The War of the Iron Dragon: An Alternate History Viking Epic (Saga of the Iron Dragon Book 5) by Robert Kroese

Author:Robert Kroese [Kroese, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Culain Press
Published: 2021-02-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

G ulbrand exited his suit and then helped Freya out of hers. They moved quickly across the factory floor, armed only with handguns and a satchel of plastic explosives Gulbrand had brought from the refinery. Fortunately, the atmosphere was breathable.

When they reached the door, however, they found it impossible to open. Not merely locked; it had no handle, knob or visible lock of any kind.

“I will blow it open,” said Gulbrand, unslinging the satchel.

“Wait,” said Freya, noticing a small lens at about eye level. They had brought the explosives to break into the control hub and destroy whatever they found inside. Not knowing what was in there, they had brought enough charges to destroy a city block. Still, she’d rather not waste them. She found a golem head lying on the floor not far away and held it up to the lens. A thin red beam scanned the barcode on the golem’s forehead and the door slid open. “Let’s go,” said Freya, moving into the corridor beyond with the golem head under her arm. Gulbrand followed her and the door slid shut behind them.

The corridor took them most of the way to the control hub. Freya had memorized the surveillance photo of the city Dornen had showed them, but she had no way to know how to get inside the hub from where they were. She just had to trust the driving idea behind the city’s design: all roads lead to the Hub.

The corridor came to a dead end; the only way out was a vertical shaft overhead. A ladder of metal rungs led upward into darkness. Gulbrand insisted on going first, and Freya followed as the distant rumble of explosions continued. She wondered how much longer Eric and his men could hold out. She couldn’t even be certain Eric was still alive, and without his leadership they wouldn’t last long. So far she and Gulbrand had encountered no resistance—no autonomous machines at all, in fact—but this could only be because the Izarians were throwing everything they had at Eric’s men.

They emerged at an intersection of corridors, and they continued hubward, using the golem head when necessary to open doors. At last they reached a door that would not open. When Freya scanned the barcode, a tiny red light would flash next to the lens, but nothing else happened.

“I guess that’s as far as this thing is going to get us,” said Freya, making to drop the golem head.

“Hold on,” said Gulbrand. “Give it to me.”

She handed him the head, and he proceeded to yank the innards out of it. He then stuffed three of the lumps of plastic explosive into it. “I suspect we are going to meet more resistance beyond this door.” Freya nodded. He inserted one of the detonators, putting it on a five second timer. Then he pulled out another charge and knelt at the door.

“Where are you going to put the charge?” she asked. The door looked to be solid steel, and if it was like the others, it had no hinges or latch.

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