Of Beasts and Machines
By Red421680
Disclaimer: The Leviathan series, and all related characters was invented by and belong to Mr. Scott Westerfield. I am merely using this as entertainment, and do not wish to sell it for profit.
March 30th, 1938, Central UK
The train to London was moving at a moderate pace to its destination. The elephantine dragging it was not showing the least bit sign of slowing down. In the train cart itself, the train was illuminated by a series of glowworms on each side. There were seats for people to sit and eat their food, while they watch the passing scenery. There were propaganda posters around, giving the usual, "Prosperity through pride", and "Watch your neighbors, they could be socialists" sayings that have become common. In this particular car, there were 4 occupants. One was a man reading a newspaper. The other two were mother and sleeping son. They looked rather similar. Deryn Sharp was a woman in her early 40's, short blond hair, bright blue eyes, the like. Artemis looked similar to his mother, only with slightly longer hair [The Irony]. The final occupant was a particularly interesting creature. It was short, stout, had a lagomorph type form, and had red eyes. All was silent in the cart, as the only sound was the stomping of the elephantine.
Deryn looked to her sleeping son, and smiled a little. She then looked at the bandages on her son's hand, and frowned. Yet another reminder of the incident that placed them on this train to London. Apparently, some annoying kid was irritating him at the BYF [British Youth for Fascism] meeting, and he had hit him to shut him up. The little dummkoph then went to organizers, who subsequently unleashed black hounds on him, who cracked the bones in his hands for "disruption." She then asked why the little kid who was irritating him wasn't also being penalized. They said that the smacking was a "noticeable" offense, and that he had done other offences before. She didn't like that she had to place him within the organization, but as a government official, she had to. He had rebelled before, and received strict punishment from school, but keep doing it. So, this wouldn't entice her. However, then, she got a notice at the Zoological society stating that Artemis had to report to the naval base in Glasgow along with other BYF dissenters for deployment to the Northern Yukon. Deryn was disturbed. That's where Mosley sends all the people he says are "Destroying Britain"; Socialists, Communists, Foreigners, Liberals, and of course, Monkey Luddites. The Black Shirts hated Monkey Luddites, believing them the cause of Britain's downfall in the Great War, and subsequent downfall. Having served in the war herself, she knew that wasn't true, but the Government had such a tight grip on its citizen; any dissent would lead her to bad places. Anyway, Artemis had apparently been holding "offensive material." She believed it paranoia, but then, she found what her son had been reading, Books about communism, socialism, various Clanker designs, and books on the inner workings of machines. She had realized these were from several secret sources. She feared for her son's life, and they fled Glasgow.
All of a sudden, a speaker pigeon flew in from the window next to Deryn's seat. For regular news reports updates, trains sent out these pigeons, fabricated from the Life threads of a pigeon and parrot, to speak the daily news, because Newspapers were so unavailable. Anyway, it opened its mouth, and a sound was produced. "Hello, this is the BNC. Thanks for listening." Deryn looked down to the table. "In first news, The Irish Army defeats last remaining cell of Darwinist rebels in the northern city of Belfast. Its leaders were executed, and the Darwinist creatures killed. With that, the government in Dublin consolidates control over the nation after years of Civil War." Deryn was listening, thinking how she had never thought that a nation can turn Clanker, but Ireland proved her wrong.
"Next, Celebrations are beginning for 8th anniversary of the founding of The Fourth Republic in France. General-Secretary Leon Blum will attend the celebrations, and will make several speeches about the state of the French economy since the revolution. It is also believed that the General Secretaries of Former French Africa and Madagascar might make an appearance, but it is unconfirmed."
"Next, Armenian and Palestinian separatists continue to wage a guerilla war against the Ottoman Empire. Yesterday, a train containing 65 people and 60 tons of supplies was blown up by Palestinian terrorists on its way to the city of Tel-Aviv., killing 25 people, and injuring 20. The Ottoman army, weakened severely by the War with the USSR, cannot adequately deal with these terrorists." Deryn thought "Poor Lilith. She has deal with these separatists that are so persistent of destroying the empire she and her father had tried to create.
"Finally, in Vienna, Austrian-Hungarian Communists, under the lead of Béla Kun and Mátyás Rákosi consolidate control, and began the the 'Sovietication" of the former Austria-Hungarian Empire. All private machines must be handed over to the government, and mechanik shops are being turned over to government. However, Former Emperor Aleksander is still missing, having fled Vienna along with his advisor Count Volger yesterday." "Alek" Bovril mumbled Deryn's head rose. "Alek…" She murmured. What have happened to him, where could he be, are the Communists close to him? She knows what they do to monarchies, what could happen if they catch him? Will they exile him? Kill him? All these questions wavered around her head. She laid back in her seat, thinking about what could happen to Alek. Then, A TICK sound spontaneously occurred, snapping Deryn out of her daze. The man with the newspaper wrapped it up, and said, "Well, time to go sleep, better go back to the room" and walked off. Deryn decided to follow his example. She woke up her son, and they walked to their rooms, for rest. As she dragged the blanket over her body, she secretly prayed that Alek was okay hiding in the Austrian forests.
Hello Red421680 here,
This is my second story here on , and this is the story I described in my profile. Constructive Criticism is welcome, so if there is any sort of problems with my story, feel free to point out any problem with the story. Like I say constantly, I will only update when I have the time, and that might be several weeks, or even several months. Another thing is that this was inspired by the "Committee of Darwinist Fabrications" by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar, and as you can tell from the chapter, not a plagiarism. Before I go, here is an explanation of the references (in case you didn't already Google it):
"Mosley" and the "Blackshirts" are references to Oswald Mosley and his party The British Union of Fascists. They were a group of, well, Fascists who were predominant in 1930's and 1940's, and had a slight following during that time. The Blackshirts served a similar role to the SS in Germany, serving as loyal, Para-military stewards who did violent tasks on behalf of the party. Leading this party was a man named Sir Oswald Mosley. More information on Mosley will be revealed in next chapters.
Belfast is the capital of Ulster, which is the part of Ireland that Britain controls. Due to the fact that Irish rebels were supported by the Central powers, and the strong Catholic majority, I thought it would be appropriate to have Ireland become Clanker after the war.
Leon Blum was the Prime minister of France from 1936-1937, and again for a brief moment of time between March and April 1938. He was a member of the Popular Front (basically a coalition of all left wing parties in France), and passed many important laws, despite opposition from France's right wing, due to Blum's Jewish ancestry, and Socialist views. I thought he would be General-Secretary in a world where France saw a Communist revolution.
Béla Kun and Mátyás Rákosi were both communist leaders in Hungary, albeit at different points of time. Kun was the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic that was founded following the fall of Austria- Hungary. As that state didn't last long, he fled to the Soviet Union, and was subsequently caught up in Stalin's purges. He was killed in 1938. Rákosi was the leader of the communist Hungary that was formed by the Soviet Union during their occupation of Eastern Europe following the Second World War, and was Similar to Stalin in his approach to ruling the country.
Next Chapter, we will see how Alek was doing during his removal from power. Until then, please tell how this chapter was, and give me some pointers on improving my writing .I will see you next time.