The Engine room was very similar to what Alice had encountered in her journey through the queens keep back in Wonderland. Dozens of large pistons, each bellowing great amounts of steam in to he surroundings making the place almost unbearably hot. Large cogs and gyros were all ticking and tocking about the place and they all drove great machines which powered and propelled the ship to wherever it needed to be. All the machinations in the room seemed to be moving very quickly than any clockwork apparatus Alice had previously encountered (even in it's enlarged state). They must be travelling very fast indeed.
The descended into the engine floor which (was at the very bottom of the ship) and amidst the steam and the intense heat, there were still people hauling heavy bits of clockwork and machinery about which were undoubtedly quite heavy for any normal person (or bandersnatch) to carry. Alice found the heat extremely uncomfortable and could hardly touch anything metallic for fear of burning her hand quite badly so she kept her distance from most things and let the captain lead the way carefully.
He himself was feeling the adverse affects of the heat and had reached into his pocket of his tunic, pulled out his handkerchief and was beginning to mop his brow, cleaning the sweat which was rolling down his green skin. He looked about the floor to try and find the engineer but to no avail and his calls for attention were drowned almost to a whisper by the constant grinding and heavy motion of the machinery in all direction. He finally grabbed an engineer and appeared (from Alice's' point of view) to yell into his ear with all his might. Alice reasoned that the sound was so intense that any shouting would be normal decibel level near an ear so he wouldn't damage his workman.
After much head shaking and hand gesturing from both persons, the engineer finally dropped his cog wheel and pointed over to a small complex near a large piston cylinder near an equally giant rotor which looked like the inside of the propellers. The captain gestured "thank you" in the best way he could to the crewman who then picked up his wheel and continued on his way through a vent of steam.
The captain went over to Alice and pressed the side of his head against hers (she had to bend down slightly to accommodate his request, of course) and he yelled into her ear. She could hear as though he was talking but he was straining his voice somewhat.
"Follow me miss," shouted the Captain. "The Chief is in the engine control room near his office." And waved for her to follow him.
Alice had never walked through such an inhospitable climate before in her life. Being British, she was used to the cold but not heat of this intensity in all of the English summers she had spent with her sister and all the places she had been (in this world and it's real counterpart) as they moved though a chain of men carrying various tools and banging engines and rotors into place with their mallets. (The tortoise was right about the hammers, she thought to herself)
After a few minutes, they reached a small room which had bright lights emerging from the frosted windows surrounded by firm iron plating. There were pipes coming out of it's walls and heading in all directions, obviously carrying instructions to the engines and taking measurements and other vital statistics. An iron door with large bolts around it was prominently shown in one wall of the boxed room and it had a large wheel attached to like, similar to the watertight locks on the bridge and other vital areas Alice had seen on ship. Alice was hesitant to touch it for fear of burning her hands and the captain was just as objective for exactly the same reasons. He gestured to Alice, and since he was the captain and she was the guest, she had to follow his orders. She crept closer to the door and gingerly touched the wheel for a split second. It was cold!?
Or it was more to the point that it was cold compared to everything machine, piece of metal and even the air in the engine room which Alice struggled to breathe. (The humidity of the room was almost totally moist). She grabbed the wheel with both hands and turned it with all her might in a clockwise direction and after a quarter turn, it opened slowly releasing a blast of fresh air and a slight chill into their faces, making them shiver for a moment before the blazing heat reasserted itself.
A group of workers behind them working on one of the engines suddenly looked up at each other and huddled together for a little chat. They all nodded their heads sequentially and returned to work all agreeing that someone had opened the double door to the control room.
Alice and the Captain stepped into the small compartment, closed the door and gave the wheel a hefty turn in the opposite direction to seal it. Almost automatically, a hissing noise filled their ears and a rush of fresh, cooled air swept upon them from all directions for a few brief but wonderful seconds as their temperature returned to normal and a large green light appeared on the door opposite their point of entry followed by a loud "clank" as the wheel on the opposite door turned by itself and swung open and revealed the engine control room. They stepped through the door (which slammed behind them making Alice jump) into a nicely chilled room similar to the bridge, but a lot more valves, controls and other items which helped to control the management of the engines fuming and grinding away outside.
Although the number of controls were extensive, they seemed to be little or no bandersnatch presence as most of the controls and levers were operating themselves.
"If it weren't for the chief and a couple of others, this room would be deserted." Piped up the captain.
"If the bridge is the brain of the ship, what function does this room have?" asked Alice.
"If we're going to talk anatomically, I'd say the legs and stomach as all the work is done down here."
A door on the wall to the left slid open and a person dressed in overalls stepped out.
"I should bloody well think so too at the speed you have us going out there!" replied the person
"Alice, may I introduce the chief of the engine room, Mister Gyro Bandersnatch."
Gyro offered his hand to Alice to shake, but Alice declined as it was covered in grease and grime that would spoil her dress, so she curtseyed instead. Gyro seemed dubious but the led them into a comfortable looking room, complete with a comfortable couch and several small tables all with light refreshments on it. (Mostly water and above all Banderscotch!)
Alice had not had banderscotch since she was in the cathedral city with her former friend Christopher and she had missed it. Aside from being a slightly warm drink (which wasn't a good idea while the heat outside was intense enough to blister ones skin in moments) it had an intoxicating effect that Alice rather enjoyed. The state of being "tipsy" for her was quite enjoyable as nothing in her time in the asylum had made her feel as jolly. Some of the chemicals the doctors used make her head more elevated than usual, but they lacked the happiness that was blended into the banderscotch.
"A drink miss," offered Gyro "A glass of water perhaps?"
"I'd prefer the Banderscotch if you don't mind!" replied Alice enthusiastically. "It's been such a long time since I had some last and in this cold room, I think I can risk it."
Gyro turned to the Captain and smiled, eyebrows raised.
"I like this girl already!" he laughed and poured a glass of Banderscotch for him and her (the captain opted for the water.)
Alice sat in a padded chair which instantly relaxed her back as she sipped on her drink. As the liquid flowed over tongue it raised all her taste buds to an etheric place of delight and cushioned her brain around a large cosy blanket. The drink moved down her throat and into her stomach where it left a golden trail behind it which she found warm and extremely pleasing but she noticed (difficulty, as her body was too busy enjoying itself from the experience) that the liquid had no similar effects on the engineer which raised many questions in the young ladies mind.
Maybe that was why Banderscotch was so popular among the residents of wonderland and also why the bandersnatch were moving large barrels of the liquor to them. The effects had not been present in their chemistry or prolonged consumption of the drink dulled it's effects? As this second thought passed through her mind, she placed her glass upon the table not wanting to spoil the sensations too soon.
"So Captain, I heard you had new orders for me and you were delivering them personally?" began the engineer, wiping his mouth with the greasy rag poking out of his overall pocket. "They must be important for you to walk down here while we're at full speed!"
This puzzled Alice. She had not heard of any orders yet and she didn't like being kept in the dark about things around her.
"All I was going to say was that I want to slow the ship down so that we may reach dock by tomorrow morning. I want to hold a banquet in the officers mess for the lady before we reach land."
The request (by way of the chief reaction) seemed to be a god send wrapped up in twenty barrels of Banderscotch.
"That'll make the lads happy. They can stop working in the sweltering heat and take the night off in here with a few glasses of Bandershock and they'll be happy as a Cheshire cat."
Alice smiled at the chiefs remark and wondered how her feline associate was doing back on land as he wouldn't have anything to do with water or going near it. Alice's smile disappeared. She felt guilty about leaving him back on the land and not taking him with her as they made two parts of a whole and without him she felt vulnerable. A feeling Alice never wished upon herself. She snapped herself back into reality. Bandershock?
"Bandershock?" she repeated her thoughts. "What's Bandershock?"
The engineer smiled and brought up a bottle onto the safe. Alice thought it was similar to a brandy decanter but the liquid inside wasn't a browny red, it was a deep shade of blue. Alice didn't like the look of it as the chief had to bring it out of a safe! If this was a drink, it should be handled with care. He pored a small amount of it into a small glass, no bigger than one measure In volume and pushed the tiny container over to her side of the table.
"You drink that and I'll reset the controls in the room!" the chief uttered and walked through the door. His head poked around the door a moment later.
"But If I were you I'd wait for me!" and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
Alice looked at the smal glass of liquid below her. The deep blue was foreboding enough but it was the smell of the noxious fumes that repelled her the most. Alice could smell it was extraordinarily strong and for the first time in a while, hesitated.
Suddenly the whole ship let out a low, descending hum and some of the bottles on the table slipped across the surface for no more than 10 centimeters and Alice felt an invisable force pushing her to arch her back.
"Ah I see he's slowed us down" piped up the captain. "And if you want my opinion, I'd have second thoughts about drinking that stuff!"
"Is it Banderscotch?" Alice asked nervously but was interrupted by the hissing, sliding door as the engineer returned from the control room.
"Nope!" he gruffed "But you may want to hold your nose if it's your first one."
Alice was now nervous!
"If one drinks much from a bottle marked poison." Alice thought. But she was now becoming aware of Gyros eyes constantly shifting between the glass in her hand and her in expectation. She raised the glass in toast and swallowed the liquid in one gulp. And instantly regretted it
The back of Alice's throat felt like she had just swallowed a cup of molten lava and she had lurched out of her chair and was now writhing on the floor, her stomach trying to lurch her whole body out of it. The warm sensation in her head from the banderscotch had agressivly dissapeared and was replaced with a large headache which lasted for a brief moment. And then it all subsided.
Alice couldn't feel her legs as she tried to get up and could feel her consciousness slipping away from her to let her brain re-assert itself from the shock but she managed to get out a single sentence (albeit, very blurred)
"What is this?" she stammered.
"Good job you didn't sip it eh?" replied the engineer "Sometimes we use that stuff to jump start the engines with!"
Alice laughed for a moment, then she blacked out.
The descended into the engine floor which (was at the very bottom of the ship) and amidst the steam and the intense heat, there were still people hauling heavy bits of clockwork and machinery about which were undoubtedly quite heavy for any normal person (or bandersnatch) to carry. Alice found the heat extremely uncomfortable and could hardly touch anything metallic for fear of burning her hand quite badly so she kept her distance from most things and let the captain lead the way carefully.
He himself was feeling the adverse affects of the heat and had reached into his pocket of his tunic, pulled out his handkerchief and was beginning to mop his brow, cleaning the sweat which was rolling down his green skin. He looked about the floor to try and find the engineer but to no avail and his calls for attention were drowned almost to a whisper by the constant grinding and heavy motion of the machinery in all direction. He finally grabbed an engineer and appeared (from Alice's' point of view) to yell into his ear with all his might. Alice reasoned that the sound was so intense that any shouting would be normal decibel level near an ear so he wouldn't damage his workman.
After much head shaking and hand gesturing from both persons, the engineer finally dropped his cog wheel and pointed over to a small complex near a large piston cylinder near an equally giant rotor which looked like the inside of the propellers. The captain gestured "thank you" in the best way he could to the crewman who then picked up his wheel and continued on his way through a vent of steam.
The captain went over to Alice and pressed the side of his head against hers (she had to bend down slightly to accommodate his request, of course) and he yelled into her ear. She could hear as though he was talking but he was straining his voice somewhat.
"Follow me miss," shouted the Captain. "The Chief is in the engine control room near his office." And waved for her to follow him.
Alice had never walked through such an inhospitable climate before in her life. Being British, she was used to the cold but not heat of this intensity in all of the English summers she had spent with her sister and all the places she had been (in this world and it's real counterpart) as they moved though a chain of men carrying various tools and banging engines and rotors into place with their mallets. (The tortoise was right about the hammers, she thought to herself)
After a few minutes, they reached a small room which had bright lights emerging from the frosted windows surrounded by firm iron plating. There were pipes coming out of it's walls and heading in all directions, obviously carrying instructions to the engines and taking measurements and other vital statistics. An iron door with large bolts around it was prominently shown in one wall of the boxed room and it had a large wheel attached to like, similar to the watertight locks on the bridge and other vital areas Alice had seen on ship. Alice was hesitant to touch it for fear of burning her hands and the captain was just as objective for exactly the same reasons. He gestured to Alice, and since he was the captain and she was the guest, she had to follow his orders. She crept closer to the door and gingerly touched the wheel for a split second. It was cold!?
Or it was more to the point that it was cold compared to everything machine, piece of metal and even the air in the engine room which Alice struggled to breathe. (The humidity of the room was almost totally moist). She grabbed the wheel with both hands and turned it with all her might in a clockwise direction and after a quarter turn, it opened slowly releasing a blast of fresh air and a slight chill into their faces, making them shiver for a moment before the blazing heat reasserted itself.
A group of workers behind them working on one of the engines suddenly looked up at each other and huddled together for a little chat. They all nodded their heads sequentially and returned to work all agreeing that someone had opened the double door to the control room.
Alice and the Captain stepped into the small compartment, closed the door and gave the wheel a hefty turn in the opposite direction to seal it. Almost automatically, a hissing noise filled their ears and a rush of fresh, cooled air swept upon them from all directions for a few brief but wonderful seconds as their temperature returned to normal and a large green light appeared on the door opposite their point of entry followed by a loud "clank" as the wheel on the opposite door turned by itself and swung open and revealed the engine control room. They stepped through the door (which slammed behind them making Alice jump) into a nicely chilled room similar to the bridge, but a lot more valves, controls and other items which helped to control the management of the engines fuming and grinding away outside.
Although the number of controls were extensive, they seemed to be little or no bandersnatch presence as most of the controls and levers were operating themselves.
"If it weren't for the chief and a couple of others, this room would be deserted." Piped up the captain.
"If the bridge is the brain of the ship, what function does this room have?" asked Alice.
"If we're going to talk anatomically, I'd say the legs and stomach as all the work is done down here."
A door on the wall to the left slid open and a person dressed in overalls stepped out.
"I should bloody well think so too at the speed you have us going out there!" replied the person
"Alice, may I introduce the chief of the engine room, Mister Gyro Bandersnatch."
Gyro offered his hand to Alice to shake, but Alice declined as it was covered in grease and grime that would spoil her dress, so she curtseyed instead. Gyro seemed dubious but the led them into a comfortable looking room, complete with a comfortable couch and several small tables all with light refreshments on it. (Mostly water and above all Banderscotch!)
Alice had not had banderscotch since she was in the cathedral city with her former friend Christopher and she had missed it. Aside from being a slightly warm drink (which wasn't a good idea while the heat outside was intense enough to blister ones skin in moments) it had an intoxicating effect that Alice rather enjoyed. The state of being "tipsy" for her was quite enjoyable as nothing in her time in the asylum had made her feel as jolly. Some of the chemicals the doctors used make her head more elevated than usual, but they lacked the happiness that was blended into the banderscotch.
"A drink miss," offered Gyro "A glass of water perhaps?"
"I'd prefer the Banderscotch if you don't mind!" replied Alice enthusiastically. "It's been such a long time since I had some last and in this cold room, I think I can risk it."
Gyro turned to the Captain and smiled, eyebrows raised.
"I like this girl already!" he laughed and poured a glass of Banderscotch for him and her (the captain opted for the water.)
Alice sat in a padded chair which instantly relaxed her back as she sipped on her drink. As the liquid flowed over tongue it raised all her taste buds to an etheric place of delight and cushioned her brain around a large cosy blanket. The drink moved down her throat and into her stomach where it left a golden trail behind it which she found warm and extremely pleasing but she noticed (difficulty, as her body was too busy enjoying itself from the experience) that the liquid had no similar effects on the engineer which raised many questions in the young ladies mind.
Maybe that was why Banderscotch was so popular among the residents of wonderland and also why the bandersnatch were moving large barrels of the liquor to them. The effects had not been present in their chemistry or prolonged consumption of the drink dulled it's effects? As this second thought passed through her mind, she placed her glass upon the table not wanting to spoil the sensations too soon.
"So Captain, I heard you had new orders for me and you were delivering them personally?" began the engineer, wiping his mouth with the greasy rag poking out of his overall pocket. "They must be important for you to walk down here while we're at full speed!"
This puzzled Alice. She had not heard of any orders yet and she didn't like being kept in the dark about things around her.
"All I was going to say was that I want to slow the ship down so that we may reach dock by tomorrow morning. I want to hold a banquet in the officers mess for the lady before we reach land."
The request (by way of the chief reaction) seemed to be a god send wrapped up in twenty barrels of Banderscotch.
"That'll make the lads happy. They can stop working in the sweltering heat and take the night off in here with a few glasses of Bandershock and they'll be happy as a Cheshire cat."
Alice smiled at the chiefs remark and wondered how her feline associate was doing back on land as he wouldn't have anything to do with water or going near it. Alice's smile disappeared. She felt guilty about leaving him back on the land and not taking him with her as they made two parts of a whole and without him she felt vulnerable. A feeling Alice never wished upon herself. She snapped herself back into reality. Bandershock?
"Bandershock?" she repeated her thoughts. "What's Bandershock?"
The engineer smiled and brought up a bottle onto the safe. Alice thought it was similar to a brandy decanter but the liquid inside wasn't a browny red, it was a deep shade of blue. Alice didn't like the look of it as the chief had to bring it out of a safe! If this was a drink, it should be handled with care. He pored a small amount of it into a small glass, no bigger than one measure In volume and pushed the tiny container over to her side of the table.
"You drink that and I'll reset the controls in the room!" the chief uttered and walked through the door. His head poked around the door a moment later.
"But If I were you I'd wait for me!" and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
Alice looked at the smal glass of liquid below her. The deep blue was foreboding enough but it was the smell of the noxious fumes that repelled her the most. Alice could smell it was extraordinarily strong and for the first time in a while, hesitated.
Suddenly the whole ship let out a low, descending hum and some of the bottles on the table slipped across the surface for no more than 10 centimeters and Alice felt an invisable force pushing her to arch her back.
"Ah I see he's slowed us down" piped up the captain. "And if you want my opinion, I'd have second thoughts about drinking that stuff!"
"Is it Banderscotch?" Alice asked nervously but was interrupted by the hissing, sliding door as the engineer returned from the control room.
"Nope!" he gruffed "But you may want to hold your nose if it's your first one."
Alice was now nervous!
"If one drinks much from a bottle marked poison." Alice thought. But she was now becoming aware of Gyros eyes constantly shifting between the glass in her hand and her in expectation. She raised the glass in toast and swallowed the liquid in one gulp. And instantly regretted it
The back of Alice's throat felt like she had just swallowed a cup of molten lava and she had lurched out of her chair and was now writhing on the floor, her stomach trying to lurch her whole body out of it. The warm sensation in her head from the banderscotch had agressivly dissapeared and was replaced with a large headache which lasted for a brief moment. And then it all subsided.
Alice couldn't feel her legs as she tried to get up and could feel her consciousness slipping away from her to let her brain re-assert itself from the shock but she managed to get out a single sentence (albeit, very blurred)
"What is this?" she stammered.
"Good job you didn't sip it eh?" replied the engineer "Sometimes we use that stuff to jump start the engines with!"
Alice laughed for a moment, then she blacked out.