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“Our enemy is female?” Palmerston asked.
“Yes. Her name is Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. She is a Russian,and she intends nothing less than the wholesale destruction of theBritish Empire.”
“The devil she does!” the prime minister exclaimed. “What's hermotive? What's this about divination?”
“She claims to be clairvoyant. She has seen a future whereBritain engages in a great war against a united German Empireallied with Russia.”
He went on to describe the prophecy Blavatsky had shared withhim. As he talked, Palmerston's pale, inexpressive face seemed togrow even whiter, his manicured fingers gripped the edge of thetable, and his eyes became fixed, as if he'd gone into shock.
“Her intention,” Burton finished, “is to cause such internalstrife that Britain is severely weakened in the lead-up to the war.She wants Germany to defeat us without Russia's assistance, sothat, once the victory is won, Russia might swoop upon theconquering nation.”
“But why make us the target?” Palmerston protested. “Why doesn'tshe work her voodoo against the Germans directly?”
“If she does that, she will ensure the continuation of theBritish Empire. She wants all the Western powers on their knees sothat Russia might subjugate them in their entirety.”
“Gad!” Trounce murmured. “Another lunatic interfering with time!Only on this occasion, instead of someone from the futureinterfering with the present, it's the reverse!”
“Perhaps,” Burton murmured, noncommittally.
Trounce looked at him quizzically. “Is there something you'renot telling us?”
Burton ignored the question and lit one of his Manila cheroots.He glanced at Palmerston. The prime minister was sittingstock-still, staring straight ahead.
“We came into this affair, gentlemen,” the king's agentcontinued, “at the point when Blavatsky gained possession of theChoir Stones, which are fragments of a larger diamond, one of thethree legendary Eyes of Naga. She then took advantage of theTichbornes, both to wrest control of a second, unbroken diamondfrom them, and to use them as a means to disseminate her call toinsurrection.”
Detective Inspector Trounce frowned and scratched his head.“Theft and impersonation I can understand,” he said, “but thisblack diamond business has me flummoxed. What's the co
“The Eyes project a subtle electrical field that can influence aperson's mind, causing, in certain types, a profound sense ofdissatisfaction. They can also magnify a mesmeric directive.Blavatsky used the Choir Stones to control Arthur Orton, to enhancehis natural ability to sway opinion, and to entrance people intobelieving that he was Roger Tichborne. Once the crowds who came tosee him were captivated, she used the greater power of the unbrokendiamond to incite them to riot.”
“And the wraiths?” asked Trounce.
“A stroke of genius on her part. You know how obsessed the Rakesare with spiritualism and the occult. With her credentials, therewas no difficulty in gaining leadership of the faction. She tookcontrol and soon had them all walking abroad in their ethericbodies.”
Palmerston took a deep breath, as if coming out of a trance, andsaid: “Their what?”
“The etheric body, Prime Minister, is that part of you whichexactly matches your physical dimensions and characteristics but iscomprised of rarefied matter. It co
“The soul?”
“No, it is more a component of material existence. It exactlyduplicates your bodily self-perception, even down to the clothesyou are wearing.”
“Twaddle!”
“Many, especially those of a scientific bent, believe so.Nevertheless, there are wraiths roaming London, and they are doingso because through them Blavatsky can amplify the black diamond'semanations.”
There came a knock at the door and Constable Bhatti stepped in.He gaped when he saw Palmerston, and gave a clumsy salute.
“I-I understand you requested my presence, sir?” he stuttered,looking first at Trounce, then at the famous explorer.
“Yes, come in, Constable,” Burton said.
“Thank you, but-um-there's a rather extraordinary-looking chapoutside. A Technologist. He says he's here on behalf of IsambardKingdom Brunel.”
“Ah, good! That was quick! Would you usher him in, please?”
Bhatti nodded, stepped out of sight, and returned moments laterwith a short, plump, blond-haired individual who introduced himselfas Daniel Gooch.
“Ah ha!” Bhatti cried. “I thought I recognised you! You're therotorship engineer!”
Gooch bowed his head in acknowledgment. Though dressedconservatively in pale-brown trousers, white shirt, dark waistcoat,and a top hat-which he'd removed and was holding-he was alsowearing a bizarre contraption slung around his shoulders andbuckled over his chest and around his waist. It was nothing lessthan an extra pair of arms, mechanical and intricate, multijointedand with a number of different tools arranged at their ends-verysimilar, in fact, to Brunel's limbs. Two thin cables ran from theharness up to either side of Gooch's neck and were plugged directlyinto 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 voicewas 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. “Andthank you for getting here so swiftly. Please, pull up a chair andjoin 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 thecourse of the future war, and she shared with you a vision of theconflict. Just how clear was the-er-hallucination, CaptainBurton?”
“If anything, it was too clear, sir. My brain is stillstruggling to process all the information. It was as if I sawevents from the perspective of a person who'd lived throughthem.”
“And you say the war will be fought with Technologist weapons onour side and Eugenicist weapons on the other?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. And this Blavatsky woman has the ability to pull one solidobject through another?”
“That's correct. She did it with Brundleweed's diamonds and withSir 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 doorwas still locked. Its one small, barred window-which was too smallfor him to crawl through anyway-had not been tampered with. Therewere no escape tu
“You suggest that Blavatsky yanked him out through thewall?”
“It's likely, don't you think? If the Germans are going toemploy eugenically altered plants as weapons, then, in light of thecurrent situation in Ireland, Spruce seems the obvious source oftheir 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 ofthe 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. TheTechnologists have lost a lot of extremely skilled scientists.”
“Then it's begun,” Palmerston hissed. “Christ almighty, the waragainst Lincoln's Union we can just about deal with, but a waragainst the Germans and Russians-!” The prime minister held a handto his forehead and sighed. “Anyway, one thing at a time. Thecountry is on the brink. Our labourers are ru