Stealing Utopia

by Tilda Booth

  “Nicky?” Exiting the ship, George stopped in astonishment. Robert Easton and Jack flanked him, but they fell back at the sight of the uniformed bobbies.

  Jane pulled Elizabeth farther away from the airship as Tesla walked past them toward George. The attendants paused in the middle of raising the ramp again, but Tesla waved at them to continue, and they retreated back into the cabin, shutting the door behind them.

  “George,” shouted Tesla over the sound of the Bumblebee’s engines. “I saw your note, and it occurred to me that you might take Jules up on his standing invitation to use his new toy, so I sent a telegram, and his man here confirmed that you’d left this morning.” Giving Easton and Jack a curious look, Tesla pulled George away from the two other men to a discreet distance. “Someone broke into my house early this morning. One of the men was knocked unconscious and tied up, and there was a broken window in the kitchen. I was worried, so I brought some police to escort you straight to the Prime Minister.”

  “Stop them.” Jane pointed at Easton and Jack, who were sneaking toward the back of the ship. “Those are the men who kidnapped Mr. Wells.”

  The two men turned and ran. Firing a wild shot, Easton disappeared behind a shipping container. Elizabeth screamed. Jane grabbed her and pulled her down low to the ground, covering her sister’s head with her arms to protect her.

  Blowing their whistles and running into the dock area, the bobbies chased the men.

  “My God, were those truly your kidnappers?” Horror infused Tesla’s voice.

  “Yes, some of them,” said George. “They are part of a gang.”

  “I will swear that I’ve met the smaller man somewhere…” Tesla snapped his fingers. “I know! I’ve seen him at Nissl’s laboratory.”

  “I’m sure you have.” Something in George’s tone made Jane stare at him.

  Tesla gleamed. “Aha, then you are starting to believe me, that Nissl has more to do with your abduction than first appeared. I tell you, George, he and his lackeys are up to no good. I’m sure if we make our suspicions known to the PM and Scotland Yard, they will be able to uncover some sort of connection between Nissl and that man.”

  “I would guess that the connection would be that you hired him to get close to Nissl and spy on him and his research.” Even to Jane’s ears, George’s voice was dangerously even.

  “Pardon me?” Tesla goggled, mouth dropping open and brows arching in surprise.

  Jane helped Elizabeth to her feet. Putting her finger to her lips, she pointed at another shipping container on the opposite side of the airship. She made a walking motion with her fingers, and Elizabeth nodded and ran off in the direction Jane had indicated. Inching toward Tesla and George, Jane slipped a hand into her skirt for the pistol strapped to her thigh.

  George folded his arms and regarded his friend. “Don’t you think you’ve taken this charade far enough?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What I can’t figure out is whether you always intended to kill me and throw suspicion on Nissl and Alzheimer, or whether you were merely improvising after your original plan went awry.”

  Tesla’s laugh was strained. “George, you’ve obviously had a very trying morning, but surely you’re not accusing me of having anything to do with your kidnapping? I’m your friend.”

  Jane pressed the little one-shot pistol into the base of Tesla’s skull. “You know what they say about friends like you.” She cocked the gun. “This parlor pistol might or might not kill you, but I guarantee at the very least it will give you a hell of a headache.”

  Tesla froze. “Now, Jane, don’t tell me you suspect me too?”

  “Not until George said it.” Over Tesla’s shoulder, she tilted her head at George in question. “Was it the transmitter that gave him away?”

  George nodded. “The etheric force transmitters your people were using—I could believe that those had made their way out. There were enough of them being tested by the government for someone to steal more than a few of them. But the little ones, the one Easton used in Worthing, I’ve only ever seen them on that table.”

  “Not to mention the coincidence of him being here,” Jane pointed out.

  “Yes, but it was what Easton said to you last night. You told us in the lab, do you remember?”

  Jane shook her head, but Tesla laughed bitterly. “Goddamn Easton. I knew as soon as I heard it that he had given me away.”

  At Jane’s confused frown, George explained, “Easton said that he took orders from Hephaestus. Hephaestus is the god of, among other things, mechanical machines.”

  “You English and your public-school education,” sneered Tesla. “A little less time on the classics and a little more time on mathematics would do wonders for Britain.” Turning his head slightly, Tesla called out behind him, “You might as well show yourselves. The jig, as they say, is up.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.” It was Easton, along with the two policemen. They stood at the outer perimeter of the landing area, all three of them holding guns.

  Jack appeared as well and crossed the area swiftly, coming up behind Jane and holding his knife to her throat. “Drop the weapon, Miss.”

  When she hesitated for just a moment, he hit her on the side of the head with the hilt of his knife, causing her to see stars as the pistol dropped from her hand. “I owed you that, Miss.” He shoved her roughly past Tesla, and she went to stand next to George, who put an arm around her, holding her close.

  Tesla walked over to them. “I had hoped to convince you with our little charade, but alas, George, sometimes your intellect actually lives up to its reputation.” He made a tsk noise, half apology, half reprimand. “You should know that you were right. I didn’t set out to harm you. The original plan that night had been to take all four of us, and you and I would escape, while Nissl and Alzheimer would, tragically, die in the process. But Easton, who talks too much and thinks too little, bungled the job. At that point, we just had you, the only one of us I wished to spare. You can imagine how vexed I was. I decided to try to persuade the PM that Nissl was behind the abduction. Discrediting them in the PM’s eyes would have been almost as good as eliminating them.”

  “But that didn’t work, did it?” George glared at his friend.

  “He was coming around. I thought just one more gesture, and it might push him into believing me.”

  “My hand.”

  “Placed somewhere in their lab. I still hoped we would not have to resort to planting your corpse.” Tesla shrugged. “Sacrifices need to be made for the cause, my friend.”

  “What cause? Did you really do all this to protect your research grant? You must be insane.”

  “Do you honestly think I did this for money?” Tesla flushed. “I did this for our future. I told Nissl no good would ever come from tinkering with the human condition. Huxley is a madman for pursuing it. He must be stopped.”

  “What are you saying, Nicky? How far are you prepared to go?”

  “To the very top if I must. If killing Nissl doesn’t do it, then killing Huxley will, if it comes to that.” Tesla held out his hands in appeal. “It’s not too late, George. You can still join me. We’ll go to Huxley and tell him that Nissl was behind your disappearance. You could persuade him. I’ll even let your lady friend live, despite her betrayal. After all, fundamentally she agrees with me.”

  “He’s lying.” Jane’s voice was strong. “He’ll never feel safe as long as someone he doesn’t control knows his secret. He’ll kill me, and you, at the first possible opportunity.”

  Tesla gave her a sly grin. “Is that what you would do in my position?”

  “Yes.”

  “You should watch out for this one, George. She is heartless. Also…” he shrugged, “…in this case she is correct. I can already see that you will not come around.”

  Gesturing, he called in the men from the perimeter. George’s arms tightened further around her, shielding her.

  “Really, George, you ne
edn’t look like that. I’m not going to shoot you on a public dock.” Tesla turned to Easton. “Where’s the girl?”

  “She ran away. But I don’t think it matters. She’s a simpleton.”

  “You don’t think, period. Which is why we find ourselves in this mess. You three, go find her,” Tesla commanded to the other men.

  Jack and the two policemen ran off while Easton jerked his gun at Jane and George, herding them out into the busy dock area. They traced a path away from the waterfront, their progress slow. It was nearly noon and the wharf was a mass of activity. Easton kept an iron grip on Jane’s arm while Tesla stayed close to George.

  “Amy!”

  At the sound of Elizabeth’s voice, Jane lost all hope. They looked around, and there she was, flanked by the two policemen, dodging passing ship workers as they tried to draw closer. Easton’s hold relaxed at the return of her sister.

  Breaking free of her captors, Elizabeth dashed toward her sister.

  “I told them! I told them!” she said.

  The adults all looked at her, confused. Jane frowned. “Told them what?”

  “I told them there were men with guns.”

  “What?”

  “Excuse me, does this young lady belong to you?” The policemen with Elizabeth caught up to them, and it was only then that Jane realized they were not the same policemen who had originally accompanied Tesla. From their expressions, Tesla and Easton had also been caught off-guard, distracted by Elizabeth’s excited arrival.

  “Um…yes.” Jane pressed her sister close.

  “You really shouldn’t let her wander around the docks, ma’am. It can be very dangerous.”

  “What about the guns?” demanded Elizabeth.

  The policeman coughed. “And that’s another thing, ma’am. She’s been pestering people with a story about men with guns. That could be construed as disturbing the peace or inciting a panic. Now of course she’s just a young lady, so we aren’t going to take her in, but—”

  All at once, Jane was struck by inspiration. “Please do so.”

  “Begging your pardon?” The policeman looked at her as if she were insane.

  “Take us all in. We are being held by force.”

  George joined in, “Yes, Constable. I think it would be best if we all accompanied you to the police station. This man…” George pointed to Easton, “…is holding us at gunpoint.”

  Wrenching her arm out of Easton’s grasp, Jane ducked sideways to expose a glimpse of his revolver.

  “Hold on here.” The policeman held up a hand as his partner pulled out his baton. “He does have a gun.”

  Easton’s eyes bulged and his finger tightened on the trigger.

  “Robert, control yourself.” Tesla turned to the policemen, who were frozen in place, batons out. “Officers, I can explain. Robert, lower the gun.”

  Easton let the point of the gun drop, albeit with reluctance.

  Tesla sighed in an exaggerated fashion. “I’m sorry, Constable. These three people are under my care. All three of them suffer from severe mental afflictions. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Elizabeth is a bit, well…” He made a little gesture at his head, then reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a wallet. “My name is Nikola Tesla. I serve on Prime Minister Huxley’s scientific advisory council. Here are my credentials.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” shouted George. “I, too, serve on the council. My name is George Wells.”

  “Sadly, this man is under the delusion that he’s the writer, H.G. Wells.” Tesla turned to George with a patronizing air. “Tell me, George, where are your credentials?”

  George grimaced. “I don’t have them on me, but if you contact the Prime Minister…”

  “Yes, exactly.” Tesla held out his hands in a gesture of appeal. “You see now how preposterous this is.”

  The policeman frowned. “Yes, I see. I’m sorry, Dr. Tesla, for having bothered you.” He hesitated. “But I can’t let your man carry around a loaded pistol at the dockyard. It just isn’t safe.”

  “I know they look relatively harmless, but they can be quite dangerous. Elizabeth has already run off once. The gun keeps them in order.”

  “No, I’m sorry, sir. My partner and I will accompany you out of the yard to make sure that your charges are kept safe, but until then I’m going to have to ask your man to give me his gun. I’ll return it later.”

  Scowling, Tesla relented. “Very well. Robert, give the constable your gun.”

  Easton handed over the gun, looking for all the world like he was about to explode. The officer took it, tucking it into his uniform.

  “You must believe us.” Jane’s voice was frantic.

  “No more of that, Miss. You just follow the good doctor here and I’m sure that he will help you, but I’ll not listen to a word that you say.”

  The policemen fell into step next to them, continuing their journey through the dockyard. Jane reached into her reticule, but Easton saw the movement and grabbed her arm, his fingers twisting deep into her flesh. “Get your hand out of there,” he growled.

  The policeman closest to Jane opened his mouth as if to protest. He obviously did not approve of Easton’s manner.

  Jane slowly removed her empty hand from her bag.

  A scratchy voice, tinny but still recognizably Tesla’s, said, “Do you honestly think I did this for money?”

  “I beg your pardon, sir?” Confused, the policeman looked around, first at Tesla and then at his partner.

  “I did this for our future. I told Nissl no good would ever come from tinkering with the human condition. Huxley is a madman for pursuing it. He must be stopped.”

  “Stop her!” shouted Tesla. Easton grabbed at her, putting his hands on her throat.

  Now George’s voice was heard, filtered through the same distortion.

  “What are you saying, Nicky? How far are you prepared to go?”

  “Her bag, you fool! Take her—” Tesla broke off as George tackled him, pushing him to the ground and punching him in the face.

  Both policemen were on Easton, trying to pry his fingers loose from Jane’s throat.

  The sun went dim. She choked, the air cut off from her lungs. As she slid into unconsciousness, she could hear the recording of Tesla’s voice.

  “To the very top if I must. If killing Nissl doesn’t do it, then killing Huxley will.”

  Chapter Ten

  When Jane woke up, the first thing she saw was Elizabeth sitting in the chair next to her bed, whispering to her doll.

  “Lizzie?” Nothing but a dry croak came out of her throat.

  Elizabeth bounced out of her chair and kissed Jane on the cheek. “You’re awake. I’ll go get Matron.” Before Jane could stop her, she ran out of the room.

  Blinking the film from her eyes, she focused with difficulty on her surroundings. She was in a hospital bed, in what appeared to be a small private ward. When Elizabeth had left, Jane had caught a glimpse of uniformed bobbies outside the door.

  After a few minutes Elizabeth returned, followed by a nurse in starched white cloth with a round soft face and dimples. Jane opened her mouth to ask what had happened, but the nurse popped a thermometer into it instead. “Now, now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but you’re in no condition to ask them. You’ve been under sedation for over a day, which is why you feel a bit groggy.” Picking up Jane’s wrist, she counted her pulse.

  “You had a very close call,” clucked the nurse. “You nearly died. Your throat was crushed. But the surgeon was able to save you. Thank goodness you were so close to that airship. They flew you to the hospital right away, otherwise you would never have made it. I’ve never seen such a thing, beautiful it was. Like a giant…bug.” The nurse laughed. “Although I suppose that doesn’t sound beautiful, does it? There, you are all set. You rest, dear. No one will bother you here. That nice Mr. Wells saw to that.” She patted Jane on the hand and left.

  Elizabeth came to stand next to the bed. “Matron said that I need
to be quiet to let you sleep.”

  Putting a hand to her throat, Jane traced the contours of bandages and a tube there. Her eyes pleaded with her sister.

  “I’ll get you a mirror,” Elizabeth volunteered with that uncanny way she had of understanding Jane without words. She brought over a mirror and Jane was shocked by her image. Her eyes were ringed with black and her hair was a dark tangle all around her, but worst of all was her neck, swathed in bandages with bruises peeping out around all the edges, and that tube protruding from the base of her throat.

  “It looks horrible.” Tilting her head, Elizabeth admired the carnage. “George cried when he saw you. But don’t tell anyone, because boys aren’t supposed to cry. Regina and I promised to keep it a secret.”

  Jane could almost smile, if everything above her chest hadn’t felt like steel wool wrapped in cotton. George, is it? Well he’d soon learn that telling Lizzie a secret was as good as printing it in the Times. She sobered. There wouldn’t be time enough for him to learn anything more about Lizzie. Assuming that Jane wasn’t put in irons as soon as she left the hospital, she and Lizzie were soon going to be far, far away from anywhere that George Wells was likely to be.

  At that moment, the door to the ward swung open, and George walked in, carrying flowers. Squealing, Elizabeth jumped back up to greet him, running at him full speed. He caught her up and swung her around. “Lizzie, my girl, how would you like to go and get yourself a sweet?” He took a coin out of his pocket and gave it to her. She skipped out and he called after her, “Make sure to eat it all before you come back.”

  He came over to the bed and smiled. “Hopefully that will keep her occupied for at least ten minutes. I should have told her to get taffy. That would have kept her busy for fifteen.” Putting the flowers on the stand next to the bed, he gazed down at her for a long heartbeat. “Well you look much better than the last time I saw you.”

  Jane grimaced at the thought of what her appearance must have been before.

  Reaching out a hand, he brushed the hair back from her face. She clutched at his wrist, and all the questions and fears in her head must have shown because he bent down to kiss her on the forehead and murmured, “It’s all right. Everything is going to be all right.” Sitting in the chair Elizabeth had vacated, he continued to hold her hand and proceeded to tell her what had transpired while she’d been asleep.