sounded. Sun Koh threw off the shroud of sadness that had overtaken him and his face adopted the look of indomitable will that was usually associated with him.

“Captain, I would prefer not to journey to Berlin just yet. I have someone that I wish to look for.”

Mueller was about to say that his orders came from The Fuehrer himself when a radio communications officer entered the room. After a quick exchange of salutes, the officer held out a communiqué with a stiff arm. “This just arrived, Herr Mueller.”

The look on the young man’s face gave Mueller pause. He knew that this message must have come from someone high-ranking enough to leave the man awestruck. Mueller glanced over the words, his jaw tightening. He looked at Sun Koh with an unreadable expression on his face. “New orders have arrived from Berlin. We are to return to the island and leave The Furies there to continue looking for anything from Atlantis that might remain. The Reich could benefit from the superior technology your people were rumored to possess.”

Sun Koh sensed that the next part of the communiqué was what truly disturbed Mueller. “And what else, Captain?”

“We are to drop you off at the next Axis military base. You will be taken by plane on a covert trip.”

“To where?”

“To the place where you entered our world: London, England.”

“And for what purpose?”

“Because there’s a woman there. A woman who somehow managed to contact the highest powers in Germany and convince them that she has to see you as soon as possible.”

Sun Koh’s lips twisted, beginning to form the faintest hint of a smile. “What is her name?”

Mueller fumbled with the pronunciation but Sun Koh didn’t mind. Ashanti Garuda was alive… and she wanted to see him. He wondered idly why she was in England—her loathing of the British knew no bounds—but such concerns could wait.

Sun Koh was going to be reunited with his lover.

* * *

“I cannot believe this. We find him and revive him… and our reward is that we’re dumped back on the island?” Imelda spat on the ground, her hands on her hips. The three women had rowed ashore after being deposited in a raft some three miles from coast of Atlantis.

Akemi and Käthe exchanged a glance as they continued pulling supplies from the boat. It was Akemi who chose to address Imelda and her tone contained barely disguised loathing. “You sound like a cow when you moan that way. If your teats are so bloated, go and give them a hard pull!”

Imelda stared at her in shock. Then her face began to redden and she took several meaningful steps in Akemi’s direction. The Japanese girl unsheathed her katana and adopted a battle-ready stance.

Käthe automatically opened her mouth, ready to try and soothe the wounds that lay between the two women. But then she decided to step back for once. She was disappointed as well and she found it hard to condemn Imelda for speaking out. Instead, she slung a backpack over her shoulder and began trudging towards the dense vegetation that covered the rocky terrain. The volcano was her ultimate destination. Sun Koh had been quite clear in saying that there were no volcanoes in ancient Atlantis and if the Fuehrer wanted confirmation of Sun Koh’s stories—and Käthe was sure that was what this mission was now about—that seemed as good a place as any to start.

Akemi lowered her sword, staring at Käthe’s back. The fact that their recognized leader had not intervened was not lost on either Akemi or Imelda. “She’s hurting,” Akemi said.

“And well she should be. How many months has she wasted on this? And this is how she’s treated?” Imelda sighed and shook her head. “My apologies, Akemi. I am… tired.”

The Japanese woman’s expression softened and she sheathed her blade, providing her companion a brief nod. “Accepted. I should not be so quick to respond to your provocations.”

Imelda frowned, seemingly unhappy with the lack of a true apology in response. She said nothing, however, and the two of them completed their task of packing up their supplied. They trudged after Käthe, trying to keep their footing on the slick rock surface. The rainfall had left deep puddles here and there, adding to the treacherous nature of the terrain.

They caught up to Käthe in a large clearing where a number of white-stoned ruins lay in various states of crumbling. There appeared to be four buildings in all, one-story affairs with multiple windows. In the center of the clearing was an old raised well. Käthe was staring down into it when Akemi stopped at her side, panting from the exertion. All three women were in remarkable shape but even they were taxed by their rapid travel though the jungle.

“This is promising,” Akemi said. “First signs of habitation we’ve found on this place, aside from the cave.”

Käthe reached into the bag she’d set down at her feet. She pulled out a small coin and dropped it into the well. A splash was heard approximately eight seconds after she let it go.

“What do you think this was?” Imelda asked. “Looks too small to have been a village.”

“I think it was a holy place,” Käthe replied. “The priests lived in those two structures there and this one to my left was where their attendants slept. The final building was a common house where they took their meals and had prayer.”

Imelda stared at her with a disbelieving grin on her face. “And how do you know all that?”

“I found a scrap of paper while the two of you were cresting that last hill.” Käthe pulled it from one of her pockets and held it out to Imelda. The Italian studied the script and then shrugged. “It’s in Atlantean,” Käthe explained. “I translated it.”

“I’m surprised Sun Koh didn’t propose marriage,” Imelda said. “You know almost as much about his people as he does.”

“The only things I know are the scraps of information he gave German Military Intelligence.” Käthe sounded slightly defensive and Imelda wondered if she hadn’t hit on something. Had Käthe really thought that Sun Koh was going to make her some Aryan princess? “Besides,” Käthe continued, turning away and looking around at the ruins. “Sun Koh had a lover. Or at least, he did.”

“That didn’t stop him from taking on all three of us,” Imelda pointed out with a satisfied chuckle.

Käthe didn’t bother replying to that. She knew that Sun Koh was a prince and was used to having multiple consorts. In fact, she’d read reports that had specifically mentioned his incredible stamina and sexual appetites. As such, she had certainly not been offended that he had wanted to include Imelda and Akemi in their lovemaking.

“We’re not alone,” Akemi whispered and both Imelda and Käthe responded without questioning. Käthe drew a bullwhip, keeping it coiled at the ready. Imelda was now brandishing two pistols of Italian design. They scanned the surrounding jungles, but saw and heard nothing.

Akemi sensed their confusion but didn’t rush into an explanation. Her senses were the most keen of The Furies and she was positive that she’d heard the crunching of leaves. It could certainly have been an animal of some sort but so far they had seen nothing but birds and monkeys and both species were keeping high to the trees.

“Over there,” Imelda hissed, training her pistols on a man who was staggering into view. The man was dressed in blood-encrusted Buckskins and a coonskin hat with the ragged remnants of a striped tail hanging off the back. He was huge, a veritable mountain of a man, with salt-and-pepper whiskers. He came to an abrupt halt when he spotted the three women, his mouth working in amazement.

“Who are you?” Imelda demanded, repeating the question in multiple languages.

“English,” Käthe said. “He speaks English.” She lowered her weapon. “You’re Jim Hoover, aren’t you? Better known as Alaska-Jim.”

The hunter nodded slowly. “That’s me.” He swayed unsteadily on his feet. “You have to get off this island,” he said. “This isn’t Atlantis. Not at all…”

Akemi relaxed a bit as Käthe moved closer to the man. She knew of Alaska-Jim. He was one of Sun Koh’s closest companions, a hunter and trapper from the Old West who sometimes worked for the Canadian police. A Canadian of German descent, Alaska-Jim had been very fervent in his defense of Aryan ideals. Akemi knew that true Aryans would look upon her own people as a lesser race but she allowed her loyalty to Käthe to overcome any distaste she had for such racial notions.

“This isn’t Atlantis?” Käthe was asking.

“No! Not at all,” Alaska-Jim repeated. He looked around, eyes wild with madness. “And I’m the only one left alive to tell the tale. Jan, Rolf, Ludwig, even Sun Koh himself. All gone. All dead.”

“Sun Koh’s alive,” Käthe said and her words immediately caused Alaska-Jim to start.

“Alive? You’ve seen him?”

“We brought him back,” Imelda said, drawing a glare from Akemi, who thought that Käthe should be allowed to handle this. “But we don’t know all the specifics of how he vanished… or what happened to the rest of you.”

Alaska-Jim fell to his knees, panting with exertion and hunger. “I will tell you all… but you must swear one thing to me.”

Käthe stared him in the eyes and nodded slowly. “Anything.”

“When I am done, you will take me from this place. You will help me escape it.”

Imelda was at Käthe’s side now. “If this isn’t Atlantis, where are we?” she demanded.

The famed hunter looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head. “Little beauty… we are in Hell.”

* * *

London was greatly changed.

Sun Koh stepped from the small airplane that had carried him into the heart of the British Empire, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. The airfield stank of not just gasoline and human sweat but also of despair and regret. He recalled similar things from the last days of Atlantis, before the Great Fall and before his trip through time.

He stopped in place, the pilot coming to a halt beside him. The man was watching him closely. Unlike Mueller, this fellow was unfamiliar with the legend of Sun Koh and thus had none of the hero worship that had infected the zeppelin’s captain. “Are you unwell, Herr Koh?”

“No. I was just remembering the last time I was here. It was before the English people had become so dispirited.”

“Ach. They are still fighters,” the pilot said, shaking his head. His German was very common, Sun Koh noticed, and there were certain attributes about the man’s features that suggested Jew ancestry. The Man of Destiny wondered how thoroughly the pilot’s bloodlines had been investigated. “But The Blitz sent some of them into a deep depression, to be sure. At least, those that weren’t bombed into oblivion!” The pilot laughed then, revealing yellowed teeth.

Sun Koh said nothing, continuing to study his surroundings. This airfield was a private one, belonging to a pro-Nazi airline. If anyone had known about their connections to the Reich, the entire affair would have been seized and those in charge locked away as traitors.

The Atlantean prince resumed walking, allowing the pilot to lead him towards a waiting car. A chauffeur was waiting there and he offered a crisp Nazi salute that Sun Koh half-heartedly returned. The pilot nodded his goodbye and spun about, leaving Sun Koh with the driver.

“Why have I not been questioned?” Sun Koh asked.

The driver, a solidly built man with a square head, blinked. “Sir?”

“Since I was brought onboard the zeppelin, I have only been asked the most basic of questions. No one has wondered where I went or the specifics of what happened to my companions. Why is that?”

“I’m just a driver, sir.”

“You’re a liar. You work for German Military Intelligence. Now answer my question.”

“How did you know that?” the man asked, his jaw falling open in surprise.

“I can tell by the way your eyes move, the way you smell and the way your heart rate remains perfectly steady, even now.”

“You can… hear my heart beating?”

“Yes.”

The driver relaxed his pose a bit, opening the door to the rear of the vehicle as he did so. “I’ll explain everything while we’re en route.”

“You’re taking me to see Ashanti?”

“Yes, I am.”

Sun Koh slid into the backseat and watched as the driver got behind the wheel. “I am waiting.”