Trust in God and the Mauser
When idealistic Palmetto kids learn that reality isn't cut and dried.
Toshiko Sunahama
I'd gotten home from my normal work as a sound engineer for the local news station here in Pittsburgh. After such a long and grueling day, I bathed, enjoying the feel of the warm water against my skin. After I was done, I lotioned myself, put on my underclothes, then wrapped myself in a smooth and flowing red robe.
You could say that I am an unusual specimen. I was born in Japan in 1848 and came of age just as Talents -- people with powers -- were making their presence felt. Talents delivered victory to the Tokugawa shogun when the outer provinces rebelled and when the Martians invaded; to this day, 'Talent' and 'samurai' are synonymous in Japan. Through my practice of magic, my lifespan became indefinite, and I do not look a day above twenty-five. I've kept fit, and I've studied every subject I could, for a sound mind could only exist in a sound body. I've accumulated much wealth in my time, so I never feared poverty or hunger. And several men assure me that I am the stuff of their fantasies.
But I've outlived every husband I've had, and I do not wish to attend the funerals of any more, so I decline every flirtation, every invitation, and every proposal.
I came downstairs and walked by the living room. Baby Gustav slept in his crib, his little chest rising and falling with each breath. There was a boom outside, but it was nothing to worry about, for there in the backyard was the baby's mother, a lovely freckled redhead named Evangeline Pereira. Wearing a red miniskirted costume, she swirled flames around her, trying to form some kind of shield. But every time she would spin them, the flames would fizzle out or explode.
"Ah, Eva, perhaps you need a break," I said.
"Can't take a break. Gustav's counting on me," Eva answered.
"You won't be able to protect your son by wearing yourself out. Besides, you're safe here," I said.
"Safe? With those crazy commies down south making angry noises? Nowhere's safe, so I gotta master these techniques," Eva answered.
"Yes, the South's rhetoric is...concerning."
"Is Sebastian back yet?"
"No."
Sebastian Pereira was the baby's father and Eva's husband. The two of them performed every task I demanded of them in exchange for generous pay and a place to live. Indeed, the only reason I had a job was to pay the Pereiras and stay alert to things going on in town; I did not need the income myself. Even so, Sebastian worked at the water treatment plant to supplement the income and build up savings for a place that belonged to him and Eva and no one else.
But then, an intense headache overtook me for exactly half a minute. Eva extinguished her flames at once.
"I'll get my robe," she said. At once, she rushed inside.
#
Evangeline was now dressed similarly to me. We went to the basement, where a small altar with two fresh candles stood, one taller than the other. I had a spiral notebook tucked under one arm and a mechanical pencil in my free hand, and Evangeline had those too. We laid the notebooks and pencils at our feet, then stood up.
Both of us clasped our hands and said a chant in an archaic variety of Japanese that was outdated even when I was a child. We were preparing ourselves to receive a report from a spirit who traveled among the residents of the great seasteading ship Thermopylae, a ship which was now stranded in a strange world. With my magic, I had sent them there to save them from the chaos of the Southern revolution; in return, the spirit I invoked gave me the responsibility of recording the reports he sent back to me, often in the voices of the residents themselves. Should I ever refuse this task, a great despair will be inflicted upon me, such that I may never know joy again. As Evangeline is required for this ritual, she too must participate if I am to remain sane.
With another chant, we each lit a candle. In a swirl of white smoke, the spirit appeared to us, formless and gray.
"Welcome back, beautiful ones. Today, I shall speak of Gladys Thal, who trusts in her God and her gun. Do record this tale to the best of your ability," the spirit said in its deep, commanding voice.
"We shall do so, O spirit," we said in unison. We opened the notebooks and put pen to paper.
#
Gladys Thal
The Palmetto Principles are good. Let no one say that I don't try to follow them.
But Beth Hebron and I want to do things a little bit differently. And I'll admit, I want Joel Rickenbacker to look at me, so I went out to get him a present.
This required some preparation, of course. I made sure my hair was done up nice and curly, and that my clothes were clean. I made casual conversation with a guardsman named Microlofo; when I finished, I always dropped something and picked it up when I walked away. With enough time, he anticipated my arrival at the agora and made it a point to search for both me and Beth.
And to top everything off, I kept a Mauser C96 at my hip, fully loaded with multiple reloads. My mother taught me a few things that her own mother taught her: Use your charms to get a husband. Keep a good home.
And always trust in God and the Mauser.
Lofo led Beth and I through a beautiful valley with a lovely road through it. Even though I've been in this place a long time, it still surprises me how much stuff these folks could do. The air smelled fresh and clean, free of the little pollutants that make it into the air we breathe back on Earth. As we passed through this place, I dreamed of what Joel might say once I had his present. Even with Beth, I couldn't fetch this gift myself, so I needed a man like Lofo.
But Lofo's help did not come for free. At his hip was a holster for a Glock. I say 'holster' because the gun itself was in his hand.
We stood clear of him as he fired it off.
"Good. The weapon is real," Lofo said.
"I'd never lie about something as important as weapons," I said.
"Ah, but what happens when everyone has these? Chaos would reign," Lofo asked.
Beth chimed in.
"Chaos reigns right now," Beth said.
"But won't it worsen when killing is made easy?" Lofo asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when it's time," I said.
With that conversation over, Lofo explained the route to us. We were headed to the estate of an aristocratic lady named Circe Katharevousa. She had a lot of slaves to tend her land and home, and according to Lofo, she planned to become a slave dealer herself. By Palmetto law, she deserved death.
But I wanted her to work for us instead -- not as a slave, more like an official or something. She'd get to keep her stuff, but she'd have to follow the Palmetto way of life or get a bullet between the eyes. I needed Joel's support to get this done, but Joel's a man of honor who knows how to treat a lady, so shooting women never sat well with him.
Anyway, I had to prove myself to him not just for the mission, but maybe for something more.
"Lofo, do you consider the guards your friends? Be honest with me," I asked.
"I haven't been there long, so I have no ties of friendship with Circe's men. But these thunder-pipes -- are you sure they'll be enough?" Lofo asked.
"Trust me, they'll be more than enough," I said.
"Besides, she has me," Beth added.
"You bear no weapon at all. Either you are very brave, or you've taken leave of your senses," Lofo said.
Beth pointed at her eyes. "This is my weapon."
"You have the innocent beauty of a maiden in bloom. But I assure you, it is no match for a well-honed blade."
"She doesn't need weapons. Trust me on this one," I said. I still couldn't believe that Beth forgot her revolver.
#
We kept up our journey until we reached our destination. Just as Lofo said, we were at the back of a great house, painted mostly white with a big blue stripe along the bottom section. We watched from a bush in the hills, avoiding the armed guards and the slaves passing to and fro. What shocked me about these slaves was that they looked only a little younger than Beth and me. We were eighteen; the boys on the estate reminded me of freshmen back in high school. Only a few of the slaves were grown men like Lofo.
"A word of warning: Circe has hired more men than in the past. She has heard about your people and the terrible destruction you've visited upon other cities," Lofo said.
"Destruction well deserved. If they didn't want to burn, they shouldn't have sold slaves," I said.
Lofo nodded with a smile.
"Let me say that I am honored to fight alongside conquerors," he said.
"Happy to hear it. But now, we've got to move. Trust in God and the Mauser," I said.
We advanced on the estate with our guns ready. I watched a guard and waited for the slaves to clear out. Once the slaves were gone, I lined up my sights.
Three shots were all it took. His armor didn't protect him at all. But what got me was how the other guards responded.
"The Sea Peoples! They're here!" a guard shouted. He ran inside the estate in a panic. I shot the guards as they opened the door, so they couldn't close it back.
"Let's go!" I shouted.
We all dashed at the door. Once we got there, we shoved the corpses aside and got in.
Now I could hear more panicked shouting.
"Be careful! They kill with their eyes!" one guard said.
"How are we supposed to stop them, then?" another answered.
"Attack from behind!"
"We know their plan now. Drop everyone in armor!" I said.
These houses didn't have windows, so I fought my way through torchlit halls. Every glint of armor got a bullet, and the tightness of the halls made aiming easy. Some guards tried to take me from behind, but I ventilated their heads before they could do anything.
Lofo was having the time of his life.
"This weapon is amazing! Even the most pathetic among us can become great warriors now. Watch these proud me, cut down by a mere girl! What a sight to behold," Lofo said. I didn't like the way he said 'mere girl,' but I left it alone. We kept Beth between us as we moved through the house.
"Where's Circe?" I asked.
"Probably escaped by now. Time is of the essence!" Lofo answered.
Now Beth entered the conversation. "How can they escape when they have no will to?"
Beth's eyes turned red. They glowed bright; I knew what time it was. Sharp pain ran through my body when she got like that, and now, I was too scared to move.
But the effect on everyone else in the house was way worse.
The remaining guards were reduced to quivering wrecks. I gathered my courage, then shot them dead. Lofo led us toward Circe's room, but we didn't have to go far to find her.
An elegant, dark-haired woman in a light blue dress was in the house's atrium, laying on the ground with three other guards. This was Circe Katharevousa, the lady of the house, and she made me look cheap by comparison. Satisfied that we found our target, I raised my pistol. It took me some time to shoot the guards, but I did it.
Beth fell to her knees. "I can't keep this up." Her eyes returned to their natural blue color.
My mood corrected itself, and Circe went from scared to mad.
"You barbarians can't treat me like this! Why do you rampage through my home?" Circe asked.
"You. Look right here," I said, pointing at a spot beside my feet.
"I don't take orders from trash," Circe said.
Lofo grabbed Circe's hair and forced her head to face where I was pointing.
"Do what the girl says," Lofo shouted. Circe gritted her teeth, unable to do anything about us.
I pointed my gun at the spot and fired. The bang made Circe jump, and she stared at the bullet hole I made.
I grabbed her wrist and held it up. "Disrespect me again, and that force will go through your hand," I said.
"What will you do to me? Perhaps I'm to become your slave. What an indignity, to be maidservant to sea creatures!" Circe said.
"Bingo. The law of my people says that those who buy and sell human beings must be destroyed, but I'll be merciful. Instead of death by my weapon, you get to be my vassal," I said.
"But your tribe will enforce their law upon me, so your protection is meaningless. Kill me now and get it over with," Circe said.
"No, you don't get off so easily. I need to show my people proof that I enforced tribal law in this land. That means I bring you back as a prize," I said.
Fear gathered in Circe's face. "What? Please, kill me! There's no need to bear me away!"
I laughed. "For how you treated your fellow human beings, you don't get an honorable death. Instead, you get to be treated like the countless innocents you've condemned to servitude." I never thought I'd bust out the fancy literature words, but here I was.
All three of us tore away her dress, leaving her in her underthings. She was more filled out than I was, so I blushed; I needed to eat more for sure. She tried to get away, but Lofo caught her and heaved her over his shoulder. Circe shrieked to be let go as she kicked her legs.
If only my legs looked like that. What do I have to do? I thought.
Beth grabbed the torn dress. "We should put this over her."
I snatched it from her and tossed it away. "Not a chance. Slaves get stripped when they're sold, so everyone's gonna see that backside." I gave Circe's bottom a nice, firm slap.
"I'm not meant for this!" Circe muttered.
"Shut your mouth or you lose your hand," I said.
We headed out of the estate with our beautiful captive.
#
Microlofo got some of the slaves together and fetched a wagon for us to ride back to town. Beth and I sat in the carriage itself, with Circe tied up on the wagon floor alongside a big pile of coins the slaves seized from the house. I was hoping that we'd get to keep all of the coins, but Lofo made it clear that half of it would be payment for all these services he and his guys were providing, as well as for joining me in the raid itself. While I was the one with the gun, Joel made it clear to us that we were to treat freed slaves with the utmost respect. If they demanded payment of some kind, we would give it to them within reason.
It took us until sunset, but we finally reached town again; never was I happier to see the streets again. Lots of folks were still out and about, and the townspeople greeted us. The guys among them laughed when Lofo hauled Circe out and put her ass on display.
With our captive and our money, we went to the largest building in the town square. Above the entrance was our flag -- a big red X on white, with a blue shield in the middle that had a white palmtree on it.
We walked in, and there was Joel Rickenbacker, blonde and handsome, talking to a number of older men in colored robes. Three of his guys were next to him with their rifles, and he did not look too happy. He was just one year older than me, but watching him lay down the law was a sight to behold. The guys protecting him were the same age too; in fact, this whole town was under our control.
"If I hear another word about you taking liberties with young boys, I will shoot all of you," Joel said.
"You will kill us? Then who will design your public works? Who will instruct the youths in the skilled trades?" one of the older men asked.
"Indeed. You are but wayward children, poorly taught by your elders. You barbarians do not know the ways of manly love," another man said.
"You took our slaves, now you want to take this from us too?" another asked.
Joel jumped back and drew his pistol, a Mauser like mine. The guys next to him aimed their rifles, too.
"You've seen what my weapons can do. One more complaint out of you, and your lives will be ended. Now get out of my face, and get back to work!" Joel said.
The older guys glared at him, then backed away. As they walked past us, I noticed something strange -- not on the guys, but on Lofo. He seemed angry.
I paid it no mind, and I, along with the group, presented Circe to him.
"Here's the woman," Lofo said as he dumped Circe on the ground. "And here's your part of the spoils." One of Lofo's men dumped the half-emptied bag of coins next to our captive.
I hoped our capture of Circe would cheer him up, but it only made him mad.
"Why is she alive?" Joel asked.
"Joel, I thought about how we can spread our influence more efficiently. We can let people like Circe run all the estates and stuff, and we'll just make them do what we want. They know all this stuff better than we do," I said.
"I second Gladys," Beth added.
Lofo seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He still had that angry glare.
"You know our principles. You know what must happen to those who treat persons as property," Joel said. The way he said it, it was like he caught me keeping slaves.
"I'm not saying to let her do what she wants! She just handles all the stuff we don't know while we enforce the law. Hell, give me all the girls -- we'll handle it," I said.
"She won't like being bossed around. She'll sabotage the place before letting 'barbarians' have it," Joel said.
"Yeah? Well, there's more of them than there are of us, and you taught some of them to shoot. If we mess something up, we're all gonna get dead," I said.
Beth cut in. "If that happens, you better hope we get dead, because you and the guys will probably share me and Gladys's fate."
"I'm aware of that possibility. But I'm a man of my word. We can't afford to go soft on slavery," Joel said.
"How about this: we make Circe wear very little clothes as she does her work. That way, it's clear who's in charge. She won't be able to wear anything else, so everyone knows she has no authority," I answered.
"I can make something for her," Beth said.
"And I can model it, so we can see how it looks on a human body," I said.
Joel's guys snickered. "Go for it, man!" one said.
Beth groaned at me. "It'll be for Circe's body, not yours! Stop playing around!" she said.
"Beth has a point -- you wouldn't make a good mannequin. But I do appreciate your offer, Gladys," Joel said.
I blushed. "Thanks, but what about my idea?"
"I still need to think about it. I'll tell you my decision next morning." He turned to Lofo. "You, take Circe to the dungeon."
"Gladly," was his quick reply. He gathered Circe up and took her away. Sometimes, I wished Joel would do that with me.
#
From all that walking and fighting, I got all sweaty and gross, so I freshened up at the public bath. Once I was clean enough, I threw on the spare uniform I kept on hand. Because we wanted to keep a distinct appearance, we stuck to our uniforms, cleaning whichever one we weren't wearing at the moment. Each person was responsible for cleaning their own uniform, so I fetched some water from the well and went to the women's quarters, which was located next to the men's quarters so that we could get to each other. Alongside Beth, I sat outside the apartment and wiped my gray blazer with some soap we made.
"I miss washing machines," I told Beth as my arm burned from all the repetitive strokes.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left the ship," Beth answered.
"Yeah, but we made our choice. It's best for us to stick with it," I said. The Thermopylae was the most advanced ship ever made, and everyone says we can live for years on her before she breaks down for good. The only problem was that she was never meant to travel to another world, especially one without electricity. I've seen shows and read books about people going to places like this and giving everyone modern technology, but we didn't know how to make any of that stuff. In fact, the guys barely figured out how to make revolvers.
Speaking of revolvers, Beth picked hers up and even fetched some reloads for my Mauser. I hoped that Joel would at least consider my idea for ruling these lands.
Which reminded me.
"Beth, you get started on Circe's new outfit?" I asked.
"I'll wait for Joel to make a decision. Besides, it won't take long to make," Beth answered.
"Good point," I said.
But as I returned to my washing, I heard a commotion in the streets. A loud murmur arose from down the road, but what shocked me were the pops.
Someone was firing guns.
I dropped my soggy blazer and snatched up my Mauser. Beth did the same with her revolver.
One of our girls ran down the street in a panic, shouting to everyone within earshot.
"Somebody help! I can't handle them!" she shrieked.
That was when I noticed it: a mob was behind her, chasing her with torches...and rifles!
Joel and about a dozen men burst out of their quarters fully dressed, with pistols in hand -- just in time for someone to shoot our girl in the back.
That mob was not here to talk.
"Beth!" I shouted. As I braced myself for more gunfire, Beth's eyes turned red. The crowd went from enraged to sad; some even shed tears. They'd lost all hope.
The only problem was that Beth's gaze didn't distinguish friend and foe. Joel and his group also became sad, but we still stopped the main threat for now.
I called out to Joel and told him to come to me. At first, he turned around and stared at me as the crowd behind him dispersed. Then, he walked toward me, slowly at first but quicker as he got close. The guys followed him.
Joel then embraced me. A wave of pleasure ran through me as he pulled me close. Right then and there, I wanted to kiss him, pleasure him, and tell him that everything would be okay, but he was still under the influence of Beth's power. Taking advantage of him would be wrong.
And then, he wasn't under Beth's influence. No one else was, either, because Beth fell unconscious. By this time, the crowd had dispersed, but the mood was still not good. Joel let me go, then got to work. As for our girl who was shot, she was done for. Without the medical facilities on the Thermopylae, we couldn't do anything.
Besides, we didn't have time to retrieve her body.
"Everyone, retreat to the shed. Keep your eyes peeled and your guns ready," Joel said. We kept a bunch of motor vehicles in there loaded up with supplies, just in case we needed to flee; we couldn't use them much because we had no way to recharge the batteries. One of the guys put Beth over his shoulder, then Joel led all of us away from the quarters. I looked back at our fallen comrade for a moment, then caught up with the others.
As we hurried through the street, people threw rocks, trash, and even feces at us. We covered our heads to shield ourselves from the worst of it, not stopping even once. While the shed wasn't that far away, the sheer anger we were met with made the trek feel longer. But soon enough, we made it.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Joel said.
I looked up, worried that someone had destroyed the vehicles. Instead, I saw the old guys from before.
And all of them had guns. Machine guns. Our machine guns.
"You defiled love itself! For that you will pay!" an old man shouted.
"Ah, what a waste of such beautiful youths," another one added.
At once, all of us opened fire before the men could aim their weapons. The men crumpled as their blood painted the shed's doors. We wasted no time -- we rushed up to the doors, moved the old men's corpses aside, and opened the lock. It was our shed and our lock, so it was big enough to fit all five of our vehicles.
And these vehicles were big and beautiful. Armored trucks, all electric. We had run evacuation drills, so for me, the movements were automatic. Joel hopped into the driver's seat of one of them, and I hopped in next to him. He started the engine right away; it didn't rev because it wasn't gasoline-powered.
Soon enough, everybody was inside, and we were under way. Problem is, an angry crowd had gathered in front of us, and they were pelting our trucks with whatever they could find.
I raised my Mauser, but Joel told me to put it down.
"Why? They're gonna rip us apart," I said.
"Because we have much stronger weapons. Brace yourself," Joel said.
Joel turned on the truck's megaphone.
"All citizens, we are leaving your city. Clear out or we will charge. I repeat, clear out or we will charge!" he said.
The crowd stayed mad.
Joel shut off the megaphone. "I didn't wanna do it this way, but here goes," he said.
Now, he communicated with the other trucks. "All vehicles, full speed charge!" he shouted.
Joel put the pedal to the metal. Our truck sped out with all the others and rammed straight into the crowd. People screamed, bones crunched...I couldn't look out the window. But after a few minutes of that carnage, everyone got the message. Our path was clear.
#
It was such a shame. We only wanted to give these people a life of freedom, but they threw it away for the sake of something disgusting. Nobody in that town could see that we were trying to make things better. They didn't know what they were chasing out.
Joel took us down the same route Beth and I used to reach Circe's estate. Night had fallen, but our headlights lit the way.
"Joel, what was even the point of this? Maybe we should go back to the ship," I said.
"We're not stopping just because we failed once," Joel answered.
"One of our own died back there! We can't afford to lose anyone else!" I said.
"This setback will make our eventual victory all the sweeter," Joel answered.
"You know, the General was right. Coming out here on our own was dumb. We've gotta go back and face the music."
Joel gave me a glare that took away all my bravado.
"Gladys, there's no going back. I made a promise to free everyone by Palmetto law, and I will keep it. Living in comfort while people endure the indignity of bondage is not just cowardly, but evil. If the people back on the ship had some integrity, this whole place would be free. We have the power to change things, so we must use it. Are you going to tell God that you watched while people suffered when you could've ended that suffering?"
"When you put it that way...Joel, I'm sorry," I said.
He reached out a hand and stroked my cheek. "It's all right. Things aren't looking good for us, but the Lord never promised us an easy life."
Overcome with emotion, I grabbed his handsome face and kissed it, right on the lips. I broke off when the truck swerved, but he regained control.
"Hey, warn me before you do that," Joel said with a smile.
"Yeah, you're right. But when we set up camp...maybe I can share a tent with you," I said.
"Tempting as that is, stay with the girls. We can't afford to have any of you get pregnant," Joel said.
"What? No, I wasn't gonna...I guess you're right."
"Glad you understand. But let's keep each other safe; I wouldn't want to lose my future wife, after all."
At that moment, I was the happiest girl in this strange world. From here on out, our life would be tough. But I'll always heed my mother's words: Trust in God and the Mauser.
Ascension Epoch © Michael DiBaggio and Shell Presto. Licensed under Creative Commons-Attribution-Sharealike.