Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1) (11 page)

Sand sprayed everywhere as they rolled end over end until they came to a stop. Melanie patted down the dying flames on her clothes until they were completely extinguished. Not stopping for a moment, she hauled up the dazed Sebastian, dragging him in the direction of the entrance to the forbidding walled city.

The city was dominated by two imposing, tall towers on either side of the great wall. On the tops of the towers were identical cylinders, each containing a wide dish cupped within a larger dish. A long spike containing a sphere on its end stood out from the center. They currently faced down, but as Melanie and Sebastian watched, the great cannons swung around slowly and upwards to face the beasts.
 

Lightning was gathering in the hollow of the dishes, swirling and collecting like water down a drain. It arced around the long spikes, gaining in intensity and frequency. The lightning suddenly disappeared and there was a silent boom, more felt than heard, except for Sebastian who could see it clearly.
 

A great circular ring like the ghost of smoke rolled out and wrapped itself around the closest beast, stunning it, injuring it. The second tower missed its target as the beast suddenly dived out of the way of the wave. It fell at such a rate that it didn’t have time to pull up and crashed into the ground. It thrashed around on its back, unable to right itself.

Sebastian ran over to where Melanie was lying on the ground. She was moving, but she didn’t look well. He slipped his hand under her arm and urged her up. The fallen beast had managed to roll onto its side and was forcing itself over, accompanied by the sound of tearing and crunching metal. It exhaled a fireball but missed the two youngsters due to the awkward angle. It kept thrashing until the underside of its body was on the ground. Its head whipped around wildly, searching for them, spotted them, targeted, and exhaled a fireball directly at them.

Melanie had finally gotten to her feet, with Sebastian’s help. They both ran, often stumbling, toward the gates. The sound of metal being tortured behind them spurred them on, fear gripping every part of their bodies. A fireball exploded to their right, narrowly missing them.
 

Sebastian hazarded a glance over his shoulder. The beast had managed to get itself facing the right way and was about to target them directly. He urged himself on faster. The pain in his head was beating him down but he had to ignore it as best he could. He heard the clicks; he heard the ignition. He swore he could feel the heat.
 

In front of them the gates were beginning to close. A big, solid man stepped out and signaled for them to come. He ran out the few yards, grabbed them and pushed them through the narrowing opening as the fire rolled over them. The solid gates slammed shut with a resounding thud as the remnants of the fire evaporated into the air.

14

A CROWD GATHERED around the two youngsters. Melanie collapsed to the ground, exhausted. The man who had pulled them through the gates scooped her up and whisked her away down a side alleyway full of small buildings. Sebastian sagged but was held up by a tall man wearing leather armor. There was a booming voice from the back of the crowd, which parted as its owner pushed through. The last of the surrounding spectators moved aside to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered man with electric-white hair that stood up on end, giving him the appearance of a dandelion. He pointed at Sebastian.

“You, boy, what’s your name?”

Sebastian responded.

“Well, this is a surprise. We weren’t expecting you for a long time.”
 

Sebastian gave him a look of confusion.

“Greetings, I’m Nikola, commander-in-chief of the city. Welcome to the Steam Academy fortress.”

“You need to fire those big guns at the beasts again,” Sebastian shouted at the man, pointing out toward the vast plain. His hands were shaking and his legs were feeling weak. “They could be preparing to attack again.”
 

As the milling crowd started to disperse to their various responsibilities, Nikola turned to walk back into the depths of the fortified city.
 

Sebastian ran to keep up with him.

“I’m sorry,” Nikola said, “we only have limited power, and the storage battery units are now empty.”

“So that’s it, you let them attack us?”

“They’ve been weakened, they’ll retreat soon enough.”

“But I’ve seen what they can do. They’re extremely dangerous.”

“Look, you’re dealing with things you don’t understand yet. There’s no source of unlimited power. In this city the laws of thermodynamics are obeyed. We must choose our targets carefully. You’ve done well, and achieved much for one so young and inexperienced, but you’re at the Steam Academy now. It’s different here and you need to calm down. You’re safe. You’re in a fortress.”

“Is this an actual castle?”

“Fortress. Yes.”

“Why do you need a fortress? I thought it was all science-y stuff at the academy.”
 

“We’re attacked regularly.”

“Those things attack regularly? How regularly?”

“Only a couple of times a year, although it’s been getting more frequent of late. Usually it’s only the one beast that attacks. This is the first time two have attacked.” He stopped. “But maybe they weren’t here to attack us.” He stared down into the boy’s eyes.

Sebastian briefly wondered about telling Nikola about the cyborgs in the desert, but decided it wasn’t something he wanted the others to know about. Yet.

“Are you saying I brought them here?”

“Or they followed you. Either way, you’ve had more impact than you know.”

“It’s not my fault if they followed me. And just in case you didn’t notice, we were under attack from them.”

“There’s much you don’t know. You’re too young to understand the complexities and machinations of the politics involved. But you needn’t worry; I’ve been given instructions. You’ll be safe here.”

“Both of us? What about Melanie?”

“Who?”

“The girl who came in with me.”

“Oh, her.” He waved a dismissive hand. “She’s being attended to. Her role isn’t that significant.”

“Hang on.
Who
has given you instructions? How were you expecting me? What’s going on?”

Nikola sighed and slowed his great pace through the streets. He spotted a couple of low stools in front of a small shop selling flowers and indicated Sebastian should sit.
 

Sebastian looked at the wall. The rocks had been crafted to sit perfectly side-by-side, yet each face had remained irregular. The pathways down the alleyways were the same. The stones had been expertly cobbled together into a seamless stretch of roadway, but were individually uneven.
 

Sebastian sat and leaned back against the rough-faced rocks. Now that he had time to catch his breath, he looked around. If his mother saw this place she’d have a word or two to say about the lack of uniformity. The whole place appeared to have been constructed ad-hoc, by a bunch of very skilled artisans with no plan whatsoever. The buildings were all varying heights and stories. Some roofs were steep, some not so, but all were wide enough to provide adequate shade for the inhabitants. The windows were small, to keep out the fierce heat of the midday sun, with wooden sills and edging dried brittle by years of unrelenting heat.
 

“Do you know who I am?”

Sebastian’s attention was drawn back to the tall, muscular man. He shook his head.
 

“It doesn’t really matter in the grand scale of life, but your mother has passed information to me via Oliver Stephenson, your teacher. Your mother was rather cryptic, but then she always was.”

“You know my mother?” His eyes filled with hope.

Nikola nodded. “Everyone did. She was in regular contact until recently. For you to be here, something bad must have happened to her. And that’s bad for everyone. Do you know where she is?”

“The doctor took her to Old Toowoomba hospital to recover.”

“Recover from what?”

“Being very sick.”

“You have to be sick from something.”

“She got very thin and pale, then fell over. Just like my dad did before he died. And my aunt, but she got fat and pale.”

Nikola tapped his fingers on his knee while he watched Sebastian. A refreshing breeze blew up the alleyway and cooled the sweat on the back of his neck. He extracted a strange device from his pocket and held it near Sebastian. It made a clicking sound, which grew to a manic buzzing as he held it near. The closer the device was the more it buzzed.
 

Nikola stood up. “I’ll organize word to be sent.”

“What should I do?”

“You can move in with the other teslas. Go back to the gate and ask one of the guards to direct you to their quarters,” he called over his shoulder as he hurried away over the cobblestones.
 

Sebastian sat on the stool surrounded by potted flowers, watching the figure retreat. Frustration and confusion rose through his exhausted mind.

*

He was woken by someone gently nudging his shoulder. He opened his eyes. A goat was trying to nibble his ear.

“Getorff,” he shouted and shooed the hungry animal away. It made him recognize his own hunger.
 

He was still at the front of the small flower shop, on his stool leaning against the stone wall. He sagged back against the wall, letting his nerves settle and his vision clear. He took a couple of deep breaths and staggered to his feet. His arms and legs ached. He was almost amenable to the idea of having a bath. As long as he didn’t have to wash his hair.

He wandered back to the main gates and spent some time exploring the front of the city. It was quiet, and people were few and far between. He explored some of the alleyways to see what shops he could find. They consisted mainly of transportation shops. Things for horses. Things for carts. Things for people traveling on horses or carts. While he was examining a strange shop that seemed to be full of equipment for people doing strange things to other people, he noticed a distant figure with a familiar gait. He ran off in pursuit.

“Mr. Stephenson,” he called.

The figure turned. He was relieved to see that it
was
Mr. Stephenson. He waved at his old teacher.

“Why, Sebastian, fancy seeing you here. I thought you’d be celebrating after your narrow escape from the beasts.”

“I haven’t been told about any celebration.”

“Well, we haven’t won the war yet. Perhaps they’re waiting for a more significant moment. Come eat with me, my boy, in my quarters. I’ve got a very nice place up on the top of the apartment buildings next to Old Benjamin.”

A multitude of questions spun around Sebastian’s head, but one was vying for attention. “Food? When?”

“We can call into the kitchens and ask them to prepare something within the hour.”

Sebastian’s stomach groaned. An hour was a long time, but he had questions to ask. “What’s a tesla? Nikola said I had to stay with the other teslas.”

“Really? How interesting. So you’re destined to become a tesla.
Very
interesting.” He wandered on in silence, staring ahead. Eventually he spoke. “A tesla, at its simplest level, is someone who can sense magnetic fields.”

“My head hurts when those things come near. Do you mean like that?”

“Hmm. Hurts, you say? Today is a very surprising day.”

“You said something about war.”

Mr. Stephenson sighed. “Yes. There’s been talk of various unpleasant disturbances to the west, and recently we’ve been under attack by the great scary flapping beasts. Or GSFBs for short.”

Sebastian pulled a face. It was an unexciting name considering how terrifying they were. “Are there any other names for them?”

Mr. Stephenson chuckled. “We’ve been able to ascertain that the enemy’s name for them is digital reptilian airborne guardian ordnances network.”

“D-R-A-G … dragons?”

“Yes. It’s a stupid and inappropriate name.”

“I like it,” said Sebastian. He nodded his head in agreement with himself. He would decree it when he was king.

“Ah, the folly of the young.”

“It sounds like they look.” A question sat nagging at the back of Sebastian’s mind. “Mr. Stephenson?”

“Hmm?”

“On the last night you were at our place …” Sebastian trailed off, hoping his teacher would come to his aid. The memories of that night still hurt. It was the last time his mother had been the person he had known all his life. As she had gotten sick, her identity had seemed to drain away with her body.

“Hmm?” Mr. Stephenson repeated.

“What did you and my mother talk about after I’d gone to bed that night?”

“Mainly the past, my boy.”

“I heard someone writing. Was that about the past, too?”
 

“Ah, no.” Mr. Stephenson paused. He wiped some dust from his eye. “That was about the future.
And
the past. It’s complicated. Anyway, ultimately it shouldn’t be a concern for you. Let us proceed to the dining establishment for some nourishing sustenance.”

“Can we get Melanie so she can come too?”

“Who?”

“The girl I came in with.”

“Won’t she want to stay with the others of her … kind?”

“What kind?”

“Women. They all sit around discussing”—he paused, reflecting on the random conversations he had caught—“sewing, or baking, or stitching.”

Sebastian gave him a look of surprise. Mr. Stephenson had never talked like this back home, and he could never have imagined him talking like this around his mother. His teacher knew her thoughts about things like this, as did their neighbors. They all knew what she thought of the Oakleys’ comments about “a woman’s place.” He felt he had to express the appropriate respect.

“I never heard Melanie talk about those kinds of things. She shouted a lot and killed some cyborgs.”

“How many?”

“I guess it was only one, really.”

“I expect luck may have been with her. She didn’t stab it with knitting needles or an overcooked crème brûlée or something?”

“No! She has a long blade and she’s deadly with it,” Sebastian snapped. “We have to find her.” He gave Mr. Stephenson another glance. His teacher sure was saying some unexpected things.