Chapter 111: Turncoat Part 2

"I heard the burned-out hulk of your steam carriage was found on the Chessop Bridge."
"We had a bit of trouble."
"The kind of trouble which leaves bodies behind." The Inspector looked sharply at Cal.
"I am not well-liked in some circles."
"Forgive me, my Lady, but dislike doesn't usually result in corpses and beatings."
"This is true, but the people involved have goals beyond the obvious." Cal closed her eyes and picked her words carefully. "You may know a bit of the work I am doing."
"I know you are introduced as the Lady Commander, have been linked in some minds with a certain Ambassador. The exact nature of your work is not my business."
"I would be surprised if you had. The people who work for me are sworn to secrecy. This project will turn the tide of the next war."
"You are suggesting this was an attempt to gain information from you."
"I think so, an attempt to scare me in preparation for such an attempt at the least." Cal sipped at her tea again. "Many think a woman too frail to withstand the fear of such an assault." She put her cup down a little more forcefully than necessary. "I have faced death before, and will again, but no kind of threat will convince me to betray my country."
"I see." The Inspector leaned back and eyed Cal for a long moment before he sighed. "I will file my report and leave the situation for your superiors to handle as they will."
"Perhaps, if you have an opportunity to see the Baroness, you could pass on my apology for being so rude as to be abducted from her ball. I was enjoying myself up to that point."
The Inspector laughed, then stood up and bowed slightly.
"Accept my hopes for a quick recovery." He handed her a card. "If you have the need of the police for any reason, contact me here."
Beth showed him out.
"I think I will sit in the parlour for a time." Cal looked at the card and sighed.
Bundo came from where he'd been sitting out of sight and walked beside her.
"Already, I feel stronger." Cal settled into her chair. "Beth's food is good medicine." She pulled out a notebook and began to write up the summary of events for Bundo to keep safe.
"My Lady, you have a caller. She apologizes for coming uninvited but wished to see for herself that you are well." Beth put her head in the door.
"If she doesn't mind that I'm not properly dressed to receive visitors, show her in."
Beth left and returned shortly leading Baroness Naismith.
"My dear Lady Shillingsworth, I am mortified."
"Beth, perhaps bring tea and leave us for a while.
***
When Cal walked through the doors into the Shed, Landers shouted "Commander on deck" and the engineers formed up to welcome her back.
"I'm touched," Cal said to them. "It's good to be back. Now, team leaders in my office in five. I want to know what you've been doing in my absence."
The day passed quickly. She added the new information to the large plan for the airship and several details to the small drawings. To get a solid feel for what the engineers had been doing, Cal pulled the clean copies of the plans from the locked room, then updated them with the new advances. She quickly made copies of the plans before putting the originals back into the locked room.
The escort from the Navy doubled, making the trip from the Academy to her house even slower. She was sure there were more watching the house. Cal passed the time with her sketchbook. At home, she met Hans in the stable to work on her plan to heat water and keep it hot.
"We don't need a high-pressure boiler." Cal tapped on the tank. "It only needs to hold the water at a hot temperature, not as steam. It will mean we don't need to watch the pressure beyond a release if the pressure gets too high."
"We'd be best to set it up in the shed outside the kitchen." Hans walked around the tank. "It will keep the fire hazard down and Beth uses more hot water than the baths."
"Sounds good." Cal sketched on a paper pinned to the wall. "We put the tank on feet and make space below it for the fire. Make an enclosure around the tank to the chimney. Keep the heat in as much as possible."
"I can get our usual man to make the necessary parts." Hans drew in a couple of lines. "If we put in a line here, we can pump water into the tank to replace what is used. By setting that up in the evening, it should be hot by morning."
"Good thinking." Cal rubbed her eyes carefully. The bruises on her face were still tender. "If this works, I expect we can make a fortune selling these. Father has left me interest in several manufacturing plants which could easily make this kind of thing."
"Do you need the money?" Hans lifted an eyebrow.
"Not really, but if I'm going to be giving away lots of money, it will be helpful to have more income."
"You are giving money away?"
"I suppose I haven't told you. Cameron about died when I told him I'd pledged 20,000 sovereigns to Prince Alfred's art museum project."
To his credit, Hans didn't pale a much as Cameron had, but then he wasn't an accountant.