Steampunk Omnibus: A Galvanic Century Collection by Michael Coorlim Page B

simply stared at me for several moments.
    "I strongly suggest we limit the spread of this information, lest we cause a panic and alert our quarry," Bartleby said. "I'll question your son, Mr. Herbert."
    "Better... better question my wife, too," Mr. Herbert said. "And Tolby Ives is one of the guests – he's one of my competitors, and he'd love to see me fail. If he's behind it he's had his Pinkerton bodyguard do the dirty work."
    "Why would you invite one of your rivals?" I asked.
    "The better to rub his face in it," Bartleby grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me towards the door. "Now get to work saving our lives, James. That's a good lad."
     
    ***
     
    Chief Miller endeavored, to the best of his ability, to walk me through the construction and functioning of the gyroscopic stabilizer. His terrible fright at the spectre of our impending fiery doom was a bit of a hindrance – he'd stop mid-lecture to wail or bemoan his fate, and his crying jags were starting to get on my nerves. When he started taking nips from his hip-flask I sent him out of his engine room and, with the help of his hastily scribed notes, continued on my own. A state of affairs that I found quite acceptable.
    After a half-hour's labour I managed to cobble together a small gyroscope from the engine room's spare copper wire and mouldings, using the heat of the furnaces to solder it all together. It was an ugly kludge but if luck was on our side would buy us another hour or two.
     
    ***
     
    When I returned to our stateroom, I found that Bartleby had finished his own interrogations. Herbert's son, he told me, was an unpleasant and priggish young man with few manners and even fewer compunctions.
    "Fortunately he's no Machiavelli." Bartleby sat in a chair opposite the door, sipping his brandy. "I doubt the lad has two brain cells to rub together. If he wants to strike at his old man – and I'm almost certain that he eventually will – it'll be with a blunt object to the back of the skull. Even then, he's unlikely to do anything that will harm the business he's to inherit."
    "And the mother?"
    "Likewise a low creature. Just another nouveau-riche American trophy wife who has thus far spent the voyage trying to insinuate herself into the good graces of her betters. No doubt she holds hopes of an introduction into the London social scene. As if I'd inflict her upon them."
    "Do you consider her a suspect?"
    "She does hate her husband for his infidelities," Bartleby said. "And I have no doubt that she'd delight in humiliating him publicly, but not in a way that would endanger herself or the ambitions she holds towards social advancement – and mass murder is a bit beyond the pale for such an ordinary person."
    "So, no, then."
    "It is possible, I suppose, that she's a dupe. I could see her stealing the gyroscopic stabilizer to sell to one of her husband's rivals, without being aware of the consequences. I doubt she's got the finesse to remove it without damage. That rules out the son as well."
    "So much for easy answers," I said.
    We had nice appointments aboard the ship, as befitted guests of our host Mr. Herbert. Everything was plush and crushed velvet with a golden brocade fringe trim. The berths were softer than I was used to – I prefer a firmer mattress – but I'd managed to clear off the top of the room's vanity to use as a temporary workstation.
    Bartleby, of course, would not have it. We were guests of an industrialist grateful that we had dispatched an assassin targeting men of his ilk, and we were to spend our time drinking, playing cards, and playing shuffleboard. Our vacation, he insisted, was not a working vacation.
    So much for that.
    "Let's take another look at the crime scene," I said.
    Bartleby put his drink aside and accompanied me, prattling on as we returned to the engineering section. "I've also spoken to Mr. Ives and his Pinkerton bodyguard. Wasn't able to get much out of them without giving the situation away, but I don't think they