Babel : Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution (9780063021440)

‘It’s close enough.’ Anthony laced up his boots. ‘Fiddle with it in your spare time; the weighting’s a bit different. As for comfort, you’ll find soaps and things in the bathroom cabinet. Make sure you rake the ashes out of the fireplace every morning, or it’ll get stuffy. Oh – we used to have a laundry tub, but Griffin destroyed it messing around with pipe bombs. You can go a few days without changing, can’t you?’

Ramy snorted. ‘That’s a question for Letty.’

There was a pause. Then Anthony asked, ‘Where is Letty?’

Robin glanced at the clock. He had not noticed the time slipping away; it was nearly a half hour since Letty stepped out of the house.

Victoire stood. ‘Perhaps I should—’

Something shrieked near the front door. The sound was so sharp and raw, so like a human scream, that it took Robin a moment to realize it was the kettle.

‘Damn it.’ Anthony pulled the rifle down. ‘Into the yard, quick, all of you—’

But it was too late. The shrieking grew louder and louder, until the walls to the library seemed to vibrate. Seconds later the front door crashed inwards, and Oxford policemen poured inside.

‘Hands up!’ someone shouted.

The postgraduates seemed to have drilled for this. Cathy and Vimal ran in from the workshop, each holding silver bars in hand. Ilse threw her weight at a towering shelf; it toppled forward, starting a chain reaction that collapsed the path in front of the police. Ramy started forward to help, but Anthony shouted, ‘No, hide – the Reading Room—’

They stumbled back. Anthony kicked the door shut behind them. Outside they heard booms and crashes – Anthony shouted something that sounded like ‘The beacon’, and Cathy screamed something in response – the postgraduates were fighting, fighting to defend them.

But what was the point? The Reading Room was a dead end. There were no other doors, no windows. They could only huddle behind the table, flinching at the gunshots outside. Ramy made a noise about barricading the door, but the moment they moved to push the chairs forward, the door swung open.

Letty stood in the frame. She held a revolver.

‘Letty?’ Victoire asked in disbelief. ‘Letty, what are you doing?’

Robin felt a very brief, naive swell of relief before it became very clear Letty was not here to rescue them. She lifted the revolver, aimed at each one of them in turn. She seemed quite practised with the gun. Her arm did not tremble beneath its weight. And the sight was so absurd – their Letty, their prim English rose, wielding a weapon with such calm, deadly precision – that he wondered for a moment if he was hallucinating.

But then he remembered: Letty was an admiral’s daughter. Of course she knew how to shoot.

‘Put your hands above your heads,’ she said. Her voice was high and clear, like polished crystal. She sounded like an utter stranger. ‘They won’t hurt anyone, as long as you come quietly. If you don’t resist. They’ve killed the rest, but they’ll take you alive. Unhurt.’

Victoire eyed the envelope on the table, and then the crackling fireplace.

Letty followed her gaze. ‘I wouldn’t do that.’

Victoire and Letty stood glaring at each other, breathing hard, just for a moment.

Several things happened at once. Victoire lunged for the envelope. Letty whipped the gun around. By instinct, Robin rushed towards her – he didn’t know what he intended, only that he was sure Letty would hurt Victoire – but just as he approached her, Ramy shoved him to the side. He fell forward, tripping against a table leg—

And then Letty broke the world.

A click; a bang.

Ramy collapsed. Victoire screamed.

‘No—’ Robin dropped to his knees. Ramy was limp, unmoving; he struggled to turn him over onto his back. ‘No, Ramy, please—’ For a moment he thought Ramy was pretending, for how was this possible? He’d been upright, moving and alive, just a second ago. The world could not end so abruptly; death could not be so swift. Robin patted Ramy’s cheek, his neck, anything he could to provoke a reaction, but it was no use, his eyes would not open – why wouldn’t they open? Surely this was a joke; he couldn’t see any blood – but then he spotted it, a tiny red dot over Ramy’s heart that rapidly blossomed outwards until it soaked through his shirt, his coat, through everything.

Victoire stepped back from the fireplace. The papers crackled inside the flames, blackening to ash. Letty made no move to retrieve them. She stood stunned, eyes wide, the revolver hanging limply at her side.

No one moved. They were all staring at Ramy, who was undeniably, irreversibly still.

‘I didn’t . . .’ Letty touched her fingers to her mouth. She’d lost her cool. Now her voice was very shrill and high, like a little girl’s. ‘Oh, my God . . .’

‘Oh, Letty.’ Victoire moaned softly. ‘What have you done?’

Robin lowered Ramy to the floor and stood.