Table of Contents
ALSO BY HARRY TURTLEDOVE
Ruled Britannia
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Days of Infamy
End of the Beginning
Opening Atlantis
The United States of Atlantis
Liberating Atlantis
BY HARRY TURTLEDOVE WRITING AS
DAN CHERNENKO
The Chernagor Pirates
The Bastard King
The Scepters Return
AUDUBON IN ATLANTIS
Science fiction writers often read a wide variety of books. I was going through one on the ecology of New Zealand before humans arrived when it noted that New Zealand had drifted away from Australia about 85 million years ago. It occurred to me to wonder what would have happened if the same thing had happened to a large chunk of eastern North America at more or less the same time. Suppose that chunk had no native mammals except for bats. Suppose the Native Americans never found itit would be in the middle of the Atlantic, after all. When Europeans came along, theyd almost certainly call an immense island right there Atlantis....
Delicate as if walking on eggs, the riverboat Augustus Caesar eased in alongside the quay at New Orleans. Colored roustabouts, bare to the waist, caught lines from the boat and made her fast. The steam whistle blew several long, happy blasts, telling the world the sternwheeler had arrived. Then black smoke stopped belching from the stacks as the crew shut down the engines.
The deck stopped quivering beneath John Audubons feet. He breathed a silent sigh of relief; for all the time hed spent aboard boats and ships, he was not a good sailor, and knew he never would be. Any motion, no matter how slight, could make his stomach betray him. He sigheda long sea voyage still lay ahead of him.
Edward Harris came up and stood alongside him. Well, my friend, were on our way, he said.
Its truewe are. And we shall do that which has not been done, while it may yet be done. As Audubon always did, he gathered enthusiasm when he thought about the goal and not the means by which he had to accomplish it. His English was fluent, but heavily flavored by the French that was his birthspeech. Even with an accent, he would have spoken more mushily than he liked; he was nearer sixty than fifty, and had only a few teeth left. Before long, Ed, either the great honkers will be gone from this world or I will.
He waited impatiently till the gangplank thudded into place, then hurried off the Augustus Caesar onto dry land, or something as close to dry land as New Orleans offered. He was a good-sized manabout five feet tenwith shoulder-length gray hair combed straight back from his forehead and with bushy gray side whiskers that framed a long, strong-nosed face.
Men and women of every color, wearing everything from rags to frock coats and great hoop skirts, thronged the muddy, puddled street. Chatter, jokes, and curses crackled in Spanish, French, and English, and in every possible mixture and corruption of those tongues. Audubon heard far more English than he had when he first came to New Orleans half a lifetime earlier. It was a French town then, with the Spanish dons hanging on where and as they could. Times changed, though. He knew that too well.
Not far from the Cabildo stood the brick building that housed the Bartlett Line. Edward Harris following in his wake, Audubon went inside. A clerk nodded to them. Good day, gentlemen, he said in English. A generation earlier, the greeting would surely have come in French. How may I be of service to you today?
I wish to purchase passage to Atlantis for the two of us, Audubon replied.
Certainly, sir. The clerk didnt bat an eye. The Maid of Orleans sails for New Marseille and Avalon on the west coast in... let me see... five days. If you would rather wait another week, you can book places on the Sea Queen for the east. She puts in at St. Augustine, St. Denis, and Hanover, then continues on to London.
We can reach the interior as easily from either coast, Harris said.
Just so. Audubon nodded. We would have to wait longer to leave for the east, the journey would be longer, and I would not care to set out from Hanover in any case. I have too many friends in the capital. With the kindest intentions in the world, they would sweep us up in their social whirl, and we should be weeks getting free of it. The Maid of Orleans it shall be.
You wont be sorry, sir. Shes a fine ship. The clerk spoke with professional enthusiasm. He took out a book of ticket forms and inked his pen. In whose names shall I make these out?
I am John James Audubon, Audubon replied. With me travels my friend and colleague, Mr. Edward Harris.
Audubon? The clerk started to write, then looked up, his face aglow. The Audubon? The artist? The naturalist?
Audubon exchanged a secret smile with Edward Harris. Being recognized never failed to gratify him: he loved himself well enough to crave reminding that others loved him, too. When he swung back toward the clerk, he tried to make the smile modest. I have the honor to be he, yes.
The clerk thrust out his hand. As Audubon shook it, the young man said, I cannot tell you how pleased I am to make your acquaintance, sir. Mr. Hiram Bartlett, the chairman of the shipping line, is a subscriber to your Birds and Viviparous Quadrupeds of Northern Terranova and Atlantisthe double elephant folio edition. He sometimes brings in one volume or another for the edification of his staff. I admire your art and your text in almost equal measure, and that is the truth.
You do me too much credit, Audubon said, in lieu of strutting and preening like a courting passenger pigeon. He was also glad to learn how prosperous Bartlett was. No one but a rich man could afford the volumes of the double elephant folio. They were big enough to show almost every bird and most beasts at life size, even if he had twisted poses and bent necks almost unnaturally here and there to fit creatures onto the pages Procrustean bed.
Are you traveling to Atlantis to continue your researches? the clerk asked eagerly.
If fate is kind, yes, Audubon replied. Some of the creatures I hope to see are less readily found than they were in years gone by, while Ihe sighedI fear I am less well able to find them than I was in years gone by. Yet a man can do only what it is given to him to do, and I intend to try.
If theyre there, John, youll find them, Harris said.
God grant it be so, Audubon said. What is the fare aboard the Maid of Orleans?
A first-class cabin for two, sir, is a hundred twenty livres, the clerk said. A second-class cabin is eighty livres, while one in steerage is a mere thirty-five livres. But I fear I cannot recommend steerage for gentlemen of your quality. It lacks the comforts to which you will have become accustomed.
Ive lived rough. Once I get to Atlantis, I expect I shall live rough again, Audubon said. But, unlike some gentlemen of the Protestant persuasionhe fondly nudged Edward HarrisI dont make the mistake of believing comfort is sinful. Let us travel first class.