Carry on the family tradition, I suppose, I said.
Fight the good fight. What else is there?
Molly gave me a sharp look there, which I didn t understand till later. Diana gave me a brilliant smile.
The Regent was lost for a long time after he left his family. So he made himself a new family his Shadows. That hasn t changed just because we re calling ourselves Uncanny these days. You could join us, Eddie, become a part of our family. I know it wouldn t be the same how could it? but we would make you very welcome. And you, too, of course, Molly. You could do good work with us, both of you. You don t have to be alone in the world.
I could hear the sincerity in her voice. I had no doubt she meant what she was saying, and it did intrigue me. It also puzzled me that this should mean so much to her.
Thank you, I said. That s very kind, but
He doesn t need you, said Molly. He has me.
Think about it, said Diana. She smiled briskly at both of us and was immediately all business again. The Regent assured me that we ll take good care of your Phantom V while you re gone. You can pick her up again anytime you re back in London, after this is all over.
I wouldn t mess with the Phantom, if I were you, I said carefully. The Armourer builds his cars to look after themselves.
That s Jack for you! said Diana. Never met a car he didn t customise till it hurt. Trust me, I did raise that point most forcibly with the Uncanny car pool. The Phantom will be treated with the utmost respect.
You know the Drood Armourer? said Molly, not even bothering to hide her suspicions.
Of course, Diana said easily. And then she just stood there, smiling easily.
More secrets, Molly said disgustedly.
Of course, said Diana. We are secret agents, after all. Secrets are our business, our stock-in-trade. Now, I know what you re thinking.
No, you don t, said Molly. Or you wouldn t still be standing there.
I could practically see the tension spitting and sparking on the air between them, so I made a big deal of going round to the driver s-side door and opening it to look inside. The sat nav immediately turned itself on.
About time! it said in a harsh and strident female voice. Come on. Get in, park your arse and let s get moving! I haven t got all day!
I just stared at the sat nav for a moment. We re not going to get on, are we?
Like I care, said the sat nav.
I straightened up and looked at Diana. Would the Regent be very upset if I was to rip out the sat nav and throw it under the next passing heavy-goods vehicle? It s not as if we re going to need it. We re not driving down to Surrey.
We re not? said Molly.
We are going directly to Crow Lee s place through the Merlin Glass, I said. You have heard of the Glass, Diana? Yes, of course you have.
We maintain up-to-date files on everyone, Diana said carefully. On friends and enemies and everyone in between. I m sure the Droods are in there somewhere. Though I don t think our researchers believe half of what they ve heard when it comes to the Merlin Glass. Some have been heard to suggest that it s all just Drood misinformation, designed to demoralise people like us.
Believe every bit of it, Molly said sweetly.
Especially the really disturbing parts.
The clue is in the name, I said. Merlin Satanspawn always believed that weapons should be double-edged. But we re not going to Crow Lee s place in Surrey straightaway.
You re not? said Diana.
Molly and I have already discussed this at some length, I said carefully. If we just drop in on him now, he ll have all kinds of defences ready and waiting for us. I ve got a better idea. The Merlin Glass operates in time as well as space. You might remember, Molly, that during out recent side trip to foreign parts, the Glass returned us to the exact moment in time and space that we left from. Therefore
Hold everything, said Molly. Are you saying what I think you re saying?
Time travel! said Diana, clapping her hands together excitedly. You re talking about time travel, aren t you?
I was going to say that! said Molly, sulking. She glared at Diana. Don t you have somewhere else you ought to be?
Wouldn t miss this for the world, said Diana.
Molly glowered at me. Since when did you start discussing family secrets in front of strangers? You might trust the Regent, Eddie, but we ve no reason to extend that to his whole damned organisation. If Crow Lee has people inside your family, you can bet he s planted even more inside the Department of the Uncanny. Probably back when they were just Shadows.
I suppose that is always possible, said Diana, in an entirely reasonable tone of voice she must have known would put Molly s teeth on edge. I wouldn t put anything past Crow Lee. The treacherous little shit. But you can trust me, Eddie. The Regent specifically chose me to come here and talk with you because he had no doubt that you could trust me. Do you trust me, Eddie?
I looked at her. I knew I shouldn t trust her, that I had no good reason to, but somehow I did. Molly could see what was happening on my face, and made a point of tutting loudly and rolling her eyes.
You always were too trusting, Eddie Drood. And always far too ready to be impressed by mutton dressed as lamb. All right, what s the plan with the Merlin Glass?
Simple, I said. I ll arrange the arrival coordinates so that although we enter the Glass here and now, we ll arrive at Crow Lee s estate twenty-four hours in the future. That should give him more than enough time to become worried about all kinds of things where are we, why haven t we arrived yet, what we re planning. It should also provide enough time for his private army to get tired of standing guard for a threat that never comes, and get bored and complacent and sloppy.
I don t know, said Molly. This is Crow Lee we re talking about.
It gives us an advantage we wouldn t otherwise have and that he won t suspect, I said patiently.
Unless you actually want to drive all the way down to Surrey. Arriving worn-out in the early hours of the morning, having driven all through the night, being nagged all the way by the sat nav?
I heard that! said the sat nav.
You were meant to, I said.
Why only twenty-four hours into the future? said Diana.
Because I don t trust the Merlin Glass any further than that, I said. There are far too many things that can go wrong with time travel. And, besides, I just can t stand the thought of Crow Lee having any more time than that. I am going to destroy his house and his grounds and everything he owns, bring his whole world crashing down about his ears and then I m going to make him bring my family back. Whatever it takes.
I ll help, said Molly.
Couldn t do it without you, I said.
We smiled at each other, and just like that everything was all right again between us.
I hate to be the wet blanket here, said Diana, but won t Crow Lee detect you approaching through the Merlin Glass? I mean, that thing gives off a hell of a lot of magical energies, and he s bound to be looking for it. If we know you ve got it, you can be sure he knows.
He ll be looking for spatial travel through the Glass, I said just a bit smugly. Not time travel. He doesn t know the Glass can do that. No one does.
You re so sharp you ll cut yourself one day, Molly said admiringly. Death from Above, via the Timestream! I love it!
And she did a little jig of joy, right there in the street.
He ll never see it coming, I said solemnly.
And then all three of us looked up sharply and round as a big red double-decker London bus came thundering down the street towards us. It was really travelling, moving much faster than any London bus should, and it took me only a moment to realise all the windows were darkly tinted, so no one could see in. I couldn t even see the driver at the wheel, never mind any of the passengers. The bus roared right down the middle of the road, its engine making a hell of a racket as it struggled to maintain its speed. Tinted windows? On a public-transport bus?