CHAPTER NINETEEN: A cup of tea and a slice of cake.
The next morning found Jude and Ruby, sat in his mum’s car being driven into her work. They all sat silently in the car with their own thoughts in anticipation of what they had to do. I don’t know what I’m so nervous about thought Jude; it’s daytime no Orcs will be about. Adzaq’s agent is a human, he’s not going to have any mystical powers or anything and lots of other people will be about anyway. I’m sure we can do this. Our main problem will be finding him in such a big place and not getting chucked out and my Mum in trouble if we end up going somewhere we’re not supposed to. Jude checked his pockets for his Ipod and mobile for the eight time that morning.
They arrived at the entrance and visitor’s checkpoint and Jude and Ruby were photographed and given badges. The security guard on duty was friendly with Jude’s Mum and had no problem letting her son and his friend in to the power plant for a tour. So far so good thought Jude.
The nuclear power station covered a large area with lots of different buildings, but all dominated by an enormous concrete block which contained the reactor. The other buildings clustered around it varied from other smaller concrete blocks, huge warehouse-like buildings and fairly conventional office blocks. Plus huge cooling towers, other chimneys and enormous pipes running everywhere.
“We’d better go to my office first.” Ella said. “Seems the best place to start.” Jude had his Ipod clutched in one pocket, playing very quietly, but so far there had been no change in the volume. They went into his mum’s office and exchanged pleasantries to everyone there. Then his mum took them around the power station in as meandering a route as possible. They looked at everyone suspiciously, trying not to stare too much. But still no change in the volume.
“You know I’m not going to be able to take you everywhere don’t you,” she whispered. “Some parts are totally off limits to everyone but a few personal, you know, the dangerous bits.”
“They can’t be in those bits all day. We’ll just have to hope to catch them when they come out.”
“Everyone needs a cup of tea and a slice of cake,” said Ruby.
“Of course,” said Jude. “The cafeteria. They’re bound to go there at some point, enchanted or not.”
Luckily the power station had only one large cafeteria and Jude’s mum showed them the way, it was just before lunchtime so it was starting to get busy.
“I’ll leave you two here. I’d better be getting some work done. You’ve got the number of my desk don’t you?”
“Yes, mum.”
“Right, take care, both of you. Don’t get into trouble and don’t do anything stupid.”
“Okay, okay,” said Jude.
“Don’t worry, Jude’s mum, we’ll be fine.”
“It’s Ella.”
“I know, but Jude always calls you mum so I always think of your name as Jude’s mum.”
She hurried back to her office smiling, she liked this quirky girl, and there was something very open and honest about her. She could see that Jude liked her too. She was sure they had some sort of understanding, they stood that little bit too close to each other to be just friends. The way they looked at each other too, when Jude thought she wasn’t looking, she was sure there was something between them. She hoped so.
Jude and Ruby entered the cafeteria; it was a large square room, smelling of over boiled vegetables, with windows filling one wall and the floor space covered in tables and chairs. Ruby was eyeing the cakes on display. “Mmm choc choc, as Connor would say.”
Jude clutched her arm.
“The volume has just gone up,” he whispered to her eyes wide. “Oh, it’s just gone down again. But he must be close.”
He glanced down the corridor they’d just come up, but it was empty apart from his mum at the end.
“Perhaps he just left,” said Ruby pointing to a door on the opposite side of the cafeteria, which was still swinging slightly. They both walked quickly towards the door skirting around the tables the best they could. They went through the door but the corridor through it divided into two. They couldn’t see anyone heading away from them. Jude picked one corridor at random and started off down it, Ruby following. The volume increased.
“We’re getting close again,” he said to her quietly.
They hurried along the corridor and with the volume gradually getting louder as they got closer and then quieter whenever the corridor split or turned and they went the wrong way. So far so good, no one stopped them or asked any questions, they were in the lowest security part of the complex. The volume was getting much louder now, they must be almost on top of him, but then it started to fade, they’d gone the wrong way, but their was no corridor for him to have gone down, Jude went back the way he had come, the volume increased again. Then he realised he must be in one of the offices on this corridor. Jude managed to locate which one the volume was the loudest outside. He pointed to the door.
“He’s behind this door,” he mouthed to Ruby.
There was no sign or plaque on the door; it just seemed to be the door to a small no-descript office. Ruby kept a look out for anyone and Jude listened at the door. He could hear voices within, he thought there must be two people, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Jude had his Ipod ready and he ran through the incantation in his head. Hopefully when one of them came out of the office he’d be able to work out which one was the man he needed and be able to accidentally bump into him. Jude felt his palms sweat. He heard steps coming towards the door and he quickly stepped well away from the door indicating to Ruby that someone was coming out. They stood together trying to look casual. Must not whistle thought Jude.
A small, balding man with drooping shoulders shuffled out of the door and started down the corridor, luckily in the opposite direction to where Jude and Ruby were and he didn’t glance around. Jude listened carefully to the volume of his Ipod, it was going down, the shuffling man was the one they wanted. There was no one else in the corridor; the other man had staying in the office. Jude headed after him, his Ipod ready in his hand, the incantation on his lips. Jude walked past the door of the office, it hadn’t quite closed yet, but Jude thought nothing of it, the man inside probably wouldn’t even notice him go by, not that someone walking past should alarm him anyway. But as he went past he heard an angry hiss from inside the office and the door was flung wide by a strong gust of wind. Jude was almost knocked over by the force of it. Startled, he turned to look inside the room. In the non-descript utility office that Jude had expected to see stood a man with his arms outstretched towards him. The man was surrounded by a swirling grey mist which had fashioned itself into a hooded cloak, disguising him.
“Jude,” he hissed maliciously at him.
He was too stunned to do anything but stare at the apparition before him. A ball of green light shot from one of his outstretched hands towards Jude. He couldn’t move a muscle, he was stunned into inaction. The ball of green light hit the Ipod held in his hand and it exploded into a million glowing green pieces. Jude stared at his now empty and icy cold hand in shock. He looked back at the wizard whose other hand was stretching out towards him, aiming higher this time. His brain was screaming at his limbs to move, but they felt frozen in space. Jude felt a strong, warm hand grab his shoulder and pull him out of the way as a bolt of green light hit the wall behind him at about chest height, leaving a black hole.
“Run,” shouted Ruby in his ear, pulling him after her.
They both ran down the corridor, turning a corner as soon as possible, not looking back. They had to slow down to a brisk walk as soon as they came across anyone else. But there was no sign of pursuit. Jude noticed a small, empty office and pulled Ruby inside, checking no one was looking. Closing the door behind him and locking it Jude leant against the door breathing heavily.
“Are you okay? What was in that room?” asked Ruby. “I just saw green fire bolts.”
“It must have been Adzaq, it’s the only explanation. But what is he
doing here?”
“We must tell the others, they’re looking everywhere for him.”
Jude took his mobile out of his pocket, and pressed the numbers Rowan had told him to. He wasn’t too sure how this was going to work, he couldn’t see any of the Elves with mobile phones and he hadn’t seen Branwell with one either. Jude hadn’t pressed the call button or heard it ring before he heard Branwell’s voice. The whole phone glowed slightly.
“Jude. What’s happening?”
Jude relaxed a little, they’d just stay hidden and Branwell and the Elves would come and sort out Adzaq.
“Well the good news is we’ve found the agent. The bad news is that we also found Adzaq, he’s here at the power plant. He destroyed the spell before we could disenchant the agent.”
“Are you all alright?”
“Ruby saved me and we escaped, my mum was in her office.”
“Good. We’ll come after Adzaq. You stay out of his way he’s dangerous.”
“We know that, he tried to kill me. I don’t know if this is relevant but he also knew my name.”
“Stay safe, we’re on our way. We’ll contact you later.”
His voice disappeared and the phone stopped glowing.
Jude phoned his mum the conventional way.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “Have you found who you were looking for?”
“Yes, we found him, but we couldn’t disenchant him because Adzaq is here in the power plant, we saw him and he stopped us casting the spell.” Jude decided to leave out any reference to green bolts of light leaving holes in walls.
“Here? But how could he have possibly got in?”
“I don’t know, but he is here. So please keep a look out. I’ve warned everyone else and they’re on their way. So…”
Suddenly an alarm started ringing he could hear it in his mum’s office too.
“Is that the fire alarm or something?”
“No.” she said gravely. Jude could hear quite a bit of commotion in the background. “That’s the emergency alarm, something is wrong with the reactor.”
They both went silent. Jude looked at Ruby who was looked back in concern. They could hear running footsteps going past the office door now.
“It can’t be real, it’s too much of a coincidence. It must be Adzaq’s spell. It’s just an illusion surely?” He didn’t sound very certain.
“Jude, we need to get somewhere safe,” said his Mum over the phone.
“But from what? A nuclear explosion or from Orcs?”
“There’s bomb shelters in the basement, they should help protect us either way. That’s where everybody will be heading, just make your way downward as quickly as possible and follow everyone else. I’ll be heading there as soon as I get off the phone from you. Take care, both of you.”
“You too mum.”
“Bye, love.” She hung up the phone.
They had all been sure the attack would come at night; the Orcs would be almost blinded and nearly inactive in the sunlight. Jude looked out of the window; the sun was still shining and would be for many hours yet. It didn’t make sense to start the attack now, but it was too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Jude entered the combination into the phone and it glowed again.
“Branwell, the alarm is sounding at the power station, there’s a problem with the reactor. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t either. It is earlier than we expected, but it must be Adzaq.
Stay safe, we’re almost there.”
“But how are you going to get through the security?”
“That’s our problem.” The phone stopped glowing.
Jude turned to Ruby and took her hand squeezing it.
“We’d better get out of here.”
They opened the door carefully, more people were hurrying past, the alarm continued to sound. Jude could see no sign of Adzaq anywhere. He was probably busy doing something else, he thought. They followed the other people.
“Do you think we’re doing the best thing by hiding?” Ruby asked.
“Hmm, probably not, but it’s what we’ve been told to do.”
“We’re not going to be a lot of help in a nuclear bunker are we?”
“No, we’re not. Plus bored.”
She gave a mischievous smile and raised her eyebrows.
“We could just have a little quiet scout around, see if we can get an idea of what is happening or where Adzaq is. Avoiding all risk of green bolts.”
“This could be risky, you know, I nearly got fried.”
“But I saved you, remember.”
“Again. Isn’t it the guys who are supposed to save the girls not the other way round?”
“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.”
They smiled at each other.
“So what are we going to do now?” he asked.
“Where could Adzaq or the agent be?”
“The agent might be in the control room, but we don’t know where that is and Adzaq could be anywhere.”
Ruby stared at the ceiling looking for inspiration and noticed the security camera. She pointed to it and nudged Jude.
“What about the cameras, they’re everywhere. Do you think either of them will be caught by the cameras?”
“You’re a genius. It’s worth a try and a safe option. I’m sure I remember a security office back there.”
They cautiously set off, but they saw no one else. They reached the security office and luckily it had all the camera feeds into it. They searched all the screens for anybody. They found the camera feed for the control room and the agent was in there bent over the controls, frantically pushing buttons. As he turned around briefly they could see he was on the telephone, talking animatedly. He was giving the message that the power plant was about to explode.
“There,” shouted Ruby pointing to another screen.
Jude looked at he screen and saw a grey shrouded figure walking down a corridor.
“That’s him,” he exclaimed. “Adzaq.” He disappeared off the screen and they had to go back to searching before finding him again walking down another corridor.
“Where’s he going?”
Adzaq approached a heavy metal door surrounded by warning and nuclear signs. There was a flash of green light, the door opened and he went inside. Jude had a bad feeling about where he was going and what he was going to do. Jude looked at the sign under the screen, it said, ‘entrance to nuclear reactor.’ Not good.
“I think we need to contact Branwell again,” he said dialling the number. Branwell and the elves were inside the complex now and Jude told him what they had discovered. He decided to go after Adzaq and Jude gave him the directions.
“What shall we do now?” asked Ruby. “Shall we meet up with them and see if we can help?”
“I think we’re best off staying here for the moment and keeping an eye on the cameras, see if he goes anywhere else.”