The Ghost Rebellion (27 page)

Maulik nodded to his own agents, and a pair of them went to the director’s desk. That was when Wellington noticed the modest collection of case files. Vania also picked up a stack of dossiers, the one atop her pile he immediately recognised as what he was about to open before being interrupted by Agent Strickland.

Case #18840716INLD, the Lilac of Durga. This was when and where Director-then-Agent Maulik Smith had confronted Dr Henry Jekyll for the first time.

 “
I suppose great minds really do think alike,” Maulik said as he brought himself to the table. “While you were sound asleep, we were pulling any and all cases that could bring this Ghost Rebellion to light.”

Wellington looked over to O’Neil. “You said the Ghost Rebellion got its moniker from your men claiming the fighters were ‘ghosts’ refusing to rest until India is free.”

The lieutenant glowered at Wellington before finally relenting, joining the Ministry agents at the long table. “Yes, and we all saw Phani Talwar. I put a bullet in him six months ago. The body was never recovered. Missing, presumed dead.”

“
Here are cases of missing rebels over the past few months,” Maulik said, patting the dossiers gently. “All these men were active in the rebellion against Her Majesty, and then they started disappearing, one by one. Either in situations such as Talwar’s, or just up and vanished. One disappearance, quite frankly, has kept my knickers in a twist ever since it happened.”

Vania pulled the file just underneath Maulik’s old case and opened it. “Wellington, Eliza, meet Nahush Kari, known separatist. Fought for the Fire of Shiva.”

“
I’ve heard of that lot,” Eliza said. “The Fire of Shiva are radical, even by the standards of F.I. and Mohini’s Wish.”

“
He was the first to disappear. Seven months ago and I’ve been investigating it all this time. Considering how active he was, it made no sense.”

Wellington’s throat tightened on looking at the photograph. “I saw him. Today.”

“
You saw Nahush Kari at the attack on the Army & Navy Building?” Vania asked.

“
I am certain of it. He was armed with a rather nasty piece of hardware that threw fire wherever he pleased.”

“
It is a blessing that you’re here at all,” Maulik stated. “Kari is known for being thorough at whatever he does.” The director glanced across at O’Neil.  “While he was at large, he took responsibility for several bombings. The last one particularly terrible. The Bangalore Club.”

“
He bombed a gentlemen’s club? A civilian target?” asked Wellington.

“
Enough explosives to raze it to the ground,” Maulik replied, “and he was hardly concerned with whatever retribution would fall upon his people or himself. Quite the showman, until seven months ago when he vanished.”

Eliza let out a long breath that sounded like she had been holding it for a while. “So what brings this separatist to the attention of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences?”

Vania dug deeper into Kari’s file. “We were investigating another rebel disappearance last month—three insurgent lieutenants went unaccounted for after a standoff with Free India. This photo was taken at the scene.” She placed a photograph of a warehouse ablaze, on-lookers crowded to one side of an empty street. She handed Eliza a magnifying glass. “Lower left, in the foreground.”

Eliza pressed closer into Wellington as they both looked at the image, the glass in her hand bringing out a detail easily missed by an untrained eye. “Well now,” she cooed, “hello again, Mr Kari.”

“
I can see several points that match, but probability and certainty are not one and the same,” Wellington noted.

“
How good is your probability, you think?” asked Maulik.

He looked up from the photo to the dark lenses of the director’s mask. “I’m thinking my assessment won’t change your mind.”

“
It’s not just the face. Relative height to the others in the street. A blemish on the hand that just matches the pattern of a tattoo others in his order took when pledging themselves to the cause.” Maulik tapped gently on the photo. “And the man you saw today?”

Wellington studied the magnified image. Even blurry, the man’s eyes were unmistakable. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

“
To go underground for this long, not so much as a manifesto or even a whisper in the streets that he was planning something bolder than the Bangalore Club, and then out for a stroll on the streets of Bombay?”

“
No,” Eliza began. “Vania, after Kari, exactly when did people start disappearing?”

“
About five months ago, give or take a few weeks.”

Eliza then asked O’Neil, “And when did you men claim to see these ghosts?”

“
Maybe two, three months ago,” he replied.

She looked up to Wellington, and he knew Eliza’s thoughts before she shared them with everyone. “Kari wasn’t there by chance. He was supervising an operation. An extraction.”

Wellington nodded, then turned to O’Neil. “Featherstone must have opened a secret dialogue with Kari months ago, offered him æthergate technology. And why not? Perhaps if the odd experimental fails on you, it can be dismissed as the risks of modifying firearms. An æthergate? I would wager Featherstone wanted to avoid attention if something like that failed.”

“
But now the Ghost Rebellion has an electroporter. An entirely different matter. Featherstone wouldn’t know about them. Jekyll would.” Eliza’s look was fixed and hard. The electroporter was still a sore subject with her. Placing her hands on her hips, she glanced at Wellington. “But why would Jekyll give the Ghost Rebellion an electroporter? The Seven discovered that was how he got around London with minimal detection. What does he gain from surrendering that sort of technology?”

“
Jekyll is not an advocate for independence in India,” Sophia stated, making Wellington start slightly. She really could be silent as the grave. “He is more of an opportunist.”

Wellington’s eyes fell on Case #18840716INLD. He took it up and quickly glanced at the preliminary notes. “Maulik, when you tangled with Jekyll, it was at the Water Palace, correct?”

“
Jal Mahal, yes. He was after the Lilac of Durga, a rare flower found only there. We were not certain as to why he was so desperate for that particular flora, but after witnessing first hand the science he was dabbling in, he must need it for his rather potent cocktails.”

Closing the file and sliding it next to the one on Kari, Wellington locked his gaze with Eliza’s. “Safe passage. Instead of risking life and limb getting to the Water Palace, he had offered the Ghost Rebellion an advantage against the English, an advantage that does not pose the same dangers as æthergate travel. In exchange, Kari gets him safely to the Water Palace.”

“
So Featherstone intends to test æthergates on Indian rebels, Jekyll gets wind of it, and then manipulates all parties to grant him safe passage back to Jal Mahal,” Maulik concluded. “If the good doctor were not such a monster, I would applaud him for his ingenuity.”

“
Sir,” Vania spoke up, “perhaps we should send a detail to Jal Mahal. A team of three should suffice, not to mention they will travel most quickly. They can scout the palace, or at the very least offer reconnaissance in case the Ghost Rebellion is already there.”

“
I concur. You up for the assignment, Pujari?”

The young agent’s back straightened, and a glimmer of pride flickered across her features. “I am, sir.”

“
Excellent. Take Agents Rivers and Sethi with you.” Maulik slipped out a pocket watch and checked the time. “Might be able to catch the last flight out of the aeroport, provided normal operations have resumed after today’s dust-up.”

“
Sir,” the three agents replied in unison before leaving.

 “
So, this is what it has all led to?” Maulik said, glancing over the case files strewn across the table.

“
As you said,” Sophia began, “quite the manipulator. It is his way.”

“
And what is your way?” O’Neil asked.

The assassin gave the dashing officer a sidelong look, her smile surprisingly warm. “I’m sure you would enjoy finding out.”

“
You really can’t turn it off, can you?” Eliza said with a dark look as she casually thumbed through the case file of Nahush Kari.

“
After hiding in Bruges for so long, it feels good to be out in the open,” Sophia said, making no attempt whatsoever to mask her delight.

“
Yes, about your sudden return to polite society,” Maulik began, “might I ask what your next move is Miss del Morte? It is asylum you are seeking, yes?”

“
I am.”

A bark of laughter made everyone turn to look at Eliza, her eyes still in the dossier. “If we grant her as much, then yes, I think we should all…” Her words trailed off as she pulled out a single photograph. “Where’s the æthermessenger we brought in from Featherstone’s?”

“
I believe it was taken straight to R&D,” Maulik replied.

Eliza clutched the photo close to her as she sprinted for the stairs. Wellington pushed through his own weariness and tried to catch up with her. He was dimly aware of Sophia easily keeping pace with him. She might feign confidence, but obviously she didn’t want to be in a room with Maulik.

However, right at this moment, Eliza was his main concern. Over the thunder of footsteps, he could just hear his partner whispering
“No, no, no, no…”
which did not instil confidence.

The lone technician in R&D looked up from her clipboard, and Wellington could see the young Indian woman’s eyes were puffy and red. This must have been incredibly difficult to return to her office and find her associate had been killed-in-action, something unexpected for this division of the Ministry.

“
You were brought an æthermessenger,” Eliza barked out. “Where is it?”

The girl closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Eliza’s hands clenched at her side, a sure sign she was hanging onto her anger by the barest thread. Finally, the poor technician managed, “Yes, Agent Braun. We found your æthermessenger, but we could not salvage the internal memory as per requested.”

“
Why not?”

“
The memory had suffered some internal damage.”

“
Where is it?”

The technician motioned to the opposite side of the room. Wellington, with Sophia trailing in his shadow, followed Eliza to the device which looked new at a glance, its metal fixtures catching the dim glow of the workshop. It wasn’t until Eliza turned it around that he saw the deep scratches and slight bending of metal along the back.

“
Vania tampered with it,” Eliza spat.

“
What?” Wellington asked. “How are you so certain of that?”

“
We found this at Featherstone’s, and it was pristine. Not a scratch or blemish on it. She must have pried one of these back panels loose to access its internal mechanics.”

“
Wait—Vania has a working proficiency with æthermessengers? The temporary memory block is hardly common knowledge.”

“
It is if I tell her,” Eliza seethed.

“
So you have
another
spy in your midst?” Sophia let out a little giggle. “The Ministry is always trying to be so clever, but it can never seem to keep those pesky double agents out.”

“
Are you sure you want to take that tone with me, at present?” Eliza warned.

“
Ladies.” Wellington shot a glance at Eliza. They stared at each other for a long moment before they both looked away. “Eliza, to sabotage an æthermessenger, you would have to know what systems to damage.”

“
Look around us, Wellington. There are Tesla Coils, magnetic devices, and right behind you a carbon arc welder. It wouldn’t take much skill or effort make a dog’s breakfast of the internals.”

He looked over Eliza and Sophia at the clankerton now engrossed in her clipboard. His voice was but a whisper when he asked, “And how do you know the damage didn’t happen here? In R&D?”

Eliza held up the photo she had pulled from Kari’s file. “This gentleman I met earlier today at Featherstone’s. According to Kari’s file, this chap is one of his lieutenants. He went missing at the same time as Kari. Vania had a bit of an argy–bargy with him while I was down, as well as a quick, little chat in Hindi. Something she knows I don’t. Coincidence, mate?
Yeah-nah.”
 

“
Then as we are agreed,” Sophia said, the tense moment shattered as her voice was at full volume, “perhaps we can set about following this little double agent of yours. I am sure she has gone somewhere interesting where you don’t want her to go, and it seems you are rather short staffed. She’s already got a few minutes’ head start on us.”

“
We don’t need to worry about losing her,” Wellington said, holding up his hand and wiggling his Ministry ring. “She’s in the company of two other agents presently. They should be wearing these, but we don’t have much time.”

“
Where is my valise?” Sophia asked. “I had it sent here.”

Eliza shook her head quickly. “I beg your pardon?”

“
If we are to find this double agent of yours in the streets of Bombay, then we should wear the proper fashions.” Sophia took off her hat and let her silky, dark locks fall behind her. “I have just the thing for this very moment.”

Interlude

In which the Mistress of Death Comes to the Ministry’s Rescue. Again.

Sophia was not going to lie—it was a joy to be back in her own skin, doing what she loved, even if presently she was not working for a bounty of any sort. She absently wondered why she felt this sudden need to help the Ministry. She did not care about earning their trust, after all they still owed her for her help in London.