Cassidy St. Claire and The Fountain of Youth Parts I, II, & III

by A. H. Rousseau

  “Oh... really?” Cassidy said, surprised. “Well... good. I'm glad that a small group of morons don't have the power to stop the progress of America, such as it is.” Gideon walked over to the chalkboard and left Cassidy to drink her coffee. Cassidy sat there, holding the cup near her face. Wisps of steam floating up in front of her squinted, thoughtful face. The gears turning in her head were almost visible through her eyes. As Gideon talked to Peter and the other man, Cassidy reached across the table and grabbed a pile of maps. After a moment of investigation, she interrupted the three men. “Hey,” they turned to look at her. “What's the likelihood of a cave being underneath Houston?”

  ---

  The crowd of men stood around the table as Cassidy leaned on it, maps and geographic information splayed out over its surface. A bookish man with glasses and a scraggly beard looked over the maps and sighed. “Well... I suppose there could be entrances around here, based on how the bayous flow. Maybe further north. I would gamble on the south if I was hunting for a cave, but we're only fifty feet above sea level. It would probably be flooded or simply filled with minerals. And this is all assuming that our information is correct, which it probably isn't.”

  “It's something, though. And we need something right now,” said Jebediah.

  “Why would the professor provide a location for the fountain if the actual access to the fountain where somewhere else?” asked Gideon.

  “Perhaps it has to do with how he located it. A device of some sort,” replied Peter. “Or perhaps he made the calculations after having already found the entrance.”

  “Pointless speculation,” said Jebediah. “For now, we need to speculate about, if our hypothesis is true, what visible consequences would there be that we could detect.”

  “Well, they have machines spread throughout the continent,” said Cassidy. “Assuming that this is their base of operations, it's going to be significant.”

  “Good point,” replied Jebediah. “Machines, noise, buildings. A staging ground. Does that trigger any thoughts, Mister Nichols?”

  Peter's eyes faded out into thought before focusing back. He looked up at Jebediah with an eyebrow raised.

  ---

  Cassidy, Jebediah, Gideon, and a row of men lay on their stomachs in the tall grass and sparse trees, the moon just peaking over the horizon. Cassidy looked through a pair of binoculars to the opposite shore. Large amounts of the island had been cleared and buildings peppered the landscape, lights leaking out from windows and doors. In the middle of the island stood a massive warehouse of metal and wood.

  “Well, that's conspicuous,” said Cassidy.

  “It started about fifteen years ago, right after the war ended,” said Peter. “I wasn't where I am now, but I was aware of the comings and goings. I remember my superior being told they were from the navy. They had papers and everyone with whom we inquired seemed to be aware of it. It always seemed a bit suspicious, I'll admit. They get a lot of boats coming in and out,” he said as he motioned down river. “Big ones come in to Buffalo and then send smaller ships down this bayou. I've had men down here a few times. They won't let us on, but they're always very open and friendly about everything. Good ol' American boys, it seemed.”

  “Well these good ol' American boys are about to get a visit from one fucking furious American girl,” said Cassidy.

  “Now hang on,” said Jebediah. “We do not yet know who these people are. We don't want to just shoot up a bunch of innocent people.”

  “Innocent people masquerading as the navy? Oh yes. That's completely reasonable,” replied Cassidy.

  “I'm not saying they are not the navy,” replied Peter. “I am only saying that I have had lingering suspicious.”

  “Why didn't you ever report them or do more research?” asked Cassidy.

  “Well... you... you decide what you value,” replied Peter. “After the war, Houston was in a bad way. These men showed up and started investing huge, and I mean huge, amounts of money into the city. Our bayou expansions, street paving, gas light system, the aforementioned opera house: we wouldn't have any of it. I... we, more or less rested easy. I thought, who could possibly spend this much money aside from the federal government?”

  “Who indeed?” asked Jebediah, looking to Cassidy, who looked back equally concerned.

  “Do you hear that?” asked Gideon. The dozen or so men all quieted down and began to move their heads about, trying to pinpoint sounds. A dull hum carried on the breeze. As it grew in volume, Cassidy's face steeled in recognition. She knew this sound.

  “Look!” said one of the men. Across the river, glinting in the moonlight, its lights off, was one of the flying sic-engined machines. It zoomed in over the complex, hovered for a moment, then descended down onto the ground, kicking up a visible cloud of dust as it did so before disappearing completely behind the tree line.

  “That eliminates any doubt,” said Cassidy as she pulled out her gun and held it up near her head. “I vote that we start killing people.”

  “Hold your horses,” said Jebediah.

  “Why? We may as well just walk in. It's not like the author of this ridiculous story is going to let us fail. We can just do whatever we want and let him figure it out.”

  “There is nothing that is correct with that philosophy but I don't want to argue with you right now.” Jebediah then turned to Peter. “Nichols, what's the perimeter?”

  “Just a small island. It's oblong and a half mile or so long. Our best access route is the other side of the island. The water there is shallow and not very wide.”

  “And undoubtedly the area that they have best guarded,” replied Jebediah. He thought for a moment before turning a bit to talk to Gideon, who was a few places to his right. “Atwater, you didn't happen to bring along those goggles, did you?”

  “Yessir,” Gideon replied. “They've been in my bag ever since we found them.”

  “Take a look through the scope with them. See if you can make out any details.”

  Gideon obliged, removing the goggles from his bad, strapping them to his head, and looking out through a copper scope with a large front lens. Gideon moved slowly left and right, gazing out over the water of the moonlit night. “Nothing,” he finally said.

  “Stupidity?” asked Cassidy.

  “Unknown,” replied Jebediah.

  “Whatever the reason,” said Cassidy. “We should go. There's no one there. We shouldn't let the opportunity pass.”

  “I didn't say there wasn't anyone,” said Gideon, lifting the goggles to his forehead and giving Cassidy an exasperated look. “I said that I didn't see anyone.”

  “That's good enough for me,” replied Cassidy. “We dawdled in Los Angles, in El Paso... we missed meeting Hitchcock because of that. By some stroke of ridiculous luck, we are nevertheless here. I'm not going to wait.”

  Everyone waited in silence for a moment before Peter finally spoke. “There's a small boathouse about a quarter mile down shore. I'm sure they would have enough small boats to get us across.”

  “No,” replied Jebediah quickly. “If we go in, it will be just Cassidy, Atwater, and myself.”

  “Are you out of your goddamned mind?” asked Cassidy. “We have the cavalry here, let's use them.”

  “We are using them,” replied Jebediah. “We leave them here. If we don't come back, bring down the full weight of the army on the area if need be. And besides,” Jebediah said, turning to Cassidy. “There is no way that you would let yourself be excluded, and only Gideon and I have experience working with you. Thus, our small team is formed around you whether we like it or not.” Cassidy turned away from Jebediah, annoyed and contemplative. After Jebediah waited for a moment for a response that never came, he turned back to Peter. “Mr. Nichols. The boat house.”

  ---

  The wood cracked loudly as Cassidy kicked the door to the boathouse in. “I'll pay for that,” she said quietly. Jebediah sighed in annoyance as the group walked in. “I can't see shit in here,” said Cassidy.
Small flecks of moonlight came in through windows, and the delicate sound of water lapping filled the small building, but otherwise it was silent and dark. “Gideon. Goggles.” Gideon grunted in agreement and put the goggles on.

  “Ah. A lantern,” he said. After some clinking and the fssk of a match being lit, the dull yellow glow of a small lantern illuminated the house. Sitting up on racks on the wall were a number of very small boats, with a few more boats in the pool in the center of the building.

  “One of these will be perfect,” said Jebediah. “Gentlemen, a hand?” he asked as some of the men lifted a boat off its rack and, turning it sideways, walked it out the door. Gideon turned the lantern down and followed everyone out. The group walked the small boat down to the water and quietly placed it down. “Oh, oars,” said Jebediah. Cassidy smiled and held up a pair that she had grabbed upon leaving the boathouse. “Ah, yes. Good show,” Jebediah said before turning to his men. “Gentlemen, I know this seems sudden, but trust me, we are ready for it. I must insist that you do not enter the complex without authorization from higher ups. Stay away.” The men all nodded in agreement. “Again, thank you.” Jebediah then stepped into the boat.

  “Boys, it's been a pleasure,” said Cassidy with a smirk, likewise hopping into the boat. Gideon said nothing and simply nodded to the men as he got in. With a quiet shove, they pushed away from the shore and into the water. Gideon donned his goggles and looked out toward the island. “Alright, Jebediah, now that we're away from them, why are we going in alone?”

  “They aren't fighters or spies,” said Jebediah.

  “Jesus Christ, Jeb, do you know any fighters and spies, or is everyone with whom you deal just completely inept?”

  “It's... complex,” replied Jebediah, his gaze fixed on the coming island.

  “I'm sure it is, but we just left behind our army.”

  “They would have only gotten in the way,” Jebediah replied. “Us three, alone, is our best chance.”

  Cassidy sighed. “Alright, but if we die, I'm coming back and haunting your family. Actually, no, to hell with that. I'm going to come back and haunt you. I'm going to be the first ghost ever to haunt another ghost.”

  “Well, at least my afterlife will not be boring,” replied Jebediah.

  “Yet again with this sense of humor. You are slowly becoming a man, my boy,” Cassidy said with a smile, brushing her hand in the water. “You are slowly becoming a man.”

  ---

  The three slowly, quietly, pulled the boat up out of the water and covered in branches and leaves. “From this point forward, total silence,” whispered Jebediah in the dark. Moonbeams pierced down around them in the sparse tree cover as they crept forward. Jebediah tapped Gideon the should and motioned for him to activate his goggles, which Gideon did. Through the trees was the large complex of buildings with the massive steel and wood, barrel-roofed building ahead. Gideon leaned into Jebediah's ear.

  “I see almost no security,” said Gideon. Jebediah simply shook his head. The three continued to move on through the sparse tree cover before Gideon grabbed the two of them and pushed them down.

  “I see guards with goggles,” he whispered quickly. They are scattered in the woods. The three looked around as Gideon pointed into the shadows. Vaguely apparent to Jebediah and Cassidy was the silhouette of a man with two, glowing red circles for eyes. “Shit,” Gideon whispered before turning off the goggles. “They can see the glowing goggles like torches in the night.”

  “How may did you see?” Jebediah whispered.

  “A dozen, maybe. I can't count.”

  Jebediah thought for a moment. “Then we are at an advantage.” Cassidy and Gideon looked to him. “They will not expect any intruders to have those goggles. Meaning that with you at the lead, we can simply walk past them.”

  Gideon gulped. “That is... risky.”

  “Less risky, I think, than trying to crawl past them.”

  Gideon looked to Cassidy, who shrugged. “I agree with Jebediah.

  Gideon sighed. “Alright. Here's hoping.”

  The three stood up at full height and began walking through the woods slowly. They walked within fifty feet of another guard. Gideon turned straight at him and gave a faint wave. The guard nodded before turning and walking away. “Phew!” Gideon said. “I can't believe that worked.”

  “A mask is frequently better than a gun,” said Jebediah.

  Emerging from the surrounding tree cover, they passed by a longhouse, simple wood in construction, and a variety of other similar buildings of differing sizes. Lights leaked out from some windows and doors as the sounds of conversation and work could be heard in the buildings. The trio ducked into the shadows between a building and some bushes as a group of men walked by, boisterously discussing a game of soccer.

  The three backed into an alleyway between two of the buildings and squeezed there way out into a moonlit clearing. Right in the middle of the clearing was the airship that they had previously seen land. On the edge of the clearing where no less than ten aircraft, including a monstrous one with eight, large engines. Men with portable lights were bustling around the craft, the sounds of machinery and maintenance clanking out into the night.

  By now, the sounds from the barrel-roof warehouse were apparent. Thuds, clangs, and clanks echoed out of it every few moments, betraying the epic work transpiring inside. Cassidy and crew pressed themselves up against the buildings as they crept along the perimeter of the clearing, giving them a view past the aircraft. On one end of the large warehouse was a bulbous, metal structure, humming loudly. Lights from the warehouse and the workmen in the clearing revealed a lot of vehicles and carriages parked in the shadows aside the warehouse. Jebediah patted both Cassidy and Gideon the shoulders and motioned over there. The two nodded in response.

  Staying close to buildings and any other cover they could find, they worked their way clockwise around the clearing, past the airships, to come up beside the warehouse. As they neared the carriages, crates, and vehicles, the sounds of two men talking came upon them. They crouched down behind a carriage. The two men were walking a dog which stopped and stared directly at the trio. Their breath left them. Jebediah tapped Gideon on the shoulder, motioning for him to now take his goggles off to eliminate the red glow.

  “What is it, girl?” asked one of the men.

  “Probably just another damned opossum,” said the other man. The dog stayed, focused on the hidden trio with commendable focus. Cassidy reached for her revolver, but Jebediah placed his hand on hers. She turned to face him and he shook his head disapprovingly. Cassidy was visibly annoyed but took her hand away from her gun. “Come on, you idiot,” said the guard, giving the dog a tug. She obliged and continued walking with the two men. Breath finally returned to Cassidy, Gideon, and Jebediah as they sighed in relief and continued on through the field of machines. They finally reached the warehouse, its massive walls extended up over one-hundred feet.

  “George and Anna have to be in there,” said Cassidy. “It's the only place they could be.”

  “Maybe doors on the other side?” asked Gideon.

  Jebediah nodded. “Let's move,” he said. The trio headed to the far end of the warehouse, away from the humming machine. As they got to the corner, they glanced around to see, dimly lit from a light above, a large, sliding bay door, pallets of supplies, roped down and covered in canvas. They crept through the supplies until Cassidy and Jebediah dropped down, out of sight.

  “What are you doing?” Gideon looked around in a mild panic. Out from a shadow came a middle-aged man, clean-shaven and slim, with a large clipboard. “Stephens?”

  “Uhhhh... yes?” replied Gideon.

  “Oh good. Where were you?”

  “Oh... sorry,” Gideon replied, not missing a beat. “I fell asleep. Long night, last night.”

  “I'm sure,” replied the man. “No matter now. We've got these pallets ready to go. Lord knows what the hell they're going to do with them since we've already received the
call to ship out. Well, it's not like I make the rules, I just follow them. So, make sure they're roped solidly and go get the loader.”

  “Uhhh, yes... I will... do that,” replied Gideon, looking to Cassidy and Jebediah who were peeking over a crate, shrugging. “Any particular loader?”

  “What?” asked the man. “No. Just grab one. Get that shit down below and then we can all go to bed.” Gideon nodded and walked into the door into the warehouse. Inside, he found himself inside one of the freight elevator rooms. Of the three platforms, two were gone, leaving behind dark holes with safety railing around them. The bright lights and bustle startled Gideon briefly, but he found his bearings and located a small lot of vehicles in the corner nearest him.

  Outside, Cassidy and Jebediah stayed hidden in the shadows. “Hey Stephens, next time, you son of a bitch,” a man called out in the distance with a friendly tone.

  “Oh yes! Of course!” replied another man, walking toward them.

  “Shit!” Jebediah whispered. “He's going to blow Atwater's cover!” After the two shuffled nervously for a moment, their bodies trying to determine what to do, Cassidy suddenly popped up behind the real Stephens and blackjacked him in the back of the head, sending him face-down into the dirt. They quickly dragged his body back into the shadows. The supervisor looked up from his clipboard briefly, puzzled, before returning his attention to his work. The two crouched there in the shadows, over the body, breathing heavily. “I approve of that,” said Jebediah.

  Inside, Gideon was inside one of the loaders and was throwing switches and levers in a desperate attempt to quickly learn the controls. Jerkily, he backed up and over toward the loading bay doors. After a moment, he realized no one was going to open the doors for him, so he got out and pressed a conspicuous red button on the wall, causing the bay door to rise up. He then rolled his loader outside.

  “Excellent,” said the supervisor with the clip board. “Uhhh... it looks like we have ten crates. Get those onto the lift and see them down and then you can call it a night.”