Chapter 5

Mother is going to be wroth was the first thought that went through Augustus's mind when he pulled his automobile up to the rubble. She had, after all, borrowed against the family trust to set him up in his laboratory - they both had banked on the imminent profitability of his ideas. He surveyed the wreckage, wondering how he could recover from this setback.

He saw the top of the safe peeking out from underneath the wrecked remains of the warehouse that once housed his laboratory. He'd forgotten about the safe! It not only had his notes, but it had the prototype triode he'd designed, and it was guaranteed fireproof. He just had to get into that safe, and he could probably reconstruct everything, even on his paltry stipend of a thousand dollars a year.

Of course, how could he claim the safe as his? Climbing over the wreckage was too dangerous, especially to his slim, fragile form - and dragging the safe back would bring even more peril. And unfortunately, he'd signed over the deed last night, so he couldn't rightly claim the safe as his property. Surely he could buy back the safe for less than the cost of the laboratory - they couldn't hold this accident against him. He just had to get to that pawn shop where everything lost in the poker games went to die.

Augustus sighed. He hated dealing with the Italians. He was happy to take their money - more than happy, truly. But Italians were a coward's lot: they'd hid behind the Quadruple Alliance during the great War, proclaiming their neutrality while German boots ground their heels on French soil. And now in the States, they showed their true colors: running criminal enterprises, hiding in the shadows. Too bad they were the only game in town.

Then again, Augustus shouldn't be any happier about Americans. They'd thrown their lot with the Allies, keeping England too busy in Canada to be able to help the rest of the Triple Entente. But, he thought to himself, at least the United States had chosen a side, and committed to it. Besides, they did their best to ensure France was treated fairly after the war was ended. Germany learned all too quickly the double-edged sword that was having America as an ally.

Sometimes, Augustus wondered what the world would look like if Roosevelt had entered the war before he left office. Could Britain, France and Russia have succeeded against Germany, Austria and Spain (and Italy, not that they did much) - if the United States had entered on their side? Roosevelt certainly seemed to think so, choosing to live in exile in London after he was declared a traitor. Unfortunately, despite France's long alliance with the United states, the American's Anglophobia had proven stronger.

Augustus shook his head of the cobwebs - the Great War had left the civilized world a mess, and wondering what could have happened was just pointless woolgathering. He turned the ignition on the Stanhope, and began navigating the streets towards Morello Pawn.

He looked upat the old church, now bedecked with the gaudy Morello Pawn neon sign. He'd been here a few times - whenever he'd gambled away something precious, he'd always have to come here to retrieve it. Now, he'd lost the most precious thing of all: his research. Augustus drew in a deep breath, steeling himself to go inside.

The proprietor of the shop, Frankie Morello, always made Augustus feel inadequate; he'd always felt the greasy dago thug was assessing him, and finding him wanting. Augustus hated dealing with the goon, obviously some lower flunkie in the organization, placed because there was more muscle than brain between the ears.