Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure (25 page)

“Including murder.” A statement, not a question.

“If necessary.”

“Did you murder your parents?”

There was a flash of anger on Grimkraken’s face, the first show of real emotion he had given in to. “I did not murder my parents. Killing is an extreme step, one that is taken only when absolutely necessary. Killing my parents would have achieved nothing, would not have forwarded my goals. They are meaningless. The only benefit they provided me was a heritage that reached to Germany and that happened to be associated with a family that has a son who is a scientist. The only gift my parents gave me was the current association with the inventor of the amalgam cube.”

“You knew him?” Sigmund asked astonished. “You knew him and you still murdered him?”

“Yes. My goal required his sacrifice. There have been others and there will no doubt be more, but the end results are worth it. You were willing to break the law, to sacrifice morality. Why? Because you wanted to help your niece. You would do what is considered wrong or immoral for the sake of helping her. Your goal justified your actions. I applaud you, Mr. Shaw. That is a lesson that many do not understand. A simple lesson that manages to confound the masses. What is morality if it binds ones ambitions?”

Sigmund grew angrier and angrier as he listened. In was insulting to be compared to this murderous traitor. He defended himself, saying, “What I did was to help a sick child! What are your noble goals?”

“To help a sick world, Mr. Shaw.” Grimkraken smiled and took another sip.

“You want to help the world?” Sigmund asked incredulously. “By starting a war? What help will that provide?”

“Have you travelled much Mr. Shaw?” Grimkraken asked calmly. “Boat, dirigible, a journey by train perhaps?”

Confused at the perceived change in direction of the conversation, Sigmund simply shook his head.

“Well, I have.” Grimkraken continued. “Whether you know it or not, you are fortunate, Mr. Shaw, you live in a civilized country. You have never experienced the wretchedness of the world around us. There is a sickness, a stagnation of progress in this world. If a body part stagnates, it becomes gangrenous, which of course necessitates the strongest of measure to heal the person – amputation of the gangrenous part. Why would it be different for mankind as a whole? The British Empire is the greatest society the world has ever known and I will spread its healthful practices around the globe, removing those that are a detriment – like removing gangrene. You, and those like Marcus, you see war and blood. Your shortsightedness is disturbing. For fear of the pain, would you leave a gangrenous foot on a person? Or would you amputate it, allow the pain for the long-term benefit of life? No need to answer the question, Mr. Shaw, you would of course remove it. Is it any different with society? Yes, there will be some pain with my goal but it will be worth the long-term benefits.”

“What benefit? What sickness of society are you talking about?”

“The benefit of spreading, of gifting, our advanced Empire around the globe. This will heal the sickness that is, for lack of a better term, uncivilized.”

Sigmund sat there in shock. The absolute belief that Grimkraken had in his own words scared him. Scared him on a level unlike anything he had faced. This man in front of him had no conscience. He would kill and not give it a second thought. Sigmund had never met a truly evil person before, until now.

“I think you overestimate London’s tolerance of war. There may be some people who believe as you do, but you will fail without the support of the populace. Not to mention the Royals.”

“And I think you underestimate my ability to influence people. They will
want
war before I am through.”

Sigmund believed this man to be delusional – utterly without empathy. He knew that Grimkraken would not change his plans, his mind was firm and likely even twisted. But Sigmund had to try.

“Defence Minister, it is not too late to change your plan. Give the cube to the world. If you want to help these, as you say, ‘sick’ countries, use diplomacy. The release of the cube could make you a hero.”

“Are you trying to flatter me? The cube guarantees success of my plans. I
will
be a hero, Mr. Shaw. The hero that healed the world.”

They stared at each other across the desk, each willing the other to see things their way. Grimkraken broke the silence, “Mr. Shaw, I think it is time to say ‘goodnight’.” With that, he pulled the sleeve on his right arm back and revealed a leather gauntlet with two tubes that ran lengthwise down his wrist – a wrist projectile launcher. Not as powerful as a handheld gun but more than powerful enough to kill at this close range. “I simply cannot allow you to leave. For I see that you will fight me and my goals, and, well, you know how I stand on opposition. Now please get up, I would rather not shoot you inside the house.”

Sigmund was unarmed, so he stood up. At that moment a voice came from the window, “Lower your weapon, Defence Minister.”

Sigmund watched as Grimkraken turned to the sound and saw Chief Inspector Holmes standing outside the open window with a gun pointed directly at Grimkraken’s head.

“Chief Inspector Holmes, isn’t it?” said Grimkraken. “I should say that you have your gun pointed at the wrong man.”

Holmes face was like stone, “No, sir, I’m afraid I do not.”

“Then what? Arrest me? On what grounds?”

“Murder seems like a fine start. From there we can go to treason. I would think anything beyond that would be redundant. But first, I am going to make sure that Sigmund leaves without being harmed. Lower your weapon.”

Without lowering his wrist gun, Grimkraken said smugly, “Really, Chief Inspector. You cannot possibly find me guilty of such things. There is no evidence.”

“I’ve heard all you have said tonight,” returned Holmes, “and I am ashamed to think that our government has even one man such as you in it.”

“Fortunately, there are many like me, Chief Inspector. And when we finish our plans, you will be thanking me.”

Without taking his eyes off of Grimkraken, the gun steady, Holmes said, “Sigmund, walk out the door and leave by the front entrance.”

Sigmund looked from Holmes to Grimkraken and started to walk towards the door. After two steps, he looked back just in time to see Grimkraken fire his wrist gun at him and dash towards the door. Sigmund lost sight of him as he felt a great pain in his chest and started falling backwards. As his head hit the wall Sigmund had just enough time to think
not again
as darkness rapidly overtook him.

* * *

Grimkraken cursed at himself inwardly. To be taken in by such simpletons as Shaw and Holmes. He glanced at the detective outside his window, that gun pointing right between his own eyes, and then back at Shaw. He had to do something – Shaw would be easy to defeat in court, but Holmes would make things very difficult. Grimkraken couldn’t risk it.

“Sigmund, walk out the door and leave by the front entrance,” said Holmes.

Grimkraken watched Sigmund – and his only leverage – take a step towards the door. Then another. With desperation, Grimkraken started towards the door while he reached his left hand across himself and slammed down the trigger to his wrist gun. Making sure his right fist was down, he got off a clean shot and watched as at least one of his projectiles reached its target. As he jumped out the door to his office, he heard a gunshot and the sound of exploding wood just above him. He knew Holmes would take a little time climbing through the window, and if Grimkraken had any good fortune, Holmes would be the kind of man to stop and check on Shaw.

Out of his office, he continued running towards the back of his house, through the empty kitchen and out the back door. He took a moment to lock it, which should gain him a little time. Pressing on towards the back of his estate he quickly came up to his barn. This barn, however, did not have horses housed inside – he had better conveyance. He opened one of the two large doors to the barn, then closed and locked it behind him. Over to the side of the barn doors was a large knife-switch. He gave it a firm pull and engaged it, which started a mechanical whirring noises from around the building. He could hear the roof parting, but didn’t bother to look up, his attention was focused on
The Cloud of Comfort
– his luxury yacht dirigible.

His private dirigible, lifted by hydrogen and powered by a steam engine that connected to two propellers, would be his escape route. The carriage was tight against the hydrogen balloon and looked much like the hull of a boat, wood planks ran lengthwise from a flat back to a pointed bow. It could hold six comfortably, along with room for a pilot and the requisite engine and coal. There were five lines that kept it anchored to the ground. It was four of these lines that Grimkraken ran around and quickly undid. The fifth line could be released from the inside controls. Although the entrance to the zeppelin was two feet off the ground, it wasn’t high enough to force Grimkraken to get the stairs, he jumped up and pulled himself in with the extent of his athleticism. Once inside, he hesitated only a moment – he needed to decide whether he should start the furnace, since it would take a few minutes to get up enough steam to start the propellers, or if he should remove the last anchor line and lift off. He ran to the controls and pulled the brass release lever that let go of the final anchor rope and then turned one of the dials to increase the hydrogen in the balloon for a quicker rise. He felt the zeppelin move beneath him and he watched out the front window as the barn walls started to move downwards. Once he was clear of the roof, he ran to the boiler and fired them up. Back to the controls, he watched his pressure gauges as they slowly climbed towards the minimum pressure to start the propellers. The balloon kept rising but from his position at the controls he could not see much of the ground right below him, so all he could do was listen for the sound of a gunshot that could ruin his escape – the shot never came.

When the gauge finally reached the green, Grimkraken engaged his propellers and felt the airship start to move forward. With plenty of altitude and now moving away from his home, he let out a breath and contemplated his next move. He wondered how quickly Holmes could convince others of his plans and involvements. It wouldn’t be easy, he assured himself, but not impossible. Grimkraken concluded that he himself would need to take some quick steps.

* * *

Sigmund awoke to find himself on his back with a fierce shaking to his shoulders and a voice yelling at him to “Wake up!”

As his wits returned, he saw Holmes standing over him, with a fairly worried look on his face. Holmes then said, “You’re alive. Thank goodness! I must catch him!” and Holmes ran out of the room.

It took Sigmund another few seconds to recount all that had happened. The soreness in his ribs reminded him of exactly what happened – he was shot by Grimkraken. Still laying on his back, he tilted his head so he could see his chest. There was no blood visible, so he unbuttoned his vest and then his shirt to expose the armor chest plate that Holmes had provided him. There were two dents, one right around his heart, that marred the surface. The discomfort that the armor caused through the evening was more than made up for by the life-saving properties it had just displayed. Still, if it was all the same to everyone else, he would have like to have skipped the shooting altogether. His chest felt like he was hit with a cricket bat.

Another few seconds of reassessing himself and the situation, he painfully stood up and walked out of the study. “Holmes?” he called out, “Where are you?” There was no answer but he heard a noise coming from the back of the house. He made his way into the kitchen and then to the back door – since it was wide open – and saw Holmes standing in the dark and looking into the distant sky.

“Where did he go?” asked Sigmund.

“He escaped,” said a defeated Holmes. “He had a dirigible yacht.”

Sigmund looked into the sky in the direction Holmes had been staring and could then make out a small object trailing smoke that was slowly getting smaller.

Walking over to Holmes, Sigmund asked, “What now?”

“We need help. Grimkraken will not sit quietly knowing what we know. We can expect him to act, and as he has shown, no action is out of the question with him. We need to counter Grimkraken with the only thing that can stop him, his peers in the government. We need support to gather a small army to confront him and his factory.”