The Golem City (Complete)

Chapter Twelve

Fortress One was the oldest and largest of the six great fortresses built during the War of Loaves more than a century ago. Spread across an island flat larger than the twin island bastion that had, up until recently, housed Fortress Five, its architecture was oriented in the manner of a star, composed of many triangular prisms, each designed to cover its neighbour, with sloped walls of white stone and concrete and enough firepower to prevent any unwanted visitors from broaching the grounds by land or air. This was just the façade. The real meat of the facility was bedded beneath untold tonnes of sediment and layered cement, where a bevy of meeting places and storage facilities were secluded nearly a hundred feet below the earth. Currently, the fortified installation served as the headquarters for the Global Commission and the home station for the highest-ranking official in its ruling body, the First Secretary.

The morning after the destruction of Fortress Five, an emergency conference was called and the highest-level officials of the Commission had been summoned from their various commands and ministries to gather in one of Fortress One's many underground conference rooms. They comprised the eight members of the Secretariat. Kritzinger and Balsa were also summoned. Balsa, who sat opposite Kritzinger, wore a freshly pressed uniform befitting his rank. Kritzinger had changed into a cutaway-styled jacket with long flex coattails, a patterned vest over a white shirt, a finely striped cravat at the neck, and a pair of boot-cut tweed pants. He left his cane at the door, as requested, because no weapons were permitted inside when the Secretariat were assembled.

The First Secretary, Qandisa Umei, was a tall, slender, athletic woman with dark brown skin and a youthful complexion that belied the maturity in her eyes. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back from her face. She sat quietly, fingers laced together, as Kritzinger recounted the events leading to the golem's awakening and the subsequent destruction of Fortress Five.

With no windows in the underground domain, a plethora of lamps provided light and the numerous roaring fireplaces served to heat the cold bowels of the fortress. Kritzinger felt the heat roll from the giant fireplace behind him. The crack of its embers and the undulation of its flames reminded him only too vividly of the details of that disastrous night. He didn't censor the recounting of his protests against the general's insistence that he resurrect the golem prematurely, stressing what he referred to as his rational appeal for more controlled conditions. Balsa, however, sat, arms crossed, looking not the least bit perturbed.

"Do we know what went wrong?" asked Under-Secretary Jacob Myers, head of the Commission's Special Projects Division and Udo Kritzinger's immediate superior. Other than Balsa, he was the only other individual in the room whom Kritzinger knew personally.

"It's not a matter of anything having gone wrong, Under-Secretary Myers." Kritzinger was looking straight at Balsa, not Myers, and was momentarily disconcerted by the hint of a cruel smile that threatened to upturn the corners of Balsa's mouth. He turned his gaze back to Myers. "Naturally, without first undergoing a full investigation, I can only speculate. However, I would say that it was acting in accordance with the will of Dorothea Dovetail, given how its actions seemed to centre on protecting her and ultimately facilitated her escape."

"Why did it respond to the child and not you?"

"Again, I can only speculate."

"Please, Agent Kritzinger," said another member of the Secretariat, stroking his beard, "detail for us what you think may have happened. Provide us with your most educated guess."

"There is much that we have yet to learn. But from what little I have learned of the arts employed in golem making, I found mention of a technique known as 'blood binding,' where the creator mixes their blood into the ink used to write the name of the spirit intended to possess a golem. Purportedly, this process ensures the spirit will obey only the commands of the creator and his or her bloodline. Dorothea Dovetail is a direct descendant of the mystic who brought this spirit into being. If, as I surmise, this is an instance of blood binding, then she, as the only remaining descendant, is the sole person who could have willed it to act."