Into the Ether Read online

  Into the Ether

  by Vanessa Barger

  Published by Astraea Press, LLC

  www.astraeapress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  INTO THE ETHER

  Copyright © 2011 VANESSA BARGER

  ISBN 978-1-936852-13-0

  Cover Art Designed By Elaina Lee

  Edited By Kim Bowman

  For my family, who love me even if I am a little eccentric, and who gave me my love of reading and technology. Love you!

  For my friends, because you listen to me ramble and pretend to know what I’m talking about, even if you don’t. Thanks. You’re awesome.

  For the YAFFers who are the best critters I could ask for!

  Chapter One

  In the distance a steam engine stalled out and throbbed in the night air. My skin rippled with distress as I picked through sludge-stained cobbles. I could hear the machine drawing closer, but still far enough away that, perhaps, I wouldn’t be noticed.

  My heart fluttered, adrenaline sharpening my senses. Only a few more steps. A bright shaft of light sliced across my back, sending my shadow into sharp relief on the pavement.

  All pretense thrown aside, I broke into a run. The steam auto roared behind me and I risked a glance over my shoulder. Two police officers hunched in the cramped glass carriage of the auto. One drove, following commands barked by his partner, who rode in the passenger seat. He hung out the window, his spotlamp trained on me.

  At the nearest corner I flung myself to the left and searched for an alleyway, a door; any place to hide. The brick buildings coated with soot and grime didn’t offer any respite.

  My lungs burned and fear made my legs watery. The auto was close enough, even after making the turn, that I could see the sparkling moisture gathered on the lookout’s brow. I hoped his eyebrows singed in the heat from the gas spotlamp.

  Paying too much attention to what was behind me, I missed the curb and slipped. I tumbled, both hands spread to break my fall. My knees scraped rough pavement and I heard the sound of ripping fabric. Pain radiated from my wrists to my elbows from the impact. The auto pulled along side and I paused, waiting as the officer leapt from the auto, laughing.

  I slid my feet under my body, hiding them in the folds of my ragged skirt. When he reached out to grab my hands, I sprang up, caught him off guard, and pushed at his chest with all the force I could muster.

  He toppled, eyes wide with surprise and a wicked oath on his tongue. I noted with some satisfaction that he’d landed on his rear in a large puddle of something unpleasant. Then I spun and ran back the way I’d come.

  When my knees felt like pudding and my chest burned with each breath, I stopped, crouching in the shadow of a doorway. I strained to hear past my heavy pants. For the moment, there was nothing. I’d run more than ten blocks. Surely they hadn’t followed. All the same, I waited, pressed against the glass doorway, for several minutes. No sense in getting away once only to be caught again. I didn’t have enough stamina for that.

  Somewhere nearby a church bell tolled the hour. Nearly one. Time for a shift change at the station. No police officer stopped if they were on their way home. Too much effort. Creeping out of my hiding place, I made my way down the street, clinging to the walls and shadows, staying away from the pools of flickering gas light under the lamps.

  Almost halfway home, I stopped and patted my pockets, anxiety making my heart jump. Tonight I had been sent out alone, which didn’t happen often. My value lay in knowing an object’s worth rather than actually stealing anything. I never came back with much, but I didn’t want to come back empty handed. This evening, only a few small coins weighted my pockets. I reached inside and curled my fingers around the round metal discs, warm from my body heat. Continuing, I sighed in relief. Everything was still there. My hands burrowed deeper where the icy air couldn’t reach.

  Footsteps sounded behind me, slow at first, then gaining speed. They drew closer as I approached the dark mouth of an alleyway. My stomach knotted, and I jumped over a mound of blackened snow, landing neatly in the center of the street.

  Before I could summon the energy to run, a dark shape rammed into my gut and locked arms around my waist. All the air rushed from my lungs and I narrowly avoided cracking my skull on the pavement.

  I kicked and scratched at the human attached to me.

  “Ow! Gennie!” The attacker squeezed harder, and cold soaked through the back of my dress. A familiar, smudged face appeared over mine.

  “Terry?”

  “Geez, Gennie! I know you’re jumpy, but there’s no need to tear me apart.”

  I shook my head and shoved him off. “You’re such a pain.”

  He whacked his cap on his thigh a few times, winked at me, and grinned. “That’s why you like me so much.”

  He hid his copper hair under the hat again and fell into step beside me. “What did you get this time?”

  I held out the coins briefly and then pushed them back into my pocket.

  Terry snorted. “You really stink, you know that?”

  “I’m aware.”

  “Its good Justin doesn’t keep you based on your takes.”

  I pushed at him and he laughed.

  “Do I even want to know what loot you’re carrying around?” I asked.

  He started to pull something out of the inside pocket of his coat, but stopped. There hadn’t been more than a couple other people on the streets. They were suddenly absent. We crept forward in silence. My gaze searched the misty city ahead of us, while Terry looked behind. A noise caught my ear, and I tugged Terry into a dark alcove. The poosh-poosh-poosh of a steam auto got louder. The hulking metal beast rounded the corner, brass scratched and dull in the wavering gaslight. Gray puffs burst from the steam stack at the rear, and smuts winked red in the night before littering the pavement. Police sat in the front, keeping an eye on things. I pulled my coat closer. They weren’t looking too hard or they would have turned a search lamp on our hiding spot.

  “They’re getting more frequent.” Terry’s teasing tone vanished.

  I squeezed his shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. You’d outrun them in a flash,” I said, but my heart wasn’t quite in it. They’d been patrolling our side of London more often than normal. Our antics were beginning to get noticed.

  Terry shrugged and slid around the corner without answering. His fingers waved me forward. Sometimes, I forgot Terry was a year older than me. He could be so childish one minute and so grown-up the next. Right now he seemed thirty instead of seventeen.

  “Elliot and I tried to tell Justin about the police a couple days ago. He didn’t believe us. Maybe if you say something, he’ll take it more seriously.” Terry waited for my nod. “We’re stealing from important people. It’s too noticeable.”

  I knew that. I’d held every stolen object and seen the lives that touched it. Being a touch-know and seeing the memories of objects had been a thrill for a while. Now…I pushed the thought aside. My abilities gave me a warm place to sleep, a full belly, and a family. Any second thoughts were foolish.

  “I’ll talk to him when we get back. Besides, he’ll probably insist I get another lesson in pick pocketing from you and Elliot when he sees how little I’ve brought back.”

  Terry rolled his eyes. �
��You know how to steal, Gennie. You just don’t want to.”

  We both knew he was right so I just shrugged.

  The rest of our trek through the streets went by in tense quiet. We passed two more patrol autos. Terry was right, it wasn’t normal. They were looking for us. And it frightened me how close they’d gotten.

  We slid behind Grant Dennison’s pie shop and pushed a pile of old crates to one side. Behind them, a small wooden door guarded an entrance into the network of sewers and abandoned tunnels of London’s Underworld. Terry rapped out a pattern of knocks on the wood and the door opened. Elliot waited for us to get past before reaching out with a curved metal bar and yanking the pile of debris back into place and closing the door.

  “Have you two seen anyone else?” Elliot asked. His eyes were red around the edges, as if he’d been crying.

  We shook our heads.

  “What’s wrong?” I said.

  Elliot shook his head and wiped his nose on his wrist. “Nothing.”

  I put my hands on my hips and glared. Elliot was three years younger, so sometimes I could bully him into telling me what I wanted to know. Tonight a scowl did the job.

  “Clarissa is missing. She should have been back hours ago, but no one’s seen her. I just know the police loaded her into the back of one of their autos. They’re goin’ to take her and throw her in Newgate and I’ll never see her again.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” I told him. I forced my words to sound sincere, even though I didn’t believe them. “I’m sure your sister is fine. She’s probably just taking her time coming back.”

  Elliot shrugged and his eyes shimmered. He mumbled something and sniffed. “You two’d best be on your way. Justin’s sent word that you should go to him directly.”

  I wanted to stay until Elliot felt better, but we knew Clarissa’s chances grew slimmer as the evening wore on. Besides, if Justin sent word that he wanted to see us right away, something big was happening. I should have been more nervous about what he wanted. Instead I dreaded having to show my meager earnings in front of everyone. Again.

  Terry took a few steps down the dark passage and then glanced over his shoulder at Elliot. “You go ahead. I’ll stay with Elliot a little longer.”

  “But Justin said—”

  Terry waved a hand at me. “Just tell him I didn’t come in with you. I’ll be along in a bit.”

  I hesitated, but Terry returned to sit next to Elliot. Whatever he said seemed to help. I forced my feet to march toward the cavern we used as a common room. The muffled echoes of voices bounced off the damp walls around me. Disbelief and a surge of panic coated my tongue with the metallic taste of fear. Never before had the others been so loud. Even underground, we needed to be cautious. Anyone could enter these caverns. We’d spent many nights listening to footsteps come close to our hideout and then veer away. Dread made my steps slow.

  I stepped into the wavering light created by several hurricane lamps scattered throughout the room. Two large men stood outside the rocky alcove that served as Justin’s quarters. Shabby red curtains hung over the opening, looking even more worn next to the crisp white linen shirts and brocade waistcoats they wore. They were dark-haired and their eyes never rested on anything for long. Except for me, and I broke into a cold sweat when I saw a flicker of recognition on one face.

  The taller of the two leaned down and pushed his head inside the curtain. The noise in the room faded and died. Around us, the lamps sputtered in a strange breeze. The curtains moved and a large man passed by, hurrying through the room with another man, and one of the guards. Justin appeared after them.

  The men moved so close that I should have gotten a good look at their faces. Instead, I focused on the stranger’s hand as he passed by me. In the dim light, a large silver ring flashed on his pinky. A serpent wound around the finger eating its tail, studded with two sapphire eyes. The silver and stones winked as if the room were filled with a roaring fire.

  Most of the time when handed an object, I didn’t want to touch it and see the object’s memories. This time, my fingers itched to trace the graceful curves. The stranger passed, and I blinked. My hand stretched toward it, but I stopped myself as the light brightened. I felt foggy, like I moved through a sea of molasses. Something seemed off, something important, but just out of my reach.

  “Genevieve!” Justin’s voice cut through the haze.

  I turned and moved toward him. He looked lost. As if he’d just been told that his life was a lie. That he’d never been orphaned and the family he despised for abandoning him had been searching for him all along.

  “You wanted to see me?” My voice came out strained. I still felt like any moment someone would shake me awake.

  “Come with me,” Justin said.

  His behavior confused me, but I followed him into the small alcove, giving the guard at the door a wide berth. Once I was inside, the stranger came in, watching me intently. I didn’t like the speculative gleam in his eyes.

  “What’s going on, Justin?”

  He ignored me. “What did you bring back?”

  I glared, but he merely cocked a brow. I sighed and opened my palm to spill a few pounds onto the small wooden slab he called a table.

  “She doesn’t look like much of a thief.” The stranger’s words were laced with an unfamiliar accent.

  Justin’s gaze flicked to him. “Looks can be deceiving, Spiros.”

  So could words, apparently. I kept my face blank even while I wondered what Justin had been telling Spiros. Everyone knew I wasn’t good at thieving.

  Spiros grunted and muttered something in a foreign language. Fear brushed the depths of Justin’s green eyes.

  “Now then, Genevieve, I have a job for you.” He leaned forward and scooped the coins off his desk, depositing them in his pocket. “Spiros’ employer has contracted us to liberate something of tremendous value. He has heard of your…gift and believes you are the only one who can get the item.”

  I nodded. “All right.”

  Spiros stirred and I looked up at him. “You don’t even know what you’re getting yet.”

  I crossed my arms. He frightened me, but I pretended otherwise. Old habits. “Justin asked me, so I’ll do it. We’re family.”

  That brought a smile to Spiros’ lips. It didn’t meet his eyes. Justin’s cheeks colored and I wondered if I had said something wrong.

  “Very well, then. You’re looking for a box.”

  I waited. Surely there was more to it than that.

  “It’s being kept at the British Museum. The curator is the man to avoid. He knows and guards this box.”

  “Is it a treasure of some kind? An artifact?” I could, at the least, ask intelligent questions. Terry had been right about my reluctance to steal anything. But somehow Spiros’ words conjured images that captivated me. I wanted this box. I could almost see it in my mind.

  “It’s silver and brass, heavily carved, and requires a key. The key should be with it. The curator won’t give the treasure up easily. He may have the two items in separate locations.”

  “What kind of a box is it?”

  “The size of a jewelry box. Not much bigger.”

  “No problem.” I turned back to Justin. “When am I going?”

  Spiros answered. “As soon as you’re ready I’ll take you there. Scotland Yard has become interested in your neighborhood. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you on your way there.”

  A look passed between Spiros and Justin that I couldn’t decipher. The words were politely phrased, but I caught the underlying threat. A shiver traced cold fingers down my spine.

  Justin looked away first. He handed me a small felt bag with coins. “I’ll send Terry to you tomorrow for news. You have a limited amount of time for this. Don’t…”

  He turned to Spiros. “Could I have a moment?”

  The tall man nodded and ducked out of the room.

  “Don’t come back empty handed, Gennie.” Justin’s expression was cold and ha
rd in the flickering candlelight. “If you don’t get the item, I would suggest you get as far away from here as possible. No one will be able to help you then. Not even God.”

  Chapter Two

  I stumbled out of Justin’s room in a daze. Tears made the room ripple before me, but I blinked them back. The boy I’d looked up to for the last six years, first as an older brother and then as a secret crush, had abandoned me. It hurt far more than the night I’d been left alone in the dark. At least that I couldn’t remember clearly. This would be etched into my heart forever.

  But I wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

  Spiros waited in the common room. He stood alone. The others gave him a wide berth. He put on a long black overcoat that seemed to emphasize the sense of menace that surrounded him. A lacquered, black cane was swallowed up in his hands as he tugged on a pair of expensive Italian leather gloves. I’d have bet money the walking stick held a hidden sword or pistol. If he hadn’t been so scary, he wouldn’t have left with the gloves or the cane. The others would have taken them and made quick money at the pawn broker a few streets away.

  “Are you ready?”

  Some of the shock wore off and I nodded. A thought popped into my head. I blinked at him, ignoring his motion for us to leave.

  “How will I know it’s the right item? You haven’t really given me much to go on.”

  Spiros gave me a small, strange smile. His eyes remained hard and dangerous. “Once you touch it, you’ll know. According to my employer, you need only see it and you’ll understand. He puts far more value on your abilities than I.”

  I didn’t take the bait. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Yes. You should. The alternative is…unpleasant.” He didn’t wait to see my response. “Shall we?”

  The only thing of value I owned was the silver charm bracelet I kept tied in a pocket on my shift. Terry would watch the other odds and ends I kept here. Not that anyone would take them. The common room was neutral ground. Honor among thieves and all that.