“Do you think they will try to fight?” I said.
“That would be unwise,” Socrates said. “This city is more than just machines. At times, I think Sanctuary has a consciousness all its own.”
I stared at him. “I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t met you,” I said.
Socrates smiled that weird apish grimace. “Then I am privileged to have opened your mind.”
The next day, the Tal’mar leaders came to us. As Breeze had expected, my grandmother, her advisor Lordain, and one other high-ranking noble had been elected into positions of power. For our part, we had to do the same. We chose Breeze and Tam, and Crow. Some of the others had tried to nominate me, but I wanted nothing to do with it. Socrates also turned down their nominations. For Socrates however, the reason was different.
“I must act as judge,” he said. “Someone must have the ability to break tie votes among the counsel, and to overturn the council’s laws if they are unfair.”
“It’s all so complicated,” I said.
“It may seem so, but it is necessary,” he said. “Soon, when the humans have discovered this city, we will hold another vote. The council we elected today is only temporary.”
We gathered back in the throne room, in full view of nearly two thousand witnesses. This also was Socrates’ doing. He insisted that all laws and decisions be passed in full view of the public. He called the meeting to order by pounding a loud gavel on the table we had placed in the middle of the room.
“The council is chosen,” he said. “Today we enact a new republic. Over the coming weeks we will proceed to set forth the rules governing this council, but our first priority is the matter at hand: What will we do with the Vangars?”
“Half their fleet is destroyed,” Lordain said. “As her last act, our queen sent battleships to overwhelm their forces and take control of the air city.”
“And of the survivors?” Socrates said. “What will you do with them?”
The council members all looked back and forth at each other as if the thought had never occurred to them. “We should kill them all!” someone in the crowd shouted.
“That would be most efficient,” Lordain said. “Imprisoning the Vangars would be a drain on our resources.”
“May I suggest another possibility?” Socrates said. “It is my understanding that the Vangars have wrought great destruction on the cities and lands of Astatia.”
“It is true,” said Crow. “I have seen it with my own eyes.”
“Then perhaps they should repair the damage they have created.”
The council members looked back and forth at each other, all surprised by the suggestion. “What exactly do you have in mind?” said Lordain.
“I suggest we give them a choice. They can either work as slaves for a period of ten years, repairing the damage they have done and rebuilding your cities, or they can submit to capital punishment.”
The Tal’mar exchanged a few whispers and quickly reached a conclusion. “We agree,” said my great grandmother.
Socrates turned to face my mother and the other members on her side of the table. “What say the rest of you?”
“We agree,” Breeze said.
Socrates hammered the gavel down on the table. “Then it is done. The law is passed. Now, on to other matters… when will we schedule our first general election?”
By the end of that meeting, it was clear that Socrates was very schooled in the art and science of politics. Somehow, the Creator had ingrained in Socrates’ memory banks the knowledge of thousands of years of history. It was perfectly clear to me that our new empire would do just fine. Of course, there were many changes to come.
When the Tal’mar fighters first appeared over Avenston in their massive steam powered battleships, the citizens didn’t know what to think. Rumors quickly spread about what had happened to the armada sent after us into the Wastelands, and within a few days everyone knew that the Tal’mar had attacked and taken control of Juntavar. But there were more surprises to come.
Over the following weeks, the council laid out the foundation of a new kingdom that would swallow up all of Astatia, including the Isle of Tal’mar, the Borderlands, the Wastelands, and the city of Sanctuary. In the process, they defined a basic constitution of rights and privileges, leaving most of these to the voting public. They formed an army of volunteers that rounded up the Vangars and put them to work in chain gangs that spanned the continent, from Silverspire to the Blackrock peaks and as far south as Bronwyr.
In the midst of this process, we held our first official election. My mother wasn’t interested in retaining her place on the council, but she did accept a position as a judge. Strangely, it was our grandmother who convinced her to do it.
On the day of the election, the former queen withdrew her name from the list. “I never wanted to be queen,” she said, speaking before a large audience. “I was groomed from the day of my birth. I was taught a certain way of behaving, of speaking, even of thinking. Never in all my many years have I entertained the hope that I would truly be free. Yet today I stand before you, a slave that was bound not in iron but in gold and silver. Today, like you, I choose to be free.”
She went on to endorse my mother as High Judge of the state of Anora. Breeze could do little but graciously accept the position. To be honest, she embraced it with surprising enthusiasm. She explained her feelings to me one night while we were eating with our friends on a patio at the top of a tower overlooking Sanctuary. She had been working hard with the council for several weeks, hammering out the logistics of running the new kingdom and all of its inherent challenges. There were many details to consider, from the consolidation and organization of government to the distribution of technology and power. At last she was about to hand those challenges off to her successors, and assume the role of a powerful judge.
“I have always been a dreamer,” she explained to me. “I learned as a child to escape my suffering by dreaming of a better world. When I had achieved some of those dreams, I crawled into an airplane and vanished into new dreams. All the while, I was trying to find my place, yet I was never actively looking for it. I understand this now. Socrates has taught me a great deal about government, and about the work a judge must do. I think I finally understand my place in this world.”
“I think you’ll be a fantastic judge,” I said. I didn’t bother pointing out the irony that she would now hold power over all the people who had made her life so miserable. I don’t know if she even considered the situation in those terms, but I know I would have. In fact, if I could have been a judge for just one day, I’d have shown the Vangars a thing or two, and the Tal’mar as well.
Despite Breeze’s new title, the city of Anora was never rebuilt. The region from Anora all the way south to Riverfork became known as a state, one of many in our new kingdom. States and counties were divided by region and populace, so as to more easily manage our votes, and so that people wouldn’t have to vote for a sheriff who lived hundreds of miles away. It was a good system; one that Socrates assured us had been used successfully many times in the past.
My brother had a role to play in this new empire as well. He had only ever known Sanctuary, and his experiences in the rest of the kingdom hadn’t impressed him. Sanctuary was his home. To that end, he became the first official mayor of the city. It was a largely diplomatic position, as Sanctuary would never be dangerous and brutal in the way that Avenston was, but the position acknowledged Crow’s importance and he ran unopposed in the election. Breeze was thrilled, and of course, we were all very proud of him.
At one point, Kale located a locksmith shop on the north end of the city. He took me there as a surprise, and happily told me I could finally have my slave collar removed. As we stood in front of the robotic machine that was going to open the lock, I pulled away.
“What’s the matter?” he said.
I looked at him and then reached up, feeling the collar at my throat. “I want to keep it,” I said.
He frowned. “River, I don’t understand. Is there something-”
“I just want to keep it,” I said.
I didn’t have the words to explain it to him. Just touching the thing reminded me of Rutherford and Wulvine and all of the things they had done to me. But it also reminded me of what I had done to them. It reminded me that no one, no matter how strong or powerful they were, could get away with what they had done. I’d watched Rutherford die and I had gazed into Wulvine’s lifeless eyes. Those memories brought a smile to my face. I didn’t ever want to forget that lesson.
In the days and weeks that followed, the Tal’mar begrudgingly accepted their new government. In fact, those who had managed to survive under the Vangars’ reign openly and happily accepted it. They knew better than to trust the old ways and they were more than happy to abandon the yoke of privilege and class warfare. While there may have been a few seeds of discontent among those who were once called “nobles,” there wasn’t any sympathy or respect for that attitude. They soon learned to work and prosper like the rest of us.
We also set up a regular schedule for airship travel back and forth between Sanctuary and the other cities. Naturally, everyone wanted to see the fabled city, but we had to manage it in such a way that the other cities weren’t abandoned. To that end, the council adopted a proposition that allowed a certain number of visitors to Sanctuary per week for the first year. That way, everyone would have a chance to see the city, but they wouldn’t be tempted to just abandon their old lives and homes on a whim. After all, if our new kingdom was to be successful, it would need to grow quickly rather than consolidate back into Sanctuary. The council had more ideas in that regard as well, but I didn’t pay much attention. The details of running an empire were simply a bore to me.
Analyn Trader left her tunnels for the first time in years to climb aboard a dirigible and fly to Sanctuary. It took some convincing, but Breeze made a special trip just for her. They met like you would expect, in a joyous reunion full of tears and celebration. After a few days, Analyn moved into an apartment in Sanctuary just across the street from one of the city’s expansive libraries, where she dove into her lifelong passion for history. Soon, she became Sanctuary’s official historian and the Chief Custodian of all the city’s libraries. Just for fun, she also taught history lessons to the young visitors who came to the library several times a week with their schoolmates.
A few days after the election, Kale came to me. I was packing to travel back to Avenston. As endearing as Sanctuary was, I wanted to go home. I missed the familiar streets, the dark alleyways, and the Dockside breezes of my home. I heard a noise and turned to see him standing in the doorway of my apartment.
“Leaving?” he said.
“Yes. I suppose you’ll be staying here with what’s-her-name.”
“Who, Nena?” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Nah, she left days ago. Missed her parents too much, or so she said. Personally I think there was some country bumpkin that was on her mind.”
I grinned at that. “So what will you do then?”
He shrugged and leaned up against the doorframe. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
I could hear from the tone in his voice that he was asking about more than where I was going. He wanted to go with me. I sighed, trying to find a tactful way to say I wasn’t interested in a relationship. “Kale, I’ve told you before you’re like a brother to me.”
“Correction,” he said. “You have a brother now. Which makes me more like an, uh… an acquaintance.”
I looked him up and down. It was easy to see why Nena had taken such an interest in him. Kale was a strong, good-looking man. A little too cocky perhaps, but that could be trained out of him. I wasn’t looking for that kind of work, though. Not yet. I was young. Adventures waited. I was about to say something like that when a young messenger boy pushed past him and ran into the room.
“River, Breeze needs you!”
There was something so urgent in the boy’s voice that I dropped everything and went running after him. Kale took up the chase behind me. We took the stairs up to the next floor and then crossed the street by way of a long, glass-encased catwalk. As we ran through, I caught a glimpse of the airships coming and going over the city and the thousands of people moving through the streets. I could hardly believe the city had changed so much in just a few weeks. It seemed everyone in the kingdom wanted to see Sanctuary.
The boy took a hard right at the next building and led us around a long balcony. From there, we took an elevator that ran down the outside of the building to the main floor. As we descended, I couldn’t help but look longingly over the city. The spires were gleaming in the afternoon sun, the wall of ice beyond shimmering bright blue.
“I’m going to miss this place,” I said.
“You don’t have to leave,” Kale said.
“Yes, I do.”
“Avenston, then?” he said. He was prying, trying to find out where I was going so that he could follow me. A slight smiled turned up the corners of my mouth.
“I suppose, for now. It won’t be the same without Tinker, though. I don’t know if I can really call Avenston home anymore.”
At last, we reached the main floor. The boy led us past the marble stairs and into the grand foyer. This was the capitol building, the new seat of government for our new kingdom. Hundreds of people were coming and going, admiring the exotic architecture, watching the workers put up signs indicating where their newly elected representatives could be found.
The messenger boy led us through the maze and into a small conference room with a modest brass table and matching chairs. Breeze was there along with the entire council and a dozen other important officials. Socrates was there also, and he seemed to be the focus of their attention. They paid little notice to us as we entered the room.
“Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?” one of the men said.
“What will we do without you?” someone else said.
Socrates stood at the head of the table. He held up his hands to silence them. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have all you need. You have your council and your judges, and you have the support of your people. There is no going back now. Continue what you have begun. Finish the rebuilding, so that we may bring peace and freedom that serves as an example to the entire world.”
“But what about you?” someone shouted. “We need you!”
“That is not true. You will do fine without me. You know what you must do. The empire is like a boulder rolling down a slope. It is your job to guide its path. Never rest.”
“When will you return?” someone said.
“When I can.”
I leaned over to whisper in my mother’s ear. “What’s this about? Why is Socrates leaving?”
Breeze sighed. “We took an inventory of the starfall liquid that powers the city. The scientists have warned us that our supply of the element will run dry within a decade. Maybe sooner, depending on how much we distribute.”
“I don’t understand. Starfall isn’t the only fuel available. We can still use coal and lumber and Blackrock steel.”
She turned to face me. “All of those resources are finite. What will we do when we run out of coal? Or when we’ve cut down all of the trees and mined all of the ore? If we’re going to be different than the Vangars, we must begin now.”
I considered that. I had to admit, I had wondered myself how we could possibly avoid that future. “I understand,” I said, “but what does that have to do with Socrates?”
“Socrates is a highly sophisticated machine. When we run out of fuel, we can’t just throw another log on the fire.”
My eyes widened. “You’re saying he’s going to die?”
“Sadly, yes. Unless we can find a replacement for starfall. That is why, with his wisdom and knowledge of the world, it makes the most sense for Socrates to take up that journey. No one has more to lose than he does.”
I stared at him for a moment, suddenly realizing how much Socrates
had come to mean to me. I had only known him a few weeks but he truly was a marvel. He was a machine that spoke and reasoned like a man, and yet looked like a beast. He was the most amazing creature I had ever known.
Before I realized what was happening, Socrates had said his parting words and left the room. I stared at him through the glass as he wandered down the hall and into the foyer, followed by a flock of admirers. My mother touched my shoulder.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I turned to face her. “Mother-”
“I understand,” she said with a gentle smile. “I’ll be waiting for you when you return.”
I threw my arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. Then I dashed out of the room and went chasing after Socrates. He was just about to exit the front of the building as I came running up. “Wait!” I called after him. “I’m coming with you.”
Socrates looked up as he heard my voice and shot me a beaming smile. I rushed up to him. “I’m coming,” I said breathlessly. “I want to help.”
“Are you certain? It may be dangerous.”
“This place is too boring anyway,” I said. “When are we leaving?”
“As soon as we’re ready.”
“And where are we going?”
“Wherever the world takes us.”
“I’ll get my things.”
I raced back to my apartment to gather my meager possessions. I found my bags lying on the bed, just as I had left them. I carefully removed the cutlass that had been a gift from my mother and buckled it around my waist, and I gathered up my pistol to hang it from my belt. I had few other belongings: a set of new clothes, a few miscellaneous treasures that I had collected during my exploration of the city - that was about it.
I threw the pack over my shoulder and raced back to the capitol building. Socrates was waiting for me in the street out front. “This way,” he said, gesturing towards the elevator. We stepped inside and Socrates activated the switch, guiding the elevator to the basement. I frowned. I had expected us to take a vehicle of some sort, possibly even an airship.
Blood and Steam (The Tinkerer's Daughter) Page 23
