Steam City Pirates by Jim Musgrave

Author:Jim Musgrave [Musgrave, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Steampunk, mystery action adventure, mystery suspense, mystery action, mystery detective
Published: 2013-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8: Herein Beneath the Central Park Lie the Underground Pirates

For a little man, Doctor Biggs-Pemberton had a big headache when he arose the next morning. We ate our breakfasts with Doctor Adler. Our guest’s demeanor had changed dramatically from the previous evening in the Steam City Ale House. He was quite reserved, and he insisted that we call him “Franklin” and not doctor. As he nibbled at his toast and sipped his tea, he was able to answer our questions with honest candor.

His sparse hair looked combed across his forehead, and his pug nose appeared less canine in the morning than it did at the mansion or inside the tavern. He wore the same soiled frock coat and trousers, and his shoes were scuffed and dangling over his chair like a child’s from the ends of his tiny legs.

“You were singing a buccaneer song last evening,” I said. “Were you aware of any pirate activities by the Society?” I believed I might as well get directly into what I wanted to know. I had placed my faith in this man’s honesty, and I was going to question him to see how far his resentment against his former employer ran.

“I always sing when I imbibe. However, I cannot hold a tune for the life of me. I used to scare children with it at church. As to your inquiry, yes, piracy was a focal point of their recruitment. I must say, they had me interested, as I believe many scientists—especially research types—are secret adventurers. They told me they would be developing a method of hijacking the wealthy merchant vessels coming into the harbor,” the little man explained.

“Did they tell you exactly what this method would entail?” I did not believe they would have told him, but it was worth the chance to ask.

“No, they simply said they needed emergency funds to establish their humanitarian goal of saving the world from thermonuclear destruction,” he said.

“What is this word ‘thermonuclear’?” Doctor Adler asked. He was spreading cream cheese evenly upon his bagel.

“Great Caesar’s Ghost! Yes, I keep forgetting that I exist in the year 1868. One moment I was in England of the 21st Century, and the next moment I am standing in an underground cavern beneath Central Park. Thermonuclear weapons were created in the 1950s by the United States in order to combat the spread of world Communism. These Communists had also assembled the same kind of weaponry. The nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact countries kept increasing the numbers of weapons until there was an accidental computer error. All you need to know is that these weapons created what was called a Nuclear Winter, and all life on Earth was destroyed. The Society was allegedly formed in another universe as a result of this catastrophe,” he explained, sipping again from his teacup. “They are a collection of humans and cyborgs, which are humans who have incorporated future technology into their bodies to give them longevity and additional powers.

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