“Captain Cisneros wired us a few days ago and told us you’d be here soon,” explained Maravilla. “We came by to get the house ready for you.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” said Hoshi, “but what the hell happened to my chile plants?”
Maravilla opened his tailcoat and removed a black box from the inside pocket. He turned a knob and flipped a switch. From behind the house, hopped a large, mechanical rabbit. In addition to ears, two antlers stuck above its head. “I built this mechanical harvester. I chose a rabbit’s form since they harvest vegetables for their own consumption, but I understood your concerns about damaging the crop. In San Francisco, I used electromagnetic energy to allow the lightning wolf corps to speak to one another. I just refined the idea to control the harvester’s behavior as it worked, hence the antelope-like antennae on its head. I call it a jackalope since it possesses both jack rabbit and antelope features.”
Hoshi sputtered. “Yes, but… what happened to my chiles?”
Maravilla shrugged. “They went to market and made you quite a profit.”
Hoshi paced back and forth, opening and closing his mouth as if he prepared to launch into a tirade. After four circuits, he smiled. “Thank you.” He walked up to Maravilla, took his hands and bowed. “Thank you, my friend.”
Ramon tipped his hat at Larissa. “Miss Crimson.” He referred to the name she used as a bounty hunter.
“It’s Seaton now. Larissa Crimson is long behind me.”
“How are Billy and Luther?” asked Fatemeh.
“They’ll be home in time for Thanksgiving.” Larissa smiled.
“That soon?” asked Fatemeh. “I guess it has been almost thirty days since they’d been sentenced.”
Larissa’s brow creased. She didn’t understand how Ramon and Fatemeh could already know the sentence’s length.
Ramon’s gut churned. “So, I suppose you’re here in an … official capacity.” He thought he’d have more time before they were arrested and taken to trial.
Larissa smiled. “I suppose you could say that. It seems you’ve made friends in some pretty high places.” She opened her black coat and removed a letter from the inside pocket. “This is a letter from President Hayes.”
She handed it to Ramon, who took it, then dropped down to take a seat on the front step. He read the letter. The president explained he’d received visits from both the Russian and Japanese ambassadors extolling Ramon’s excellent work and recommending him to a diplomatic appointment once he established his credentials. “In light of your extraordinary service to this great nation, I extend a full pardon to you, Mr. Ramon Morales and your wife, Mrs. Ramon Morales.” He read that part aloud, his hands feeling so weak, the letter threatened to flutter to the ground.
He handed the letter to Fatemeh pointing out another line which read, “It would be a disservice to this country to delay your education any further and I have written a letter to my alma mater extolling your virtues.”
“I brought some other mail with me from your house in Estancia. Maybe they should have made me a mailman instead of a marshal.” She laughed at her own joke, then passed a letter to Ramon. “I thought you’d like this one first.” She handed him a small parcel from Harvard Law School.
Ramon opened the letter with trembling hands. “I’ve been admitted to Harvard for the Spring Semester, and they’ve given me a grant for my studies. It won’t cost anything. We just have to get there.”
Fatemeh sat down next to Ramon and pulled him into a tight embrace. He wrapped her in his arms until he found the strength to stand. When he did, he leapt to his feet, punched the air, and whooped with joy.
“This gives you time to stay for a nice Thanksgiving dinner with us here in New Mexico,” said Larissa. “Billy and Luther should be back by then. They’ll want to see you before you go.”
At one time, Larissa Crimson tracked Ramon across New Mexico to collect a bounty. Now Ramon surprised himself and gathered the former bounty hunter into his arms and danced around. Dizzy, she almost toppled over when he released her a minute later.
He reached out and shook Maravilla’s hand, then Hoshi’s, after which he had to turn and walk away. He strolled down the road to the edge of Hoshi’s property. He shivered in the chilled November air and looked up at the deep blue autumn sky. Again, he wondered where Legion had gone and he considered what the alien had said about a parting gift.
Fatemeh stepped up behind him. He took her in his arms and kissed her.
“Can you stand a little more good news?”
He lifted an eyebrow, half afraid his voice would crack if he tried to speak.
“I think we’re about to become parents.”
The blood rushed from Ramon’s head. He grabbed Fatemeh into another embrace to steady himself. A chirping made him look around. A burrowing owl stood on a fencepost and danced from one foot to the other. Ramon smiled and took Fatemeh’s hand and grabbed her around the waist. “I think he has the right idea. I feel like dancing.” With that, Ramon twirled Fatemeh in a waltz to unheard music down the lane and toward the future.
The End
About the Author
David Lee Summers became a steampunk in 1987 when he used a nineteenth century telescope on Nantucket to examine the evolution of distant pulsating stars. Since that time he has published eight novels and numerous short stories and poems spanning a wide range of the imagination. Owl Dance and Lightning Wolves are the first two novels of the Clockwork Legion series. His other novels include The Solar Sea and The Astronomer’s Crypt.
David’s short stories have appeared in such magazines and anthologies as Realms of Fantasy, Cemetery Dance, Gears and Levers, Zombiefied: An Anthology of All Things Zombie, and These Vampires Don’t Sparkle. In 2010 he was nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s Rhysling Award.
In addition to writing, David has edited three science fiction anthologies: A Kepler’s Dozen, Space Pirates and Space Horrors. When not working with the written word, David still spends time operating telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Learn more about David at www.davidleesummers.com
Acknowledgements
A challenge of writing historical fiction is that you have to imagine places that have changed and people who no longer exist. Although this is alternate history with a solid dose of science fiction and a sprinkle of fantasy, I hope to create a past that nevertheless feels authentic.
Thanks to Dean Summers for pointing me to the writings of Lafcadio Hearn, who in turn helped to transport me to Meiji Era Japan. Thanks to Ronald Mastaler for discussions which have given me insight into Alexander II’s Russia. Also, thanks to Bob Arnold who suggested that if the Japanese built airships, paper would be a major component.
Thanks to the Tucson Steampunk Society and the Arizona Steampunk Society for providing opportunities to dress up and actually be a mad scientist or an airship pirate for an afternoon. Such events are both a well needed diversion and an important source of inspiration.
Jeff Lewis, Kumie Wise, Doug Williams, and Myranda Summers all read early drafts of this novel and gave me valuable feedback that made it stronger. What’s more, thanks to Myranda Summers for proofing and correcting my Japanese.
Finally, thanks to Phyllis Irene Radford for working with me to polish this manuscript. She has given me many tools to be a better writer. For that, I’m most grateful.
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