The Exodus Conspiracy: An Old Testament Steampunk Adventure Read online

  The Exodus Conspiracy

  An Old Testament Steampunk Story

  © Paul Mannering 2014

  Moses sat on the slopes of Mount Hoeb and watched the sheep totter through the dried grass on their clockwork legs. He took pride in watching the sheep graze. Every mouthful of vegetation that they cropped from the rocky soil was ground into paste, then fermented in the glass tanks deep in the mechanical’s bellies. They drained the resulting fluid from the machines at camp and then shipped it to distant Khem. They used it as fuel to power the great machines that were building the empire of the Pharaohs. Of course, they would have you believe the machines were the creations of the Khemites - the people of the Nile, but Moses knew. Their mastery of machines was forged on the whipped backs of his fellow Israelites. It mattered little to the arrogant pharaohs; they even called the science of the Hebrews, Khemistry.

  Moses liked sheep, they did not ask anything of him and he was content to watch over them while they grazed. The peace and quiet gave him a chance to think. Thinking came easy to Moses, speaking his mind was more challenging. He liked to ponder things, sometimes for hours, speaking required quick thought and an agile tongue, Moses felt he lacked both, the words that were so clear in his mind became tangled in a stutter when he spoke.

  At the sound of a bell, he rose from the rock he was sitting on. One of the sheep had lost its balance and the spring work alarm on its underside was beating an alert against a brass cup. Climbing down the slope, he found the mechanical upside down, its legs still winding and grinding against the air.

  The sheptech crouched and switched the sheep off before heaving it back on to its feet and checking for damage. The mechanical creatures were more suited to flat ground, but the hunt for fuel meant they needed to be driven up the slopes of mountains and into rougher ground than suited them. The risks were higher and only the promise of punishment if the quotas were not met, kept the sheptechs grazing their flocks further every day.

  The sheep appeared to be fine so Moses slid a key into the beast’s head and wound it up. Then with a flick of a switch, it moved off, the steel jaws chomping as the head lowered and began to graze.

  Moses strolled among the other mechanicals in his flock, his people used to farm real sheep- living animals of flesh and wool. They provided everything, food and clothing woven from fine fabrics. Now all food came from the Khemites, produce enough fuel and they would pay you in bread and fish, though never lamb. They knew the Israelites revered lamb and used it in sacrifices to their God Yahweh. The Pharaohs who claimed they were the only true gods forbade worship of this god. The Israelites, who also called themselves Hebrews, worshipped in secret, praying for salvation from the yoke of Khem rule and an escape from the slavery that the Pharaohs inflicted upon Yahweh’s chosen people.

  The rage Moses felt about the oppression of his people made his head hurt and his tongue become even more tied in knots than usual. He would keep working with his father in law’s flock until, one day, someone stood up to lead Abraham’s people to freedom and Moses would join the exodus away from Khem.

  Far off in the distance the steam whistle sounded, the train from Khem would be here before nightfall. Unloading the few supplies the people had earned and loading up the tanks with liquid fuel, Moses hated that whistle and the slavery it represented.

  Gently guiding the leaders of the flock with a few taps of his stick, he worked the mechanicals higher up the slope. The gauges on their sides showed that most were only a half full and there were only a few hours of daylight left. What they would do when the grass was all gone and the last tree had been torn from the earth, Moses did not know. His people would starve first, and then the Khemites machines would grind to a halt. Their temples and pyramids would remain unfinished and the colossal trains that dragged massive stone blocks from the quarries to the construction sites would fall silent. When the grass was all gone the desert would come from the south, sweeping over all of civilization, burying the tombs and the idols. Only the windblown sand could scour the names of the pharaohs and their false gods from history. Moses hoped that God would look down on the Khemites then and laugh at their suffering.

  In the late afternoon one of the mechanical sheep malfunctioned. It remained on its feet, while the iron jaws clanged together and the creature’s head twisted around. Moses hurried over, the noise of gears grinding sounded bad, the repairs could take several days and who had time to spend in the workshop? Sparks flew from the keyhole in the sheep’s forehead, and then it shuddered.

  The smell of burning clockwork oil reached Moses’ nostrils - he swept off his cloak and nervously looked for patches of tinder igniting in the dry ground. Smoke curled from a nearby bramble and as Moses dashed forward to quench the first flames, the bush exploded in a surge of fire.

  “No, no, no!” Moses shouted at the bush, the flames would quickly spread. The grass was so dry that nothing would stop the fire until the entire mountain burnt to black ash.

  Beating at the bush with his cloak Moses tried to stamp out the roaring fire.

  MOSES! A voice boomed across the mountainside. MOSES! It bellowed again and the flames reached higher.

  “He-help m-m-me p-put out this fire!” Moses called to the unseen person hailing him. “Quickly!”

  The fire roared higher, taking on a shape that seemed brighter than the sun, eclipsed its light.

  MOSES, DO NOT FEAR THE FLAME.

  Moses hesitated, the smoke from the fire rose straight up, and the flames took on weird shapes, forming eyes and a face that glared and moved within the tempest.

  “Who are y-y-you?” he demanded of the voice in the fire.

  I AM WHO I AM, the voice thundered and the sky darkened. DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER. TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS. YOU STAND ON HOLY GROUND.

  Moses shielded his eyes against the fierce heat, kneeling to slip his sandals off as a giant figure formed in the heart of the fire.

  “Who are you?” he called, unable to look into the inferno.

  I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC AND THE GOD OF JACOB.

  The fire flared white-hot and Moses pressed his face into the dirt, fearing he would be burned alive or suffocated by the heat.

  I HAVE SEEN THE MISERY OF MY CHOSEN PEOPLE IN THE LAND OF KHEM. I HAVE HEARD THEM CRYING OUT FOR FREEDOM. THEY SHALL BE DELIVERED FROM THE HANDS OF THE PHARAOH. THEY WILL COME FORTH FROM KHEM AND INTO A NEW LAND. A GOOD AND SPACIOUS LAND. ONE FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY. THE LAND OF THE CAANITES, HITTITES, AMORITES, PERIZZITES, HIVITES AND JEBUSITES.

  “Lord!” Moses cried out to the figure in the burning bush, “W-who will lead us to this ne-ne-new land? Tell me so-so I may fa-fa-find them and f-follow them to exalt in your victory.”

  MOSES, YOU WILL GO TO THE LAND OF KHEM. TELL THE PHARAOH THAT YOU ARE THERE TO BRING MY PEOPLE, THE ISRAELITES OUT OF EGYPT.

  “Me?” Moses lifted his head. “But…but… me?” he said again.

  I WILL BE WITH YOU. WHEN YOU BRING MY PEOPLE OUT OF BONDAGE YOU WILL RETURN TO THIS MOUNTAIN AND WORSHIP ME HERE.

  “I cannot do this Lord! I am s-s-slow of speech and th-thah-thought. I am no leader of men. If I got to K-Khem and tell my brethren that the Go-God of our fathers has sent me to bring them out of ba-ba-bondage they will say, W-What is the name of this God you s-s-speak of? Wh-wha-what am I supposed to t-t-tell them?”

  I AM WHO I AM. TELL THE ISRAELITES HE WHO IS I AM HAS SENT ME TO YOU. GATHER THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL. TELL THEM THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS – THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, OF ISSAC AND JACOB – APPEARED TO ME AND SAID I HAVE HEARD YOUR PRAYERS AND SEEN YOUR SUFFE
RING. THE LORD GOD WILLS THAT THEY LEAVE KHEM FOR A NEW LAND, A GOOD AND SPACIOUS LAND. A LAND FLOWING-

  “I ge-get it,” Moses said to the bush. “But I c-c-cannot do this. I have a q-quo-uota to fill. If I abandon the m-ma-ma-mechanicals, my fa-family will starve.

  MOSES! The voice boomed from the flames, THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL WILL LISTEN TO YOU. TOGETHER YOU SHALL GO TO THE LORDS OF KHEM AND TELL THEM THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, HAS SPOKEN TO YOU. TELL PHARAOH TO ALLOW YOUR PEOPLE FREEDOM TO TRAVEL FOR THREE DAYS INTO THE WILDERNESS, AND THEN THEY SHALL MAKE SACRIFIC1ES TO THE LORD THEIR GOD.

  “Thank you Lord!” Moses cried out to the flames. “You w-will open the Pharaoh’s eyes so he may s-see the truth?”

  THE PHARAOH WILL NOT LET YOU GO. HE WILL NEED TO BE SHOWN THE POWER OF YOUR FAITH. THE POWER OF YOUR GOD. I WILL REACH OUT AND STRIKE THE KHEMITES WITH PLAGUES THAT WILL SHOW THEM MY PEOPLE MUST BE SET FREE.

  “And after that, he w-wa-will let my p-p-eople go?” Moses asked.

  I WILL ALSO MAKE THE KHEMITES GIVE UP THEIR SILVER AND GOLD TO THEIR ISRAELITE NEIGHBOURS. THEY WILL MAKE GIFTS OF CLOTHING FOR YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS, IN THIS WAY YOU WILL PLUNDER THE KHEMITES.

  “And after that, he w-will let my p-people go?” Moses asked again

  WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND? The burning bush demanded.

  “This? It is my Shh-shh-sheep Training And F-fur-fermentation F-fa-fa-facilitator,” Moses said.

  THROW DOWN YOUR STAFF, the bush said.

  “My staff is a delicate piece of machinery. I can’t-”

  THROW DOWN YOUR STAFF!

  The rod flew from Moses’ hand and clattered against the rocks. As it struck the ground, the staff flexed and writhed. As the terrified Moses looked on his stick curled and rose up in the shape of a hissing snake.

  NOW PICK IT UP

  “I re-really d-d-d-d-don’t think that-that is a go-good idea,” Moses crawled backwards from the hissing serpent.

  PICK IT UP BY THE TAIL

  Quaking in terror Moses reached out, the snake twisted on its tail and hissed up at him. Jerking his hand back, Moses recoiled.

  BY THE TAIL MOSES.

  Whimpering Moses reached out again, this time he snatched the snake up by its tail. Expecting to be bitten at any moment, he held the stick by its end at arm’s length.

  BY THIS SIGN THEY WILL KNOW THAT THE LORD HAS SENT YOU TO DO HIS BIDDING

  Moses doubted very much that the Pharaoh’s court would be impressed by a simple conjuring trick. However, the fiery voice left him in no doubt as to the choice he had in the matter.

  “Very well L-l-lord, I will go to the land of K-k-khem and demand that the Pha-pharaoh let your p-p-people go into the wilderness and mm-make sacrifice to you.”

  The voice in the burning bush spoke again, and Moses nodded his understanding. The wrath of Yahweh would be a terrible thing against the Khemites. Finally, the bush flared to an eye searing brilliance, and then the fire went out. Moses marveled that the bush appeared untouched by the flames that had so entirely consumed it.

  “Of c-course,” he muttered, “You c-c-could have just s-s-set a b-b-b-bush on fire in the Ph-pharaoh’s garden and t-t-told him yourself.”

  An ominous thunder rumbled and Moses scuttled back to his flock, adjusting the mechanicals’ mode to Home he walked behind them as they picked their way down the slope and followed the signal back to the beacon at camp.

  *

  As the sun went down, flocks of mechanical sheep ticked and clicked in their pens. Sheptechs like Moses moved them into position and drained their fermentation tanks into larger vessels. The tanker train for Khem waited at the siding and the sheptechs worked quickly, each wanting to receive their ration of food and get home to their tents to feed their families.

  Aaron stood with his arms folded, overseeing the proceedings. He watched Moses come hurrying through the stockyards until he stood doubled over and panting at his brother’s elbow.

  The brother listened while Moses gasped out his story. “You are telling me the Lord God, came to you and said, Go to Khem; demand the Pharaoh let my people go?” Aaron asked.

  “Well… y-yes,” Moses agreed. “He sp-spoke to m-me from a bah-bah-burning bush.”

  “Did you perchance, inhale a quantity of smoke from this burning bush before the Lord God spoke to you?”

  Moses sighed, “B-brother, you kn-n-know K-khem is the last p-place I w-wuh-wuh-want to go. B-b-b-but who can refuse the w-wha-word of Yahweh?”

  “Anyone who is not my foolish brother?”

  “I need you to c-c-c-ome with me Aaron. You have a g-g-gift of …uhh…”

  “Words? Charm? Diplomacy?” Aaron suggested.

  “Yes. That and m-m-more. Please, Yahweh showed me things that I c-c-c-cannot understand. We will duh-duh-demonstrate his power to the Pharaoh. The K-khemites will suffer the wrath of G-g-god and our p-puh-people shall be free of their bondage.”

  Aaron thought for a long moment, he did well out of the trade between the Hebrews and distant Khem. While those around him toiled as sheptechs, Aaron made his ration and coin as well by facilitating and organizing things. Life, for him at least, was good here.

  “You say there will be gold, silver and fine cloth? Gifts from the Khemites?” Aaron asked.

  “Yes, the Lord has said it will be so. M-m-m-more g-g-g-old and silver than you c-can imagine, all of it will be ours.”

  “When do we leave?” Aaron said.

  Moses headed off to explain things to his father in law; Aaron watched him go and shook his head. It was a cruel thing to do, involving his brother in an operation like this. The Elders of Zion had been adamant that for the plan to work, a figurehead with absolute belief in God was necessary to draw attention away from the subterfuge.

  “Boy,” Aaron summoned one of the messenger runners. “Go to Joseph in the red tent. Tell him that Operation Exodus is a go.” The boy nodded and sprinted off. Aaron sighed, three years of planning had gone into this, now all they needed was luck, perfect timing and, hopefully, God on their side.

  *

  Sneaking on to the train for Khem was simple enough. The long line of tanker cars had a steam driven locomotive at each end. The driver and his second simply walked down the half-mile length of train and climbed into the other engine for the return journey. For Moses and Aaron it was a less comfortable journey, the tops of the cylindrical tanks were wide enough for them to lie down, but once the train got up to speed, the night air took on a distinct chill. The train flew along the tracks, smearing the landscape into a blur and sweeping the tears from their eyes as they tried to look ahead.

  Moses awoke, stiff, chilled, and aching in the pre-dawn light, near him Aaron groaned.

  “If this proves to be some kind of dream you had, I shall personally see you flayed.”

  “W-wuh-we are in K-k-khem,” Moses said. The train had come to a halt in a vast web of wide tracks, trains carrying all manner of raw materials stood silent all around them. Further away, other trains moved and massive clockwork arms bent and lifted the loads from the cradle of the train cars. Wood, copper ore, iron ore, silver, gold, wool, stone, fuel and water. The land of Khem was insatiable. All of this wealth and energy poured into the country’s wide gullet and heaped up in the form of pyramids, temples and grand palaces.

  To Moses, who had not seen the land of Khem in several decades, the change wrought on the landscape was astounding. In the haze fogged distance giant men could be seen lifting stone blocks that weighed tens of tons and setting them down in carefully calculated patterns that would be the foundation for a new monument to the glory of the pharaohs.

  “Golems,” Moses said. “We should have k-kept them for ourselves, used them as w-w-warriors against the Khemites. N-now, they use our own p-pow-pow-power to make sl-slaves of us.”

  “Men of fire, baked clay, and steel,” Aaron replied. “The fire that burns within them burns within us all. If you can gain freedom for our people, then we can take back what is ours and the Khemites wi
ll have to build their mountains using the sweat of their own backs to wet the mortar.”

  “You sp-speak like a Rab-rabbi,” Moses said with a smile. “The Lord will ap-prove of you accompanying me on our qu-quh-quest.”

  “I hope he helps us win,” Aaron said. Together they climbed down from the train. Picking their way over the latticework of iron rails they slipped between stationary train cars and climbed an embankment. On the other side lay one of the great cities of Khem. Here they would find the Pharaoh and deliver the Lord God’s demands. He would listen and the great exodus to the Promised Land would begin within days.

  Covering their faces against the ever present smog and wind-blown ash of the many factories, they trudged through the narrow streets. High overhead rails of dull brass rang with the passing of light rail cars, carrying Khemites to their places of work and worship. Meanwhile the Hebrew slaves walked in the dust below them.

  The palace of the Pharaoh was the most obvious structure, with its view of the great Nile and the gleaming marble panels that lined every inch of its walls, making it shine in the morning sunlight like a great diamond resting in the sand.

  “How many of our people must spend each day scrubbing those tiles clean?” Aaron said, his keen eye making out the tiny figures inching their way up the surface in rough harnesses and woven ropes.

  “N-not for mu-mu-much longer,” Moses said with a grim determination in his voice. They walked through the slums where the Hebrew slaves lived close to the endless coming and going of the great trains. Women watched them from doorways with sullen eyes and dull expressions, while their children, bellies swollen with malnutrition sat listless and incurious in the dust.

  “H-how can they live like this?” Moses said as they picked their way through filth and swarms of flies.

  “Many do not live, at least not for long. The Israelites are God’s chosen people, they endure for they have faith.

  “We n-nuh-need to give them more,” Moses said, stepping around a forlorn collection of dog-gnawed bones that seemed child sized.