The shearing steel city.., p.1
The Shearing (Steel City Series Book 1), page 1
THE
SHEARING
STEEL CITY SERIES: BOOK 1
N.J. COLESAR
Copyright © 2017 Entanglement Interactive LLC
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9989280-0-5
Hardcover: 978-0-9989280-6-7
eBook: 978-0-9989280-1-2
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Some locations described within the story are real places. Certain details may have been altered to better support the story.
Author: N. J. Colesar
Cover Art: Vanette Kosman
Publisher: Entanglement Interactive LLC
For information visit:
www.ENTANGLEMENT-INTERACTIVE.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
STEEL CITY SERIES
THE SHEARING
ORIGINS OF MYTH
BIRTH OF LEGENDS
To everyone that helped make this book possible.
Thank You
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
Today, we make history.
At least that was what Francis told himself as he checked all his calculations for what must have been the hundredth time that morning. Everything had to be perfect. One misstep and something catastrophic could happen. But he wasn't about to let anything go wrong. He was a brilliant physicist and had been working on the Large Hadron Collider upgrades for years. Nobody knew more about it than he did and his mind raced with visions of what they would discover.
Sweat ran down his neck and matted what little white hair he had left on his head. Even though the facility was kept rather chilly so all the enormous machines didn't overheat, Francis was still sweating. He was getting more anxious by the second. He wasn't nervous, he told himself. It was excitement. Yes, that is what it was.
Looking up from his desk in the control room, Francis watched all the other white-coated scientists scurry about various tasks as everyone prepared for activation. The white walls were covered in monitors and other sensor equipment. The large, curved desk he sat at was also made entirely of switches, monitors, and LED screens. Lights flashed and announcements rang out over the loud speaker as the different systems came online.
Francis watched as an attractive young woman in a lab coat walked up to one of the LED control panels and typed something into the screen. She watched the screen for a moment before making a small adjustment to whatever information she was given. As she turned away, Francis said, “Alicia, how are the energy levels looking?”
Alicia kept her head down as she read off the tablet in her hands. “Energy levels are holding steady at one hundred thirty teraelectronvolts, Dr. Burkhalter.”
Good, he thought. Everything is running perfectly. “Wonderful! Thank you, Alicia. That will be all.” He dismissed her with a smile. She nodded and hurried away.
A brilliant young woman that Alicia Worland, Francis thought, and pretty to boot! If only I was forty years younger, he thought with a sigh. Hey now, stop that! He scolded himself. There is work to be done. He was on the brink of one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the modern age and here he was daydreaming about girls!
Getting back to his monitors, Francis ran a diagnostic on the coolant systems one last time. Everything was looking good there as well. The superfluid helium four was maintaining the superconducting quadrupole electromagnets at a constant -271.25 ºC.
There was enough liquid helium running through the 27-kilometer collider that the LHC was technically the largest cryogenic facility in the world. And at between 50-175 meters below the surface on the border of France and Switzerland, it was also one of the safest.
Francis continued to watch the monitors as streams of data flashed by. He remained engrossed in the screens for several minutes until at last he pulled himself away. All factors had been accounted for and everything was in the desired parameters. He had to control himself from checking the data one last time. He had done it a hundred times already. Everything was perfect. His heart beat faster. They were ready!
He reached down and pressed a button on his console then spoke into a microphone sticking out of the desk. “Attention! This is Chief Physicist Dr. Francis Burkhalter. Everyone to their monitoring stations and standby for collider activation. All systems are fully operational and particle acceleration will commence in T-minus five minutes.”
He switched off the microphone and watched as the announcement set all the scientists into a flurry of activity as they ran about their assigned tasks. They all knew their business and within minutes the room was nearly silent as everyone took their positions around the various monitoring stations.
A low, rhythmic humming slowly built up as the massive electromagnets charged. The scientists watched their monitors as the final countdown began.
Ten....Nine.... Eight...
The rhythmic hum grew louder until everyone could hear it over the countdown.
…Six....Five...Four...
The air vibrated in time with the rhythm of the pulsating magnets and a static charge filled the air causing the dust to dance in the air.
…Three...Two...
Francis held his breath as his precious particle accelerator prepared to fire. Years of hard work and countless, sleepless nights were all finally going to pay off. He was about to oversee the greatest feat of modern science that would launch the human race to new levels of understanding.
…One… FIRE!
The upgraded Large Hadron Collider fired the protons through the 27 kilometers of pipe faster than the speed of light. The distinctive digital sounding pings of the passing protons rang out through the control room as the detectors monitored their passing. Within moments, data were streaming across all the monitoring stations.
Letting out his breath, Francis watched the information filter across his screens when the pings of the passing protons rang out again. That wasn't right! There should have been a much longer pause before the protons passed by again. He didn't need the data on the monitors to tell him something was wrong.
The hum grew in intensity and the vibrations began to shake the control room. The pings escalated and before the last one ended they started over again. Within moments, the sound of passing particles was constant. The machines couldn't keep up with the data they were receiving and started to smoke. With a crash, one of the monitors abruptly fell off the wall and shattered, as the vibrations got worse.
Francis tried to access his controls and power down the magnets, but a sudden jolt knocked him off his feet and sent him crashing to the floor. Before he could right himself, the central control panel exploded, spraying him and those nearest him with razor sharp pieces of glass and plastic.
“Shut it down!” he screamed from the floor. “Now!”
He knew they were in trouble, but the system was so complicated that there wasn’t a single off switch. Other monitors crashed to the floor as the vibrations grew ever more intense. The humming was getting so loud that it was hurting Francis's ears. On top of that, the particles kept accelerating, filling the room with a steady stream of pings. The computers tried to gather all that information, but were overwhelmed and started exploding all across the room. The confined space was quickly filled with smoke as the burning machines belched toxic fumes.
Some of the scientists ran for cover while others remained at their stations and tried to stop the acceleration. The electronic vibrations increased and everyone had to cover their ears as the rhythmic hum grew even louder. A sudden jolt then knocked everyone off their feet and sent more equipment crashing to the ground.
Francis tried to raise his voice over the chaos. “Everyone out! Evacuate the facility!” He climbed to his feet and tried to get to the exit, but the room was shaking so badly that he couldn't stay upright.
He decided to try crawling, but as he made his way across the rubble strewn floor a sudden tremor rocked the facility and a massive crack split the floor between him and the exit. Two scientists fell into the sudden opening and were lost to the blackness.
The old physicist stared dumbly into the pit, shocked at what he had just seen.
The vibrations grew and the pings came so quickly now it was almost one steady note. The hum was hurting Francis's ears and giving him a serious headache. But as he shook off his horror and began to franticly look for an escape, he realized somebody needed to stop the collider. If it kept going who knows what kind of damage it would do. It might create a black hole and suck the entire planet in.
He pulled himself up to one of the few remaining workstations. The billowing smoke was making it hard to see and the ear-splitting hum made it hard to think. Another quake nearly knocked him down again, but he held onto the station with all his might and just barely remained upright.
Looking at the monitor, Francis's worst fears were realized. The power levels were off the charts and the particles were moving so fast the detectors couldn't even track them accurately. The whole collider was going critical and there was nothing he could do.
A sudden flash of light blinded Francis and he backed away from his controls. Temporarily blinded, the old physicist stumbled backward as he blinked away the glare.
When he regained his sight, there was a glowing anomaly twisting in the air before him.
The anomaly slowly rotated and began to spin. It spun faster and faster until there was a horrible tearing sound and a sudden burst of energy. Where the crack had been a second ago, a swirling vortex had formed. Francis watched, awestruck. A tear in the very fabric of space!
Colors and shapes formed inside the vortex as it spun and grew. Small bolts of multicolored energy arched from the expanding maelstrom and where the bolts touched, tiny new vortexes formed. Francis backed away as he stared at the growing rifts in disbelief.
What had he done?...
CHAPTER 1
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN PENNSYLVANIA. A cool spring breeze blew through the rolling hills as the trees were just beginning to get their leaves back after a long, cold winter. Nestled into the point between three connecting rivers sat the sparkling city of Pittsburgh; its skyscrapers gleaming in the morning sun.
Perched on one of the hills outside the city were several neat rows of small, identical houses, a relic from the old steel industry. Vehicles lined the streets as people scurried back and forth like a swarm of ants to load things into their waiting cars.
The door to one of the row houses opened and a beautiful young woman stepped out.
Elizabeth McAllister stood on her small porch and watched the people run around. She was tall with an athletic build and her wavy, brown hair fluttered in the breeze as the morning sun kissed her olive skin.
Watching all the activity, she was glad that she had loaded her car up the night before. Thinking of last night reminded her of the last several months; lots of long lectures, boring classes full of tests, and studying. So much studying…
Taking a deep breath, she pushed all that out of her mind. No more thinking about classes. It was spring break and she was going home to Clearfield.
“Hey Liz! What are you waiting for? Let’s gooo!” a voice shouted.
Snapping out of her daydream, Liz looked to where the voice had come from.
Parked in front of the small house was Liz's little white car, packed with boxes. Sitting in the passenger seat was another young woman who was the source of the shout. She was pretty, with pale skin and wore a small black fedora from under which her long, black hair fell in tight ringlets down her back. Her arm hung out the open car window with her ring-covered fingers tapping impatiently on the door.
“Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'.” Liz shouted back as she headed for the car. As she walked down the short sidewalk, she smiled and waved at some of the people next door. Going around the car, Liz opened the door and slid in.
“Thanks for coming down and helping me pack, Emily.” Liz said as they drove away. “And having some company on the ride is nice.”
“My pleasure. Besides, you have been trying forever to get me to one of your 'events'.” Emily replied. “So, what is it we are going to again?”
Liz smiled. “It's an SCA event. They do historical recreations.”
“So, it's like a Renaissance Fair then?” Emily asked.
“No, not quite. Renaissance fairs just focus on the Renaissance. The SCA covers most of history up to the Renaissance. So, you could dress up as an ancient Egyptian if you really wanted.”
“Wait, so I have to dress up?”
“Well, you don't have to. But everyone else will be dressed in period garb, so you would stand out like a sore thumb. But don't worry, I brought a dress you can wear and it's even in black.”
Emily breathed a sigh of relief. “Cool, thanks. Black is my favorite color.” Emily grinned wickedly. “Spikes are fun too.”
Liz groaned.
“So, what are we going to do there anyways? Walk around and watch people joust or something?” Emily asked.
“Well, some people do the heavy weapons fighting. They wear armor and use rattan weapons.”
“Rattan?”
“It’s a type of flexible wood. Keeps anyone from getting too injured. Anyways, there is that and lots of other stuff.” Liz started ticking items off on her fingers, “There is fencing, archery, thrown weapons, heraldry, calligraphy, cooking, singing, sewing, brewing, I'm sure there are others that I can't think of right now. Basically, if it was done pre-seventeenth century then there is probably a group doing it.”
Emily's eyes lit up. “I am pretty good at archery. I’ll have to check that out. Anything with horses?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “How could I forget that, with you being a horse trainer and all? Yes, there are some equestrian things.”
“Awesome. I like the sound of this so far. How many people will be there?”
Liz shrugged, “No idea. A few hundred, maybe more.”
“Really? That many? I thought there would be like twenty or so.”
“Ha, no,” Liz laughed. “Some events are small like that, but the biggest ones have thousands of people attending. The SCA is a worldwide organization.”
“Interesting. I didn't think it was that big since I've never heard of it before. How do they keep it all organized?”
“It’s broken into kingdoms. There are kingdoms all over the world and each is ruled over by kings and queens. Then, they are broken down into smaller duchies and such.”
“Wait, you have kings and queens? How do I not know about this? How do you get to be the king?” Emily asked.
“Win a crown tournament or something.” Liz waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t really understand how all that works. I just go for the archery and fencing.”
“Sweet. I can't wait to check this out! I want to be a duchess.” Emily bounced happily in her seat. “Duchess Emilia has a nice ring to it,” she smiled. “So, how long until we get there?”
****
The ground trembled as the two armies charged each other and with a thunder-like crack, the two forces collided. A sea of spears boiled and rolled as the two sides fought for position. Weapons rose and fell, and bodies hit the ground as the tide of battle swirled, with Mike caught right in the middle of it.
The press of bodies was overwhelming, and the stink of sweat and metal filled his nose. Men shouted from all sides as the two forces ground together. Sweat ran into his eyes and his arms burned with fatigue as he fought desperately. Blows rained down in all directions and more men fell.
Quickly raising his shield, Mike blocked a spear thrust. But before he could counter, another spear stabbed towards his face. He deflected it with a swipe of his sword then started to step forward to engage the swordsman in front of him. But before he completed the move, he remembered his job was to defend, not attack. Pulling back, Mike rejoined the phalanx.
His company was holding the center and he, along with the row of other swordsmen, were to keep the spearmen behind them safe. So far, they were doing a good job, but Mike didn't think the left flank would hold out much longer because they were losing people too fast.
