by Anna Butler
“You know, Ned, the story about the Distant Goddess has a moral. She was ravening her way across the world until enticed by Thoth’s machine, the Antikythera model he made her. After that, she returned to being the God’s Eye, am I right?”
“Yes.” Ned propped himself up on one elbow. “I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
“She still ravened, only at the god’s behest. The knowledge Thoth gave her didn’t change her nature. She was still a destroyer at heart. If we’d brought away all of Thoth’s machines and knowledge, what do you think we’d do with them? Make life better for everyone in the world? Everyone, not just the Imperium’s subjects, but the whole world? Would we ensure everyone is healthy, happy, has everything they need? When doing so would change our very nature?”
“Cynic.”
“Oh, yes. I am. The world’s in balance at the moment. All of us—the Imperium, the Germans, the Russians, the Americans as they come up to join us—we’re all very much on the same footing. We have the same sorts of power, control aether in the same ways, the same level of weapons. Please don’t tell me you believe that if we’d brought Thoth’s weapons home with us, the Imperium would have shared?”
“Nooo.” Ned drew out his doubt with a grimace. “I don’t.”
“No. We’d destroy the balance, plunge the world into fire and brimstone, and lord over the ashes. Mankind isn’t able to take on that sort of power and not use it according to our nature.”
A longish silence punctuated by sighs, then he said, “I know, I know. God knows you’re right. But let the archaeologist in me mourn the loss of ancient knowledge, Rafe, even if I do acknowledge it’s better lost than found.”
“But you do acknowledge it?”
“Yes, my beloved cynic. I do. Mankind isn’t ready for it, and we probably never will be.” His laugh was soft, warm. “Like the goddess, we’re destroyers at heart. None of us deserve what Thoth created. We haven’t earned it. Never will.”
“Good. Then you can help me decide how to deal with this.”
I half-rolled onto my left side and reached for my copy of Herodotus, which lay—as it always did—in its leather slip covers on the table beside my bed. Ned sat up beside me, his expression, by firelight, one of bemusement. It changed when I slid the papyri from the cover where they’d lain hidden for more than two months.
“I found these on the second throne, the one in the pit, when George and I went to close down the machine. They’re illustrated with the Antikythera machine, both the smaller one in the Place of Verification and the great machine in the pit.” I unfolded the papyri and offered them to him. “These would give the Imperium an unassailable advantage that would gift the entire world to us forever. After we’d ravened all over it.”
He took the papyri from me with trembling hands. I smoothed my palm over the globe of the aether lamp on the bedside table, flooding the room with light enough to allow him to examine the papyri. I gave him several minutes to look at them.
“I love you very dearly, Ned Winter. More than I can ever show or say. My tongue loses any pretence at eloquence when I try. I do know I love you because you’re honest and upright, honourable and true. What shall we do with these?”
He had tears in his eyes. He blinked them away, and his voice was thick. “You love me enough to trust me with these?”
I nodded. “That much.”
Another silence.
“What’s their worth, Ned?”
“Militarily, the entire world, as you say. But for humanity, any price would be too high a price to pay. For me, personally, they aren’t worth your trust and love, Rafe. You have a good fire. We should use it.”
The papyri burned with an incandescent brilliance. The flames probably made traitors of us both—certainly, some would call us that—but kneeling there, I found myself content.
Life, the philosophers say, is imperfect: flawed and blemished because we humans are flawed and blemished. They don’t believe those imperfections—people shooting at us, pyramids blowing up around us, a visceral knowledge that mankind is inherently unworthy and bent on self-destruction—can be redressed on the scales of the balance at which Thoth records what’s in our hearts, then gifts us with a perfect moment in compensation.
But that moment, the moment in which I knelt naked on the hearthrug, my hand in Ned Winter’s, his lips on my bare shoulder, and his voice speaking love in my ear, hearts and minds as one… that moment came, as did so many of my moments with Ned, as close to perfect as anything can in this frail, inconsequential world.
We’ll have a lifetime of them, if the gods are willing.
We’ll have a lifetime of them, even if the gods are not.
~end~
GLOSSARY FOR THE LANCASTER’S LUCK WORLD
Actinic Rays—UV/IR light
Aegypt/Aegyptologist—Archaic spelling of Egypt/Egyptologist
Aegyptian Exploration Fund—Organisation founded by Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) to fund and support the excavation of Aegypt and the Soudan
Aero Corps—The air arm of the Britannic Imperium’s military with aerocraft of all sizes
Aerodrome—Airport
Aerodreadnought— a large military aeroship, a carrier ship in Her Britannic Majesty’s Imperial Aero Corps (nb. Rafe Lancaster served as a squadron leader on the dreadnought the Ark Royal). Dreadnoughts act as carriers with squadrons of small, bi-winged fighters. Smaller ships—aerofrigates, aerocorvettes, etc.—are also in service.
Aerofighter—Small, biwinged fighter craft powered with aether/phlogiston/petroleum distillate engines operating either from a military aerodrome or from the decks of a dreadnought such as the Ark Royal
Aeronaut—Pilot, aviator
Aether—Classical physical element. In some versions of alchemy – and for the purposes of the Lancaster’s Luck world– this was the fifth element in addition to air, earth, fire and water. Aether in its light-bearing (luminiferous) form, is an inexhaustible power source. See Luminiferous Aether
Alembic—An apparatus consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, formerly used for distilling liquids. In Rafe’s coffeehouse, his slow-drip coffee machine uses alembics and has its own cold fusion furnace – it creates fine coffee overnight using cold water and coffee grounds
Analytical Engine—Archaic; as conceived by Charles Babbage (1791-1871), a more advanced version of the Difference Engine (a mechanical device to compile mathematical tables). The analytical engine would perform any calculation. In Steampunk literature, any mechanical computer
Apothecary—A person who prepares and sells medicines and drugs
Artificer—Skilled worker; craftsperson; one that contrives, devises, or constructs something
Autocar—Passenger vehicle powered by aether/phlogiston/petroleum distillate mix. The driver in an exterior cab protected by transparent aluminium. Of various types:
Autohansom—A cab, plying the streets of Londinium for hire
Autolandau : Large, commodious vehicle for 5/6 passengers, guard stations on rear
Autophaeton : sporty vehicle for 2/3 passengers
Bandolier—Ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges
Birefringence—formally defined as the double refraction of light in a transparent, molecularly ordered material. In the world of Lancaster’s Luck, this double refraction allows aether rays to pass through hemimorphite crystals (a mineral whose doubly terminated crystals have two differently shaped ends) and fracture into two linear rays, creating an electromagnetic field. Used primarily in security fences—a breach of the field triggers an electric impulse to power alarms or deliver a shock to an intruder that causes neural disruption
Bazelgette—Joseph Bazelgette was the civil engineer responsible for London’s sewage system, devised to deal with the “Great Stink” of 1858. In Lancaster’s Luck, the Bazelgette company had, like many engineering concerns, branched out into aeroship design and manufacture.
Brimstone—A
torch or flashlight. (Also, sulphur)
Britannic Aero Carriers—The national aeroline (airline) carrying both goods and passengers
Britannic Imperium—Empire comprising the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom: Canada, India/Pakistan/Burma, Australia, and a wide strip of Africa from Cairo to the Cape. The largest empire in history, the empire on which the sun never sets.
Brunel—the engineering and technology company founded by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859). One of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, Brunel was the inventive, creative brain behind much of the aether-powered technology upon which the Imperium built its power and influence. Brunel was the first to harness aether to power machines, and can be considered the founding father of modern society. His work was carried on by his sons after his premature death.
Brunel Sky King—a large aeroship designed and built by Henry Marc Brunel (1842–1903), Isambard’s second son who carried on his father’s inventive approach to mechanical engineering. The Sky King, built for private clients, is a large, unarmed aircraft powered by aether/phlogiston/petroleum distillate engines. It can carry thirty passengers with ease, and is fitted with a small, two-seater aerocraft.
Cadet—In this context, a younger son or brother
Cadet Branch—Of the Houses, a subsidiary branch descended from the younger sons of the patriarch/founder member
Chronometer—Clock or watch
Cigarillo—A thin cigar
Cold fusion—A hypothetical type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. In Lancaster’s Luck, cold fusion components power things as diverse as a slow-drip coffee machine and Rafe’s small hideaway gun
Convocation House—One of the eight ruling Houses of the oligarchic Britannic Imperium, the Convocation being ruled by the monarch. The Convocation Houses hold all political power and divide government departments between them, staffing them with their own House members and those of their allied Minor Houses. See Minor Houses
Cowens Flash Box—Electric flash lamp igniting flash powder to produce a burst of intense light (photographer’s flash)
Crank—A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft
Cutpurse—Pickpocket
Datareader—A small, portable type of analytical engine used for storing and reading electronic texts of books and pamphlets
Datascope—An analytical engine (computer) with a screen to access the data. May be portable or desk-sized
Decoction—An extraction or essence of something, obtained by boiling it down
Discharge—A flow of electricity in a dielectric (an electrical insulator that can be polarised by an applied electric field), especially in a rarefied gas—in the Lancaster’s Luck world, the means by which phlogiston enhances an aether tube in a weapon
Doxy—Prostitute
Emissarium—Exhaust pipe
First Heir—the eldest son of a House Princeps, who will inherit the title and influence when his father dies. A system of male primogeniture. Women may not be First Heirs and may not lead Houses.
Fléchette—Pointed steel projectile, with a vaned tail for stable flight, carrying a warhead filled with a luminiferous aether/phlogiston/petroleum distillate mixture. Fired from laser-guided cannons
Fusillade—A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession. May also be used in a literary sense, of any rapidly repeated noise, etc.
Gilt—A thin layer of gold or something simulating gold that is applied in gilding
Harquebus—a long firearm, like a rifle, powered with an aether/phlogiston mix. Capable of also firing a neural disruptor beam which, while unpleasant, is not fatal. (Historically, a firearm with match holder, trigger, and tumbler, made in the second half of the 15th century. The barrel was about forty inches long.)
Havey-cavey—Irregular, unsavoury, (possibly criminal)
Hermetic—Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air
House—Oligarchic political unit, based on familial bonds. See Convocation House, Minor House
House Dress—formal clothing based heavily on British Court Dress, which has changed very little since the Regency. While ladies’ dresses are no longer the hooped and panniered gowns of the mid-eighteenth century, elaborate ball gowns, tiaras, and feathers were required at Court events. Gentlemen are expected to don military-style jackets heavy with goldwork embroidery, cream pantaloons, stockings, and court shoes, and also carry ornately decorative cavalry swords. For daywear, knee-high Hessian boots may be worn instead of stockings.
House Lineage Annals—a formal record maintained by the Lord Chancellor’s Office, outlining each House’s members, marriages, births, and deaths.
Humours—One of the basic principles of medieval medicine was that of the four humours of which a human body was composed. The balance between these four (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) was essential for the well-being of a person
Intelligencer—Spy
Ionic Exchange Ice Box—A refrigerator, powered by the exchange of negatively charged ions. See Ion Exchange
Ion exchange—Exchange of ions between two electrolytes. In Lancaster’s Luck, the exchange leaches out heat, producing a form of refrigeration – hence ionic exchange ice box
Ionic Gas Discharge Lamps—Fluorescent lamps
Journeyman—One who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another’s employ
Kinetoscope Camera—In Lancaster’s Luck, a visual recording/monitoring camera used for surveillance
Laudanum—An opiate, freely available in an apothecary’s. Pain reliever. Addictive
Lucifer—Match with a sulphur head, for striking a light
Luminiferous—Light bearing
Luminiferous Aether—In 19th century physics, a postulated medium that would propagate light, since disproved by quantum physics and relativity theories. In Lancaster’s Luck, the fifth element, an energy source for engines and weapons of all kinds
Mafeisan—a mix of herbal extracts used by Chinese surgeon Hua Tuo (c. AD 145–220) as a general anaesthetic. In the Lancaster’s Luck world, the extracts are prescribed by an apothecary, administered blended with tobacco, and smoked for pain relief. Even more effective ingested in food or drunk as a tea, it induces drowsiness or total anaesthesia, depending on the dosage.
Marconi—Device for communication through the air, a radio/receiver
Metropolis—City
Minor House—One of the 60-plus subsidiary Houses, allied to the 8 Convocation Houses that rule the Britannic Imperium. The Minor Houses owe their wealth and position to their Convocation House ally, dependent on the Convocation House for posts within government that can provide careers/profit
Neophyte—A beginner, a convert and learner
Nobel’s Blasting Powder—an explosive related to dynamite
Ocular—The eyepiece of an optical instrument, as of a telescope or microscope
Petroleum Distillate—Petrol
Philtre—A love potion. In Lancaster’s Luck, Philtre Coffee is the fanciful, punning name of a chain of coffeehouses
Phlogiston—A particle that determines the combustibility of materials. According to that theory, wood had a good amount of them, oil was saturated with them, and rocks had none. In Lancaster’s Luck, when combined with luminiferous aether, phlogiston particles enhance the energy output (discharge) of an engine or weapon
Phlogiston Particle Projector—A (fictional) machine or component that produces a plasma bolt; an essential component powering weapons, particularly harquebuses and pistols
Photic—Of or relating to light
Photon Globe—Lamp; either domestic or large scale on posts in the streets
Plasma—One of the four fundamental states of matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas
Plasma Bolt—A
bolt, stream or pulse of plasma (that is, very hot, very energetic excited matter) from a aether/phlogiston-powered pistol or harquebus
Princeps—(plural, Principes) leader and patriarch of a House, whose word is law to House members. Referred to and addressed by their House names, as with British titles. For example, the Gallowglass House Princeps is named Henry Winter but referred to as “the Gallowglass” and addressed as “Gallowglass.” Women may not be Principes
Schiehallion lines—contour lines on a map joining points of equal height above or below sea level, thus allowing the cartographer to show hills and valleys and the steepness of slopes. Named after the experiment to measure the weight of the earth, when mathematician and surveyor Charles Hutton mapped the Schiehallion mountain in the Scottish Highlands. The mountain was chosen because of its symmetrical outline: from a distance, it looks like a pyramid.
Security Fence—a system of alarms and intruder detection based upon the controlled passage of luminiferous aether through hemimorphite crystals to cause birefringence. See Birefringence.
Security Net—In the Lancaster’s Luck world, a form of wireless Internet used principally by House Guards to store data. Not in general use
Submersible—Small naval submarine
Tincture—Alcohol solution of a non-volatile medicine: tincture of iodine
Telford—Thomas Telford (1757 –1834) was a civil engineer, architect and prolific builder of roads, bridges and canals, known as “the Colossus of Roads”. In the Lancaster Luck universe, his sons and grandsons had continued to work in engineering, producing ships, locomotive engines and aeroships.
Transparent Aluminium—Clear, strong metal used for see-through aeroship canopies and autocar windscreens
Trevithick’s Catch Me Who Can—historically, one of the earliest locomotives, created by Richard Trevithick, an inventor and mining engineer, in 1808. In the Lancaster’s Luck universe, the name given to a fairground ride where drivers of small steam locomotives on a flat track try to “bump” other drivers out of the way—a precursor to later “dodgem” rides.
