The City that Time forgot

by Patrick McClafferty

  Gareth laughed at Ell’s problems. “Too bad you couldn’t just throw them all into an energy converter of some sort, and recycle their energy.” The silence stretched. “Ell?”

  “One of the main problems of a city the size of The Yeugate,” Ell began, with a note of disgust in her voice, “is waste disposal. On the same level and opposite the transport station is a waste recycling center that does just what you said, converts matter to energy. Since waste is not being generated, I never bothered to restart it. I should have the mess cleaned up in a week, with an energy surplus to boot.”

  Chuckling, Gareth stood up. “Goodbye Ell. I’ll stop by the University to speak with you again before we leave.”

  Ell sniffed. “I’ll do you one better than that. I’ll have a drone and a small service unit stop by your ship and install a com and IFF unit. That way we can speak, and I’ll know where you are at any given time. I’d have the service unit install radar while it was at it, but I don’t think your power plant is up to the task.”

  Gareth chuckled. “I suspect you’re right.” His eyes widened. “How long would it take your service units to upgrade the entire power plant in the ship?”

  “What do you have now?”

  “Coal fired steam engine running a single screw with auxiliary electricity produced by an unregulated generator attached to the steam engine.”

  “With all repair units working and the ship in dry-dock, I could have a nuclear plant driving twin screws installed and running in two weeks. Full radar, electronics and sonar would take another week. An anti-matter plant would take a while longer.”

  Gareth coughed. “Why don’t you go ahead and put that down on the to-do list as soon as I get back. Hold the anti-matter plant, though. I don’t plan on going into space any time soon.”

  “Isn’t that wishful thinking Gareth?” Ell asked, with a hint of laughter in her mechanical voice.

  “It’s called having a little faith.” He murmured as he turned and left the room, while he thought to himself, it’s all dumb luck.

  He met Mairi sitting on a bench by herself in front of the main building when he left. A pale Kiang had begged off lunch, apologizing that he had a number of serious engagements that all needed his immediate attention. Gareth gave the young woman a quizzical look as he sat beside her. “What’s up? You look like the cat got your cream.”

  She gave him a wan little smile. “I’m just sitting here watching all the other students go by, wondering why they can shapeshift and why I can’t.” Three young male students, only slightly older than Mairi came by them, looked up to see who was sitting on the bench and casually moved to the other side of the tree-lined path, their eyes wide. Mairi sighed. “That’s another problem. Your reputation precedes you, Father. Some of the stories floating around are incredible, but I know that they are actually less than the truth. Your very name scares people, and now they know I’m your daughter.” She looked about to cry. “What am I going to do?”

  Gareth took her hand and stood, drawing her to her feet. “Let’s see if we can’t resolve one of your issues, although the other may suffer.”

  Mairi’s voice was flat. “What are you going to do?”

  Gareth grinned. “Athena, we need to talk, just the three of us. Can we come to your place?”

  “How is this?” Athena murmured, as Mairi squeaked in surprise and clutched his arm.

  The isolated beach sat between two rocky jetties, the summer moon turning the ocean to rippling silver fire. Athena sat at the water’s edge, her gown pulled up to mid-thigh, exposing acres of creamy pale skin. Her feet touched the very edge of the advancing waves. Gareth shut his eyes and took a deep breath of the familiar air. For some strange reason the air of his old Earth smelled different from the air of Eldenworld, thirty-eight thousand years in the future. They were in Punta Banda, Ensenada, Mexico; the place the whole adventure had started.

  “The moon!!” Mairi squeaked again, pointing to the sky. “It’s going to fall on us!”

  Gareth put his arm around her shoulders. “It won’t fall. This is where the moon was originally, for millions of years before humans moved it.”

  “They moved the moon?”

  Gareth sighed. “Yup. They moved it to a place where I could blow it up, or at least that’s the way the story goes.” He smiled at the beautiful woman on the beach. “Hello Athena.”

  Brushing sand from her gown, she rose to her feet. “My dearest Gareth.” She murmured, moving closer. He never had the chance to escape her kiss, and after a time she pulled back with a smug little smile on her face. Mairi was grinning. “So, you are concerned with your daughter’s development.” Reaching out, she touched Mairi’s face, and the young woman froze in her place. “She, like you Gareth, is a good all-around energy manipulator. She hasn’t developed her shapeshifting abilities yet, but she will be quite adept… trust me. She will actually be better at manipulating magic than you, and that is saying a lot. She doesn’t have your spatial perception, although that may be a learned talent or perhaps a sex-linked ability.” She touched the young woman’s face and Mairi blinked and wakened. “It seems that all she needs is a jump start.” Athena smiled, and turned her head toward Gareth. “Hold your arm against hers, as you did with Chiu’s. Dragon’s aren’t the only ones who can do this.”

  Gareth gave Mairi a level look. “I’d like to tell you that this won’t hurt, but it will. It will hurt like hell, but only for a short while, and I will be here with you. When it is over you will be able to converse with dragons like your mother and I.”

  Mairi looked at the dragon glittering on his arm. “I will?” She asked in a small voice.

  “You will.” Smiling, Gareth pressed his arm against hers.

  Athena reached out and rested her cool hand on the joined arms. A white fire flowed from her, down the joined arms and… Gareth gasped as fire seemed to burn in every cell of his body. Vaguely he heard a strangled gasp from his daughter, and the hiss of her forced breath. The pain vanished and he caught Mairi as she fell, and his knees trembled. “What the hell did you just do to my daughter?” If he could have, he would have strangled Athena on the spot.

  “You,” She said, touching her chin thoughtfully as she stared down at Gareth supporting his daughter. “are tougher than I ever imagined. I had planned to deliver you both back to the mansion before you woke.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I made a few small but necessary changes to you both. Unfortunately, the changes were at the cellular level, and quite painful.” She chuckled wryly as she stretched in the moonlight. “It knocked me out when I first…” She stopped abruptly, as if she’d said too much.

  “When you first what?” Gareth asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Never mind. You’ll find out soon enough.” She looked down on Mairi, who was just beginning to twitch. “She will wake soon. You should go.”

  Gareth looked out over the dark rolling combers, and seemed in some way to draw in their energy. “I really do love this place.”

  “I know.” Athena whispered. “It’s one of the reasons I chose you to be my champion.”

  When Gareth picked Mairi up she gave a sleepy little murmur, and wrapped her arms about his neck. Looking at her calm face, he was overwhelmed by his feelings. “We should go now.” He said, his voice strangely hoarse.

  Chui met them as he reached the top of the long stairs leading up to the mansion. “What happened?” There was a note close to panic in her voice.

  Gareth shot her a grimace. “Athena made a few ‘adjustments’ to us.”

  “Is she all right?” Chui asked, and Gareth was pleased to note the concern for the young woman he saw there.

  “As far as I know.” He looked down to see Mairi’s hazel eyes watching him levelly. “Faker.” He growled, smiling.

  She grinned back, and the hold about his neck tightened. “My biological father never carried me, even if I couldn’t make it on my own. Being carried feels good.” She closed her eye
s and buried her face in his shoulder. When Gareth looked up, Chiu was smothering a laugh.

  “You wanted a daughter.” She chortled.

  “Yeah. Well, I guess I’ll just have to carry her upstairs.”

  Chiu frowned. “You must be exhausted from carrying her up these steps. Let someone else do it.”

  “I’m fine.” He said as he entered the building, and surprisingly he meant it. As he walked with Mairi’s extra load he could feel himself drawing energy from his surroundings.

  “I feel it too.” Mairi whispered in his arms. “I feel you drawing in the power around you.” She bit her lip as she concentrated. “Let’s try…” Suddenly energy was flowing into Gareth, and he was running up the stairs.

  “That’s enough of that.” He said as they reached the top of the stairs. He gave his new daughter a long look. “Well now. That was unusual.” Chiu was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up, her jaw hanging open. And you can read my mind too. I wonder what else Athena did?

  I wonder. Mairi’s soft thought came to him. She clutched his neck tighter, and he felt her fear.

  Chapter 9

  THE CITY THAT TIME FORGOT

  Gareth solved the problem of their accommodations in a very simple and straightforward way; three days after the University Incident, as everyone on campus was calling the blatant disappearance of Gareth and his daughter in broad daylight, the entire party moved into cabins on the SS Spray. Gareth, Chiu and Lyndra stayed in the owner’s suite while Mairi, who told him with a straight face that she was on a “sabbatical” from her studies, and Ria bunked in a small cabin beside the owner’s suite. Gareth assumed that the word “sabbatical” was better than saying “playing hooky.” Kuan chose a tiny cabin, barely bigger than a broom closet on the other side of the companionway corridor. Gareth was more than surprised that the small guide had chosen to come at all, considering that he had received a pardon for all past crimes and a sizeable paycheck to boot. Darbuk, after considering the matter, took the offer of free transportation and left for his homeland the day they moved into the ship. Gareth secretly thought the dwarf was actually scared of the impending ocean voyage. Several staff members from Adywick chose to join the explorers, and I’alen watched them troop out of the front door and into waiting carriages with thoughtful envious eyes. To Gareth the move to the ship felt like going home; a much less spacious home, but filled with minor miracles like electric lights. Today he, Chiu and Lyndra all stood on the small covered observation platform over the bridge, and watched the Oseothan troops load.

  “Do you really think we’ll need all those troops?” There was a note of worry in the dark-haired woman’s voice.

  Gareth stood, chewing on one inoffensive fingernail. “I hope not, but according to Ell things could be dicey without support.” He purposely hadn’t told her about the cannibals. Gareth turned his head at the sound of a shouting stevedore, yelling curses at an inexperienced crane operator who was lifting a palate of ammunition into the rear cargo hold. The marines had been another unexpected and welcome addition to the ship’s company. Two dozen hard young men and women, all carrying the latest in Oseothan weaponry; a seven-shot rifle that looked remarkably like the 1870 Spencer repeating rifle. Apparently, Athena felt that if she was in for a penny she was in a pound when it came to divulging technical plans.

  “Are our supplies aboard?” Chiu asked, raising a single eyebrow. It was a question close to his own heart.

  “According to Captain Evvos, all the stores and supplies came aboard yesterday. We should be ready to leave in…” Gareth stopped, staring into the clear air. “What the hell is that?” The marines had seen it also, and were jostling each other as they scrambled for their weapons. As the thing drew nearer Gareth could see that it was a circular floating platform, ten meters in diameter and stacked with piles and boxes of equipment. Something like a segmented caterpillar of glistening metal rode on the top of the pile. Gareth swallowed his laughter and cupping his hands to his mouth, shouted to the milling people on the dock. “The incoming craft is friendly, so don’t be shooting it.” One of the marines, a Sergeant by his stripes, shot Gareth a quick salute, and resumed shouting at his charges.

  “What is it?” Lyndra whispered, watching the saucer maneuver itself to land on the clear stern deck.

  “That, if I’m right, is our com system, an IFF transponder and the engineering unit to install them.”

  Lyndra frowned as the caterpillar flowed off the pile of gear and headed for the bridge. “That’s an engineer?”

  “It’s a robot. A constructed being, and not at all what I expected.” Gareth replied with a shake of his head.

  In the bridge below them there was a shout of surprise, a brief scuffle and the sound of metal pincers climbing the stairs to the observation deck. A metallic head popped through the open door and Gareth blinked. It was the head of a caterpillar, but the size of a basketball. The two multifaceted eyes were wide set, and it had what looked to be a communication unit where the mouth should be. As the creature flowed up to the deck Gareth caught a glimpse of what looked like stripes on its sides. When the caterpillar stopped moving, he recognized it as a barcode. The odd head swiveled his way.

  “Have you seen enough, or should I do a little dance?” The caterpillar’s voice held a touch of English accent, and reminded Gareth of a very strange leprechaun.

  “You, I take it, are the equipment installer?”

  The caterpillar gave a soft humphh, from somewhere around its third segment. “From your reduced heartrate, you must be Gareth, the guy who runs this tub.”

  Gareth grinned. “That’s me all right. Ell said you would install a com and an IFF unit.”

  “Yeah.” The caterpillar sighed. “I may have to do a little upgrade on your generator first. The cycles per second are for shit. God I hate working with analog crap. It shouldn’t take me more than two or three weeks, tops.”

  “We wanted to leave in three days.” Gareth countered.

  “No problem. I’ll have the generator online in three days. I can do the rest while we’re at sea.”

  “You’re coming along?”

  The shiny black eyes fixed him with a long stare. “I’m not going to swim alongside.”

  Gareth bit his tongue. “So, we’ll be without power for three days?”

  “Naw, I have a small portable generator that will more than take care of your needs. I should get going. Once we get under way I’ll navigate, or you will never get to your destination. I’ve seen the map, and that island in the middle of the ocean is tiny.”

  Gareth shook his head. “I’ll inform the crew so that they don’t freak out, or take a pot shot at you.”

  The caterpillar actually laughed, a dry coughing sound. “You don’t have anything on this barge that could hurt…” The metal creature stopped speaking and stared at Gareth’s Colt that was pointed, unerringly between its eyes. “I take it all back.” The voice said smoothly. “Where the hell did you ever get THAT?”

  “I have friends in high places.” Gareth said flatly.

  A magnifying lens seemed to extend from the caterpillar’s right eye. “That’s a commemorative edition pistol. Did you know that shortly after it was released it was universally banned for violating the weapons treaties from eighteen different countries? It was only banned after the generals of all said eighteen countries ordered their own private pistols. It was Colt Arms finest, and most profitable hour. Ten thousand pistols were sold in the space of ten days.”

  “The ship!” Gareth said firmly.

  “Yes sir.” A small human looking arm and hand, all in shining metal, unfolded from the creature’s chest, just below its head, and gave Gareth a sharp salute.

  Gareth returned the salute, a bemused smile on his face as the caterpillar turned to go about its duties. “Have I gone mad?” He said slowly, as he watched the caterpillar scamper about the deck carrying boxes here and there with its two tiny human arms.

  “I’m afraid so,” th
e metallic creature replied, its voice fading, “but let me tell you something… the best people usually are.”

  “That sounded suspiciously like a quote.” Chiu murmured, never taking her eyes off the deck below.

  “It was.” Gareth said with a smile. “From Lewis Carroll’s, Alice in Wonderland.”

  Captain Duras Evvos kept running his hands over the smooth teak railings and brass fittings that fitted out the bridge of the Steamship Spray. Beneath his feet the deck vibrated faintly, while behind him thick black smoke poured out of the single funnel. Standing behind the Captain, Gareth knew exactly what the man was going through; the sense of unreality. The small speaker on the bridge panel chirped to life. “Captain.” The cheerful voice of the Chief Engineer said calmly. “We have full pressure on the boiler. We’re ready whenever you are.”

  The Captain touched the transmit button. It was a very simple system; even Captain Evvos understood it with only three repetitions: PUSH TO TALK, RELEASE TO LISTEN. “Thank you. Standby.” He turned to his first mate. “Cast off fore and aft, Mister Alinar.”

  The man grinned at Evvos’ formality. “Aye aye.”

  The Captain watched the activity for a few moments, and then when the lines to the dock had been neatly coiled on deck, slowly pushed the lever on the Engine Room Telegraph from Standby Engines to Dead Slow Ahead. The Telegraph chimed a moment later, and a matching arrow slid to Dead Slow Ahead. The captain turned to the helmsman. “Take us out, if you please.” The man grinned and began turning the huge polished ship’s wheel as the SS Spray began to gather way. On the dock Kiang stood alone watching. His wife Shaw abhorred goodbyes, and had been known to manufacture emergencies to draw her away from such tearful events.

  Gareth watched with interest as the SS Spray passed the docked topsail schooner Arrow. Seamen were swarming across her yards, and he knew that she was preparing to set sail herself. He’d made Captain Athan an offer he couldn’t refuse and Gareth had gone from full owner of the Arrow, to ten percent owner with the stroke of the pen. Since the transaction was all above board, the funds for the purchase were deposited in Gareth’s account with the Bank of Oseothan. To his shock, he discovered that he was well past rich and possibly the wealthiest man in the country.