The Adventure of the Accelerationist: Sherlock Holmes

By A.L. Sirois

While examining a collection of gems at a museum, Sherlock Holmes is startled something zips by him so quickly he can barely see it. When it pauses to smash a display case, the thing becomes briefly visible: a young woman, dressed outlandishly, with goggles protecting her eyes. Then she "speeds up" again and rockets out of the museum with Holmes in pursuit—but she easily outdistances him, leaving him gasping in astonishment. When Sherlock relates the bizarre event to his brother, Mycroft reveals that he has been tasked with discovering the truth behind recent reports of "augmented" humans: people with highly developed physical powers who have been aiding foreign agents. It's up to Sherlock to discover their strange secret.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wildside Press Black Cat Weekly
• Release date: Feb 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781479467013

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ACCELERATIONIST, by A.L. Sirois

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2023 by A. L. Sirois.

Original publication by Wildside Press, LLC.

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THE ADVENTURE OF THE ACCELERATIONIST,

by A.L. Sirois

It was an unusually hot day, and sixteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes had sought refuge from the July sun in the British Museum. There were few other visitors at this time of year; good weather being such a relatively fleeting phenomenon in the United Kingdom, anyone who could be outside made sure they were. Sherlock, therefore, had the museum largely to himself, which suited him.

Mycroft Holmes had invited his younger brother to London for the weekend. Mycroft had recently taken on new responsibilities in the British government but hadn’t made their exact nature clear to his sibling or their parents. All Sherlock knew was that his brother was held in high esteem by his superiors. Sherlock enjoyed spending time with his brother, but these days Mycroft was terribly busy with government work and had little time to spare.

I know I promised to go to the museum with you, he had said to Sherlock that morning, but I have an important meeting with a foreign diplomat. I really can’t say more.

I understand, said Sherlock, face solemn despite his amusement. Mycroft, averse as ever to any form of physical exertion, could not have been looking forward to visiting the British Museum merely to humor his younger brother’s peculiar whims. I will see you this evening, then, at the Diogenes Club.

I promise you an excellent dinner, Mycroft said, relief evident on his broad face. And I further promise you I will tell you as much as I can about the meeting. He picked up his hat, cane, and gloves from the side table by the door and took his leave.

Sherlock had been able to assist Mycroft in one or two small matters related to international diplomacy and had therefore won some approval from authorities—which, he knew, might be of value in the future. Mycroft had suggested more than once that Sherlock might himself pursue a government career.

Sherlock, however, wasn’t inclined to devote much thought to the future other than a more immediate one: he had turned seventeen in January, and as a special gift his parents had reserved a ricket for him to a concert in the Royal Albert Hall by the Spanish composer and virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate. He has been looking forward to the show for months.

With considerable self-satisfaction, therefore, he ambled through the museum’s exhibits, taking his time as he examined this or that treasure of antiquity or of nature. It was just as well that Mycroft wasn’t accompanying him, grumbling and sighing. Sherlock had visited the museum several times before, but in the company of his parents, and he’d not been able to spend as much time as he’d wanted among the museum’s offerings. To an intellectually inclined youth from the provincial village of Little Buckewood in West