Steampunk Omnibus: A Galvanic Century Collection (66 page)

"See that he does. Fluids. Vitamins. Red meat."

"Yes, Doctor," Aldora said.

"The old man is getting soft in his age," Bartleby said.

"I've had worse."

"It's my fault, really," Aldora said. "If I hadn't bantered with Teague for as long as I did--"

"It didn't take too long," I said.

Her eyes flickered to mine. "I didn't realize that you were awake."

"I was in shock," I said. "Very difficult state to keep a head steady in."

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you, old boy," Bartleby said. "She seemed quite the match for you, until the whole murder and stabbing business."

"I would hardly say that," I said.

"But she was a scientist," Bartleby said. "And quite the accomplished one."

"Oh, I'd hardly call psychology a
science,"
I said, reaching for the tray of fruit and breakfast meat the cook had sent up. "It's not like she was a real academic."

"Well, we've saved the city the expense of a trial, at the very least," Bartleby said.

"Don't be so callous, Alton," Aldora said. "She was sick. And with this scandal, I don't think we'll see another Bedford for some time."

Bartleby spoke softly. "How many people are there out there in need of care that the Empire cannot provide?"

"I don't know anybody who doesn't." I lay back, eyes slowly closing. "Bartleby. Your father?"

"Oh? Yes. Well. The staff are testifying that he took control in a crisis situation and kept the patients from getting out of hand. They're stopping short of giving him a commendation, but he won't face future censor. And, thank god, he won't be released."

"Didn't he orchestrate the takeover?"

"Quite odd that it didn't come up. Justice's thirst has been slaked, and the city is more than ready to put the business behind itself."

"Any further cases?" I asked. "I could read the files here in bed. Maybe you could move me down to my workshop--"

"There's the case of the detective who mysteriously found his tea spiked with laudanum," Aldora said.

I couldn't help but laugh. It hurt.

Want More?

James Wainwright always considered himself a working-class engineer playing at detective, never taking the vocation for more than an idle hobby and opportunity to test some of his steampunk inventions. His investigations have always been more of a means of humoring his business partner, idle toff Alton Bartleby.

That was before his adopted daughter Xin Yan was taken.

Never comfortable in social situations, James finds himself tracking his daughter's kidnappers from London's Limehouse to the gritty streets of Hong Kong, down paths where his mechanical know-how won't serve him. Searching a foreign land, he'll find that his greatest challenges aren't those who have taken from him what is most dear, but letting go of his most treasured preconceptions about the world.

Follow the action to
the nascent Republic of China in
Ghosts of Shaolin
, the fifth Galvanic Century steampunk thriller.

About the Author

Michael Coorlim is a teller of strange stories for stranger people. He collects them, the oddballs. The mystics and fire-spinners, the sages and tricksters. He curates their tales, combines their elements and lets them rattle around inside his rock-tumbler skull until they gleam, then spills them loose onto the page for like-minded readers to enjoy.

He writes fast-paced stories about real people in fantastic situations, plots with just a twist of the surreal, set in worlds just a shadow's breadth from our own. He's the author of the Galvanic Century series of Steampunk Thrillers, the literary apocalyptic short story collection Grief, and the supernatural serial Profane Apotheosis.

If you want early notifications of upcoming titles, discounts, giveaways, and other fun you can subscribe to his new release 
mailing list
.