Read Online Jani and the Greater Game (The Multiplicity Series Book 1) by Eric Brown - Free Book Online Page A

Cartwright might wish to question her about, and she wondered, as she ate, how she might respond to his probing.
    The nurse returned with her clothing and Jani finished her lunch and dressed. She was surprised to find that she could stand and walk on her injured ankle with hardly a limp. She looked at her reflection in the wall mirror. She had no recollection of hitting her head, but her brow sported a minor gash, evidently not deep enough to warrant a dressing, and her right cheek was bruised. How odd, she thought, that she had felt hardly a thing in the aftermath of the crash.
    One hour later she settled herself on a small wicker chair beside the bed as the train pulled into Chandigarh station. This was her first sight of urban India in over five years, and the busy platform filled her with a satisfying sense of homecoming. Passengers hurried back and forth and food vendors called out their wares, “Chai, chai!” and, “Mooli!” She saw a snake charmer surrounded by a posse of fascinated street urchins, and a legless, ash-covered holy man propelling himself along the platform on a homemade cart. Above the ornate Victorian architecture of the station was the bulbous envelope of a British Army airship, a fan of guy-ropes securing it to a docking rig.
    Ten minutes after arriving, the train pulled out of the station and was soon racing at speed through brilliant green rice paddies dotted with bent workers and plodding oxen.
    Her nurse appeared in the doorway, smiled at her and stepped aside. “Miss Chatterjee, Brigadier Cartwright.”
    “I’m delighted to meet you, Miss Chatterjee,” the brigadier said as he side-stepped into the compartment and removed his peaked cap.
    Jani shook his hand. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Brigadier.”
    He was a tall, willowy gentleman in his sixties, Jani estimated, who with his long, scholarly face looked more like a retired Oxford don than an officer in the British Army. He looked around, found a wicker chair, and sat facing Jani.
    “What a terrible business; the attack, etcetera. By all accounts you acquitted yourself with flying colours, my dear. But before we go into all that, I have some news.” He smiled at her and went on, “Your father’s out of the old sick-bed – up and about, don’t you know – and looking forward to seeing you.”
    Jani’s heart leapt. “He is? But, oh... but that’s wonderful! The last I heard...”
    Cartwright raised a hand. “I know your father well – we liaise a couple of times a year. Security and all that, y’know. I must admit that the last time we met I didn’t hold out much hope. Death’s door. Thin as a rake, poor blighter. That was a month ago. But his secretary told me that he’s rallied, put on weight. Capital news, hm?”
    “I don’t know what to say. I must admit that I was preparing myself for the worst.”
    She imagined entering the study of her father’s house in New Delhi and flinging herself into his arms, and it was all she could do to hold back tears of joy.
    She considered Sebastian and her friends back in London, and asked the brigadier if there was some way they might be contacted and told that she had survived the attack.
    The brigadier gestured. “All in hand, my dear. Your father had his secretary cable the Consetts just as soon as he heard you were alive. No need to bother yourself on that score.”
    Jani thanked him, and made a mental note to contact Sebastian when she reached Delhi.
    “Now, the attack...” Cartwright said diffidently, as if not really wanting to broach the matter. “Terrible business. But what do you expect from the Russians, hm? Barbarians. Attacking a ship full of men, women and children like that. Makes one’s blood boil.”
    “Were there many survivors? Apart from Lady Eddington and myself, that is?”
    “Three, after the Russians had had their way. A couple of businessmen and a serving girl – hid themselves away in the wreckage when the Ruskies showed up. They’ll