About the Authors
Patrick and David’s first collaboration, the ‘Sega Star’, was published, by them, on A4 plain paper, at the tender age of 10. David got through university, worked for BBC Online, before starting his own web design company. Patrick abandoned his pitiful academic endeavours at 19 to work as a support engineer and designer in Indycar and Formula 1.
Years later both were running their respective businesses, David’s in user experience and interface design, Patrick’s in historic motorsport or ‘seeing what everyone else did’, as he calls it. Reunited over a long promised pint they talked childhood, Transformers and Starcom. It’s a fact that boys love spaceships and robots; both had stabs at novels in the past so writing together sounded like fun. Patrick worked with Jade Gurss on his highly rated book Beast in 2014, among other motorsport and technical books, loving every moment of it.
Patrick does words, illustrations and some ideas. David does ideas, mostly the bigger ones.
Trinity
Of Cauldron Born • Volume 1
Patrick Morgan with David Kidger
This edition first published in 2021
Unbound
6th Floor Mutual House, 70 Conduit Street, London W1S 2GF
www.unbound.com
All rights reserved
© Patrick Morgan and David Kidger, 2021
The right of Patrick Morgan and David Kidger to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-78965-100-3
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-78965-099-0
Cover design by Mecob
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
Contents
About the Authors
Super Patrons
The Cast
000: Prologue
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
001: Discovery
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
002: Leaving the Vault
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
003: Hydra
Hellinar Research Facility, Western District, Skala City
004: Joss Ratha
Hellinar Research, Western District, Skala City
005: ROOT
Eastern District, Skala City
006: T24
Hellinar Research Facility, Western District, Skala City
007: Debate
Council Chambers, Central District, Skala City
008: The Slums
The Western Fringe, Skala City
009: Three Sisters
Ayon Research, Eastern District, Skala City
010: Nara Falla
Ayon Research, Eastern District, Skala City
011: Unaccounted
T24 Facility, Western Fringe, Skala City
012: Quorum
Council Chambers, Central District, Skala City
013: Interrogation
Gygath Slum, West of Skala City
014: SVA
Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
015: Megan
Central Library, Central District, Skala City
016: Pack Load
Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
017: Return
Gygath Slum, West of Skala City
018: The Chamber
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
019: The Tunnel
Below Skala
020: Mal-Kas
Mal-Kas Mine, 122km Northwest of Skala
021: Meridian
Mal-Kas Mine, 122km Northwest of Skala
022: The Descent
023: The Deep Wells
Below Skala
024: Connor
Mal-Kas Mine, 122km Northwest of Skala
025: The Shaman
Below Skala
026: The Surface
Below Skala
027: Commissioning
Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
028: Trials
The Grasslands, East of Skala
029: Revelation
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
030: The Last Rain
Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
031: Council of Three
The Landlord’s Arms, Gygath Slum
032: Departure
Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
033: Aya
Aya City, 1,009km East of Skala
034: Kul
The Ruined City of Kul, 756km West of Skala
035: Benjamin Kittala
The Ruined City of Kul
036: Tundra
Ayon Tundra, 1,506km East of Skala
037: The Balance of Power
The Meatpacking District, Skala City
038: Reunion
Nastra Research Station, 5,100km East of Skala
039: The Southern Reaches
Approach to Tsarocca, 2,361km South of Kul
040: Beyond Nastra
Nastra Research Station, 5,100km East of Skala
041: Epilogue
The Drop-Off, 7,654km from Skala
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Patrons
Super Patrons
Ayyaaz Afzal-Khan
Oliver Allan
James Allen
Chris Barnett
John Bell
Michael Boasman
Alice Broadribb
Chris Brown
Robert, Sarah & Leo Brownlee
Andy Caddick
Jane Calfe
Ben Chapman
Jen Clark
Daniel Clutterbuck
The Davis Family
Gareth Fentimen
Kathryn Geaves
Jade Gurss
Charlie Harris
Ruth Hill
Gavin Hinxman
Andrea Holden
Justin Humphrey
Tom Humphries
Terry Kaye
Tim and Nikki Kidger
The Kidger Family
Laura Knight
Vicki Knight
Bill Lane
Graham Langham
Deinde Legare Montague Mackie
Tony Main
Jerome Moody
Elizabeth Morgan
Hannah Morgan
Duncan Muddiman
Andrew Murdoch
Beryl Murdoch
Ian Bruce Murdoch
James Murdoch
Steven Newbury
Helen Orchel
David Rees
Paula Rissanen
Kevin Rowland
Craig Scarborough
Bernadette Shail
Emma Sharp
Tony Sime
Fraser Sinclair
Lucy Sinclair
Clive Skinner
Claire Slade
Maureen Smyth
Thom Smyth
Holly Steele
Jo Stevens
Illya Teideman
The Teideman’s
Alan Thomason
Alistair Tu
dor
David Tudor
Mo Turney
Ian Watson
Ruth Watson
Ian Weltch
Stephen Wheatman
David Wilford
Andrea Williams
Sean Worthington
Alex Youngs
The Cast
Ayon Research
Katherine Kane – Privy Councillor
Nara Falla – Privy Councillor
ROOT – Intercessor Drive Core
HEX – Intercessor Drive Core
Myra Cena – Vault Technician
Ivor Gethin – Security Manager
Constance Hatch – Vault Security
Central Library
Megan Devin – Archivist
Crew – GVX-H
Trish Asher – General Assistant
Brendan Scott – Medic and Cook
Jayce Baker – Systems Engineer
Joanna Joyce – Power Unit and Chassis Technician
CID
Vincent O’Brien – Section Head
Jennifer Narin – Deputy Section Head
Tyler Olson – Investigator
Jason Karalydes – Informant
Gygath Slum
The Elder
Ezekiel Lee
Ness
Ira
The Landlord
Hadje
Benjamin Kittala
Jean-Louis – Second Spirit
Hesta
Michelle – Daughter of Hesta and Jean-Louis
Deain – Son of Hesta and Jean-Louis
The Shaman – Spiritualist and Historian
Hellinar Research
Joss Ratha – Privy Councillor
JT Gilbert – Quartermaster
Kyle Devin – Privy Councillor
Kyra Devin – Field Researcher
Mal-Kas Mine
Beth – Light Vehicle Driver
Mitch Farkus – Site Manager
Bill Connor – Security
Jo – Drill Rig Operator
Desiree Angelo – Jumbo Operator
Privy Council
(Listed to reflect seating in the Council Chamber from left to right.)
Kyle Devin – Research/Hellinar
Joss Ratha – Science/Hellinar
Esther Johannsson – Engineering/Hellinar
Oliver Burrell – Cultural/Hellinar
The Matriarch
Victor Urasa – Cultural/Ayon
Erin James – Engineering/Ayon
Katherine Kane – Science/Ayon
Nara Falla – Research/Ayon
(Presiding above)
Selwyn Abbot – Chamberlain
Special Vehicle Assembly
John Orchard – Designer, GVX-H
Don Hoffer – Workshop Manager
Roy Jacobs – Chief Engineer
T7 Staff
Austen Worral – Clerk
T24 Staff
Evelyn Tudor – Clerk
000: Prologue
Ayon Research Facility, Eastern District, Skala City
She hit the glass again with the ball of her hand and this time it cracked. Ignoring the pain, Myra smashed at the emergency panel until the painted floor was scattered with bloody shards. Fighting hyperventilation, she picked out the larger remnants with her fingertips, not caring if she cut herself, then slammed down on the alarm button. Abruptly the faint echoes of the starkly illuminated corridor were drowned in a cacophony of sound. Over the piercing siren she heard the explosive discharge of Freon gas as it doused the inside of the chamber behind her. The white lights blinked out, replaced by a violent confusion of spinning amber that flared from high on the walls. Palls of the sweet-smelling vapour were caught in the light as they rolled past the armoured door and over the debris at her feet before stretching into taut wisps that rushed up into an extractor grate above her.
Myra staggered to the wall, pulled towards it as if by gravity. As her temple hit the cold surface with a dull thud she slapped an anguished hand against the white brickwork, leaving a dark, bloodied arc as it dropped. Her eyes stung and she became aware her face had involuntarily contorted. She forced herself to focus, looking down the long passage to the door at the far end. Externally mounted pneumatic locks were slid hard into their keepers, telling her the hermetic seal was still inflated and that the room beyond remained secure. She let her eyes close momentarily and on opening them found her view obscured by the dark form of a woman running towards her. In the strobing light she saw both resolve and disbelief writ clear across her face. Myra began to crumple as the figure reached her, breaking her fall as the world faded from the maelstrom of confusion and panic. Time passed.
‘Myra? Myra? Can you hear me?’ The voice was distant at first but it rushed in to give her a degree of focus. She felt groggy and unsure of time or place. Blinking, she realised she was back in Vault security, the curved glass wall of the entrance in front of her.
‘What happened?’ Myra managed, and hunched forward on her chair.
‘You set off the alarm, Myra,’ Constance Hatch asserted in her familiar stern manner. ‘You purged HEX’s chamber. What made you do that?’
Myra winced, the memory flooding back as the mental fog of confusion receded. The fingers of her right hand were sore and bleeding into a cloth. She realised she was very cold, a sensation that grounded her; the Freon must have chilled her badly. With a rush, an overwhelming panic rose from somewhere deep in her gut.
‘HEX is gone, Connie,’ she said wretchedly. ‘She’s gone. I did the regular check at four rotations for both IDCs as I always do. ROOT was fine…’ Her voice trailed off, barely believing what she had seen herself. ‘I didn’t notice at first. I must have been in HEX’s chamber for more than a turn. The telemetry looked normal but when I went to leave, the podium was empty, just the wires and pipes strewn over the floor.’
Hatch assessed her evenly for a moment. ‘No one’s been past here in three rotations, Myra.’
‘Then look for yourself,’ she snarled, an anger flaring in her.
Hatch narrowed her stare, then reached for a telephone receiver.
‘Ivor, it’s Hatch,’ she said in a clear, subjective tone. ‘The alarm’s been set off. I’m with Myra Cena, she’s pretty shook up. She says HEX is not in her chamber.’
There was a momentary silence in which Myra looked expectantly into Hatch’s unreadable blue eyes. Getting no response, she looked at the floor and scratched distractedly at a shallow scar that ran down her left cheek, an involuntary tic she couldn’t shake off.
‘That’s what she said,’ continued Hatch after what seemed like a lifetime. ‘If she’s right, no one’s going in there until someone in authority comes down here. It’s been left exactly as it was, I’ve not been in there myself.’
She replaced the receiver and looked back to Myra with calm intent.
‘I’m to keep you here. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but for now we wait.’
Myra nodded her understanding and took a deep breath. She forced her mind back to the start of her shift and tried to recall it in as much detail as she could. In contrast to the ceaseless activity above ground as preparations were made for the move from Skala to Aya, the Vault was almost tranquil during working rotations and became deserted after them when her half-shift started. The last visitors had left on schedule, or just about. Kyra Devin, who had been consulting HEX, had waved a cheerful goodbye dead on the end of her allotted slot. A few turns later the Special Vehicles designer, John Orchard, had departed from a session with ROOT. Characteristically, he was lost in thought and wholly unaware he had overrun, leaving Myra extra paperwork to contend with.
Four rotations into her shift, Myra, who reluctantly admitted diligence was an excuse to alleviate her boredom, had left her station and made her way down the short corridor to check on the physical condition of her wards. The corridor, like all the sub-basements in the building, was stark, white-walled and unusually free of pipework or electrical conduits. The
floor was smooth, having been recently repainted in a shade of pale yellow that only its creator could have loved.
Originally, the Vault had been built around a single occupant, an ornate-looking cube that referred to itself as ROOT. More recently, an additional vault had been constructed upon the discovery of a second IDC, a polyhedron with no recognisable identification. After some deliberation, and in deference to its shape, it had settled on HEX as its alias. The chambers in which the IDCs resided were connected via a second corridor for human access but, crucially, they were not networked or connected electrically, visually or otherwise. Upon HEX’s recent discovery, both she and ROOT had been emphatic that any connection between the two would likely result in the loss of both. Neither would expand on their reasoning for such stringent separation, and thus the only interaction permitted between them was strictly via human relay. Playing messenger was a task that the humans found simultaneously fascinating and onerous.
Myra remembered briefly deliberating which IDC to check on first. She found ROOT the more cordial of the two, and consequently made a left at the corridors’ intersection. ROOT’s chamber lay only twenty metres beyond, with its twin, occupied by HEX, a similar distance behind her. Both chambers were more or less of the same cylindrical design. Each was sealed by a heavy door fitted with a pneumatically operated seal and locks, the operation of which gave Myra a childish sense of satisfaction. She recalled clearly the hiss as the air pressure bled off and the three locks retracted into their housings.
Of average height but athletic in stature, Myra still had to exert some effort to swing the heavy door open to reveal a section of curved, freestanding wall behind it. This wall was a feature of both chambers. Spanning only three metres, it ensured the CCTV cameras positioned to monitor the doors could not see directly inside. This measure, insisted upon by both Intercessors, was not a consideration of privacy but designed to ensure no communication, visual or otherwise, was possible.