The Raid on Kiel, by Michael Manogue

Image by x-ray delta one via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons.

August 12th, 1916

Tonight, I violate every oath I have ever taken so that I might record the remarkable events I have witnessed. What I was privy to strikes me as so important that I dare not take the risk that future events conspire to hide the truth of what I heard and saw.

Earlier this evening I was summoned to Admiralty Headquarters by a pair of solemn military police sergeants. As a clerk, I was not surprised when my enquiries were brushed aside and they urged me to hurry along. I abandoned my supper, grabbed my notebook and pen and followed them into the warm London evening.

My escorts marched me through one empty hallway after another until we reached a secluded meeting room on the top floor of HQ that I did not know existed despite having been to that floor many times in the past. One of the sergeants opened the door while the other propelled me into the room with a sharp push. Before I could turn and complain the door was shut firmly behind me. A giant portrait of Nelson dominated one end of the room, while an ornate model of the HMS Victory decorated the other. Floor to ceiling bookshelves stuffed with leather bound volumes covered the far wall. The dark beams and flooring gave the room the feel of a cabin on a great ship from the last century. Four people sat at a long brass studded wooden table. Two wore the uniform of His Majesty’s Dirigible Service and they could not have been more different; the older man was stout and serious, an admiral: the second, young and thin, a common sailor. The other two were arrayed on the opposite side of the large table and wore the blood red robes and gilded masks of the Honorarium, a secret society whose members, it was said, wore masks to conceal burns suffered in the ‘spirit plane’. Though I cannot comment on the truth of that, it was the first time I had been in the presence of members of the Honorarium. I admit to being filled with a sense of trepidation.

The Admiral pointed to a seat. I swallowed any questions I might have had and sat down in the high backed leather chair and set out my notebook and pen in front of me.

“Let’s get started.  This is an interview being held to determine the fate of His Majesty’s Dirigible Fortitude lost in action over the Imperial German Aerodrome at Kiel on the 10th of August. Present are myself, Admiral James Beatty, Gunner’s Mate Derek Bennett, the sole survivor of the Fortitude, Naval clerk Peter Gillington…” he paused. I nodded to the others. “Two members of the Honorarium.” The Admiral appeared annoyed at not being able to name almost half the people present. This was highly irregular but so was their very presence at such an inquiry.

Bennett fiddled with an empty glass tumbler that sat in front of him next to a bottle of imported rum from the West Indies. He was flushed and his eyes had a dull sheen to them. It was clear to me that he had already had plenty of the spirits before I arrived. He glanced from the robed acolytes and then back to Beatty. When the taller of the two Honorarium got up and moved to the seat next to him I thought the lad might faint.

“Derek,” the acolyte said in an upper class accent, “do not be afraid. We are servants of the light and we come to you seeking truth.” He removed a small metal device from his robes and held up in front of Bennett’s face causing the boy to flinch. “It is all right, just relax. Have a look at it, see how it shines? You will find that you are becoming more and more relaxed and soon you shall be asleep.”

I watched all of this in wonderment. Suddenly the boy nodded and went limp in his chair.

Beatty appeared quite startled by this. He leant forward and demanded, “I say, what have you done to him?”

“He is fine. I have merely placed him in a hypnotic trance so that we may question him more closely. Also, in this state he will be unable to tell us a falsehood.” He turned his masked face back to the sailor. “Derek? Wake up, we have questions for you. You must tell us everything we ask and you must not conceal anything, do you understand?” Bennett sat up and nodded. “Good, tell us about your last voyage what was the mood of the crew?”

“Mood?” Bennett spoke with a working class East London accent. “It was all right, I mean we was curious and what not about the tube that got mounted. They took out two fourteen pounders to mount the thing and two fourteen pounders can make a big difference in a scrap. Seemed daft to take them out and replace ‘em with a ruddy hollow tube covered in funny letters nobody could read. Course we had all of them robed fellas crawling all over the ship as well. I mean we always have a few on board to mind the power supply and to work their flashy weapons. That’s some more bollocks, give me my trusty Vickers any day of the week over those cobblers.”

If the acolyte took any offense his mask did not show it. “What about Admiral Rawson?”

“Sir Harry? He was all right. Bit of a stiff neck but all of them brass are. He was a proper gentleman though. Still, you could tell deep down he was a sailor a regular Jack Tar, he was. We all knew him ‘cause of what he done at Zanzibar and we was happy to have ‘em. Lads called him Harry, not to his face but more like a nickname, you know? You shoulda heard the nickname we had for our previous skipper, he was a right cu..”

“Derek,” interrupted the robed questioner speaking as a school master might address a student, “Let us stay on track. You say the men liked Rawson?”

“Yeah. He wouldn’t half tear your head off if you mucked something up but otherwise he was a good geezer. You could tell he didn’t like them robed wankers neither, just like the rest of us.”

The masked man leant forward at this. “Rawson did not like the Honorarium who were preparing his ship? How do you know? Did they quarrel?”

“No nothing like that they didn’t even speak that I ever saw. It’s more like he would give ‘em a look when they walked by but I never knew about any bust up. That’s what I mean, he was a regular bloke deep down. I don’t know anyone who likes those robed blokes. We all gave them a wide berth and after a couple of days they were done and they all pissed off leaving us two guns short. Crew weren’t too happy about that bit I can tell you.”

“So we get under way at about eighteen hundred leaving Scapa Flow and heading due east. Nobody knew where we was heading, they don’t bother us with stuff like that, never have. I see my mate George and he says to me. ‘You see them blokes get on?’ and I’m like, ‘what blokes?’ Well it seems that three more of those robed lot had come on board carrying this big box. That was a bit strange, you know? But I didn’t think too much of it, I mean I never saw ‘em.” He frowned. “Least I don’t think I ever saw ‘em. Saw a couple in the passage way but I just figured they were our regular bunch.” He shrugged. “Who can tell right? Anyway we kept climbing and going east I guess through most of the night I’m not sure I went to sleep. When I woke up we was going south but it seemed like we was zigzagging, you know? It was about noon that we got the call to battle stations and we…”

“Wait a minute,” the robed man interrupted “you were called to battle stations? You couldn’t have been at Kiel so soon.”

“Kiel? No way mate they’d spotted a trawler and I guess they figured it for a picket. Anyway we made a fast descent and came up on them real close less than 100 yards from the sea. They was on our starboard side where my gun was. Ol’ Harry gave the word and I washed her down good with my Vickers. There were a couple a geezers on deck waving and shouting something but I didn’t pay it no mind. After that, we put a couple of shells in her and she went right to the bottom. Harry, the Admiral that is, was well pleased.”

“You met a ship which you stopped and sank?” the masked man asked with some urgency.

“Yeah like I just told ya,” the sailor replied. His eyes were wide with a far-off look about them. The questioner looked at his smaller companion who had yet to utter a word.

“What does that mean?” asked Beatty with some irritation. “So they sank a possible sentry vessel there is nothing out of the ordinary there.”

“Admiral,” the taller acolyte said, “their course was carefully chosen so that they would meet no one. Powerful forces were contacted and deals were made. This encounter with the trawler should not have happened, to our way of thinking it could not have happened yet it seems it has. Somehow, that future has been altered. It is simply not possible yet it has happened.”

“Well your mystics got it wrong then. This must be quite a surprise for you.” Beatty rejoined

“Surprise?” Though I could not see the other man’s face, I could hear the sneer in his voice. “Admiral, would you be surprised tomorrow at dawn if the sun did not rise?” He turned back to the sailor. “Derek, what happened next?”

“We got back under way. It was dark by the time we were called to battle stations again. Then they came on the bridge three of them robed wankers carrying that big box. Sir Harry had put on his best uniform, he looked right smart in it. Very impressive. He told ‘em that we were approaching the target. One of those robed wankers said something about ‘hiding the ship from the eyes of the enemy and them that can see without ‘em’ or some rubbish like that. Harry he was on edge you could tell by looking at him. Then they opened that box.” He stopped and his whole body shuddered. “I don’t want to talk about that bit.” He said quietly.

“You are safe Derek no harm can come to you.” The robed man said soothingly. “Please go on.”

“It were one of the Fey.” The sailor said in a hushed tone. “A faerie, only it didn’t look like one in any book, it was horrible. Harry knew. You could see it on his face. It made this noise like a giant bee. It had black eyes like a wasp. It was just ancient looking and it had these tiny claws.” He visibly shuddered again. “You could sense that it was just wrong. That it shouldn’ta been there. The head wanker he introduced this thing to Sir Harry and he looked like he was going to faint or swat it or sumtin’ I mean that one bloke he spoke to it but all it sounded like was a swarm of bees. Then the Bosun says that the lookouts are reporting lightning ahead. The head wanker says ‘That is not lighting. We’ve been detected’. I think that’s what he said, he sounded surprised. Then him and his mates and that thing all went to the front and started making such a racket.”

“The head,” the masked man paused for just an instant but I had to suppress a smile, “wanker, you say he seemed surprised?” The robed figure exchanged another glance with his smaller silent partner.

“Yeah and then they started making that racket. It was a relief when Harry gave the order to open fire ‘cause it drowned them out. ‘Bout that time we started to get some incoming too. Big bolts like lightning ‘cept they was coming straight at us. Then there’s these explosions all around the ship as they tried to bracket us. Sir Harry he was real happy, said we caught them napping and we had, their entire fleet was tied up on the ground. A couple of single man ships were swanning around us, I got one in my sights and sent him down in flames and Sir Harry he clapped me on the back and he said ‘good shooting lad.’ He did, he clapped me right on the back.” Tears started to trickle down his face. “That’s when they hit us. Took off the entire port battery, it was gone just like that with my best mate George with it. Half the bridge crew were down and there was blood and smoke everywhere. Worst of all was the Fey it were making such a noise a high pitched buzz that it just got inside your skull and it was flopping around on the floor like a moth against a lamp it were horrible and Sir Harry he walked over and stepped on it and it made this crunch and I threw up.” His shoulders shook as he started to sob quietly.

“Derek, listen to me. It is all right. You are no longer afraid or sad. You are quite calm.” The tall acolyte instructed.

Instantly the young sailor stopped crying. “I am quite calm.”

“After Sir Harry stepped on the Fey, then what happened?” he asked.

“The head wanker went mental he did. He was yelling at Sir Harry but ol’ Harry he gave it right back to him told him ‘fire your weapon sir’ in a voice well you could tell what he thought of ‘em right there like he didn’t think them blokes were any good at all in a scrap. The other one he starts screaming how he can’t ‘cause the faerie is dead and the ship’s gonna explode and what not. Sir Harry he turns to Mister Foley and tells him ‘prepare the ship for descent’ and those of us still alive we know exactly what he’s planning. Mister Foley he gets right on it and no one complains or nuthin’ and you can see Sir Harry was real proud of us. Then we get hit again and when the smoke clears the helmsman’s gone, just one shoe left with his foot still in it and Harry goes to order Mister Foley only he’s dead too, I know ‘cause I got his brains all over me.” He swallowed and took a deep breath.

“Go on.” The masked man said gently.

“Well the head wanker is up on his feet now but all of his mates are dead and he’s lost his mask so you can see his face. They’re supposed to be all burnt up but there ain’t a mark on him and Sir Harry’s at the helm now and he calls this bloke a ‘charlatan’ and this geezer he tries to take the wheel from Sir Harry but good ol’ Harry knocks him to the deck. This bloke gets up and he says something like ‘I’ll stop you’ and he starts chanting a bunch of nonsense and Sir Harry takes out his revolver and blows this blokes brains all over the deck. Last thing I remember was we were heading down straight for ‘em and the Admiral yelling ‘God save the King” and then there were another explosion and I woke up in the sea floating on a piece of wreckage. I could see the Aerodrome it was burning but the flames they was blue bright, bright blue. That’s everything I know.”

“Derek when you awake you will remember nothing of what happened on the Fortitude.” He reached over and tucked a five pound note into his pocket. “You have spent the last three days on leave getting drunk. You will awaken once you exit this building and go to the nearest pub, do you understand?”

“Sure mate, I understand. You know you ain’t so bad, for a wanker.”

“Thank you. Admiral if you could have the young man removed please.” Beatty lifted the phone receiver and two minutes later the four of us were alone. I waited half expecting to be dismissed myself but no such order was given. “Well there hardly seems to be much point in this anymore.” The tall man said and he removed his mask and dropped it on the table.

Beatty looked taken back, the man’s face was unmarked and there was a flash of recognition. “You’re Algernon Seymour, the Duke of Somerset.” He sputtered. Beatty looked at the other acolyte who had also removed their mask and we were both surprised this time. “You’re a woman!”

“Yes Admiral.” The young and somewhat attractive lady, I must confess, said, “Not all organizations are as segregated as your precious Navy.”

“Admiral if I may introduce Lilith Swain a powerful practitioner of our Arts. I trust her with my life,” he paused, “as I am about to do with you.”

“What exactly do you mean by that my Lord?” asked Beatty suddenly looking as he if he dreaded to hear the answer.

“As in all things, there are factions in the Honorarium. Not everyone is behind this war. Some feel that our dealings with the spirit world put us closer to other practitioners then to say the Crown or the British Government. We felt it was important to strike a decisive blow against the enemy so we armed one of your ships with a powerful weapon and sent it on a mission that could not fail and that would end with the triumphant return of the HMD Fortitude and all her crew. Now the Fortitude is destroyed most of the crew dead, acolytes loyal to me dead, one of them by Rawson’s own hand and perhaps most importantly, a high ranking member of the Fey, a creature older and more powerful than you can imagine is also dead. Stepped on like an insect after his safety was guaranteed not only by our seers but by the spirit world itself. We have induced many of the Fey here in Britain to our side but to say they are ‘British’ because they inhabit the same Isles as we do would be a serious overstatement. The German Fleet may be out of commission but we may have been dealt a more serious blow here at home against our power to continue this war.”

“No offense sir but the King is behind us and the people too. No one is going to be pulling the plug on this party anytime soon. If some of your people think they can go against the might of the bloody British Empire then they have another think coming.” Beatty had raised his voice and was halfway out of his chair. He sat back down and added, “My Lord.”

The Duke looked at him.  “You may be right Admiral but what if you are not?”

“A messenger has arrived,” said Lilith replacing her mask. The Duke followed her lead.

Beatty stared at the two them in silence and I admit I was somewhat perplexed as well. The Admiral looked as if he was about to speak when we heard the sound of footsteps. I looked at the Swain woman in frank astonishment and even Beatty appeared shaken. How could she have known? The answer seemed obvious but brought me little consolation. It was easy enough to believe in the airships they designed but I had always taken this talk of faeries and magic to be a bunch of nonsense. It was now clear that I had been hugely mistaken. A knock came from outside and Beatty said “Enter.”

A young Ensign came in with an envelope. “Beggin’ your pardon Admiral but this came for,” he paused and gestured at the Duke, “him.”

The Duke took the envelope and waited until the Ensign had left before again removing his mask. He opened the envelope and read quietly for a few moments before passing the letter to the now unmasked woman. “Dire news Admiral, an order has been issued to cease all war operations against the Central Powers. I am to present myself at our headquarters on the Isle of Iona. That does not sound very promising for either me or my followers. Nor is it good news for the war effort.”

“I don’t believe it.” Beatty said. “I flat out don’t believe that King George would give that order.”

“King George did not issue this order Admiral.” The Swain woman said. “It has been issued by and I quote ‘the rightful ruler of the Empire’ King George apparently no longer holds that title.”

‘Rubbish!” exclaimed Beatty. “Who can have a better claim than him?”

Swain smiled but it was a sad smile. “Why his mother of course, Queen Victoria.”

Beatty stared at her “That is impossible.” he said levelly. “She is dead.”

Swain slid the letter down to him so he could examine the signature. “Apparently not any more she’s not.”

Beatty turned as white as the parchment I was writing on and I myself felt as if I had been slapped. The silence in the room was such that the clock on the wall sounded as loud as a drum beat. At last Beatty spoke. “What do we do now?”

“This is powerful sorcery. Who knows how the public will react? Obviously members of my order intend to have our current monarch replaced with his mother. I then expect our new Queen will make peace with her grandson the Kaiser. Who knows? Peter the Great, Charlemagne and Joan of Arc may all step forward tomorrow.” The Duke spoke with a certain amount of vehemence. “This could not have been done without the help of the Fey. By having one of them die on the Fortitude some of my order seem to have convinced the Fey to take things in a new direction. I imagine they have been conspiring with other societies like ours all over Europe. This may very well be their first step in seizing control of the entire continent.” He stood abruptly and walked over to me and gently took my notebook away. He then removed the shiny instrument he had used on Bennett from the folds of his robes.

I stood so quickly that I knocked my chair over with a crash. “Sir,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster, “I have no intention of you erasing or interfering with my mind.”

“Just do it.” Ordered Beatty. I was outraged and had the sudden urge to strike the Admiral.

“It will not work if he resists.” The Duke said with a sigh. He looked into my eyes and said with the utmost sincerity, “Do not go home. Leave the city and do not come back. Most important of all, forget everything you saw and heard here tonight. Admiral, come with us.” With that he spun on his heel and three of them left together leaving me standing alone and shaken in the empty room.

I wandered the streets for several hours but I did not know where to go or what to do. The Duke’s advice to simply disappear did not strike me as plausible. Where would I go? At last I returned here to my flat and resolved to make note of what happened. I swear that everything here is true to the best of

They are at the door. I have my revolver. I shall not be taken alive.

PG

END