Celeste and the Machine
Rebecca M. Senese
Copyright Information
Celeste and the Machine
Copyright © (2015) by Rebecca M. Senese
Published by RFAR Publishing
Cover Design copyright © (2015) by
RFAR Publishing
Cover art copyright ©
DigitalArtB / DepositPhotos.com
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
CELESTE AND THE MACHINE
They came for her Da in the middle of a bright sunny day.
Celeste was playing in the front yard when she saw the puff of white smoke on the horizon. This far in the country, they didn’t get many visitors and Da always told her to go inside when people came. A moment after she saw the puff, she heard the whine of the auto, drawing closer. Then the speck appeared in the far distance, where the road curved over the hill aways.
Celeste stood, her knees cracking. She brushed dust from her skirt. Da always told her ahead of time when he was expecting company and he hadn’t said anything that morning.
The speck got closer, turned into a large auto, with a big enclosed box on the back. A few more minutes and they’d get close enough to spot her.
She scooped up Dolly and ran toward the front porch.
Wood groaned under her feet as she stormed up the stairs. She yanked open the patched screen door and let it slam behind her.
“Da! Da!”
The front parlor was empty except for the dust particles dancing in the sunbeams filtering through the white sheer curtains. Normally they delighted her, made her want to focus right on the patterns and the swirls, but not today. Even the way they settled onto the burgundy velvet of the sofa weren’t going to distract her.
She yanked her gaze away and hurried to the stairs.
“Da!”
Her voice echoed up the stairs. She listened hard. Just the normal hiss of the house ventilation. Nothing else. He wasn’t upstairs.
Out back then.
She ran through the kitchen, past the breakfast dishes still in the sink. It had been her turn to wash up and she hadn’t yet. Da never nagged but he would look disappointed if she didn’t get it done by lunch. She would do it, just as soon as this auto went away.
She promised.
She shoved the back door open.
“Da!”
“Celeste?” He looked up. There he was at his Machine again. Dirt smeared across his left cheek, making his blond moustache look like it had been dipped in brown. Even working outside, he still wore his full suit, but he’d taken his jacket off, folded it over the stool sitting behind him. His shirt sleeves rolled up, exposing white skin and fine white hair dotting his forearms.
He stood up straight and tall, backing away from the panel that opened into the guts of the Machine. He’d reached under the control keyboard that sat on the big squat body of the Machine. On top, the big cylinder curved up and away, its great white mouth pointing straight into the sky, like a giant’s finger pointing toward heaven.
“Why are you running, Celeste?” Da said. “You’ll hurt your knees.”
She skidded to a stop in front of him. She brushed her dress down, letting her hand pat her knees. They felt okay. Not sore since Da had fixed them up last week.
“There’s an auto coming, Da,” she said. “Was you expecting someone?”
The slight smile drained off Da’s face, making him look serious. “An auto? Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I saw smoke and heard it whine over the hill. I came right in so they wouldn’t see me, Da, like you always told me.”
Da smiled again. Celeste liked when he did that. It crinkled the skin around his mouth and eyes but he always looked younger than when he was being serious.
“I don’t think they’d be seeing you that easy, Celeste, not from that far away.”
He cupped her cheek in his hand and brushed a piece of her stringy hair off her face.
“But I best be getting ready to meet them.”
He set his tools on the chair and rolled his sleeves down to button the cuffs at his wrists. Then he picked up the jacket. The long ends flared as he flung it around his shoulders and slipped it up his arms. With a shake of his head, his long blond hair settled back onto his shoulders. He looked all tall and regal, like the great scientist he was.
Even if he was having trouble getting the Machine to work quite right.
But that was, as he always told her, a minor hiccup.
He put a hand on her shoulder and steered toward the house.
“I want you to wait upstairs, Celeste, just like always,” he said.
“Yes, Da,” she said.
He opened the back door and gestured her through first. Just like a gentleman.
Celeste led the way into the kitchen. The sink still full of breakfast dishes sat to the left of the door. She grimaced at them, the leftover smears of egg congealing on the white plates, but Da didn’t even notice. He walked right through the kitchen, tall and proud, shoes clicking on the tile. He pushed through the swinging door into the hallway and held it open for Celeste.
“Upstairs now, Celeste.”
“Yes, Da.”
She hurried after him. He moved toward the front door. He stopped with his hand resting on the doorknob. He looked back and gave her a smile.
She smiled back then ran up the stairs. Her big feet made loud, stomping sounds. She tried to be quiet and delicate but it was hard when she was hurrying. She bent her head down and concentrated, rising up on the balls of her feet. There, better. A gentler tapping on the wood stairs. The dust didn’t fly up as much in her face.
When she reached the landing, she heard Da open the door.
He hadn’t told her to go to her room at the back of the house. Not specifically, but she knew that’s what he meant. At the back of the house, no one would see her but then she wouldn’t see who was in the auto and she wanted to know. She didn’t mind when Da had company and she had to stay upstairs but only when he knew they were coming. No one ever came without Da knowing. It gave her a weird feeling, all tingling through her arms and made her nose itch.
So even though she should be waiting in her room, she snuck across the landing to the large bedroom at the front of the house.
Da’s room.
She clutched Dolly tighter and opened the door.
The room beyond stretched before her, bigger even than the living room. Such a nice room, with purple and beige embossed wallpaper along the main wall. His big bed sat to the left with the sheets pulled up. To the right, bookcases of books lined the walls and he had a big stuffed armchair in the middle, sitting on top of a faded red patterned rug. When she’d been littler, he’d sit with her on his lap and read stories from those bookcases. Over and over. It made her a little sad that she was too big to sit on his lap now. Too big for him to read those stories to her.
Maybe if she asked, he would read them to Dolly and she could listen in.
But that was for another time. After the auto.
She tiptoed to the bank of windows that faced out of the front of the house. Da had drawn back the big heavy purple curtains, letting the sun in. Celeste crouched down low and peered over the top of the sill.
Da stood at the front of the walkway. He held his hand up to shade his eyes but she could tell from the wa
y he moved back and forth a bit, that he couldn’t see the auto yet.
Celeste could, but she had much better vision than Da.
There it was, driving along the road between the yellowing fields. When Da got the Machine workin’, she knew those fields would be all fixed up. Not so yellow or barren. Then autos like this one wouldn’t kick up all that dust either.
Da would do it. She knew he would.
After a moment, Da lowered his hand and she knew he’d seen the auto. She crouched down a little farther and lifted Dolly a little so Dolly could see over the sill too.
“Who are they, Dolly?” she whispered.
Dolly didn’t know either.
The whine of the auto rose to a fever pitch then cut out. Celeste peered back over the window sill. The auto had pulled into the driveway. The big shiny bank of lights at the front dimmed. It was made of curved black metal that gleamed in the sun. Dust from the long country road coated the bottom. It surprised her that they didn’t have the dust repellent that Da used.
The box on the back looked even bigger than she’d thought. It towered up and back from the front of the auto. But the doors opening distracted her as several men stepped out.
They all wore nice suits, although not as nice as Da’s. The man close to Da was shorter, with a round squat head on top of a round squat body. He had wavy brown hair cut short on the sides but from above, she could see the poking skin of a bald spot near the top of his head. With the sun so bright, he should be wearing a hat. Da always said how important it was.
The squat man buttoned his jacket and brushed dust from the lapels. He grimaced like he’d tasted a sour lemon.
“You’re going to have to come in now, Nate.”
“You don’t want to do this, Brent, I know you,” Da said. “You don’t want to do this.”
The squat man’s mouth thinned even more. “Don’t argue, Nate. All that’s done and over with. There’s no more to be said. It’s time you came with us.”
Da shook his head. “I’m out of it and I mean to stay out. Why can’t you leave me be?”
“Are you out of it?” Squat man said. “I’ve heard about that machine you’ve got. It doesn’t sound like you’ve stopped at all.”
“It’s just tinkering is all,” Da said. “It doesn’t even work. It’s just nonsense.”
“Who’s to say?” Squat man said. “It doesn’t work now.”
“Probably won’t ever,” Da said. “You can’t stop me from thinking.”
“Oh, I think we might be able to do that.”
Squat man waved his hand at the other two men. They both moved toward Da, one a little shorter and the other a little thinner. They unbuttoned their jackets enough for Celeste to see the flash of metal at their waists.
She squinted against the sun to focus better. Fully charged laz guns, set to maximum stun.
Did they mean to shoot Da?
Celeste clutched Dolly tighter. The crush of Dolly’s arms pinched her hands. Her heart thudded in her chest and her head felt too bright.
But the men didn’t pull out their laz guns. Instead, the thin one held a beckoning hand out to Da. The other held his hands in front of him.
Da’s shoulders slumped less than an inch. He started toward the auto with his head held high. Squat man opened the back door and Da climbed into the back seat. The two men got in, sitting on either side with Da in the middle.
Squat man crossed to the large box behind. Celeste heard the whirl and clicks, then the box pulled away from the auto and started rolling on its own. Heading toward the house, no, heading to the right, around the house.
After a moment, it disappeared around the corner but she could still hear the crunch of dried grass under its wheels as it trundled along.
She crawled away from the window then raced across the hall to her room, where she should have been waiting in the first place. From the window, she could see the back yard and the parched fields with their scraps of waving grains stretching all the way to the horizon. Da’s Machine sat just off to the left. The panel still hung open like Da was expecting to return to it. The tools sat on the padded seat of the chair.
A moment later, she saw the box creep out from the side of the house. It rocked back and forth as it moved on the uneven ground. She caught a whiff of machine oil as she leaned out the window.
It stopped a few feet from the Machine. More whirling sounded and the back of the box opened. A large mechanical arm unfolded like the trunk of an elephant. It stretched out, higher and higher, like it was happy to be stretching after being all cramped in the box.
Then it whipped out at frightening speed and grabbed the Machine. Metal clashed and groaned as the mechanical arm tightened. It began to lift. The open panel flopped and banged against the side. The mechanical arm hoisted and Da’s Machine came off the ground.
The box unfolded, opening wide like a huge mouth. The mechanical arm retreated back inside, dragging the Machine with it. Before Celeste could even take a step back, the arm clicked back into place, and the sides of the box slammed shut, sealing the Machine away, big cylinder and all.
With a whine and clack, the box started to head back around the house, returning to the auto. It left only an empty spot on the ground where the Machine had sat. The chair listed to the side. Da’s tools had fallen off the seat and lay in the dirt.
Moisture filled Celeste’s eyes making everything shimmer. Da’s Machine! They’d taken Da’s Machine! And Da himself!
She hugged Dolly to her as she staggered back. The walls blurred. Da wasn’t finished working on the Machine. He’d left the panel open and it had banged and clanged when the arm lifted it. It was gonna scratch the paint and Da still had to fix it and the dishes weren’t done by lunch.
Oh, her head hurt. Celeste tried to move but her knees felt all tight, as if Da hadn’t fixed them just last week. The whine of the auto faded. It was going going gone, taking Da and the Machine, and she hadn’t done the dishes yet. They couldn’t take him before lunch, before she’d done the dishes!
It wasn’t her fault!
Celeste’s knees creaked and buckled. She fell on the hard wood of the landing. Wet, her face felt all wet. She clutched Dolly in her arms until Dolly started to cry along with her.
Da!
* * *
System restart.
Celeste opened her eyes to darkness. She blinked into infrared.
She was kneeling on the upstairs landing. Dolly flopped in her arms. As she got to her feet, Dolly woke up and told her several hours had passed. Silly Dolly, of course she knew that. It had been bright sunlight before...
Before when they took Da.
The upset made her knees tremble again. Celeste tasted the sourness in her mouth and swallowed it down. Stop it, just stop it now. She weren’t any help to Da if she let the upset overwhelm her again. She was a learner, he’d always said that of her, always been proud of her for that.
It was one thing to let upset shut her down for a while, and another to let it shut her down a second time.
No learner did that.
She headed back downstairs, holding onto the wood banister like Da always told her. It creaked in her hand. She squeezed too hard. Squeeze it much harder and she’d break it, then Da would be really mad.
She didn’t like it when Da was mad at her.
She walked onto the porch. The night air smelled sweet and dry. Dots of light sparkled in the sky above her. Da had told her they were all suns like the sun and that maybe there were other people on other places looking up at them. Celeste didn’t know if that were true, but Da was so much smarter than her.
Except now he was gone, and she was alone.
Except for Dolly.
She hugged Dolly as the cool air creeped up against her skin. It carried a hint of machine oil. One good breath and she broke down the elements. If she closed her eyes, she could see the listing floating in her mind in pretty red letters.
Then she could...
Follo
w it?
But she had to get her coat first, cuz Da always told her to wear a coat when it was chilly out.
* * *
After the darkness in the country, she had to turn her vision down to deal with all the bright lights of the city. Still, she managed to find pockets of darkness along the street and she ducked fast between them, her knees clicking and clattering as she hurried along.
She gawked at the ladies in long flowing dresses and hair tumbling in curls around their heads. Such straight, smooth faces. Some pale as white clouds, others dark as the finest leather. None of them patched and welded like her face. She bet their knees didn’t creak and click. And those beautiful curls... She fingered her own stringy hair. She would never have curls like that.
But they were all bigger than her and maybe when she was all done growing, Da would show her how to curl her hair, or make her face smooth and clear.
She ducked out of the shadows of the alley and hurried along the dirt path. Above her, the slidewalk whirled, clicking along on its rails. Muffled laughter floated down.
Her heart pounded as she moved. If any of them looked down, they would catch sight of her. She hunched her shoulders, wishing she had a hat to cover her head. Then no one would see her stringy hair, or the seam that cut down her scalp and disappeared under the collar of her jacket.
But no one looked down.
She reached the gate on the other side. Heavy iron curved around in circles, ending high above her head. Beyond a building of grey metal sprouted turrets and domes. Lights flickered at the side mounted into the stone wall. Da’s scent led straight through this metal gate. As well, she caught the scent of the Machine, stronger now, like they had taken it out of its box somewhere beyond this gate. The tang of its metal gears pinched her nostrils.
As Celeste peered at the lights, they flickered. She blinked, cycling through all her ways of seeing until she could see the pattern of how the lights should go. There, not so hard really.
Her knees clicked as she bent forward to press at the lights. Buttons warmed beneath her fingers and the gate began to hum. It made a loud click that sounded almost like her knees, then it moved inward, parting as it went.
Celeste and the Machine: A Science Fiction Story Page 1