The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man - By Mark Hodder Page 0,132

shoulders and buckled over his chest and around his waist. It was nothing less than an extra pair of arms, mechanical and intricate, multijointed and with a number of different tools arranged at their ends - very similar, in fact, to Brunel's limbs. Two thin cables ran from the harness up to either side of Gooch's neck and were plugged directly into his skull, just behind his ears.

The metal arms moved as naturally as his fleshy ones.

"Mr. Brunel sends his regards, gentlemen," he said. His voice was deep and gravelly. "He apologises for not attending in person, but his size rather limits his access to dwellings such as this. Besides, he's overseeing the manufacture of the item you requested, so felt it best to send me as his lieutenant."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Gooch," the king's agent said. "And thank you for getting here so swiftly. Please, pull up a chair and join us. You too, Constable."

As the new arrivals settled, Burton gave a brief recap.

Palmerston then said: "So our enemy's motive is to change the course of the future war, and she shared with you a vision of the conflict. Just how clear was the - er - hallucination, Captain Burton?"

"If anything, it was too clear, sir. My brain is still struggling to process all the information. It was as if I saw events from the perspective of a person who'd lived through them."

"And you say the war will be fought with Technologist weapons on our side and Eugenicist weapons on the other?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. And this Blavatsky woman has the ability to pull one solid object through another?"

"That's correct. She did it with Brundleweed's diamonds and with Sir Alfred Tichborne. What have you in mind, sir?"

Palmerston's hands curled into fists. "The night before last, the traitor Richard Spruce vanished from his prison cell. Its door was still locked. Its one small, barred window - which was too small for him to crawl through anyway - had not been tampered with. There were no escape tunnels or any other means of egress. He simply vanished."

"You suggest that Blavatsky yanked him out through the wall?"

"It's likely, don't you think? If the Germans are going to employ eugenically altered plants as weapons, then, in light of the current situation in Ireland, Spruce seems the obvious source of their future scientific knowledge."

Burton ground his cheroot into an ashtray. He nodded.

"Yes, you're probably right. Do you think he's made it out of the country?"

"I fear so," the prime minister grumbled.

"We have Eugenicists disappearing left, right, and centre, too," Gooch added. "There seems to be an exodus under way. The Technologists have lost a lot of extremely skilled scientists."

"Then it's begun," Palmerston hissed. "Christ almighty, the war against Lincoln's union we can just about deal with, but a war against the Germans and Russians - !" The prime minister held a hand to his forehead and sighed. "Anyway, one thing at a time. The country is on the brink. Our labourers are running rampant and the dissent is spreading fast. I've called in the army to protect the palace and Whitehall, but a large number of troops are absconding or becoming openly mutinous."

"It's the same at the Yard," Trounce murmured. "Lord knows how many men are AWOL at the moment."

"So what are we going to do about it, Captain Burton?" Palmerston asked. "How do we nip this atrocity in the bud?"

Burton rested his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers. He tapped his knuckles against his chin and said nothing for a beat. Then: "As dire as they may be, I think we can take advantage of our current circumstances. Firstly, Trounce, take one of my velocipedes and race it over to Scotland Yard. Speak to the chief commissioner and muster as many men as you're able. They need to be in place by midnight - "

He spoke for a few minutes more. Trounce nodded, gave Palmerston a halfhearted salute, and departed.

After Burton heard the front door slam shut, he turned to Burke and Hare.

"I require something that you two have in your possession. I need you to fetch it now, without delay."

He told them what it was.

Burke turned to Palmerston and said: "With your permission, sir?"

"Absolutely. Go."

"And bring back another carriage for the prime minister," Burton called after the two men as they departed.

He turned to Palmerston's driver, who'd been sitting through the discussion with a bemused expression on his face.

"What's your name, sir?"

"John Phelps."

"Tell me, Mr. Phelps, can the mobile castle outside be driven