“What are you doing? Get off of me!” She pushed him away.
He was dressed somewhat similarly in a WingedMen uniform, although fancier and flashier. His uniform was of a sleeker material. Lightweight, he seemed aerodynamically fit. He and his sister held similar bodies, both were thin and sinewy, flexible and just as agile. He wore large, bulky gloves of a technological nature, odd and perplexing. He looked more like he belonged on a stage. The Strongman later remarked Edwynn had both the flash and grace of a circus acrobatical. A clown gifted with flight.
Edwynn looked up at The Strongman, quite taken by his size, and then over to me with a look of recognition, but confusion, “What is he doing here?”
“Edwynn, so good to see you,” I said, “a WingedMan like your father, indeed! And your sister!” I could have rattled on, but Edwynn interrupted me.
“You really shouldn’t be here,” Edwynn was very direct, he continued after a momentary pause, “There’s a bloody war coming, Monocle, are you off your rocker, old man?” He looked to Louise, “Did you bring him here?”
“We were attacked in Fenterwig,” Louise explained, “Monocle was coming here anyway. We met with gunfire. It was a mess all around.” She took off her riding cap and let her hair down, a deep black, it made her face come to life by stark contrast.
He remained quiet for but a brief moment. “What happened to Nathaniel?” Edwynn asked soberly.
“Took a bullet,” The Strongman said.
Edwynn's face dropped, “Who are you? Has this turned into a sideshow? What is going on?” Edwynn was fantastically confused.
“Edwynn,” I said to him calmly, “Edwynn, please do listen to me... I, along with my colleague, are doing a bit of treasure hunting, if you will, in the lower depths of The Chasm. We need to meet with our contact-”
“You need to get out of here,” Edwynn interrupted, “you shouldn’t be here, Dr. Monocle. Things are going from worse to terrible in Chasm City and the trouble is headed this way. You need to go.”
Louise rolled her eyes, “Edwynn, it’s not that easy. There are people trying to kill him. If we turn him away he’s in no less danger.”
“Besides, Ed,” The Strongman spun the chamber of his revolver, “I’m not afraid of those bugs. Never met a bug I couldn’t squash.”
“What about six of them?” Edwynn asked. “What about six very large bugs with a massive following of madmen, murderers, and outlaws?”
“You gonna let us get to work or what?” The Strongman stood up from his chair and Edwynn looked like a child in size by comparison.
Edwynn raised his mechanically gloved left hand, “Pardon me.” He walked to the other side of the room to a contraption built into the wall. The main functionality of the contraption seemed to be geared around the outlet he plugged himself into.
He streamed a cord from his elbow to the outlet on the wall, it was an outlet like few others I had seen around The Chasm in the most precarious of places. He spent half a minute winding a crank built into the wall panel.
His fingers twittered something through his telegraphical glove, something encoded. Possibly Morseus Codex based, but far more complex. The metal fingertips clicked together like the mechanical chirping of an automatonic bird. I listened to the bursts of short and long taps, but his fingers were far too fast for me to follow. Maybe something about the long moon night rattling the mechanical donkey from a slumber of nightmares. But I hadn’t the faintest clue what that meant. Edwynn continued on, tapping at a feverish pace.
“Oh, I think he mentioned my name,” I spouted, surprised at hearing Monocle tapped out in code.
The thumb seemed to be where the connections were made. His thumb tapped at each of his other fingertips frantically, seemingly randomly. His middle finger tapping his thumb in strange sequence before his index finger took over tapping out a sequence, then to the pinkie finger, and back to the middle finger and to his ring finger. It was hypnotic. Back and forth, each finger taking a turn to dance with the thumb.
With the correct sequence of taps between fingers he could directly link himself with the telegraphical receiver of his choice instead of going through the open switchboard and to the relay operator.
Edwynn was a wonder with technology. The telegraphical system within The Chasm was something of a miracle and a technological oddity. Using the language of Morseus Codex to communicate through a series of punctuated pulses generated by the energy of the crank, The WingedMen could relay information to each other very quickly. Edwynn folded a crank from the wall which generated a weak electrical source when wound. It was a wonder of an energy source. Few understood it. The glove itself pulsated with a warm glow, each time his fingertips made contact, an electrical signal would be sent down the line.
The entire contraption consisted of a bulky forearm piece that clamped around the user, fitted with gauges monitoring charge and contact. The glove was mostly worn, broken leather, fitted with copper wiring and plugs and valves, a contraption of mechanical bones and electric fingertips. It looked delicate, each finger fitted with a strange bridge that fed the wire above and down the length of the finger, from the fingertip, to a device within the glove on the back of the hand. From there, into the mechanical wrist, down the length of cable, in through the wall, and to the receiver over the wire.
The Insectoid Six had learned to tap into the telegraphical lines and intercept messages, but now everything was coded and messages sent through the five-finger system were impossible to read without the proper codex.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m sending a message to my father.” He said as he unplugged the device and broke it down into pieces before removing the glove. “He’ll decide whether you stay or go.”
“Running to daddy, like always,” Louise sneered.
Edwynn gave her a sneer in return, “They’re not safe here, Louise. They shouldn’t have come. You should have known better and left them in Fenterwig.”
The Strongman leaned back in his chair and cleaned his gun. The dust and sand collected between the metal mechanisms of the firearm. He watched the two quibble, as did I. They gave each other such disregard in every manner the way only siblings could. There was no disrespect, just a level of openness in which they could side-step the usual courtesy most people share.
“I think the good doctor knows the implications of entering The Chasm,” Louise reasoned rightly so.
Edwynn snapped back, “I don’t think it’s his decision!”
It seemed they both had to have the last word. I had to have them be done with it. I was beginning to think Leo taught these bickering two how to use the wingpack in hopes they would just fly away, leaving him to a quiet household.
“Where is your father? How long will he be?” I inquired.
“He was leaving Chasm City the last I saw him.” Edwynn answered, “He’ll be flagged down for the message. He shouldn’t be long. I can’t believe how dumb you are for traveling out all this way for some piece of junk.” Edwynn gave me an astounded look. “I knew you were a batty, old man, but not this batty.”
“Back off, kid,” The Strongman came to my defense with a glare and Edwynn did just that.
Desert dust cakes deep within. It was already thickly accumulated in the creases of my shoes. A constant thin cake kept creeping atop my hat. Better than the mud and muck, I do suppose. Far better than scaling a tropical mountain side made of mud in a torrential downpour. And more appealing than being chased across lava fields, without argument. Better than freezing in the fields of the Northward tundra. Then again, maybe these places weren’t as bad as they seemed.
Orbis Minor, our world continent, was at one time a very interesting and varied world. It was full of diverse cultures and peoples. There was no unification of metro areas. Every land had a King or a Queen of its own that ruled over sizable distances, perhaps an Emperor or some kind of religious figure took charge. Some groups worked through cooperation and democracy. Other groups were di
ctatorships run by tyrants. The world's tribes then all seemed to go to war. I'm always asked what was it? What was the point in history in which it all went awry? I always have to tell them, we live in a world of shades of gray, not black and white. It's never only just one thing. Then again, sometimes reasons are just excuses and certain people had war planned all along. Few nations played the game of war well, others toppled, some cultures disappeared within other cultures. History is history.
Though, what we have left is an imprint of what the world used to be, redecorated by The Monarch, those who came out victorious and in turn, took over most of the western lands. There wasn't a place left on Orbis Minor in which they had not left their mark. The extent of power in which they wielded was uncanny. Places in which they had no power, like Eastern Bay, they still held a major presence.
It was no different within the metros of The Chasm. While it was certainly another world in which I was a stranger, it was familiar with it just the same. A great deal of the steelwork and architecture was that of the style found in Monarch-controlled metros. There was a style, perhaps that of a mixture of old world and new, along with the combining of several different cultures as one, that added something different and unique to it all.
The Chasm was once just a long, deep jagged hole in the ground carved out by wind and water erosion over eons. Desert peoples were drawn to it for its natural springs. And then it became the new frontier, a southwestward expansion. Mining and excavations galore. Now, it's an amalgam of cultures, mostly that which had been born from The Monarch, with wide-ranging flora and fauna of a non-indigenous nature and riddled with underdwellars of all shapes and sizes.
It was a wild and weird western expanse that I had not been a visitor to in some time. It was quite noticeably hot, that of an extreme climate. The view downwards was dizzying. People foreign to the area suffered wobbly knee syndrome. Where the eyes, upon seeing a vast drop downwards, send a signal to the knees which tell them to make sure they work. I didn't remember it being quite so hot last time I was here, I thought.
"This heat is truly something, wouldn't you agree?" I would ask The Strongman.
"Doc," he explained, "I used to work in some of the worst parts of The Walls; steam enough to choke a man. This? Nice and dry."
"I suppose you do have a point there, my large friend." I smiled.
I watched WingedMen glide from one side of The Chasm to another. They seemed to be conducting exercise drills. It was just a few of them. At least one of them had a set of wings that flapped like that of a bird. Not as fast mind you, but the wingspan was vast, and would take long, breath-taking flutters in full. Something new, I thought. I noticed the slender and sleek body on that particular aerialist, definitely a female form.
airships floated at different levels; between platforms and bridges, in each direction.
"Many women along for the war effort?" I asked to Louise.
"WingGrrls," Louise replied, "there were just a few of us, but when the Insectoids began to really get out of control everyone wanted to join, men and women. The women were given minor roles doing repairs on wingpacks at most, but usually just sewing uniforms and playing nurse. When hell broke loose, I took a bunch of the gals under my wing, so to speak. My father trained them night and day. Taught them to fly."
He barged in through the rickety wooden door in the back followed by two men I couldn’t see.
“Good timing, we were just speeaking-” I began to say.
His shoulders were broad and he stood tall. His flying cap sat loose upon his head with his goggles rested on his forehead. His face and his bristly mustache, excluding the area covered by his goggles, were caked in desert dust. Beneath it all, Leo had aged well; his gruff exterior weathered with years, crows feet at the corners of his eyes, but in top form. He wasn’t the same young man I had known several years ago. He stood very certain of himself and unafraid.
He interrupted me, "Monocle, you picked a helluva time for a visit," he smiled as he pulled me close and gave me a hug. I was thrown off, not expecting such a comforting welcome.
"Leo, you're an old man!" I said, shocked at how old this young man had become, "And these two!" I referred to his children, the bickering siblings.
"They’d be what you might refer to spawn," Leo adjusted his suspenders, he introduced the other WingedMen, "this here is Hendryk and I think you know Mr. Travis."
"James!" I was glad to see my old friend.
"Oh, Arthur," he sighed, "you really shouldn't be here."
"So I’ve heard. I'm on an assignment, James," I replied. "A most interesting one at that. I must debrief you, along with The Monarch Council, once I get back."
"Well, Hendryk'll help you guys get back to Fenterwig in one piece. You can catch a train from-" Leo began barking orders.
"No, no," I interrupted him, "we just arrived here."
Edwynn then interrupted me, "I told you, they want to go down into The Chasm. They came here directly for that purpose."
"What's wrong with you, Monocle?" Leo looked at me strangely, "You come this far out of your way for trouble?"
"Well, no, not exactly."
"Then why am I here?" Leo was becoming perturbed, "You want to go down into The Chasm, be my guest. I’m not going to stop you."
"But father," Edwynn stammered, "we're at war, The Chasm is filled with violent underdwellars, this is not a good time for them to be poking around. We need to send them back for their own safety."
"Louise?" Leo looked to his daughter for her opinion.
"I'll go with them for protection," she offered.
He gave her a look of brief concern during a slight pause, "Just be careful down there. Did you get the supplies?" Leo asked of his daughter.
"There was a problem with the supplies," I piped up immediately, "a faulty ConductorMaton..."
I needn’t say more. Leo frowned. Edwynn gave me the eye. Louise twiddled her thumbs. Hendryk looked down on me. James palmed his face. The Strongman chuckled.
"Who's the blockhead?" Leo looked over to The Strongman.
"The Strongman, my assistant." I answered.
"Going down into The Chasm, are we? Whatever for?" Hendryk asked.
"A key, what's it to ya?" The Strongman grumbled.
"A key?" Hendryk seemed confused.
"Yes, that is correct. An artifact." I explained vaguely.
"Can't your expedition wait until there's some semblance of peace?" Hendryk asked bluntly.
"I would have to agree, but it's no use, Hendryk," Travis cut in, "once the old man has his mind set, it's set. Why don't you accompany them for further safety?"
“I think I’m of better use elsewhere, personally,” Hendryk cut in.
"I need Hendryk," Leo stated flatly.
"And I need Dr. Monocle protected," James replied.
Hendryk looked displeased.
"What am I? A tag-along?" Louise sniped, looking displeased as well.
"He's very important to The Monarch, The University, and The Clockwork Foundation, altogether," James said softly, explaining to Louise and Leo, "I don't want him here, but if he's determined to go into The Chasm, then that's what he will do.” James let that sink in before continuing, “Leo, if you will, as a favor, send Hendryk with them and I'll call in for the reinforcements you so desperately need."
Leo thought about it long and hard. He looked to Hendryk who nodded in agreement. He looked to Edwynn who threw his arms up in contempt.
"Louise, Hendryk," Leo started, "accompany Dr. Monocle and his pet down into the hole. When you find what you're looking for, you leave immediately. Understood? It's for your own safety."
"Fair enough," I thought that was fair enough, indeed. “Now, I would like to-”
Before I could finish my thought, a large explosion rattled the walls. We all ran to the look-out post. An airship was firing off starboard bow, floating slowly above The Chasm depths.
“Damned scuttlers,” Leo barked. “Get going, take cover for saf
ety,” he yelled to us.
Edwynn hugged his sister goodbye and wished us luck. He was sincere about it as well. He went along with his father once the decision was made and the debate was over. Leo hugged his daughter and shook my hand, he said to me quietly, “Don’t let anything happen to her.” He just whispered it in my ear. It wasn’t a demand, but rather a plea. I gave him a nod in return.
Leo immediately started barking orders, “Louise, get them out of here! WingedMen to arms!” With that Leo and the other WingedMen along with Advisor James Travis, took flight towards the airship bomber. They took flight from the nest and were off as a number of them swarmed and fought the scuttler pirates as they board the airship.
We left the nest from the way we came in and descended into The Chasm making our way to a foot bridge to cross over. Blasts echoed and stone crumbled. As sturdy as the interior of New Haverton looked, it could all come crashing down.
31
Tales of far off places and strange lands tickle the mind. Tales of adventure and exploration, of thrills and excitements. Though, while a generous heaping of embellishment doesn’t hurt an otherwise true tale, I write only the truth, as it happened.
Readers are often eager to learn about The Chasm and its metros, from Chasm City and New Haverton, to Coventry Pass at the north tip and Tolston Meadows at the south tip. It has been noted by BureauWorks’ Ministry of Statistical Information that within the past decade violent acts of crime grew significantly within The Chasm metros (which really just means things went from bad to worse). While overpopulated, few sought a life there. It had become a lawless and dangerous place.
The Chasm metros were like labyrinths. Each side of The Chasm was connected at various points by bridges, platforms, or cable tram. Levels on top of levels, several levels below the surface, disjointed and maze-like, built deep within the sandy ground of the desert and the rock walls of The Chasm. I marveled at the intricacies. Such a wonder of modern engineering.
Spectacular Moments of Wonder with Dr. Monocle: That Certain Gentleman Page 29
