The Guild Conspiracy (29 page)

She nodded. “That was the deadline I was given.”

“I see . . . So, rushed for time, you designed the machine within the week and turned the imperfect designs over to the Guild, who then began preparations for initial production.”

“That's right.”

“Then the error slipped past the notice of your engineering team and remained in the final design that was approved for prototype construction. This is the fault that caused the quadrupeds to malfunction in France. Correct?”

“Yes, but—­”

“But you repaired it—­the prototype,” he said, reaching across the council bench for a sheaf of papers. He riffled through the pages. “You removed this faulty axle plate, the one causing the rotational disparity.”

“I did, yes,” she said with a frown. She glanced from the magistrate to Vice-­Chancellor Lyndon and back. “When I discovered the error in the machine's design, I repaired the fault immediately. But how did you—­”

“I have the report here, as signed by one of your fellow engineers and approved by Vice-­Chancellor Lyndon,” he said, waving a piece of paper in front of him. “But if you repaired the prototype, how then did this error manifest in the quadruped army that deployed in France?”

“Because the repair was a ruse,” said Julian, his voice edged. “I daresay that much is obvious. Or else the quadrupeds would not have failed. Her attempted ‘repair' was nothing but an effort to conceal the truth of her sabotage.”

The magistrate turned toward Julian, regarding him with the full force of his cold, clinical stare. “So you were aware of her repair of the prototype?”

“I am aware of her
claim
,” Julian said calmly, unruffled by the magistrate's words. “Though I would not call her sudden involvement in the prototype's development a ‘repair.' If she made any changes to the prototype in the days before its completion, that is only further proof of her sabotage. Inevitably, her interference caused the machines built from the final design to fail.”

“That could be,” said the magistrate, conceding the point with a nod.

“No, that's not what happened,” said Petra. “The quadrupeds failed because—­”

“I have seen your quadruped prototype, Miss Wade,” said the magistrate, his sharp voice bullying hers into silence. “Vice-­Chancellor Lyndon was kind enough to grant me access to the workshop where it was built. While I reviewed your designs and examined the machine—­I am a mechanical engineer myself, you see, a University graduate—­I found no fault in the prototype's design, no issue of rotational disparity or mismatched gear systems; the defunct regulator had been removed, as outlined in your repair. By all accounts, the prototype works. No malfunction whatsoever.” He folded his hands across the table in front of him and leaned forward. “And yet the quadrupeds at France still failed. If the prototype was repaired and the report filed, why would the quadruped army still fail?”

Petra swallowed hard. “Because Julian commissioned the quadruped army before the prototype was finished. He used the initial prototype design, the one approved by the engineering team, the design containing the flaw.”

The magistrate shuffled through a few more pages of notes and conferred with one of the other men sitting nearby. “Vice-­Chancellor Lyndon . . . you claim to have evidence to support this statement, do you not? Evidence to suggest that Minister Goss did indeed know of the repair to the quadruped, prior to the deployment of this early-­commissioned army.”

“I do, sir,” said Lyndon, stepping forward. “I believe Minister Goss manufactured the quadruped army from an early draft of the quadruped design, and that he knew of the repair to the prototype prior to the deployment of that army. After he arrested Miss Wade for attempted sabotage, I shared with him the repair order she had filed, but he obviously chose to ignore the repair—­or else the quadruped army would not have failed.”

“None of this can be proven,” said Julian. “I—­”

“There are multiple testimonies to support this claim,” said the magistrate. “I have testimony from Yancy Lyndon confirming the repair of the prototype, and here, a testimony from Rupert Larson, the designing engineer of the new Royal Forces warship. According to
his
written statement, he discovered the quadruped army several days before the completion of the prototype.”

“Their testimonies prove nothing,” said Julian. “Larson is an intimate associate of Miss Wade's and cannot be trusted to testify against her; I would not be surprised if he shared her anti-­imperialist sentiments. As for the Lyndon boy, he was on the quadruped engineering team, often seen in deep conversation with the girl, as many of the other engineers will attest. For all we know, he might have helped her sabotage the machine, using his connections to his father to cover up their schemes.”

“And what evidence do you have of such claims?” asked the magistrate. “As yet, you have failed to produce anything substantial against Miss Wade, neither to support your claims that she is an anti-­imperialist or that she willfully sabotaged the quadruped project.”

The magistrate leaned forward in his chair. “The facts are this, Minister: the quadruped army failed as a result of some measure of neglect—­willful or not—­and their failure resulted in the loss of British lives. I have reviewed enough evidence to suggest Miss Wade be absolved of any responsibility in regards to their failure. However, I cannot say the same for you.”

“Then allow me to bring forth my own witnesses,” said Julian. “They will testify to the truth, not these traitorous lies.”

The magistrate seemed to consider it. “I believe you are allowed witnesses as a part of your defense, once an official investigation has begun,” he said, sitting up in his chair. He folded his hands. “I may not have the legal authority to arrest you on these accusations of conspiracy, but I must consider what would motivate you to manufacture an entire army of war machines from an untested prototype—­or why you would not repair those machines once learning of a fault in their design, a fault that would surely lead to their failure. There are too many questions still left unanswered, and more than enough evidence to implicate some deeper motive to your actions.”

He reached for the gavel next to the scattered paperwork littering the council bench. “Therefore, I declare this preliminary hearing ended. As a result of our initial findings, Julian Goss, Minister to the Vice-­Chancellor, is hereby placed into Royal Society custody for suspicion of negligence, an investigation to be held forthwith.” The gavel rapped against the table like a thunderclap, and the magistrate gestured to a pair of Royal Forces soldiers to the side of the bench. “Take him somewhere secure while we conduct our preliminary investigations. We leave for London first thing tomorrow.”

Julian stalked toward the council bench, brushing the two soldiers away. “I will not be treated this way, like a common criminal,” he said, glaring at the magistrate. “I have given everything to the Guild, to the Empire. Everything I have done has been in the best interest of our future, for the good of science, for the good of the
world
. Only a fool would fail to see where my loyalties lie.”

“That may be,” said the magistrate. “But the
evidence
points to—­”

“I should not be the one on trial here,” Julian said, pointing an accusing finger at Petra. “That girl is an anti-­imperialist traitor, a known saboteur and French informer, planted here to sow discord within the Guild. Already, she has swayed the vice-­chancellor and her peers to her cause, falsifying evidence to discredit me and all I have done to advance this institution forward. She is our
enemy
, and if she is not dealt with to the full extent of the law, she will destroy everything we have worked for, everything we have built. Already, she destroyed the automaton; she sabotaged an entire army of war machines and caused the deaths of hundreds of British lives. Is that not evidence enough?”

A heavy silence followed his words, and the magistrate leaned forward in his chair. “I have every intention of bringing the person responsible for the deaths of those soldiers to justice,” he said evenly. “But I follow evidence, Mr. Goss, not hearsay, and given the evidence as presented to me, I do not believe that Miss Wade is the one who is at fault for the quadrupeds' failure.”

“Lies and deceit,” he hissed. “She has fooled you all.”

“No,” Petra said, finally stepping forward, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I have shown them the truth. You've lost, Julian. It's over.”

He scowled at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

The magistrate gestured again to the two Royal Forces soldiers, and the two men swept in and seized Julian by the arms.

“You are making a mistake, Magistrate,” he said, standing tall and proud despite the soldiers' firm grip. “While you waste your time investigating me, France will recover from their losses at Amiens and Calais, and they will come for us, stronger than ever. I hope you are prepared when they do.”

“Take him away.”

The soldiers dragged him out of the council chambers, the doors shutting soundly behind them. Only then did Petra dare breathe a sigh of relief.

It was done.

“Now,” said the magistrate, leaning back in his chair. “The Privy Council in London will soon expect a report of our findings, so I should like to review as much evidence as possible before we send word of our suspicions. While our official investigation pertains only to the technological failure of the quadrupeds, if we can convince the Privy Council that your suspicions of conspiracy have merit, that there is substantial enough evidence to support your claims, then we may be able to bring forward a full investigation into the matter. Should we find anything of consequence, Minister Goss will join us in London for our meeting with the Privy Council, where we will hold him until trial. If you could provide me with access to the minister's office, the names of any potential co-­conspirators, close associates, or subordinates who may have reported directly to the minister in the last several months, and any other applicable evidence that may aid our investigation, we can then begin to build an argument to suggest that Minister Goss conspired in the failure of the quadrupeds at Amiens and Calais, and that his knowledge of the fault in the design could have prevented the deaths that resulted from that failure.”

Vice-­Chancellor Lyndon executed a deep bow. “The Guild is at your disposal, Magistrate.”

“Very good. I should also advise you to recall any engineers who may still be afield, anyone who may have ties with the minister, or who might have information relevant to the investigation. We will need to question anyone who might know more of his affairs.”

“Of course,” said the vice-­chancellor. “I will do so at once.”

The magistrate rose from his chair behind the council bench. “Then we shall take our leave of you and begin our preliminary investigation of these matters. We have a lot to do before we return to London.”

Petra stepped forward. “What about the war?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It's just . . . If you can prove Julian was responsible for the deaths at Amiens and not the French, then surely the war cannot go on. It can be stopped, can't it?”

The magistrate pressed his lips into a grim frown. “If Minister Goss is indeed responsible for the deaths of those soldiers, then we will find what evidence we can of his involvement and bring him to justice, but I'm afraid that there is little we can do to stem the tides of war. Blood has been spilled, and whether by his hand or not, men are dead—­on both sides of this conflict. All we can do now is deliver our findings to the Privy Council and hope to mitigate the damage.”

“But surely the Privy Council can call for a ceasefire? They have the power to stop this war before it goes any further. They must do something.”

“It's out of our hands, Petra,” said Lyndon, laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Then we've lost,” she said, her chest tight. She turned toward the vice-­chancellor. “After everything, he still managed to start a war. We failed.”

“No, Petra . . .” he said gently. “Julian will pay for what he has done. Eventually, the truth will come out and he
will
be brought to justice.” He squeezed her shoulder. “We won today. You should be proud.”

She swallowed hard and glanced around the council chambers, a sinking feeling deep in her chest. “Then why does it feel like it isn't over yet?”

A
month later, Petra stood once again in the hallway outside the council chambers, a future ahead of her without Julian standing in her way. The day after the hearing, he had been hauled away to London by the Royal Society for suspicion of his crimes at Amiens, enough preliminary evidence found to suggest an ulterior motive behind the early manufacture of the quadrupeds. Whether or not there was evidence to prove he was guilty of a conspiracy to start a war . . . she had to believe they would find it, that the Royal Society would succeed where she had failed.

Eventually, Julian would pay for what he had done at Amiens. He would pay for all those lives lost, for the failure of the quadrupeds and the bombing of the battlefield. He would pay for everything he had done to secure his war.

It was only a matter of time.

And now, with Julian gone, she faced the very real prospect of a future without his threats, without the constant fear of retribution. For the first time in almost a year, she was free.

Free to pursue her dreams on her own terms.

“I wish I could stay,” said Braith, standing next to her in front of the council room doors. “But the Royal Society wants me at the evidentiary hearing before the Privy Council tomorrow morning, and if I'm to make it back to London in time, I need to leave on the next ship.”