The Deception Engine: Part Two

By J-L Heylen

Part Two of the novella that puts the 'Steam' into Steampunk, The Deception Engine is a gender-blending steampunk adventure featuring gender-blending hero Phyllida Thorn and her companion, Hilary Templestowe.

Travelling in men's garb as Phineas Thorn's twin brother, Phyllida Thorn continues her attempts to destroy Phineas' evil plans for world-domination using the ingenious Deception Engine.

Phineas only needs one thing to make his plans a reality - the Gemini Ruby.

Phyllida plans on stopping him, but she seems rather more than a little caught up in finding love and adventure instead, with the beautiful Hilary Templestowe as her principal companion in that endeavour.

Will Hilary and Phyllida win the day, and at what cost?

Lesbian-o-meter (5 - girl on girl action only - for the intimate bits, that is)
Steam-o-meter (4 - nothing left to a chance misreading here, dear reader, but there is only a couple of such scenes)
Kink-o-meter (2 - hints of BDSM, but nothing much past vanilla, really)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Dec 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9780992379896

Book preview

The Deception Engine – Part Two

A Gender-Blending Colonial Steampunk Adventure

By J-L Heylen

This is an IndieMosh book

brought to you by MoshPit Publishing

an imprint of Mosher’s Business Support Pty Ltd

PO BOX 147

Hazelbrook NSW 2779

https://www.indiemosh.com.au/

Copyright 2013 © J-L Heylen

All rights reserved

Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author and publisher.

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https://www.nla.gov.au/collections

Cover design by J-L Heylen

Cover photo image obtained under licence from Shutterstock ID 319424147 by Ellerslie

Other books by J-L Heylen:

Wisdom Beyond Her Years (Book 1 of the Wisdom Series)

The Ties That Bind (Book 2 of the Wisdom Series)

Bride of the City (A Teaser Prequel to the Wisdom Series)

The Deception Engine – Part One (A Gender-Blending Colonial Steampunk Adventure)

NB: Australian English is used throughout. Some word usage and spelling may be contrary to the expectations of other users of English.

A Disclaimer – of sorts:

This book is set in Colonial Australia and beyond. In some things, I have endeavoured to be historically correct and factual. However, this is Steampunk; the steam age has been punked up. Some aspects of the society, culture, science and politics of the Victorian Age, and in Australia, the Colonial Era, have been stalled. Other aspects have been accelerated, diverted, or subverted, transforming what you think you know about the Victorian Era into a speculative narrative rather than an historical drama.

Acknowledgements:

By now, you all ought to know the text. My books are only made possible by the kind support and encouragement of my life-partner, Lorna, and, on occasion, my three dogs and wayward cat.

The quality is largely a result of extensive beta-reading and comment from trusted critical friends; Steve, Arie; Christine F; and Tania, all of whom pick my text apart, and attempt to correct mistakes both minor and massive.

The formatting and availability are a direct result of the good works of my friends at MoshPit Publishing, Ally and Jennifer.

To all these, I give humble and extremely heartfelt thanks.

Dedication:

This book is dedicated to my mother. Firstly, because I haven’t dedicated a book to her yet, and really ought to have done so long before now. Secondly, because I inherited my love of words, razor-sharp retorts, and witty come-backs from her; through nature, or nurture, or both. Thirdly, it was my Mum who read to me, helped me with words when I thought ‘misled’ was pronounced ‘mizzled’ (with the emphasis on the ‘mizz’), and read out amusing or interesting crossword clues when I was off sick from school.

So thanks, Barb, for instilling in me an appreciation of the English language in all its forms.

Part One – Precis:

This book is not meant to be a stand-alone offering. It is unashamedly Part Two in a series that begins, not surprisingly, with Part One. If you have not read ‘The Deception Engine - Part One’, I urge you, most emphatically, to do so. This is not because I wish to earn more money so I can buy some seeds to sow from the balcony of my Blue Mountains garret in which I am slowly languishing, but rather, because I am told by reliable sources that my chapter headings are rather entertaining, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out.

In case you have read Part One, and need a refresher, here it is, such as it is:

Hilary Templestowe is a rich widow who arrives in the colony of New South Wales looking for adventure, and finds it, in the form of cross-dressing wo/man about town, Phyllida (Mister Phil) Thorn. Mayhem and some sex ensues. The couple are plagued by a mysterious follower, who turns out to be Phyllida’s long lost twin brother, Phineas, separated since birth. He has turned out rather badly, as Jane Austen might say.

And now, for Part Two…

(If you just heard a rather sultry and deeply timbred female voice that sounded like the wife of a well-known sci-fi television series writer, and also like the ships computer in the same sci-fi television series, then you got it about right.)

The Deception Engine - Part Two

Chapter 11 – In which a hasty retreat is beaten from several fronts

In the tumultuous few days after fleeing Sydney Town, Phyllida had little time to evaluate what she had done, or why she had done it. But soon, Phyllida, Hilary and Phineas landed in the Marshall Islands, and Phyllida had plenty of time to think.

She thought a lot about Hilary. That part of her life seemed to be ticking along with an ease and companionship she had never experienced before. There was no angst; no petty misunderstandings; no serious doubts that Hilary might up and run at any moment. Sometimes Phyllida worried that this complacency ought to have worried her, but then Hilary would smile at her, or let a hand stray her way, and Phyllida’s worries would dissolve in a flush of desire.

Her encounter with her father, and what it had revealed about his nature, and about Phineas, still haunted Phyllida. She thought about it often, and although she had confided in Hilary about some of it, she had not revealed the secret of Phineas’ unique physiology. She did not feel it was hers to tell. Apart from that, she couldn’t conceive of any language she could use that would not result in embarrassment for herself or Hilary.

Her relationship with her brother was a completely different beast. Phyllida flipped between distrust and devotion so quickly it sometimes made her dizzy. Phineas could be so charming, and in those time, when he beamed his radiance full force onto Phyllida, she almost felt she could do anything for him. His threats and physical abuse upon both her and Hilary were forgotten, or at the very least, relegated to past infractions of small import. Then, often when he did not know he was observed, he might be seen muttering to himself with a sternness or anger that reminded Phyllida of his unpredictable and mercurial nature.

This duality of regard was summed up in a conversation between Phyllida and Hilary some few days after landing in the Pacific Islands, after a relatively uneventful crossing, having arrived by private airship after leaving Sydney and hopping to New Caledonia, Fiji and Tuvalu in preparation for the long haul across the Pacific Ocean.

Phyllida had decided she liked the Pacific Islands immensely. She was sitting on the veranda of Phineas’ estate house on Majura, a large coral atoll in the Marshall Islands, also recently known as German New Guinea. Phineas claimed he leased a large part of Majura for practically nothing from the Germans, because he owned the dirigible airport and gave a substantial portion of the profits to the German government.

Hilary sat next to Phyllida in a swing seat. Both had cooling drinks in their hands. They chatted amiably as they looked over the large lagoon that the island enclosed. The water was the most stunning blue, with edges of green that Hilary had already noted, rather romantically, were the same colour as Phyllida’s eyes.

Will Phineas be back for dinner, do you know? Hilary asked Phyllida, after a short lull in conversation punctuated by one of the house-boys coming out to top up their drinks.

He said he would be, Phyllida answered. Why? Are you growing fond of his company?

I admit, I think I may be, yet I am still not sure.

I know how you feel. He seems to be two different people. The one we saw in his lair in Sydney was bordering on evil. The one we have seen on this trip is all politeness, Phyllida observed.

I have been meaning to ask you, Hilary asked, just what made you throw your lot in with him?

It was you. He said he was leaving, and taking you with him. After what we had seen him do, I could not leave you at his mercy, alone and unprotected. And I could see no way, in the short-term, of getting you away from him altogether. I suppose I hoped that an opportunity might present itself later.

Was that the only reason?

Not entirely, no. I… I cannot explain it. I have thought about it often, and I cannot adequately explain my actions or my feelings. My father made me very angry. His behaviour towards Phineas as a baby disgusted me. Then I saw the loathing on his face when he spoke about my particular proclivities, and I wanted nothing more, at that moment, than to get as far away from his influence as I could, and as soon as possible.

Even if that meant putting yourself into a different sphere of influence – into that of your brother?

Yes. As I said, I am not sure I can explain it. Phineas makes brutal threats. He really looked like he would beat you to a pulp when he found out about you selling that ruby - what did he call it recently, the Gemini Ruby?

Hilary nodded, and Phyllida continued before Hilary got any further chance to interject.

...And what he instructed his henchman to do to me still makes me shiver. But threaten as he might, he did not follow through. He stopped himself. He stopped Standish. My father, on the other hand, did not stay his hand. He divested himself of his poor infant son without regret. He beat me, when I was younger, on more than one occasion as direct punishment for behaviours he considered to be the result of choice. My adolescence was harsh, and I assumed this was what fathers did, especially army officer fathers. I will not say I was unhappy, but when I knew what he had done to Phineas, I saw my father’s actions in a different light. When I compare them to Phineas’ sudden rages, I see an honesty in my brother’s actions that is entirely absent in my father’s, and I admit, I cannot make sense of any of it.

So you chose to stay with me – to protect me?

Yes. Perhaps, if you had not been his prisoner, I would have suggested we go elsewhere in the Colonies, but I seemed to have no choice. His henchmen were all about us.

They still are. Yesterday, when you and I went walking, I considered suggesting we try to make an escape, but then I noticed Standish watching us from under a tree as we exited the gate.

Yes, I saw him too. I also considered flight, but we were followed and spied upon the whole time.

It is an odd feeling, Hilary said. The unthreatening Phineas is as pleasant a fellow as one could ever wish to encounter. He is charming, witty, considerate, and generous. In those moments when I can forget his menacing alter-ego, I like him immensely.

Should I call him out in a duel, then? Phyllida asked, only half in jest.

Hilary considered teasing Phyllida by saying she ought, but she felt it may not yet be safe territory. While it was clear to her that Phineas and Phyllida were growing closer as their journey progressed, Hilary had also noted a distinct sibling rivalry was developing.

Phyllida, do not feel threatened. My affections for you are safe. I said I liked him. I did not say I was attracted to him.

But he is so very much like me. In my weaker moments, I wonder how you could not be attracted to him.

You look alike, certainly. But as to character, you are very different. Although, at times, I like him, at other times he scares me.

I have seen you in situations where a little fear was welcomed as foreplay to pleasure, Phyllida whispered. She had leaned close to Hilary with this remark, and Hilary shivered with desire as she felt Phyllida’s

Reviews for The Deception Engine

[Crystal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Could not put it down. Can't wait for part 3.