Then he felt the concrete beneath his feet start to vibrate.
'What's that?' Jack asked.
'Where?' Maggie asked.
'It's coming from the tunnel,' Aubrey said.
He stood. A rumbling noise was definitely coming from the inner tunnel. Along the platform, children were rising, some half-asleep, others more curious, eyes shining in the candlelight.
The noise grew louder. Soon, it was an angry, bellowing sound and Aubrey could feel it as much as hear it. The floor shook and dust trickled down from overhead. He was on his feet, but uncertain whether to run – and in what direction.
'Aubrey?' Jack asked.
Aubrey hushed him with a gesture. He closed his eyes, frowned, then opened them again. 'It's not magic. Not any more.'
'Then what is . . . ?'
With a hissing roar, water burst out of the inner tunnel, a solid stream smashing through the first doorway. Jetting with such force that it looked like a solid bar of metal, the water slammed into the wall opposite. Instantly, the air was full of spray. With the moisture, all the candles went out, leaving only the few lanterns to shed any light.
The thunder of the water shook the whole platform. Over the shrieks and cries of the children, another jet burst through the second portal, then the third, and the next, and the next right along the length of the platform.
Each jet slammed into the wall opposite and exploded, venting its fury in all directions. Water surged upward, roaring along the curve of the tunnel, and to either side. The concourse became a world of spray and panic, underscored by the growl of an ocean let loose.
Aubrey barely had time to grab a brass pipe running along the wall when he was engulfed. His breath was taken away by the cold, but by the time he could cry out, it had rolled over him and was gone. He shook the water from his eyes then another wave struck and tried to tear his grip loose. For an awful instant, his fingers felt as if they were slipping. Aubrey had visions of being swept away, smashed against the tiles by the hurtling water, unable to draw breath. He gritted his teeth and hung on.
After these two surges, the flood slackened. Aubrey let go, panting, his clothes sodden and heavy. The water was waist-deep. Desperately, he sought for Jack and Maggie but couldn't find them. He was surrounded by children who were floundering, panic-stricken, wailing and cursing. The water regathered its strength and roared through the doorways.
Abruptly, the flood began to ease. Each doorway became a mere torrent, then a cascade, and – to his vast relief – Aubrey was able to slog through the water. By the time he reached the first of the children, the doorways were dribbling like a tap on the top floor of a tenement building.
Jack appeared through the misty gloom. He looked as if he'd been dunked in the village pond. His glasses were fogged. 'What can we do?' he said stoutly enough, with only the barest quaver in his voice.
'Ignore the ones who are crying.'
'What?'
'It's the ones who are unable to cry who may be hurt worst.' Aubrey forced his way through floating bundles of cloth and furniture. He scanned the bedraggled Crew. 'If they have enough energy to cry, we can safely tend to them later.'
Not far away, a small form floated. Desperately, Aubrey staggered through water that was only knee-deep, but his heart fell when he made out that the child was face down.
He scooped the young girl up in both hands. Her eyes were closed, but she rewarded his efforts with a huge, gasping cough, and another. 'Take her, Jack.' He thrust the girl on his blinking friend.
Maggie and some of the older children joined the search. Aubrey found more in distress. One was unconscious, a lad of five or six, drifting on his back. He had a gash on his forehead, but he was breathing. 'Can you get him to a doctor?' he said to Maggie, who'd joined him in his task. 'Easy there,' he said to the small boy, who groaned and opened his eyes.
Right at the end of the platform, he found a boy tangled in a tattered woollen blanket. He wasn't breathing.
Aubrey remembered his cadet training. He made sure the boy's mouth was clear, then pumped his chest with his hands, squeezing the water from him.
The lad hawked, choked, then drew in a deep, shuddering breath. He opened his eyes and sat up. 'I'm all wet,' he said with wonder.
Aubrey's body responded. His knees gave way and he sat, with a splash, in a puddle, as around him the children dragged themselves about, crying, chattering, looking for somewhere dry.
The water had almost drained away, leaving a scene of devastation. Furniture was overturned and sodden. Heaps of bedclothes had fetched up against the walls, like seaweed after a storm. A few candles were being relit with tapers from the surviving lanterns.
Maggie sloshed over. 'I think we've got a broken bone or two. We're taking them to Dr Wells.'
Aubrey stood. He started brushing himself off, but quickly gave up. 'Isn't that a long way to go?'
'He'll treat them for nothing,' Jack said, 'and he doesn't complain about being woken up.'
I must make sure Dr Wells is handsomely paid, Aubrey thought.
'Does this sort of thing happen often, Maggie?' Jack asked.
'Never seen it before. I thought we were safe here.'
Aubrey looked toward the doorways. 'Are you in a hurry to go, Jack?'
'Why?'
'I'd like to do a little exploring.'
AUBREY LEANED THROUGH THE PORTAL AND HELD OUT HIS lantern. The inner tunnel was completely round, made of iron segments twice the height of a person and – as Maggie had noted – it smelled.
Just inside the first doorway, he could make out the huge iron ring that would slow down a capsule as it came into the station and hold it at the right level for embarking and disembarking. The leather padding on the inside of the ring was hard and cracked, and still dripping from the flood that had thundered through.
He turned to his left and saw four more great rings, each with slip-sockets to allow release and capture of the capsule.
He shook his head in admiration at Beauchamp's daring. It was a folly, but a glorious, spectacular folly.
'D'you think this is a good idea?' Jack said from behind him.
'Possibly not. We'll know soon enough.'
One-handed – the other holding the lantern – Aubrey climbed through the portal and down the curved ladder.
Even though the sloping sides of the tunnel were still wet, he was able to stand without slipping into the knee-deep water at the bottom. His lantern glinted on it and reflected off the wet metal sides, scoured clean by the flood that had disappeared as fast as it had come.
Behind him, a curse and a splash. He turned in time to see Jack stagger to his feet, dripping. 'I didn't think I was wet enough,' he said, and he wiped his face with a hand. 'But this should do it.'
Aubrey studied the weak current in the bottom of the tunnel, then turned and edged in the direction the water was coming from. He'd only gone a hundred yards or so – with Jack gamely following – when he came to the bricked-up end of the tunnel.