I thought I'd post a little section of my upcoming Steampunk story that will be in Dark Oak's superhero/steampunk anthology, 'Capes & Clockwork'.
Keely
She
fell from the sky without fanfare or notice by the few inhabitances that still
called this God-forsaken city home. I doubt that anyone, save the four of us,
who stood near the impact point witnessed the event that was to change
everything. Her youthful form dropped through the black fog that hung over the
city and she hit with such force that cobblestones for a dozen feet around her
went to powder.
Dodging the debris and dust that arose
around her, I approached. The stonework of Warner Place had opened up and
cradled the young woman like a babe in its mother’s arms. Her nude form lay
still and I strained to see if her lungs took in breath. As a man in my
thirties, I’d seen nude women many times, but I felt awkward about looking at
her. I felt that my concentration on her chest would give others pause to
speculate as to my intentions. Her chest didn’t pulse as if breaths were drawn
and that brought on a profound sense of loss. Only her long blond hair moved,
dancing in the wind.
“Did ya see that?” an old woman said as
she stepped up to my side. “A bit unseemly, I’d say. Guess she flung herself
off the roof. Another jumper I reckon.” She scoffed when my eyes didn’t move
away from the young woman. “Could’ve had the decency to have put a stitch or
two on before leaping.”
I glanced at her and nodded slightly. An
elderly couple braved the dust as well to get a look at her. While the old man
studied the scene intently, his wife tugged at his arm not wanting to see what
she assumed was a tragedy. She nagged him to take her home until he finally gave
in and they walked off without another word spoken.
The number of folks who’d jumped from
the rooftop or taken their own lives had steadily increased after the European
continent had formally collapsed and fallen into the hands of the Otherworlders.
The number increased even more when word reached us that the Americans had
fallen as well.
With England now standing alone against
the alien horde, most people had lost hope and only longed for a quick,
painless end. I couldn’t blame them. The Otherworlders wanted more than just
land, they wanted us. Every captured soul in the occupied lands were nothing
more than food stock, assuming that anyone other than the aliens still lived in
those blackened lands. And London stood almost empty due to the daily shells
that rained in each afternoon from the massive cannons on the northern coast of
France.
My gaze moved to the rooftops and I
scanned for any signs of foul play. A naked girl just doesn’t fall from the
sky, but what bothered me were the heights of the surrounding structures. The
buildings were simply not tall enough for someone to have garnered the speed to
make such a devastating impact. When my eyes returned to her, I lacked the ability
to understand why her body didn’t show more signs of damage or distress. The
impact should have shattered her petite form, spilling blood and organs everywhere.
But she lay there as beautiful as a
sleeping princess, awaiting a prince to kiss and awaken her. Flawless, pale
flesh and golden locks were a stark contrast to the dark, crumbled stones that she
lay in, like a pearl resting within the black and gray shell of an oyster.
“I don’t think she jumped,” I whispered,
only to hear the old woman scoff again.
Cautiously, I stepped into the crater
and knelt beside her. Her chest heaved slightly, and I almost jumped. Clearing my
throat, I looked back to the old woman.
“She’s alive. She’s breathing,” my voice
shook slightly, hinting at the fear within me. She couldn’t be natural, maybe
not even of this world. No one could have survived a fall like that. I inwardly
cursed my inability to deal with the moment in a calm and manly manner. “She, she
must be hurt. Is there a carriage about?”
“Bloomin’ city is emptied out. Ain’t
nobody around here exceptin’ you and me.”
My mind raced on what course of action I
should take. She needed help, medical attention and what not, but without a
cart that meant carrying the lass, a dozen or so blocks to the nearest
hospital. My flat lay just around the corner, but still, I wasn’t a doctor, not
in the medical sense, anyway. And there was the meeting that I should already
be sitting at.
I had hoped to catch one of the steambuses
that still operated and get to Whitehall and the War Office. My meeting wasn’t
urgent. It was more of the usual updating the Admiralty on my efforts. I’m a
scientist, a tinkerer, and since the war started, a weapons designer.
I started to scoop her into my arms but
hesitated. It’d be unseemly to carry a nude young woman about town, let alone
into my flat. I glanced at the old woman and caught sight of a flag pole behind
her. The impact had damaged the stones beneath it, causing it to tilt over. I
bolted over to it, snatched the Union Jack that dangled from its midpoint and
returned to her. With care, I wrapped her up and then lifted the unconscious
woman from the damaged stones.
The young woman’s body fell limp in my
arms. I groaned at the weight, estimating her at fourteen stone. Yet, she was a
tiny little thing and appeared to weigh half that amount.
“Whatchya gonna do with her?” the old woman
yelled as I started toward my flat.
I stopped and hesitated, not really
knowing what the best course of action would be. Looking back, I replied, “Taking
her home. My woman can see to her needs while I fetch a doctor.”
Then I stopped, remembering the
situation at home. I had no woman or servants of any kind, not any more. My
housekeeper had abandoned me and the city after the enemy’s shells began to
fall. All that awaited us in my flat was a laboratory and enough food for a month
of good eating. Still, there were few options and her weight prohibited me from
carrying her all the way to the hospital.
“On second thought, my woman has escaped
the city. Perhaps, you could assist?” I asked. “I’m lousy when it comes to
cooking and I’m sure she needs a meal and what-not.”
She looked annoyed until I mentioned
food. “Well, mind ya that I’m only coming along causin’ it wouldn’t be proper
for a man your age to be carrying a girl like that about.”
“I have others at the lab, several men
who assist me in my work, but they’d be no help with…’ I said and nodded
towards the woman in my arms.
As I did so, my eyes fixated on her
round face. Without a doubt, her beauty was beyond measure. She had rich full
lips that were as red as crimson and a small nose, which turned up slightly at
the tip. My thoughts were so dazzled by her appearance that I failed to see
anything else, including the old woman as she approached. She stepped quickly
to my side and gave me a suspicious look.
“Call me Mattie.”
I nodded and glanced over at her, “umm ... and
I am Thomas Laybourne, the third. My friends call me Tom.”
“Hmm, nice to be makin’ your
acquaintance, Mr. Laybourne.”
To read the rest of the story, you'll have to wait until the anthology is out. :)
