The Hidden Man: A Phineas Starblower Adventure (Phineas Starblower Adventures)

by Giles

D'Arcey came to attention and saluted. “Oui Captain.”

  “Thank you Mr. D'Arcey, you are dismissed.” Jerard turned on his heel and headed to the cargo bays.

  This was the second time tonight that Jerard had heard something negative about Wright. He was definitely going to talk to Nichols about perhaps dismissing the man. And he was going to do it as soon as they got back.

  Jerard took his time searching the cargo bays and storage rooms. He found nothing amiss and headed back toward the bridge when his thoughts were interrupted by the speaking grill.

  “Captain to the bridge, Captain to the bridge please.”

  Jerard moved to the closest grill and replied that he was on his way. Well, he thought, I hope this is more interesting than the inspection of the cargo bays.

  When he reached the bridge anteroom he was surprised to see Fred Randal standing there grinning like a fool. He snapped to attention and saluted Jerard.

  “Permission to bring guests aboard Sir!”

  “Granted. What’s going on Fred?”

  “Well Sir, I ran into some old friends out there.” Fred leaned over and motioned out the door.

  A few seconds later three German Air officers stepped through the door. Jerard nearly fell over in surprise as he recognized an acquaintance he had never thought to see again.

  “Rittmeister Von Ulric!” Jerard exclaimed and held out his hand. “It is good to see you! And so unexpected..."

  “Ja, ja for me too Phillips!”

  The German took Jerard’s hand and then enveloped him in a bear hug. “I am so glad you do not forget your best rival!”

  Jerard grimaced. “I don’t doubt you and your people remember me Sir.”

  Von Ulric smiled and clapped Jerard on the back. “Maybe not so much like you think. Here! I bring Schnapps, let us sit and have talk, ja?”

  “Ja!” Jerard said laughing. He heard a coughing sound and turned to see Wallace standing in the bridge doorway.

  “Oh, Rittmeister may I present Mr. William Wallace, my most excellent helmsman.”

  “Ah...” Von Ulric said as he looked Wallace up and down. “Most high praise from Phillips. I am happy to meet you.” Von Ulric turned back to Jerard. “I should present my officers to you. You remember Friedrik Lahn my navigator, ja? And I do not believe you know Oberleutnant Ziegenhals, he is what you call my second officer.

  Lahn and Ziegenhals, both clicked their heels and bowed to Jerard and then to Wallace. Jerard held out his hand to Feldwebelleutnant Lahn the navigator. “It is good to see you again Sir.”

  “And you Captain.”

  Jerard had forgotten how good Lahn’s english was, all he could really remember about the man was that he and Fred had hit it off famously. Jerard then turned and extended his hand to the second officer. “A pleasure to meet you Sir.”

  The man did not reply but smiled and pumped Jerard’s hand with enthusiasm.

  “Captain, Konrad does not speak very much English.” Von Ulric began indicating his executive officer. “However he was keen to come along and meet you. It is not everyday you have the opportunity to be introduced to the greatest airship captain in the world.”

  “Me?” Jerard said, he was quite stunned.

  Von Ulric laughed out loud. “Ja Phillips! It was me up to the end of the International Competition!”

  Jerard was distinctly uncomfortable. “As I recall Von Ulric you won the competition.”

  “Nein!” Von Ulric said vehemently. “I have der trophy that should be yours. We will talk of this now, ja?” He waved the bottle of Schnapps at Jerard again and smiled.

  Jerard returned the smile. “Right this way gentlemen. If you will follow Fred to our crew lounge, I need a moment to leave instructions with Mr. Wallace.”

  Jerard waited until the Germans were nearly out of sight down the hallway before turning to Mr. Wallace. “William, give us a about thirty minutes or so. If you need anything call D'Arcey up from the aux bridge.”

  “Aye Captain.”

  “Mr. Wallace, you look like you want to say something.”

  “Well Captain, there seems ta be a story here an everyone knows there aint nothin’ a Scotsman loves more n’ a good story.”

  Jerard chuckled. “So I am told Mr. Wallace, so I am told. You are dismissed to your duty Sir.”

  Jerard watched a disappointed Wallace turn and go back onto the bridge. He had also been told that Scotsmen loved unhappy endings as well, guess his story about the Competition would surely fit that bill. He shook his head sadly, all trace of amusement had fled at that thought. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about that horrible day yet here he was, on his way to do just that.

  Laughter filled the crew lounge. Apparently Jerard had arrived just in time for the first toast. It must have been a good one but he honestly couldn’t tell because it was in German, even Fred was laughing though. The first to notice his arrival was Von Ulric.

  “Phillips!” He called out. “Come! Sit! Drink!”

  Jerard smiled a smile he did not feel and took a seat in the easy chair next to Von Ulric. He was handed a glass of the Schnapps and held it up in salute. “To flying!”

  “To flying!” The toast was repeated and all the glasses emptied at once.

  Wow, Jerard thought as the fiery liquid made its way down his throat. He had quite forgotten the kick that schnapps possessed. Go easy, you’re on duty he warned himself and suddenly he remembered his earlier conversation with Mac. Jerard’s mind raced, he had never expected to ever see the German airship captain again...could this be Mac’s ‘storm’? But what would this possibly have to do with saving a crew member?

  “Captain!” Fred shouted.

  Jerard jerked and became aware of his surroundings. All eyes seemed to be on him and he was certain that he had missed something judging from the expectation he saw in those expressions. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I just thought of something and it distracted me. Now, where were we? Another round?”

  Fred laughed. “Well Sir while that is always welcome, I was asking if I might be excused to retrieve something from my cabin.”

  “Of course.” Jerard said and waved a dismissive hand at Fred.

  “So Phillips! This ship she is wunderbar! You land on your feet as is said, ja?”

  “Ja.” Jerard agreed with a smile. “And you Von Ulric? I did not see any bomber scouts out there, which of those monsters is yours?”

  “I have the little bigger one in the middle.”

  “A promotion?”

  Von Ulric shrugged. “Command, they say yes. Me? I miss my Falkonn scout ship. Now I have important persons to fly around. All I hear: Rittmeister is too slow, Rittmeister is too rough, Rittmeister my tea is cold.” He rolled his eyes dramatically.

  Jerard chuckled. “Sorry about that old man. So how long are you here in Copenhagen?”

  “Six more days. At least food is good, ja? And Ambassador not stay on the ship so we have relaxing time.”

  “Jolly good!” Jerard said and wondered how much more fishing he could get away with. So far it did not sound like his friend was involved with the kidnapping which was a huge relief. “At least Sir you have other military ships here for company.”

  “True, der crew of der Z-17 was happy to see us. They are here for three more months, her Captain is friend. I would like you to meet him, he is what you say is a jolly fellow. Maybe tomorrow I could bring him here, he would like this ship.”

  “I would like that Sir. But I am not sure when we are to leave. I, too, am at the mercy of important personages. Perhaps I could send an invitation around in the morning after I find out our departure time? In fact I could include an invite for your other captain as well.”

  Now it was Von Ulric’s turn to chuckle. “You English, so polite, I thank you. But he will not come.”

  “Oh are they leaving tomorrow?”

  “Nein, nein his ship is assigned to my ship, he leaves when I leave.”

  Jerard wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. It loo
ked like the LensBaron’s theory that they were going to try to smuggle Dr. Nordstrom out via the opera troupe might actually be true. He had no idea of what they would have done if any of the German military were involved. And he did not have to be in politics to know the kind of disaster it would cause if they were.

  “You have funny look on your face. Is no insult that Rittmeister Braunsberg would not come to see this wunderbar ship. He is...” Von Ulric trailed off and turned to his navigator. He said something in rapid fire German. Feldwebelleutnant Lahn burst out laughing and turned to Jerard to translate.

  “My Captain says that Rittmeister Braunsberg is an ass and a stuffed shirt rules broker. That is the best way to translate, in the German tongue it sounds much more insulting.” Lahn grinned.

  Jerard joined the German officers in their laughter, apparently they all shared Von Ulric’s opinion. And Jerard was all too familiar with the type.

  Fred had finally returned with a small box made of card. “What’s so funny?”

  “Later.” Jerard replied.

  “Well, this is not funny,” Fred said and shook the box, it tinkled and rattled as if it had bits of metal in it. “Better pour us another round herr Lahn. Captain, I brought this along to show you and we haven’t had time since I’ve been aboard. When I saw Friedrik a little while ago he reminded me of it. Don’t worry Captain, everyone here knows about this. And when Rittmeister Von Ulric found out that you didn’t know he wanted to come along and be here when I told you.” Fred held the box out to Jerard. “Open it.”

  He took the box and looked inside. Jerard’s face immediately went pale. Inside the box was a collection of tiny gears and bits of wire and string, some of it obviously burnt. “Where did you get this?” He demanded.

  “Do you know what it is Sir?”

  “I have my suspicions, now answer my question where did you get this? If you have been rummaging around in my cabin Randal, you have gone too far!”

  Fred was taken aback. “Your cabin Sir? No Sir, I have never rummaged in your cabin! This came from the floor of the bomb bay of our old Vickers."

  “This can’t be.” Jerard said and stood up abruptly. “Excuse me Gentlemen, it seems that there is something I must get to bring to this conversation as well.” The four men watched open mouthed as Phillips marched off.

  Sabotage! Jerard’s mind was screaming. Someone sabotaged my ship! He had to compare these little parts to the ones Nichols had given him. But before he even laid his hands on his own box he knew that it had to be the same person. The parts looked too much alike and both sets were found at ‘accident’ sites. Jerard’s old anger and frustration boiled up as he snatched the package out of his cupboard and marched back to the crew lounge.

  He slammed his box down on the tea table next to Fred’s. “Look.” Jerard said and folded his arms over his chest.

  Fred leaned over and picked up Jerard’s box. He opened the lid and whistled his surprise before handing it to Von Ulric. “Where’d you get those Captain?” Fred asked cautiously.

  Jerard took a deep breath trying to calm his anger. He relaxed his posture and finally sat down. Putting his elbows on his knees he bowed his head so that he could rub his eyes. After a moment he had regained a measure of calm and looked up at Fred and the Germans.

  “They were found on this ship, immediately after an explosion that killed the former Captain, a crew man and seriously injured a third.” The silence was palpable as Jerard looked at the shocked and confused expressions of the faces around him.

  The silence was broken by Oberleutnant Ziegenhals murmuring in German to Lahn who answered him promptly. Jerard knew Lahn was translating what he had just said by the shocked expression blooming on the Oberleutant’s face. The man spoke in German again and this time to Von Ulric.

  “Phillips, Konrad has said what I am thinking. Something...evil is following you.”

  Jerard slowly shook his head no. “I do not think so Sir. The explosion that we think these pieces have something to do with happened before I ever even heard of this ship. I was hired as the replacement Captain. I think it may be a bit far fetched to assume that someone sabotaged my Vickers. And then knew for certain I would be cashiered out of Her Majesty’s Service. And then sabotaged this ship so that I would be hired here.”

  Von Ulric shrugged. “Is possible. There are not so many airship captains, maybe twenty in Europe.”

  “No.” This time Jerard shook his head firmly. “I cannot believe that Tash or anyone else on this ship would have anything to do with the death of Daniel Mather.” But suddenly Jerard was not so sure.

  “Daniel Mather?” Von Ulric asked.

  “The former Captain.” Jerard did not want to talk about Mather but there were other questions he could ask, things he did want explained. “So, Fred, I believe you wanted to tell me something? Something about these...” Jerard waved at the two boxes.

  “Clock parts.” Randal finished for his Captain. “There’re clock parts that were probably part of a timing mechanism that set off a small bomb attached to the clamps holding the Vickers’ big bomb.”

  Jerard was a little confused. “If you could prove that there was sabotage why was I court marshalled? And Von Ulric, what have you to do with this?” Surely the Germans would not have set things up to drop a bomb on their own people, Jerard finished in his head.

  “Let me start from the beginning Captain.” Fred said solemnly. “You remember when the accident happened we immediately flew back to the base field?”

  Jerard nodded and motioned for Fred to continue.

  “Well Sir we were all arrested, not just you Sir.”

  “I did know that, it was about the only thing I was told.” Jerard said trying to hold down the remembered anger.

  “They put us all in separate rooms and we were first questioned by our own officers and then they brought the German officers in and questioned us.”

  Jerard sat up at that. “They brought the Germans in? I was never questioned by any Germans. Why...” Jerard trailed of.

  "There was a lot of confusion Captain but we can tell you what we think.”

  “We?”

  “Yes Sir, most of the crew, Freidrik here and the Rittmeister. When the questioning was over we were allowed to return to the ship. The crew and I compared notes and apparently the same thing happened to all of us. Sir, we all thought it strange that no one asked us about the accident. They just kept asking us questions about you, about your reactions Sir and...about your loyalty Captain.”

  “I see.” Jerard said slowly.

  “Captain, I want you to know that, to the man, we all defended you. None of us could figure out why they weren’t asking about the accident and even worse in Duncan’s case they wouldn’t even listen to what he said about the bomb just falling out. He tried to show them the little parts and begged them to look at bomb bay to see how the clamps were missing. Duncan said it was sabotage from the start. They just wouldn’t listen.

  “Duncan...Duncan McWhorter?” Jerard said half out loud, he was trying to remember the man.

  “Yes Sir, our new bombardier. It was his first trip out with us."

  Jerard nodded, and gestured to Fred to continue. He now remembered Mr. McWhorter, the fiery young Scotsman with the large chip on his shoulder. It was a little amazing that the man had spoken up for an Englishman. But Jerard was glad he had for all the good it did.

  “Well Sir, it was while Duncan was telling us what he found and what he thought, that we were called together and informed that you were being court-martialed for gross incompetence.” Fred paused and looked at Jerard’s stony face in sympathy before continuing.

  “None of us could believe what we were hearing, most of us demanded to be present at your trial. They refused us Sir and confined us to the ship. You have to understand Captain, we were desperate Sir. So I took the little parts and sneaked off the ship. There weren’t any guards you see and we weren’t really issued orders...just told to stay put. I went and found
Freidrik and told him the whole story.”

  “Personal interpretation of orders again Mr. Randal?” Jerard said, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh at Fred’s proclivity to interpret things to suit himself.

  Fred grinned. “Something like that Captain.

  “I see Phillips that we both have navigators that bend rules.” Von Ulric interjected. “My sympathy for you. Freidrik brought Herr Randall to me and he repeated the story. I was in a rage that your officers did not listen to your men. I was certain that there was an accident, I did not believe that you were incompetent.” The Rittmeister’s voice carried echoes of anger. “I took this evidence to my own superiors. They did not listen to me. I was told it was not my concern. I was told...” Von Ulric trailed off. His face was a mask of sorrow as he took a deep breath before continuing.

  “I was told to destroy the evidence and if I speak of it again I would be sent to clean latrines in the airship hangar. I am sorry Phillips for being a coward, I have a long regretted that I did not speak for honor. I was told that this was a political matter and it was finished. For what worth it has, the important people know that you were made the scapegoat.”

  “Thank you Herr Von Ulric.” Jerard said and stood up. He held out his hand to the German. “I appreciate what you did and I do not blame you.” The men shook hands and offered each other small sad smiles.

  Jerard sat back down and spoke what was on his mind. “I was angry for a long time and I am glad that I have this opportunity to come to terms with the whole ordeal. If you think about it, making me the scapegoat solved a lot of political problems. It is better that the German people see a single villain in me than think that all Englishmen are evil...or incompetent. It was for the greater good.”

  “Nein! You are wrong! It is not the right thing to do to strip an honorable man of his honor for the purpose of a lie! Both of our peoples took the easy way out. If they had listened to me, and to your Duncan, then maybe the real villain would be found. We were not allowed to investigate!”

  “So we have no idea of who might have done this then.” Jerard watched every one shake their heads no except for Von Ulric who looked thoughtful.