Justin Stone and the Iris of the Madonna

[joegoda]

Thick smoke was filling the kitchen, even before Justin closed the workshop door. "I wondered how long it would take for them to realize we weren't dead," he said, over the sound of thuds and crashings. Once the door closed, light radiating from Tesla's tubes filled the workshop.

"I'm glad you were wondering," Jonathan said. "I didn't even think about it." He still had hold of Verne's arm and was leading him off to the left. "Come on, Jules. The automobile is over here."

"I believed they used the same sort of explosive on the house that they used on the monorail," Justin observed. He got to the bottom of the stairs and moved to the right, to the workbench where the fletchet pistols were. "Where's the darts, Jonathan?"

Jonathan tossed a look over his shoulder, to see where Justin stood. "Third drawer down. Combination is three left, one right, four left, seven left."

"Ah." Justin dialed the lock open. Inside the drawer were a box of thin tube-like darts with tiny feathery wings. "Green or red?"

Verne looked around with Wide eyes. "This... this is your workplace?"

Jonathan nodded once. "Red, Justin. The Green ones are empty. Red means stop." To Verne he said, "One of them. I have another at the foundation, but this is where I get to play." He pulled Verne over to the corner where the automobile sat, its engine compartment open and empty. He let go of Verne's arm and leaned into the empty compartment. He moved a few cables out of the way and looked for anything else that might hinder their progress.

"Okay." He nodded satisfied. "Okay." He pointed at the conglomeration of brass and steel sitting nearby. "Verne, we're going to put that in here." He patted the cowling over the engine compartment, which answered with a slightly hollow sound.

"You and your brother seem terribly unconcerned about your house burning down, monsieur Ratzenmueller," Verne observe.

"Grab that handle there, Jules." Jonathan pointed to a small curve of brass. "That one right there." He looked around as he bent at the knees and lifted the three foot tall bundle of metal. "Houses can be replaced, Jules. We had one burn down already, when we were barely out of our teens. And really, there's only two things that we felt we needed to save. Justin's books and my workshop."

"Monsieur Stone did mention that the study was sinking into the ground, which I find surprising. I thought he was using a metaphor." Verne helped Jonathan carry the contraption over to the empty engine compartment.

"No, he was right. Let's set this down for a second." He gently lowered the motor onto the ground, next to the automobile. He wiped his brow, even though there was nothing there to wipe. He pointed to the far side of his workshop, nodded and said, "Right now, Justin's study is taking up about ten feet of my workshop. Listen."

As Verne focused his hearing to the side of the workshop that Jonathan was pointing to, he could hear tiny squeals and the grumble of stone on metal. His eyes grew wide and he stared with amazement as, on the far end of the room, the ceiling sank down, revealing tall book shelves, bathed in the light provided by the workshop. "You mean the entire room above us is..."

"Yep," Jonathan nodded. "Justin's entire study is sliding down here on runners. It's held in place to the house above by four large pneumatic screws. Once it's completely down here, it will be fully fire and bomb proof. The ceiling above us is three inch tempered steel, as is the ceiling above Justin's study."

Jonathan grabbed the more slender end of the mass of brass and steel and lifted it slightly. "Help me, Jules. We need to slip this into the engine compartment."

"This is the engine," Verne wondered, taking hold of the other end, which was rounded and brass and riveted. Working with Jonathan the two maneuvered the light weight, but bulky thing into the waiting space.

"Most of it," Jonathan said. "There's still a part that's under testing, but we don't have the time to play with that right now." He lay on a mechanics transfer, and slid under the automobile.

"If it is safe down here,' Verne asked Jonathan's feet, "why are we leaving?"

"Because monsieur Verne," Justin said, coming up behind them and carrying a large canvas satchel, "I don't like it when people burn my house down. I'm rather sensitive about it, actually. The sooner we solve this, the sooner this ... Englebrandt, is it? The sooner this Englebrandt character will quit trying to kill us."

Justin gently kicked at Jonathan's brown shoes. "Anyway I can assist in speeding the process along?"

Jonathan rolled out, a light smear of grease along his right cheek. "Yeah, there is." He saw the satchel in Justin's hands. "How many darts did you find?"

"Twenty six." Justin hefted the satchel. "I also found two shoulder holsters. You've been busy, brother."

"Toss them into the back seat, will you, Justin?" Jonathan slid back under the vehicle and his voice came up from the engine compartment. "Then, go check to make sure that your study came down all right. Check to make sure the lock bolts set."

"All right." Justin poked his head into the engine compartment and looked down at Jonathan. "How long until we can leave?"

"Should be about five minutes, Justin." Jonathan didn't sound frustrated, just distracted by his work. "If you will quit interrupting me, that is."

Justin, smiled his most charming smile, clapped his hands and rubbed them furiously together. "All right then! I'll be back in five minutes!" He wandered off, hands in his pockets and whistling.

Verne watched Justin wander off. "The two of you make for an odd set of pair, monsieur Ratzenmueller. I gather that monsieur Stone is a bit... unusual in his thoughts." He tapped his forehead, in emphasis. "You are, quite obviously, a mechanical genius. But Monsieur Stone is... quite different." He stroked the smooth metal of the odd engine. "This is a very odd apparatus. How does it work?"

Jonathan slid out from under the automobile, dusted his hands on his trousers and tossed a wrench into the back seat. Rather than answer Verne's question, he pulled a pair of thick rubber gloves from the front seat and put them on.

"Jules," he said, "go to my workbench over there," he pointed with stubby rubber fingers, "and look for a gray metal box about so big." He held his hands to indicate a space of about six inches. "It'll be marked with a red lightning bolt. Bring it to me, please."

"All right," Verne said. He wandered over to the workbench and wandered around it, looking for such a box as Jonathan had described. He didn't look long, but his imagination was peaked by a number of items sitting in various states of work. He found the box, partially hidden under a small, square rubber mat. He picked the box up and it was much lighter than he expected it to be. He took the box back to where Jonathan was leaning into the engine compartment and held the box out. "Is this what I am looking for," he asked.

Jonathan nodded. "That's the one, thanks." He took the box between the heavy rubber gloves he was wearing and opened it. A sharp crackling sound was heard, like bacon frying and a strange light, greenish in hue with flares of purple, shone into Jonathan's face. His curly hair started to stand on rise without a wind and Jonathan turned his face, smiling like a gleeful child to Verne. "You might want to stand back."

Verne took a nervous step back. "What is it?" His eyes grew large as he watched Jonathan lift a sphere, six inches in diameter, out of the box. The sphere seemed to be transparent, made perhaps of a think glass or glassine material. Verne could see a distorted image of Jonathan's hands through the glass. The inside of the sphere, however, was a roiling mass of green and purple coils and sparks of some smoky substance. "It almost looks alive!" Verne stepped cautiously forward, and felt the hair on his arms start to rise. "Static electricity? Bottled Static electricity?" He wondered, watching the thin arm hairs rise. "How?"

Smiling demonically, Jonathan said, "Now, if I told you, you'd tell someone else and before you know it, everyone would be holding a ball of highly charged plasma." Turning back to the automobile, he said, "It'll just be a second or so. Go tell Justin to get ready, please."

Reluctantly, Verne pulled his eyes away from where Jonathan as placing the plasma sphere into the rounded opening at the top of the motor, he walked hurriedly over to the other side of the workshop.

He found Justin sitting at the long table in his study, which had now been secured into the lower level of the workroom. Verne had to step up, as the floor of the study had settled on top of the actual floor of the workshop. "Monsieur Stone?" Justin looked up from the business journal he was reading. "Monsieur Ratzenmueller says he is almost ready."

"Oh good," Justin said, casually tossing the journal onto the table and standing up. "Would you believe, monsieur Verne, that I had thought Jonathan insane when he first mentioned this little innovation?" He chuckled. "Dropping an entire room into the basement to keep it safe." He picked up his hat and cane. "Lunacy." He tapped the hat onto his head and strode out of his study onto the hard floor of Jonathan's workroom. "But as you can see, very valuable lunacy."

"Oui, monsieur Stone...," Verne added, while he hurried to keep up. "But some of the most incredible discoveries have been called such lunacy at one time or another."

"So I've heard, monsieur Verne." Justin said, as he came abreast the automobile. "So I have heard."

Jonathan sat behind the wheel of the modified steamer. The hood was closed and an eerie greenish light peaked out around the vent fins that ran along the side. "What took you guys? I was just about to leave without you."

"Please, Jonathan," Justin chided. "I know you would do no such thing." He held the back door open for Verne, admonishing the writer to be sure to fasten his safety belt. "I don't know how safe it is with Jonathan driving. Better safe than sorry, eh?" He climbed into the front seat, on the passenger's side.

"All in," Jonathan asked. "Anyone have to go... you know? No? Well, then... let's see what this baby can do!" He pushed a button, and other than a light blinking on the dash, nothing at all appeared to happen.

Jonathan raised a slim eyebrow. "Is it running?"

"Like a champ, Justin." Jonathan looked over his right shoulder at Verne. "You see, Jules, the plasma ball is tapped by the armature we set into the engine compartment. It takes the trapped energy generated by the plasma and converts it to direct current electricity. This in turn drives a high efficiency electric motor of my own design... one for each of the four wheels."

He flipped another switch on the ornate brass control panel and a gentle hum rose from around the vehicle. The green glow from under the hood of the automobile grew brighter. "The only down side is that the plasma isn't self sustaining." He looked at Justin. "It will run out of power." He turned to Justin. "So, let's not waste any time, okay?"

Justin yawned mightily. "Why are you speaking to me, Jonathan? You're the one doing all the blah, blahing. On to the hunt, I say!"

"But..." Vern leaned further forward. "How will we get out of here?"

"The same way I got the beast in to here in the first place." Jonathan adjusted the rear view mirror, pulled the handbrake, and moved the column mounted shift lever. Silently, the automobile rolled backward. Jonathan turned the wheel and the vehicle backed up until its boattail was almost touching his workbench.

"See that wall?" Jonathan said to Verne. He pointed to a nondescript eight foot square section of the wall directly in front of them. It appeared blank, and there was nothing in front of that section, on the floor in front of it, or attached to the wall itself.

"Oui," Verne nodded. "You don't mean to go through it, as if by magic? A trapdoor, perhaps?"

Justin yawned again. "Blah, blah, Jonathan. Blah, blah."

Jonathan ignored his brother. "Nothing so elaborate. It's a simple cloth curtain, leading to a tunnel that takes us to the 32nd street canal, about half a mile away." He moved the shift lever to the drive position. "Hold on, I don't know what sort of power we have."

Jonathan stepped on the accelerator pedal and the automobile shot forward, as if from a cannon. The speedometer flashed through the 5, to the 10, and the 20, to peg out against the very bottom.

A happy whoop come from Jonathan. "It works!" He looked over his shoulder at Verne, who was holding onto his seat with both hands, a fearful look on his face. "I wasn't sure if it would blow up or what! It works, Jules, it works!"

Verne pulled his courage up far enough to yell back, "You mean you were sure? It might have exploded?"

Jonathan nodded like a maniac. "I told you it wasn't completely tested yet!" He let loose with another war whoop.

"Monsieur Verne," Justin yelled to the back seat, "this is rather a trademark of Jonathan's work. It's part of why a house burning down around our ears is no great surprise. It's happened before." He turned slightly and yelled into Jonathan's ear. "And this time, Jonathan, I'm holding onto my hat!"

Comments

[tapestry01.livejournal.com]

Very nice!
Got up to 35,000 words this morning!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo! You rock, Mr. Tim!

[capi.livejournal.com]

"I believed (( believe )) they used the same sort of explosive on the house that they used on the monorail," Justin...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I believed they used the same sort of explosive on the house that they used on the monorail," Justin observed. He got to the bottom of the stairs and moved to the right, to the workbench where the fletchet pistols were. "Where's the darts, Jonathan?" (( Correction: where ARE the darts, not where IS the darts! Gracious sakes! ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ah." Justin dialed the lock open. Inside the drawer were ((was)) a box of thin tube-like darts with tiny feathery wings. "Green or red?" ((What? No "thank you"?? From Justin, the gentleman of the century?? *LOL* ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You and your brother seem terribly unconcerned about your house burning down, monsieur Ratzenmueller," Verne observe. ((observed))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Grab that handle there, Jules." Jonathan pointed to a small curve of brass. "That one right there." He looked around as he bent at the knees and lifted the three foot tall bundle of metal. "Houses can be replaced, Jules. We had one burn down already, when we were barely out of our teens. And really, there's ((there ARE, not there IS, unless you want Jon to speak that way on purpose...)) only two things that we felt we needed to save. Justin's books and my workshop."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Most of it," Jonathan said. "There's still a part that's under testing, but we don't have the time to play with that right now." He lay on a mechanics transfer, and slid under the automobile. (( Took me a sec to figger out what you were saying here. Perhaps he lay down on, instead of just he lay on? Or he dropped onto, or tossed himself onto... or something like that?))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Because monsieur Verne," Justin said, coming up behind them and carrying a large canvas satchel, "I don't like it when people burn my house down. I'm rather sensitive about it, actually. The sooner we solve this,... (( suggest "resolve" in place of "solve"))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin gently kicked at Jonathan's brown shoes. "Anyway I can assist in speeding the process along?" (( in this case, any way is two words... ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verne watched Justin wander off. "The two of you make for an odd set of pair,... (( set of pair? Never heard of this before. My brain automatically took out SET and installed SORT ))... monsieur Ratzenmueller. I gather that monsieur Stone is a bit... unusual in his thoughts." He tapped his forehead, in emphasis. "You are, quite obviously, a mechanical genius. But Monsieur Stone is... quite different." He stroked the smooth metal of the odd engine. "This is a very odd apparatus. How does it work?" (( You use the word ODD twice in this paragraph, for two different things. Perhaps you might consider replacing one of them with Peculiar or something. Two ODDs that close together... is just Odd! *LOL*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[capi.livejournal.com]

"All right," Verne said. He wandered over to the workbench and wandered around it, looking for such a box as Jonathan had described. He didn't look long, but his imagination was peaked by a number of items sitting in various states of work. He found the box, partially hidden under a small, square rubber mat. He picked the box up and it was much lighter than he expected it to be. He took the box back to where Jonathan was leaning into the engine compartment and held the box out. "Is this what I am looking for," he asked. (( No question mark for the question? ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan nodded. "That's the one, thanks." He took the box between the heavy rubber gloves he was wearing and opened it. A sharp crackling sound was heard, like bacon frying and a strange light, greenish in hue with flares of purple, shone into Jonathan's face. His curly hair started to stand on rise without a wind.... (( something is amiss right there... ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verne took a nervous step back. "What is it?" His eyes grew large as he watched Jonathan lift a sphere, six inches in diameter, out of the box. The sphere seemed to be transparent, made perhaps of a think (( thick? )) glass or glassine material. Verne could see a distorted image of Jonathan's hands through the glass. The inside of the sphere, however, was a roiling mass of green and purple coils and sparks of some smoky substance. "It almost looks alive!" Verne stepped cautiously forward, and felt the hair on his arms start to rise. "Static electricity? Bottled Static electricity?" He wondered, watching the thin arm hairs rise. "How?" (( so much for standing BACK... *LOL* Of course, Jules Verne could NOT stay back! ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reluctantly, Verne pulled his eyes away from where Jonathan as placing the plasma sphere into the rounded opening at the top of the motor, he walked hurriedly over to the other side of the workshop. ((Aw gee, Mom! I don't wanna go to bed! I wanna stay up and wait for Santa! *LOL* ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh good," Justin said, casually tossing the journal onto the table and standing up. "Would you believe, monsieur Verne, that I had thought Jonathan insane when he first mentioned this little innovation?" He chuckled. "Dropping an entire room into the basement to keep it safe." He picked up his hat and cane. "Lunacy." He tapped the hat onto his head and strode out of his study onto the hard floor of Jonathan's workroom. "But as you can see, very valuable lunacy." (( expedient! ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OFF WE GO!!!! *whoooop*

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Thanks, thanks, thanks! I write a a lot of this at work, it seems. so mucho appreiciato, dear sis. YOU IS (or is that ARE) Invaluable!