Chapter 96: Disastrous Demonstration Part 1

The week after the ball, a messenger delivered a missive to Cal's office. The Crown Prince had been invited to view the demonstration of a radically different kind of steam engine and he wanted her to be present. Cal's stomach went cold and she had to stop herself from checking on the plans in the room, or her record of the mistakes she'd place in them.
She wasn't the only person working on steam engines. She knew of two shops which were involved in a race to produce a better way to use steam to drive machines. The address on the invitation wasn't either of those shops, though.
The coach the Prince had sent to fetch her would be arriving soon. Cal had been working on Patrick's newest incarnation of the fan engine. Her clothes were covered with grease and metal dust and she had no time to change.
The driver of the coach didn't even raise an eyebrow at her appearance. He opened the door for her, then climbed up and set out almost before she'd taken her seat. The coach had something which smoothed out the ride. She'd have to make an excuse to crawl under it one day and investigate. They pulled up in front of a new brick building. One of the prince's guards met her at the door.
"His Highness is waiting for you, Commander."
"Lead on."
The guard walked her into a long room where a medium-sized boiler already radiated heat. The pressure looked to be over 400 psi. A respectable level, she admitted to herself. The pipe out of the boiler ran straight to a conical steel casing. A pipe came out the other end pointing up at the ceiling, probably to safely vent the steam. A shaft ended with something which looked like an oversized ship's screw. People were gathered around it, while the prince stood in a bubble of space created by his bodyguards.
"Cal," the Prince called, "come over and give me your opinion."
She wound through the crowd and peered more closely at the setup.
"The shield looks all right. Not quite the angle I think would be most efficient, but for a prototype, it isn't bad."
A man wearing a leather apron over a suit frowned at her. He opened his mouth, but another man wearing a suit but no apron put a hand on his arm to forestall him.
Cal turned the screw by hand. The slightest grinding buzzed under her fingers. When she turned it not quite a half spin, it slowly rotated back the original position. She tried again the other way and got the same result.
"It will be very dangerous to run a test in a room full of people." Cal pointed to the screw. "The shaft is out of balance; something is rubbing inside the casing. It might be all right if the test is kept at low pressure, but even then, I'd be concerned. We've found the failure point very hard to predict."
"The design is sound, it is safe." The man in the apron stepped forward quickly, almost as if he planned to strike Cal. One of the bodyguards put out an arm.
"How many times have you tested the design to the failure point?" Cal waved at the room. "I don't see any damage, so either you haven't done the test, or you have a different shop."
"Your Highness, please don't let Lady Shillingsworth's professional jealousy affect your opinion. She is not the only person capable of thinking creatively." He glared in her direction in contradiction to his obsequious manner.
"He's right, of course," Cal said. "And I would be delighted to see a successful test. I don't care who gets the glory for the design. My concern is the lack of some basic safety precautions."
More people were crowding into the room as she spoke and dread clutched at her. She didn't want to say it in public, but she recognized the design as an early version of the fan engine which shook itself apart even at relatively low pressures. At 400 psi, it would be a bomb.
"I personally guarantee your safety, Your Highness." The man without the apron spoke up.
How? Cal shifted uneasily.
HRH Hubert looked at his bodyguards and lifted an eyebrow. They sighed and he nodded.
"Proceed."
The crowd had filled up the space around them. If it came apart it would impossible for anyone to escape without injury. Taking a deep breath, Cal planted herself between the Prince and the engine.
"Commander, what are you doing?" From his tone, the Crown Prince was annoyed.
"I have a duty to protect you." Cal didn't turn around. She stiffened as bodyguards took her arms. "I've seen what happens if these engines fail. With me between you and the engine, you have a better chance of survival."
"Very well, but we will discuss this later." The hands receded. "If it does go bad what would you recommend?" He whispered in her ear.
"You won't have time to react. I will try to warn you, but this early version is very unstable. You will do best to dive to the floor toward the boiler. The damage will be in a ring around the engine."
"I hope you are wrong."
"So do I, Your Highness."
The men in suits took their positions, the one without the apron at the valve by the boiler. The other positioned himself across the engine from the Prince.