Perpetual Power
The Tressa Tremaine Saga
Randall Sudlow
with Jessica Sudlow
Foreward
In the late 21st century, technological growth was exponential. Enormous advances were accomplished in all major scientific fields; the greatest of these were in genetics, clean and efficient nuclear fusion, and power transference. Systems were developed where power could be projected within an umbrella without the need for wires or plugs. Electrical energy could be stored in massive quantities for long periods of time and transported in handheld packages. The leading invention in the energy revolution was the Wide Field Energy Transference System. This system allowed for electricity to be delivered to electronic devices within range of the power source. The dome-like energized area provided its common name, “Umbrella”. Power umbrellas for entire cities could be safely maintained without the need for fossil fuels.
Genetics were advanced with the streamlining of gene splicing. Gene choices became part of the regular experience in plastic surgery offices. You could choose to change the color of your eyes or hair, add a few inches in height or change the shape of your nose – all through reconstruction at the cellular level rather than with physical surgery. As with all things, some people chose to do their work on a budget and the results were not as good.
Information technology allowed people around the globe to communicate instantly, and this neighborly inter-connectivity allowed for better cultural understanding throughout most countries on the planet. As cheap, efficient and safe power became available for everyone, there was less hunger, poverty and strife in many remote parts of the world. There had never been a time of more unity throughout the globe, but that unity was not accepted by everyone.
Two incidents changed the course of this new worldview;
In 2102, nuclear weapons were exchanged between radicals in the Middle East and Israel. Using the implied threat of war, Pakistan and India also deployed tactical nuclear weapons. This essentially destroyed most of the landmass from Egypt in North Africa to the Indian Peninsula. The citizens of China, Russia and the Western hemisphere held their breaths as their leaders sought to step back from the brink of total madness. Fortunately, a nuclear world war was avoided and the newly developed technological advances were used to rebuild and salvage what was possible in the devastated regions. Nuclear fallout and subsequent diseases, however, resulted in millions of deaths throughout the war zone, and because of the wind drift, entire populations in Asia and the Pacific islands were wiped out. Just as reconstruction and rebuilding got underway the second Incident occurred.
Catastrophically, in 2110 unprecedented solar flares created irreversible damage. This solar storm exceeded all computer models in both duration and magnitude. All world-wide satellite programs were demolished overnight. The much debated Climate Change or Global Warming came about suddenly and the polar ice caps melted at alarming rates.
Scientists had long known that the Earth’s magnetic fields had changed back and forth several times over the eons. This flipping of the poles happened again as the massive solar flares disrupted the normal balance of our protective magnetic shield. The wobble created in the earth’s rotation precipitated earthquakes and land upheavals that markedly changed accepted maps of the world. Luckily, the magnetic poles snapped back to their previous positions, but not before drastically rising sea levels caught entire seacoasts unprepared and untold numbers of people were killed. It is presumed that between these two incidents, just a decade or so apart, as much as 85% of the earth’s population was annihilated.
As the polar caps refroze and the oceans receded, new islands, vast lakes and reshaped coastlines emerged. Some places were lost forever and others changed so much as to be unrecognizable. Most people who survived did so by working in small groups and using what items they could scavenge and cobble together. Their collective ability to recreate damaged portions of the newer technological wonders was drastically hampered. Societies slowly rebuilt as large portions of these technologies were saved, but the industrial infrastructure to reconstruct entire countries was lost. Some people, however, chose to withdraw from the rebuilding and start fresh in new areas.
One such group gathered up their belongings and went into the wilderness of what had been the Rocky Mountains in the United States of America. They found a large canyon and worked to build themselves a city out of the sheer stone faces surrounding a deep lake in the center of the canyon. They called their city Top Peake and have thrived there for over three hundred years.
Top Peake has kept themselves aware of outside happenings through the ingenious use of wandering storytellers. Chosen by the governing council of the town the storytellers would travel in pairs entertaining and listening. Universally accepted, and seemingly harmless, these storytellers would bring back reports to inform the Council of events happening in the world.
Storytellers are selected at a young age and educated and trained at the Storytelling Institute. The Institute taught a broad range of skills and abilities to its students. Intellectual education and physical training helped prepare the young storytellers for whatever situations they might encounter on their travels. As they mature the best and brightest students are Chosen to accompany a Mentor until they are ready to travel on their own. Young Tressa Tremaine is the first girl to ever be selected for the Institute.
Chapter 1
Tressa Tremaine hated getting hit in the face. But as the three older boys fanned out around her in the settling twilight she didn’t plan on that happening. Collin, Rollin and Gaf McDonnell had been ganging up on her for years, and now it was her turn to release some frustration toward them in the sparring yard.
Settling her weight by bending her knees slightly she prepared for Gaf, the youngest of the three, to make his usual grab for her from behind. Tressa shifted her weight onto her left foot and shot out a kick with her right that caught him squarely in the stomach. She satisfyingly heard a thud as he collapsed and fell against the grass of the yard; she knew he was done for the day, so she turned her attention to the other boys.
She sensed one of the twins - most likely Rollin - reaching out, trying to tangle a hand into her long, black hair and the thin gold chain and ring that always hung from around her neck. She quickly dropped to her left knee and spun around with her right leg snapping out and cutting his legs out from underneath him. The younger twin, losing his balance, sat down hard on his backside as she carried her body’s momentum in a full circle. She shot out a quick, hard right jab just behind the ear. His head fell forward and he slowly sagged over onto his side. Just one more to go, she thought.
Now it was Collin’s turn. The heavyset boy had always been strong and mean. Collin’s eyes were dark and flat in the low light, giving Tressa the sense that he was going to try something different in the fight this time. He didn’t wade immediately into the fight like his brothers; instead, he circled slowly to the right along the edge of the practice field and looked for an opportunity to pounce. Tressa matched his pace and circled, as well. When Collin thought he had her moving the way he wanted, he came in fast and low trying to grab her front leg to roll it over and use it to pin her on the ground. Tressa sprawled her legs backward and slammed both her forearms down onto the back of his neck, driving him to the ground. He seemed prepared for this as he folded onto his back and pulled her with him as he rolled.
Tressa was thankful that they weren’t fighting on the hard concrete of the Institutes’ Arena, and she was especially thankful that they weren’t rolling on it. Collin struggled to get his superior weight on top of her. She brought her right knee up, high and fast, to create some space between their bodies so she could try to spring away a
few feet as they continued tumbling together.
She managed to get loose, but ended up on her back with Collin rising at her feet. The older twin suddenly splayed over her, trying to land on top of Tressa and finish the struggle. She only had time to roll up onto her shoulders and plant both feet hard into his stomach. Tressa calculated his weight and momentum would carry her over in a somersault so she exploded upwards with her legs and sent him flying end over end. Collin landed hard on his back and Tressa could hear the air get forced out of his lungs from the impact. That was too close, she thought as she rolled up onto her knees. Just then a recovered Gaf kicked her in the side of the head with his boot.
Everything went black for a moment, then gray, then lava-hot red in Tressa’s brain. She shot to her feet and stood up, bringing a rock-hard right fist all the way from the ground up into Gaf’s face. She felt his head snap back and knew he’d have a swollen, black eye for quite a while. Tressa prepared to twist and use her body weight to drive her sharp left elbow into his ribs.
“Halt!” crackled across the courtyard that held the practice sparing field. “Release!” came next. Tressa stepped back two paces and bowed to the three boys scattered around the darkening ground around her. She then turned to face the wiry, old man coming down the steps.
Defense Instructor Tanaka strode up to Tressa and his scrunched, red face said it all. He hissed, “Restraint! Control!” and repeated, “Restraint! Control! You must learn to channel your anger or else you will never learn to control yourself. Go and clean yourself up for dinner and take that time to breathe and calm down.” This wasn’t the first time that Tanaka was upset at Tressa. She seemed to always let her frustration and anger get the better of her.
Tressa took several deep breaths and walked back to her room. There was a constant high pitched ringing in her ears, making her angrier that Gaf was able to sneak up on her enough to kick her in the head. Her frustration settled some as she thought about the fact that he would be squinting out of a bruised eye for a few weeks. She knew she had a bad temper when she got provoked; she had always tried to avoid that surge of rage that her mother said she got from her dad’s side of the family. But those stupid McDonnell boys deserved every bruise they got.
She bounded up the stone steps to her dormitory at the Institute. Her footsteps always had a way of being silent and smooth. Her bedroom was significantly smaller than the other dormitories in the building, containing just a bed, closet, and desk for homework. It was, conveniently, connected to a small private bathroom. She was lucky to be the only student with her own bathroom, but then again she was the only female student in the whole Institute. Tressa was naturally awkward with people she didn’t know well, and being in the spotlight as the only girl around made her even more reserved at times.
After she showered and toweled off she decided to let her hair air dry as she put the finishing touches on her year-end report for her History Telling class. Professor Columbus told the class that ‘written stories were just as important as oral stories, even if our community won’t always admit it.’ Tressa always wondered why Professor Columbus preferred historical accounts rather than present day stories, but she guessed that someone had to like that sort of thing. She flipped open her notebook and went over what she had so far putting the finishing touches on the ending;
“And so, for the past 320 years my family has lived among our people in the mountains with our small, perpetual power umbrella that has yet to need a replacement. We’ve never heard of another community that can make this claim.”
Tressa felt better as she enjoyed thinking about her little city and the life they had created for themselves. She considered the wisdom of her ancestors to have created such a wonderful home in Top Peake so many years ago.
She knew that during the Great Technology Age everyone was completely obsessed with cyber relationships and hardly ever seemed to speak to each other face to face. All machinery and tools became electric with the introduction of reliable, and safer, nuclear power. Once Power Umbrellas were developed to safely transfer power to any electronic item within the umbrella’s range, people’s lives got easier, but their interpersonal relationships worsened. Tellers, including Professor Columbus, have often told stories about people of the past who hardly ever went outside their homes. Everything they needed was just a click away and was delivered by those few people who weren’t qualified to do any other type of work.
I can’t imagine not enjoying going outside and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. It must have been awful being cooped up in a dark room all day… I wonder if they turned a bluish tint from being in front of those screens all the time, she thought.
After the effects of the solar flare storms relented, and the death toll slowed, those who were left realized their dependence on each other was vital to survival. Personal relationships were highly valued once again and people preferred to deal with each other face to face. The “plugged-in community” went out of style. Tressa loved being outside playing sports, jogging, and rock climbing or using her exceptional agility in one way or another. None of the other students could match her when it came to anything relating to hanging, climbing, jumping or balance. She couldn’t imagine someone wanting to stare at a screen all day, hour after hour.
In Top Peake, every third Saturday night the whole town would meet at the municipal amphitheater, and the Storytellers – or Tellers as everyone generally called them – would provide hours of wonderfully orated accounts of their travels through other lands. It was a time to connect with neighbors and friends and enjoy the company of the whole town. Tressa had always enjoyed hearing the stories more than telling them. Shy in front of crowds she much preferred helping behind the scenes, but this is what she was training to be at the Institute – a Teller. At these get-togethers she’d heard sad stories, happy stories, stories about wars and battles, tales of love and betrayal, and accounts so funny your drink would come out your nose, but she’d never heard a story that sparked a desire to live anywhere else.
Tressa loved the storytelling Festivals her town held twice a year. Anyone could try out a story they were working on or wanted to simply enjoy sharing an old favorite. There were puppet shows put on by older, master storytellers for the little children, and monologues based on historical figures and re-enactments. The town would swell with caravans of merchants, jugglers, circus acts, animal trainers and all kinds of people from the surrounding small towns. Sometimes caravans from the lowlands would make their way into the Festivals and new gadgets or rebuilt older ones would become the hot items to purchase. Famous plays from the Great Technology Age and throughout history were put on during the week-long celebrations.
At the close of the spring Festival, the Council, or Uppers as they were referred to behind their backs, would appoint that year’s Mentor. The Mentor would then consider and select two students from the Storytelling Institute to be that year’s Chosen. The Chosen would accompany the mentor on their first trip outside the Top Peake region and start their careers of travelling, gathering stories along the way to bring back to Top Peake. At the fall Festival, a great contest would be held throughout the week and the bragging rights of Annual Storyteller would pass for a year to the person who told the best story.
Closing her notebook Tressa felt the desire to travel and see the world tugging at her, but felt her lack of self-confidence in front of crowds would keep her from ever being Chosen. She felt pretty sure she knew which of her classmates would be chosen at the upcoming ceremony.
Chapter 2
As Tressa left her room she heard her name being called and knew it could only be Roderick Chisholm. Roderick was a year older then her, and probably the only person less accepted by the other students at the Institute than herself. Small, geeky, uncoordinated and geeky (yes, he merited two “geekys”) he just didn’t seem to fit in. But Tressa understood they had a bond that went beyond being unpopular. Just as she excelled beyond everyone’s expectations at sports and gymnastic
events, Roderick could quickly look at a problem given to him and instantly spit out the correct answer, usually without paper or pen. A large part of what caused his universal unpopularity was the fact that he then suggested possibilities to make the problems more difficult so “you really have to work to get it.”
As they started down the hall Roderick asked Tressa what she had been doing.
“Oh just finishing my report for History,” she replied. “You know, as I’ve researched and written about our history it’s made me even more aware of our town’s self-reliance. But, I imagine somewhere out there are countries and people that must have some of the best technology left over from before. Do you think any of it still works?”
Pausing and rubbing his chin, Roderick thought for a moment, “I would calculate that some fancy gadgets might still be working, but mostly they would use patches and repairs to keep stuff going. Think of the resources that must be spent just to keep power umbrellas up over the cities of the world.”
Tressa realized for the first time that without an operating power umbrella all of Top Peake’s electrical items would just…stop. The lights, hair dryers, washing machines, water pumps, refrigerators and other items they all took for granted would stop functioning the moment power stopped being available. She had always been taught that Perpetual Power, the world-wide conglomerate that controlled all the remaining nuclear reactors, had an unfair monopoly that allowed them to charge exorbitant prices. Without the perfectly functioning Top Peake umbrella they would be at Perpetual’s mercy, too.
“I think Perpetual Power shouldn’t be allowed to bully communities like they do,” she mused.
Roderick snorted his disapproval. “Why do you think some towns go to the black market for replacement power cubes? I’ve read that there’s even talk of reintroducing fossil fuels in places.” Changing the subject, Roderick chuckled and said, “I heard you had quite the sparring match today.”
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