Dawn of Steam: First Light

by Jeffrey Cook

  From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

  July 8th, 1815

  ~44N ~68W

  All of my misgivings regarding Dr. Mitchell have been proven more than correct, tragically so. We finally learned what had happened to Dr. Mitchell's wife. Mr. Bowe had taken the winged device outside this morning, and apparently Dr. Mitchell discovered it flying about the skies around the island, sometimes carrying Mr. Bowe short distances. The doctor grew both excited and agitated at this, while Mr. Bowe was now very insistent upon learning more about the device, which led to a great deal more information than I had ever cared to know. Though I should dread anyone else reading this, as the chronicler of this mission, I feel I must record the events as they were told to me. Besides, hopefully they will prove useful should the doctor rightly come up for trial.

  The doctor had originally met his wife through a mutual acquaintance – Dr. Erasmus Darwin – whose theories gained him a considerable readership in scientific circles before he became largely shunned by his peers for his theories on the social sciences and his establishment of a small school which attempted to illegally educate young women in the life sciences. He theorized that with a proper education, a young woman's mind would take naturally to pursuits involving the health and nurturing of others at a level equal to any medical doctor's. Darwin gathered several pupils and attempted to teach them as a university might, though in private. Dr. Mitchell's future wife was one of his first and supposedly most successful students.

  The courtship was a quick one. The two shared a passion for science, even if they came about it from different directions. Indeed, that aspect would become part of the problem. He left Oxford when others there became concerned foremost for his relationship with a woman with an education in the medical sciences and an eagerness to share her knowledge with those she considered her peers. Worse, they were concerned that their co-research would be discovered, for even if they pursued it, they knew that it would not be well received. The theory was that by combining her knowledge of the human nervous system and brain functioning with his gift for mechanical artifice, they had a chance of being able to create an artificial brain capable of storing human knowledge, such that they would be able to transfer a living human's mind into a purely mechanical device.

  Though I cannot at all condone such a horror, I can understand their inspiration in one small degree. Dr. Mitchell's wife was in a poor state of health, and growing worse, due to a degenerative condition of some sort. Medical science had only means to delay the progress of her wasting disease, it would never cure her. Thus they were spurred on by the thought of saving Mrs. Mitchell's life by transferring her consciousness to a machine. They experimented for some time, raising a large flock of sheep for use as experimental fodder. While they had only Agnes for the purpose of handling the sheep, she was somewhat aided by Mrs. Mitchell's constant companion, a sheep dog named Bub.

  Eventually they believed they were far enough along, seeming to think that they had successfully transferred the minds of sheep into mechanical devices. Given the lack of intelligence and distinctive behaviors of sheep I cannot be sure how they confirmed this, save that some of the devices in the basement are still capable of independent movement, milling about aimlessly. I do not believe such a vile experiment possibly could work, but seeing the devices now still makes me shudder at the thought that in some mad imagining they are actually formerly living creatures condemned to live as automatons. The couple also were out of time, nearing the end of Mrs. Mitchell's life. Thus they built a larger version of the transfer device and completed the machine to hold her consciousness.

  Somewhere during this unholy experiment something went wrong. Though the doctor acknowledges that the process had never been entirely painless, the reaction from the device was not at all what they had expected. Mrs. Mitchell's screams agitated Bub to the point that her one truly constant and faithful companion (for on hearing what Dr. Mitchell subjected his wife to in his madness, I cannot attribute such a role to him) felt the need to rush to his mistress's rescue. Bub leaped into the machinery, breaking it and ending her pain. Alas, this last was an entirely true statement, for the resulting explosion killed both Mrs. Mitchell and Bub.

  Since that time, the ornithopter, for such Dr. Mitchell calls the flying machine, has not responded at all the way it formerly had. They had constructed it as one of the machines containing their so-called neural transfer capabilities, and had it about as one of the more successful experiments, believing it had contained the mind of one of the sheep. He had been able to get it to make short, halting flights before, and to respond to herding. After the explosion it would no longer do even this, avoiding the doctor and refusing to further his later experiments in flight when he tried to bury himself in his work.

  On seeing Mr. Bowe with the ornithopter and its responses to him, the doctor has put together a new theory – that it somehow received the mind of the sheep dog. I cannot, for sake of sanity, put any real stock in this wild theory. Despite that, it shows an uncommon intelligence and selectivity for a machine. To wit, it will not, in any fashion, respond to the doctor, avoiding him, even acting in a manner I would describe as somewhat hostile towards him were the ornithopter an animal. However, it will follow Mr. Bowe, and only Mr. Bowe, and respond to numerous commands that Dr. Mitchell has asked the young man to try, including coming when called, lifting its front wheels off the ground and balancing on the rear when told to beg, heeling, herding sheep and following complex series of verbal commands in direction. It will also fly on Sam Bowe's command, whether carrying him or on its own. More disturbingly, it seems to respond, turning about or coming to Mr. Bowe at mention of the word “Bub,” or more particularly and enthusiastically to “Bubsy” – the name Mrs. Mitchell most often used.

  Even in this private journal I will not recount any details of the theory or how such things were done past these musings for fear that anyone else might ever attempt such a thing again. Thankfully, even the most learned among us have reacted with equal revulsion, save for Mr. Bowe, who remains quite taken with the ornithopter while remaining disinterested in the doctor's other works.

  We discussed the possibility for some time of placing Dr. Mitchell under arrest for murder, a thought which I was initially strongly in favor of. The discussion was complicated when Sir James acknowledged that he had similar sentiments, but the issue was complicated in that Mrs. Mitchell was a willing accomplice, but more in that Dr. Mitchell was a significant risk to reveal both these terrible secrets, and also a great deal about Oxford's research works, if taken into custody. He has written strongly worded letters to the directors at Oxford to ask that they look into the matter and determine what should be done with Dr. Mitchell.

  In any case, we now make great haste to get the dirigible ready to travel. We have offered Agnes a ride away from here, but she insists she is in no danger. She believes what happened was an accident, and the doctor no longer presents any danger to anyone. He has long since destroyed all of the notes related to the experiments in neural transfer, and she has lived with him for years since that time without any further incident or hint that he would ever take such a thing up again, interested only in regularly mourning his wife, and bouts with the purely mechanical. This has eased my concerns for the safety of others some, but done nothing to comfort me as concerns the fate of Mrs. Mitchell or the disposition of her soul.

  I will be very glad to be out of this terrible place entirely, and I have moved from the guest rooms to the dirigible for the duration until the final preparations are made so we can leave for New York.

  From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

  July 15th, 1815

  Maine Colony skies

  43º58'N 69º33'W

  We have finally taken our leave of Agnes and Dr. Mitchell, and for that much I am quite grateful. Upon final preparations we did discover that there was at least one further surprise among our company. We were in the midst of making room assignments, since there is
very limited space on board the dirigible, and we can no longer afford to give everyone their own space. When the initial plans were revealed, Sam Bowe quickly informed us that the arrangements made would not be possible, as Sam, it seems, is short for Samantha, and she is not Dr. Bowe's son, but his daughter.

  At least according to her, there was no truly conscious effort to deceive us, but she had largely been raised in the wilderness as her father would have raised a boy, and on the frontier, with her favored pursuits and work, she had become more comfortable living life as a male. She apologized, without any real feeling of guilt to the confession, for any misconceptions.

  This revelation obviously raised many concerns among the crew. Miss Coltrane and Mrs. Fisher were the most agitated, insisting that once we reach New York, Miss Bowe was to be presented as a young woman, and make no other pretense, lest it lead to some embarrassment or problem for our company in those civilized regions. Miss Bowe was at first not terribly flexible in this arrangement, but Miss Wright once again came to everyone's rescue.

  She was able to suggest some garments, used for young women who may be subjected to occasional labor around the farm, that her cousin and our chaperone were content with. Miss Bowe will then be permitted to dress as she sees fit when working as our scout outside of civilized regions. Similarly, while Miss Wright will be permitted to help with Miss Bowe's hair and dress and the rest when she must present herself as a young woman, Mrs. Fisher and Miss Coltrane will not be permitted to directly have anything to do with such matters, with the sole exception of readying her to meet any truly formal occasions we might have to attend.

  This arrangement remains an uncomfortable one for everyone involved, and no one is truly happy with the final compromise, but for the moment it is keeping a rough peace among the women of our crew. Miss Bowe will also be rooming alone, though she is to be in a room split between sleeping quarters and a root locker full of potatoes for our trip.

  Were these revelations not enough of a complication to the trip, Miss Bowe has also insisted upon taking the ornithopter, which she now comfortably refers to as Bubsy, with her. At first this was forbidden, but she had a long talk with Sir James, and in the end it was agreed that she would be permitted to take the device, a gift from Dr. Mitchell (since it still will not interact with or obey him).

  Though I was personally reluctant to take any other gifts from Dr. Mitchell's lab, Sir James talked us into bending to practicality. In addition to the refitted airship and the ornithopter, we are taking the altered camera and four pistols of the doctor's design, which he refers to as pepper-boxes. These are handheld pistols which hold four shots, requiring only a slight turning by hand to operate the rotating barrels, moving a loaded barrel into place over the firing mechanism once a shot is spent. They are complex to reload and run considerable risk of jamming or other malfunction, but the capabilities of a four-shot pistol are significant enough that we could not doubt that they would come in handy – especially after our experiences at the train station. He has also helped make some slight modifications to Eddy's rifle, reducing the chances of jamming and making the canisters holding the multiple shots for the rifle more easily interchangeable.

  I am now somewhat thankful that everyone is so eager to get well away from Dr. Mitchell and his home. Without that factor, the other social arrangements could prove quite difficult. Eddy seems fairly at ease with Miss Bowe, at the least. He continues to speak with her as one might a male friend, including their usual assortment of topics that most find rather unappealing. He was also the first stalwart in her defense when the contingent of respectable womanhood, with Mrs. Fisher as its rightful vanguard, declared that Miss Bowe must no longer be permitted to attend the card games in the sitting room. For a moment, perhaps for the first time since we met, I was simply glad that I was not Sir James Coltrane. He seemed at quite a loss regarding the entire matter.

  Also bewildered by the revelation of Miss Bowe's gender was Miss Penn. It had become quite clear that she was very attracted to Sam Bowe when she thought him young Mr. Bowe, and now she has no idea what to make of her thoughts. She certainly does not make the attempts at familiarity that she did before. Nevertheless, it is possible she still wishes some attempt at cordiality, to compensate for two false starts. What's more, there is the fact that, male or female, Giovanni Franzini remains terrified of Sam Bowe, and avoids her just as readily as before.

  I cannot be certain, but it seems, to my observations, that the relationship between Miss Penn and Mr. Franzini is more contentious than I had assumed. It was obvious that she sometimes found him somewhat distasteful, and he tries to keep their discussions private and discreet. Nonetheless, I get the feeling that he intimidates her more than I had thought, and their relationship is somewhat more like people working together out of some shared cause and capability – and perhaps out of their isolation from the rest of us – and less out of any real camaraderie.

  At any rate, watching the debate between Eddy and the ladies over whether Miss Bowe should be kept out of gentlemen's activities, Miss Penn frowned slightly, her eyes darting from the spirited discussion to her partner, barred from gentlemen's activities himself. She then cleared her throat.

  “Please do excuse me, Sir James,” she said quite politely, “But I would think a reasonable solution, in such unusual circumstances as these, would be to simply provide a chaperone.” She looked at the ladies with a smile, eyes shining. “Yes, I do know what those are. And I volunteer.”

  Thus was a compromise reached, which I appreciate, no matter how odd it may be that Miss Penn would provide a safeguard to propriety. I certainly still do not at all trust her or her partner. The fact that they do not get along with one another well does not make either one any more a true ally to the rest of us beyond what loyalty we've bought.

  July 19th, 1815

  New York

  40º 47'N 073º 58'W

  Dear Sir,

  I was quite relieved today when we reached New York safely, having completed the tasks you recommended with Dr. Mitchell.

  As you are likely aware, the Coltranes have their own holdings here in New York and have been quite at home since our arrival. Under the circumstances, everyone travels with some degree of security and in numbers, save for Eddy and Miss Bowe, both of whom have refused any escort.

  It has been a source of great excitement and rumor here that their number of airships in their mooring docks has almost doubled, for it seems our opponents in this endeavor have also procured a military airship of their own from some agency, explaining how they reached the Americas only shortly behind us. Despite their presence here, there has been no contact with them. The city is better secured than the rough lands where we last met their agents on the way back from St. Louis, and the security detail around the city's mooring station, where we have the dirigible, has assured us that there will be no trouble. Despite this we have left a detail of armed men from our own crew on board the airship at all times.

  I am still unsure what sort of men our opponents are, for we have not yet been able to get any news of them. Even amongst the soldiers of this base they are quite secretive, though it is clear they have sources of information regarding ourselves, and significant monies and reach to accomplish their goals. I do not know if their presence here is specifically to try to hinder us, or if they are as focused in this time about recruiting as we ourselves are. I am left with the simple gratitude that they seemed to not yet see fit to menace the women of our group about town. They have restricted their aggressions towards those of us best suited to meet them.

  We are quite eager to be on our way to the north while there is still summer warmth (though I must say it is an unseasonably cold summer here) but may be delayed in pursuing your goals. News has just reached these shores of the historic agreement made between the motherland and France. I am unsure as to how much of a hand you and your peers had in the agreement, but regardless, I must extend a congratulations on the compact. The city is in quite
the festive mood, and a number of celebrations are being scheduled to accompany the diplomatic functions, some of which are happening here for the obvious symbolic reasons.

  In addition, it seems that news of our objectives, in addition to Sir James's and Eddy's considerable innate celebrity, has given us a great deal of popularity here. As such, we have been invited to one of these functions where the former French territories will be signed over to colonial hands by the former French governor of New Orleans. (11) We could not pass up such an opportunity, and indeed, Miss Coltrane, Miss Wright, and Mrs. Fisher are quite excited for the opportunities such a grand social occasion will present. When that is finished we will, of course, be away to begin our adventure into the unknown.

  Yours,

  Gregory Conan Watts

  (11) The treaty of 1815, part of the extensive post-war concessions on behalf of the governments of the European Alliance, signed over all French rights to lands in North America south of the Great Lakes and west of the Mississippi. While this covered almost a third of the continent, Spain's right to disputed French-Spanish lands was not waived, making the handover a complicated one. The French government considered this a Land purchase, via the canceling of war debts in exchange for the land rights. Certain portions of Parliament called this “France's Just Desserts.” – C B-W