[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"I wish I knew where Mr. Skinner disappeared to," Sawyer grumbled, thinking of all the help they could
get.
The first mate's face reflected his certainty of impending doom even before he shouted down to them.
"The buildings are falling like dominos, Cap'n! Bang, bang, bang! The Calle del Luna is next!"
Keeping his balance on the crumbling towpath, Quatermain spun, eyes wide with an idea. "Nemo! What
sort of weapons does that ship of yours carry? You must remove a domino!"
The dark captains brow furrowed as his mind raced through calculations and possibilities. He instantly
reached the same conclusion. "Yes! Get ahead of the collapse and destroy the next building." He looked
at the structures, calculating trajectories. His thin, dark lips narrowed in a grim smile. "My Nautilus can
do it. I could launch a rocket."
"We'll interrupt the chain of destruction," Sawyer said. "That's it!" With that, the young American agent
bolted back down the towpath, sprinted up the gangplank, and ducked into the ship's hold.
Quatermain looked after him, wondering if Sawyer had an actual plan, or if he was just moving
frenetically in order to be doing something.
Though rubble and broken glass continued to rain down all around him, Dorian Gray looked
unimpressed. "Ridiculous!" He frowned at a smear of brick dust on his fine jacket; a piece of rubble fell
into the canal nearby and splashed water on his shoe.
Jekyll panicked. "What're you talking about, Nemo? Quatermain, are you mad? Grays right. It's too late
to concoct a Plan B!" The shuddering buildings, the continued echoes of ever-increasing destruction,
closed in on him. He looked like a cornered rabbit, trying to find a place to dash for shelter. But there
was no bolt hole in sight. "We should get back aboard the Nautilus and escape. Its our only chance."
"And leave all these people?" Mina asked with a hint of scorn in her voice. "Rather an ineffective first
mission for us, if we allow all of Venice to be destroyed."
"And allow a world-scale war to be triggered," Nemo said. "I refuse to simply surrender and flee." He
glared at Jekyll, who cringed, more afraid of the dark captain than of the explosions and collapsing
buildings.
The conversation had proceeded rapid-fire, in only a few seconds, but now amid all the destruction,
Dorian Gray actually rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, M would be soooo disappointed in us. But what can we
hope to achieve? This is more than any of us could imagine."
"Then it's time for swift action," Quatermain said. "Not more conversation. I'm not a bloody politician."
"And I'm an immortal, not a gazelle," Gray said. He coolly regarded the shaking city as if it held only
minimal interest for him. "How can we outrun this devastation?"
At that moment, the door of the Nautilus hold slammed open with a metal bang. Prefaced by the roar of
an engine, Nemo's amazing six-wheeled car burst out and hurded down the gangplank, pulled into a
screeching skid, and fishtailed to a perfect halt on the widening walkway that led up into the Venetian
streets.
Tom Sawyer poked his head out, grinning from behind the controls. "Care for a spin?"
TWENTY FIVE
Venice
Mina leaped into the back of the vehicle. "I'd love it!"
Quatermain jumped in the front, taking the seat next to Sawyer. He looked at the young American with
an appreciative smile. "Good idea. Wish I'd thought of it."
"I was watching you all in the car back at the London museum," Sawyer said, revving the engine.
"Made up my mind back then that I wanted to take 'er for a drive."
As Dorian Gray climbed in beside Mina, she primly shifted her skirts away from him. Quatermain
shouted at the cringing, uncertain doctor still on the towpath. "Jekyll, hurry man! Get in!" But the man
froze, as if every alternative were equally miserable.
Captain Nemo stepped up to the drivers compartment and spoke to Quatermain as Tom Sawyer
impatiently shifted the controls, anxious to be off. "I will need specific coordinates to launch my rocket.
Our targeting must be absolutely precise, or we will cause even more damage than we hope to prevent."
"Can you track this thing?" said Quatermain, rapping on the side of the unusual car.
"Of course. I planned for all contingencies when I drew up my designs."
Quatermain pulled his flare gun. "Then launch when you see the flare! We'll lead you right to the bull's-
eye."
With each passing minute, more Venetian buildings groaned and collapsed, continuing the devastating
ripple of the chain reaction. The captain hurried off to the gangplank into the Nautilus. "Ishmael and I
will make the preparations immediately."
Quatermain turned to Sawyer, slapping his palm on the control board. "Full power!"
The young man floored the gas and the engine prompdy died, causing a moment of stunned shock.
From the rear, Gray let out a quiet, disbelieving snort. Sawyer desperately tried to restart the engine,
blushing and hiding his sheepish expression. "I, uh, think I killed it."
At the rear of the car, two of Nemo's uniformed crewmen tried to push the car forward, hoping the
engine would turn over. Sawyer struggled with the controls, and the car's flooded engine coughed but
refused to catch.
Quatermain realized that the last member of their team had not yet climbed into the car. "Jekyll! What
are you doing? Come on!"
But the mousy doctor stood immobile, terrified of setting free his brutish alter ego. "I I& "
With a new, violent blast, another building collapsed, this one nearer. Overhead, the stone bridge
spanning the canal wrenched and cracked, but still clung together. Debris fell all around, pelting the hull
of the Nautilus.
"We'll need Hyde!" Quatermain insisted. "Look around you."
Finally, the cars engine roared to life again, and Sawyer beamed in triumph, ready to go. But Jekyll
remained helplessly frozen on the towpath. "No! Hyde will never use me again. I swear "
"But without him, my dear doctor, what use are you?" Gray said with a taunting lilt in his voice. "Do [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]