Blood Red City (46 page)
Authors: Justin Richards
âShe killed two men when they found her,' the guard captain explained. âAnother as they put her in the cage.'
âAnd she does not wound?'
âNo, comrade. We have tried shooting her, stabbing herâ¦' He shrugged. âI've never seen anything like it.'
âThen you are one of the lucky ones. You say she was found in Stalingrad?'
âImpaled on wooden joists in a ruined basement. God knows how she got there. The injuries healed as soon as my men removed her.'
âAnd then she killed them.'
âYes ⦠What should we do with her, sir?'
âTake her to the Kremlin Archives,' Stalin ordered. âTell Archivist Vasilov that I want her stored with the items recovered from Tunguska.'
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
âTunguska?' Brinkman shook his head. âI've never heard of it.
âIt's a place in Siberia,' Elizabeth Archer explained.
The two of them were sitting either side of her desk in the vault beneath the British Museum. Elizabeth had Vasilov's letter in front of her.
âAnd why is this place relevant?' Brinkman asked.
âThere was an explosion there.'
âThere
is
a war on,' Brinkman pointed out.
âThis explosion was in 1908,' Elizabeth told him. âOn 30 June, to be exact. Vasilov says that the archive the Vril broke into was where the Russians stored what they recovered after the blast.'
Brinkman nodded. âHe thinks the Vril were somehow involved?'
âHe does,' Elizabeth confirmed. âBecause this wasn't just a bomb going off. Luckily it was in an uninhabited area, but even so it devastated the forests.'
âIs this what Jane Roylston saw in her vision?' Brinkman asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. âWhat she saw was on a much smaller scale. The Russians estimate that the Tunguska explosion destroyed eighty million trees.'
Brinkman stared at her. âEighty
million
?'
âOver an area of about 800 square miles.'
Brinkman leaned back in his chair. âThat's a hefty blast. I'm surprised there was anything left to recover.'
âNot much,' Elizabeth admitted. âBut, according to Vasilov, they found something buried under the ground right at the epicentre of the blast. He doesn't know much about it. He says they spent years examining the device, but without learning much.'
âIt wasn't damaged by the explosion?'
âProbably, but Vasilov's working assumption was that it was somehow involved in
causing
the explosion.'
Brinkman let out a long breath. âI can see why Stalin and his comrades would be interested in finding out how it works. And this device was created by the Vril?'
âIf not, then they certainly know about it,' Elizabeth said. She picked up Vasilov's letter, quickly reading back over it. âAnd now, they have it.'
âWhat?'
âThat device is what was taken from the Kremlin Archives. Vasilov couldn't learn its secrets, but we have to assume the Vril already know them.'
âIt's a weapon,' Brinkman said grimly.
âObviously. But what, or whom, are they planning to use it against?'
âAnd when?' Brinkman added. âAnd how do we stop them?'
Â
Also by
Justin Richards
(The Never War: Book One)
Â
Justin Richards
is a British writer. He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range. He has written for television, contributing to Five's soap opera
Family Affairs.
He is also the author of a series of crime novels for children about the Invisible Detective, and novels for older children. His Doctor Who novel
The Burning
was placed sixth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's “Best SF/Fantasy novelization or TV tie-in novel” category of 2000. You can sign up for email updates
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CONTENTS
Â
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin's Press.
THE BLOOD RED CITY
. Copyright © 2014 by Justin Richards. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Richards, Justin, author.
Title: The blood red city / Justin Richards.
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2016. | 2014 | Series: Never War, book 2
Identifiers: LCCN 2015043226 | ISBN 9781250059215 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781466863781 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939â1945âFiction. | Human-alien encountersâ Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Science Fiction / Military. | FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure. | FICTION / Alternative History. | GSAFD: Alternative histories (Fiction) | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6118.I365 B58 2016 | DDC 823/.92âdc23
LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015043226
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First published in Great Britain by Del Ray, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, a Penguin Random House Group company
First U.S. Edition: March 2016
e-ISBN 9781466863781