Steam City Pirates (25 page)

As for the construction of all of the amusements and rides, many citizens had gotten jobs, and the entire project was completed by April 20 and ready for inspection. The Archduchess and Mayor Hoffmann did the honors, and they proclaimed to the newspapers that our “world’s largest all-steam amusement park was ready to open!”

It was on this day, the day before the park opened, that the pirates decided to send out the submarine to attack the foreign merchant ships coming into the harbor. We received word about this occurrence from a newspaper boy who came running down Fifth Avenue alerting all who would listen. “There’s a great white whale out in the harbor! Come down to the docks and see!” There were shouts of alarm, and many citizens dropped everything and began to run toward the shore.

I, however, decided to go in another direction. I headed for the old mansion on Fifth Avenue where the Society’s headquarters was supposed to have been located months before. As I arrived at the structure, I saw that the Italianate was locked up and a sign was nailed upon the door that said, “Closed by Order of Tammany Hall.” Since everybody had gone down to the docks to see the pirates’ submarine, I was able to use a skeleton key to enter the premises. The door opened slowly, and I saw, with some delight, that the entire mansion was as I remembered it on that day Bessie Mergenthaler and I visited it. It still reeked of dust and oil, the same
Behaved Gita
rug was on the floor, along with the drawings of steam-powered inventions that were hung on the wall. And the same steam-powered autos, bicycles, washing machines and irons were standing, like sooty toys, all along the walls inside the large drawing room.

There was one place I wanted to see especially, however, and that place was the room where I had witnessed the vision of my Dream Mother. If this place were still the same, then I had an idea that Manette and Bat Carry were lying to me. Biggs-Pemberton had told me the Society used the Dream Mother and Dream Master as a trick to fool me into believing that they held a curse over me.

The door was different. There was no warning announcement on the entrance and no combination lock. I could open it easily and step down the stairs into the basement. The steam-powered lighting came on when I flicked the switch on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. No longer was there a Dream Mother sitting atop a pile of human skulls. There was nothing down in the Society’s sanctuary but a small writing desk, a swivel chair, and a name sign at the front of the desk. The sign read, “Doctor Franklin Biggs-Pemberton, HMPS.”

I quickly opened the top desk drawer. Inside, I shuffled through some papers until I came to the one I wanted. It was an official government document with the heading of “Her Majesty’s Prison Service” at the top, with the address of the headquarters in bold. It was a simple supply requisition form, but my eyes gravitated to the date, “July 6, 2344.” The signature of the person requesting the supplies, which were mostly drugs, was one “Franklin Biggs-Pemberton, Warden, HMPS Lunar Facility 8.”

“Another universe, indeed!” I mumbled to myself, as I stuffed the paper down into my coat pocket. I kept thinking about the association of insanity with the moon, and the images of the Master Dreamer and my Dream Mother. And, of course, I was also thinking about the image of Doctor Biggie and his mind-altering, mind and body-expanding and mind-killing drugs! Prison Warden Franklin Biggs-Pemberton of Lunar Facility 8 was now suspect number one on my list, and I was truly living Poe’s “dream within a dream.”

After the torpedoes had missed their target out in the harbor, the
Mocha Dick
submarine disappeared inside an underwater tunnel, and nobody could find her. Of course, I knew she had traveled the thirty-six miles back to her port under Central Park. I had also had time to discover that Doctor Franklin Biggs-Pemberton was up to no good. I now wanted to confer with my inner circle to see what we could do to plan our own grand opening at the spring amusement park.

* * *

“He told us he was from another universe,” I said to the gathering of friends. Edgar Allan Poe had once explained to me about universes and their creation, so I thought he was telling me the truth. After all, we had the visions from Seth, and Bessie and I saw the headquarters on Fifth Avenue. Biggs-Pemberton was able to stop John Allen, and he helped us get into the underground stronghold of the pirates. Now I have this evidence that makes me want to strangle him on sight.” I was sitting inside our Temple Emanu-El sanctuary telling Bessie, Becky, Seth, Doctor Adler, and McKenzie everything I now knew about the case. Doctor Franklin was hunting around town for parts to create a weapon to terminate Master Manette.

“But he told you he had worked for the prison service in England. Maybe he just had the wrong date. Perhaps this Network officer who entered his body in New York City wanted to keep his actual location a secret for some reason,” Becky offered. She was always very logical when it came to my cases, and I valued her suggestions.

“Yes, Becky, that sounds logical, and I could understand it if giving us the wrong date meant this Network officer were trying to protect Doctor Franklin’s job. Franklin did say that if they were successful at putting a stop to the pirates he would get his original, full-sized body back as a reward,” I said.

“Yes, Detective, but you also said that the sanctuary inside the Italianate mansion did not exist. I assume you must believe Doctor Franklin—excuse me, the Network officer--caused you to hallucinate or see whatever you did. If it were the Network officer, it means Franklin was telling you the truth about being possessed when he was turned into a midget by the Society. But now you say you have evidence that shows Franklin might be lying. What do your instincts tell you?” Doctor Adler asked me.

“My instincts tell me to be prepared for both enemies. In other words, until we can find incontrovertible proof that Doctor Franklin or the Society is lying, then we must be ready to combat them both when the time comes. And the time is coming tomorrow. If we don’t stop them tomorrow, then I am afraid there will be dire consequences which will unfold immediately,” I said.

“Either way, you’ll have a real fight on yer hands, me boy-o,” said McKenzie. He pushed his mammoth chest out for emphasis. “The whole city is ready to accept these pirates right now. Did you see ‘em out at the docks today? When the torpedo missed the ship, they all booed and hissed. The people hate the merchant classes right now. If the people turn against us, then we will be down for the count,” he added.

“The only reason the
Mocha Dick
missed was because Captain Christie built a bad torpedo. I found this out when I visited the Pearl Harbor submarine base on Christmas Day. It will only be a matter of time, however, until they discover how to fix it,” I pointed out.

“There is a way you can possibly eliminate one of the prime suspects, Detective O’Malley,” said Seth. His eyes had the adult gleam in them, and I knew he had come up with an interesting proposition.

“What do you have in mind, son?” I asked, leaning forward to give him my undivided attention.

“You have the location and the date on the form. Why not send someone to the future to see if what Doctor Biggs-Pemberton said was true? If there is a prison on the moon, then it was only the date he gave you that was incorrect. If there is no prison on the moon, then he was lying to you about everything,” said Seth.

“Yes, but I can’t afford to go right now. We have until tomorrow to get our plan in place. If I have to travel around in time, then who will watch things back here?” I asked.

“You can go, Detective. I can supervise our activities tomorrow,” said Doctor Adler. “I have been rather recalcitrant lately, and I want to make amends. Tell me what you want done, and I’ll be certain it’s accomplished,” he added, tightening his necktie.

This was not really good news to me. I knew this was an option I could take, but my horrible fear of traveling through time was what I did not want to face again. I had been fortunate thus far with my trips, but it only took one mistake to lose it all. If I had landed in a security zone during the war, then I would have been immediately arrested. I also still had the lingering fear that I was tampering with God’s domain, and I would be punished. Or, I would do something that could cause a catastrophic event to occur somewhere.

This journey necessitated my traveling almost 500 years into the future. What would life be like then? Perhaps I would not have the required breathing apparatus. Manette had said the future was ecologically damaged. In addition, this prison was not on Earth. I would have to figure a way to travel up to the lunar surface once I landed in the correct time and place. I could perhaps use my British accent and bluff my way up there. Or, I could commit a crime in order to get myself incarcerated. The key advantage of time travel investigation is that one can return to the same moment one left if the controls are working. However, I am not certain the controls in my time machine are always working. They had worked twice, but what about the third time? If I were late tomorrow, then my information about Biggs-Pemberton would be useless, and my fate would be cast to the winds.

“All right. I’ll go. What I need to find out is too important not to make this journey. What needs to happen tomorrow is that we must have a plan in place for the things that might occur. First of all, Seth, I want you to go up in the balloon with Professor Lowe. If they decide to use the submarine again, then they will certainly bring in their own balloon to collect their booty. I want you to stop this from happening, Seth,” I instructed the lad with a firm voice.

“Yes sir, Detective. I can fly if I need to, correct?” he asked, a tremor in his voice. “Also, I can change shape if it’s necessary, right?”

“Of course! We must use all of our collective abilities if we are to succeed tomorrow. If we don’t, then we are certain to lose. Remember that the future of the world could be in the balance, and we will now be showing our hand. Once they know who we are and what we can do, we shall be marked for destruction—all of us.” I looked directly at the two women when I made the last statement.

“We understand the dangers, O’Malley,” said Becky, taking off her bonnet, furrowing her eyebrows, flexing her biceps, and shaking her blonde locks. “You just take care of yourself,” she added.

“What about the steam man battle?” McKenzie asked. “What do we do when Franklin’s little leprechauns inside the steam man Michael start going after the leaders of the pirates?”

“You must back them up as long as things are going normally. I should return before the battle starts, and I’ll have the information we need to know about Doctor Franklin Biggs-Pemberton and his entire group of little people. If they are part of the multiverse Network, then we will help them overthrow the Steam City Pirates. However, if I discover something that proves Franklin and his men are imposters, then we must play our cards after we have seen theirs. Let us hope I will then have the Ace we’ll need to hide up our sleeve.” I was getting more anxious about this time travel business the more I talked about it. Why had I ever agreed to be the time traveler in this group? Oh yes. It was my hero’s calling. Didn’t a hero have to die to be heroic? I hoped not.

“What about me, O’Malley?” Becky asked. “What can I do while you’re gallivanting in time?”

“Becky, I want you to visit John Kennedy and tell him what is going to happen at the amusement park. Tell him we’ll need all of the men he can provide to assist us at a moment’s notice. If we must go after Manette and his group, then Kennedy will help us do that. If we must go after Biggs-Pemberton and his group, then he will help us with our effort in that regard. Of course, depending upon what I find out, we may have to go after both of these groups. God help us if we must,” I said.

“I will make certain he knows all about what we are planning, Patrick,” said Becky.

“You do that. Missus Mergenthaler, I would like you to keep an eye on this Archduchess who is opening up the amusement park. I don’t want her getting in the way of our counter-offensive.” I also wanted Bessie out of the way when her son was up in the balloon. I knew she would be very emotional about his wellbeing.

“I shall be upon her like sour cream on a bagel,” joked Bessie. She had on her Queen Victoria black dress again, and she did not seem too concerned about Seth being a major part of our plan.

“Thank you all. I would like you to know that no matter what happens tomorrow, I think you are all brave, noble and patriotic. Now I must leave for the future. Pray for me, if you would. Your prayers are especially welcome, Rabbi,” I added, looking directly at Doctor Adler.

“Would you do the honors, Seth?” Doctor Adler asked the young
mazikeen
.

“Certainly,” Seth said, skipping over to the time machine and standing in front of it while I cautiously approached my nemesis.

“Seth, what would you advise the others do if they must confront your opposite? You know, Miss golden teeth?” My own teeth were chattering as I stepped inside the cold confines of the time machine.

“If she has changed shape, look for the image she has duplicated. This person will probably be nearby unless she has planned ahead the way we did with Jane the Grabber. Also, remember that when she is invisible, she has not disappeared. If you can hear her, then throw a coat or cloak over the place you believe she might be. It will wrap around her corporeal form. Other than those two techniques, I cannot think of more. Each
mazikeen
has his or her own quirks. We are, after all, half-human,” he smiled at me through the crystal cocoon I was now occupying.

“Thank you. Well, I guess shall I bid you all adieu,” I said, preparing myself for the inevitable fear to take hold of me once more.

“Wait a moment, Detective,” said Seth. The boy walked over to a wooden chest I had not seen inside the sanctuary before. It was protected with a big padlock, and when the key was inserted, Seth raised his eyebrows and looked over at Doctor Adler. The rabbi walked over to the chest and opened the heavy lid for the boy. Seth stooped over and withdrew a brass clock with copper hands on its face. I tried to remember where I had seen that clock before. Jane the Grabber! It was the same time machine clock that Seth had used while impersonating the infamous Madame from the Palace Theater. He had duplicated hers!