The two Rats leaned forward as Arthur hesitated.
"Then... I'm not sure. I guess I'll need to go back home for a little while, to make sure everything's okay. But if I manage to get the Third Key, I suppose I'll have to work out what to do about Sir Thursday and just... get on with it."
"That is a generous answer, Arthur. Please, your next question."
"It's not exactly a question," said Arthur. "I need to get to that secret harbour. If there are only two ways in, and one of them is Feverfew's augury puzzle, it looks like I'll have to get in through Wednesday's stomach. Which means I have to survive getting swallowed up. The only way I can think of doing that would be to be in a submarine or something like it. I've heard you have lots of strange ships, so my question is this:
"Do you have a submarine or know where one is, and can I borrow it?"
Seventeen
"A VALUABLE QUESTION, Lord Arthur," said Monckton. He hesitated, his whiskers shivering, then went on. "We do indeed have a submersible boat, a craft we keep secret. But I am afraid it is laid up underneath our dock at Port Wednesday, for lack of an essential component, which we have been waiting on for some time."
"What kind of component?" asked Arthur. "And who's making you wait? Uh, only answer if that doesn't count as another question."
"That can be accounted as part of your second question, Arthur," replied Monckton. "The submersible boat was made for us in the Far Reaches, by Grim Tuesday's minions. The component it lacks is, in fact, a canister of Accelerated Coal, which must be replaced every century or so. However, since the fall of Grim Tuesday, very few of our orders are coming through from the Far Reaches."
"Yeah, well, I'm sure Dame Primus is doing her best to sort everything out," said Arthur defensively. "Grim Tuesday was using way too much Nothing —" "That was not a criticism, merely an observation," said Monckton. "We are aware that changes were necessary in the Far Reaches, and we have been advised that we will get a new fuel canister within the next thirty or forty years."
"Thirty or forty years! That's hopeless," said Arthur. He thought for a moment, then said, "How about I get you a new fuel canister? Will you then let me use the submersible to get into Drowned Wednesday's stomach?"
"Will you allow me to confer with Lieutenant Longtayle for a moment?" Monckton asked. "The submersible is very valuable, and it would not be easy for even it to survive a passage into the Leviathan's interior — and out again."
"Sure, go ahead."
Monckton and Longtayle retreated to the other side of the cabin to whisper, while Arthur studied the drawings and the map again. His head was full of rapid thoughts darting around and linking together to lead him into new ideas.
Okay, if I can get into Wednesday's stomach and then into Feverfew's private worldlet, I still need to find the Will and release it and get back out again. Presuming the place will be full of pirates, it would be dumb to go in there by myself … This is kind of like working out how to rob a bank or something … I need to get a team together to help me …
There're the Rats, of course, to run the submarine … I wonder if the Rats can fight … I probably need some Denizens who can fight the pirates, though we should try and sneak in, but just in case … I wonder if Dawn would come along … Then there is the sorcery angle, so if I could get Doctor Scamandros to help out … and Sunscorch, he'd be a good fighter, though the rest of the Moth's crew wouldn't be up to much —
Monckton and Longtayle came back to the table and sat down. Arthur looked at them expectantly.
"We have agreed," said Monckton. "You may have the use of the submersible Rattus Balaena and its crew if you can secure a new power canister for it. We will do our best to deliver you into the belly of the whale."
"Great!" exclaimed Arthur. "And they'll take me out again too, right? With the Will."
"Yes, if at all possible, the Balaena will stand by to take you off the worldlet again and return out to the Border Sea. But the crew will not be able to help you against Feverfew in the worldlet itself. That is too great a risk."
"What about taking on extra passengers, as well as me? I'll need to get some help."
"There is limited space aboard the Balaena. It was built for us Rats, but there is room for you and perhaps another six normal-sized Denizens, if no one minds being a little cramped. There might be some bumped heads too."
"Great! I'd better write a message to Dame Primus to get that power canister delivered. Do you have someone in Port Wednesday with one of your bottles, so I can send it to them to pass on?"
"Certainly," said Longtayle. He opened a drawer and offered Arthur a thick sheet of paper, a quill, a bottle of ink, and a small pot of sand. "We shall consider our next question while you write."
Arthur dipped the quill in the bottle and wrote quickly. The smooth black ink ran a little too freely, causing blots and blotches along the way.
Dear Dame Primus,
I don't know if you got my other letter. Anyway, I'm in the Border Sea and I talked with Lady Wednesday and she explained how she got turned into a whale by the other Trustees and how she wants to release the Will and give the Key to me. But the Will got stolen by a pirate called Feverfew who works for the Morrow Days. I've done a deal with the Raised Rats and they've told me that Feverfew's secret harbour is inside her and they'll let me use their submarine to go there so I can try to get the Will and fix everything up. Only the Rats need a power canister from the Far Reaches for the submarine, so can you please hurry that up so they get it straight away. I mean really straight away, not next year or whatever. Immediately. Right now.
Also can you send Suzy to help me out? And if you can get in touch with the Mariner, can you ask him to come and help me out too?
Regards,
Arthur
P.S. Send a reply via the Rats at Port Wednesday and their simultaneous bottles, so I get it quicker.
P.P.S. Can you check what's happening back on my world? I want to know what the Border Sea did to the hospital.
Thanks.
Arthur finished by spreading some sand over the paper to dry up the ink, as he'd seen done in the offices of the Lower House. He lifted the page to pour the sand back into the pot, then folded the paper, wrote Dame Primus's name on it, and sealed it with his thumb. As before, his thumbprint shone and rippled like a rainbow and became a proper seal, showing Arthur's laurel-wreathed profile.
"If the power canister is delivered quickly, how long will it take before we can get going in the submarine?" asked Arthur.
"Well, the Balaena is at Port Wednesday, so we will have to get there first," said Longtayle. "Under full steam, that will be five days. The Balaena can be readied in that time, so we would be able to depart in her immediately."
"Five days!" exclaimed Arthur. "I guess there's no choice... I hope I still get back home just after I left, like I've done before. I suppose I might need the time to get in touch with the helpers I need..."
"Our simultaneous bottles are at your service," said Longtayle. "I presume we can send the bill for their use to Dame Primus?"
"Yes," said Arthur. "But no jacking up the price or anything — we'll only pay the regular fee."
"That is understood. Are you ready for our second question?"
Arthur nodded.
"What has the Will told you about the disappearance of the Architect?"
Arthur was surprised by the question, but tried not to show it. He wondered if he was supposed to be repeating what the Will told him. But a deal was a deal — and in this case, he didn't think giving out the information would hurt. "I think it just said she went away," he told the Rats, "leaving the Will behind."