12-26-2011, 11:33 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2007
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The First Interbellum (1918-1939)
This is a continuation of the thread:
The Unity Awakens For more about the Orichalcum Universe, see here: Orichalcum Universe: The Basics THE FIRST INTERBELLUM (1918-1939)... Now we turn to that phase of history that unfolded in 'The First Interbellum', the period from the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II (defined as September 1, 1939). Before we can fully engage in this, however, we must set the stage with a momentary look back across time to set the stage. So, with no further ado, let us travel back to 19th Century Australia, and the recovery of the Golden Egg. The Golden Egg... Wednesday 18 January 1871... "Damn, but it's hot," George Garley commented, half to himself and half to his partner Sam Chase. As he wiped his face dry with an increasingly soaked cloth, he added, "It's damned unnatural to be this hot in January!" "Not down here," Chase laughed. "You're not back in England anymore, George, this is Australia. We celebrate Christmas with picnics and stock up on firewood when June and July roll around!" "Tell me about it," the Englishman replied to his Australian friend. "Positively backwards. It's what comes up being on the bottom of the world, everything's upside down." Garley was not really in a bad mood per se, and his various disparaging comments about Australia's climate were made mostly in jest, he had certainly been in the southern land long enough that its reversed seasons, compared to his native England, were something he was quite used to. What was bothering him...well, to be truthful he could not quite put his finger on just what it was that was bothering him. All he knew was that he felt quite uncharacteristically jumpy and nervous, he kept catching his hand going to the handle of his revolver, as if he felt some danger nearby...but there was no sign of anything wrong and no discernable reason to think anything was likely to happen. In fact, there was no sign that they weren't the only human beings alive for many an empty mile of desert in all directions. Maybe that's what's wrong, Garley thought to himself, it's too empty out here. I mean I'm not someone who gets spooked easily, but this part of the country's just too deserted to suit me. It gets a man to thinkin' he might be the only man left in the world... Garley and Chase had been hired to take a load of supplies out to a remote site in the Australian outback, and paid very well to transport the supplies without asking untoward questions. While nobody had said or done anything that indicated illegality, the desire for discretion had been fairly clear, and they were being paid three times what the job would normally be worth, on the condition that they asked no questions and answered no questions afterward. That was quite all right with Garley and Chase. Normally all that would have made Garley very suspicious about the whole job, but he had asked around and everyone who had dealt with their current employers reported that they had been paid as promised and on time, with no funny business, apparently they were reputable, if secretive. Garley was certainly curious, but for the money he and his partner were being paid, he was quite prepared to develop a sudden case of 'blind and deaf' while on the job, and a matching case of amnesia afterward. Thus Garley and Chase had found themselves heading out into the outback, and into some rather remote parts of the barely explored desert, moving several large wagonloads of supplies and accompanied by a handful of men they trusted to do good work and keep their mouths shut. The supplies themselves were fairly mundane: various digging and work tools, nails, quite a bit of preserved food, salt, ammunition, a few bottles of whiskey, all perfectly legal and none of it particularly unreasonable for a remote site of some kind of activity. The first part of the trip had been routine and boring, but now, as they neared the site where they were to make their delivery, something was bothering Garley. It was nothing he could quite define, but it was there. It had started shortly after they had broken camp that morning and hitched up the mules, they had barely been moving for more than half an hour before Garley became conscious of something nagging at him, like a little quiet voice as the back of his mind, or some whisper in the wind that spoke of something wrong. At first he'd barely been aware of it, but as the morning advanced it had grown stronger. They were planning on reaching their destination by the end of the day, even allowing for a pause to spare the animals and men during the height of the day's heat. Now that the time for the midday pause had come, Garley was jumpy, nervous, and strongly wishing he were back in Adelaide. Even as he watered the mules, he kept fighting the urge to look back over his shoulder, he could clearly hear the voice of Sam and the others as they went about their work, and he was grateful for it, he knew he had help at hand only a few feet away if need be...but he still kept feeling as if he wanted to look over his shoulder. Yet when he did, when he gave in to the impulse as he repeatedly did, there was nothing untoward to see. They were resting in the limited shade of some rocky hills, and all around them was the hot, dry, mostly empty outback, stretching out across a desolate expanse toward the horizon, where it was not blocked by the local small eroded rocky hills. It was quiet, but with the calm quiet of empty land, not the ominous stillness of hidden danger. The Sun was high overhead, pouring blistering heat down out of a cloudless blue sky, the air was still and calm, heavy with heat, but there was no sign of any danger or threat whatever. Yet Garley could not put a sense of something being basically wrong away from himself, and his hand kept drifting toward his gun. Damn, but I'll be glad when we get this load delivered and start heading back, Garley thought. It's not fittin' for a man of fifty to be this jumpy over nothing...but I'll be glad to be on our way even so!' Nothing answered his thoughts save the silence of the desert. MORE LATER. |
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