Cogs in Time 2 (The Steamworks Series)

by SJ Davis

  Cory Turner

  I died, and I was no longer just man. I had no heart. My very soul was gone from me, in its place were steaming gears, stone and metal. Blood no longer ran through my veins, in its place, liquid energy. I had set out to kill. I would have my revenge on them. Nothing would stand in my way, for they took my humanity from me, and I wished to take their lives.

  A fire burned within my eyes. I saw him, the last. My enemies had all fallen to my feet in death, but he was the last that stood.

  He wore a bright green overcoat, black boots and holsters around his waist. He looked at me with his glass eyes and a grin upon his face as he laughed an unsettling laugh. Stepping back from me, he said something in a strange tongue. A green fire shot from his hands, and I dashed from its path. He laughed once more, and I pointed my pistol at his head.

  No words were spoken, and I fired.

  Standing his ground, he knocked the bullets out of the air, not one hitting him. I emptied my gun and attempted to reload, but before I knew what was happening, he charged me. Pushing me to the ground, he put one of his odd looking pistols to my head. The gun was a dark green, like jade, with a bright, ruby red snake raping around the hilt to the muzzle.

  His glass eyes turned amber as he stared at me and smiled. "Good bye, Samuel."

  ****

  I awoke, shaken and confused. "Where am I?"

  Standing, I looked around. The moon shined threw the branches, giving some light to my surroundings. The trees were leafless, as if they had been on fire at some point. Only sticks and stones covered the ground, the grass gone. Taking in my appearance, I saw that I was dressed in a white shirt, black over coat, black pants and my boots. My gun, however, was missing from its holster.

  A sound came from behind, and I turned. A light of some sort moved towards me, as bright as the sun. Fear rushed through my body, and I ran as if death was on my heels.

  I continued to run, faster than what even seemed possible to me. All of the sudden it started to rain. Thunder shook the very ground and the wind began to blow hard and fast. I could barely see what was in front of me. I jumped and pushed through the trees of the strange place I found myself in. I tried to remember, but I couldn’t force myself to find the answer to how I ended up there. All I knew was that I must escape.

  I turned to look behind me, the light brighter than the sun still swiftly followed. I swayed and jumped, when all of a sudden I fell, cracking my head hard on the ground. Dazed from the blow, I stood and tried to continue, but I tumbled back to the ground once more.

  ****

  When I came to, I was no longer in the forest. Instead, I lay on the side of an old, dusty road. The rain had stopped and the sun set high in the sky. The land around me seemed dead. The trees were black and the ground seemed to cry out in pain. I looked to the pale sorrowful color sky. The sun itself was almost green and the clouds were as black as night.

  Jumping to my feet, I slowly turned Nothing.

  Feeling somewhat safe for the time being, I walked down the road, wondering how I had gotten there and what had happened to this place. After what seemed like hours, I heard something come from behind me, and I stopped. I turned to see eyes staring back at me, glowing like fire.

  At first, the creature looked like a wolf, but it started too morph, until it stood as tall as a man that had no flesh. Metal cogs and wheels turning, steam rising from its makeshift body, it let out a growl and leaped at me.

  Its teeth and claws pierced my skin, and I let out a scream of pure pain. Blood flowed from my body as the odd creature tore through my flesh. With all my strength, I tried to fight it off, but I could not.

  All of a sudden the creature stopped attacking, let out an odd growl and was gone. I felt a sense of relief that the attack was over, but the pain was excruciating.

  I started to slip into darkness, and I wonder if this is to be the end of me. As I laid dying, the darkness quickly taking hold, I see it. The light.

  ****

  I awoke, finding myself in a small room. The light shined through the window as I set up from the bed. I had been bandaged up, and I felt somewhat well.

  “Where am I?” I said out loud, though there was no one in the room to hear me.

  Slowly standing, I walked toward the widow and gazed. I could make out two men setting on a bench overlooking a small garden. The older of the two was smoking a pipe, while the younger gentlemen seemed to be frantically talking. The older man wore white slacks with a black vest over a white dress shirt. A pocket watch peeked out of his left breast pocket. The younger man was all in black, and looked as if he were a priest of some sort.

  Turning from the window, I wondered who the men were, as I began to look around the room. It was small, nothing fancy about it. No pictures hung on the white walls. No tables next to the bed, or even a lamp for light. The door looked old and had cracks in places.

  I walked toward it and put my hand on the knob, slowly twisting it “It’s locked,” I whispered to myself. “What is going on?”

  ****

  On the bench outside the house, the two men argued. “We must take him to them, David.” Jackal not understanding David’s stands on not letting him do what needed to be done, walked slowly back to the house were Samuel was being kept.

  David stood up from the bench and looked out at his dead garden. Pausing, he took one last puff from his pipe and put it out.

  “I just can’t let you do that, Father. He has every right to life.”

  Jackal turned and looked at him with frustration. “He’s going to get us killed.”

  David turned and looked at the priest. He wasn’t a very tall man, only standing five feet and one inch, and he had the face of a small boy. His hair was a bright orange and freckles covered his face.

  David was much older and stood at about over six foot with a head of white hair. Even his facial hair was a silky ivory color with a streak of gray and black below his lower lip. His face was old, but still quite handsome, despite the scar that ran down his left cheek from his younger days.

  David smiled remembering back at his youth, and as he looked at Jackal he gave a slight laugh. “I don’t know about that, Father.”

  ****

  As I got up from the bed I was laying on, the two men stood in the door way and introduced themselves. The older man spoke softly but stern, “I am David and this is Jackal, we mean you no harm. What is your name friend?”

  “I am Samuel,” was all I could say.

  We walked to a bigger room and sat at a large table, and David began to speak. I had a price on my head, dead or alive it would seem. The Green Men, as David called them, would prefer me dead. He asked what I did, and I told him about what happened.

  “It started with a small room. I was held there for some time. I can’t remember why, but these men would come in, ask me questions, and do test on me. I felt anger towards them. I escaped after some time had passed. I found I was deferent from other people. I could do things that no other could do. I began to hate everything and everyone. I didn’t feel human. So I found out who the men were who had done this to me, and I killed them. All but one that is.”

  The priest, Jackal, didn’t seem to want to listen to what I said. He seemed set on turning me over to them.

  However the older man, David, seemed to want to help. He asked, “How did you come to be in this place?”

  I had no answer.

  According to David, I was in a place called Graylynn. After they were attacked many years ago by The Green Men, who had turned their world to a desolate waste land, it was only one of seven places left.

  The Green Men were a race lead by the green king, Kain, and they were the only ones who had the power to travel through the void. Not much was known about them. Only that they were pure evil. Greed was their master and they were set on complete domination.

  Jackal looked at me with distaste and frustration in his eyes. “We must turn him in, David.”

  “Father, we mustn’t
fear.” Stepping back from the kitchen table, David spoke of the man I had tried to kill.

  “He is a powerful being, a captain of sorts. His name is Grim, he and his brethren were just the beginning of the destruction of my world. Rumor had it that they were looking for a way to merge flesh and metal, something that they could control and use. They seemed too have achieved it with you. You were to be the first of your kind, a being that was part man and part machine.”

  However, I could not be controlled.

  ****

  I stepped from the table exhausted and said good night to both men. I walked slowly to the white room I had awakened in, thinking of our long talk. I laid down to rest and sleep took hold fast. I stood in a great city, fire burning all around, and David stood looking to the north. Smoke and embers fell from the very sky, and his pistols were drawn. Jackal was on his knees, his hand covering his eyes.

  There was only one other among us. She wore a bright blue dress and seemed to have a glow about her. She turned and faced me. Her long hair radiated a bright red and her eyes were a bright green. She was beauty beyond my words.

  She spoke softly but with great distress in her voice, "Samuel, you must find it!"

  Fear began to take hold of me, and I looked around as the ground shook and the buildings began to fall and crumble. The air became thick with ash and dust, filled with screams and a unusual roar.

  The woman screamed to me, "Samuel! Find it, you must hurry!"

  David fired, and I saw it. The destroyer, it stood taller than any building, it touched the very sky. Steam poured out of its joints, and its eyes glowed a bright orange. Doom incarnate, stood before me in the form of a giant, metal machine.

  ****

  I awakened, and somehow knew that things were more than they seemed. I had been created to control this thing, this monster of steam, cogs and gears. It would be the destruction of my world if I did not destroy it. The girl in my dream, she had seemed so familiar, I knew I must find her. My anger for the men who took my life grew. My heart racing, I jumped from the bed to tell David of my vision.

  I rushed through the house to find no one was there. Hearing something come from outside, I sprinted to the front door and pulled it open. What I saw shook me to my very core.

  It stood in the distance , the monstrous mansion from my dream. Grim sat upon its shoulder , a smile on his face. I looked for David or Jackal, but they were not in sight.

  I felt alone, in pain, and lightheaded. Grabbing both sides of my skull, I realized I was bleeding. As the monster moved closer, I fell to my knees. Out of nowhere, I saw it. The light I had run from so many days before appeared, and all went dark.

  ****

  “It has been too long, David. He is gone, we must do this.” Jackal looked at David with sadness in his eyes. “You can’t save everyone”

  David stared back, His anger showing in his eyes. He thought back to when he had first met Samuel, and how young and in love he was. Yet, sadly, it hadn’t been meant to last.

  The day the two had met had been the same day Samuel and his wife of three years had been attacked by a group of men. They had killed Samuel’s wife and left him to die next to her body. The police didn’t find him for almost two days. Samuel had been put in the hospital for some time. He regained his health quickly and was put in a program to help him cope with the loss of his wife. The killers had yet to be caught, and no answers to why they had attacked them had been found.

  Maybe for the pure joy of it, who knows. David thought.

  He was the lead investigator, and had become close to the case, but over time Samuel had slipped in to madness. They had been after him for almost five months, and had finally caught up to him.

  David looked towards the building Samuel was held up in, the night was dark, the place was in a wooden area, and the building was nothing but elegant at its finest. Reports showed he had at least fourteen hostages, maybe more and he had already killed several of them, and they were preparing to go in.

  “We must take him out now, David.”

  David looked up into Jackals eyes. He nodded his head, and they went in. They entered fast and went from room to room, finally they found them. Dead, they were all dead. Shining his light around, David searched for Samuel. He found him on his knees covered in blood and shined his flash light at his face.

  Samuel looked up and smiled “I did it! I saved us all!”

  Aztecs

  Cindy J. Smith

  On the altar

  Virgin awaits

  High priest ascends

  To bring her fate

  Knife plunges in

  Beating heart raised

  Worshipers grovel

  Sing songs of praise

  As blood soaks in

  Tower vibrates

  Gears of the gods

  Now greased gyrate

  Steam pours out as

  Altar divides

  God-ship emerges

  Flies to the skies

  Uncle Tom's Heart

  Emma Michaels & Michael Cross

  "Papa?"

  "Yes, Eva, my treasure?"

  "Will you promise me something?"

  "Anything, sweetheart. Whatever you want."

  "Please let Tom go home to his wife and kids when I'm gone."

  "Oh... Eva."

  "Please Papa."

  "I promise, sweetheart." St. Clare reached out to stroke little Eva's pale face. "I swear as long as I live, Tom and the other laborers will be freed."

  ***

  George lifted his son Henry high in the air. His small mechanical arms reached to the sky in wonder. He was an automaton and the triumph of George's life.

  George, although only an indentured laborer, was a brilliant man. He had recently built a sorting machine that could tell the difference between types of alloys. Citizens who purchased the device loved it because it increased output and generated more income. Indentured laborers like George, who were owned by Citizens, were able to fulfill their debt work faster and more efficiently. Unfortunately for George, the rights to his design belonged solely to the man who owned him. This included owning Henry, because laborers couldn't own property until their debt was paid off.

  "Father?"

  George smiled as he looked up at his son's shiny metal face. People were staring at them oddly as George carried around the automaton on his shoulders, but he didn't care. "Yes, Henry?"

  "Can we stop by the playground?"

  George chuckled. "Sure, Henry."

  "You there. What's your name?"

  George stopped and turned to see a man coming toward him, wearing a suit with a severe cut. He had a gaunt face and poignant eyes.

  "Can I help you, sir?"

  "My name is Haley. That's Master to you, laborer. I've heard you do some fine work with steel," Haley said. He turned to look at Henry with interest. "What is that you have on your shoulders?"

  "This is my boy, Henry, sir."

  "Your boy, eh? So what is your going rate, laborer?"

  "I'm sorry, sir," George said. "I belong to Mr. Shelby. He owns my debt and leases me where he wishes."

  Haley scoffed. "Anyone can be bought, laborer. Now tell me, what will Shelby charge for that metal wonder you have there?"

  George stiffened. "This is my son, sir. He isn't for sale."

  Haley scowled. "It's nothing but a heap of metal. It's a first rate job, and someone will pay top dollar for it, but it's just a machine."

  "I'm sorry, sir. The machine and I are not for sale."

  "How dare you! The impudence and nerve! You are nothing but a common laborer. Know your place."

  "If you will excuse me, sir, I seem to be troubling you and shall bid you good day." Without another word, George turned and walked away with Henry on his shoulders.

  Haley watched them leave, knowing he would get what he wanted.

  ***

  "Father?"

  "Yes, Henry?"

  "Why did that man call me a heap of metal
?"

  George sighed and lifted the automaton down so he could look at him. "Some people don't see what is inside, Henry. They don't understand that a heart beats, whether it is made of flesh and blood or steel and steam.

  "But I'm like you and Father Ezra, right?"

  He smiled. "Of course you are, Henry. You're our child."

  George hated their society. Debt forged the chains for many in the world, since the economies had fallen into hard times. Countries fell and the great cities of the world turned to their own local governments for leadership. Those with means were welcomed and given generous provisions to help rebuild, but society required cogs in the machine to continue turning.

  Those who had no wealth took on a debt chain, passed from mother to daughter and father to son until it was paid off. The debt was assumed by wealthy Citizens who paid for their laborers to have food, shelter and care. Laborers were to pay off what their Citizens had spent on them by working without rest, building great machines that served the city, or to scavenge through discarded scrap heaps. Those who couldn't pay, or were not bought by a citizen, were thrown into prison. Any laborer who attempted to flee without paying off a debt would be executed.

  All things within society were measured by wealth and debt. If two people wanted to marry, but were not citizens, not only did they have to come up with the money to obtain the license, but they had to obtain their citizen's signature for sponsorship. George and his fiancé, Ezra, were such a couple. Their citizen, Mr. Shelby, was reluctant to give them his signature, even though they had earned the money for the license. He disagreed that two men should be allowed to marry, even if the city stated that it was legal. His wife, Mrs. Shelby, who had grown up with Ezra since they were children, frequently argued with her husband on Ezra's behalf.

  When George had brought up the idea of having a child with Ezra by building an automaton, both men feared what Shelby would say. They had needed his signature to own anything, and even if he gave them permission, Henry would be considered the property of the Shelby estate. Surprisingly, Shelby had given his permission. Ezra later learned that Mrs. Shelby insisted on it, and had even given them the money to obtain the materials.