Due to total computer failure, Chapters 2-5 of Book 1 will be postponed until a new computer is obtained (It’s very difficult typing out a novel on a BlackBerry, you know). I will keep everyone posted Via Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/Iz_Ten), Facebook (http://m.facebook.com/profile.php?r672653df&refid=7) and even MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/magentasriffraff)
I also have some other fantastic things planned for the story so stay tuned my friends!
<3 Iz
1876 New Orleans, Louisiana
He literally fell onto my lap! I had intended on having a rather quiet evening on the balcony however, it would seem that I would not receive it. Screeching with all of my might, I, Maria St. Eves was frightened out of my wits and, oddly, rather exhilarated by the mishap that ensued.
Shoving the man (which was much easier than I anticipated) off of my lap and pointing a finger at him, I shouted, “AHH! Who are you?! Where…what…no, WHERE did you COME from?!” (Which, in hindsight, seemed an utterly ridiculous and hysterical thing to do.)
Unfurling himself from the ground (which was not unlike an overly large spider clumsily doing a jig) the man hoarsely replied, “AH. AM. TERRIBLY sorry ma’am! Ah jes…ah meen…oh shoot! Ah shore hope ah di’n’t hert yew?” He said, as he picked himself up from the balcony floor.
Now that I had taken a moment to examine the man, I had determined that he was very odd indeed. He stood about 6 foot 6 with long gangly arms and legs and a long torso to match. He was very skinny and nicely dressed, much like a fine gentleman in brown trousers and a white sleeved shirt, with a high neck and matching brown vest. There was a golden pocket watch that loosely hung from his waist, swinging wildly like a pendulum as he gesticulated. His snakeskin cowboy boots looked brand new as did his fine dark brown cowboy hat that he held in his hands. “No…no damage was done.” I replied, making a great show of dusting off my skirts.
“May I ask…How did you get up there?” I asked, finally composed enough to remember my manners.
“Whell ma’am I was…berd watchin’ an ah lost mah footin’ an…whell, ah fell in a mos undignified manner. Please forgive this ole’ feller for his soggy brains and clumsy ole’ feet?” He said making a deep bow with a finger to his hat.
Like a silly girl, I blushed, “Why of course I do! It’s just…it’s just…my word! What on earth is that?!” astonished I pointed to an area just behind the Gentleman’s left ear. The Gentleman turned around and said “Oh shoot!” for you see there was a great ball of blue light headed right for us at a tremendous speed, from the sky! Pulling out his pocket watch the Gentleman turned to face me and said, “Ma’am mah name is James Cartwell Adams an ah am terribly sorry fer this…” Quickly he grabs me by the waist. “Get your hands off of…” I protested (for this was not the sort of behavior I tolerated in a gentleman) as he fiddled with something on his pocket watch.
Suddenly the world went all blurry and all of the colors and shapes and trees and things melted together in a great purple and silver blur. My stomach felt like it was in my shoes and my ears buzzed loudly as my skin tingled. I thought that I just might be sick. Before I could wrap my head around all of the feelings and colors and buzzing, the world stopped with a tremendous jolt as I collapsed over onto a hard surface.
“…me?” I said weakly, finishing my previous exclamation. Then the world around me grew very dark.
……
I remember thinking that my head would explode and that I would be sick all at once, as I began waking. My whole body ached as my surroundings began to come into focus.
“Cap’n she’s wakin’!” bellowed a gravelly voice.
My eyes felt dry and burned a little as the dim light began to sharpen into focus. I was lying on a bed, actually it was a bunk and I was on the bottom most bunk. The light was amber colored and felt oddly soothing which was good because what I saw next sent shockwaves down my spine. As I turned over onto my right shoulder (for there was a wall to my left) I saw before my feet a great window. In this window was a bustle of activity, three figures moving to and fro, gesturing wildly and shouting out things to one another. There was a great wheel before the center of the window, much like that of a ship. I thought that it was very odd that the ships wheel was inside instead of up top as usual but I had supposed that it was a new design that I was not yet familiar with, as was some of the other gadgets and gizmos littered before the great window.
“Hard to port!” shouted a commanding voice.
“Aye! Hard to port, Captain!” replied a female voice.
Suddenly the ship lurched to the left and I fell out of the bunk, for you see I hadn’t realized that through all of the spectacle I had been leaning halfway out of the bunk to get a better look, which was terribly embarrassing, as you can imagine. However, no one seemed to notice my novice behavior as they continued with their work and I scrambled to my feet.
“Are the numbers set?!” questioned the commanding voice.
“Aye Cap’n! The numbers are set to Five, Five, Four, On-” replied the female voice but she was cut off with the mind numbing sound of an explosion, which rocked the ship to and fro like a toy boat. I suddenly grabbed the blanket from the bunk and pulled it over myself, like a head covering and crouched on the floor beside it, hoping no one would notice me. They didn’t seem too.
“That’n was closer sar!” shouted gravelly voice
“On my mark then!” resolved the commanding voice
“Brace yar selves lads!”
I clung to the bottom bunk as if I was made of it. At this point I surely thought a great wave or cannon ball would come crashing through the ship.
“Commencing engine boost sequence in five, four, three, two, one…engines are ready sir, on your mark!” said the female voice
The seconds seemed like an eternity when finally…
“Mark!” shouted the commanding voice.
Everything went all blurry and stretchy for a moment and for a fraction of a second the world seemed to stop in suspension. Just as quickly the world snapped back into focus as the ship gave a bottom dropping jolt.
“Confirm coordinates!” the commanding voice bellowed.
“Coordinates confirmed at Five, Five, Four, One, Sir!” stated the female voice
“Were we able to cover our tracks this time Mr. Garrel?”
“Aye, sar…well and covered, sar!” said gravelly voice.
“When should we expect our friend the Wall Crawler?”
“Number’s put us at foar day’s ahead, sar!”
“Good, that will give us time to refuel and-“
“What a dream I’m having! I must remember to write this all down when I wake. It’s so…vivid.” I said quietly approaching the group. For now I could see that the commander of this strange vessel was none other than Mr. James Cartwell Adams however with a much different accent and bearing.
As soon as I had spoken everyone of the crew turned and stared at me. Apparently they had forgotten I was even there and I was also still wearing the blanket over my head so you can imagine how utterly embarrassed I must have felt. I immediately dropped the blanket from my head and pretended that it had never been there in the first place (which as you know, is something that Southern ladies are very good at doing.)
For a moment no one said anything and just stared. I did my best to ease the uncomfortable silence by giving them my sweetest Southern Belle smile.
“Right. Uh…Lieutenant Chalice?” Said Captain Adams, looking as he had no idea what to do with me.
“Yes, Captain?” said the female, who was a pretty but shocking site with her long curly dark hair and brown leather trousers! Can you believe it? A WOMAN wearing trousers?! She had very fine features and was quite young and thin but her face was stern and serious.
“Please escort Miss…miss…” said the Captain, eyebrows raised waiting for my response.
“Mrs. Maria St. Eves, if you please.” I said with a small curtsy.
“Please escort Mrs. Maria St. Eves to the infirmary.” He said then turned back around to work on another matter.
“Aye, sir!” said the Lieutenant with a small nod. “This way ma’am”, Lieutenant Chalice pointed that I should follow her out of the small doorway just to the left of the small bunk. I followed without hesitation, wondering into what funny ways my dream would turn next.
……
I remember the walk to the infirmary was very short and full of twists, turns and dim lighting. I really couldn’t make out much of the features because every corridor looked the same you see, and we were walking at a rather quick and steady pace…and my poor head was beginning to ache. I began wondering if this was truly a dream at all for surely my head wouldn’t be aching so terribly? Maybe the Doctor could explain? Lo and behold, just as I was having this thought we arrived at our destination.
The Lieutenant stood at the doorway motioning for me to enter.
“The Doctor will be with you shortly, he is with another patient at the moment…I am afraid a recent passenger is about to give birth, so it could actually take a bit longer than a moment,” she said motioning me to a nearby bed. Without another word, the Lieutenant turned and walked briskly out of the room.
I sat on the edge of the bed, pondering my strange dream. How did this all happen? It began when the good Captain fell off my roof. But what happened then? I struggled to put the pieces together but came up with no logical conclusion. Just then as I was beginning to settle into my thoughts….
“Who are you?!” said a soft but stern male voice.
“I…I am Maria…” I said wincing through the pain of my escalating headache.
“And what are you doing here?”
“I have this pounding headache, you see I-“
“Open your mouth.” He said curtly walking over to a metal side table.
“Whaaaat- *gurk-ack*” I asked as he shoved a small tablet, no thicker than parchment, onto my tongue.
“Now, give me one good swallow.”
I gulped and immediately the searing hot pain melted away.
“How did you do that?! Is it some kind of new medicine?” I said with utmost surprise.
“It’s just a simple Nano Direct Dissolve Tablet or NDDT.” He said shrugging as if I should understand that this was like taking a stroll in the park.
I opened my mouth to get more information out of him but then quickly shut it when I realized that he was staring at me in astonishment.
“You…it’s you!” he said backing away, his eyes growing large. “I never thought…No…no this can’t be. What is your name young lady?”
“Maria St. Eves, sir” I said warily becoming somewhat frightened by this gentleman’s behavior.
His eyes grew large with acknowledgement and then as if realizing how his behavior was affecting me, he went blank. I can’t tell you how infuriating it is when men do that. My late husband was a master of the look I used to call “The Wall.” You just can’t see what going on in their heads when “The Wall” shows up, and it is infuriating beyond description!
“I am terribly sorry sir, but have we met somewhere before?” I said with my sweetest southern drawl which usually indicated that I was getting very angry.
“No, I am afraid…I simply thought that you were someone else.” He said looking away. That simple movement, that simple glorious movement changed my life forever for as he turned I noticed something shiny and metal-like glinting off the top of his jaw. It was strange yet hypnotic because what I did next surely made my mama turn over in her grave.
I gently rose from the sick bay bed, my vast skirts making little ruffling noises against the bed’s edge. I slowly walked towards him and pointing to his chin I asked “What happened?” I was so close to him now that there was barely a paper’s shred of distance between us and I finally took in his looks. He was a tall man, taller than Evan was but with very short black hair. His eyes were startling violet and his pale skin was perfectly shaven and smooth. Not a blemish was to be found on his angular chin and high cheekbones, save for the quarter sized object of my attention, pretentiously placed at the top of his left jaw bone.
“Ummm…-“
“Did you get that in the War?” I asked, the burning of tears beginning in my eyes.
“Hunh? Oh this? Yes…yes I did receive this in a war.” He said, appearing somewhat distracted by my closeness.
“You know, my husband died in the war…” I reached up and touched the patch of scar and metal and I could sense him shivering, ever so slightly, as I did so. My focus blurred and my mind became suddenly wrapped in another time and place. A single tear fell to my check and I felt a gloved hand gently wipe it away. Looking up into the Metal Man’s face I saw something there that I hadn’t seen in years.
“I know.” said the Metal Man with sadness in his voice
“What? How did you know that-“
“Ahhhhhhh!” screeched a woman’s voice, breaking the spell between the Metal Man and I.
“Oh dear. Would you happen to know anything about midwifery?” asked Doctor Metal.
“A bit, I helped deliver my sister.”
“Good. I could use your help. These roughnecks don’t know a thing about babies, otherwise I wouldn’t trouble you.”
Quickly we made our way down to the third row of beds where an odd looking screen was surrounding an area around a bed. The doctor pushed something round on a metal side table, and part of the screen just up and disappeared! Inside, lying on the bed was the most beautiful Negro woman I had ever seen. Her full and round belly rose and fell into peaks with each contraction, as her ebony hands clung tenaciously to the bed’s side rails.
My first thought was to say “My word, a negro!” But my father would have been ashamed of me for saying such a thing for you see, my father was one of those Southerners who didn’t believe that any man should be a slave. So instead I just said, “First things first.” I reached over and felt her belly.
“How bad are your pains?” I asked the woman.
“Ahhh!” she screamed as yet another contraction slammed her belly.
“Alrighty then, what you need to do is stand up, so your back won’t hurt so bad…that alright with you Doc?”
He nodded, absorbed in checking a strange looking box that made funny *boop* sounds.
“Okay honey let me help you up” I said lifting her up gently from the bed and helping her off the side. “Now, hold onto to the side for support…is that helpin’ some?”
She nodded her head vigorously as she swayed her hips from side to side and breathed heavily.
“Okay Varna”, said the doctor turning his attention from the odd box to his patient, “I just need you to give a good push in 5 seconds, okay ? …..Now!” said the doctor
Squatting, Varna bared her teeth and clenched onto the side of the bed and then a few minutes later…
“Wow, that was fast! I’ve got the head, Varna. Now if you give me just one more push like that she’ll be out.”
Varna bared herself down again and pushed with all of her might, sweat dripping down her face. As she let out an earsplitting screech, with a *pop* the baby girl slid out of her mother’s womb.
Varna slumped over the bed with a great sigh. I reached under her arms to help her back into bed, her body shaking with tremors and her strength spent. As she was settled in and covers drawn, the Doctor handed her the baby.
“I’m very sorry sweetheart, I am so, so sorry.” Varna whispered to her child, kissing her on the forehead as tears welled in her hazel eyes.
I looked at the Doctor puzzled but he just stared at Varna unblinking with “The Wall” look.
“Varna, I’ve stopped the medication so you have about 2 hours left, we will just leave you two alone,” said the Doctor.
He turned and walked out and as I turned to follow, Varna grabbed my sleeve. “I don’t know who you are, but make sure they leave her in a good and safe place.” She said with a hard look in her eyes. I am not certain, but I believed that there was a warning behind her words that if I didn’t make sure her daughter was safe, there would be dire consequences.
Horrified by what I was hearing and sensing, my mouth became thick as I said, “My name is Maria and…and I promise I will. Now you get some rest with your baby girl.” And with a great gulp I turned and walked out.
……
Lying back on the sick bay bed, I wondered at what I had promised. My father did not take promises lightly and neither did I. I began thinking about all of the promises I had made in my life and slowly I began drifting off to sleep…
……
“Mrs. St. Eves? Mrs. St. Eves….Maria?”
I felt a gentle hand touching my shoulder as I woke. Rubbing my aching eyes, I asked “How long was I asleep?”
“You’ve been asleep for over 12 hours.” Said the voice.
“Mercy me! What will Mamma think of me behavin’ in so slovenly a fashion!” I half babbled as I struggled to sit up. “ I have errands needin’ to be run, and…”
“Mrs. St. Eves you aren’t at your home…you’re on the UTS Fleeting Hope. Do you remember Captain Adams and-?”
“Why yes but that was just a dream…you, you’re the Doctor, right?”
“Yes, Doctor Sandarin. Mrs. St. Eves-“
“Please, call me Maria.” I said finally lifting myself up to sitting.
“*Ahem*…alright then…Maria. I’ve just spoken with Captain Adams. He has informed me of how you arrived here so I must first tell you that this is not a dream that you are acting out-”
Not a dream. My clearing head began to swim a bit as the bizarre chain of recent events came flooding back into my mind…not a dream. I began to feel a bit faint.
“But if this is not a dream then where did this fantastical ship come from?” I inquired as I bit down on my panic, resolving to keep my composure.
“Well Mrs.-uhh…Maria that is far more complicated. If you will permit me though, I have a special device, like spectacles only they show you pictures and impart information which could explain things far more quickly.” He said as he produced a strange device that resembled oversized spectacles with strange buttons and knobs all around.
“Will it hurt?” I asked sheepishly, for I was very reticent of pain.
“Physically…no. However, use of the spectacles does produce reactions that are unique to each individual…so there is no knowing until it is tried.”
“Well…at least you are honest I said with a sigh. “Alright then, let us test out these new fangled spectacles. What should I do?”
“You may want to lie down”
I am not sure why I trusted him. Perhaps it was because he was so plain spoken. Perhaps it was something else…regardless, I laid back down on the bed again as he placed the spectacles over my eyes.
I wish I had said no.
……
