The Sensaurum and the Lexis

by Richard Dee

  Jackson gasped, perhaps Winstanley had been the one he had been sold to, all those years ago. If he now were instrumental in bringing him down, it would be ironic, to say the least.

  “You know a little about Winstanley’s type, don’t you, Jackson?” asked Fairview.

  “I once escaped from their clutches, if that’s what you mean,” he replied.

  “We think that maybe there is more going on than merely controlling mechanical limbs. That may be just the tip of this riddle. Along with what has been found about your friend Aldithley and the papers you acquired, Oswald, Langdon and I have examined all the evidence and consider there is the basis for a plan to take control of the country.”

  That could not have been more shocking news. Everyone tried to speak at once. Langdon held up his hand for silence. “It all fits together,” he said. “Oswald has suggested, and I agree, that the gadget in the limbs is little more than a test, a proof that the technology developed by Professor Aldithley works. Added to which, it sounds from what we have just heard that Winstanley could well be recruiting an army, if he’s scouring the slums and taking people away by the charabanc load, what is their purpose, where are they housed?”

  “What does the thing I found, the thing in the limbs, do?” asked Jackson.

  “Oswald says it uses a particular function of what he calls the statics field. It’s a switch, sensitive to statics vibration. A nearby statics field will alternately turn it on and off.”

  “Then we need to know how the statics field is generated and passed to the device.”

  “I have found a few things out about the Professor you saw. He is more than capable of creating mechanisms like this. He was once a part of Professor Woolon’s team at the Institute of Medical Statics, until he was asked to leave.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he got ideas above his ability, he wasn’t content to work as the Professor instructed. Building arms and legs that worked was not enough. He wanted to control people by use of statics. Woolon was minded to proceed as they were, slowly and steadily, advancing the knowledge of the body and using it to control the limbs. Aldithley was in a rush to be famous; he wanted to take a huge leap, based not on science but on his own theories, which he would not share. He tried a new technique in secret and against orders. Men died and of course it was all found out.” He paused. “And the most significant thing, his project was known as Sensaurum.”

  “So must we assume that this thing you call a filament is part of his plan? His project continues. Has Nethersole given him the chance to do what he couldn’t when he was with Woolon?”

  “It certainly seems to be capable of basic control remotely. The arm proves that. I would say that it’s more than a test. Consider the consequences. Never mind the personal inconvenience of having your arm or leg stop working, think of the devastation he could cause if it were implanted in some piece of machinery, or the controls of a process. As for control of people, his original aim, we must hope that is still beyond him. This is enough to deal with.”

  “But where do all the people fit in?”

  “We have to assume that they are his new test subjects, without the rigour of officialdom controlling him. He has been stopped by Woolon, now he is continuing, with a cadre of folk who none care about.”

  “The Ladies would care about them,” said Jessamine. “Perhaps they might put pressure on Rodney?”

  “Yes, I know they would care, and they would help. But we cannot involve them, any more than we can fix all society’s ills in one fell swoop. For their own safety, the knowledge we have must remain between us. They must deal with their own affairs, whilst we thwart Rodney’s plans. His behaviour warrants further investigation. We know that when Nethersole goes to his country estate, he takes the Professor with him. Winstanley is taking the people he collects there as well. You must go and see what is occurring there. Search his property and see if you can find out his plans.”

  “Someone will have to go back to the Prosthesium,” said Fairview, “and find the rest from the factory.”

  “I will not send another after Jackson was seen,” Langdon replied. “Rodney may well start to wonder, one break-in could be opportunistic, another would be more than a coincidence. We must think of another way.”

  “Very well, Sir Mortimer.” Fairview’s tone indicated that he was not in full agreement with his superior. “Meantime, I have tasked Oswald with deciphering the report Jackson found for us, as quickly as possible, it may give more answers.”

  Mrs Grimble came to the door. “Sir,” she said, her eyes red. “I have just heard some awful news.”

  Chapter 15

  All eyes turned to her, she was not known for displays of histrionics, something terrible must have occurred to make her so distraught. “What is it, Mrs Grimble?” asked Langdon.

  “Sir,” she sniffed, pulling a large cloth from her pocket and wiping her eyes. “Two cars from the aerialway have collided, in the centre of town, by the Fussels Building. The safety system failed to stop one at a passing place, they were both on the same rail, moving in opposite directions. There are many dead, the wreckage is spread over a wide area, falling as it did. Many more were killed on the ground. Fires have started, a section of track is destroyed.”

  Langdon once again showed no flicker of sadness, just his habitual blank face. “Thank you, Mrs Grimble, I’m not sure that this tragedy is within our remit, but in case it is, can you fetch Oswald. I would value his opinion.”

  “I can, sir.” She left and a moment later Oswald appeared, hitching his trousers up and straightening his glasses.

  “Do you know of the collision on the aerialway?” Langdon asked.

  Oswald shook his head. “A collision? It’s not possible, sir,” he began. “Unless…”

  Langdon suddenly became alert. “Unless what, Oswald? What do you know of the system, could this just be an act of sabotage, an accident or the result of human error?”

  “Well,” the man replied, polishing his glasses with a rag pulled from his pocket. “It occurs to me, that is, I think,” he paused.

  “Oswald, it’s a simple question, could the accident be connected to what we know about the Sensaurum?”

  “Oh yes,” Oswald said. “We have seen that this filament can control an arm, turn it on and off. It could certainly control a carriage on the aerialway. Easily, if someone had access, they could insert one in a control box. They could then activate it, disabling the safety systems that prevent such an occurrence.”

  “Could it not just be an unfortunate accident, Oswald?”

  “An accident is unlikely, although possible. We should remember that in four years there has never been so much as a hint of a problem.” He thought for a moment. “No, it has to be sabotage,” he said. “The system itself prevents collisions by mechanical interlocks, operated by the passage of the carriage. There is no manual intervention. The driver merely stops and starts the traction and operates the doors. The carriage cannot move unless the control box is activated, when it is a metal bar is engaged on the track, it operates the points via linkages, as it passes. There is no possibility of failure unless the box is disconnected once the carriage is in motion. If the rod is withdrawn, then the linkage will not work. As far as the system, or any other carriage is concerned, the track is clear.”

  He paused for a moment, blinking rapidly as he assembled his thoughts.

  “Sealed in his cabin, the driver would not hear the link withdrawn, he would know of no problem until he saw the other carriage fail to enter the loop. By then, with their combined speeds, neither would be able to stop the carriages in time with the brakes, try as they might.”

  Jackson could see in his mind the two hurtling towards each other, each driver trying in vain to stop, knowing what was about to happen and yet being unable to prevent it. What a final moment. He shuddered at the vision his imagination had created.

  The others were also silent, no doubt entertaining the same thought.


  “Then, it must be that the control box in one carriage was fitted with a cartridge. If so, how was it operated?”

  “Could it be activated by a person in a station, or by a driver, intent on euthanasia?” Alyious broke the sombre silence.

  “Either scenario is possible. If the control was turned off once the carriage had left the station. The bar activates the points for an approaching carriage on departure. As for euthanasia, it’s something to consider, but why now, just when we know of this other method?”

  “Presumably the person intending to take his life would need knowledge of the workings of a control box?” muttered Langdon. “They would have to be well versed in the mechanics.”

  Oswald nodded. “That is so, to alter the box so that it did not fail-safe; that is to say stop all motion, would require skill. Would it not be easier to kill oneself in a myriad of other ways?”

  “I think,” said Langdon, “that this is the next part of our mystery.”

  “The only way to be sure,” said Oswald, “will be to examine the control boxes and the tracks.”

  “Then we should go to the site and look for any evidence, the Watch will not know any of this. We must hope to find a cartridge in one of the control boxes, it’s doubtful that either driver will have survived.”

  “Who should we take?” asked Jessamine. Swiftly Langdon set them to work.

  “Winifred, you and Mularky get to the Prosthesium and see where the two players are. The rest of you, and you too, Oswald, come with me.”

  “Very well,” said Oswald. “That will be a relief. I’m getting nowhere with my attempts to unravel the code in that report, a change of scene may well do me good.”

  It was difficult to get to the site of the accident; the Watch had set up barriers and were only allowing residents through. Langdon had a pass, in a leather case, that he showed to the Captain and the band were waved on.

  There was devastation over a wide area. Wounded people wandered in a daze and several small fires still raged. There was a line of corpses, laid out under the canvas sheeting that Jackson recognised from his time cutting and sewing in the orphanage. They had never been told the purpose of their endeavours, now he could see his work in action.

  Langdon dispatched Alyious and Vyner to gather accounts from any who had witnessed the events. Taking Oswald, Jackson and Jessamine, he found the Aerialway Express Company investigator and asked him what he knew.

  “And who might you be?” he demanded. “On whose authority do you ask?”

  Langdon again showed the card in its case. “I am attached to the government, investigating possible acts of anarchy by foreign powers,” Langdon replied. “These are my assistants.”

  The man’s eyes gaped wide. “Foreign powers, anarchy? Surely this was an accident?”

  “That is what we are all here to ascertain. Now, firstly describe the sequence of events, as you understand them.”

  “Very well,” said the man. “The westbound had just left the station at the Fussels Building and would have been switched to use the main track,” he said. “An eastbound should have gone into the loop but came on; there was either a failure at the points or in the carriage's control box, from where the signal to the points is sent mechanically.”

  “And has this ever happened before?”

  The man shook his head. “Never, if I could not see that it had, I would have said it was impossible. To me, the system is foolproof, once activated. The only way for there to be two carriages on the same piece of track is if the interlock is switched off in one of them, after the carriage is in motion and has passed the activator.”

  “Then how can you explain it?”

  “I cannot,” the man said, somewhat angry now at the questioning. “From a position on the ground with no access to the wreckage. I need to see the control boxes from both carriages.”

  Langdon ignored the tone. “I take it they are still searching for them; I would like to see them too. My assistant,” he indicated Oswald, who bowed, “would like to examine them. We are in possession of information that might be pertinent.”

  “Very well, Sir Mortimer. I will arrange it.” The man made a note in his pocketbook. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do, not least of which will be explaining to the Minister how this system had failed so spectacularly.”

  There was nothing more they could do. “I don’t envy you that job, sir,” said Langdon. He turned to Jackson and Jessamine. “We need to go to the station and view the track, if it is not destroyed. Then if we still cannot determine anything, we need to speak to any witnesses that Alyious and Vyner have found.”

  They entered the Fussels Building and rode the deserted elevator to the station. At the gate was a Watchman, resplendent in his uniform. “You cannot pass, this is a dangerous place,” he said. Langdon again showed his pass and they gained access. The rail was ten feet above them, still held in place but looking towards the crash scene, two pillars away it ended suddenly. “It’s a good job the pillars stood,” said Oswald, “else the toll might have been so much worse.”

  “Can you see aught?”

  “I will have to climb up.” At the end of the platform, outside the safety rail was a ladder, reaching up the side to the building it connected with the framework that supported the rail. Oswald climbed up and along, coming to rest on the support. The rail was now in touching distance. He peered over, his glasses wobbled, and he grabbed at them. The motion unbalanced him and for a second it seemed that he must fall. Jessamine gasped; he righted himself.

  “I need a strap for my glasses,” Oswald muttered, “if I’m to wander the city, looking at twisted wreckage. I will have to devise one when I get back to solid ground.”

  “Never mind trying to fly,” shouted Langdon, “what can you see?”

  Oswald peered again. “The interlock is untouched,” he said, “the bar on this carriage never engaged with it. There is part of your answer.”

  “Get yourself back to safety then.”

  Oswald needed no order, shortly he was back inside the barrier.

  “Your conclusions, now that you are back on safe ground?”

  “It appears that the carriage that left this place had no control,” said Oswald. “The box would have to have been switched off once the carriage was in motion, before it reached the interlock, in such a way that power was still applied. The driver, if he had not orchestrated things, would know nothing. I need to see the box, once it has been recovered, to be sure.”

  “The Watch will have them,” Jessamine said. “But what could they tell? They will know nothing of switches and interlocks.”

  Langdon nodded. “True, not forgetting that I’m not too popular with the senior men of the Watch. Perhaps it will be best to wait for the official investigation. But I have a horrible feeling that this is just the start, there will be worse to come unless we can disrupt this man’s plans. Let us collect the others and return to the orphanage. Oswald, you can get back to making sense of the works of Aldithley, while we decide what to do next.”

  They repaired to the ground, where they found Alyious and Vyner. “Your reports?” Langdon said.

  “Nobody has much to say,” replied Vyner. “All are so used to seeing the aerialway now that they take no notice. We found one person whose son had said, ‘look, both carriages are about to collide, neither has stopped,’ but that was all. The first anyone noticed was the noise and the falling of the wreckage.”

  “That’s the problem,” agreed Oswald, “after the initial wonder, science becomes mundane, nobody sees it, until it fails.”

  Chapter 16

  That evening, Jackson had his first look at the folder he had acquired from the Prosthesium. He opened it with trembling hands, more than once he had pulled it from its hiding place under his clothes and almost opened it. Then he had put it away again, as if he didn’t want to know any more details. Now, he was determined to read it.

  The first pages of the report were given over t
o the bald details of the factory, its age, construction and maintenance. There were plans of the floor showing the positions of the machines and details of the persons involved. Jackson saw that listed were Rodney Nethersole, Philton Clynes and his father, Emory Thwaite, as the main players in the drama that unfolded.

  The known facts of the events leading up to the disaster were repeated. Jackson had thought that he knew enough about it, but he realised that he had only half the story, and that a lot of what he thought he knew was wrong. The report chronicled the times of the events.

  At six am the boiler was brought back from its overnight state to full capacity.

  At seven, the steam pressure was raised, the beam and all its associated bearings were inspected before the drive was engaged to set the shaft spinning.

  Here was the first point of contention in the account. According to Nethersole’s evidence, Jackson’s father had been the one to inspect the beam, shaft and all the belts. On his word, the drive was engaged. Jackson was surprised to find that his father had been the one to inspect the state of the bearings, the ones that had eventually failed. According to the report, it was Nethersole’s responsibility and that he normally did the work, but on that day, Jackson’s father had done it in his stead, so as not to delay the start of the day’s work. Nethersole made it seem as if he was giving Jackson’s father more responsibility. He claimed to have trained him under his supervision and Nethersole stated on oath that he was content with his ability.

  That seemed strange, his father had never remarked about performing inspections, or being given extra tasks. His job was to test completed prosthetics, what did he know about the condition of power systems? It was no good wondering about that now, his father was in no position to explain himself. But for the life of him, he couldn’t understand how his father had missed any signs of impending doom, if he had been properly trained. He had always been fastidious in the house, checking the range before lighting it, observing every recommendation for any household appliance that was in use.