The Alchemists: A Paranormal Steampunk Thriller (The Guild Chronicles Book 1)

by J M Bannon

  Rose thought none of this was any of her business until it turned into a real threat, then it could be, would be her problem. “Major could I have my belt and purse you took earlier?” Reinhold called his man over with the confiscated equipment. Rose grabbed her kit and went through the pockets “Here,” she pulled out a small card. “This is the card of Captain Jacob Moore” she handed it to Captain Reynolds “you see on the back, “call if in need.’ You recognize that name, Sir?”

  The captain raised a brow, "Miss, not ten year ago, all of us airborne were seafaring, of course I know Moore."

  Here is what I propose: we all travel to Königsberg, with the Peregrine in tow. When we arrive, Captain Falk, you can hammer out a deal with Preston and Lorelei, as both have promised to compensate you for damages. Major Reinhold you can accompany us and present Lorelei to the Alchemists, at which point Lorelei and Preston can assess the Philosopher's Stone and give it a clean bill of health. So, Captain would you be a dear and check with the Secretary of the Admiralty about taking us home with a quick stop in Prussia?”

  28

  TUESDAY THE 13TH OF JUNE 1860

  8:30 A.M. THE CRUCIBLE BUILDING KÖNIGSBERG PRUSSIA

  Doctor Maxwell stepped out onto the observation deck of the Crucible chamber, then down the metal stairs that spiraled along the four-story chamber wall. The cavernous room echoed with his steps. Two stories below, at the base of the chamber, sat the Emerald Tablet. The large translucent- green stone, rectangular in shape and the height of nearly two men, rested on a steel pedestal. When ready, it would be driven up into the reaction chamber, a massive Bessemer steel orb.

  In that chamber, accelerated proto-gas is designed to smash into the stone and create the selected pure elements that the Alchemists choosing. Maxwell approached the edifice and translated in his head the Stone’s inscriptions from ancient Greek.

  Tis true without lying, certain & most true.

  That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing

  And as all things have been & arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.

  The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nourse.

  The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.

  Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.

  Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtile from the gross sweetly with great industry.

  It ascends from the earth to the heaven & again it descends to the earth & receives the force of things superior & inferior.

  By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world

  & thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.

  Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtle thing & penetrates every solid thing.

  So was the world created.

  From this are & do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (or process) is here in this. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world

  That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished & ended.

  Maxwell did not fathom how these cryptic words could help an Alchemist unlock the power of the Stone. He wondered what would be next after they had commercialized the process. James would like to continue his work with magnetic acceleration and explore further uses but was unsure if after this the Alchemists would have an interest in his research.

  He was even doodling and playing with the idea of a magnetic projectile launcher. James thought he would discuss funding after signing off today on the Crucible's readiness for production. And if they weren’t interested, his share of profits was bigger than any research budget he could beg for at a University.

  “Good Doctor” echoed through the chamber.

  He looked up and could see the silhouette of Baron von Traube in the light from the control room. With his entourage in tow, the loud Guildist clamored down into the chamber, his boisterous nature a sacrilege to the eerie silence of the vast enclosure.

  “Good Doctor, are we ready to make fifty tons of seureleum mestificatos?”

  "Yes sir," answered Maxwell.

  “Why so solemn, Doctor? Today is an auspicious day to be celebrated!” exclaimed Traube.

  “I am always melancholy when I get to where my work moves from miraculous to the mundane. Two years ago, Lorelei and I had our first breakthrough, now we will turn over that wonder to a bunch of technicians who will commercialize the elemental forces of the universe.”

  “It is amazing is it not, what this slab of rock is capable of?” asked the Baron with admiration.

  “Baron, how is it your Guild is capable of unlocking the secrets of Alchemy from the stone through that strange saying?”

  The Baron chuckled, “Maxwell, until you and Lorelei developed your process, that hunk of rock was nothing more than a mascot for the Guild. An inspiration, and a quest to unravel the riddle in those words. In doing the research to unlock it’s secrets we stumbled upon several other great discoveries such as how to tap alchemical gases from rifts and weaves of the universe, but you are the first to unlock the true magic of the stone.” The Baron marveled.

  He continued, “The costs in not having to find rifts and sustain them for eldritch elements will be what makes the Guild the primary supplier of raw materials through Europe. All men will enjoy better quality lives for the work we do here today; it will be safer to create coal, and silver in the chamber than it will to send men down a mineshaft.”

  “Shall we begin?” asked James. The group proceeded back up the stairs and into the control room.

  “Engage the stone”, Maxwell called out to the technician who threw the lever. A deep thrum of the pneumatic pumps could be heard as they pressurized the piston and lifted the stone up to the chamber.

  “The specimen is in place, Professor,” confirmed the technician.

  “Engage the locks,” replied Maxwell as he turned to Barron Traube "at this point Barron, say the word and will charge the proto-gas."

  " Please continue Doctor," and with that Baron Traube had begun the commissioning of the crucible.

  "How does the magnet voltage and temperature look?" asked Maxwell.

  "All read within normal ranges, Dr. Maxwell," replied another technician.

  Maxwell walked over to the proto-gas control panel, it was to be Lorelei’s role to start the first commercial batch in the crucible. He had watched her do this at the pilot plant dozens of times and knew what to do, his hesitancy wasn't from lack of understanding but rather in hope she might suddenly walk through the door to take over and be part of this momentous occasion.

  He stepped up to the panel and twisted the valve that regulated methane from pressurized tanks into the fluidized bed conditioner. The preparation of the proto-gas for the test was to percolate methane through a bed of sulfur then speeding up the elemental energies through heating the feedstock. The heated gas was feed through the proto-stock reticle into the primary magnetic chamber. Here, the magnetic flux repelled the charged particles in the gas through the pilot tube into the next magnet chamber where more flux was applied and the particles continued to accelerate. As the gas spiraled down the curved path gaining unknown speeds in the loop, Maxwell postulated they brought all of the plasma to the speed of light.

  Dr. Maxwell called out, “set lens focus at 32 mm.” He paced over to the panel where one could observe pressures and temperatures inside the crucible chamber. He knew from the readings the gas was now a focused plasma stream smashing into the stone. At this point they did not provide an exit for the gas so the crucible pressures continued to increase and balance.

  "Continue increasing the current to the magnets and monitor the temperature of the housings, advise me when we reach 300 bar," ordered the Englishman.

  At 280 bar of pressure the technician called out the readings. J
ames Maxwell approached Baron Traube, "Baron I’d like to invite you to action the bypass valves and fill the production tanks, officially delivering a synthetic eldritch element to inventory."

  "Which one is it?” asked the Baron.

  "The green handle, when you hear the technician call 300, throw the valve to the open position," James replied.

  "297, 298, 299, 300," announced the technician.

  On cue, Baron Traube opened the valve. Maxwell pointed to the gauges slowly moving. "There you have it, Barron! We won't know purity until we test but as of now, we are manufacturing seureleum mestificatos from coal bed methane, sulfur and some electricity," announced Doctor Maxwell with pride.

  The Baron gave Maxwell a huge slap on the back along with another to the technician sitting at the control station, nearly knocking the man out of his chair. "Well there you go, Maxwell, now you're not only famous you are going to be rich." James smiled to himself watching the production tank gauges, knowing he was filling the Alchemists and his own bank accounts. "By my calculations Barron we should have those tanks filled in 16 hours,” said the scientist.

  Traube put his arm around Maxwell and ushered him towards the door. "You, Dr. Maxwell are coming with me, we must make Klaus aware of our success and open his finest bottle of brandy in a toast to your genius!"

  10:30 A.M. Alchemy Guild Headquarters Königsberg, Prussia

  Keifer heard Traube in the stairwell well outside of his office, his friend was happy and Kiefer knew when he shared the recent wire-type he had received, that Gustavus would be over the moon.

  He sat at his desk waiting for the doors to barrel open and the boisterous Barron blast out whatever news he felt was so important that he should deliver it himself.

  “Klaus, Klaus, whatever you're doing remember what it was so you can tell the history books about it. This is the moment when you learned your illustrious Guild now commands the power of the Philosopher’s Stone. It is done, my good friend, the Englishman has commissioned the production Crucible; as we speak we are producing eldritch gases from cheap methane,” shouted Traube.

  Keifer arose from behind his desk and shook the hand of Dr. Maxwell, “congratulations Doctor, this is a great day indeed.”

  “Klaus, give me the key to your liquor cabinet we need a make a toast to the good Doctor.”

  Keifer reached into the center drawer of his desk took out the key to the cabinet and threw it to Gustavus who caught them in the air then unlocked the latch to the cabinet. “By the way, you old fool, why do you lock your liquor cabinet?”

  “To keep this old fool out of the brandy,” the High Elector replied. He then turned back to Maxwell. “Please, Doctor, have a seat, this is a truly great occasion for the Guild,” while Keifer had equally good news for Traube, he did not want to let this moment go.

  The chubby Barron made his way to Kiefer and Maxwell setting down 3 glass tumblers and pouring them all whiskey. “Now, Maxwell, tell the High Elector what your statue should be made out of.”

  “I think it would be poetic if it was made of stone,” answered Maxwell. The three men chuckled.

  “Well I disagree, it should be made of gold,” replied Gustavus.

  “Alright but with the Doctor’s success it sounds like gold isn't worth what it used to be,” replied Klaus.

  “Gus, I too have some grand news to share. In fact, I was just getting ready to go over to the crucible building to share this with you, but you’re so damn loud I’ve known you were on your way over 20 minutes ago.

  Gorber cabled me that your daughter is currently en route home, she was rescued by some of his men and is being escorted back to Königsberg, via a fleet of Prussian and British airships,” explained Keifer.

  “Ho ho, today is truly a miraculous day and one that I will never forget. Maybe turning this machine on was just what we needed to do to get that girl to come back to us,” replied Traube.

  “Well, let us not drink too much in celebration as you see in the wire here they're expected to arrive in land at the crucible site in two hours’ time,” suggested Keifer.

  Traube finished his glass then refilled it. “Two hours is plenty of time for at least one more.”

  29

  TUESDAY THE 13TH OF JUNE 1860

  12:15 P.M. THE ALCHEMIST’S AERODROME KÖNIGSBERG, PRUSSIA

  Behind the Alchemical Werks the Alchemist Guild had built a private airship mooring. Traube, Kiefer and Maxwell, met Gorber inside the waiting lounge of the aerodrome.

  Maxwell enjoyed the accolades he was given as Traube and Keifer updated Duke Gorber on the earlier events of the day. James was also relieved to hear Lorelei would soon be back and had come to no harm.

  One of the aerodrome staff approached the gathering, “Excuse me gentleman I wish to inform you that a shuttle boat is landing.”

  “Thank you, let us withdraw to the tarmac gentleman as much as I enjoy chatting with you I cannot wait a moment longer to see my daughter,” said Barron Traube.

  Maxwell followed the three Prussian aristocrats outside and took in the flurry of activity. The skies were overcast. The thick clouds created a backdrop for the dominant object on the skyline, the British air-dreadnought. Just as James and Lorelei worked together for their success, the British and Prussians worked together to find and rescue Lorelei. Closer to them, a much smaller merchant ship was mooring, the visible damage to the ship likely contributing to its clumsy anchoring.

  The four men watched as the small craft began its approach towards them. The vessel flew a British flag but as it landed, it was apparent that a mixture of civilians, British troops, and Prussian troopers were aboard. Ropes dropped from the ship as it hovered just above their heads and the ground crew guided the craft to ground level. The first to disembark, a Prussian officer followed by a British officer. They approached the group but from behind, Lorelei broke through the crowd running to her father. She jumped up into his arms and the big man lifted her up making her look more diminutive than usual.

  “I have been so worried Lorelei, are you ok?” asked her father.

  “I am fine Papa but the Guild is not. I return with grave news about our work and must insist that the Guild not proceed with the Crucible,” replied Lorelei.

  “Well, you're about three hours too late,” interrupted Maxwell.

  “Then we need to get over there and shut it down now!” Lorelei said grabbing her father’s hand trying to pull him toward the parked steam carriage.

  “Girl, what are you going on about? You disappear and upon your return the first thing out of your mouth is that your project must be stopped?” Keifer spewed, interrupting the reunion.

  “High Elector, do you trust my assessment on the Alchemical Sciences?” asked Lorelei.

  “Of course, Master Alchemist Traube,” replied the High Elector.

  “The Emerald Tablet, has been misinterpreted and we are playing with fire. Preston can you please explain further,” Lorelei said turning to Preston.

  Maxwell could see Lorelei was emotional, but who wouldn’t after being kidnapped.

  “Gentleman, Hermes Trismegistus and the Hermetic Brotherhood were ancient practitioners of the mystic arts, but the stone was not a gift for us to tap into those powers, it is a curse. They were entrusted with protecting the world from a dark force, and they failed when they let the stone leave their control. The Emerald Stone is a multidimensional prison encompassing strong magic to hold an ancient evil, known in archaic languages as the Outcast.”

  Preston read their faces, and continued, “Lorelei believes the Crucible process applies forces that could release the prisoner. I suspect that you assumed the stone is acting as a catalyst for your process, but what you are actually doing is drafting off the metaphysical energy attached to the stone. As it is stripped away it transmutes the material it is put in contact with. The result being as Doctor Traube posits, you are at this moment ripping the eldritch bindings of the stone and the sooner you stop, the better chance we have of repairing the
damage,” Preston concluded.

  Baron Traube interjected, “Well, my darling child, if it makes you feel better, let us proceed to witness your great achievement and you will see with your own eyes the process producing many tons of eldritch elements, in total harmony with the metaphysical balance of the universe… while making us piles of Marks, I might add. I will stay here with Klaus and make sure that these fine soldiers know of my gratitude,” with that comment Lorelei let go of her father’s hand and ran towards the carriage.

  “Come, Preston this has to be stopped,” whispered Lorelei.

  12:00 P.M. The Crucible Building Königsberg Prussia

  Boredom had already set in for Dieter, the supervising technician. What was exciting and extraordinary, only a few hours ago was no longer. The Crucible was tuned in and optimized; initial tests showed eighty-eight percent pure seureleum mestificatos with increasing purity in following tests, the latest ninety-seven percent.

  The four technicians perched at their stations, observing gauges and dials, writing readings every 15 minutes. At the top of each hour, another operator would come up and report the results of the purity test.

  It was the strangest sound, a muffled pop almost imperceptible, but it caught all of the technician’s attention, because it came from within the Crucible. Dieter went to observe the steel orb positioned outside their window, but nothing had visibly changed.