Every sentence it spoke started with the words 'With our help' and included 'you could'. It was not surrendering, but trying to coerce me into conquering the world with them at my side. It didn't realise that I had no desire to rule. This was like when the Captain Benton surrendered. It was offering me all it had and to serve me.
Having finished its speech, I had a chance to respond. I asked it, "Is this all of your kind here? Are there any other officers or Lowers hiding in spots around the world?"
"This is all that is left of us. We came here hoping to survive and lead your kind. You have reduced us to three officers and these remaining Lowers. We only wish to survive now." it replied.
I said, "I know what you are trying to do. That is a poor attempt at persuasion. I learned about it from a master and you aren't even good enough to be called a novice. Do you really think you can fool me by changing your tactics? This isn't a surrender. It is an attempt to insinuate yourselves into our society and then take control when there are more of your kind here."
I drew my pistol and shot it until I ran out of bullets. The soldiers reacted instinctively and followed my lead.
The two remaining jeebee officers were having problems getting their thoughts organised to control their Lowers. A dozen jeebees managed to pick up their rifles, but were immediately seen as a threat and targeted by the sailors. My men were obviously taking care where they fired as I didn't get hit by any bullets. I looked around and saw Gwen was down on one knee and shooting the jeebees with her pistol.
I backed away from them since the stench was building. I switched to the shotgun shell and looked to see if any commanders were still standing. One was attempting to run away and I shot it in its back. It fell down before it got far. I approached it, removed its helmet, and kicked it in the head until it stopped screaming. Gwen came over, looked at it, and stomped on its head with her heels.
The battle was over in a few minutes. Only a few of my men had been shot and they would wake up with nasty headaches. The jeebees were all on the floor but Bradan was no longer able to bury them.
Gwen walked over to me, looking at me strangely. She said, "You saw that it was unarmed."
"I saw that."
"You heard it say it was surrendering."
"I heard that."
"Why did you kill it? The rules of war state we don't kill those who surrender and they don't try to kill us anymore."
"I didn't agree to those rules. Neither did the jeebees."
"You are upset about your automaton, aren't you?"
"I am upset about that too."
"What else was there?"
"You never saw or heard of a jeebee before you arrived here, did you?"
"No, I didn't. What does that matter?"
I sighed and said, "Sometime in the next five centuries we would have killed them all anyway. The longer they survived, the greater chance you would have known about them."
"Oh! How long have you realised that?"
"Remember your first night here?"
"I remember the night we talked for hours in the dark?"
"That was when I knew we could leave none of them alive once we found where they were based; not a single one. They had to be a footnote in human history, nothing more."
"And all this time, you've born this responsibility alone. You could have shared it with me."
"You said you knew things about the future that you could not share with me. This is exactly the same. Telling you would have changed events. It was something I had to keep to myself."
"Surely, there could have been a compromise between us and them."
"In order for you to exist as you are, the jeebees couldn't. I chose you and not them. That was before I knew you were a distant part of my family. When we discovered that, I knew in my heart that this was the only choice."
I wandered back through the tunnels with Gwen following behind me. When I got outside, I fired the Very pistol and watched the flare go up and drift down. My airship dropped down about as quickly to where I was standing. The men brought out the wounded ones first. I ordered them to get some rest in the second floor rooms.
Gwen ran back into the cave and returned with men carrying out the jeebee devices. I asked her playfully, "Who said you could order my men around?"
She laughed and said, "I tried to move one myself and then asked them nicely for their help."
One man came out with the officer's robes and helmets. I asked him, "Why do we need those?"
The man said, "I just assumed she wanted them too."
I replied, "Okay, toss them someplace where I can't smell them."
I took count and verified we were all on board the Clover before we took off. I instructed the pilots to head to Liverpool at any speed they wanted and I told everyone that we were going to have a party when we arrived.
• February 17
It was raining buckets. Gwen and I had gotten thoroughly soaked running from our guest rooms to the commissary for breakfast. I was still feeling miserable from yesterday and the rain didn't improve my mood. I sat quietly in my stateroom listening to the sounds the rain made hitting the balloon.
I could see Colonel Reynolds approaching and met him at the door. He reached inside his raincoat and handed Gwen and I each an envelope. I was amazed at the amount of the cheque inside and stared at it. He said, "We weren't certain of the amount this time so we guessed. We also took into consideration that these would be the last bounties paid out for them."
I asked, "Do you have a fund for injured soldiers and their families?"
"Yes, we do. I take it you ladies would like to contribute something."
Gwen and I both nodded our heads. She said, "Let's make this easy." She ran up the stairs and came back with a jar of gold coins. She handed him the jar and said, "This is from both of us."
"I thank you and many families will thank you."
I asked him. "Colonel, when will someone be here to take the remaining ammunition, the Gatling gun, and my uniform?"
"I don't think we need any of those returned. I believe the expression is 'One never knows when the opportunity comes along to help another'. Captain Plumer mentioned you had a pirate friend with a destiny to help others. I think you share that destiny."
"But what about the agreement regarding the Clover and the railway gun."
"There have been many changes since you left and the only copy of that agreement has been burned with the approval of all remaining parties."
Gwen asked, "Remaining parties?"
The Colonel said, "We have five men in our stockade that were glad to see your safe return."
I asked, "Why are they in the stockade?"
"We caught them informing the jeebees that you were coming. Had tomorrow morning come and you had not returned, they would have been shot."
"What will happen to them now?"
"They will get a fair trial and then be shot."
He thanked us again for the donation and headed back into the rain. I asked, "How much was in that jar?"
She said, "A lot less than we were just paid."
I said, "I guess I'm out of a job. I think I'll wait until we get home to ask what to do with my airship."
"That's a good idea. It would not be amusing if your employers told us to leave the Clover here and walk home."
"They will know we killed the last of the jeebees as soon as they read the Colonel's report. With any luck, the rain will pass and we will be in flight shortly."
We played several games of draughts. Gwen would usually win as I wasn't trying. I think she let me win the last one. It felt good that I wasn't a piece on a board anymore to be pushed about by unseen players.
There was an opening in the clouds that we shot through to get above them. Rain clouds were not pretty looking up at them, but weren't so bad when looking from above. I asked the pilots to go as fast as we could safely go anyway. Gwen and I just sat there dreaming aloud about what we could do.
The pilots set us down as
close as possible to Felix's lab. He had heard the airship coming, but was still surprised when he saw us. He was even more surprised when we opened the cargo doors. The men took a long time carefully unloading all the scientific equipment. It filled up the few open spaces remaining in the lab. I thought about how much easier it would have been if Bradan was still here and barely managed to keep from crying.
Felix offered to return the favour and help the pilots get the Clover into her hangar. He hitched his horses to a wagon as we headed back into the sky. I had Asher turn on all the lights, perhaps for the last time. We got the ship settled, our luggage repacked, and loaded on the wagon. I mentioned that we might not see the pilots or the Clover again. We shook hands and hugged as appropriate before splitting up and heading out.
Gwen asked Felix if he had what he needed to repair his time viewer. His reply was noncommittal. He dropped Gwen and I off and then helped me with my trunk. Gwen's trunk helped itself into the house. I gave him a big hug and watched him drive off.
• Epilogue
Last night, Felix had told us his time viewer was working better than ever. He had replaced the damaged parts with ones we had salvaged from the mountain. I wanted Gwen to stay one more night before leaving. She and Felix agreed that a few more hours couldn't hurt.
We arrived at Felix's lab shortly after breakfast. He had the machine idling, waiting for its passenger. Gwen had put on her battle-suit again and was carrying her helmet.
She handed Felix a map. "This is where the lab is that I came from. If you set the time to less than five minutes after I arrived, they should be able to resynchronise the two systems."
Felix asked, "Where is your mechanical trunk with all your things in it?"
She replied, "It's in Fianna's room."
She looked at me. "You know the dresses will fit. The beacons are stored inside of him. They should stick to those brass heeled shoes I bought for you and he will follow you around when you travel. Trace the numbers '1107' on the front to wake him up."
I asked, "How about your bounties?"
"I have the remaining coins with me. They will make a nice souvenir and proof that I was here. The guys will not believe what I've done in only five minutes of their time."
I pleaded, "Must you go?"
"I figured I had to leave eventually. Felix said I'd have to go back in order to untangle the knots. If I stayed much longer, I would be tempted to improve things and that could be bad for the future."
Felix added, "Yes, she has to leave."
I said, "I hardly got to know you, but I will miss you greatly."
"I will miss you too; all of you."
She said, "I'm ready, cousin. Start it up."
Felix set the displays to the correct time and place and then turned it on. It ran like the last time. It was beautiful, but I was sad. Gwen put on her helmet and walked into the red mist, presumably back to her own time and place.
Felix asked, "Why did she call me her cousin?"
I said, "'Tis a gift of knowledge to you. She is a direct descendant of mine through my daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters all the way to her time. That makes her your cousin many times removed as surely as I am your first cousin."
He said, "Then I shall miss her too and welcome her as family if she should ever return."
I asked him, "Can she return?"
He sighed. "Not anytime soon. I don't have enough power remaining to even send her an invitation. I do have enough to finally see if it was raining the day you were born, if you are still interested."
"Perhaps another day."
I figured this was the end of my adventures. I needed to find a nice Count, settle down in a nice castle, and start having nice children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. It was a lonely walk home. I hadn't been all alone for more than a year and a half and it hurt.
I put her trunk on my bed so I could see the front. It did not seem happy about that. I had gotten used to talking to mechanical things so I tried soothing it. It calmed down and stopped spinning its wheels. When I touched it, music played; the friendship song that Gwen sang for me. I drew the numbers slowly. After each one, it showed a few colour pictures of Gwen and I from our time together. She hadn't told me it was a camera.
I was crying as I drew the '7' on it. There was one last picture of Gwen waving with this written over it in large letters:
Gráím thú
Go dté tú slán
The front turned white and then gibberish characters flowed across it for a minute. When it stopped, there was a picture of yellow roses with the words 'Hello Fianna' on them.
I asked, "So what do I call you?"
Bradan is okay
The End
About the Author
This is his first collection of stories. He is better known for his involvement with Atari console homebrew cartridges, having programmed and marketed four of them over the years. Those games are currently sold through Video 61. You can also find five of his apps on the BlackBerry World store. He and his wife live in Oak Park, Michigan (They were married during CGE2K, a classic videogame convention, in Las Vegas).
You can send comments or criticisms about this book to [email protected]. I promise not to share your email address, but I might add your comments to the next page.
Quotes
"a strong female character in a solid adventure story"
MATT PEARSON, author of The Sun Never Sets
* * *
[i]
"Billy Boy" (1847)
[Words and Music -- anon.]
A Curious Legend.
Arranged for the Piano Forte
By Edward L. White
[ii]
"The Fairys Festival" (1849)
Ballad
Written and Composed by W. J. Wetmore
[iii]
"Kiss Me Quick and Go" (1856)
(Song [and Chorus])
Words by Silas Sexton Steel, Esq.
Music by Frederick Buckley, 18??-1864
[iv]
Nothing to Wear" (14 Aug 1857)
Written, composed & respectfully dedicated to
Marie Wadwort by Carrie Bell
[v]
"In Glasgow Town My Mither Dwells" (circa 1815-1819)
A favourite New Song.
Written by Mr. Upton.
Composed by I. Sanderson.
[vi]
"The Hokey Cokey" (UK traditional)
[vii]
"Always Look on the Sunny Side" (1860)
Ballad.
[Written? and] Composed by Bernard Covert.
Arranged for Piano Forte by A. Cull.
[viii]
The Wearing of the Green (1864)
Words by Dion Boucicault
[ix]
"The Fourth Day" (2015)
Reel version
no words by Harry Dodgson
no music by Harry Dodgson
[x]
"With a Little Help from My Friends" (1967)
Lennon / McCartney
[xi]
"Days of Future Passed" (1967)
Album
The Moody Blues
[xii]
Sung to the tune of "99 Bottles of Beer (US Traditional)"
Words by Harry Dodgson
Fianna Kelly Versus the Jeebees: A Collection of Steampunk Stories Page 26
