Alternia Comics

In swept the Iron Chancellor, sporting a stiff, stylish suit with plenty of medals and an entourage of uniformed guards behind him. Templeton was sure the guards were present specifically for the problem presented by a room full of eccentrics, but nothing - not the guards, the grandiose room, or even the medals he wore - none of it
seemed able to add or detract from the power that Otto Von Bismarck exhuded with every quick, purposeful step and the glower in his steely eyes that said, "I am in charge," and knew it. He passed through this collected brilliance as a lion passes through his pride, and not one eye in the room watched anything but him.

The guards filed in to points both strategic and ceremonial as Von Bismarck took a podium set at the end of the room opposite the door. Some of the attendants already present started setting up a screen and projector next to him as he began.

"Ladies and gentlemen - gathered minds of Germany - the empire is united."

This incited some applause.

"But we must never rest on laurels. Never settle, for should we pause to consider ourselves grand, others will surpass us. This is why I have brought you here today." He gestured back to the doors he had just come through, and everyone turned to see a man in traditional Russian clothing - a knee-length coat of dark green belted at the waist and low-topped leather boots - with dark brown hair pulled back into a tail and a generous beard. "This is Dimitri Indelkrinsk." The Russian started into the room as the Chancelor spoke. His pace reminded Templeton of Elson's, measured and poised, but with a difference that was hard to define; a lethargy of movement that did not match the intensity of the man's face. He was smiling, just barely, a charming thing that Templeton imagined worked quite well on the ladies. "Some of you may know him. For those who do not, he is an expatriated Russian adventurer, and has made a discovery that will ensure Germany's place in the world."

Von Bismarck shook Indelkrinsk's hand firmly as he approached, then stood by as the Russian turned to address the gathering.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to be among your distinguished company." He spoke German almost perfectly. "It is good to see old friends and to have the opportunity to make new ones. Even better, however, is the opportunity which I know present to you." Indelkrinsk signaled the attendants, who dimmed the lights and started up the projector. Everyone now found themselves looking at an image of a man sporting a strange-looking backpack with open nozzles pointing down. Templeton recognized it as a personal flight device invented by Commander Korsner.

"Commander Korsner, my old friend. This marvelous device - why did you never make more than one?"

The Commander harumphed around his pipe. "Never could get the thing to work more than a few minutes. Couldn't get enough power."

"Indeed." At the Russian's signal, the image changed to one of a simple-looking wooden box that might have seemed ordinary but for the hole exposing a row of fluid-filled glass tubes, row of buttons, and a slot with a small stub of paper sticking out. "Here we have the Baroness VanBruggen's life-sign detector. Madame, why is this sitting forgotten on your shelf?"

The Baroness smiled with fond but disappointing memories on her face. "That device should be in every hospital and every explorer's kit in the world. It would show us the workings of living bodies in ways that would vastly improve medical science, but I could not find a way to get the chemicals to the proper temperature without melting the rest of the device."

The image changed again. This one showed a large metal cylinder with all manner of dials, pipes, wires, and controls, all on a wheeled platform. "Finally, this is a picture of Herr Rigel's attempt at a portable, instantaneous alloy producing machine. Tell me, Herr Rigel, why did you give up on this promising project?"

Herr Rigel sighed. He removed and wiped his glasses as he spoke. "A simple and frustrating problem, actually. The energy levels were never high enough. Producing the power necessary would have needed a power source as large as a foundry and five times as expensive, and then there would be no point."

Sir Linden spoke up indignantly, "Yes, Herr Indelkrinsk, we have all had failures. Is this presentation meant to humiliate us?"

"Forgive me, Sir Linden," said the Russian. "No, that is not my intention. I merely wish to remind you all of the possibilities denied to you because of simple limitations in the advancement of energy sources." He looked to the attendant. "Skip ahead."

Five more images flashed quickly by. Templeton recognized one of his own: a weapon that would fire beams of energy and would never need to be reloaded. He began to see where this was going; his problem, too, had been the lack of a suitably significant energy source - without one, the bolts dissipated after only a few feet. The attendant stopped when the projector showed a strange, rectangular box of a dark, shiny brown metal. Its surface was an endlessly intricate pattern, and through in Templeton saw that it was really a series of boxes, all fitted within one another, each with the same fascinating, swirling designs.

"You see, I think I can help you solve that problem."