Steampunk Cthulhu: Mythos Terror in the Age of Steam

by Jeffrey Thomas

  “‘Do not go out onto yon island, sir,’ he said without preamble. ‘It were a bad spot afore he came, and ‘tis a dashed sight worse now. ‘Tis your soul I am worried for, so take heed.’

  “And with that cryptic warning he left once more, and I retired to my bedchamber for a smoke and a think.

  “In truth I was starting to regret not bringing my protective devices along on the trip. Munroe had assured me that they would not be needed, that matters were purely scientific. But the elderly chap’s warning had not sounded scientific at all, being much more in my normal line of work. Now here I was, stuck on a remote corner of Scotland, and all I had by way of defense was my own wits and my reading copy of the Sigsand Manuscripts, the one that is always in my luggage no matter where I travel.

  “A pipe of my own tobacco calmed me somewhat and finally the rigors of the day’s travel, combined with the Scotch I had consumed over dinner, sent me into a deep undisturbed sleep.”

  ***

  “The next day dawned bright and clear. And it was then that I got my first inking that Munroe might, in fact, be justified in his assertions of remarkable invention. After a fine breakfast of herring and oatmeal he led me to a small stone jetty and the boat which was docked there. At first I took it for little more than the standard class of fishing vessel so common along these shorelines. I was, however, in for a rather rude awakening, for no sooner had we left the jetty than there was a most frightful roar and the boat started to travel across the Sound of Bute at a frightening speed, sending a white foaming wake behind us.

  “Munroe laughed at my obvious discomfort.

  “‘Go below, Mr. Carnacki. You will see that it is not magic or superstition that propels this craft, but the proper appliance of science.’

  “I did as requested and descended to what, in a fishing vessel, would be the engine room. In this craft however, there was the most extraordinary contraption. I recognized the small steam engines at either end, but even my untrained eye knew that they were not large enough to drive the boat at its current speed. The rest of the mechanism was a dizzying labyrinth of copper, cogs and, in particular, massive heavy springs bunched in tight coils that alternately tightened and released in a manner that I guessed was the driving force for our speed.

  “Munroe refused to confirm or deny my supposition and merely smiled.

  “‘This is only the first of many things I have to show you,’ was all he would say, and no matter how much I tried, I could coax nothing further from him. I stood beside him at the helm and smoked a pipe as we cruised at speed through the Sound of Bute.

  “Eventually, after nearly an hour, I saw that our heading was straight towards a low-lying island on the horizon. What I took for smoke rose in a tall plume from the center, and the shoreline around the perimeter seemed shrouded in thin mist. As we got closer I saw it was not mist as such, but more like steam. And on approach to land I started to discern, even above the sound of our own vessel, a rhythmic pulse, like a great drum beating. Keeping time with that drumbeat, plumes of steam shot from vents in the surface, adding a whistling cacophony to what was already an almost deafening hubbub.

  “And suddenly I took a blue funk. Now you chaps know that I have stood in many a sticky spot in the course of my activities. But rarely have I felt such a sense of wrongness like that which I encountered on approach to the island of Doctor Munroe. Every fiber of my being wanted to run, and it was all I could do to stand in place. As it was, my jaws clamped so tight on the stem of my pipe that I’m afraid that I have gouged one of my best briars beyond repair.

  “Munroe seemed to guess my discomfort.

  “‘Never fear, Mr. Carnacki. There are no bogles here. I assure you, there are only the products of my invention, and nothing to frighten a sophisticated gentleman such as yourself.’

  “Munroe brought the boat into a small harbor, tied it up expertly, and led me along a short jetty to the island proper. The sound was now almost deafening, and I felt clammy. The air was hot, almost tropically so, and so damp that it felt difficult to breathe.

  “‘Let’s get you inside, old boy,’ Munroe said. ‘We will be more comfortable there.’

  “I could see no inside, only earth and rock. Munroe smiled and walked forward. He put his hand into a crevice on a rock face and twisted. Suddenly there was more steam, more noise. The rock moved aside with a loud scraping roar, revealing a cave beyond, a passageway leading into darkness.

  “‘Welcome to the future,’ Munroe said, and led me inside.”

  ***

  Carnacki paused to knock out his pipe on the grate. He did not move to rise from his seat, so we all knew this was a momentary delay in his tale rather than a stop for drink replenishment. That did not, however, stop Arkwright who, as usual, was full of questions.

  “I say, old man,” he said. “This isn’t your usual kind of tale at all. Where are the…what did the chap call them? Haunts and bogles? I’m afraid I am finding this whole affair rather dull. Those science chappies just seem to suck all the fun out of everything.”

  Carnacki smiled sadly.

  “I assure you, old friend,” he said. “There will be more than enough meat in the tale to satisfy you. We are starting to get to the heart of it even now.”

  That placated Arkwright just long enough for Carnacki to begin again.

  ***

  “There was a low-slung, four-wheeled contraption at the entrance.

  “‘Just put your suitcase in there,’ Munroe said. ‘It will get delivered to your room while we do the tour.’

  “I did as I was asked. The carriage whuffed, and puffed and chugged away from us into the tunnel. Munroe grinned hugely and walked after it. I had little choice but to follow.

  “The next hour was one of the strangest I have ever spent. The interior of the island seemed to be a huge, hollowed out, cave system. There were no windows, just a long series of corridors between rough-hewn caverns. Each of the caverns was home to what Munroe called his experiments – most of which looked to be variations on labor-saving devices, from machines to launder clothes to industrial scale tools for cutting wood, welding metal or weaving cloth. And all were powered by variations of the contraption I had seen on board the boat that brought us here; driven by steam, clockwork cogs and tightly wound coils.

  “I still had little conception as to why I had been brought here. But that all changed when we entered the final, and by far the largest, chamber. Light came in from high above, through a large domed glass roof that had been expertly placed over what was obviously a cave of some antiquity. The walls were covered in a finely carved script that I did not recognize, but I knew well the sense of the place, for I had stood in several such rooms before.

  “It was no less than a summoning area for the denizens of the Outer Darkness.

  “‘Once again, I see I do not really have to explain,’ Munroe said.

  But that could not have been further from the truth—the contents of that cave had left me in a state of some confusion. The space was dominated by a large example of the spring-engines I had already seen, one which seemed to be hooked up to a massive set of organ pipes, the likes of which I have only previously seen in a church.

  “‘I am sorry to have deceived you, Mr. Carnacki. As you can see, my experiments deal with something rather more esoteric than the transmission of images through space. But I had to bring you here to see this for yourself. I found this place some ten years ago,’ Munroe said. ‘And at first I wasn’t quite sure what I had. I spent long months trying to unravel the secrets of the script. Then, one weekend when I spent too long here and was forced to spend the night camped out in the cave, the answer came to me in a dream.

  “‘The script you see inscribed on the walls is not a language at all. It is a rhythmic notation, like a musical score. Not only that, but my dream also showed me what was required to unlock the secret.’

  “He waved towards the organ pipes.

  “‘Using the appropriate chords, in t
he right rhythm, the wonders of this place were finally revealed to me.’

  “I was starting to fear that I knew, only too well, what these wonders might be. But before I could stop him, Munroe moved to stand beside the spring-engine. He flicked a switch. The cave filled with throbbing chords that boomed and echoed all around.

  “An answering pounding arose from below.

  “I felt it first through the soles of my feet, but soon my whole frame shook, vibrating in time with the rhythm. My head swam, and it seemed as if the very walls of the cave melted and ran. The light from above receded into a great distance until it was little more than a pinpoint of light in a blanket of darkness, and I was alone, in a vast cathedral of emptiness where nothing existed save the dark and the pounding beat.

  “Shapes moved in the dark, wispy shadows with no substance, shadows that capered and whirled as the dance grew ever more frenetic.

  “I tasted salt water in my mouth, and was buffeted, as if by a strong, surging tide, but as the beat grew ever stronger I cared little. I gave myself to it, lost in the dance, lost in the dark.

  “Soft voices rose to join the beat, a chant I recognized well.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.”

  “I know not how long I wandered, there in the space between. I forgot myself, forgot Munroe, lost in a place where only the rhythm mattered. And I do believe I would be there yet if Munroe had not brought proceedings to a halt. The chords faded, and slowly my senses returned to me.

  “Munroe smiled.

  “‘Welcome to the future,’ he said.

  ***

  Carnacki stopped and rose from his chair. We all, from long experience, knew that he had reached a natural break in his story, giving us a chance to refill our glasses and light fresh smokes. As ever, Arkwright was keen to press Carnacki with more questions but our host was an old hand at avoiding anything that might give away details of his story before he was ready to tell it.

  When we settled back in our seats it was with a growing sense of anticipation and curiosity as to what manner of thing Carnacki had encountered out there in the remote islands off the West Coast of Scotland.

  ***

  “I was to get a full picture of Munroe’s plans later that evening over dinner. But before that I was given a full tour of the cavern system. Certainly, there were mechanical wonders aplenty, and by Jove, some of them would most certainly change the way life is lived in this fascinating modern world of ours. But I could not but feel a rising apprehension as he showed me yet another contraption of steam, clockwork and springs.

  “‘I suppose this one is going to revolutionize agriculture?’ I said, with somewhat more than usual sarcasm I am afraid to say, for I was becoming weary by this time.

  “Munroe shook his head.

  “‘No,’ he said. ‘But it will bring me enough money to continue my work.’

  He would say no more on the matter…not at that point anyway. I was shown to a very well appointed bed-chamber where I was able to wash and change before joining him for dinner in a room that would not look out of place at the Diogenes Club.

  “Over a fine meal of salmon and new potatoes Munroe finally let me in to his secret, one that I had come to suspect during the course of my tour.

  “‘Once again, I have not been entirely honest with you, Mr. Carnacki,’ he said as we lit our pipes. ‘I am not so much an inventor, as a discoverer. All the engines and contraptions you have seen, all the wonders of technology I have shown you, have come to me in dreams while standing in the main chamber. I have come to believe that there is an intelligence there, one that seeks to teach us, to mould our future development. Just think of the world we may build if we but only listen to it?’

  “That was exactly what I was thinking, although I am dashed sure that my own thoughts were nowhere near as full of naiveté and delusion as those of Munroe.

  “‘That there is intelligence…that is a point on which I have no doubt,’ I said, being careful with my words. ‘But I am certain that it does not have a benign interest in our future. There are dark things in the beyond, Doctor Munroe, things that once walked this planet, long before we did, things that wish to once again take control of their former dominion. Tell me. What kind of world would they have us build?’

  “I listened as he extolled the virtues of mass-agriculture, of cheap transport for all, of workers freed from drudgery to explore simpler, more artistic pursuits. I scarcely heard him. In my mind’s eye all I could see were vast industrial wastelands of hissing steam and clockwork; fumes rising over blasted heaths where vegetation was a nuisance rather than a necessity. I saw a world where mankind’s place was relegated to little more than that of a maintenance engineer for the factories. And in the sky overhead, dark things hung like great crows, cackling in amusement at our endless stupidity.

  “What kind of world would you have us build?

  “The question rang long in my head as I dragged myself off to bed and a night spoiled by dreams of steam and clockwork.”

  ***

  “Over breakfast I finally found the reason I had been brought to the island.

  “‘It is to do with that incantation,’ Munroe said. ‘I hear it every time I enter the dream state. It’s is a bally nuisance if truth be told, for it seems to block the free flow of communication with the intelligences beyond.’

  “‘I am sure of it,’ I replied. ‘Indeed I am sure that the chamber itself is little more than a containment vessel, a prison if you like, to hold what you call the intelligence. Trust me, Doctor. Trust my experience. There is no good to be gained from further exploration in this area.’

  “‘No good? Let me show you different, Mr. Carnacki,’ Munroe said.

  “He led me back through the cavern system to the chamber containing the equipment that had mystified me earlier – the one I had thought might be some kind of agricultural implement.

  “‘Do you know what this is?’ Munroe asked, placing a hand on a long copper casing that had drill-bits at one end and the most elaborate set of coils, springs and gears at the other. I confessed my utter ignorance.

  “‘It is cheap power for all,’ he said. ‘No less than a way to fuel the entire future at minimal cost. This digger will bore into the ground to great depths, and, along with a cunning plumbing method I have also been shown, allow the tapping of the heat from the very core of the planet; heat that will fuel every engine, every factory, every country. Think on it, Carnacki.’

  “I was indeed thinking on it. I could clearly envisage the drill as it bit into the earth, burrowing ever deeper into the darkness. But I could not see any plumbing, nor any future. Instead what I saw were vast plumes of magma, rising up through newly formed tunnels to spout high in the air, sending noxious clouds to fill the sky and scalding lava to cover the earth. And once again, hanging above like a cloak of death, the black wings and echoing laughter of the old landlords as they reclaimed their tenancy in a world once more returned to its primal beginnings.

  “‘What can I do to convince you?’ Munroe asked.

  “‘Believe me,’ I said. ‘I am more than convinced enough.’

  He smiled, taking my reply as assent for what was coming next. I did not dissuade him of the notion.

  “‘Then you know how to nullify the chant? How to open us up to a full and complete passage of information with the intelligence?’

  “I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and let him lead me back to the main chamber.”

  ***

  Carnacki broke off again, and on looking in his eyes I saw that our old friend was most troubled.

  “You do not have to continue, old boy,” I said. “Not if it is too painful a tale to tell?”

  Carnacki sucked hard on his pipe, then waved me aside.

  “It is a moral conundrum I have wrestled with since my return,” he said. “And I am resolved to tell the tale. I will leave you chaps to ask yourselves what y
ou might have done in my place. As for me, I can only hope and pray I made the right decision.”

  He took some time getting a fresh pipe going before continuing.

  ***

  “Munroe, by this time, had become rather excited at the prospect of being able to remove the influence of the incantation from his so-called dream state, and insisted that we make an attempt on the matter there and then.

  “In truth I was in no mood to wait, for I had made up my own mind on a course of action, one that I was not entirely sure I had the courage to follow through on. Waiting any longer would only have weakened my resolve.

  “‘Are you ready?’ he asked me.

  “I did not trust myself to speak, merely nodded my head.

  “Once more, Munroe moved to stand beside the spring-engine. He flicked the switch and the cave filled with the sound of throbbing chords.

  “As before an answering pounding arose from below.

  “My head swam and I felt the allure of the dance pull at me. It needed all of my will to resist. I saw that Munroe had no such qualms. He stood still, hands at his side, face raised to where the light came in the high dome, eyes closed as if in ecstatic supplication.

  “Voices rose to join the beat, the chant I had recognized previously.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.

  “By now my suspicions had been confirmed. This chamber was indeed little more than a prison, Munroe’s intelligences were the inmates…and the chant was the lock that kept it closed.

  “I heard the inmates whisper to Munroe, promising a bright shining future, showing pastoral scenes of a happy world. I saw designs and diagrams of more machines, more clockwork and springs. I had not a single clue as to their purpose. But I knew that I had to do something to prevent them from ever becoming reality.

  “I brought to mind a ritual from the Sigsand Manuscripts, one I have never before had a need to use, and one I pray I never have to use again. Raising my voice to carry above the hubbub I called out the chant. I will not repeat the words here, for to do so would put you chaps in the utmost peril, and to have uttered it even once is almost more than a man can bear.