Sunstone: A Steampunk Reality

by Holly Barbo

  There were larger temples to the Goddess in the bigger cities that were architecturally beautiful, with stained glass depicting scenes from her story, but none had the blessed uniqueness of this small shrine. Now that he was old and frail, his granddaughter was living in the cottage and learning from him how to read the magic of Navora’s gate and the Goddess’s sacred pool.

  He opened his eyes and stared at the gateway. It was an odd open portal framed and shaped by slowly drifting leaves and flower petals that were suspended in mid-air. They weren’t attached to anything, not even a gossamer spider’s thread, yet in that space a leaf could take a month or more to drift from the upper reaches to the ground. They just floated very slowly in their descent and never into the circle of energy that formed the gate. Only someone chosen by the Goddess, like his family, could walk through that portal to the sacred pool just beyond. Visitors to the shrine would approach the gate but due to the vibrating energy could not go farther. The static electric charge it emitted caused their hair to stand on end and crackle. They would write their prayers on small pieces of paper and toss them high to be amongst the slowly descending leaves and flower petals.

  Navora’s pool was another unexplained anomaly. Where the laws of time and gravity seemed incredibly slow at the gate, they had stopped at the Goddess’s pool. The spring which could be seen just beyond the portal was known as much for its stillness as it was for its unusual color. Even as strong winds shook loose more leaves to be caught in the gate’s energy aura, the pool was never disturbed. It was always smooth, with nary a ripple to its rich pale gold water which reflected only the sky.

  Due to his many years of being near the blessed magic, Bareed was sensitive to resonances in the feel of the place, and something was changing right now! As he studied the gate, he detected a subtle smell of brine from the sea even though they were more than fifty miles inland. He noticed that the suspended leaves were slowly twirling in place, spinning in a left rotation. “Sola! Come now!” Before he finished speaking, he heard his granddaughter’s rapid steps.

  The young woman came running from around the corner of the small house. Her beauty was framed by the rust and gold headdress that wrapped over her head encircling her face and cascading in folds from her left ear only to disappear over her shoulder.

  “Look at the gate! I’ve never seen it do this, though my father described it to me. The tang of the ocean is in the wind. We need to get to Navora’s pool. There’s no time to waste!”

  The graceful woman reached the old man’s side just as he engaged the clockwork’s gears to his wheelchair. There was a whirr as the old man pressed the lever in his haste. Pebbles and dirt skittered as the wheels spun. In a few heartbeats both were through the circular opening framed by the twirling leaves, the wheels bumping a bit on the cobbled pathway. As they came alongside the small gold pond, Sola stopped abruptly. Both stared at it in silence for several heartbeats. The legendary still pool had ripples.

  Sola glanced at her grandfather. He wasn’t alarmed, but his attention was rapt as he stared at the ruffled golden waters. She knelt at the side of the spring, her flowing skirt forming soft folds of russet and turquoise across the flat grey stone. As they watched, the ripples broke into three sets that generated from triple points of disturbance. Small wavelets from the triangular-shaped design ran into other small oscillations and canceled each other out so the pattern was not lost in the pool.

  Bareed nodded toward the agitated water. “Take a small rhamat and gently sweep it through just one of the disturbed points. Watch the surface carefully.”

  The young woman reached for the basket of woven grass spirals that she always kept near the spring. When a pilgrim came, they would purchase the woven pieces for gifts and special occasions. Sola would dip them in the spring to increase the blessing.

  “Choose one made from the blue grass and use the lower part of the whorl to sweep across the turbulence.”

  Sola lifted one from the full basket. She had woven several new ones a few days before. They ranged in color from pale gold to the deep blue of the grass near the gate. The one she chose turned the color of midnight when it became wet in the sacred water.

  As soon as she had run the rhamat through the first point of turbulence, the surface there began to quiet. The other two continued their frenzied ripples, but the one Sola was stroking stilled and for the briefest moment a face was seen in the smooth surface. It was a woman, perhaps in her early thirties, with long dark hair and amber brown eyes that were a deeper shade than the pool’s gold water. Her face was oval, with strong cheekbones, her nose had a bump high on the bridge, and the mouth beneath it was wide.

  Surprised, Sola glanced up at her grandfather. “But that’s…!”

  He nodded in agreement, but his eyes never left the spring’s surface.

  Sola reached out and dipped the grass spiral into the water of the second triangular point. This time as the water stilled there was an image of a young man. His brown hair was a warm contrast to his gold-flecked hazel eyes in his square face. The young woman wasn’t sure of his age but the face was without roundness to soften its planes. Though his lips were on the thin side, there was already evidence of smile lines at the corners. When the image faded, Sola murmured, “I don’t recognize him.”

  Bareed’s eyes lifted for the first time from their study of the water. “The Goddess will send him here. There is one more to see,” he said as his gaze returned to staring at the water’s gold surface.

  For a third time, the young woman swept the woven grass through the rippled disturbance. Two pairs of eyes watched the surface of the gold water as it stilled. Long moments passed before Sola looked up into her grandfather’s face. “What does that mean?”

  Without taking his gaze from the now smooth gold water, he shook his head.

  M’nacht

  The following morning found Kes dropping off his specimens and report at Mitch’s office. The department head was there and waved the young man in. Kes handed the recorded cylinders to his boss but left the samples in their crated carrier. He closed the door and, turning the crank, felt the lock engage. “Do you mind telling me what is clandestine about some of my samples?”

  Mitch sighed. “Our lab boys have made a couple of discoveries that look promising. One for an enzyme that tells the body to target and kill fast growing invasive cells, like cancer. It may have other similar applications but right now we’re excited about how it helps our fight against that deadly disease. The other works at the site of a cut to instantly build the body’s microscopic platform for the clotting and healing platelets to attach to. It is nearly miraculous. It works on burns too. You can almost see the healing happening! Can you imagine how much that would aid the nano-bots in surgeries? Think of the engineers working around boilers and steam plants!” He shook his head. “The new law that the pharmaceutical lobbyists pushed the Council of Elders to pass makes our research technically illegal. We want to perfect this quietly before we send our lawyers out to the court to try to appeal the law.”

  He tossed a small tube the size of his thumb to Kes, who snatched it out of the air before it hit him. He gave his boss a quizzical look at the unexpected action.

  “This is a sample of the healing compound. Take it with you on your trip. Should you cut yourself, it will fix you right up. I haven’t had a chance to go over your data from the Okamak, but I will. Go have fun. Relax and come back fresh and ready to work. If there is something wrong in the old caldera, we’ll need to build a tight case in order to get money out of the Council. The financial syndicate and the elders have tightened the credit flow to barely a trickle. That’s one reason why we hope our lab team will perfect the medicines. Not only would it benefit our population, but holding the patent will bring in badly needed research funding.” He gave the young man a grin. “That’s a lot of hope to pin on some finger-sized slime.”

  Kes looked at Mitch for a long moment. “I just picked up some for you to study. I don’t pay
attention to what the lab techs do with it. I know nothing.” Then he smiled and winked. Changing the direction of the conversation, he began to tell Mitch about what he had seen in the Cradle.

  Twenty minutes later, he got up and shook Mitch’s hand. They were laughing as the department director opened the door. “I’ll see you in three weeks. Go somewhere fun. You’ve earned it. Your certificate will be sent to your home to make everything official, but from this moment on, you are a doctor in marine biology. Congratulations, Kes!” He slapped the young man on his back. “Now go make yourself scarce. Relax. I think you deserve not being at anyone’s beck and call.”

  Kes grinned and, with a wave, left to make preparations for his vacation before his scheduled arrival time at M’nacht’s city of residence. He always enjoyed seeing his adopted father. It was such a delight to share things with his sharp mind. With the briefest of movements, he laid his hand over his shirt pocket and felt the small navorite. He shook his head at a thought and lengthened his stride toward his steam car.

  M’nacht’s home was in a lovely part of Therad. It was in an area appropriately called “The Heights.” The homes there were beautifully landscaped and overlooked the city and Geyser Park. During the twilight cycles, the geysers were illuminated by aether lamps artistically hidden in the rocks and foliage nearby. It made those natural wonders breathtaking and thoroughly appreciated by the citizenry. It was such a popular spot to visit that intimate cafes had grown up on the perimeter. Kes glanced at the sky. It wouldn’t be long before the top-hatted lamplighters would circulate through the park and light the luminiferous aether.

  It was one of his adopted father’s favorite times of day. Kes knew that, most likely, M’nacht would have a meal set up on his balcony so they could enjoy the enchanting view. He smiled and made a bet with himself to that effect.

  Within moments, he was going through the gates and, setting the brake, gently released the steam pressure. He smiled as the car seemed to give a sigh. Bounding up the stairs, he turned the bell crank to announce himself and entered, calling, “M’nacht! Where are you?”

  “Here, boy. It is good to see you! You’ve been gone a long time,” said the elderly gentleman from the room to the right of the foyer. M’nacht was slightly stooped over, and leaned lightly on a cane. His head appeared larger than normal due to the thick mane of white hair, and his face was wreathed in delighted wrinkles with his joy in seeing Kes.

  The younger man was over to the old gentleman in three strides and gave his adopted father a gentle hug, slapping his back. “How have you been? Staying out of mischief while I was away? It’s good to see you!” Kes said as he stepped back to get a good look at the old man. “How’s your health? Are you taking care of yourself?”

  M’nacht laughed. “Those are four questions, Kes, though I think they overlap somewhat. Come. Let’s sit out on the balcony while Quin sets our dinner out for us.”

  He led Kes through a room that obviously was the nerve center and heart of his domain. It was a comfortable combination of library and office. The desk with his dash-key, clockwork message bot and the dictaphone with its wax cylinders sat just to the left of his family’s heritage alcove with a softly lit iridescent navorite fossil on a stand. It was a larger specimen than the one belonging to Kes’s family. That really didn’t matter in Myrn culture. It was the presence of the fossil in the home that was important and blessed the dwelling.

  They settled into the cushioned chairs near the balustrade and M’nacht responded, “I’ve been fine. The body is getting a little older, but not my mind. I don’t feel my seventy-eight years unless my body gets creaky about something. Quin makes sure that I eat well, and I walk to the Galactic Science building every day. As far as mischief, well, that’s another topic.” He grinned at his adopted son and his eyes twinkled.

  Kes winked at him. “Then I’ve one more question. How is your office staff doing? You have an impressive bunch of researchers working for you. Some of them are even pretty.”

  M’nacht barked out a laugh. “They’re fine and working hard. As for Frea and Mikla…” He looked at Kes and raised his eyebrow.

  “I’ve only met Frea once but would like to get to know her better.” Kes’s grin was unrepentant.

  “As far as I know, she isn’t seeing anyone. Perhaps you can ask about her free time when you have some. Now, tell me what you learned in the Okamak Caldera.”

  Kes looked to his left, as was his habit, not really seeing anything but collecting his thoughts before he spoke. He went over his findings and the fascinating experience of being down in the habitat for all of those weeks. “I’ve turned in my report to Mitch and he’s going over the data. I’m just a little cautious as the bay is known to be the early indicator of the ocean’s health.” He shrugged and went on.

  “You haven’t asked so I must have neglected telling you, but I finished up my requirements. I turned in my report about the Cradle today. Mitch said to take three weeks off while he goes over everything.” He grinned at M’nacht’s expression. “Yes, I’ve already done the Cradle assignment. I even saw a pod of behemoths swim through. I didn’t expect that. A remarkable sight! It is such a beautiful place to dive.”

  M’nacht was focused on Kes’s every word. Though the story of the behemoths was distracting, which he was sure was Kes’s intent, he did catch the concern about the Okamak. “Our population is very much focused on our lunar and astrophysical sciences. We sometimes lose sight of what is happening right here on our moon. You’re right in your recommendation. Mitch will see if something is indeed wrong. With all of the creative minds, we’ll be able to locate the source of the anomalies and come up with a solution.”

  He sat quietly for a moment then he looked up at Kes. “Let me think on this and mention it to scientists in my office. There might be a possibility that it is related to a problem we are experiencing. Solar flares are occurring at a sufficient magnitude that they’re occasionally disrupting our message bot communication when those little devices are set in remote mode. Since our dash-keys work with wire signals, that is fine, but our personal broadcast communications can fritz out unexpectedly. It might be that several departments should work on this. Hmm.”

  Then the lines around his eyes deepened as he smiled. “The challenge will be to set egos aside and ignore departmental turf. It’s for the good of our world, and that means we need to work together.” He shook his head ruefully. “It makes my job as the Science Coordinator challenging. Then there is the Council of Elders. Politicians don’t see reality in the same way that we do. I’ve even been told by some of the elders that the scientists are gearing down the broadcast power by taking some steam turbines off line just so we can get more money allocated to our departments!” He shook his white head. “It isn’t true, but some see a conspiracy lurking behind every problem. Oh well. Coordination within the science fields comes first, though being the liaison to the elders is increasingly a close second.”

  Kes smiled wryly. “You have a point.” He looked at M’nacht. “What’s the latest news? I’m afraid that I’ve been concentrating too much on the underwater world to be up-to-date on what is happening on the surface. There are areas of Therad that are looking ragged. The people are, too.”

  “Hmm. There is growing financial hardship.” He shrugged and stopped to pour two drinks from the carafe on the table. “What is beginning to concern me is the unrest. The financial syndicate has tightened the flow of currency. Businesses can’t get working capital, and homeowners are unable to get loans. I don’t know the reason for the restriction but there’s less liquidity. I’m seeing more unemployment, empty store fronts, and small family-run trades have closed their doors.” He put down his drink and leaned forward. “Again, this happens—there’s an ebb and flow—but the depth of the hurt is increasing. Clusters of people are showing up at the council building. They’re trying to talk to the elders about the situation because the financial syndicate won’t. I’ve walked through the growing crow
ds to get to meetings and have heard their frustration. The news organizations aren’t telling the whole story and the people are catching on to that. I haven’t any close contacts within the syndicate families, though I do with many other wealthy owners, such as the cog-works businesses. People are wanting to understand why credit that was available two years ago isn’t anymore. Young people want to work but can’t find jobs. It isn’t a good scenario shaping up.” He sat back. “Maybe this will all blow over like a summer storm and things will right themselves, but I’m not sure. I have enough to live on but others don’t. I’ve been trying to do what I can to help but the need is getting deeper.” He shook his head. “Enough gloomy news. I think I hear Quin coming. You are staying for dinner, aren’t you?”

  A tall lanky man with little more than a few wisps of hair came out to the terrace with dishes of wonderful smelling food. Kes smiled to himself, as he had won the private bet. They were indeed eating here, overlooking the city and the park, instead of inside in the more private setting. Quin, who had known Kes for many years and was devoted to M’nacht, guessed what thought was behind Kes’s smile. He gave Kes a wink as he placed the dishes on the balcony table.

  They ate their dinner in companionable silence. The day was fading and they could see the soft lighting in Geyser Park and the people strolling along the paths. Quin returned and collected the dinner dishes letting them know that he would return with a light dessert of chilled berries.

  M’nacht looked at his adopted son thoughtfully. “You were blessed with the parents you had and I am exceptionally happy that you allowed me to adopt you. We really enrich each other’s lives. It’s good to see you again, my boy.” He reached over and patted Kes’s hand, then cleared his throat.