door marked No Entry .
‘We need to go in here,’ he told me.
‘That way’s forbidden,’ I said.
Kingdom Kum grinned. ‘Like all the best things.’
My suspicions were raised instantly. ‘ Why do we need to go in there?’
The youth pushed his unruly fringe from his eyes. ‘I know you have no reason to trust me, baby—’
‘None at all, Mr Kum. None at all.’
He regarded me with his inky eyes. ‘Look, there’s something I need to take from here. You have three options. Either you go now and let me get it on my own. Or you come with me and we help each other get out of here alive.’
‘That’s only two.’
‘The third option is you shoot me. ’Cos I’m not leaving without it.’ His flippancy had deserted him and there was a glint of the steel I’d witnessed on the train.
‘All right,’ I sighed. ‘We’ll do it your way, but cross me and I’ll kill you. Baby .’
The boy giggled and pressed his hand to his throat. ‘Thanks, toots. You’re a doll.’
Stealthily, he pushed open the door, and we found ourselves in a darkened, rather airless room. To our left, the wall wascomposed entirely of narrow drawers such as might contain seed specimens.
‘They’re moving out,’ Kum told me enigmatically. ‘The work here is pretty much done.’
‘What work?’ I asked quietly.
But the boy didn’t answer, just slipped noiselessly into the shadows and began rooting through the drawers. Each one whispered open to his touch. After the harsh white light of the corridor, my senses took a while to adjust. The room wasn’t quite as empty as it had first appeared but was in a pretty chaotic state. Scattered across wooden surfaces was a variety of scientific instruments: microscope slides, Petri dishes, syringes and all manner of other stuff I couldn’t identify.
Kingdom Kum was still busy at the bank of white drawers. I was making my way over towards the instruments when I became aware of a strange sound: a gentle drumming. A fluttering, beating noise, barely perceptible at first, but increasing in volume as I neared the far wall. Then I realised that the wall behind the laboratory work benches was actually thick, velvety drapes.
Curious, I dragged them back and let out a long, slow breath. Revealed was a vast butterfly enclosure, a lepidopterium, I suppose: its thousands of black inhabitants colliding against one another in that stuffy, crowded environment. Particles of dust hung like pollen in the air.
I peered through the clear glass. They were large creatures, and their fat, hairy bodies made my skin crawl.
‘Pretty, huh?’ came the murmur of Kingdom Kum from across the other side of the lab.
‘ Les papillons noirs ?’
‘Properly speaking, hun, papilio obscurus ,’ he whispered. ‘But the high-school lecture can wait. If you’re done there, I’ve got what I need.’ He held up a slim glass tube before my face, and rattled the contents.
‘And what’s that?’
Kingdom Kum laughed his flutey laugh and waggled a finger at me. ‘Naughty, baby. No questions. Not now.’
Seconds later, we were back in the corridor. I gestured with the gun towards the exit door. Then the cotton wool silence was ripped apart by the scream of a klaxon.
I glanced at my watch. The hour was more than up. Whitley Bey’s men had arrived! Distantly, I heard the thrumthrum of machine-gun fire.
There was a sudden clatter of feet and two white-coated men came haring down the corridor. They boggled at us and then one reached for his pistol. I swung round and shot him through the heart. As he slumped to the tiled floor, I brought my gas-mask smartly round and smashed the other one across the face. He was instantly out cold.
Then the two of us raced through the doors.
Outside, the air was alive with smoky scents.
I tore off the lab coat. My black suit would provide an infinitely more useful camouflage in the forest. Kingdom Kum kept his on, shivering a little in his hastily thrown-on ensemble.
I found the
‘We need to go in here,’ he told me.
‘That way’s forbidden,’ I said.
Kingdom Kum grinned. ‘Like all the best things.’
My suspicions were raised instantly. ‘ Why do we need to go in there?’
The youth pushed his unruly fringe from his eyes. ‘I know you have no reason to trust me, baby—’
‘None at all, Mr Kum. None at all.’
He regarded me with his inky eyes. ‘Look, there’s something I need to take from here. You have three options. Either you go now and let me get it on my own. Or you come with me and we help each other get out of here alive.’
‘That’s only two.’
‘The third option is you shoot me. ’Cos I’m not leaving without it.’ His flippancy had deserted him and there was a glint of the steel I’d witnessed on the train.
‘All right,’ I sighed. ‘We’ll do it your way, but cross me and I’ll kill you. Baby .’
The boy giggled and pressed his hand to his throat. ‘Thanks, toots. You’re a doll.’
Stealthily, he pushed open the door, and we found ourselves in a darkened, rather airless room. To our left, the wall wascomposed entirely of narrow drawers such as might contain seed specimens.
‘They’re moving out,’ Kum told me enigmatically. ‘The work here is pretty much done.’
‘What work?’ I asked quietly.
But the boy didn’t answer, just slipped noiselessly into the shadows and began rooting through the drawers. Each one whispered open to his touch. After the harsh white light of the corridor, my senses took a while to adjust. The room wasn’t quite as empty as it had first appeared but was in a pretty chaotic state. Scattered across wooden surfaces was a variety of scientific instruments: microscope slides, Petri dishes, syringes and all manner of other stuff I couldn’t identify.
Kingdom Kum was still busy at the bank of white drawers. I was making my way over towards the instruments when I became aware of a strange sound: a gentle drumming. A fluttering, beating noise, barely perceptible at first, but increasing in volume as I neared the far wall. Then I realised that the wall behind the laboratory work benches was actually thick, velvety drapes.
Curious, I dragged them back and let out a long, slow breath. Revealed was a vast butterfly enclosure, a lepidopterium, I suppose: its thousands of black inhabitants colliding against one another in that stuffy, crowded environment. Particles of dust hung like pollen in the air.
I peered through the clear glass. They were large creatures, and their fat, hairy bodies made my skin crawl.
‘Pretty, huh?’ came the murmur of Kingdom Kum from across the other side of the lab.
‘ Les papillons noirs ?’
‘Properly speaking, hun, papilio obscurus ,’ he whispered. ‘But the high-school lecture can wait. If you’re done there, I’ve got what I need.’ He held up a slim glass tube before my face, and rattled the contents.
‘And what’s that?’
Kingdom Kum laughed his flutey laugh and waggled a finger at me. ‘Naughty, baby. No questions. Not now.’
Seconds later, we were back in the corridor. I gestured with the gun towards the exit door. Then the cotton wool silence was ripped apart by the scream of a klaxon.
I glanced at my watch. The hour was more than up. Whitley Bey’s men had arrived! Distantly, I heard the thrumthrum of machine-gun fire.
There was a sudden clatter of feet and two white-coated men came haring down the corridor. They boggled at us and then one reached for his pistol. I swung round and shot him through the heart. As he slumped to the tiled floor, I brought my gas-mask smartly round and smashed the other one across the face. He was instantly out cold.
Then the two of us raced through the doors.
Outside, the air was alive with smoky scents.
I tore off the lab coat. My black suit would provide an infinitely more useful camouflage in the forest. Kingdom Kum kept his on, shivering a little in his hastily thrown-on ensemble.
I found the
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