Sunstone: A Steampunk Reality

by Holly Barbo

  The thin man looked up as the head physician at Paramount entered. “How’s he doing?” the doctor asked as he scanned the charts and studied his patient for a moment before turning.

  Quin waited until the doctor turned to him before blurting out, “He hasn’t shown any sign of waking. Have you learned anything? Will he recover?”

  “His arm was shattered near the shoulder, numerous cuts and contusions, a cracked cheekbone and rib. Our lab guys are great. They’ve been able to analyze the creative cocktail of chemicals injected into M’nacht. For lack of a better name, they are calling it ‘Artificiosae Latur Dolor.’ It was meant to heighten the pain they were inflicting. I assume the intent was to speed up an interrogation. They wanted something from him. It was a gamble, as they couldn’t have known exactly how his body would react. It could easily have brought on a heart attack before they learned anything at all.” He shook his head. “This old man is a lot tougher than you would expect for someone his age. The medicine in his bloodstream will flush out the chemicals. The rest is up to him.”

  Quin leaned forward. “Jim, you have been a close friend of M’nacht’s for over forty years. I need your honest answer. Is there any reason that he needs to stay here?”

  The doctor’s eyes widened in surprise, but he considered the question. “I meant what I said. It’s between his constitution, the medicine and, I suppose, the Goddess. It’s out of our control now. We’ve done what we could. The broken bones have been secured. Between the surgery, medicine and our monitoring bots, everything has been done that can be done. I don’t know if he’ll live or will be the same if he wakes, but right now, we’re all just waiting to see the outcome. If he left here, he would need care in case something went wrong.” Jim shrugged. “You’re worried about him being here?”

  “I would feel better if no one knew where he was.”

  After a moment, the doctor turned back to his patient. “He’s stable enough that he doesn’t need to be hooked up to the monitors.” The doctor tapped a code on a keypad and, walking back to the bed, turned a crank. A needle which was connected to a bag of fluid eased out of M’nacht’s arm. There was an instant scurrying of the stainless steel bots reading the neck pulse, swabbing the injection site and gently securing additional bandages. The men observed the activity until each bot returned to their docking station at the head of the bed. As the docks filled, small lights turned on. When all were lit green, the doctor nodded in satisfaction. “The night staff is a little lean due to budget cuts, and they’re busy with the ward being full with that new illness that has begun to show up. They’ve enough to do without watching his readings, especially since you’re here. I’ll swing back every two hours until he wakes up, otherwise you won’t be bothered.” He moved to a cupboard with a glass door and studied the bottles and vials within. With consideration, he pulled a big key from his pocket and, unlocking the case, withdrew several and put them in a bag. He pulled out a piece of paper and with quick movements, wrote upon it before the folded slip disappeared into the sack. Without looking at Quin, he placed it on the bed.

  “To your left there is a staff elevator to a back entrance. The code is #40369. That releases the lock for the lift. The gear and pulley system is serviced regularly so it is easily operable with the crank wheel. It’s not used much until shift change at five in the morning. And Quin—I haven’t heard anything you’ve said.”

  The old thin man smiled. “My mind’s weaker in my later years. The last I recall you saying was ‘The rest is up to him.’ Thank you for the care you’ve given him.”

  The two men looked at each other in complete understanding. Nodding his goodbye, the doctor left the room.

  A voice croaked from the bed, “So where are we going? And could you please get me a sip of water?”

  Navora’s Chosen

  Kes approached the old man leaning on his cane. “I’ve never been here but now I realize that I’ve seen photos of this place. This is the shrine of Navora’s gate. You must be the gatekeeper.” He held out his hand. “I’m Kes.”

  “I’m delighted to meet you in person.” He chuckled and his lined face creased in merriment. “Yes, I’m the old gatekeeper, but due to my advanced years there are now two of us. Come. Meet my granddaughter. She’s the second gatekeeper. We have much to discuss and I’m sure you’ve many questions. I’ll give you all of the answers I have. The rest you must discover for yourself.

  “Sola, bring the nectar! He’s arrived!”

  Kes followed the old man to a small sitting area between a patch of wildflowers and the fabled gate. With a sigh, the old man settled into a chair that had wheels. Just as Kes moved to a nearby bench, a lovely young woman came out of the house with a laden tray. She wore the flowing robes with a laced corset over it as was usual for her profession. Her subtly patterned headdress flowed around her face, framing the purity of her features and her big brown eyes.

  “It is nice to meet you at last! I’m Sola. My grandfather, Bareed, and I knew you were coming because the Goddess showed us your face in the pool.”

  Kes shook his head. This was all strange. “Wha…?”

  Bareed leaned over and placed his hand on the young man’s arm, and when he spoke, his voice was soothing so as to not cause Kes any more alarm. “How is M’nacht? Has something happened to him?”

  “How…?”

  Sola poured them all a cup of golden fluid. Upon seeing his questioning gaze, she smiled. “A restorative juice made from apples, berries, mint and honey. I also put in just a spoonful of blessed water from Navora’s pool. It’s very refreshing. And M’nacht is a friend. For years he’s possessed one of the sacred Sunstones. The Goddess showed us his face linked with yours. That’s why Grandfather asked.”

  “I don’t know how he is.” Kes closed his eyes for a moment and sent a prayer to the Goddess for M’nacht’s wellbeing. He looked over the meadow and began to tell them the story from when he got M’nacht’s message to waking up in the field.

  Bareed studied the young man’s face. “We know he’s still alive. The Goddess showed us three faces, and she doesn’t identify the host partners unless there are three. That means that all three Sunstones have a partner. If he were dead, that wouldn’t be so. Yes, we know that you are temporarily connected with his stone, but she knows that he will live to be symbiotically attached again. Right now, you have the unprecedented task of partnering two Sunstones. As far as our oral history goes, this has never happened before. Yet I know it can. It’s my understanding that being blessed with two at once is what allowed you to be transported here. That’s a direct act by our Goddess and steps outside of science as we know it just as the pool and gate do here at the shrine.”

  Kes started to put his cup down before it slipped from his nerveless fingers, but Bareed shook his head.

  “Take a drink, my boy. It will help you sort your thoughts and take in what we say.” He waited until Kes had complied before continuing. “From what I understand, the act of transportation is triggered by the Sunstones’ ability to sense an increase in your heartbeat and an adrenaline-induced skin chemical. The blessed artifacts find a fold in the wind often from the direction of the sea. Did you smell that hint of sea salt in the breeze?”

  Kes nodded.

  “I believe the quote is: ‘The Mother Sunstone and her other half can move the host through a portal to someplace else when the brine is in the wind and it is held against their heart.’”

  Bareed took a drink of his juice as he watched the young man’s face.

  “This sounds like an uncertain thing. What if something startles me? I could end up in the middle of Celeste Lane!”

  “No. The unusual gift of moving from place to place is overseen by the Goddess herself, and only when you hold the Mother Sunstone and its mate. She will know when you are in danger, and you will go where you need to be. Kes, the three people blessed with being a Sunstone host play a sacred role in this world. You see, the Goddess leans toward self-determination and fr
ee will for us, her people, yet she is sensitive to things being in balance. Centuries ago, she guided certain individuals to put into place mechanisms that would aid in restoring balance when dangerous patterns tipped the scales too far. It could be a war or a financial crash. Perhaps a deadly disease or a political crisis, and the Sunstones would activate those safeguards. Beyond that, she wouldn’t go. If we, her people, couldn’t or wouldn’t correct the dangerous pattern and permanent damage occurred to us and her world,” he shrugged but his expression was very serious, “she would mourn our loss. Perhaps she would consider starting again another time, stirring life into being on a planet somewhere else. But we would be gone and Myrn lifeless.”

  The silence was so complete that they could hear the beats of a butterfly’s wings as it fluttered past.

  “How do you know all of this? Especially when you say that no one has held two stones at the same time?”

  Sola picked up the pitcher and poured more into the cups. “We saw her, Kes, reflected in the pool. It was after she showed us that her three Sunstones each had a host and were active again. That’s when we knew that M’nacht had passed his to you temporarily. We didn’t understand it at the time, but moments later, the pool began to bubble as if it were boiling. When I smoothed the surface, we saw her face and she spoke. She can’t manifest physically here without causing harm to us as she is of the sun and the stars. But her energy is linked to this pool and a few other things on our world. She can communicate if she feels it’s necessary, and apparently this is one of those times.” The lovely young woman shrugged and, putting down her cup, leaned forward to look up into his face. “The little Sunstones choose or make themselves known to their host, but will not activate until all three have chosen their partners. Their power and influence have been missed. The Mother Sunstone has been hidden for many years. It’s time for the three to act.”

  “Where do I go from here?”

  “Those are answers we don’t have. Why don’t you rest here? Help in the garden and let us become acquainted with you. Are you expected someplace in the next few days?”

  Searching

  Four men were working late in the office. It was after hours and the corporate offices were locked up and dark except this particular one. Only the building’s army of janitorial cleaning bots moved through the quiet building. The room showed evidence of being occupied well beyond regular business days. There were several cups of kris littering every surface and assorted plates stacked haphazardly with remnants of meals still on them. Aether lamps inadequately lit the room, leaving areas of shadow. Two men were scrutinizing haphazard piles of papers. Another was concentrating on reports recorded on wax cylinders and occasionally stopping the recording as he wrote notes or made marks on a large map of Myrn. After listening to a roll, he would shake his head and move to the next. The fourth man was pacing around the room, weaving through the chaos of desks and tables. Every so often he would stop his restless movement and move to the three, staring at their notes and the map.

  The pacer was a slender man of just above average height. He was dressed in business clothes a little more upscale than the other three. His fingers scooped a pocket watch from a tailored slit in his nearly unbuttoned vest. He glanced at the time before he snapped the face shut. He’d been staring at the activity for several minutes. Suddenly he barked out, “Rog, what’s happening with the tracking? Give me something!”

  The man at the first desk sighed. His short hair was spiked up at odd angles as he unconsciously tugged at it in frustration. “Stone, I can’t make the reports tell me any more than they’ve done before! Look at my notes! The teams have been searching for a month for this thing!”

  “Longer,” interrupted the man who’d just updated the map. “They’ve been at it for close to four months, but we assumed there were gaps in the known information or people were holding out on us. There is only so much we can do.”

  Rog nodded, acknowledging the correction before continuing. “Pete’s right. The intel teams are not giving us what we need. We’ve been trying to locate Kes hoping he would know something or that M’nacht would value the young man enough that he would tell us something we can use. Unfortunately, Kes has gone on vacation while he awaits certification. We don’t know where he is. Our men have checked all of his and M’nacht’s known associates. We’re trying to be as discreet as possible as we don’t want to alert anyone, but the answers have been less than helpful. We understand that his boss had told him to vacation and to take a break from all communications while he rested.”

  The third man, who had been efficiently working through a stack of reports, sat back and swung his chair around to face the others. “Or, Stone, he was warned to make himself scarce. He could have heard what happened to his adopted father. His disappearance happened about the time that you had the old man worked over.” He nodded to Pete and Rog. “They have a point. We don’t even know if he’s the person who eluded our team at M’nacht’s home. This whole exercise could be a futile waste of time.”

  Stone leveled a glare at the man. “Are you criticizing my judgment, Dan’l?”

  The man eased back in his chair comfortably and looked at the man towering over him, not at all intimidated.”Yes. Not that it matters. By having the old man beaten senseless, what did you gain? You only assume it was Kes that we missed at the house. Now he’s gone and we don’t know if he has our information or is simply relaxing in a spa. He went into the wind and any contacts he has here don’t know where he is. If we press them we show our interest; they’ll begin to scrutinize why we’re asking. What are we left with? He may or may not be alive out there, and we still don’t know if he’s our man. Your way didn’t work. We could have waited and planted some surveillance teams on M’nacht. Anything would have been better than what we have now.”

  Stone huffed. “I didn’t mess up! It was our hired muscle and the chemical cocktail they fed the old man to find out what he knew. They assured me that the stuff had been completely tested and he would tell us everything to avoid the pain. Later he wouldn’t have any recollection of what happened to him. Instead, he reacted to the dosing and they felt they had to beat the information out of him. He blacked out before telling them anything and we missed the thief at his home. Who else could it have been except Kes?”

  Dan’l shook his head. “Don’t point fingers and blame others, Stone. You made yourself leader so it was your responsibility to check the chemists’ claims even if you had to feed their drug to one of them first. Having M’nacht under our control was your idea from the beginning. It’s too late to reverse now. We’re just trying to retrieve the situation and the mystery person who broke into the old man’s home. My informant from the hospital tells me that M’nacht has been moved to an undisclosed private health facility. He’s slipped our grasp and I can’t find out where he is.” He slowly stood and stretched. His posture rippled with confident entitlement as he relaxed with his hands on his hips. “So we don’t have M’nacht or the mysterious person who eluded our team at his house. We don’t have Kes either, even though we don’t know that he is the one we are looking for. Stone, your plan failed, and right now we have nothing to report to our employers, and that can get very unpleasant.”

  Rog and Pete exchanged glances, then Pete nodded. “We need to give this a break. All of us are exhausted, working non-stop as we have. We can set the message bots on auto. We can’t get any more out of our teams tonight. We’ll reevaluate all of this tomorrow.”

  Stone huffed then gave them a curt nod. “Go home. I’ll lock this down.”

  After the three left, Stone studied the map of Myrn for several long minutes before he began to snuff out the aether lamps. “Wherever you are, Kes, I believe it was you and I want what you took. I’ll find you. You may be free at the moment, but you are mine!”

  A Flurry of Spinning Gears

  Mikla was worried. She dragged her long hair back away from her face and efficiently put it into a clasp, tucking the brown m
ass out of her way. She didn’t have time to meddle with it. She shoved her multi-lensed glasses to the top of her head, and her deep brown eyes took on a strained look as she contemplated the meeting she’d just left. The people in the research division of M’nacht’s office had been increasingly concerned about some of their research findings. Even though M’nacht was the science coordinator and liaison to the Council in that capacity, the research he was having them do stepped beyond those disciplines. The old man had a lot of influence and had his team gathering information in many areas.

  Gleaning data from public records, libraries and several old archives was frustrating. Some of the intelligence they were trying to ferret out was difficult enough, hidden as it was in shell corporations and legal jargon. Following a research trail through that maze only to have some department lose a file or box of records… well, it put a fine edge on the definition of frustration. And that was just the material that was public record.

  What she wouldn’t give to be able to access the private vaults of information that the financial syndicate and the corporations had. Those secure repositories were filled by the expensive security packet bots: crab-sized clockwork mechanicals that collected all the wax data recordings and carried them through a narrow slot in a metal wall to a room beyond. Most people didn’t know of the existence of the secret vaults or the security packet bots.

  She had learned of them entirely by accident when she had been dating a nephew of a clockwork bot maker. An almost completed packet bot was on the workbench when she had visited the shop at closing time to go to dinner with the young man. He’d explained their job and that the little clockwork creatures were armed with offensive razor sharp spines to use if their mission was interrupted. Once the bot and the data cylinders disappeared behind the wall, only the president of the company could retrieve them. The little bots stored the rolls by a date code. It was a brilliant way to protect secrets. No secretary or disgruntled worker could access the information that was contained in the secret room. The packet bots could not be corrupted or bribed, and the president of the institution held the secrets safely. Mikla sighed and pulled her mind back to the present problem.