The Feaster From The Stars (Blackwood and Harrington) Read Online Free

not.’
    ‘And a few days ago, a maintenance crew saw the apparition of an old woman walking along the northbound tunnel. They said they had the impression that she was looking for something…’
    ‘Or someone,’ Blackwood mused. ‘Perhaps a loved one who had fallen victim to the Plague. Powerful emotions possess their own life, and live on long after the ones who experienced them have departed.’
    De Chardin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘That’s not the worst of it, though. Just last night, a train driver encountered something near Kennington Station which seems to have completely unhinged his mind.’
    Blackwood hesitated, then stood up and moved to the drinks cabinet next to his desk. Opening the cabinet and taking out a decanter of brandy and a couple of balloon glasses, he said, ‘Before you continue, I think we could both make good use of something a little stronger than coffee – in spite of the early hour.’
    De Chardin gave a grim chuckle and replied, ‘I won’t decline that offer.’
    Blackwood handed him a glass, took a fortifying sip and said, ‘Do go on… about Kennington.’
    ‘Have you heard of the Kennington Loop?’
    ‘It’s the means by which trains turn around at the terminus of the Central and South London, isn’t it?’
    ‘Quite correct. A driver named Alfie Morgan took his train into the Loop at around ten o’clock last night. There was a delay while the Charing Cross platform was cleared of another train, during which Morgan was obliged to remain within the Loop. When the signal changed and Morgan failed to emerge, a track-walker was despatched to investigate. He came upon the stationary train three quarters of the way around the Loop and climbed into the driver’s cab, where he found Morgan… laughing, gibbering and, apparently, quite insane.’
    ‘Good Lord,’ Blackwood muttered. ‘Where is this Morgan fellow now?’
    ‘He was taken to Bethlem Hospital, where his condition is at present being closely observed.’
    ‘I see. And what is the name of the man who found him – the track-walker?’
    ‘His name is Oliver Clarke.’
    ‘And did he see anything unusual – more unusual, that is, than an insane train driver?’
    De Chardin shook his head. ‘Unfortunately not – or perhaps fortunately, for Clarke at least.’
    ‘I daresay,’ Blackwood smiled. ‘A most intriguing case, but I must say that I fail to see what it has to do with Her Majesty’s Bureau of Clandestine Affairs.’
    De Chardin returned his smile as he replied, ‘As we have already noted, ordinarily it would be left to the SPR to investigate, but there are several factors here that place it very squarely in your lap. For one thing, the Underground is, as you know, being refitted with a new atmospheric railway – a monumental project which hasn’t come cheap. The directors and shareholders of the various railroad companies are getting very jittery indeed over this affair, and the drivers and maintenance crews are even more jittery, since they’re the ones who have to work in the tunnels, and many are talking openly about refusing to carry on with their work until something is done about it.’
    ‘An attitude which will only become more entrenched once word of Mr Morgan’s condition gets around.’
    ‘Oh, you may rest assured that it has already got around. In fact, they’re talking about little else down there!’
    Blackwood pondered this for a few moments. ‘I suppose you’re right: this situation could have serious implications for the Underground…’
    ‘That’s putting it mildly,’ de Chardin muttered. ‘It could threaten the very future of the network, and Her Majesty is not best pleased at the notion. The London Underground was the world’s first subterranean urban railway: we were first with the idea, and the first to put it into practice – and the Queen is of the opinion that it cannot be allowed to fail, for any reason.’
    Blackwood drained his glass. ‘There’s