Captain Nemo_ The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius - Kevin J Anderson [188]
Nemo leaped across the intervening gap to the cobblestoned walkway alongside the river. Dirtying his old uniform from Rurapente, he hauled himself up to the street level. The handful of scurrying citizens looked as if they had been stunned, like kittens being chased with a broom. Rail-thin refugees ran back and forth, searching for something . . . safety, perhaps. Few of the downtrodden people even noticed the sub-marine boat lying like a dark fish in the oily Seine.
The shelling continued. Explosions rocked the night. Ducking low, Nemo ran along the Quai Anatole France, beside the smoking buildings. Spreading flames spilled out of broken windows. New fires encircled this section of the Left Bank, and these venerable structures were doomed.
As he approached Caroline’s place of business, Nemo was dismayed to see the rowhouse already threatened by fresh flames. Earlier, before he had set out for the Crimean War, he had stood in front of this place in the dark of early morning. Now, fire flowed up the brick sides, gnawing at the half-timbered reinforcements. The plank floors and wooden furniture inside only served to fuel the blaze. Nemo hoped Caroline hadn’t remained here -- but he had to check. He would not let her down again.
With his shoulder, he broke through the tall door; it had been closed tightly against the jamb, but not locked. Several of the windows had already smashed in the rising heat. Over the growl of spreading fire, he could hear someone moving about in the back upstairs room.
“Caroline!” He ran up the stairs. The thickening smoke made his voice hoarse. The flames grew louder as they ate their way through the walls and timbers. His time was running out.
In the back room he found her, and his knees went weak. All of the clerks and workers had gone, probably weeks ago at the beginning of the siege, judging from the cluttered condition of the desks. But Caroline had remained, long after the others had fled.
He barged into the well-appointed office and saw her -- face streaked with grime, hair loose and in disarray. She scurried about, gathering documents from drawers in her heavy desk. He couldn’t imagine what business records could be so important that she would take such a risk to protect them.
When Caroline saw him standing in her doorway, framed by firelight, she froze. “André?” Her voice was the barest whisper.
Words caught in his throat. Caroline looked so familiar and yet so changed. After many painful years, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. His heart ached as he drank in the sight of her.
“I knew you’d come,” she said, her voice thick with relief. “Somehow, I knew that if I waited long enough . . .”
Nemo stepped into the room, shoulders squared, refusing to face the fire. “I’ve come to take you away from here, Caroline. You must leave Paris.”
She shook her head, haunted. “No one can break the siege, not even you, André. The Prussians control all exits. We have had no food, no peace.” Then she blinked. “But -- how did you get into the city?”
Nemo extended his hand. “I have a way. Let me take you to safety. Leave your papers behind. They won’t mean anything where we’re going.” Then he noticed the circles, dots, and slashes of musical notes, long compositions in her own hand. Her music. Of course she would have come back for it.
“No, I have to take this. I kept the papers hidden here, locked away, so no one would find them in my house. A full symphony, some concertos, sonatas --” As the fire grew brighter, she grabbed more sheets of music that had been stored in her desk drawer.
Nemo snatched up the compositions she had already piled on her desk. “If you come with me, you won’t need to hide your music anymore.” Their eyes met in a long, deep silence. “I have something to show you, and then everything will change. We have both lost so much.” His voice became quiet, aching. “It is time we