14. The Conservatory

There was a symbol on a mat before the front door.  The two men looked down, then looked at one another.

"The symbol of the gods," said Lord Myron. 

Indeed its pattern closely resembled the ancient Mayan calendar of Earth: a complex design of glyphs set in a series of rings around a centerpiece of what appeared to be a constellation.  The tricorder confirmed it to be the coordinates of their current position; Henly recorded it.

Lord Myron leaned towards Henly's ear and whispered: "Is he in?"

"No," Henly whispered, "no life forms detected."

"You should be aware that I have a proximity device of my own..."

"...and I do not register on it..."

"Correct."

"...then it's working."

"I was thinking more along the lines of: if you don't then it's possible that His Honour may yet be within."

"Yes well there's that, but my scanner is calibrated to detect an array of non-organic activities consistent with intelligent behavior."

"I suppose it would."

Henly smiled.

The door was unlocked.  The ground floor was unspectacular for the most part: a room with quaint knick knacks on surfaces and what looked like comfortable chairs with ornate upholstery.  There was a narrow spiral staircase in a far corner and set in shadow so as to escape notice from anyone not expressly looking for it.  Deep red wallpaper with golden frames depicting scenes and forefathers of Neo Adapolis.  An Oriental rug of high quality with the same symbol incorporated into the center.

Henly looked toward the stairway, where the sound was loudest.  He nodded and Lord Myron slipped up.  Henly followed.  The stairway wound into a grand conservatory.

The conservatory was jammed with a mixture of contemporary and future technology.  Scanner
Screens including a grid of energy readings throughout the city alternated with more ornately framed portraits and scenes of Neo Adapolis' history.  Bookcases filled with journals and tomes were everywhere.  A drafter's tabouret of scrolls with a starchart weighted down at the corners displayed this portion of the galaxy, only the stars' positions were shifted slightly.  Henly's camouflaged tricorder triangulated the coordinates; he raised his eyebrows, sending yet again a ripple to his forehead above his anagraphic goggles.

"This is not possible...," gasped Myron.

Henly turned in Myron's direction and took a good look at the central console for the first time.  It was not unlike the console they beheld in the sphere, only more technology populated its panels.  A great cylinder of etched brass rose from its center and rotated slowly: the source of the grating, metallic sound.  Static played above from branches of what looked like copper, illuminating the dome with flashes of blue and reflecting on the panes of the dome.  A flare of spectral light hung in the air like a rainbow in the midst of violent tongues of lightning.  How beautiful, he thought.

Making his way around the console, Henly found several cultures represented on its panels.  He stopped at an LCARS systems interface.

13. The Big Title

The residents of New Adapolis hurried into the streets, startled by the display of blue lightning within their homes.  Women chattered with one another about the strange occurrence.  A vicar connected indexes and thumbs as he stood outside the local rectory.  He observed the flurry of activity with his usual calm.  Henly and Lord Myron strolled through this scene, anxious but silent.  Henly deduced the vicar had warned his minions of similar inevitabilities as one would have expected of the times, only the vicar didn't know he would not be exempt from the  city's fate.

"Things are falling into place, Lord Myron," he said just loud enough to be heard by one man, "and not in a good way."

"So I gathered," replied  Myron.  His pale skin drew beads of sweat as the two maintained a running walk across town.

People left behind half-filled cups at a tea parlor to join and learn from those already in the streets.  Barbers, engineers, coachmen, society women and seamstresses, urchins darting about the adults like trees... It appeared that very little of the active populace were unaware of the phenomenon.

With so many citizens suddenly in evidence, Henly took in the great diversity of species.  Amphibian, furred, one type resembling simian, several reptilian but each unique from the other, plus all manner of humanoid beyond Terran.  Indeed it was that everybody came from somewhere else.  And they all lived by the same social code. The concept was positively exhilirating.

At last they reached the piers - and headed for one in particular.

"I'm overriding the filter and narrowing the band as far as it will go.  At this frequency I can pinpoint just about anything, but risk detection."

Lord Myron looked into the murky water, knowing what lay below.  He noticed Henly playing with the scanner's settings without hesitation and agreed privately that at this stage action was paramount.

Henly whirled and pointed his device past Myron's shoulder as the scanner gave off a sequence of high-pitched tones.   Myron turned slowly to determine the destination.

Facing back toward the street one could hear the snapping of sparks nearby as the robots welded submersible vehicles without deviation.  There was another sound mixed in as during their prior visit, only now that second sound was prominent.  It was like a rhythmic steam engine propelling metal on metal.  Or so Lord Myron could best categorize.

Henly looked up in revelation.  It came from the nearest building.  "Whose establishment is this?"

"Someone from the city counsel," Lord Myron said.  "This is a major landmark at this time. Its dome is in the first glimpse of skyline for approaching merchant and airships. There are many engravings, some of night scenes depicting an exceptionally bright..." his voice trailed off.  

Henly stepped past Myron toward the building.  The grating effect was unlike any steam powered contraption he'd ever heard.  "What did this official do?"

"The official title is His Right Honourable Chairman to the Ministry of Science. You can imagine such a position ranks high in this society."

Henly nodded while looking up at the patina dome.

"They say he was the man who unlocked the secret of our ancestors, made it possible for my people to utilize their technology on a small scale..."

"...he made your time machines possible..."

"He may have," Myron said slowly.

Henly turned back toward him.

"You know how these work.  Sometimes they take the credit for the the efforts of someone in their charge..."

"-but you don't think so..."

"They say this was built to his exact specifications, that he was a hard practitioner."

Henly took the inaccurate translation to mean the man was obsessed, a fanatic. "And he disappeared with the city?"

"Presumably."

"What would you say to paying this prominent and well-respected member of the community a visit?"

Lord Myron lifted his hat enough to wipe some perspiration from his hairline. "I was afraid you might suggest that."