Captain Nemo_ The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius - Kevin J Anderson [135]
His mind sharp, Nemo refused to waste any time. He spent every daylight hour memorizing the details of Rurapente and the surrounding landscape, hoping to find some way to use it against the caliph. At the same time, he struggled to pick up as much of the Turkish language as his mind could hold. It would be useful. . . .
By himself at night, he spent many restless hours trying in vain to engineer an escape that would leave none of his comrades behind. When he grew too weary to think and threw himself onto one of the narrow sleeping pallets, images of his beloved Caroline -- just out of reach -- haunted his dreams. Far more than a year had passed. By now, Captain Hatteras would have been legally declared lost at sea, and he and Caroline could have been together by now, married . . . happy.
But instead, he was trapped here, a prisoner.
Caliph Robur returned after a week, riding on his magnificent stallion. The guards sounded a blaring note from a strange musical instrument to summon the group of captive scientists, engineers, and technical experts.
“Men, we are taking a journey into the mountains,” Robur said. His jaw clenched, and the jagged scar on his cheek wrinkled up. “I have a demonstration to show you.”
The men mumbled in consternation, but displayed no overt disobedience. Robur turned his horse and called over his shoulder. “Once you observe what I have done, you will share my enthusiasm about our future. Mine is the ultimate vision for progress. ” Thrusting his pointed beard forward, he smiled . . . but no mirth reached his glittering eyes. “Then you will all agree that I am an enlightened leader, who will rule through technological advancement, rather than fanaticism. If I succeed, the world will indeed be a better place.”
Though wary, the prisoners were in good shape and well-nourished. Robur set off up a zig-zagging mountain path that took them along sheer cliffsides. Guards followed their every move. Even mousy Conseil did not lag behind as they trudged past trickling waterfalls and rockslides, until they reached the Anatolian Plateau, a wilderness peopled only by a few nomads.
They camped at night on the grasslands, wrapped in blankets as the warm wind picked up. In the distance they could hear the bleating and copper bells of a shepherd’s flock, but the melodic tinkling was soon overwhelmed by the sound of Liedenbrock’s loud snores.
The next morning the twenty-seven men and their armed escorts marched along the edge of the plateau until the trampled dirt road ended. There, they saw a secret installation Robur had built into the stark cliffs. Gazing at the out-of-place facility, Nemo found himself intrigued. The other engineers and scientists gasped in amazement. Conseil squawked in disbelief.
Robur had built an enormous weapon mounted into a notch in the stony cliffs: a cannon barrel longer than an entire ship. The black tapering cylinder thrust into the sky, supported by iron girders. The muzzle was aimed high, pointing upward out into the Mediterranean distance.
Robur reigned up his horse. He said nothing at first, just letting his captives stare down at the incredible cannon barrel. The German-born metallurgist placed a hand on his jutting brow to shade his eyes. “Ach! How is this possible? To cast such an object will have been too difficult even for a master craftsman.”
Robur’s Turkish pride got the better of him. “The Columbiad is the largest cannon in the world -- the longest gun barrel ever constructed in human history. It is named after the great Western explorer, who discovered new continents, though many told him it was impossible. We do not listen to the impossible.” His thin smile had no mirth. “Its length from breech to muzzle is nine hundred feet. The diameter is ten feet. And I, Robur the