In which Nate witnesses something he has never seen before.
At 9:45 on Friday May 7 1937, midway across the Atlantic, we reached the Tropic of Cancer. As if bouncing off this imaginary line, Commander DeBlanc changed course and took The Uchronie to the North East on a heading for Germany.
The vast flying steamship protested most vigorously at the abrupt change of direction. Floors trembled, glasses clinked and light fixings blinked until she relinquished and accepted the new bearing that he had set for her.
Once this juddering had passed, The Uchronie scoured the central waters of the Atlantic from her cruising height of ten thousand feet. DeBlanc indicated, with good reason, that it was advisable to avoid continents and islands until our mission deemed it necessary to go inland.
‘Right Nate.’ he said, looking at me across the steaming brass and mahogany console, ’Now that we have the right heading, I’m going to take the Uchronie up as high as she will go. We’re taking a trip to the top of the Troposphere, my lad.’
‘May I be permitted to ask why sir?’ I asked, as he handed me a brass and glass barometer.
But DeBlanc did not answer. ‘What’s the reading Nate?’ he asked
I looked at the android barometer. ‘Six miles or ten bars.’ I said, ’Ah… You’re using it to measure altitude.’
‘Yes indeed. It will be cooler when we are ten miles up.’ said DeBlanc, moving his Angrec orchid nearer to the hot plate built into his console. ’but it should only be for fifteen minutes.’
‘What are we doing when we get up there?’ I asked.
‘We shall be launching a small personal weather satellite.’ said DeBlanc, opening the window shutters. ‘A PS we call it. This PS will work as our avant-garde and control the weather over Germany. We will need a calm moonlit night to carry out our mission.’
‘A weather satellite?’
‘Yes.’ said DeBlanc, walking over to the huge windows that stretched from polished parquet floor to scrollwork plaster ceiling. ’Our PS is made up of simple structural components attached to a lightweight armature, PCB, Gerber Files, micro steam engine, transceivers. With these components, my scientists have created a PS that can be controlled from anywhere on earth with a hand-held radio receiver.
‘I see.’ I said, walking over to the window beside him. ‘That seems fairly advanced for this day and age.’
‘It follows Marconi‘ s basic design,’ said DeBlanc, ‘A repeating message programmes the satellite to seed any clouds it finds to clear a path for us. Best of all, it is in a low, self-decaying orbit that will not contribute to any long-term build-up of orbital debris. Depending on solar activity the steam engine will last for several weeks before safely re-entering and burning up like a shooting star…. you’ll be able to make a wish, Nate’
‘I wish I could fly, ‘I muttered, looking down at earth’s curving horizon below, ‘without feeling sick.’
In the future you will be able to fly around the world in two hours.’ said DeBlanc, ‘One hour of flying and one hour queuing to get to the aerodrome.’
I laughed.
‘What height are we at now?’ chortled DeBlanc, pleased with himself.
‘Nine and a three quarter miles.’ I said, tapping the barometer.
‘Close enough.’ said DeBlanc, raising his hand held tachyscreen to his mouth. ‘Start the countdown.’
As all the clocks in the control room chimed ten o’clock in unison, a detached female voice echoed from the loudspeakers.
‘Ten, Nine, Eight…’
‘Look at the sun reflecting off that stream Nate.’ said DeBlanc, pointing out the window. ‘The one running off the back of the Uchronie.’
…seven, six, five, four…’
‘All sorts of rare species are becoming extinct on the earth,’ said DeBlanc, ’We try to preserve them in our aquatic gardens, before they vanish.’
…three, two, one… zero!
A small tin can sized object ejected from the central chimney amidst a huge rainbow cloud of steam that immediately obscured our view.
‘We’ll just have to trust OBS that it gets where it is meant to go. Its orbit should take it over Germany every 90 minutes, OBS will arrange a clear moonlit night for our arrival.’ said DeBlanc, lifting his hand held to his mouth. ‘Take her back down… like the spirit of a cat returning to earth. A cat that can walk on the clouds without falling through.’
‘Fantastic.’ I said, ‘I’ve seen my first satellite launch.’
‘Oh, its nothing new really.’ said DeBlanc, ‘The Chinese have been launching rockets for centuries, gunpowder mostly. Our PS is a steam powered alternative. We live in an age of discovery, Nate… awash with the possibilities of technology.’
I watched the streams flowing off the back of the Uchronie and wondered if I should say anything to DeBlanc about upstream and downstream. Earlier when he’d used the time viewer he'd said1966 was upstream from 1937. I was pretty sure it was downstream!
‘You’ll have to visit our gardens.’ said DeBlanc, ‘Every known species of frog and fish are in the streams there - and some unknown ones as well.’
‘Speaking of streams,’ I said, seizing the moment, ‘surely upstream is back in time… against the flow. 1966 must be downstream from 1937.’
‘As Commander of the Chronological order I can assure you that I know what I am doing.’ frowned DeBlanc. ‘To allow us to see that far into the future I instructed the crew to take the Uchronie into the past to keep a temporal balance. The Uchronie traveled upstream to 1912 so the time viewer team could retrieve new information about Hitler’s death in 1966. Ginger departed on the next stage of his mission when we were in 1912.’
‘What’s he doing there?’
‘We don’t ask.’ snapped DeBlanc, frowning deeper and regarding me coldly through the gold circle of his monocle. ‘Which reminds me… Ginger was somewhat concerned that you were going to report him for sleeping in the wrong waiting room back in Lakehurst when he was down on the flat lands.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t report him,’ I said smiling, ’it was only a bit of banter. I wouldn’t, er, punk him out… as they say these days.’
‘Be assured that I, personally, sent Ginger to collect you.’ said DeBlanc, disapprovingly. ‘He is a good man. It’s not his fault that you were late. He waited hours for you and he was most concerned that he had delayed his own mission.’
‘Well he seemed happy enough when he left showing off his spider pocket watch to your daughter.’ I said, looking at the silver framed photograph of the beautiful Lolly on his console.
DeBlanc’s face darkened and his eyebrows bristled but he said nothing.
Once again I knew that I had said the wrong thing.
‘So…Ten hundred hours.’ said DeBlanc, loudly, without looking at me, ‘I believe that you have time team training scheduled for ten o’clock in Area 51 with Captain Wright. You’d better skedaddle. Captain Dewy T. Wright is your boss now.’
‘Will he have my new Wave pistol?’ I asked.
‘He’ll sort you out with your bits and pieces.’ said DeBlanc, pulling a lever that opened the door. ‘Go on, off you go, turn left outside… ahead full steam… punk.’
I went to shake his hand but he had turned away, speaking into his hand held screen.
The control room door hissed disapprovingly at me as I departed. It slammed shut in a culminiferous cloud of steam and I was alone in a darkened corridor.
To be continued