Read Online The Steel Tsar by Michael Moorcock - Free Book Online

what you meant yesterday when you said a lot of people were looking for him.”
    “Yesterday? I don’t remember.” He puffed on the cigarette, drawing the smoke deep into his lungs.
    “You might have saved him, Dempsey, if you’d warned someone at the time.”
    He straightened up a little and he seemed amused as he glanced towards the forest. “On the other hand I might have done everyone else more harm. It’s a bit of a luxury, a social conscience, isn’t it, Bastable?” He felt in his pocket. “I came to give you this. I found it on the steps.” He held out a Yale key. “Must have fallen from Underwood’s pocket when they dumped him.”
    I hesitated before accepting the key. Then I turned and tried it in the lock. The wards clicked back and the door swung open. The interior smelled of stale liquor and burnt rubber.
    “All that’s left of Underwood is his stink,” said Dempsey. “Now you’re going to try to wireless for help, I suppose.”
    “I’ll try,” I said. “If I can get through to Darwin I’ll ask them to reroute the first available airship to pick me up—and anyone else who wants to leave the island.”
    “Better tell them it’s an emergency.” Dempsey waved his hand in the general direction of the town. “Make no bones about it. There are half a dozen excuses for an uprising now. Begg finding out about Underwood will be just one more. The Chinese are in a mood to slaughter all the Malays and if the whites interfere, they’ll probably get together and kill us first. It’s true.” A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. “I know. I’m in rather closer touch with the natives than most, after all. Underwood was just a beginning.”
    I nodded. “All right. I’ll tell Darwin.”
    “You know how to work the wireless?”
    “I’ve had some training...”
    Dempsey followed me into the gloomy interior of the office. It was a filthy litter of empty beer cans, bottles and bits of broken wireless equipment. He pulled back the shutters and light came through the dusty windows. I saw what could only be the wireless set in one corner and I picked my way across the floor towards it.
    Dempsey showed me the pedals underneath the bench. I sat down and put my feet on them. They turned slowly at first and then more easily.
    Dempsey inspected the set. “Seems to be warming up,” he said. He began to fiddle with the dials. There was a faint crackle from the phones. He picked them up and listened, shaking his head. “Valve trouble, probably. You’d better let me have a go.”
    I rose and Dempsey sat down in the chair. After a while he found a screwdriver and took part of the casing off the set. “It’s the valves, all right,” he said. “There should be a box of spares behind you on the other bench. Could you bring it over?”
    I found the box and placed it beside him as he continued to work.
    “Did you learn about radios on airships?” I asked him.
    He tightened his mouth and went on with the job.
    “How did you happen to turn up here?” I said, my curiosity overcoming my tact.
    “None of your bloody business, Bastable. There, that should do it.” He screwed in the last valve and began pedaling, but then he fell back in the chair coughing. “Too bloody weak,” he said. “You’d better do the pumping, if you wouldn’t mind...” He lapsed into another fit of coughing as he got up and I replaced him.
    While I pedaled, he twisted the dials again until we heard a faint voice coming through the earphones. Dempsey settled the headset over his ears and adjusted the microphone. “Hello, Darwin. This is Rowe Island. Over.” He turned a knob.
    He flipped a toggle switch and spoke impatiently into the mike. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t know our bloody call sign. Our operator’s been killed as a matter of fact. No, we’re not a military base. This is Rowe Island in the Indian Ocean and the civilian population is in danger.”
    While I continued to pedal the generator, Dempsey told Darwin