by J M Bannon
"And, please share?"
"That Lo died, and his business falls to you,"
"Well, my organization is run a little differently and there are a few wrinkles. First of all, Lo was murdered and whoever killed him did so by drowning him in his office; it is absurd, the only water found was in his lungs," Jimmy said.
"Gruesome," The banker made a sour face.
"Yes, that is a pretty fucked up way to go."
"Mr. Lin, could you watch the language?"
"So, what horses did you bet on to win this race?" asked Jimmy changing the subject.
"I didn't,"
"All right, look at the form and pick one quickly,” Jimmy instructed, eager to flaunt his winning methods.
"Number three, Lilly's pride," the older Gentleman chose. "I'm here to socialize and entertain. I'm not a punter,"
"Ok, so why did you pick that one; answer the question fast so I can get to my point before the fucking race is over,"
"I liked the name,"
"Fine. Good, that's a good answer, just as good as any of the other stupid ways people pick horses to win. You're wrong, however, number six will win, Harrods Leap. And when that horse crosses the finish line the change in fortune for this country will be significant because I have bet five hundred thousand pounds on that horse. And here is something else, the guy who fixed the race has bet two hundred thousand pounds. The iron monster in my cellar revealed it to me through this card string DeMorgans created; he called it a program. He figured out someone was going around town making small bets on the same horse trying not to upset the odds, but no one knew those bookies would each reach out to me to lay off bets. Nor can they fathom I have that machine to figure out how to win.
"Interesting," Strathmore agreed, studying the track, looking bored.
Is he even listening? thought Jimmy. "No, this is what's interesting. Once I figured this out, I laid off my bets back into the field and placed more bets so when that horse crosses the finish line most of these bookies will have their pockets turned out by me and DeMorgans. After I get done collecting the bookies that can't pay me will work for me,"
"Ruthless."
"Business,” said Jimmy
The two men sat quietly as the bell rung and the tapes lifted. Jimmy watched through his field glasses and the crowd cheered on their favorite horses. When Herrod’s Leap was announced as the confirmed winner, most of the crowd was surprised. Not Jimmy.
"Congratulations Mister Lin."
"Don't congratulate me too quickly. I might have a machine that sees the future on the race track, but it didn't predict Lo getting killed. Weng Lo has two brothers. He was a triplet, one of the Lucky Three. I wonder did one or both of his brothers have Weng killed or was it someone else? Do the Lo's think I did it and will seek revenge? Then I have to assert my position as the new leader of the London Tong. I don't need my machine to see that outcome is going to be a war over London."
"Why are you telling this to me?" asked Randal.
"Because you are going to help me."
43
Tuesday the 9th of April
No. 10 Downing Street, London
Rose was nervous, this was her first visit to Downing Street. The Prime Minister, Viscount Palmerston was hosting the special unit for a briefing with the Home Secretary, Sir George Grey. They waited in the hall for their private audience.
"Don't worry Rosie, these are just normal men and I've seen the agenda," Dolly tried to calm her.
The Prime Minister's secretary called for them, "He is ready to see you."
Dolly, Detective Burton and Rose all filed into the room where Palmerston and Grey were seated. They went through the customary introductions then Grey took the lead in the meeting.
"Before we deal with the changes we discussed Detective Williamson, I am interested to hear where the investigations have gone on the Zeus case," stated Grey.
"Constable Caldwell and I believe the Necronist device is in the possession of a large criminal organization. This party has interests internationally, and they have infiltrated groups like the Necronist Guild," replied Dolly.
"Have you seen the news reports about the health of the French Emperor?" asked the Home Secretary.
"I have your Lordship," replied Dolly.
"The foreign office confirms Napoleon has taken a turn for the worse, and for once in nearly a century looks ill," said the PM.
"If the Necronists were augmenting his life with the device, he won't be long for this world," concluded Grey.
"If I may offer my opinion on the Emperor. The Guild Master Hume was the savant behind much of the technology the Necronist Guild developed. Upon his death some of his secrets may have died with him, including those procedures that were administered to the Emperor," said Rose.
"The mass killing device is still at large. We need to secure it and make sure it does not fall into the hands of the Americans! Particularly the Unionist faction. It's the Government's position that a weaker, divided North America, serves our interests. Something like that device could wrap up this Civil War of theirs in a matter of weeks."
"I doubt this organization and in particular its leader Caiaphas, cares about the American war. He spoke of much grander plans," offered Rose.
"And you contend that even though you witnessed his death, he is not dead?" said Grey.
"Yes, sir I think he is alive and not of this world," confirmed Rose.
"A demon or the Devil himself?" asked the PM.
"I'd rather not make a conjecture," Rose responded, not wanting to state her conclusions without hard evidence, as Dolly had coached her.
"And this woman you claim was reborn and now lives with you, Constable?" queried Grey.
“The circumstances are all detailed in the case file. The young woman is under my care and observation."
"I brought her here to London to control the situation rather than leave her with the French," said Dolly. Rose knew he was taking credit for the idea in case it was about to blow up on them.
"Well, that brings us to the main agenda and this Government's interest in having a forward-thinking and proactive view towards these Metaphysicals," said Home Secretary Grey.
"Metaphysicals?" said Burton.
"Yes, that is the name we are giving people like Constable Caldwell and this Miss Du Moya," offered Palmerston.
“You are here today to receive a promotion. Congratulations Detective Inspector! As part of the Special Paranormal branch of the Metropolitan Police, You will be the tip of the spear in our efforts to defend our citizens from witchcraft and evil," Grey declared.
"What's this?" said Rose.
"Constable," said Williamson giving her a stern look then turning to Burton offered his hand, "I know you will do a great job, Adam."
"Thank you, Sir, my success will be due to the training you provided," said Burton trying to hold in his emotions.
Grey turned to Rose. "Constable, Detective Williamson has been in line for promotion and will move to a newly created rank of Superintendent and will manage all the detectives and the special branches."
"That's why I went on this roundabout adventure with you Rose, it was my last investigation in the field. I am officially in administration now. My first act as the Superintendent is to promote you to the rank of Detective," said Dolly, "You have shown that you can put emotion aside and use logic and evidence to solve crimes."
"Thank you, Dolly, I meant to say, Superintendent Williamson," The two hugged.
Lord Palmerston cleared his throat, then continued when he knew he had the attention of the room. "Congratulations, Detectives Burton and Caldwell, with this promotion also comes a new remit from the government and myself personally. I want Detective Caldwell to begin a program of identifying friendly Metaphysicals and to enlist those friendlies to assist the Crown against those who are … shall we say unfriendly. This Government will not take the passive role of its predecessor on the issue of the supernatural. We want to know where these people are
, and if they are to be trusted."
It sounded to Rose; as if she was being put in charge of the largest scale witch hunt in history.
44
Friday the 26th of April
The grave of Angelica Du Moya, Brookwood Cemetery, London
Angelica watched as the four men used ropes to raise the coffin to the surface. Standing next to her was the undertaker.
"Might I suggest a different casket, this is what the Crown pays for and as you can see won't be suitable for transit overseas," said the undertaker.
The men set the box next to the open grave. Angelica knelt down placing her hand on the weathered raw wood, impregnated with dirt and clay, damp and cold to the touch, "Open it." She instructed.
"Miss Du Moya that is a…"
"I said open the coffin," she repeated.
"You may be emotional Miss, wrought with grief and need to connect with your loved one but the sight of what is in that box will haunt you forever. I don't recommend it to be the last memory of your loved one," said the undertaker employing his method of consoling the bereaved.
"Sir, this will not be my last memory and I have seen far worse. You find my request morbid and bizarre, judge as you will, but please do my bidding," She did not impose her will on them but she was prepared to do so if there was more hesitation or questions.
The undertaker nodded, and the men went to work with crowbars to remove the lid.
When the last coffin nail pried loose the seal broke, and a foul stink filled the air. One worker retched and moved away.
Angelica looked into the box at her former body in decay and covered with insects. The white-haired girl reached in touching the body and all the insects responded in kind by skittering out of the coffin and back into the ground. The incident made the men gasp.
Again, the Voodoo Priestess commanded, "You there, shovel some of that dirt on to the body." The man complied. Graveyard dirt had powerful Ju Ju. "You can close the box," Angelica said as she stood making her way over to the open-mouthed undertaker.
"You Sir, are the one who will have everlasting memories of that coffin being opened. Please follow my instructions and have the body brought to this address," she handed him a slip of paper. He didn't look at the address, just stared at Angelica in shock and answered, "Yes Miss."
45
Monday the 17th of June 1861
The Clock Tower of Westminster Palace, London
Edmund Beckett Denison was as unlikely a clockmaker as Rose was to be a Detective in the Metropolitan Police Service, but there they were, standing in Denison's great clock works atop the Palace of Westminster's tower. Denison was a lawyer, but also a hobbyist clockmaker. He won the award to design the great clock of the Palace of Westminster with his invention of the double three-legged gravity escapement, a novel device to meet the needs in accuracy for such a large clock.
He had been brought on to the team to help Alfie Fletcher and Tommy Edison. After understanding that the true nature of the clock tower was not just as the timekeeper for the city of London, but the power source and central mechanism for a portal traveling system, he became obsessed with the project. He eventually took over as leader of the team including Alfie, Rose, Tommy, and Lorelei. Now the team was breaking up, with Tommy's' return to further explore his talents back home in Ohio. The teenager had experienced a little too much adventure and wanted to find a quiet place to tinker. Then Lorelei quit after completing her work on the oscillation plasma and gas system. A design that mimicked Rose’s recollections of Dimetri’s device. She enlisted an old colleague, the illustrious Dr. Maxwell to help with the design. Rose was seldom seen, with growing duties as a Detective and little to offer beyond extensive descriptions from her observation in the Nexus.
Alfie was finishing adjustments to the mechanism regulating the gases within the central oscillator, the hub where space folded and synchronized to open doors miles apart but for the traveler, it was just a single step.
The Engineer worked the spanner with his new mechanical arm. His prosthetic was based on Rose's design for Azul and allowed him to mentally control the mechanism through, what the two had termed an Aetherial Neural Bridge, an ANB. Rose was quietly delighted to see the rods and gears move within, knowing her work made it possible.
"So, what do you think?" asked Denison.
"It looks like the one we saw in Italy. Subtle differences but the gist of it is here."
"Alfie and I believe we are ready to test the gate with a human. We tested it with a dog and had no issue, but I am a stickler for procedure,” Denison concluded.
"You fellows did a great job," Rose said admiringly.
"I think we're ready! I will wire-type the boys at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich that we will open the portal again," Alfie exclaimed.
"I'll do the honors," said Rose stepping up to the gate.
"Oh, I think we should have someone else as the subject, you know, just as a precaution…"
"First, I trust you have it right, second, I won't be subjecting someone else to what could happen, and finally I'm the only one that has passed through one of these before who is here and can tell you if it feels correct," directed Rose.
"Fair enough, let's make history,” Professor Fletcher said with certainty as he rubbed the beard he was letting grow in with his mechanical hand.
The group descended several flights of stairs to the control and transport room. Denison approached the wire-type at the controls and wired the Royal Observatory then began the position and power sequences. A replica of the copper sheet doorway was fixed to the wall; on the other side of the bricks was nothing, they were ninety feet above the streets of London.
Water trickled onto the metal sheeting, followed by the iridescent shimmer and finally clarified as the two doors between Big Ben and the Royal Observatory seven miles away connected.
"You ready?" asked Alfie.
"I am," said Rose. She thought they were making a big deal out of this and that got her slightly nervous. She shook Alfie's mechanical hand then stepped through the gate.
The end.
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Author’s Notes
Book two, or by some accounts book three, if you count Dolly, not as a prequel but part of the series, is in your hands. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I have had developing the story.
Dying to know about Violet and Jacob?
So I am and the plan was to include that story within this book, but you can see the book was already 80,000 words and they would need at least another 40,000 to do them justice. So I sat the two of them down and explained that as wonderful as their story is it was going to have to wait. Jacob told me that he didn’t want to be in the spotlight and his mates were far more worthy of print. He was right and I know plan to share the stories of the Jacob and Violet along with three other couples. In a mix of romance and naval intrigue set in the Victorian Empire.
Now don’t fret if your concern is that your one book away from the end of the series. This series connects to the Aether War Saga a series that features many of the same characters plus more. More characters, and books.
A note about the new First Mate on The Peregrine, Amelia Macbeth. A special shout out to for coming up with a great synopsis for someone that could fit into the crew. I had a bunch of awesome entries and the choice was tough but I had to pick one. I may be reaching out to a few of you other entrants to fill other positions on the airship in the future. It’s a big ship and when you go as fast and far as Captain Falk you tend to have a pretty high crew turnover.
Amelia was submitted by Carol Kubesh in my contest to have your steampunk alter ego get a job as the First Mate on the Peregrine. Carol lives Ventura CA and works in the Legal field. She is an artist, a fellow writer, and part-time fencer. Just like Amelia, she is an Egyptologist and I thank her for her contribution to the contest to get here alter ego a job on the Peregrine.
Phineas Slade IV is the creation of Kevin Oliver a Steam and Di
eselPunker from the Motor City. When we did a background check Mr. Slade had a better fit as the Master of Mixology in the Club Lounge of the Peregrine. Plan on seeing more of them and future reader inspired characters in the next book.
A special thanks to the advanced readers. With a special shout out to Mr. Edward Savage. He was extremely helpful with structural issues and historical content. A kindred spirit; one who has an eye for historical detail but willing to accept the fantasy of the stories I tell.
If you're looking for clues to the launch of the Mechanists -It is in the works. I don’t have a firm date yet but soon as I do the I will let you know in the newsletter and in the Facebook group.
Best,
JMB
Helpful Maps
Here are links to vintage maps to help with the setting. While I would love to provide the exact locations and mark up these maps most these archives have strict copyrights pertaining to commercial use and even when requesting commercial use I could not even get a reply email. I give you close approximation and some general direction to give you the gist of the where of the who, where and when of this tale.