Steam City Pirates (16 page)

Therefore, we waited for him to complete his dream, and we all knew we were part of it because all of us were on the path to becoming half an angel, or maybe even an entire one, as long as our cause was just and noble. Seth’s young brow rose in astonishment. His face grew red with either anger or fear, and he flew up into the air from the experience of what he saw.

“What did you see, boy?” I asked when he came back down.

“I saw the place where you will meet the Master Dreamer. I don’t know how far into the future it is, but I do know it is not a location in this city. The Master Dreamer was talking to you, explaining how he dreamed. He said his mind could expand to encompass the entire universe, and this was just one universe. There were other universes floating around in his mind, like soap bubbles, ready to be entered of his own free will. This is what I saw inside his mind: the tapestry of his mental photos showed visions from all over the universe, not just the earth’s space and time. There were depictions of frozen moments that were like visions of lucid dreams. One shot was a territory with floating islands in the clouds, whereupon thousands of robotic beings marched, collecting bundles of what looked like plasma inside their mandibles. Another visualization came from a world where walls rose up from the land, and between the walls there were thousands of insects riding mechanical vehicles, to and fro between them, as they were obviously the dominant species in this section of the cosmos. Only two dreams were from a recognizable place and time on Earth. One showed a town square in Europe, possibly in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, with carriages and horses, women in flowing gowns parading down the avenues, men in top hats, smoking huge pipes, collected together as they discussed something inside a tavern. Another scene was possibly from the 1950s, as there were adolescent girls wearing skirts with pictures of dogs sewn upon them, and hair was arranged like the hives of bees, laughing and dancing to devices poised at their ears. Behind them, standing on the corner, were boys with slick black hair and pompadours hanging over their foreheads, like symbols of their carefree lives.”

“What does this all mean?” I asked.

“He then told you that you must defeat him in battle as you both race through these different universes in your time machines. You shall both have the same weapon, a device that would stop a human’s spiritual advancement so that this person is sent back to the exact moment when the first Homo erectus raises himself from his knuckles and begins to walk with pride. The loser of your battle will become that first human! You will never see the advances of science or the miracles of medicine. You will never see a single dream of your own imagination come true. You will be back to the beginning as the first thinking man who sees his own form in the reflection of the light upon water and asks himself, ‘Why am I here?’”

“And what does the winner receive?” Becky asked.

“I wasn’t shown that part,” said Seth, and he cast his eyes down. “I only see what they give me,” he added.

“I can now see that my future has even more excitement in it than my mother could ever dream. I just hope we can solve our present puzzle, so I can live to meet this Master Dreamer,” I said.

Bessie spoke a line from Poe’s poem, “O God! Can I not grasp them with a tighter clasp? Patrick, you must use your reason before you attempt to visit the sand on the beach. Go to bed and dream like a normal man.”

“No, Bessie. I shall never dream the same way again,” I said, and we all turned in for the night.

Chapter 7: Wherein Our Tale Reaches an Exciting Movement onto the Next Level

The months continued in 1868, until it was soon November. We had not returned to the Italianate mansion on Fifth Avenue, despite the experience I had with the tabernacle dreamer. We were determined to rely upon our little
mazikeen’s
ability to see into the future and tell us what lie ahead. Why did I believe in this boy’s predictions rather than common sense or the collected wisdom of my friends? Was it simply because Seth was the only person to verify my experience in that house? This was partly the reason. However, it was his prophesy that I would go to the next level to meet this “Master Dreamer” that made me focus upon a different course of investigation.

I discussed this fact at length with Doctor Adler one night when we had no clues to go on, and all we were seeing around New York was the gradual increase in steam-powered inventions. We often discussed the reality of this growing organization’s reach into the community. Frankly, the development of their industries and the sale of their inventions were bringing a new optimism to our citizens. New Yorkers were able to transport themselves much faster around town, their homes were being heated by the miles of pipes being constructed throughout the buildings, and there was not a single instance of a weapon being used or a threat being given once to any person by the Society or its members.

I spoke to the rabbi over a Thanksgiving dinner we were celebrating inside our sanctuary in the bottom of the temple. Ever since I was the one who was singled out by the Vicereine of the World Scientific Advancement Society for Progress my presence inside the Emanu-El basement was required, but I told the others in our group they need not stay there. Doctor Adler was sympathetic to my plight, and he was sharing some of the meal he had shared with his congregants.

“Why should I believe in Seth, Doctor? His visions are the most fantastic and alarming events I have ever heard described. Could it be he is cursed in some way with this ability?”

“Mister O’Malley, our scriptures tell stories about reluctant heroes who are called upon to do something important. They resist this calling at first, as it seems fantastical and impossible to them, just as your pursuit of this Master Dreamer seems unreal and unfathomable to you. Jonah was called to go to Nineveh to preach to the city so it would not be destroyed, but he refused at first and was thrown overboard at sea and swallowed by a giant fish. This was Jonah’s
sheol
. This word in Hebrew means ‘grave, pit or other abode of the dead’. You were in your
sheol
inside the Society’s tabernacle. This was why Missus Mergenthaler was unable to see you. It is your calling to accomplish greater things,” Doctor Adler said, picking up a forkful of potato kugel and putting it into his mouth.

“All right. Seth is my angel, and I can understand that fact. In my religion, we believe each of us is appointed a guardian spirit to assist us. Except Seth is not a complete angel. He is only half. He can die, just as I can die. We are not biblical characters, rabbi. We are flesh and blood. Therefore, when Seth tells me his interpretations of his visions, how do I know if he is telling me from his angelic or perfect point of view or from his human or imperfect point of view?” I wanted to know this because the decisions we would make could hinge upon whether or not Seth’s vision was correct.

“The only perfect vision for humanity is hindsight. Decisions made in the present are always subject to error. The Creator of all universes knows everything and is infallible. Even His angels are subject to his commands. Since we have a very limited perspective, we need to always proceed with caution and ask for guidance,” Doctor Adler pointed out.

“Why did you get involved with the Mergenthaler family in the first place?” I was meaning to ask that question for some time. This was a good opportunity to do so.

“When this family came to America, I got to know them right away. Arthur Mergenthaler was a genius, but it was his insistence that he and his son were
mazikeen
that provoked my interest. I had never seen one of these entities in the flesh, but I have always kept an open mind when it comes to spiritual matters. I was also called to the rabbinical service. I did not go willingly, as my father was an atheist. We never followed any of the dietary laws of
kashrut
or kept any of the holidays—even on the high holy days of Passover and
Yom Kippur
. My calling came in Germany. I was walking past the village synagogue one day, and I heard a voice begging me to enter. I believed right away that it was the voice of my Maker, so I entered. There was a very old rabbi who was the teacher there, and he told me, ‘I have been waiting for you to come to replace me,’ and thus I began my training. My spiritual love grew so much that I decided to open the temple to those who did not strictly follow the laws. In fact, I was able to get together with other rabbis, and we made a conscious decision to rebel against the Conservatives who believed in the literal interpretation of the Torah,” Doctor Adler explained.

“Literal? Who can believe anything as vague and symbolic as the Bible is the literal truth?” This discussion was getting into my major objection with religion. It was one thing to see the stories as literary lessons from which one may learn psychological or practical applications to our own experiences. It was a quite different thing to believe each story was to be followed as a commandment and taken as a literal fact.

“Yes, and the major division came about when we decided that Jews did not have to go back to the Holy Land, Palestine, to establish the Temple again in order to atone for our sins and fulfill the word of our God,” said Doctor Adler, eating more kugel.

“What is it you do believe?” I asked, picking up a turkey leg. “You must have taken some kind of political stand, if I get your meaning correctly,” I added, ripping off some of the meat from the bone. It was quite delicious.

“Reform Jews conceive of the destiny of Israel as not bound up in the return to Palestine, and as not involving national political restoration under a Messianic king with the Temple rebuilt and the sacrificial service reinstituted. It is true, many of the commandments of the Torah cannot be executed by non-Palestinian Israel. Yet, despite this inability to conform to the Law, Israel is not under sin. It is not in exile. Its dispersion was a necessary experience in the realization and execution of its Messianic duty. It is not doomed to wait for the miraculous advent of the Davidic Messiah. Israel itself is the Messianic people appointed to spread by its fortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth over all the earth, to be an example of rectitude to all others,” he explained.

“What does ‘rectitude’ mean, Doctor?” I asked.

“It means the goodness or morality that one displays wherever one happens to live. Sacrifices and sacerdotalism as bound up with the national political conception of Israel's destiny are not indispensable elements of the Jewish religion. On the contrary, they have passed away forever with all the privileges and distinctive obligations of an Aaronic priesthood. Every Jew is a priest, one of the holy people and of a priestly community appointed to minister at the ideal altar of humanity. The goal of Jewish history is not a national Messianic state in Palestine, but the realization in society and state of the principles of righteousness as enunciated by the Prophets and sages of old. This is what we Reform Jews believe,” explained the rabbi.

I was finally assured of his logic and good nature, although I still believed in the Holy Trinity. I did not trust any person who fanatically adhered to a dogma which excluded others by its very principles.

“Thank you for your explanation, Rabbi,” I said. “When did you first discover that Seth was a
mazikeen
?”

“The first day that his father was kidnapped Seth came to my office. He played the chocolate game with Missus Schwartz, and then he knocked on my door. When I asked him what he wanted, he told me his father would be all right. He said his father was a
mazikeen
just like he was. I asked him how that was so, and he promptly disappeared right there in my office.” Doctor Adler’s voice was matter-of-fact and calm.

“As we now have seen him do so well,” I said.

“Yes, and when he reappeared, I knew I had met my first spiritual being. I have been a believer and protector of Seth and his father ever since that day,” Doctor Adler explained. “We must not see his visions as messages from God, however,” he added, frowning.

“I understand,” I said. “No matter how amazing or insistent he is, I must realize it could be his human side telling me the story.”

“That is correct. You will have your own path, and you must not stray from it. Your expertise is logic and reason, and you must use these talents in order to solve the puzzles set before you,” Doctor Adler concluded, and he pushed back from the table and stood up. “I have enjoyed this Thanksgiving discussion, Detective O’Malley. I hope you can now go forward more assured in your thinking.”

I did not believe my thinking could be more “assured,” as these times we were living were not very practical and logical. I knew I had to proceed to look for the clues that could lead me to this group and their place of refuge, so I decided not to don my Reynolds disguise and go out into the streets of New York as myself. This was where I had always found my answers before, and this was where the new age of steam power was dawning for all of us.

The WSASP (yes, I decided to use an acronym for the World Scientific Advancement Society for Progress, as it had become part of my regular parlance) was all over New York City. Some of the citizens who had refused to use the new devices called them the WASP. One could stroll down any street and see either the inventions of WSASP or hear about the influence of this new technology on the people themselves. Not since Tammany Hall had come to power had any single organization made such a marked impression upon the city.

In fact, the citizens became so enamored by all the technical innovations that they started to behave with an almost fanatic bias toward anything with the WSASP label. New Yorkers were getting up in the morning and dining at the steam-powered breakfast nook. Coffee, tea, bacon and eggs, toast and cereal could all be cooked, assembled and handed out to waiting plates from the mechanical arms powered from the main hydraulic engine. This main unit also served to heat the house, clean the laundry, wash the floor and the walls, and even give one a hot shower of water inside the bath.

The transportation inventions were all in use throughout the city. Steam-powered trolleys, trains, small boats, paddle wheelers, and automobiles, could be purchased or rented through the city’s public transportation system. In fact, in every vehicle created by WSASP, it had the Society’s insignia boldly displayed right under the New York City emblem. The Society had obviously made inroads with the Tammany Hall leaders.