The Black Sun Conspiracy

Chapter Thirty-Six

The first thing Nina wanted to do upon stepping out into the narrow cobbled street was flinging her arms wide open and embracing the outside world. Fresh air, comparatively open space, the presence of other people — in that moment she loved it all. However, knowing that she was almost certainly being watched, she made do with just lifting her head, closing her eyes and letting the cold drizzle of rain fall across her face.

Behind her, the building that had been her temporary prison loomed tall and stately. She counted four floors, including the attic she had recently occupied. Its façade was an elegant duck-egg blue, with scrolling ivory lintels sweeping over the tops of the windows. Above the front door was a large circular fanlight, protected by a design picked out in black metal. To the casual observer it would probably have been taken to be a flower, but Nina knew better. Those were no petals, but the rays emanating from the Black Sun.

‘That’s brazen,’ she thought. ‘They’re evidently not too concerned about being found. Well, at least it’ll make finding my way back here straightforward, when the time comes. Assuming the time does come. Assuming I get that far.’

As the rain began to come down harder she pulled up the hood on her jacket and crossed the road to shelter under the arched gate of the Godshuizen over the way. The final instructions were in a small plastic envelope in her pocket, and she had been assured that this time they were not cryptic. Just a set of co-ordinates, a few directions and a small amount of money. Beyond that she was on her own.

Across the road the door beneath the metal sun opened again. Nina shrank back into the archway and glanced behind her, checking her line of retreat. There was another archway on the opposite side of the Godshuizen’s courtyard. She could run clear across it if she needed to. Where she would end up, she did not know, but that was the least of her concerns. If someone was coming to tell her that the deal was off and take her back inside, she would run first and figure out the destination second.

“Sam!” Seeing Sam emerging from the Black Sun house, Nina left her hideout and ran straight towards him. She threw her arms around him. He swept her up in a tight hug, lifting her clear off the ground.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she breathed in Sam’s ear, her face buried in his neck in a more than tender gesture that threw him back to the night in Baciu, when they shared a spontaneous kiss. Reluctantly he set her down again and she immediately corrected her tone to that of a friend. “I was so worried!”

“You and me both,” said Sam, visibly flustered. Putting on his business face, he asked, “Any idea what happened to Purdue?”

She shook her head. “No. But he’s probably alright. I hope he is, anyway… If he wasn’t, we’d probably be dead by now. Come on, let’s get away from this place.”

“Where are we going? They said they’d given you the instructions.”

“I don’t know. I’ve got no idea where we are. I just want to be somewhere else,” Nina beckoned.

“Then let’s just make a note of where we are before we go. They let me have this back.” He pulled out his notebook and waved it at her. “What street are we on? I’ll just quickly — oh, hang on, this isn’t mine. Is that your writing?”

Nina took the book and recognized her own spiky script. “It is. I didn’t think I’d be getting this back! Have you got a pen? Thanks.” She scribbled down the street address and a brief description of the whitewashed Godshuizen in case they needed to use it as a landmark. Then they set off along the street, picking a direction at random, and kept walking until the Black Sun house was some distance behind them.

They had not gone far before they realized how short a distance the Black Sun house was from the Minnewaterpark. It only took a few minutes for them to find themselves within sight of the spires of Saint Salvator’s Cathedral. They kept going until they were on the other side of the Market Square, the Belfry behind them, and found a tiny cellar bar where they could stop and look at the contents of the envelope Nina had been given. Sam left her securing the table nearest the fire while he went to get two of the cheapest things they served. He had also been given a small amount of cash, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it would be much less than they would need and that they had best conserve it.

When he returned, they huddled by the grate and bent their heads over the series of small, thick cards that they had found inside the envelope. One card showed the co-ordinates. Another featured a floor plan of a building, presumably the place they would reach if they followed the co-ordinates. Finally, one of them simply read In the event of successful acquisition, deliver the artefact in the name of Maria de Beck to the Savoy Hotel. See that it is stored in the Gaunt Box.

“So whatever this thing is, they trust us to go and get it but not to bring it back?” Sam took a deep gulp of his beer. “They’re a weird lot.”

“They certainly are,” said Nina. “And I don’t know if trust is the right word. Look at these.” She tipped up the envelope and held out her palm so that Sam could see the two capsules that she had found.

“Shit.” Sam picked up a capsule and held it gingerly between his forefinger and thumb. It was a clear, gelatinous casing filled with milky white powder. “I’m not much of a gambling man, but I’d be prepared to bet that these aren’t Day Nurse.”

“As considerate as it would be of them to send us out into this weather armed with pseudoephedrine, I’d second your bet,” Nina said. “At least we know what they expect us to do if this all goes wrong. Or if we change our minds, presumably.”

“Good to know we’ve got options, I suppose. Better keep them somewhere safe.” He unzipped the internal pocket in his jacket and ran a finger round the lining, checking for holes. Finding none, he tucked it carefully into the corner.

“We’ll need to find a library or an internet café or something so that we can find out where these co-ordinates take us to.” Nina slipped her own capsule back into the envelope alongside the cards. “Judging by the fact that we’re supposed to take the object to the Savoy Hotel once we find it, my guess would be that we’re heading for the UK — but I’d like to check that there aren’t any others by that name that might be possibilities. How much money did they give you? I’ve got a hundred Euro.”

Sam took out the slim roll of notes and unwrapped them. “Fifty Euro, less five for the drinks so forty-five, and fifty pounds Sterling. Not a lot. Certainly not enough to get even one of us back to the UK. Looks like we’re going to have to get creative. Internet café first, then you can let me know whether you’d prefer to stow away on a plane, a train or a car.”

“Oh, please,” Nina waved a hand with an air of affected nonchalance. “Who stows away in cars? We usually just steal them, don’t we?” They laughed, but their hearts were not in it. Nina sank back in the hard wooden seat and mumbled into the last of her beer “Train, then. I had my fill of driving after the last few times.”