The Alicia Grey - api.ning.comapi.ning.com/files/YQca661h-3jRrow6giR64GUJNnCeK2z*3r2uQhbvL… · this" Alicia said as she flipped the switches to begin the launch process.....There

The Alicia Grey: Fall of the Guilded Goddess Updated 02-02-13

Online at http://www.welcometosteampunk.com/group/the-airship-alicia-grey/ Concept by Alexander P. Baker

Current Characters and their events:

Alexander P Baker

Felix James Bellicose, Alicia Marie Grey, PB-103 a.k.a. Phoebe, Sarah Ann Callaghan, Jack Joseph Callaghan, Cynthia Darkrose, Bartholomew Ravenswood, Captain Richard Styles, Celeste, Jacob Grey(References),

Thaddeus, The Phantoms

Annabella Blackthorne (Persona Name) Lady Annabella Blackthorne

Michelle Decena

M.K. Copperpotts, Milton and Kingston, and the Russian

Timothy R Harrison Tim Harrison, Nikola Tesla

Wilhelm Heizeltroff (Persona Name) Lt.Col Wilhelm Heizeltroff Ret.

Arabella Porter (Persona Name)

Arabella Porter and Jabber

Benjamin Schrimpf Joseph A. Bell, Audrey, Sterling, Violet

A couple weeks earlier Felix put his jacket on and looked at a photo of Alicia. He pulled out his necklace and kissed it. He smiled as he headed for the main deck. "Felix we have contact" Jack said as Felix reached the flight deck. "How big of ship and how far out?" "700 yards and its a small ship about our side." (1000 yards from the fleet) Felix reached for his rifle and adjusted the scope "Ummmmmmmm....... Jack........ Bartholomew is early......" Felix put thee rifle down and jumped in the open hole where the track rails used to be. Felix put his had on the glass of the cockpit...its been way to long....over a year. He opened the hatch and climbed in and closed his eyes as the rails rose Phoebe reached the comm's main console "Attention to the fleet, Attention to the fleet. Enemy contact twenty minutes" blared over the fleets speaker systems. The alarms went off on all the fleet's ship. Felix opened up his comm line..."Everyone listen.....even though I'm not running a suicide mission theres a good chance I won't make it back......what the hell" Felix opened his eyes and the was Alicia sitting on his lap......"You are supposed to be....." She put her finger on his lip and gave him a kiss "Alicia cover up whoever sent you back here without clothes" She giggled as she wrapped up in Felix's jacket "Oh....the comm has been on this whole time well anyways its time to act not time to think" "Felix did you just say Alicia???? As in the person!!!" Felix shut his comm off again.......He sat back as Alicia positioned herself for flight.....she grabbed the handles on both sides....Felix placed his hands over hers....."I love you Alicia" "I love you too" The track rails reached the top of the deck and jolted into place. Phoebe stood at the end of the track and gave the thumbs up. Jack gave her the thumbs up from the control sphere. Cynthia stood there admiring the maching in front of her....... Felix rested his chin on Alicia's head "Did I hear Alicia?" It was Sarah's voice.....Felix looked to his left and saw Sarah standing there. "Looks like everyone is here for this" Felix smiled at Alicia's comment. "Lets do

this" Alicia said as she flipped the switches to begin the launch process........There was a moment of suspense as the ship was launched forward with great velocity. Alicia laughed in joy as they went flying towards The Spectre. "Alicia I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" He said "Felix I love you and was given this moment to see you one last time" "Alicia.....I love you too and thank you....." She turned around and kissed him "Felix....thank you......." She closed her eyes and smiled.....she started glowing....very softly....as she got brighter Felix felt a tear run down his cheek and felt the ring he had for her grow warm. She started fading starting at her feet and moving up......"Felix I loved you with all my heart"....."I loved you the same Alicia" she turned around and held him tight......she gave him one last kiss as she faded away.........*Alicia I will miss you but thank you* The launch propulsion had started to wear off. He flicked a switch and the jet kicked forward as steam drove. Bartholomew's ship is there. He threw the controls to where he would land his ship there.....with a loud crash he grated the jet across The Spectre's deck. He ejected from the cockpit and was surrounded by automatons. "Good Job Felix" Bartholomew said with a slow sarcastic clap. "You aren't him where is he?" Felix yelled at the man...."Good eye to detail young Felix. Sarah taught you well." The robots grabbed Felix and detained him "You are half right I am him, but not physically. I've been controlling him from Inside the fleet. Pretty good robot huh?" "So you were waiting in new york this whole time waiting for us to pick up your brother" "Something like that little ghost, William come out here" Felix's jaw dropped as he watched William the real William approach him. "But How...." "Felix you forget we are Identical twins being 'captured was way to easy' the funniest bit is you bought the 'I'm sorry' bit" The robot of Bartholomew laughed....William grabbed Felix's wrist and turned on the comm "Time for the fleet to hear their beloved Felix die!" Felix let out a scream of pure pain as the sword went through him.....the comm went silent went silent as Felix fell to the deck and blacked out On board the apparition William, or the now revealed Bartholomew. Had figured out how to get out of his cell. He took out the elite guard guarding him and put on his uniform I'm in. "Guys come on the prisoner escaped he muttered something about the abomination before he knocked me out." The guards jumped up and ran with the now disguised Bartholomew. Felix woke up surrounded by white light "Where am I? Is this death?" Felix slumped to his knees with a look of defeat. William shot a flare up and the pirates descended from the clouds. Isabella pulled her ship next to the Spectre. Her ship was a huge spanish warship. Pirate Queen of the Spanish Main. she earned that title for running all trade via her pirate fleet. She lurched her ship forward to begin the assualt. One week earlier the press released this:

The Gilded Goddess

Falls From Grace

During the inauguration of London Coal Company’s new locomotive “The Gilded Goddess”, which promised to be the most effective example of steam powered technology and engineering innovations, trundled into the newly built “Herbert George W. Air And Track Docking Station”. She was greeted with cheers and adulations, and also with screams of terrors. Not 24 hours after beginning its career as the world’s most efficient locomotive, the Gilded Goddess pulled a Hindenburg, leaving the station and locomotive in tatters. The failed investment has led to the bankruptcy and subsequent buyout of London Coal Co. by rival Big Coal Co.

Big Coal Co. has shocked the nation since its debut five years ago, proving not only to be a safe investment, but also proving itself a likely threat to rival coal companies, as they have been buying out large and old coal companies and suppliers (such as Peabody coal and Lexington Coal just to name a couple) left and right over the past three years. With their biggest threat turned now to another asset it appears we will all be buying from Big Coal, almost exclusively.

Currently:

Felix looked at a card he picked up The Guilded Goddess. Bell you did it again, a new case with trouble written all over it. Felix sat on the dock outside his ship. An older gentleman walked up and placed his hand on Felix's shoulder "Glad to see you Felix." "Adolphus, you still have that bar right?"

"Aye" The old man said.

"You ever going to let it go?"

"Someday lad, someday." The old man said as he lit his pipe.

"Well we will be there later on, figure it would be time to treat my fiends"

"Well we look forward to it"

"I want to buy that property someday" Felix said as stared at the sky.

Arabella's Post:

Feeling the blanket and its warmth were the first signs that Arabella Porter wasn’t in her usual hammock. Suddenly, the warmth was interrupted by the cold clamp of the cuff around her wrist. She had hoped to at least grab his badge as a token of “F- you” before captain Dunning awoke and realized that he had made a mistake. But this time around, it was Ara who forgot that cops have an early schedule and therefore naturally wake up early. “You have the right to remain silent and let me kiss you on the neck,” she felt him act as said, “as well as let me…” He locked the handcuffs, “help you get dressed and take you down to the station. I’ll let you keep my shirt on. I’m not making the same twice.” Arabella groaned.

“Thomas, take pity. My captain’s going to be mad if I get back late. I don’t normally do this.” She explained, sitting up. “Ladies don’t complain.” He replied. “Ladies also don’t get arrested. Am I a lady?” she glared, standing up in cooperation with him. “Bella,” Thomas said, grabbing her attention.

“You know I hate it when you call me that.” She sighed but managed to trace his eyes to the window. A mix of incoherent sounds raised loudly into the air before cut off with a hand over Ara’s mouth. “Sniff some lavender.” Thomas whispered. That was his way of saying, “calm down”. He liked to pride himself on his short education in aroma therapy before joining the force and becoming air patrol captain of the Cameroon. A note, written in coal markings was left on the window.

We had to get to Singapore to collect a debt. You know the one. Get on a ship and catch up. Ara glared and looked to Thomas. “She’s such a-“

“Don’t say it.” Thomas said. “You’ll see her when you both share a cell, come on.” After an annoying morning of getting down to the station in Dunning’s shirt and her own trousers, Arabella settled in her cell. Once bored, she decided to start singing but stopped when a familiar gun dropped between the window bars followed by the face of a good friend, peeping through. She grinned. Jabber was a long time friend. As a koala, he was constantly high, due to his natural diet of eucalyptus leaves. But boy was he smart. His furry face vanished. Ara grabbed the gun and stuck it in her boot. About five minutes later, Jabber was outside her cell, and hiding behind a chair. Shortly after, Thomas Dunning came in and sat down. “Thomas,” Ara started, “Do you want a repeat of last night?” The sky captain shook his head and laughed. “You will stop at nothing.” He let his head fall back then sighed. “You’re right, you’re not a lady. However, you’re…” He waited for her to finish his sentence. She cocked one eye in confusion. “Use your words, Thomas.” She said mockingly. “Age” he whispered. “Oh! Eighteen.” Thomas raised his eyebrows and sat forward. “So, maybe if I found you some work. Maybe one of the nearby street corners, then I’d feel better about last night.” Ara opened her mouth and pushed out an offended breath of air. “That’s it. I’m out of here!” She clicked her tongue and jabber had the keys to the cell. “Hey!” Thomas jumped out of his chair after jabber. Arabella drew her gun. “Sorry, darling.” She said before pulling the trigger. Thomas fell, holding his shot hand. “You nasty-“

“Don’t say it!” Arabella walked up to him, kissed him on the cheek quickly and fled to the docks. She found a random airship. Alicia Grey. She read, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She spied two men talking outside the ship so she decided to try to find a different opening than the obvious ramp. She started to observe the ship, openly feeling at its side and wondering how she could get in without being noticed.

Felix sat there and watched the passing ship "Odd not many ships at this hour"

"Felix!" Cynthia said as she ran up and kissed him, Her face and coveralls covered in grease and soot.

"Looks like you have been busy dear" Felix said as he took out a handkerchief for her to clean up with.

"Well I put new steam turbines in the ship" She said as she wiped off her face "I'll be getting cleaned up in our quarters" She said and kissed him on the cheek.

"She is a keeper lad" The old man said as he finished his pipe and stood up.

"Well my good friend I shall see you later" Felix said while shaking his hand. Adolphus nodded and walked away, the crisp cool night air filled his lungs as he noticed a silhouette of a girl. Hmmmmm, weird. she is just pacing down the dock. Felix repacked his pipe and went back to looking across the thames. Previously

Where am I? There is nothing around me but white light..........My love where are you.......I look to my left and nothing to my right more nothing. Whats going on????? A tunnel? More white light??? My love where have you gone? *The tears started to pour down her cheek. The sounds of her sobs echoing, resonating off of nothing yet so loud, reminding her of how alone she was.She fell to her knees, she was at her breaking point. She felt a hand on her wrist. A gentle touch....soothing her restless soul* "Shall we dance my fair lady?" *She looked up and saw a young gentle man clothed in white. His mask gave him a sense of mystery and allure...She slowly looked up and lost herself in his hazel eyes.* I would be honoured to have this dance kind sir.*She rose to her feet with beauty and eloquence. He wrapped his arms around her as she smiled and held him tight.* I missed you.....more than you will ever know.*The man in white held her tighter as she cried tears of joy into his jacket.*"It will be alright love, I'm still here. I'd trade it all for one last chance."*He gently rubbed her back* Please don't fade away from me.......I need you "I need you too love...there is still hope my love....." *His voice trailed off as the walls closed around her, the air grew thick and dark...She looked ahead and there was a light with silhouettes danced in the light. a tiny red light flashed for a moment....she tried to run but the harder and faster she ran the light down the tunnel never came closer. The silhouettes disappeared.......*My love where are you....I need you....I want to hold you and tell you I love you again.........*two new silhouettes appeared* I must try harder....I'm so close...... yet so far...... so cold...... so..........................alone............. Then: Felix rested his chin on Alicia's head "Did I hear Alicia?" It was Sarah's voice.....Felix looked to his left and saw Sarah standing there. "Looks like everyone is here for this" Felix smiled at Alicia's comment. "Lets do this" Alicia said as she flipped the switches to begin the launch process........There was a moment of suspense as the ship was launched forward with great velocity. Alicia laughed in joy as they went flying towards The Spectre. "Alicia I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" He said "Felix I love you and was given this moment to see you one last time" "Alicia.....I love you too and thank you....." She turned around and kissed him "Felix....thank you......." She closed her eyes and smiled.....she started glowing....very softly....as she got brighter Felix felt a tear run down his cheek and felt the ring he had for her grow warm. She started fading starting at her

feet and moving up......"Felix I loved you with all my heart"....."I loved you the same Alicia" she turned around and held him tight......she gave him one last kiss as she faded away.........*Alicia I will miss you but thank you* Now: The girl awoke and looked around, all she saw was hundreds of gravestones and crosses. She sat there on her knees and stared at the ground. *Am I finally through the tunnel?* "No" A voice rang out, "You are in the Graveyard of Ghosts". Her jaw dropped as she looked around closer at the graves and started crying.

Arabella:

Ara gave a frusterated exhale and looked to Jabber who was snuggled up in her bag. “You know...Jabber….” The koala’s eyes grew narrow as to say, “No way.” The left behind first mate gave him puppy dog eyes to which he then responded by sinking into her bag. Jabber was out of the game. He had already done enough work for the day. She looked at the remaining man by the boat.

Ok, Looks like I’m risking it. When in doubt, run. When running is impossible, fight. Her adrenaline kicked in as she sneaked up to the main ramp. The man seemed lost in thought so she stupidly attempted to be as quiet as possible as she took her first few steps up the ramp. It was a technique that her crewmate, Dominique taught her. Step in the exact middle of each plank and step on the balls of your feet before slowly distributing your weight to the rest of the foot. Ara had mastered it in a month. About five feet away from her free ride, The ramp creaked, she stood frozen as Jabber hopped from her bag and ran up the ramp, safely onto the ship. Without thinking she sighed too loudly hissing, "You furry bastard."

Felix:

"What do you want" Felix said as he stared across the Thames. Suddenly a loud thud went off at the top of the ramp, Jack was standing there and in a flash he had the trespasser restrained in his arms. "Trying to sneak on board my ship?" Felix said as he was now facing Jack and the intruder. "Who are you and what do you want?" Felix said as put out his pipe. Arabella: It was as if a wrench had been lodged into Ara’s heart, causing it to jam. She wanted to run but she could never leave Jabber behind. The adrenaline was in full kick now. Her mouth went dry and her peripheral vision widened as her breath grew heavier. “I…..” what could she say? She could sometimes lie, depending on the situation but the way she was raised, she had never been given reason to. She was never really a big liar until she got into piracy. Step two: draw your gun. That’s exactly what she did. Her hand was shaking but the gun was aimed right at Felix. “I don’t want to shoot.” She shouted at Jack. “Put the koala down.” Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Arabella’s mind. She loosened her grip on her gun. “I’m going to shoot.” She lied. “I’m going to kill you.” Felix: Felix just laughed and walked up to the restrained girl and grabbed the gun."I'd be more careful with toys like this" He said while tossing the gun aside while pulling out his revolver and jamming it in her throat. "Koala???" He asked puzzled.

Arabella:

Arabella smiled. "Damn," She sarcastically interjected, as she relaxed a bit, knowing that her plan was following through. "I swear, my boss is going to be pissed as high Hell that you're still alive....captain." she said. Jabber peeped out from behind a box to watch the situation. Ara could see him out of the corner of her eye but didn't turn her stare from the sky captain. That would give the marsupial away and she had already done that to herself. "I thought you had my partner is all. He must have gotten onto the wrong ship.Now if you'll kindly remove you're quote on quote, toy, from my throat, that's starting to hurt." Felix: Felix chuckled as he holstered the gun and put a pair of handcuffs on her, "So what kind of pirate are you? Cause that was very ametuer of you" He said while he chuckled. Arabella:

Arabella looked away in embarassment and sighed. It wasn't as though he had any reason to not be patronizing so she didn't sass. "I'm a forced one, that's what. Arabella Porter, first mate on the S.S Silver Widow. Or...will be the captain if Captain Bennett doesn't stop being a..." She would have finished if Captain Thomas Dunning of the H.M.S Cameroon wasn't leaning against a corresponding ship, being audience to the situation. "Don't say it," he chimed in. Ara looked up at the sky. “Thomas, why are you not at the hospital?" She asked, irritated. "Bella, you've wrapped up a hand before. You know it doesn't take that long. Thomas laughed and picked up her gun. “I think you dropped this, love." She giggled. "Oh Thomas, you remember what kind of gun I have. How sweet." She joked. Dunning ignored her. "Captain, I'd like to thank you for keeping her restrained, she may be an idiot at times but she has her tricky moments. I'll be taking her back to Scotland Yard now." He extended his hand for Felix to shake. Arabella smirked. "Like that will help. You might as well just let me run loose through White Chapel." The sky captain grinned. “And let you find a way to Singapore? Never. What I can’t figure out is what the hell you were thinking when you decided that entering through the main ramp was the same as sneaking onto a ship. Even a stupid pirate wouldn’t do that, Bella.” Felix: Felix chuckled and took the man's hand and gave it a firm shake, Dunning winced in pain as Felix gripped it. In a flash dunning was restrained and knife at throat, "I never give up my catch. And this is a private ship, free from international law. I really hate Royal lapdogs." He said as he made Dunning cringe in pain again. Shoving a boot in the Captains back he shoved him to the ground. "Stay down." Looking to jack "Let her go, she can't be too bad if royal hounds are after her, jut keep a close watch on her and the cuffs stay on" Felix picked up Dunning and threw him down the dock a little, the scared man picked himself up and ran away. "So Bella you smoke?"Felix said as he pulled out a cigar. Arabella:

Ara was still in shock. She had never seen Dunning look so scared before. When Felix asked if she smoked, she merely shook her head before snapping out of it. "um, no. I don't." her blue eyes flashed around, looking to see where Jabber went. "And please don't call me Bella. He only does that to get a reaction out of me. He knows i hate it." she stopped worrying where the koala was and took a deep breath. "Thank you for that by the way. If you had handed me over I still would have gotten away but you really just made my life easier as well as my partner's. Although I think Thomas enjoys chasing me." laughs. "But seriously, thank you. umm, so question, by keeping your catch, " her eyes lit up for a moment, "Do you mean, in the brig? until before or after your next location?"

(Bold is Alex’s writing, plain Ara’s) "Stasis Cell, but not after a bit of interviewing, and a drink!" Felix said walking onto the ship, Jack nudging Ara along, Felix went into his quarters first, Jack grabbed Ara's collar to keep her from walking in. "Love you too" Felix said coming from the cabin. The three headed towards the ships mess. Jack Sealed the door behind him. Felix sat down and poured two whiskeys. "So who are you and why did you try to sneak on this ship in particular.”

Ara giggled. "Can you give me a moment to decide whether I should tell you the truth or not?" she sat back, "By the way, you still haven't told me your name or what a stasis cell is. I'm afraid i'm still relatively new to ships and as far as I know, the Widow only has a brig."

"Well you aren't in much of a position to be lying, you know that right?" Taking a sip of whiskey. "I'm Captain Felix Bellicose. What you say here determines if you get to be locked in freezer or not." wrong ship. Ara thought, raising both eyebrows. That changed her mind very quickley. "A freezer," she echoed, Felix. "I have to say, I preferred Thomas' blanket this morning." She let out before realizing that she had said it aloud. "awkward, anyways, it's nice to meet you Captain Felix Bellicose of the Alicia Grey. I am first mate Arabella Porter of the S.S Silver Widow. Friends call me Bells or Ara. My Captain, Captain Charlotte Bennet, has to collect a debt in Singapore and left early this morning or late last night. She left a note written in coal debris on Thomas Dunning's window this morning or late last night for me to catch a random ship and meet her in Singapore. I'm just getting out of London so that Dunning won't have me captured before then. I thought I had everything worked out but it turns out, I picked the worst ship to mess with. I apologize. Now if you would please help me out even more than you already have, which I

completely appreciate by the way, I need to get on the next ship out of here. " She stood up to go towards the door. "Well Ara, I'm not sure what I can do." He took another sip of whiskey "You see on one hand there is the rule of the sky: anything goes, but on the other is that the Thames is going to be completely blockaded along with the airspace around it." Pulling out his revolver "That lapdog after you will shut this town down, I can get you out of this town but I'm not sure about Singapore. The choice is yours, either work under me, or I will drop you off at the local police station" finishing the whiskey, he leans back and puts his feet n the table. "Woah woah," she said, "I didn't say you had to take me to Singapore. I was just going to get off wherever you land next." She faced Felix with a strong stance. "Listen, my captain both ruined and saved my life all in one night. I can't just join another crew. I can't go back to Scotland Yard." She let out a nervous laugh." Thomas is nice to me but the other officers there are so corrupted. I've seen bad things happen to prisoners in there. It's like anarchy within order" She waited for a response. “chaos in order" Felix said grimly. "this isn't one of those ships you can just city hop on. But until we leave London here is this" Slapping a weird wristband on her an undoing the cuffs. "for now you work for me." Felix said chuckling. "What is this?" She asked worried, observing the wristband. "What did you just put on me?" She ran to the ran to the door to unlock it. "That door isn't going to unlock like that" Felix said while chuckling "the bracelet is for security.....you try to leave London or take it off it will inject a very potent toxin, making for a very slow painful death." Felix said as he waved his hand at the door so it looked like he was controling the locks with his mind, but in actuality he hit the unlock button underneath the table. He was always good about making it look like he had other worldly powers when in all reality he just had machines. "You are free to go" he said as he finished off the other glass of whiskey. She turned around to face him, "What kind of game are you playing here?" She asked, "What kind of ship is this and what's going to happen when we leave London and I still have this bracelet on? I need you to understand that this, " she gave a short laugh almost in disbelief, " this is my second time being pressganged." She shrugged her shoulders and put her hands in her pocket. "At least tell me what kind of work I'll be doing? you could have kicked me back onto the dock and I could have found a different ship to hop on." "Don’t worry about that, just be back here in two days, the work begins when we get underway." Felix said walking towards his cabin. He shut the door and there was a click of the lock. Jack Picked up Ara and took her off the ship. The old man Adolphus was sitting in his cabin when he picked up an old newspaper and re-read the article on the Antisylum Air prison. He smiled as he knew Felix forever changed them. After being dropped off the ship, Ara straightened herself out before walking. She knew that Jabber would stay on the ship until she got back and she had started to lose herself in thought. But then, a dense fog filled the air, it was nostalgic for Ara. It reminded her of her second home. Then, all at once she woke out of her thoughts, realizing that she had walked into Ten Bell Tavern. There was no one in there but it was just as festive as she remembered. “No way.” she heard a familiar voice whisper. A gaunt kid with shaggy brown hair and a burn mark on the lower left part of his jaw stood frozen, dropping a bucket of water on the wooden floor and letting it spill out into a huge puddle. “Arabella Rose Porter.” He said. “Oh no, Aurelian, you grew up.” She said, laughing and holding her arms out for a hug. The boy slipped when he went to run and fell on his back. “Aury,” she laughed again and went to help him up. He hugged her. “What happened to you?” He asked. “Would you believe me if I said that I was kidnapped by pirates and then forced to be their first mate?” She asked, sitting down. “You’ve never lied to me, Bells.” He sat down next to her. “Where’s my mother?” She asked. Aurelian looked down and sighed. “Aury?” She demanded, “How is my mother?” He looked up. “She went back to Boston.” He explained. “She said that, “he” was coming.” Ara stood up slowly, breathing heavily. Arabella remembered, after her father was killed in action as a detective, her mother had taken Ara and moved from Boston to London. She had always said that “he” was coming but never told her who. At least she wasn’t dead. “And Leander? How is he?” She asked. Aurelian stood up and went to leave the room. “Where is your brother, Aury?” she called after him. The boy paused for a moment before turning around and looking right into her eyes. “He’s dead. The machine sucked him in at the factory.” Aurelian left the room leaving Ara in a state of shock. So much had happened in two or three years and where had she been? Looting tea ships and running from Dunning, that’s where. The bar was empty now. Ara looked to where she used to sing on

Saturday nights and then to the bar where she served drinks. Finally she stormed out and ended up walking to her old flat. She went up the stairs of the building to the fourth floor and knocked on her old door. A woman opened the door. “Can I help you?” She asked. Instead of responding Arabella fled. After a bout an hour, she was at Thomas’ flat. When he opened the door, he was still in uniform, his hand wrapped up. She pocketed his hand cuffs and disarmed him. “What the hell?” “I need a place to stay for two days.” She said, walking in and rooting through his sock drawer for the extra pairs of handcuffs and firearms. Wilhelm smiled as the vial's contents shifted from a dark forest green to a nearly neon blue. It was done. Two years of work , when he wasn't busy with the bio-enhancements. The perfect recipe for use by anyone looking for quick, quiet, untraceable kills. But he couldn't test it. He just did not have that kind of leeway even with the bribes and investments he'd made. He needed a clear way to test this. A real world application proving it's effectiveness. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he grinned as he thought. Wait! That ship that her Majesty's gurad were talking about is supposed to be in port. The one that belongs to some kinda private military company. Perhaps they could use a ship alchemist for a bit in exchange for being able to test some of my more recent concoctions. Moving to one of his note tables he digs through the papers and notes. He was certain it was in here somewhere. Finally he grins and gives a small whoop of pleasure. The ship was calles the Alicia Grey and was captained by an Alex or Felix something or other. So useful getting second hand information from a guardsman when drunk. Bloody fools couldn't even remember the name of the captain! Gathering up some of his notes he set them into a small case. He also included his official documents giving him his legal immunity to perform his experiments at the bequest of the British government. With a smile he pulled on one of his nicer coats and his finest top hat with the silk band. Looking at the rack of canes he decides to use the bloodwood cane that didn't contain a hidden weapon. He quickly sets off in the auto-carriage towards the dock he was told the ship would be at. Upon getting there he parks his carriage a short walk away and made his way to the airship. Reaching the gangway he calls to the door. "Hail the ship! I am looking for the captain of the Alicia Grey."

Adolphus noticed the carriage pull up and the man come forth. Reaching the gangway the man calls to the door. "Hail the ship! I am looking for the captain of the Alicia Grey."

"You sir" The old man said, "Come with me...They are all turned in for the night and the captain isn't against a free kill, come in and join me for some tea, I just put a new pot on". Lighting cracked as the rain started to fall. Across town Celest was tending to her wounds. "Curse that half-breed bilge rat. She was lucky she had friends to help her!!" She threw a glass across the room. The giant russian sat there and chuckled, "You know Celeste maybe you should work on your combat skills more than trying to show your tits off" He ducked as shot glass broke behind him "What I was only kidding" He said while shrugging. Celeste slumped down and began scheming and the giant and other henchmen began doing shots. Wilhelm chuckled at the reply and made his way up the gangplank. "Some tea would hit the spot assuredly. I am sorry to bother you this late. I was just anxious to insure I got to the ship before it departed again to make my proposal." Watching the rain start to fall Wilhelm sighed and dug in his left coat pocket. Finding a peculiar metalrob he twisted the end while pointing it at the carriage. Immediately the entire carriage sealed as bladders filled with air at all the open seams. "There. No chance of water damage now!"

”Silly bits of technology" Adolphus said showing the man to the patio table "You will be lucky to catch the captain anytime soon, he is quite busy, but what are you going to try to propose to him? I'm the dock master so I know all the ships and their captains. But what brought you to this ship in particular?" The man said as he poured two teas.

He sits down and smiles as he leans back in the chair. "One of the Royal Guard told me about this ship. Described it as belonging to an organization that assisted various governments with shadow techniques. When I was told honestly it barely mattered to me but decided to keep the information anyway."

He reaches into his inner pocket and pulls forth a bill fold and opens it showing that it is merely a case for his papers showing his dispensation to conduct alchemical experiments in his lab no matter the subject of those experiments. Setting it on the table he gives a grin. "As you can see Her Majesty feels my work is

rather valuable. Recently though I have been working on several new high potency toxins as well as anti toxins. There are several bio-enhancement serums as well. But all of this work has had a full battery of laboratory experimentation. I came here hoping to discuss allowing me to temporarily join the crew in exchange for using my serums and testing their full capabilities in a real world setting."

Thomas shut the door behind him. "Ara, that was a one time thing. I'm not doing this again." Arabella came back into the front room. "First off," She began putting the handcuffs and a 6mm revolver into her bag, "it was a two time thing. and second off, " She went on, going into the kitchen to get a knife. "What are you doing in there?" Thomas stood there, watching her go through his flat. "AND SECOND OFF!" she raised her voice, "what?" He said. "don't flatter yourself, babe." she whispered in his ear and plopped down into a comfy chair with a bottle of whiskey. "Wait..I know what this is about." He said. "Oh, how cute, you think you've figured me out." She commented sarcastically. "You were pressganged, again. " Ara drew her gun. "Don't get so touchy about it, love." He said. She holstered the gun. "Let's talk about something different." Arabella took a swing of whiskey. "Like how you're still wearing my shirt?"

"Or! Like how you ran away like a little boy today. Even stupid cops don't do that." She mocked. Dunning frowned. "Why are you here." Ara's face darkened when he asked. "My mother is back in Boston and the man I left behind is dead." She took a big swing of whiskey, her head flying back, letting her blonde, wavy hair fall behind the chair. "you were with a man? What age are we talking here?" The sky captain grabbed a chair and sat back, rubbing his chin. "Boy, whatever." Ara looked down at the floor before taking a locket out of her bag. "Do you want to talk about it?" Dunning asked . "not with you, no." She replied. "I just need a place to sleep for two days and as pathetic as this sounds, your flat is the only place I have left in this town." Ara stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the street. She took another swig of whiskey. "I'll sleep anywhere in the flat. Just don't be a jerk and and resist turning me in tonight?" she looked back at him. He could tell she was serious this time. "I'd tell you to get in the bed," He joked, trying to lighten the mood, "But I don't think you're in the mood." Arabella tried not to grin but couldn't help it. "what am I to you, exactly?" she asked, crossing her arms and turning to face him. Thomas chuckled. "A pain in my a**."

"Forget what you hear. Those are people's jobs on the line" Adolphus says while taking the paperwork "This won't mean much to him...." Adolphus sipped his tea "There was one time when Felix cussed out an admiral for the royal navy. Rank, papers, and hear say mean nothing to him, he either sees value in you or he leaves room for you to prove him wrong."

Phoebe opened the hatch to go outside, the rain pelted her raincoat as she walked down to the dock. The rain was really picking up as she put on her beret. She walked down the pier and waved to Adolphus as she walked past the dockhouse. She was headed off to the flat to gather somethings for Felix while he was indisposed with Cynthia. Adolphus waved at the girl and smiled. "She is a sweet thing, But you best be careful around Capt. Felix. He...is ....well something else"

Wil chuckles and shakes his head as he holds out his hand for the papers. He could not risk loosing those. He was doubtful another set would or could be produced. "My concern is not whether he feels I am of value. Nor is it my concern if he thinks of me at all. I merely came here because my serums have reached a point where field testing is required. To do that I needed to find a ship with a crew I could trust to survive an encounter long enough to report the effects of what was used."

He leans back in his chair and smiles. From an inner pocket he pulls out his pipe and holds it with a questioning look for a moment. "I merely wish to travel with this ship long enough to test the serums properly. Then I will have to return to London and begin producing the successful ones in enough quantity to satisfy my various clients. Her Majesty values my work enough to allow me safe haven and immunity for my less legal experiments. Other nations value it enough to pay the absurd amounts I demand for my work."

The man chuckled a little "We will let Felix decide what will happen, Cause I know in a few days there will be a blockade on the city" Handing Wilhelm a key "Make yourself comfy it will be a long night" The old man went inside at this.

Later theat morning around 0445 Felix woke up and gave Cynthia a kiss on the cheek. He slipped off the dock and into town without anyone noticing he was off to the police station.

Wil merely chuckled. "If you don't mind I will just leave a note with yourself as well as my card. I have a lovely home less then a mile from here and see no reason to deny myself the comfort of my own bed and hot tea.I'd ssay a hot meal but if I know my man he'll have either eaten my meal or just given it to some urchin more likely."

He laughs and pulls a sealed letter only adressed to 'Captain' as well as one of his business cards. He hands them to the old man. With that he made his way back to his carriage, using the rod to deflate the seals before opening it and starts his way home.

Thomas Dunning awoke at about six O'clock in the morning to a strong scent. It took his ol'factory senses a few seconds to wake up before he shot out of bed and ran to the kitchen where the tips of orange flames were dancing in the sink. He cursed as he used rushed to turn the water on. "Bella!" He called, once the flames were defeated. "Bella!" No response. He carefully picked up the the burnt, wet paper and placed in on the table. He didn't need to figure out what paper it was.What else could it be if not the warrant for the arrest of Arabella Rose Porter. Of course, Scotland yard had copies of it but despite Thomas' knowledge of this, He couldn't help but feel a sharp kick of dissapointment in his stomache. That's when his brain clicked on. "Wait," He sat still for a moment as if listening for a sign that she was still in the flat. But that's not what Thomas was thinking about. He practically knocked down a kitchen chair on his way to the front room. When he reached the coat rack, he checked his jacket quite thoroughly. Gone. The only onther place he would put it was in the secret compartment in his desk. He then spent the next forty five minutes searching high and low before giving up and leaving for work. He should have seen it coming.

She took the badge.

(Collectively written by Wilhelm, Ara, and Alex) "Sterling, are you familiar with the green fairy?" bell asked while going through the files for the case. "actually i am. why? is it important?"

"Yes, and i would like you to go get me some." Sterling returned with a bottle of absinthe in hand. "Are you coming to the party tonight?" "What party?" he shuffled through the papers and glanced back at Sterling. "For my promotion. A dinner party. I think felix is going. It is at the Rejected Gear." he paused. "You've been working too long you need a break." He took the papers out from underneath Bell. "no such thing as too much work. Creative juices flowing, stimulating problems. This is what I live for." Bell took the absinthe and drank it straight from the bottle. "You are supposed to water it down first."Sterling said as Bell smiled. He returned to the flat and walked up to the door to find that somebody had either left the candles lit or

somebody was in the flat. he opened the door to see what appeared to be a young woman, but Bell (having designed the particular synthetic skin) noticed immediately that it was actually an automaton. but not just any, this one was spectacularly detailed and reacted at least a full two seconds faster then most. "Oh you sexy beautiful piece of clockwork. Im going to rip you apart."

Felix approached the flat as the sun was staring to rise. Bell wasn't in jail so that was some relief for him. As felix walked up the stairs to their suite he heard giggling and some laughing. That sounds like a woman.....but Bell doesn't normally have women over. Felix opened the door and saw Phoebe sprawled out on the table, her skull open and tools all over the table. Her synthetic skin was spread open at its hidden seams. "BELL!!!!!!!!" Felix yelled as Bell came out of his room with some tools and notebook. "ARE YOU HAVING MENTAL SEX WITH MY ROBOT!!!" Felix yelled as Bell shrugged "DAMNIT BELL!!!!!" Felix chucked the vase on the table next to him at Bell. Bell ducked down to barely miss the vase. "Felix its ok..." Phoebe said from the table. "No its not! You are a pinnicale of technology and I've had to do homemade repairs once....I dont want to have to do it again."

Ara observed the badge as she walked aimlessly through the streets of London. Jabber was high in her bag after a delicious dinner of eukalyptus leaves. she heard yelling and the sound of something shattering in the flat nearby. "Should I call the police?" She laughed to herself. "oh wait.." She thought sarcastically, tossing the badge up in the air and catching it. "Way to rub it in, love." Thomas said, his revolver pressing lightly into the back of her head. She turned around to face him, unphased by what used to be a big surprise. "Thomas, you're not going to shoot." She said wrapping her hand around the gun and pushing it down. He rolled his eyes. "That's what I was just thinking," she said before a sharp click reached both of their ears. Thomas let out a sigh of failure. Ara then used the inner side of her wrist to knock the gun out of his hands beforehitting him unconscious. She then dragged him to the nearest lamp post.

Thomas opened his eyes slowly to the sight of Ara's face. "You know, i would sometimes enjoy waking up like this but right now, you are the last person I want to see." Ara giggled and sat down next to him. He tried to stand but was pulled back by the hand cuff around his wrist. "It barely fit but I knew it would because Dominique was cuffed to a pole about this thick." She smiled. As people walked by, they stared. Arabella held up Thomas badge. "It's alright, we're just doing some training." She lied as she relaxed on the the cobblestone.

**The little girl smiled as she watched her mother painting. Her mother smiled back and began singing. "Cherry ripe, cherry ripe. Ripe I cry. Fools and fair ones come and buy," the woman's beautiful alto voice rang out. And then the little girl began to stomp the beat on the floor with her foot. Boom, Boom, BOOM! Her head began to ache...boom, boom, BOOM!** Copperpotts opened her eyes and felt the throbbing of her left temple. This was worse than the time she had tried bathtub gin in Orleans. Squinting to try and lessen the light didn't help at all. "Here's some water," she heard Kingston say. She felt his hand on her back as she sat up. She managed to find the glass and start to focus on the two shadows hovering over her. The boys were there, as they always were. After she finished the water, she said," I need to get up and dressed. There is not time to waste." And before either of her animatronic friends could protest, she was up and at the armoire. Turning to look at Milton and Kingston, she placed her metallic hand on her hip. " Well, are you going to give a lady some privacy or am I going to have to charge for the show? " K smiled but his twin quickly scurried him out the room. Copperpotts steadied herself as she dressed, things were still a bit unclear. Out in the hallway of the Alicia Grey, Milton mumbled, " I have never understood her lack of logic sometimes." Kingston shrugged and then began to whistle.

::Shoulders straight, constantly turning her head to look behind her as she walks quickly down the street. The three-inch heels of her tapestry, lace-up boots make a frightening echo as they hit the cobblestone in the quiet of the dawning day. Going past the dock, her head turned behind her again, and that was her mistake. Passing a darkened alley, a strong hand grabs her harshly, an elegant male hand clamping over her mouth as she's dragged into the inky blackness. The halo of bonde hair is the only thing she can see, her green eyes widened with fear as she struggled violently to get free from her oppessor, her fingernails scratching into his flesh.::

Stop that, ::he growled low into her ear, his teeth biting into the flesh of her left lobe painfully.:: I told you ... just bear it until you feel the pleasure from it! ::Her nails ripped into his forearm again, and he released her just enough to shove her back into the wall, a whoosh of air being stolen from her lungs as the pain seared her being:: I'll just have to show you, no? ::His hand moved back, fist tightened as it arcs across the darkness to connect with her temple sending a jarring flash of excutiating pain to blind her momentarily and causing her to stop struggling in order to keep conscious:: ::With her last bit of clariity, her hands fumble across the wall in search of something to use as a weapon. Hand pausing on the noble's cane discarded against the wall, she used her last remaining strength to swipe it through the air, landing the ivory handle solidly across the back of his skull. As he slumps to the ground, she runs, screaming toward the dock, falling onto a gangplank rising up to an airship:: PLEASE, ::she screamed out:: HELP ME! ::A moment later, she fell into blissful darkness:::

Arabella finally stood up and placed the key next to Dunning. "Find a way to get out." She said before kissing him quickly and walking off. "Where are you going?" He asked. "The docks,” she said. I need to see something. She then turned around to face him. “I just-,”

“Told me your location?” Dunning gave a slow smile as she held back a laugh and turned to walk away. “Bella,” He called one more time. She rolled her eyes and whirled around one more time. He was going to offer his condolences for the death of Leander, but instead said, “I’ll see you in the sky.” The first mate giggled and walked away with the captain’s badge and extra pairs of handcuffs. The sun was rising. Jack was up and out when the lady had come to the ship completely nerve wracked. Felix had already left for the police station but it was stilll dark out. he took an hour or two to calm her down and maker her some breakfast He took her to the dock masters house and brewed a pot of tea with her. "So what happened, you are safe right now." the shirtless giant said.

Meanwhile in America: Captain Styles was looking over his orders. Prison Ship Alcatraz, three ships merged into one. The american replacement for the Quad A Airsylum, and with the A.P.T. mk. II onboard too. He sighed as he set the papers down. After the Bartholomew incident he wanted to quite, well 'retire'. The president had asked him to run this prison. He had taken this job as his last tour. Just so long as he didn't run into Felix in the process. Back in the flat: Felix had gathered up some old newspaper clippings and was glancing over them as he watched Bell mess with Phoebe. He noticed the headline "Captain Styles: Hero of the Country". The lies in that made Felix sick. The article went on about how Captain styles had formulated an elaborate plan and executed it as most of his crew either abandoned him or was dead. It went on about the valor shown. That never happened,

political gain. That's all that ever was. I stopped him from ruining everything. That day was a rough one for Felix. Captain Styles was to test the American Prototype Timemachine. a.k.a. A.P.T., the test was a town called Hopeville. It was a small port town in South Carolina, small airships usually stopped there from time to time. The test was to slaughter the town and use the A.P.T. to undo the damage. The ghost's would never allow this, so they sent Felix to infiltrate and sabotage the A.P.T. Felix had... Felix was awoken form his memory by Phoebe yelling ouch, "Damnit Bell! Don't break my robot" Felix said as he put the article down.

The rifles fell and Alicia noticed the were in a circle around her. She quickly fixed her beret as she jumped back to dodge one almost landing on her. Why is this place trying to attack me?? Three shadowy figures fell from the sky, they splatteres like liquid when they landed. In a blink of an eye the blobs where becoming humanoid shapes and reaching for the rifles. Specs of darkness were filling the air as everything dimmed. "Damnit!!!! Eat this!!!" Alicia yelled as she started

firing on them while running backwards.

The bullets hit and the shadowlings just absorbed them. "DAMNIT" She yelled as she threw the rifle and started to run from them The graveyard of ghosts is a tricky place and Alicia would have a lot to learn to survive there. And the fact that she was never a ghost to begin with made everything that much more difficult.

(Written by Tim Harrison)

It was the middle of the night, Stateside in a remote location off the east coast; two men are diligently working in a large lab. The first man, in his late 40’s was just over 6ft tall with a very slender build. His black hair was parted down the middle and was accompanied by a mustache of the same color. Dressed in a white shirt with black coat at pants, he was standing by, what appears to be a large AC generator and is preparing it for something. The second man, in his late 20’s, was about 5 ft 10 inches tall with an athletic build. Hair parted to the side with about a day’s worth of stubble, he wore a white shirt with the sleeves pushed to his elbows, khakis canvas pants with black suspenders and engineering boots. Around his waist he wore a black belt, about 3 inches wide. On it was a black leather holster with copper supports which enclosed a strange looking, roughly built weapon with two tube like structures at the top. From the handle of the weapon was a group of wires with 4 plugs that were inserted in to small, mahogany box roughly 5inches long and 3 inches tall. The box had copper edges, a green glowing window on the front and an orange glowing tube on the side similar to those on the weapon. From the box, there was a group of cables that ran up his back, under the suspender on his left should, through a leather arm garter and down to what looked like come kind of gauge on his left hand. He was running around frantically doing some late minute checks on various pieces of equipment. He then grabs a strange piece of equipment off of a table and straps it to his left forearm. Finally slowing down, he removes a half smoked cigar from the corner of his mouth and turns to the other man.

“How are things looking with the generator, old man?” he said. In a thick, Serbian accent the man replied calmly, “The preparations are almost complete. I have routed the town’s power to the coils in the lab and I believe we are just about ready to commence with the experiment. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” The younger man stopped and turned to him, “Nik, I’m pretty damned sure. We have come all this way and put forth all the effort, I not going postpone the experiment due to a slight amount of skepticism.” He heads to the table where the device he put on earlier once sat, unbuckled the strap on the holster that was around his thigh, took the gun belt off and sat it on the table. From the chair he grabbed a black lapelled, double breasted pinstriped vest and began to put it on.

“What I mean, Timothy, is that you don’t have to be the one to do this. I know you are quite proud, but wouldn’t it be a bit safer to test this on something less…animate?” Buttoning the last button on the vest and grabbing an emerald green tie off the table, Timothy looks up. “You’re right it would be safer, but also far less fun, wouldn’t you say?” He replied with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. “Fun? Reckless and stupi..” Innovative, Nikola. I prefer innovative” Timothy interrupted with a wink. “It’s a risk verses rewards argument, my good friend. You need to be willing to risk a bit for great advances in science.” Finishing with the tie, he tucks it in to his vest and carefully puts the gun belt back on, carefully moving, trying not to exceed the amount of slack left on the cable still attached to his arm. “You are a grown man, I cannot stop you…..but let me ask you this.” “Go on” Timothy said through the cigar in his mouth. “First off, why are you getting all dressed up and second, what are you going to need that infernal weapon for?” Walking to another table, he grabs a leather top hat with a pair of silver goggles, capped in brass with a pair of copper tubing on each side, around the band and puts it on his head and replies, “First off, as confident as I am in my equipment, this very well could be my last hurrah, and if that is to be the case, I’m going down in style” Grabbing a grey hounds tooth topcoat off the chair, “Second, you know damned well that after the…incident….with Edison’s goons at the last lab, I don’t like to be caught off guard. Personally, I think you’re just jealous the resonator and reactor, not only were my ideas, but actually work” he said as he put the jacket on. “Jealous? No. While I do commend you on your ingenuous design of the reactor, the amount you wear that thing around your waste, I wouldn’t be surprised if you go sterile within a week, if in case you haven’t already” Nikola turned showing the smirk on his face. “Resonating anti-matter particles to amplify the already immense power from the reactor core itself, I see quite unnecessary. Besides, if I recall, it didn’t do much good anyway”

“You aren’t going to let me live that down are you? So I didn’t know how much power I had, the first few minutes of the..incident..were well in our favor.” Tim pushes up his sleeve on his coat to re-expose the device and begins entering some data. “Alright, the coordinates are entered and we are good for the 3 meter jump. I think I’m ready for the leads from the coils.” He said as he flipped a toggle switch on the pod on his hand, the green glow from the reactor, fading to black. “They WERE well in our favor, till your reactor core was drained and we were, shall you say, up the creek without a paddle.” Walks over to Timothy with two large cables with alligator clips on the end. “Now, when I attach these to the molecular dematerialization matrix, do not move as they are holding some residual current.” “Yes, I know. I did help you design the interface” Tim replied “I’d rather not fry myself before the actual experiment. For the reactor, how was I supposed to know how much power the new disruptor used,

let alone the rate of power conversion I’d achieve with aetheric extraction. It was a crap shoot. At least on the new revision, I’ve got the power control module.” Raising his left hand “So I know for next time, how much power I have left.” Pausing for a moment in thought, “Alright Nik, I think we are set. Coordinates are set for the 3 meter jump, leads are secure…yeah, we are good to..” Timothy is interrupted by Nikola’s cat awaking from its nap in the corner. “Would you care to grab your cat? The last thing I need right now is to rematerialize with a damned feline in the middle of my calf” Nikola smiles, “Yes, I suppose that would be rather inconvenient wouldn’t it.” Nikola grabs his cat, turns to Timothy and says “Well, are you ready?” “As ready as I’ll ever be Nik, throw the switch on my mark.” He pauses, bites the cigar in the corner of his mouth and shakes Nikola’s hand. “Well Mr Tesla, if this goes south, it has been a great pleasure” “Good luck to you, Mr. Harrison” as he walks to the breaker. Timothy smiles, “Alright Nik, 3…….2…….1…..MARK!” Nikola throws the main switch, the lights in the town below fade to faint glow and the coils charge the air with static electricity while emitting large volumes of high current electricity in to the leads attached to the device on Timothy’s arm. The air around Timothy starts to swirl, crackle, and spark and the room is filled with a loud noise, the noise rising in pitch at a moderate rate. Timothy yells to Nikola over the noise “Well this sure is unexpected; I wonder what in the hell will happen at the cascade?” Calmly in his thick accent, he yells back, “This I do not know” he smiles and pets the cat in his arms “Let us wait and find out”

The air crackling with ever greater intensity, the moment the sound reaches a frequency almost unbearable, the room fills with a blinding flash and a deafening crack. The light implodes on to Timothy’s location and he’s gone. All that is left is a faint plume of smoke where the young man once stood.

Adjusting to the now, complete silence, Nikola pauses for a moment, turned to the coordinates 3 meters where Timothy once stood, rubbing his chin with his hand, “Well……I told him we should have tested it first..” Tesla, cat in hand, switched the main power off for the lab and turned in for the night.

About 0800, the air is brisk still slightly damp from the night’s rain and in a small ally, the air begins to crackle and swirl and in blinding light, even in the light of the morning sun, with a loud crack, Tim appears out of thin air. Struggling to keep his balance and a bit incoherent, he places his hand on the ally wall. Emanating from his body is a mild haze similar to the smoke left in his place at his old friend’s lab. After a few more moments and finally regaining coherence, it finally clicks in his mind that he is leaning on a cold brick wall, knowing his coordinates should have put him nowhere near a wall, let alone a brick one. The severed leads from the tesla coils wave in the air as he goes to rub his eyes.

“Son of a bitch…where the hell are my gog…oh..hat. That’s a great place for them. So where the hell am I? The town? Why the hell is the sun up? Damn, it’s a brisk morning.” Grabbing a pair of black leather gauntlets with a 3-geared insignia on the back from the pocket of his coat, he puts them on and starts to make his way out of the ally when he is suddenly stopped by a sharp tug on the bottom of his coat. Turning to see what the issue is, he sees the corner of the coat has rematerialized in the brick wall itself.

“Great…..” With a sigh, he flips a switch on the control module located on the back of his left hand. The needle on the gauge, once resting at zero, jump 3 located in a small green area to the right of its previous position. The reactor next to his holster jumps to life with a green glow from core and orange from the anti-matter particle resonator on the side. Looking back to check for the glow under his coat, he pulls the strange weapon from its home on his hip and flips a double toggle switch on the side. With a high pitch wine, the center chamber begins streaming plasma like lighting from the center core and the two resonators glow like the on aetheric extraction reactor. Looking at the tail of his coat again with his at his side he lets out another long sigh. Raising the weapon in front of his face, he pulls back slide on the back of the weapon and the capacitance chamber in front of the center of the weapon ascends to a bright green glow accompanied by the noise of the unit charging. With another long sigh and a dip of his head, he quickly points the tip of the weapon at the point where coat meets the wall and pulls the trigger. For the brief moment of the trigger pull, the tip glows bright white releasing a powerful stream of white, blues, and purples in the form of focused light and plasma obliterating a good portion of the wall and the tail of the coat. “I hope that wasn’t load bearing…” He turns and heads toward the mouth of the ally pushing his coat out of the way, disarms and powers down the weapon, places it back in the holster and flips the switch on his hand. The reactor

fades to black as the needle on his hand swings back to zero. Mid stride, with another long sigh, “I really liked this coat...”

Exiting the dust filled ally, a shipyard and the city are now in perfect few. Tim turns to take in his surround to finally get his bearings and is stopped in shock, “……you have got to be freaking kidding me…..” To his astonishment, there over the top of the building, was Big Ben. He was in London, and to his back, The Airship Alicia Grey.

“How the hell did I end up in London? 3 meter jump, 3 damned meters… Nik is probably standing there with that damn cat just thinking, “I told you so”. Well you were right old man, but this will make one hell of a story.” Still a feeling a bit wonky from the teleportation, Timothy turns to see a small building with an older gentleman inside. Upon reaching the door, he knocks and the older man answers. “Excuse me, I apologize for bothering you at such an earlier hour but…” Struggling to search his mind for a false back story, “I just dropped in to the area and could use a job.” The old man smiles “I think I can help you out. Would you care for some morning tea” “I’d love some, thank you.” Taking the now nub of a cigar from his mouth and rubbing it out in the dirt, he begins to enter the building, “Oh, by the way, I’m Timothy R Harrison…Tim. My name is Tim” The old man smiles and replies, “Adolphus”.

The next morning early in the day Wilhelm drove back to the same parking space he had used before. Stepping out of the auto he again activated the rod to inflate the seals. One of these days he would have to find a seal for the seams that didn't require the blasted rod. He'd lost three in the past month alone! Pulling a purpleheart cane from the special rack on the ceiling of the auto he checked it's two mechanisms to insure they were free. The irradiated sword blade was set to draw with ease and the spray nozzles at the tip of the cane were clear of gunk as well. The vials secured in the wood were filled with hydrofluoric acid. If the need came up he could melt his way through dozens of people with a simple press on the hidden trigger and sweeping the tip in a broad arc. He smiled as he made his way back towards the same structure he'd seen Adolphus enter the day before. He noticed another man already talking with the old man but continued advancing. If he was lucky perhaps it was the mysterious captain he was searching for.

“How would you like your tea?” Adolphus asked Tim. “Straight up is fine, thank you.” He replied. At that moment, he noticed a man with a cane leaving an auto carriage and heading towards the building.

"Hail good men. Is the Captain about this morning or will I be reduced to another day of waiting and hoping to hear from him?" Wil said with a smile as friendly as the smile on his face as he continued his limping walk towards the building.

Still somewhat paranoid with the means of his arrival at the shipyards, Tim did the best that he could at concealing his concern. Pulling his sleeve down, trying to hide the equipment on his arm, he notices the two leads dangling left over from the power interface at Tesla’s lab. “Aw, hell..” he whispered under his breath as he did the best that he could to tuck them in to his sleeve. “What was that?” Adolphus asked, “And here

is your tea” “Oh nothing, it’s just that..I…..hmm, oh..” remembering the missing corner of his coat, he motions to it with his hand, “I seemed to have…torn my coat. I really like this coat……” Taking the tea, “Thank you, this will prove quite nice after being in the brisk air” Looking at the missing corner of the jacket and noticing that the fabric was clearly scorched, Adolphus raises a brow and replies, “That is quite the…tear…you have there. Please excuse, if you would, while I tend to this gentleman approaching” Letting Adolphus through and trying to stay out of sight, Timothy backs himself into a corner as best as he can.

Adolphus approached Wil "The captain is out but you are welcome to come in. He shouldn't be gone too much longer." The two men entered the dock house, and adolphus looked ant Tim's coat. "So what do want with the Grey and the Sky captain?" He asked as he sat at the table with the two gentlemen.

Wearily looking at the two gentlemen trying to figure out the best way to go forth, Tim leans back on the wall, moving his hand to the back of his head and giving it a good scratch, “Well……I, unfortunately, have found myself in the position of needing the means to produce some sort of income…without having too many questions asked…..if that is alright for now.” It was then, that he finally remembered where he has misplaced his billfold back at the lab. “Damn, that would have been useful..” Tim whispered to himself.

Wil makes his way in with Adolphus and settles himself into a chair. He listens to the mans answers and shrugs himself. "You know my reasons. A crew with diplomatic immunity for the testing of my work. And I could use some time away from my lab." He laughs easily and pulls a long stemmed pipe from his coat and lights it absent mindedly.

The tea and breakfast with Jack calmed her nerves slightly, but it was obvious Annabelle was still quite out of sorts. Usually distrusting of strangers, she poured out the story of her alley experience, keeping the prior events to herself. Chewing on her bottom lip, she wasn't certain what was going to become of her now. She could never return home. Her father's punishment would surely be more severe than anything she had experienced before. What was worse ... she didn't even know the extent of inguries she had left Nigel with as he lay in the alley after she ran. She was now a stranger in a strange land ... alone, frightened, and unsure. But something else began to grow inside her. Excitement. Excitement of the unknown. "Thank you for your kindness," she said to Jack as she nervously touched the jaggedly ripped flesh of her ear lobe, the bite mark still fresh and stinging. "But I don't deserve it. I think I may have killed him."

**Nine months ago** Copperpotts pulled her mechanics cap down and the collar of her coat up. She was trying to understand how the name Big Coal made its way to the lips of the naval officers running tests. She gleaned what she could while continuing to work on the navigation system of the miniature submersible. The sailors had taken to calling them aqua pods. The officers chatted about some mysterious representatives showing up with an admiral. And why would Big Coal be interested in knowing about the pods? How did they even know about them? She smiled at herself, " Silly girl, they have a mole in the United States Navy...or maybe even the government. " The salt and the sand gave the wind that distinct feel that you could find only at the docks. So many strings to follow and they all seem to go back to Big Coal. But she know had a starting place. It seems their headquarters was being moved to London. M.K. took a deep breath as she began to walk. The clouds were rolling in as a storm approached. "Excellent, rain! It will help me think." She continued down the street towards her latest resting place. She no longer had homes so much as places she passed through. There was a slight pain in her stomach when she thought of that. A fleeting glimpse of loneliness. Copperpotts focused on London and her plan to get there. Also, finding a means to locate a very dangerous man with important information. Darkmoon already sounded foreboding. If only she could find a sky captain, then she could have more of a plan. But she was nothing if not resourceful. The rain was falling softly by the time she got to the stairs. A two flight walk-up.. And there it was a the bottom. A small wrapped brown box with the name 'Copperpotts' scratched on the side. She froze. There were so many people out to harm M.K., out to harm Anna. The storm had driven everyone inside and she dared to open the package. Inside was a rather large bolt of a metal she could not readily recognize and a small piece of paper: A piece of the puzzle? A friend in England She quickly went inside. It was time to leave Boston. She would head down to New York and attend to some business there. Copperpotts was someone who liked knowing exactly who her friends were.

The Dockhouse:

Adolphus sat there and lit his pipe, "Hmmmmmm it sounds like you are both looking for the same thing" He chuckled as he tamped the pipe as the someke slowly rose from the bowl. Jack just chuckled as Annabelle told her story, a knock on the back door cut him off. It was a young airmarshall, who looked scared out of his mind as he handed the letter to Jack. "Don't worry about the consequences the law has a blind eye sometimes and he picked up a crate from under the cabinets. The Flat: "Bell you really need to be careful with her, there is only one of her!!!" Felix said while looking through the mail, "You know you have to show up at Sterling's party tonight." Bell Sighed at hearing this. "I know going out to pointless social events are below you but, He has saved us both countless times." "Fine. If I must" Bell said as Phoebe giggled a bit. The Phantom's hidden location: "We need a banshee." The middle aged man said, "If you wish it o it shall be" older lady said in response, as a servant ran off to contact the assassin. Cynthia's shop: Cynthia finished putting the steam cycles together. She began to compose a letter to Felix in her head as she began to pack her things. She had to hunt some one down, an old friend. One who won't question what she really hid. Barcelona, Spain:

Isabella sat there and thought over her advisary. He has a lot to learn, she chuckled as she bathed herself in her money and gold.

*Wil looks confused for a moment then just shrugs and adds another pinch of tobacco to his pipe.* I'll be honest I'm not sure how his needing a job and my needing to test new formulas are the same thing but that isn't my concern. As long as I can get a spot on board and the chance to test them. *he smiles and puffs happily on the end of the long stem of his pipe*

Still leaning on the wall, Tim tips his hat up “Well, good sir, though our initial goal may differ, I believe our mutual wanting to work is quite similar. Being a fellow man of science, I wouldn't want to inhibit your progress. *Turning to Adolphus* If possible, I wouldn't mind a place to do some work as well, and I could provide some in turn. Well, work…my work.....in addition to earning my keep.”

Ara casually walked up to the dock house and plopped herself outside. She tickled Jabber to which he responded by flapping his ears back and forth quite quickly. When she stopped tickling, his eyes narrowed. "What? My fingers got tired." She laughed as he plopped into her lap. "Hey, why don't you slip in there and get some provisions?" she motioned her head towards the door of the dock house. Jabber grunted. "Oh come now." She said. "I don't plan to stay on that ship." Jabber gave a few grunts but crawled off of Ara's lap and towards the door, pushing it ever so slightly and crawling in.

::watching Jack pick up the crates, Annabelle was able to bring herself under control enough to square her shoulders and stop her hysteria. Moving back into the shadows, she continued to watch, curiosity getting the better of her.:: He is a noble. If I did kill him, the law will never stop until they find me.

Adolphus just looked at the two men "You do know that there will be much hard work and much danger. Your lives on the line at any given moment." He chuckled while sipping on some tea. He watched the little koala lumber on by the back of the room and just smiled. Jack looked at Anna and said "I am the law, so don't fret too much." He chuckled and pried open the box and pulled out a metal sphere. He set it on the table it had two handles on either side and a seam down the middle. A small round handle was on top of the sphere and he began to wind it. The sound of gears winding filled the room. Jack's eyes lit up a little as he watched the little gray furball waddle past him into the pantry. He went back to winding the gear, the ball looked quite small in his giant hands but compared to Anna it was about the size of a watermelon. Jack held it up above his head and pulled the trigger on the handle, the ball popped apart and the gyros popped up and started to pull him up a bit. He let go of the trigger and the blades stopped. "Good, still in working order." He said while folding it up and putting it back

in the box and pulling out the blueprints in the box. "So do you have a name?" He asked as he looked directly at her.

::all of Anna's troubles seemed to disappear as she gazed at the mystical contraption before her. Leaning forward, she studied it intently:: What is this? A weapon of some sort? ::seeing him put into the box, she turned her sights to the blueprints:: And what was that varmint that scurried into the pantry. ::Her last question fades as she peers over Jack's shoulder to try and read the blueprints.::

Hard work is of little concern. Nor is danger an issue. I regularly share my lab with serial murderers and sociopaths of the worst order. I see no concern to fret over the dangers on board a ship of those who are experts at dealing with such. As I said, my intent is merely to test some new solutions. Anything deemed successful enough may even find a case of it accidently left aboard your ship when I depart. *he grins widely and continues smoking his pipe, the smoke getting thicker with each puff*

Listening to the gentlemen respond to Adolphus, Tim gets distracted when he notices a grey ball of hair crawling across the back floor. Raising an eyebrow, he notices that the conversation has stopped and the two other men in the room are focused on him “Oh, hah” he said smiling “My apologies. Hard work is definitely not an issue. The work in my lab back home would often consume me for days and with some of the testing equipment, there was quite a lot of physical labor involved. As for the danger aspect you've mentioned. Well, aside from my research, there have been occasions where I have had to come up with the means to protect my work along with myself and my partner “. With the thought of the lab back home and his good friend Nikola, he momentarily forgot where he was, what had recently transpired, and what he has been trying to protect. Pushing his hat up a little further on his head, he brushes aside his coat and leans back putting his hands in his pocket with a sense relaxation on his face that he hadn't had since before he began preparing for the experiment hours before. Unfortunately, this had only lasted for a few moments until he had realized that when he put his hands in his pockets, he had slightly exposed the MK2 Tesla plasma capacitance disruptor holstered on his right leg and had also inadvertently hit the power switch to the a.e.r (aetheric extraction reactor) that resided on the hidden power control module on his left hand causing a green glow to appear from beneath his jacket . The warmth from the reactor on the back of his gun belt, though at first soothing, finally made Tim realize what he had inadvertently done. He tried quickly to cover the side arm and switch over the reactor before the two gentlemen had noticed, but unfortunately it was too late.

Jabber grabbed some tea bags and began waddle back to the door of the dock house. He smiled at Tim as he waddled past. Then, he noticed a green light glowing. Jabber looked to the door. Ara could wait, he thought as he sat and watched the men talk, feeling quite hypnotized by the green light. He also felt quite invisible.

Finally getting the a.e.r switched off, the koala loses is trance and he and a shocked Tim locked eyes. Tim thinking to himself and quickly looking up at the two gentlemen in the room, see them also looking at the koala in the middle of them, hoping that their attention had only been fixed on him. Seconds seemed to turn to minutes as he waited for a reaction from the others in the room, aside from the grey fur ball on the floor. He stared at the koala, as the koala starred back, twitching its nose and scratching the back of his ear with paw. Waiting for something to happen, Tim, trying to stay calm thinking about what could be at stake if the gentlemen, in fact, did see the glow from his prototype reactor not knowing what they would ask, what they would do, if he would be detained. If any single piece of the technology he had on him was to be found in the wrong hands, the devastation it could cause, would weigh forever on his mind.

Jabber, after a few moments of awkward silence smiled and crawled up to Harrison. His eyes narrowed and his ear flapped back and forth a few times. He then pulled a half eaten eucalyptus leaf out of his mouth and looked up at the man with the "glowing jacket". Jabber's mind clicked on with a rather mischievous idea. He gave a long loud cry and latched onto the man's leg before attempting to crawl up. Arabella heard the loud noise and barged into the room.

Caught off guard by such a loud noise coming from a tiny creature, Tim jumped as the koala latched on to his leg “Son of bit……” he began to yell as a young woman barged in through the door.

Ara dove at the koala and pulled him off but since koalas latch on with their claws, Jabber left big scratches on his leg. "I'm so sorry!" Ara said as the furry devil crawled into her bag and stared at him from a distance with narrowed eyes. Ara stood there, observing the room. Her blue eyes flashed from person to person.

Being knocked back in to the wall as the young woman dove at the koala on his leg, Tim clenched his jaw and winced as the bear was torn off of his leg. Stiff and wide eyed, he reached his hand through the slightly bloody hole in his pants and pulled a silver dual cigar case out of his now partially exposed boot. Shaking it, and smiling hearing the soft thud, he opened it and pulled out the last of his precut cigars. Pulling out a box of matches, he lit the cigar and let out a soft whimper. Looking at the attractive, blue eyed woman harboring his assailant, he extends his hand and softly says “Tim, It’s been a freakin pleasure. Next time you throw me in to a wall, I hope it’s under more pleasant circumstances.” He said as mild smirk escaped through his stiff face, fighting the pain. “Who is your sharp , clawed friend here?”

Arabella laughed and shook the hand before kneeling down next to him. "This is my partner, Jabber. He's not always like this. And i agree, although I'm not sure what sort of good circumstance can come out of me pushing you into a wall, sir, I do hope it is a good one." The koala grunted. "Do you need help?" She asked him pulling a bandage out of her bag. "I always have one handy in case, well, in case of times like these."

The koala hissed. Ara's eyes widened. "Since when do you randomly hiss at people?" Jabber sunk deep into her bag and munched on a eucalyptus leaf.

Tipping his hat to the koala “I don’t think I can say it’s been a pleasure, but hello there” Wincing while picking up his torn pant leg to further exam the wound, Tim took a pull from his cigar and replied to Ara “A bandage might actually do some good at the moment. Thank you” Going over the events that have taken place over the last hour or so, he tilted his topped up on his head and said with a chuckle “It’s just been one of those days. As for the wall, it’s just my spunky sense of humor” Winking, he watched as Ara began to bandage the wound, grinding his teeth and she continued.

The koala narrowed it's eyes further and sunk back into her bag."Sorry, there's no painless way to do it unless you want to keep bleeding" she replied to his facial expression. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, her eyes focused hard on the wound. It could have been deeper depending on Jabber's mood but Ara wouldn't bother asking him what he thought ticked off the violent marsupial. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tim, was it?" She used her teeth to cut the bandage which stretched in her mouth and gave a quick but loud tear as if it was crying in pain when it split. She put the rest of the roll in her bag.

Watching as the disgruntled animal sunk in to the bag, he said to Ara “He seemed much more pleasant when he first came in to the room. And yes, it was Tim. I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name dear. Thank you for the bandage as well, please mind the faces. Albeit painful, nothing I haven’t felt before. Now what brings you barging in on our meeting?

Ara laughed nervously. "No problem. My name's Arabella Porter. My partner, Jabber just came in to grab some...provisions for our future plans.When I heard his...vocals," She glared into her bag at the furry face that grinned back at her. "I came in to make sure that he was ok. As you very well know, he was more than ok." she laughed slightly and looked around the room. "I was trying to collect what I needed without bothering anyone. Somehow, it turned out the opposite." she scratched her head and sighed, leaving her mouth slightly open and raising her eyebrows for some sort of response.

Jack ran in with Anna at Tims yell. He saw the young girl and the older gentleman across from Adolphus, who was sitting there chuckling at the situation. Turning to Anna "Its not a weapon but I still never got your name" Jack looked around the room. "So I take it you all have something to do with Felix.

At the Flat: Felix sat in the chair as Bell was repairing Phoebe, he was messing with his throwing knives and began throwing them at the wall. "I'm bored, I think I’ll head over to the Dock house, after you put her back together of course." Phoebe giggled as she came closer to being fixed.

::Confused slightly, Anna shakes her head:: I don't know a Felix. ::looking at the young girl patching the gentleman, she brushes a dark strand of hair from her face:: But I'm beginning to wish I did. ::Coming out of her shock, she straightens her shoulders.:: I am Lady Arabella Blackthorne ... daughter of Lord Andrew Blackthorne. :shamed look:: You already know who the man in the alley is. ::Moving to help the girl with her aid:: May I be of assistance? I have a slight bit of medical experience.

Still oogling and the immense size of the man who ran in to the room, Tim removed the cigar from his mouth and said “What’s not a weapon? You clearly don’t need one” Being caught off guard at the woman’s comment, not even realizing she had introduced herself, he though, did someone see me when I jumped in the alley? There wasn't a damn soul in the ship yard. Maybe in the building my coat was stuck in? Asking the woman, “Man in the alley?” Wincing as Arabella finished up wrapping his leg. “I think she’s got it covered, but thank you. I’m Tim. Who is this titan you rushed in with?”

::moving back, Arabella nods and attempts a smile fit for nobility, even though she is still disheveled and taken aback that she mentioned the alley:: If you are certain. :smiles at the young woman before answering his question: And this is ... Jack? Yes, Jack. He is my savior, of sorts. ::Smiling again at the young woman:: Very well done!

Ara's smile faded. "You know how I'm involved with Felix." She said to Jack before turning back to Tim. "Try to stand up and see how it feels," She said with a softer tone than she had with Jack as she raised herself up. She held out her hand for Tim to take. "M'lady, why so far from home by yourself?" She asked.

::smile fading, she moves back toward the wall, trying to fade in:: Not m'lady ... please. Annabelle. ::looking around the room, wondering who this Felilx was and taxing her mind to think of where to go and what to do next:: I was ... walking with someone and ... got ... separated. ::eyeing Jack to see if he would betray her confidence before noticing the movement from her bag.:: It's moving!

Ara squinted and cocked her head in confusion before it clicked. He facial expression widened for a moment and she laughed. "No, it's not. The sassy marsupial inside is." At that moment, Jabber popped his head out, high as a kite and scrambled out of ara's bag. He offered her a eucalyptus leaf. "Really Jabber? sorry, just a second ago he was tearing Tim's leg off and now he's offering leaves of friendship." Ara shook her head. "After two years my partner still confuses me."

::eyes brighten in a true smile as Annabelle leans forward, her hand practicallly down on the floor, beckoning for the charming creature like an animal whisperer:: Hello, dearest! ::Looking toward Arabella:: And you are, if I may ask?

Ara forgot that Tim is still seated and straightend herself out. "Arabella Porter. It's a pleasure." Jabber adjusted his head under Annabelle's hand. "He's definitely happier now that he's high." She said before looking back to Tim. "Let's see if I did this right, shall we, sir?" She asked him, holding out her hand again.

::chuckling:: Oh, I like to think he would like me if he were, how you say, high, or not. ::Scratching the creature's ears, she watches the woman helping the man to stand and test his leg. She doesn't know how, but she has the feeling she can trust this woman.:: You did an excellent job. The bleeding will be stopped and, if it was clean, there will be no risk of infection. ::Focusing now on the man, she shows a look of genuine concern:: Is the pain very bad?

"Of course, now the damn thing is happy.."He said, grabbing Ara's hand. Pulling himself up, wincing a little but then steadying himself "I think it's pretty good, it's not too bad. Thank you dear." Hopping on the injured leg, just to be sure" Yes, not bad at all." Now that the injury was taken care of, Tim looked at his pants "Well, I guess I"ll need to replace these, won't I." Looking at the corner of his coat "It has not been a good day for my clothing. Now Annabelle my dear, you mentioned this man in the alley?"

::Annabelle moves back another few steps, disturbing the koala in the process ... her eyes showing an attempt to cover her fear.:: I ... there was a man in the alley ... who was ... attacking me. I escaped ... and ended up at Jack's door. ::nodding, wanting to tell it all, but giving only the information she did. As she sees the man stumble a bit, she instinctively moves forward to help.::

Phoebe and Felix arrived shortly to the dockhouse. He paid the driver and walked up to the door, he heard a lot of voices from inside. That's strange, how many people does Adolphus have over???? He opened the door and looked around and saw Jack, Adolphus, Ara, and Three other people he's never met, "What the..."

::Jumping as she hears the loud voice, Annabelle gasps and searches for something to protect herself::

Arabella placed her hand on Annabelle's back. "shhhhhh," she hushed to calm her, "if anyone hurt you in here, they'd have already shot me dead." she smiled. "Whoever he was, he's not going to hurt you here." Ara looked up at Felix. "oh look," said playfully, "the son of a bitch who press-ganged me." She grinned. "I suppose I'm to call you captain now, yeah?" Jabber smiled at Felix. "Excuse my language, Annabelle."

Relieved that it was not he who she saw in the alley but feeling terrible that he has stirred such awful memories within the women, Tim walked to Annabelle "Please forgive me dear. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm very sorry, but glad you escaped safely. And by the looks of it", he said as he eyed the giant man from head to toe, "You've got one hell of a guardian now." Turning to the man and the lady that just walked in, smirking at Ara's colorful language, "Well now, It sure is getting pretty cramped in here, isn't it."

::soothed by Arabella, Annabelle straightens a bit.:: Press-ganged? Captain? ::looks toward the men in the room:: I've heard of that practice.

::breathing a labored breath, Annabelle nods at the remark of her guardian:: It does seem as if I do ... for the moment. ::looking around, her nerves get the better of her and a bit of steel comes to her voice.:: And yes, it is pretty cramped in here. What in bloody torment is going on here?

Ara looked around the rest of the room. "Well, if we're all going to the same place, shall we actually take this little convention to the ship? With Felix's permission of course." She looked to him for approval and Jabber hopped in her bag.

"Jack what is going on?" Felix said. He glared at Ara "Piracy has its price my dear" There waws a click as Phoebe walked in, "Put the machine guns up Phoebe, We don't need them not now" there was another click as the gun barrels went back into her arm. "I am a captain of sorts" He looked Directly at Annabelle then

straight to Jack. Jack shrugged and went back and grabbed the box "Its ready" he said as he handed it to Phoebe, she looked at Felix and he nodded. She left the house and headed for the ship. Felix Sat down and propped his feet on the table.

::watching the man so casually seat himself, Annabelle coudln't help but admire his confidence and obvious self-esteem. Clearing her throat slightly, she steps forward:: I am Lady Annabelle Blackthorne. Your friend here ::motioning toward Jack:: was kind enough to help me when I was in a very sticky situation. ::Looking around to the others, she sighs and admits:: I killed a man today.

Ara placed her hand on Anna's shoulder. "Are you sure you finished the job? You said you escaped. How did you do it?" She asked. Ara could remember her first kill. It was only three years ago on the night she was first press-ganged by the Silver Widow. "How did you escape exactly?" The copper, laying on the ground, in the rain. That feeling of seeing someone so lively and in a flash, they're stone still only because you squeezed your finger.

::turning to Arabella, Anna breathes deeply:: The earl ... Nigel ... was attacking me ... his hands were everywhere. ::shivering:: He was determined to bring me to his home ... to take possession of me. He and my father had come to an understanding. ::chuckles angrily:: As he was manhandling me, I grasped his cane and broke his skull with the ivory handle. ::eyes glazing:: There was so much blood. ::hands becoming shaky.::

Felix just smiled as he pulled out a flask. "Most people around these parts don't take murder too well" He said after taking a sip as he, Jack and Adolphus burst out laughing. He took another sip of his flask as jack pulled out a huge revolver and tossed it on the table in front of Felix. "Finally a bigger gun" Felix said between drinks as he looked around the room. He noticed the Alchemist and the man in the grey topcoat. "They are both looking for work. One to test his creations and the other needs work" Adolphus said as Felix glanced over each one. Felix noticed the burns on the grey topcoat. "Peculiar burns on your clothing there." He said while eyeing them a bit closer.

Looking down at his coat, then back up at the man, smirking and taking a pull on his cigar, "Good eye, there mate. There really isn't too much that damage cloth like that, is there" Tim said, trying to stay elusive to the hardware he was toting. "Now the paint tears, well that's pretty easy to explain" eyeing the bag with the koala. "As your friend, Adolphus said though, I am in the market for some work, if that isn't too big an issue"

Arabella sat annabelle down and handed Jabber over to her. "Just take deep breathes. You'll be thinking about this all tonight, trust me, but for now, just pay attention to the furry goodness known as Koala fur. That's what I do sometimes when I'm having a break down." she sat down next to her and rubbed her back. "Just keep breathing and focus on the koala." Jabber sat patiently, awaiting the "stuffed-animal treatment" as it was known. Ara regarded Felix's comment. "What kind of burns are they anyways? Pardon my nosiness." She asked. "Unless Jabber is part dragon now, I don't believe I am responsible for that one." She joked.

::Annabelle sat there gently rubbing the animal ... even wrapping her arms around him every now and then ... taking in deep breaths and letting them out ... all the while her eyes taking in everything as the hand at her back soothes her::

Laughing Tim asks, "No, this happened before the encounter, although still recent. While we are on the subject, would Jabber has a strange attraction to any peculiar lights or glows by any chance?"

::annabelle tightened her arms about the animal as his name is mentioned ... fingers kneading soothingly into the soft fur::

"Those are energy burns." Felix said as he stood up and opened a cabinet and pulls out a rifle. "Work huh? What kind of work?"

His smirk faded as the man pulled out the rifle and he raised his hands, "Woah there, mate. I'm not here to cause trouble. Not at all. I just happened to find myself in the area and a bit out of place. I don't happen to have my bill fold on me and it isn't in the close vicinity. I just need to make some currency and possibly a small work area to figure a few engineering things out. I'm pretty versatile, as I told Adolphus." At about that moment, hoping he hadn't reviled too much, Tim was thinking that he would have spent a little more time on that energy protection barrier theory of his and had done something practice with it. "The dock house here, was the first thing I had seen in the area and I thought I would mosy on over and inquire. I've had enough trouble in my past, I'm not looking to cause any more at the moment." Taking a puff from his cigar and removing it from his mouth, the gleam in his eye returning, "So, I heard the mention of you being a captain of sorts, would you happen to have any work available on your vessel?"

Ara smiled. "why, was something glowing?" She asked. "When he's high, sometimes, only sometimes, things that are shiny, or things that glow become illusions or become parts of illusions." she explained. "That's just a theory though. I'm guessing this all from observation." She walked up to Tim. "Sometimes he can smell a secret on someone though." Her smile suddenly became very mischievous. "You probably just have something to hide and he took up on the defensive." she joked with a playful twinkle in her eye.

::Annabelle chuickles:: It seems as if we all have something to hide, doesn't it? Kind of make us all kindred spirits. ::scratches Jabber behind the ears and smiles::

Jabber's ears flapped back and forth as she scratched him behind the ears. Ara turned to Anna. "I don't have much to hide." she replied. "But yes, I think the secrecy does kind of weave its way in. I'm glad that you're smiling. It lets me know that you feel a bit better." Ara sat down next to Annabelle.

::sighing:: I feel fine, thank you. I just ... need to figure out what's going to happen to me. I'm thankful that no one here will turn me in to the authorities ... but ...

Looking at the gun then at Tim freaking out he remembered most people freak out at the sight of a gun. "Don't worry if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. But you say your an engineer....I may be in need of one of those." Felix looked to Adolphus "Cynthia is missing she isn't in her shop or in London at all.

Smirking as the man talked, "That I don't doubt, from how you're handling that rifle and from the pistol you pulled out earlier, I can imagine you are far more than capable with a weapon. Don't be so quick to judge though, I have a few tricks up my sleeve" Chuckling to himself at the irony of his statement, wishing the transporter hidden on his left forearm was still functional. "Yes, engineering, physics, and energy manipulation are what I specialize in while in the lab. My partner back home and I, had made quite a few advancements while we were together." Turning to Ara, "A high koala that has hallucinations....." scratching the back of his head he whispered to himself, "Well, that could explain it.."

"explain what exactly?" she stepped back to Tim and slightly cocked her head in curiosity. "you don't happen to have any fairies flying about you now, do you?" she teased. "they might become a problem" she finished, giggling.

::Annabelle chuckled at the fairie connotation:: Fairies don't glow ... they flicker. ::hugging the koala::

"Jabber" Tim replied to Ara, "His fascination with the inner dermal layers of my calf. As for the fairies, he got it on the initial strike" winking at Ara putting the cigar back in his mouth,

Ara giggled again. "you just seem to be having a very magical day, that's all. " she replied. "with mysterious burns, glowing ligjts..." she didn't finish her sentence as she leaned against the table. "i guess that could just be described as strange though."

"Strange....." Tim said as he saw the man with the rifle staring him down as he and Ara talked. "Maybe.... a typical...definitely" Looking at everyone else in the room, trying to figure out his situation, he turned to Annabelle and ask, "How are you doing Annabelle? That destructive fuzz ball seems to be helping."

I'm well, thank you, sir. ::giving Jabber a final pat and letting him scoot off of her lap as she stands:: And please don't call him that ... you will hurt his feelings. ::Annabelle smiled softly:: You wouldn't want to do that, would you?

Laughing as the koala scurried back to his bag, "You're right, dear. I suppose I'm a little tainted after our first encounter." He keeled and tried to grab Jabber's attention, he stopped, scowled at Tim and continued on his way "Well, then. Maybe next time." Still kneeling he looked up at the rifle and the the man wielding it, "So, if I may ask. What kind of engineering needs would you have and what kind of vessel? Anything else you would like to know?" The smoke from his cigar, clouding his face.

Wil sits quietly throughout the entire ordeal between everyone. Finally after everyone has said their piece he gives a deep throated chuckle. His pipe billowing smoke around him. The story of the beautiful young woman killing her attacker did pull at his heartstrings. Seeing an opening he finally stands slowly and offers his hand to the man who has clearly taken charge. "You must be the captain. Felix I believe. Your ship was recommended to me as an ideal location to test some of my alchemical formulas. The majority of my work requires a certain level of immunity to use without causing some stir." He laughs easily and smiles. He looks to Annabelle and sees how shaken she is from her tale and takes a step to her. "Good lady please take my seat. You clearly need it more then I do." Turning back to Felix he gives a small laugh. "I apologize good sir! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Wilhelm Heizeltroff, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Army of the American Republic. Owner and chief creator of Heizeltroff Alchemical Laboratories."

"You'll see" Felix said to Tim as Wil spoke up, he listened diligently. "Interesting proposition from you both. Be here first thing tomorrow morning with a bag of your things." He said watching Phoebe walk by as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and threw his beret on. He ran out and began walking with her.

Adolphus looked around the room. "So it looks like you all got what you want in some shape or manner, but he addressed everyone. So Miss Annabelle looks like you must get ready to go as well. But Be here around 0530, otherwise he will get antsy" Adolphus chuckled and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

Tim stood up from his kneeling position watching the man with the rifle walk out. He said, laugh to himself, "Bags...hah. Well I'm good to go." Turning to Adolphus "Morning eh? Well, riddle me this good man. Where would one find a place to rest till morning? Preferable with a good scotch."

"Ten Bells Tavern, White Chapel district. I can actually get you a room for free instead of paying the fourpence." Ara blurted out, now leaning against the wall. "You seem strong enough so that no one will bother you." She stood up. "What'd you say?" walking towards the door.

Turning to Ara "I happen to have a soft spot for blue eyes and free lodging. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get a free pair of trousers now, would you?" Tim said smirking through the cigar in his mouth.

Ara let out a short laugh and bit her lip to hold back a smile. "Didn't you father ever tell you to watch out for the blue eyed white chapel girls?" she joked. "i can get a five finger discount from a neighbour." she laughed walking backwards out the door.

Tim smirked, following Ara out the door "I'm not one to heed warnings too well. *Winking* I like to run with the risks and see where they take me, ironically, how I ended up here. Now, as for your discount...only because I'm a little tired of my new ventilation holes, and you may owe me...just a little bit... I'll take you up on that" Tim turned around just prior to leaving "Thank you for the hospitality, Adolphus. It was a pleasure. And to you, Mr...... Heizeltroff...was it? I bid you good night" Tim turns, following Ara out of the dock house.

Wil smiles as the other two leave the building. He smiles as he prepares to leave as well. Seeing the lady still in the seat he gave her he finds himself unable to resist making a bold offer. "Well I find it is time to go. For any who need a place to stsy for the night or just want accomodations shoreside for the night I have plenty of available rooms at my lab. I also have a nice selection of drinks. I can assure you all that any guests will be treated with respect."

He smiles as he opens the door to the dockhouse and waits to see if any will take him up on the offer.

Upon their arrival at the East End gates, Ara stopped and turned to face Tim. "There are a few tips you should know when roaming through these streets." She smiled. "Whenever a young boy walks past you, make sure you have a knife out for them to see," She hands him an extra pocket knife. ",and mutter to yourself just loud enough for them to hear. If you tick someone off, just apologize but don't be fancy about it. don't look anyone in the eyes and keep up. There are more than 1,200 whores. They'll approach you. It can't be helped. If they try to undo your trousers, just keep walking. If we end up getting into a fight on the way and kill someone, the police like to ignore this area so we won't have law dogs on our tail. If someone tries to sell you something, pretend that your drunk or deaf. But you won't have to pretend to be anything as long as you keep walking and stare straight ahead, besides muttering to yourself, no acting should be rquiered if everything goes right. Am I clear?" She asked in a soft tone, raising her eyebrows for a response.

Taking the knife and chuckling with a smirk, "Clear we are dear. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I've found myself in rough surroundings." Taking the now half smoked cigar out of his mouth, he asked "Would you happen to know a good tobacconist? I'm afraid I'm a bit low. To be honest though, dear. As long as I can get a bar stool and well aged scotch after all of this, I'll be in heaven."

"Tobacco is sold randomly around here." She explained walking through the gates. "And maybe the scotch can be my payment for the trousers?" She asked as they pushed through the crowd. She saw some whores

widen their eyes when Ara passed. It took her a moment to remember that she was apparently "that barmaid that dissappeared." the girls probably recognized her from the Ten Bells.

Seeing the whores stare down Ara, "Well, they seem to have taken a fancy to you." smirking with the cigar in his mouth. "How is the tobacco around here, decent?" he said struggling to keep up with Ara's pace in the crowd. "Damn, is it always this packed over here? And as long as you can distract the bar keep, I think I can snatch us up a good bottle to drink. Scotch drinker, eh? Rare thing for a women. I applaud your tastes."

"There's been a lot of overcrowding since the immigrants came bustling in. The one's who can't make it to America crowd in here. As for tobacco, i can't say. i haven't been here in awhile.and I'm more for vodka but believe me, the barkeep won't charge for anything. No snatching required." She explained as they reached the tavern. Ara walked in slowly hesitant to grab Aurelian's attention immediately. It was as if she was afraid he wouldn't respond. "Aury," She finally said. Aurelian looked up from his work and sighed. "I didn't think you'd return." He looked back down at the bar and wiped it down in the same spot as before.

Following her in, "Ah, we have a similar issue around Ellis Island, it's a little bit tight for my tastes. When we find them, I'll grab few sticks and see how they fare to my regular cigars." Seeing Ara signal the young man, "Ahh, so you know people, I'm ok with free drinks, it's just a shame I won't be able to tip." Listening to the young man respond to her presence,"I can let you two catch up if you'd like" He said making his way to a bar stool.

Ara sighed. "we already did." she said, sitting next to tim. Aury stared at the stranger. "Bells, who's your friend? You're not..." Ara cut him off. "no. He needs a place to sleep and so do i. Just until morning. I don't care how angsty you are today, you wouldn't send me to George Yard." there was a long pause before aury smiled. Walking into the back room he said, "leander would kill me." this was ara's permission to jump over the counter and pour tim a glass of scotch.

Tim looked at the two with a tired face, "The la.....Ara, just offered me lodging, like she said. No worries mate. Found myself a bit far from home." Tim stood abruptly, "Pardon my rudeness, It's been one hell of a day. Timothy R. Harrison" he said extending his hand. "Inventor, engineer, and lets say....philanthropist." Chuckling, "Most pretty much call me Tim though" After shaking his hand, Tim turned and grabbed the scotch from Ara and cupped it with both hands, "Thanks, doll." Tim took a big sip and his body relaxed a bit on the stool. He sighed with a smile, "Thank you very much"

Ara chuckled, "So, American scientist," She leaned on the bar in his direction, "Which state are you from?" she asked, "And who are you running from in such a hurry that you didn't take anything with you?" She looked down in her bag where Jabber was sleeping before pouring herself a vodka on the rocks.

Tim choked a bit when heard the question, being caught a little off guard, "Well, New York, we had the lab there. Now, how i got here.....I'm not running from anything, but it's a bit of story, that's for sure. To be honest, I'm surprised I've said this much already. I know I haven't had that much scotch so I must be comfortable around you, and I'm a bit exhausted. It's been one hell of a day, dear. There are people out there that would do a lot to get some of the information I have in this brain of mine."

"Sounds like a dangerous brain you have there. I'll resist the temptation of picking it and let you recharge." She thought for a moment and then picked up her bag. "I'm going to get you those trousers you need. If you'd like to come, you may but you'd have to be quiet and stay outside. I'm going turtle doving." She said, walking towards the bathroom door, pulling out a maid's uniform from one of the west end houses.

The picture in his hands normally rested in his desk but today a special melancholy had fallen upon him and he looked upon it until he had no choice but to get dressed for the party. He laid the black and white photo on the desk near the entrance, who’s subject was the same as the oil portrait which hung on the wall near the fireplace, and went into the platform which held the cases current information. Bell began to forget the photo was out in the open while he became absorbed in the case. Felix had asked about the painting once, which Bell had said was nothing more than a souvenir from a past case. It was partially true, but if he were to see the photo he would know better. Hence the reason it was normally hidden in his locked desk drawer.

Bell looked over the plans of the station placing a pin in the locations of the body, explosives and other important places while fixing his bowtie. Violet walked in front of him and smiled. “You were always so dashing in a bowtie and tux.” “Well that’s something we can agree to disagree on.” She walked away revealing the plan when bell saw one of the small black dots near the entrance grow. “Ok, why is that pillar important? I wish the hallucinations were more specific sometimes.” It shrank back down as thin lines shot from wall to wall and pillar to pillar. Small numbers appeared next to them. Bell rushed from the construction plans and retrieved his original designs for the station. He thought back to the station and the columns and beams through the station when he visited, referenced the two plans and smiled. “Ah. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.” “What?” Violet asked. “The plan I drew has the columns in their correct position. However when I went there I noticed four extra near the entrance. I didn’t pay much mind to it, explosions and all, but now that I know something bigger is going on and realized the tunnels are more extensive. Well simply put, the columns that aren’t on my original plans don’t support the station. Which means they are for something else.” “Like what?” She asked “I’m not sure, but I think I discovered how our murder got in and out without being scene.” The doorknob turned and Felix Walked in.

Felix left the dockhouse with Phoebe. He knew the part of town they were going to walk through was known for attacking automatons. Phoebe was able to fool most people, specially from a distance, but there were those who could tell. He also knew that the rifle would scare the smarter one's away. This route was also the fastest way to get to back to the flat in time.

Phoebe tugged at his coat as they walked past a shop. The most beautiful silver and pearl choker was in the window. "Felix look" She said while staring at the choker. "So it is" He said while looking at her reflection in the glass. He noticed how empty her eyes where. No matter how human she programmed to be she was still an automaton. Her eyes, while beautiful, where so empty. Just like me. Empty and dead inside, yet so full of life.The bell of the store's door broke his trance, he saw Phoebe talking to the shop owner and him remove the choker from the window. He waited for her to come out with the small box. "Happy now?" He said with a slight chuckle. "Very much so" She said ever so cheerfully. They started to walk along the street when a younger gentleman walked up to them. "You robotic filth!!!!" He yelled at her and turned to Felix "You sicken me!!!! Treating a machine if they were human!!!!!" He began to yell as he raised his fist.

At the Dockhouse Adolphus and Jack walked out with Wil. "I don't have lodging for the young lady, do you think you could watch her if she was okay with it?" A young airmarshall walked up to Jack and saluted him "Sir the shipment you ordered is in" "At ease and don't salute me" Jack said while walking towards a large cart with boxes on it with the young Airmarshall.

Back To Felix....... Felix grabbed the man by his collar and threw him against the brick wall next to them. "You really aren't smart are you?" The man just spat in his face. "When you see a man walking down the street with a rifle on his back you shouldn't try to attack him." Felix pulled out his butterfly knife. "Now time to give you a lesson you will never forget" He said while dragging the blade down the side of the man's face leaving a large cut. "Now I don't expect any more trouble from any of you" Felix said loudly as he saw people start to walk away. He let the man go. The man took off in a sprint down a back alley. "You just have to show them you mean business sometimes" He said to Phoebe. "Thank you Felix" She said while giving him a hug.

The man with his face cut..... Thaddeus ran down the alley way. "Damn robots!" He yelled while knocking over some boxes. "They aren't all bad" A voice from behind him said. "Who are you" Thaddeus said while nervously drawing his pistol on the voice. "That gun wont stop me" the voice said as two red eyes appeared in the shadows. "I want you to do something for Thaddeus." "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!!!" Thaddeus yelled as he felt the cool hand placed on his arm. "I want you to join us" The voice said so calmingly yet creepily at the same time. "JOIN WHO???" Thaddeus yelled, this time so nervously he dropped his gun. "The Congregation of Gears. We believe in using machines as they were designed" The man walked forward from the shadows and was wearing all black and gray mask. The eyes where glowing red lenses, the mask looked like a piece of metal with only eye holes. Thaddeus collapsed from his anxiety "Perfect......" The man said as he pulled the limp body into the shadows, down into the underbelly of London.

Elsewhere... Bartholomew sat there looking over the city. "Soon Charles. Soon." "I take it the power source for the machine is ready?" the butler said. "Close" "That is wonder-" A knock on the door interrupted the butler as he ran to get it. "Sir the Madam is here" He said as he walked back into the room with a woman in a long red velvet dress. "Be gone" Bartholomew said as Charles left the room. "So How have you been" She asked as opened a bottle of wine. "I take it you did your job" He asked while adjusting his shirt cuff. "As Always" She said while walking up to her carrying the wine. "So he shouldn't figure it out till its too late right?" Bartholomew asked while taking the glass. "The plant is too well hidden, it will be gone before he knows it was ever there" She said while waiting for him to take a sip. "Good." He said as he pointed a pistol at her forehead and pulled the trigger, he poured the wine onto her dead body. "Takes alot more creativity to kill me." He laughed and started walking towards the door "Charles gather my things. We have a train to catch here soon. Leave the body though." He yelled to the butler while leaving the hotel room. He wanted to send a message.

On the Grey.... Sarah had walked on and into the quarters where M.K. was. She must have put up one heck of a fight she's still out. I guess hiding out will do that to someone. Sarah started to gently shake her to wake her up. She didnt want her to miss the dinner party. Audrey's Flat... The young cop was getting into a slimming green dress as she was thinking over how she was going to prepare for tonight. She had her handcuffs and case file in a bag she was planning on bringing. He will never see it coming. She knew this was a big day for her brother though. He was finally being promoted to a detective. He would be responsible for solving cases for all the precincts in London. It was a better job, with a lot more fun. One day I'll get there. She was smiling uncontrollably at the thought of what she was going to do tonight.

Back to Felix(again).... Felix looked at the street sign and noticed he was only a few blocks from the flat. Almost home. Felix walked in and climbed the stairs to the flat. He walked in on Bell's map. "I heard you talking aloud Bell, everything alright?" "Just thinking aloud" Bell said while looking over the map. "Those look like the station blue prints" Felix said while taking off his shirt to change it. "Yes, when we were in the station it was different from my blueprints." Bell said while tidying up the desk a bit. "So something related to the Guilded Goddess?" Felix said as he put on a shirt and beginning to tie his ascot. "Yes, I may have found out where our murderer went." Bell said as he adjusted his bowtie once more. "That's good, we can investigate in a few days" Felix said as he put on his pants. He adjusted the suspenders, "So some people came looking for work on the ship." "Oh" Bell said while looking over the blueprints again. "Yeah going to see what they are made of tomorrow" Felix chuckled as he put on the vest and grabbed his coat. "Please don't make a scene tonight Bell. This dinner will be important to Sterling." "I will try not to but cannot guarantee anything." Bell said while grabbing his topcoat. Phoebe had walked out of the guest bedroom wearing a lowcut, short, black dress. "Let's go boys" She said and giggled. "Not so fast" Felix said as he wrapped a fur coat over her shoulders. The three left the flat and hailed a cab. Felix told the driver the location and the were off. They would arrive at the Gear shortly.

"Permission to enter, sir?" Ara knocked at the door as daintily as she good before the door unlocked and she let herself in. "Ah, yes, oh," The master of the house gave a dissapointing sigh as he took the tea from the cart. "Margerie, you let the bag soak for too long in the cup." Ara resisted a rolling of the eyes. "Sorry, sir." she responded. "No matter, I'll have a cube with no milk. Then, Margerie, if you would wait for me to finish and THEN take the cart down, I would appreciate it." He looked to his friend without noticing the fail of a curtsy, "How is your family, Ezra?" He asked. "All is dull. Not much happening since the wedding. And you? Has Thomas caught that...uh...sky pirate?" Ara hid a smile. "He catches many skypirates." replied the host. "The one that vandalized buckingham palace with those vulgar images?" Ara attempted not to laugh. "Thomas isn't all that I wish." Her giggles were no longer in need of suppression. "pirates are reckless and usually easy to catch. I had no trouble with them." then why don't you try, old man? "He needs to work harder towards perfection. Hell, Ezra, he lost his badge early this morning. He told me over breakfast. He can't find it anywhere. I always tell him to have a secret compartment in his bureau for it but he insists that he has it covered." Seargeant Dunning left his cup of tea on the cart and Ara left the room, grinning. She made a stop by his chambers and pulled in the cart. these'll do, she thought, pulling out a gray pair of trousers from his dresser. She put them underneath the cart and stood up. She was about to leave when

she noticed a framed police badge hanging over his desk.... As Ara left through the kitchen, a real maid stopped her, "Your shift is over?" She asked. "Hell," Ara replied, "I think my work here is done."

"Sounds like a dangerous brain you have there. I'll resist the temptation of picking it and let you recharge." She thought for a moment and then picked up her bag. "I'm going to get you those trousers you need. If you'd like to come, you may but you'd have to be quiet and stay outside. I'm going turtle doving." She said, walking towards the bathroom door, pulling out a maid's uniform from one of the west end houses.

Tim sat as Ara talked, slowly fading way into his thoughts. “Thank you for the offer my dear, and I most definitely owe you for the effort, but as much as I wouldn't mind seeing you in that uniform, if you don’t mind, I think I will just stay here and relax. I could use it after today.” He replied. Ara bit her lip, trying to hid her smile and headed on her way. Sitting on the stool with a scotch in hand, Tim went over the events that had occurred. It had not been 12 hours since he was last in his lab with Nikola beginning the experiment. First and foremost, it worked. Molecular dematerialization, transport, and re-materialization was possible. The possibilities for technology of this sort were tremendous. Shipping goods overseas that would normally take days could be done in the blink of an eye. Resupplying troops with out putting couriers in danger. So many beneficial possibilities, but, with every benefit there was the absolute opposite. The ability to simultaneously bomb multiple targets without warning, transporting disease and danger at a whim to where ever you would like. With enough resources and power, you could destroy every major city on the planet. Tim sat there for a moment, put his head down and then slammed the scotch in his glass. Waving to Ara’s friend “Would it be too much trouble to ask for the bottle, mate?” “Not for a friend of Ara’s, and by the look of it, it seems like you’ve had one of those days” he replied handing he mostly full bottle to Tim. Tim then tipped his hat and filled his glass. “What have I done..” he thought to himself “I’m always far too hopeful, trying to benefit our race when they take the best of mankind and pervert it. Everything we have, everything we create has its fate weighing on those who manage to get their hands on it. Something can be developed with the most innocent of purposes and somewhere, somehow, someone will find a way to turn it in to something destructive.” He thought of his reactor technology, how his plasma capacitance disruptor came in to fruition, the assaults from Edison’s men on Tesla and their work. “Sometimes you just need to take the offensive..” he thought slamming back another scotch and refilling the glass. He thought of the possibilities of the transporter on a larger scale, the engineering efforts involved in creating power means, thinking back on draining the power from the town, and how feasible it all actually could be. Large scale aetheric extraction, field containment, instantaneously transporting battalions of men to an opposing force, it all weighed him down, cementing him on to the stool in Ten Bells Tavern. “She seems innocent enough, and friendly enough, but I can’t let myself slip like that again. I can’t let this technology get in to the wrong hands….I need to be more careful” Tim sat there with the 5th of scotch going through all the what ifs, how’s, who’s, why’s, calculating, designing, wondering. “After everything today, what the hell is tomorrow going to bring, this is going to be one hell of an adventure” Tim said to himself with a smirk. Seconds turn minutes and minutes turned to hours as Tim sat, consumed with his thoughts and completely oblivious to the world. Sitting there, making his way through though the bottle, Tim was completely unaware of the man in a black trench coat watching him from a poorly lit corner of the bar, two red eyes were barely visible.

Ara strolled in a placed the trousers next to the scotch bottle. "there a whole set." she said. The corner of her peripheral vision announced the presence of a black cloaked figure. She made sure not make eye contact but it made her uncomfortable.

Wil smiles and nods happily to the large gentleman. "I have plenty of room and I assure you the lady will be quite safe and well taken care of." He turns to Anna and offers her his arm. "My lady if you would care tp join me? I must arrange some final matters. If you would like you may join me for dinner as well. I have reservations at the Wellington and I see no reason not to offer you a fine meal as well. We may as well enjoy this final evening landside I say."

::Annabelle looks up at the gentleman, green eyes wide with surprise, then warming with a smile. She moves and takes the offered arm:: I would be most appreciative ... Col. Heiseltroff ... is that how it is pronounced? You are very kind to offer me a place to stay for the evening. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, honestly. As for dinner ... that is much too generous. ::Impish smile:: However, life has been so chaotic, I must admit to not having eaten since ... I'm not even sure I remember the last time. ::A shiver comes across her as she follows the gentleman out the door and down the street.:: Everything is happening so quickly ... I'm having a difficult time keeping up. Fear is quite exhilirating when it is mixed with excitement.

Wil smiles at her warmly and leads her to his auto. She hadn't eaten and that just was not acceptable. Her comment he gave a small laugh* Why you are right. Fear and excitement are exhilirating together! But I'm afraid if you can not remember when you have eaten I must insist that you join me for dinner. My table is always set for two and it is rather depressing to never have company.

He opens the passenger door for her and hands her into the seat before closing the door and moving around to his own side and settling into his seat. Looking at her he chuckles softly.* Would you like to freshen up before we go to dinner? And do you have any luggage or personal items we should pick up?

::Annabelle self-consciously starts to smooth her hair:: Oh, dear ... I must look a fright. ::chewing her bottom lip:: I'm not certain how to ... or where to ... ::sighing:: I have a few small valises packed at the Beechtree. I would love to freshen up and then pay my room. ::Looking at him with something akin to wonder.:: Am I really going on an airship with people I don't know!?

Well then we shall head to the Beechtree first and get your valises. Though I don't see how you can have a proper wardrobe in a few small valises? And no you do not look a fright. You are quite beautiful I must admit. *he smiles at her as they make their way towards her rooms*

::blushes:: Thank you, Col. That is quite kind of you. ::sighing:: I put what I could in the valises before I left my father's home. I didn't intend to go back and knew I would not be permitted to leave if I packed all my belongings in earnest. ::Saddened:: And now that I have added murder to my list of sins ....

Please, call me Wil. I am retired and set no store by the rank of my military career. It just seems better when dealing with customers. *he laughs. Hearing her quick tale he sobers up then gets a mischievous smirk*

So you mean to tell me you are about to embark on a grand adventure with barely any clothing or means of supporting yourself when you return? And just so you know, murder is an act done in cold blood with malicious intent. You merely defended yourself from a vile beast who happened to appear in the guise of a man. You have not sinned. You have cast a demon back to the depths of hell.

::A concerned look crosses her face:: I hadn't had much time to think of how I would support myself. My only concern was to leave my father's home. ::She looks up into his eyes, a determined look focusing in hers:: But I will. You may depend upon it.

::As they reach the Beech Tree, Annabelle allows him to help her to the ground and takes his arm. As they enter the establishment, she hesitates in the lobby. Turning to face Wilhelm, she looks up at him, her nervousness showing as she chews her bottom lip:: You will be in the lobby when I return ... no?

He smiles at her and nods at her question. An idea forming in his mind already.* My lady you can be certain that I shall be right here when you return. If it would make you feel better I could accompany you to your room as well.

He smiles as he on her predicament. He was certain that fate had cast them together to help this young lady.

Ara strolled in a placed the trousers next to the scotch bottle. "there a whole set." she said. The corner of her peripheral vision announced the presence of a black cloaked figure. She made sure not make eye contact but it made her uncomfortable.

Ara’s placement of the trousers stirred Tim back to alertness. Slowly turning his head to see the un-torn pants next to the now almost empty bottle, he smiled with tired, half closed eyes and continued through to

look up at Ara. “Thank you, dear. I appreciate it. As much as I enjoyed the air vents your friend helped me with, I’ll enjoy having a solid pair of pants on in the morning.” He waivered for a moment and let out a hiccup, which, in turn put a troubled look on his face. He sat up as straight as he could, looked at the bottle again, then back up to Ara. “You weren’t gone that long were you?” He asked. Ara let out a chuckle “No, no I wasn’t, but you seemed to manage to do a good number on that bottle, didn’t you?” Tim smiled, “Yes, I suppose I got lost in my thoughts and wasn’t paying attention. I suppose I should lay down, we’ve got an early morning ahead of us” Tim slowly went to stand and dipped a little taking a step toward the bar, catching himself, “Damn first step, it always gets you. I shouldn’t drink while sitting” He turned to Ara’s friend and asked for a water “Sure, here you go, it looks like you need it” Aury turned to Ara, “Bells, are you going to be alright with him” She turned and smirked, “You know I can take care of myself, and I don’t think he’s much of a threat right now” Aury smiled, “That’s a good point, I’ve got two rooms ready upstairs, back and to the left” “Thanks Aury” She turned to Tim, “You think you’ll be able to make it up alright?” Tim stood up straight and started heading towards the stairs, “Yes, thank you Ara. I’ve just been sitting too long. I’ll be quite alright” Aury threw Ara the keys to the rooms upstairs and the two headed up. “Thank you again for everything tonight, I really appreciate it. It’s nice seeing a friendly face, especially one so easy on the eyes” She smirked and threw him a key “Just make sure you’re not late, you lush. Felix won’t take too kindly to that” He grabbed the key and headed to the room, “Dually noted. Just to be sure, if you could stop by on your way out, It’s been a long day. Thank you again” As the two parted ways. Ara looked back and the red eyed man in the black trench coat was gone. She stopped, thought about it, and went up to her room. Tim opened the door and took his coat off in the room. He threw the new trousers on the table in the room and flopped down on the bed. “Well, let the adventure begin” Tim drank the rest of the water, set the glass on the floor and passed out. For it will be quite the adventure that awaits him ahead.

Felix wiped his face with a handkerchief and spritzed some cologne on, making sure his appearance was flawless, before the carriage stopped in front of the Gear. "What was with the picture on the desk Bell?"

In the distant future “Felix, come in this instant!” the grounds where well groomed and warmly lit as Felix limped in. the nurse greeted him almost immediately. “Ah, good morning doctor.” Felix smiled gingerly at the young woman, she reminded him of so many other young girls he had met in the days of pirates and espionage. Hardly even thought about anymore. “How is he this morning?” “as good as ever. Perhaps you could try to get him to eat before you light his pipe for him.” “I will try but I’ve never been able to before.” Felix said with a concerned smile. There was a pause before the nurses smile faded. There was a shade of sorrow as she spoke. “It’s very good of you, to come in every day as you do.” Felix smiled warmly “Well he does have the most singularly brilliant and insightful mind of his generation.” She smiled sadly and Felix walked in. “Oh, Felix, I fear the train was sabotaged, please pour us a couple of brandies.” “Oh bell I believe you may be right. But instead of work lets have lunch for a moment, you can’t work your life away.”

Bells wrinkled face turned to face Felix and seemed confused for a moment. “Yes, yes right. Maybe tonight, no what? Lunch and brandy? Not a bad idea. Grab me my.” He limped over to the table “stone flute, it’s on the shelf.” As he did every day Felix took the Ocarina and handed it to Bell before placing the brandy glasses on the table. “Sterling asked about you, And Audrey too.” “His sister?” bell asked “No you old fool, your daughter.” Felix poured the golden brown liquid into the glasses. “ah, well I believe Bartholomew is behind the disaster and….” He fingered the stone ocarina, and smiled “It appears I have forgotten how to play.” He sat it down, “how did I do that?” he drank the brandy as Felix thought back on the marvels tunes that used to flow from the instrument under his grasp.Bell pulled out the ancient plans of the station. “It seems there is a false room here.” “Another successful case for us to write up.” He looked at the face of his old friend. “once again you helped save the day.” He paused “Isn’t that right?” Silence followed. “We all Miss you Bell, even your wild moods.” He waited there listening to the ticking clock as for the first time in years Bell’s eyes lifted. “I know Alex. I do know.” It was the second and last time Felix ever saw Bell shed a tear. “would you light my pipe, please.” His head shook under its own weight. “I can’t get the fog to clear.” Felix tried to speak but had no words. Instead he placed an old photograph on the table. “Maybe this will help.” He said finally. Bell smiled. “The small box I gave you, may I have it now.” Felix reached with shaking hands into his pocket and handed him the small oak box. Bell opened it and took the contents. “Felix. You should leave now I think. Though I’m not really sure.” He paused and then smiled. “thank you.” He laid a small envelope on the table addressed to Felix. He turned and began to play the small stone flute for the first time in years. It sounded sad. When he turned round he responded. “Ah, Felix Why are you here? Have you brought the body miss Alistar. I have 14 theories as to how she died.” Felix left, listening to the tune coming from his room. He paused to hear the ending of Bells interpretation of the old sextet. How he managed it on that over developed whistle would always be beyond him. When the song ended there was a pause, then a thump. Felix waited in the lobby until he heard the shout from the nurse. “doctor!” then silence. He walked out into the garden in front of the home, and opened the letter. Had two lines written on it. The first was “This is 1/3.” The next made equally no sense. “”In the carriage tell me to look left at the first sign of stupidity.” He tossed the letter away. Present day He ignored him at first. “Felix I have a gift for you, well more for me. I recently read that certain mentally destructive diseases may have to do with our genetic code. If this is true give it to me when I ask for it.” Felix lifted from his haze of thought for a moment “What’s that?”

“Nothing just keep this for latter.” He brought up the small pattern of blood that had been wiped away. “Why have you been fighting with a middle aged male roughly the same height as you who is apparently in desperate need of money…. And I think he has a cat.” Felix just stared. “How did you know he was broke?” Bell laughed. “You smelled horrible.” He then thought about the picture. And of course Violet. Who was only a few feet in front of them.

Upon opening the door, Ara spotted a wooden crate on the bed with a dirty piece of paper leaning lazily against it. The last time she had opened a wooden crate with unknown contents, a koala had popped out jabbed her in the nose. Jabber couldn't possibly be in this wooden crate though. He was asleep in her bag. She drew her revolver and paced slowly and cautiously towards the box before picking up the note with her free hand.

These would not be for any other Ara peeped into the crate. Inside, she recognized one of Leander's shirts along with an unfamiliar locket and a giant stack of what appeared to be journals. Ara let loose a short forceful exhale before taking a deep breath, pulling her lips into her mouth before nodding almost in confirmation. She pulled the shirt out of the box and held on tightly to it, smiling. Jerk, she thought, we had a plan. Hrer smile faded when she remembered that shewas actually the first one to leave. She thought for a moment before laying down on top of the covers, still hugging the shirt. You would have loved the sky. As the melatonin in her body kicked in, Ara sighed and smiled again. It was time to keep going.

Present Day Copperpotts felt the weight of the metal and envelope in the interior pocket of her coat. But there was something else there as well: the second message from her unseen friend. It was another envelope that had been found in her belongs after she was processed in New York. When they allowed her to dress before being escorted to the Quad A Airsylum, she had found it in the folds of her skirt. Her name COPPERPOTTS was written plainly across the front. Inside was a London newspaper clipping of a train station tragedy with the words BIG COAL written on the top. She memorized the entire story of the Guilded Goddess and the terrible disaster. But it only left her with more questions. She had wanted to discuss it with her contact Darkmoon, whom she had so carefully planned to meet aboard the Quad A. However, she was not God and could not control all the circumstances. Ms. Copperpotts met the infamous lord a little too late and was unable to glean any information. And with pirates attacking, she had to make some rather quick, albeit, rash decisions to escape. But Luck finally smiled at M.K. when her path crossed with a certain airship captain. The same captain who was great friends with a man named Bell. Dr. Bell was mentioned in the newspaper article as the genius behind the Goddess. The silence was broken by Milton," So, what are we to do now?" She glanced over to see him standing very rigid near the door. Kingston on the other hand was leaning back in a chair with his synthetic hair disheveled, top button undone on his vest, and a splash of mud on the bottom cuff of his pant leg. Copperpotts was so deep in thought she had forgotten they had entered the room after she had finished dressing. "Actually, " she sat back down slowly unto the bed," We wait."

Sterling's Party The carriage arrived at the Gear. Phoebe opened the door and ran through the chilly London air to the party. "Bell why do you have to be so critical?" "You know I don't want to be here." Bell said as he stared out the carriage window. "Sterling is a good friend, and has helped us countless times. You and I both know we need to be here." "We're here, lets enjoy the party." Bell said while stepping out of the carriage. "You can be terribly difficult sometimes. You know that? And I'll tell you about the riff raff later." Felix said as the two walked towards the bar. Felix knew Bell would be difficult about talking about the photograph. Before he could say anything to him, Bell was already inside and relishing in the free liquor. Upon entering Felix scanned the bar, he noticed Audrey in the corner with a few other officers and their wives, Sarah in the center of the room, making small talk with Sterling and some of the other senior officers. Phoebe was surrounded by young men, some of them children of senior officers and others young recruits. Felix sighed and chuckled a little. He noticed Jack in back near all the food. Bell was at the bar enjoying the extensive amounts of alcohol. He was looking around for Copperpots when a familiar voice sounded in his ear "I thought you would never make it" "It's okay to be fashionably late sometimes" He said without turning around. His shoulder tensed and relaxed as he felt her hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the the tail of her dress slip into a crowd. He was about to follow her when Adolphus came up and grabbed his hand. "Glad you decided to show up." He said as they started walking towards Sarah and Sterling. Felix gave 'really???' look at Sarah's low cut and short dress. She just winked and smiled. "So Mr. Bellicose, to whom do I owe the honnor of you making here to the party" Sterling joked while shaking his hand. "The skies can wait for an old friend. And I needed some time to recover" Felix said as he gripped his left shoulder. "I read about that. The Grey and the Quad A Airsylum being attacked by some maniacal megalomaniac or something like that. Care to shed some light on that?" "Lets just leave it as some messes are in the process of being cleaned up." He said while still having mixed feelings about the Quad. "So if hes a pirate why haven't you arrested him yet, detective?" One of the other officers said jokingly. Felix just stared him. "I wouldn't worry about it too much" Felix said as he pulled out his flask and took a swig. The group continued to chat for a few hours. They discussed new policies and proposed budgets, and old cases. "You have quite the amount of new recruits lining up" Adolphus said trying to change the subject. "An aristocrat. A shady inventor. An Alchemist. A pirate. and a robot. This is going to be a tough crew to work with but, I see potential." "You forgot Murderer." Audrey chimed in while walking up to the group. "Ummmmmmmmmmmm, I know pirates usually kill people but that doesn’t make them murderers, necessarily." "Not the pirate. You!" She said while pointing at Felix "Me?" "Yes you!" "How?" "Alicia Marie Grey"

"That wasn't my doing and we all know that" "I reviewed the case and it all points to you." she said smugly. Felix was starting to get livid. It was late and he had a big day ahead of him, but now he was ready to yell and fight with Audrey. "What do you know Audrey???" Felix yelled as he threw a glass in her direction. She jumped out of the way as the glass shattered on the pillar behind her. Felix stormed out and slammed the door behind him. Jack went to fetch bell and as Phoebe ran outside and watched Felix walk down the street. When Jack came out carrying the drunken Bell the three followed him back to the ship. "Go Get on board" He said while sighing. He loves his free liquor. Felix thought as he saw the drunken Bell. He checked his watch. 0100. In just a few hours he would put the new crew to the test. He sighed as he went to get some travel clothes from the flat. That Same evening........ Thaddeus awoke in a dark room. All that was in front of him was two glowing red dots. Suddenly the room was illuminated for a few seconds. He saw broken and torn apart automatons on the floor. All of them looked close to humans. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the figure in front of him in the center of the room. Their dark forest green trenchcoat with a high collar paralyzed him with fear. The lights flashed again, gears and oil were all over the floors and walls, the figure was holding holding a needle this time. The room lit up one last time as he felt the needle in arm as he fell down and blacked out. Thaddeus woke up to a voice. "Get up" He rubbed his eyes and tried to get up, but his body was heavy. He fell down to his knees. The voice that was neither man nor woman, but sounded as if machine, bellowed again "Get up". He took a deep breath and tried to fight the heavy feeling, but fell back down again. "Get up!!!" The voice said as he felt a boot end up in his gullet. He spat blood and doubled over. He felt a boot in his back as he was flattened. He suddenly felt like he was up in the air and was finding it hard to breathe. He felt his collar getting tighter on his neck. He was wide awake as he hit the floor and struggled to get to one knee. He glanced around the room he was in. There was an open door on his left and the agent in the dark green trenchcoat on his right. "Soon you will be one of us." the agent said in the same mechanical voice as they placed a mask on the table behind them. Thaddeus took that moment to make a run for it. He made it a few feet before feeling a sharp pain and seeing a red glow. Everything went black as he fell onto the floor. Groggy and disoriented, life began to stir ,just before dawn, in the bed where Tim lay. He went to roll on to his stomach, not aware of just how close to the edge of the bed he was, and had his first encounter with physics for the day. “Son of a bitch……what…where?...oh. That’s right.” Rolling to his back, Tim pulled out his fob watch to check the time. It was just before 5am. “Well, I suppose I should probably get on the move if I’m going to make it back to the docks on time.”

Struggling a bit to get to his feet, he wobbled and caught himself on the bed post when he finally did. Tim began to unbutton his vest and then threw it on the bed. He took off his torn, bloody trousers and looked at his wound. “Well, that spunky little vixen did a mighty fine job on this, I’d say. It doesn’t feel that bad at all….well, that or I’ve still got a good amount of scotch in my system, either way, it’s a win win.” Walking around pantless, he went to his boots and pulls out his cigar case, giving it a good shake and letting out a sigh, remembering that he had smoked his last one the night prior. He then walked back over to his dismembered pair of trousers unbuttoned the suspenders and put them on the pair that Ara had acquired the night before. Slipping them on and tucking in his shirt, he was surprised at just how well they fit. “Huh, well look at that. And I thought I’d be swimming in canvas all day till I was able to get to a good shop” Tim slipped on his suspenders and then put his vest back on. Walking over to the sink, he washed off his face and in the mirror, adjusted his tie and cleaned up his hair. Adjusting his gun belt, he flipped the switch to the power module just to make sure his gear was alright and his reactor sprung to life, casting a green glow about the room. At the same moment, a loud knock rang through his head, coming from the door. “ God damn….too much scotch. Hold on.” He grabbed his coat, threw it on and made sure the leads to the teleporter were well hidden. He walking over to the door and opened it. There stood Ara. “Good morning” she said unnecessarily loud and with a smile.”

Sighing ,“Hello there. Next time, just jiggle the door a little, will ya?” he said. “Now where’s the fun in that? You sure did a number on that bottle last night. You ready to go, we probably shouldn’t be late” “Yes, just let me grab my hat. If would could take a route back to the docks that happens to venture past one of those shoddy tobacco shops you’d mentions, I would greatly appreciate it.” Tim walked over to the bed, picked his topper off the floor and placed it on his head. Looking in the mirror to make sure the angle on the brim was just right he walked back to the door. “Shall we?” he said to Ara “We shall, as long as you’re sure you don’t need any more time to pretty yourself up”, she retorted with a smirk. Tim raised an eyebrow and the two headed downstairs. Before heading out of the pub, Tim ran over to the bar, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, pulled out the cork and quickly threw the bottle back. Ara stood there just staring shooting Tim a strange look. He then replaced the bottle, fished around a bit and came back with a bottle of tobasco and some mint leaves. Repeating a similar ritual he had just completed with the whiskey, he placed the tobasco back behind the bar and threw some mint leaves in his mouth. He turned around to see Ara still staring with a puzzled look on her face. “What? Hair of the dog, you know?” he said. She lowered her head shaking it and placing her hand on her forehead. “What’s with the greens?” She said bringing her head back up. “Freshens up the breath a bit. Care for a nibble?” Tim said with a gleam in his eye. “No, I’m quite fine. Thanks. Can we get out of here already?” Tim just smiled and the two left the bar.

(Written by Michelle Decena) Toulouse - Six Months Previous His topaz eyes stared at the smoke coming from the fireplace. He sat calmly on the end of the bed with his shirt off and suspenders still on. The crumpled body of the little French girl lay on the floor. He knew she had been sent to kill him. Her skin was too perfect to be from the brothel. But he let her take care of him first and did the dance with her so to speak. It didn't matter because the only face he saw when he was with a woman was Anna's. However, when he was finished, she smiled and complimented him on his "talent" while reaching behind him. A hidden dagger in the carved bedpost. It was very nice work which made the Russian think that nobility was involved. But she was not quick enough as he watched her still plump lips begin to drip with blood. He had given a hard blow to her chest, crushing her breast plate and rupturing her lungs. The fragments tore at her insides while the recent blush in her face turned deathly pale. She tried to cling to him as he looked cooly into her eyes. Then he let her fall naked to the floor as a crimson stain grew around her head. The Russian went about cleaning himself off, getting dressed, and enjoying some tobacco. Eventually the haunted gurgling noises ceased and all was still. As he finished his pipe, he went over his new job in London. The associate of his employer had given him only the bare minimum. The name Bellicose, airship Alicia Grey, and leave no evidence. The sum of payment was extensive because he would have so much 'cleaning' to do. His employer wanted it spotless and that would be a great deal of work. However, the Russian had his own sources that told him a big player was involved and something with rogues. He smiled at how much he enjoyed his work. And now it was time to go and he put on his boots, grabbed his shirt and coat, and placed his hat on his head. With a slight smile

he turned to the little French girl and said," Pardon moa devyushka, I must leave. Dobre den." He walked out the door. She did not reply.