toddlers don’t have a device capable of killing people. Have you come to the part where they want to present Kali’s Scream to the Prince of Wales?”
“Yes.” She frowned and rubbed her chin with the heel of her hand, then leaned on it, elbow on desk. “The problem is, they skirt around outright discussion of an assassination attempt. Nazim’s claim to use the device for the deaf and dedicate it to the prince could be argued from the notes. They’re vague enough.”
“The vitriol isn’t vague.”
She sighed and smiled wryly. “I’ve heard it before. You’d have heard it, too, if you’d attended the socialist meeting with me at the Rootail Pub. I have any number of such radical tracts from various revolutionaries. A lot of people want to change the world. Some, like the anarchists, don’t care what or whom they destroy in doing so.”
“Pernicious claptrap.”
“No, it’s not. Not all of it. Reverend Sherbrooke suggested I join the Fabian Society. He’s a member. I’ve been reading the essays of George Bernard Shaw, among others, and they do seem to care about the same issues I consider important, things like social welfare for everyone and improvements in education. Plus the common sense of their approach appeals to me. They’re not hotheads shouting for revolution. They’re not promising a Utopia. They’re simply looking for steady progress. You wouldn’t think that would be so much to ask.”
Jed cleared his throat. “Getting back to the notes…”
“I agree we shouldn’t trust Nazim, as Lajli calls him. We definitely shouldn’t return the blueprints for Kali’s Scream to him. But there’s not enough in the notes to take them to the authorities. You were right. We need to know if Kali’s Scream works.” She peered across the desk at his jottings and sketches. “Does it?”
“I need to build a prototype—”
“Different question.” She held up one finger. She’d been an inventor’s daughter long enough to know what to ask. “Do the principles underpinning the sonic amplifier make it feasible?”
“Initially, I thought not, but looking into it, I realize I haven’t kept up with the latest research. I believe that, in principle, the device might work.”
“Darn. I’ve heard tales of opera singers shattering glass with their voices, but I thought they were just that. Tales.”
Jed leaned back in his chair. “Sound is powerful. We’re only just beginning to understand its possibilities and those of electricity. Think of the telegraph and how it connects the world.”
She got up to pace. “Do you know the first message sent on the telegraph? ‘What hath God wrought?’ But this device, Kali’s Scream…it’s more like the devil’s work.”
“Don’t blame the devil. Understanding the science of sound is neutral, it’s how we use that knowledge. First we had the telegraph, then the telephone, now Marconi and others are talking about sending electricity waves through the air, not just along a line. Their research and inventions are bringing us all closer. Imagine the miracle of talking to your father in his mining camp without any telegraph or telephone wires.”
“I’d like that, but…”
He caught her hand as she walked past and drew her to a stop. “With Kali’s Scream, there is one ray of hope that I’d like to explore. I think the notes exaggerate the effect of the device.”
“Really?” She looked down at him. It was an unusual angle. Courtesy dictated the man remain standing till a lady sat down. She felt an urge to muss Jed’s dark brown hair, and then, with her hand in his hair, to tilt his head back. She’d lean over him, take his mouth, initiate the kiss they’d been denied.
She blushed at her thoughts. For all her radical ideas of female suffrage, she’d always been intensely proper in her dealings with men—but now she felt wanton. Even her breasts, so decorously covered in sensible undergarments, tingled at the thought of leaning over
“Yes.” She frowned and rubbed her chin with the heel of her hand, then leaned on it, elbow on desk. “The problem is, they skirt around outright discussion of an assassination attempt. Nazim’s claim to use the device for the deaf and dedicate it to the prince could be argued from the notes. They’re vague enough.”
“The vitriol isn’t vague.”
She sighed and smiled wryly. “I’ve heard it before. You’d have heard it, too, if you’d attended the socialist meeting with me at the Rootail Pub. I have any number of such radical tracts from various revolutionaries. A lot of people want to change the world. Some, like the anarchists, don’t care what or whom they destroy in doing so.”
“Pernicious claptrap.”
“No, it’s not. Not all of it. Reverend Sherbrooke suggested I join the Fabian Society. He’s a member. I’ve been reading the essays of George Bernard Shaw, among others, and they do seem to care about the same issues I consider important, things like social welfare for everyone and improvements in education. Plus the common sense of their approach appeals to me. They’re not hotheads shouting for revolution. They’re not promising a Utopia. They’re simply looking for steady progress. You wouldn’t think that would be so much to ask.”
Jed cleared his throat. “Getting back to the notes…”
“I agree we shouldn’t trust Nazim, as Lajli calls him. We definitely shouldn’t return the blueprints for Kali’s Scream to him. But there’s not enough in the notes to take them to the authorities. You were right. We need to know if Kali’s Scream works.” She peered across the desk at his jottings and sketches. “Does it?”
“I need to build a prototype—”
“Different question.” She held up one finger. She’d been an inventor’s daughter long enough to know what to ask. “Do the principles underpinning the sonic amplifier make it feasible?”
“Initially, I thought not, but looking into it, I realize I haven’t kept up with the latest research. I believe that, in principle, the device might work.”
“Darn. I’ve heard tales of opera singers shattering glass with their voices, but I thought they were just that. Tales.”
Jed leaned back in his chair. “Sound is powerful. We’re only just beginning to understand its possibilities and those of electricity. Think of the telegraph and how it connects the world.”
She got up to pace. “Do you know the first message sent on the telegraph? ‘What hath God wrought?’ But this device, Kali’s Scream…it’s more like the devil’s work.”
“Don’t blame the devil. Understanding the science of sound is neutral, it’s how we use that knowledge. First we had the telegraph, then the telephone, now Marconi and others are talking about sending electricity waves through the air, not just along a line. Their research and inventions are bringing us all closer. Imagine the miracle of talking to your father in his mining camp without any telegraph or telephone wires.”
“I’d like that, but…”
He caught her hand as she walked past and drew her to a stop. “With Kali’s Scream, there is one ray of hope that I’d like to explore. I think the notes exaggerate the effect of the device.”
“Really?” She looked down at him. It was an unusual angle. Courtesy dictated the man remain standing till a lady sat down. She felt an urge to muss Jed’s dark brown hair, and then, with her hand in his hair, to tilt his head back. She’d lean over him, take his mouth, initiate the kiss they’d been denied.
She blushed at her thoughts. For all her radical ideas of female suffrage, she’d always been intensely proper in her dealings with men—but now she felt wanton. Even her breasts, so decorously covered in sensible undergarments, tingled at the thought of leaning over
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