India Rose & The Eternals - The Fountain Of Youth Chronicles Vol. 1

Chapter 19: Magistrates, Governors and Inventors

New York Harbor and Ellis Island, 3:00 P.M, 83rd Day Of Spring

Finn stared hard at the skyline outside the bars of the cell as the morning fog lifted over the harbor, and forms began to appear. Bianka, Olaf, and the Head Steward had chosen to take advantage of the various crates and barrels inside the cell to sit upon. But Finn paced back and forth across the small, cage-like structure on the back of the patrol boat. He stopped his frantic pacing when the city skyline started appearing through the fog.

"It's quite something, isn't it, my boy?" said the Head Steward, who was reclining on a crate in a decidedly relaxed fashion. "It just keeps getting more and more grand each time I come here. I swear, I'm only away for six months or so, and the number of buildings doubles in that time. They're like giant, metal rabbits with the way they're spreading across Manhattan and the other sides of the rivers."

"Hmm, the last time I was in this neck of the woods, you Brits were still running the show," said Bianka. She was staring directly ahead at one of their captors, who was currently wearing her best hat. He had it cocked to one side in a way that a child might wear a hat for play. Bianka winced each time a spray of salt water washed over the hat.

The Head Steward let out a quiet laugh. "I've been gallivanting around with you "Eternals" for nigh on thirty years now, and I don't think I'll ever get used to you saying things like that. Did you see much action in the great American rebellion against dear old King George? He was a right madman he was, running around London in his pajamas and all."

Bianka spun around with mirth in her eyes. "My dear friend, perhaps another twenty years with us, and you will realize that we never call ourselves that. It is a misnomer of the highest order!"

The Head Steward held up his hands in mock surrender and laughed. "Okay, Mum. I'll never utter that word again. But just so's you know, that term gets thrown around a lot with the folks I've been associating with lately."

"I know, my dear Steward," said Bianka dryly. "And so help me, I'm going to make it my mission to make that foolish epithet disappear."

"Why are we talking about this when there's so much at stake!" exclaimed Finn, turning to face the two conversationalists. His tone was so sharp that Olaf, who was sitting next to a crate, hid his head in his jacket.

There was no immediate response to this outburst, and all that could be heard was the dull roar of the outboard motor and the sound of the sea crashing against the hull of the patrol boat as it headed to shore.

Finally, the Head Steward spoke.

"I have heard tales, young man, of you facing more perilous scrapes than our current predicament. Surely you have been in tighter spots than this?"

Finn turned back to look out the bars to the harbor before him.

"Yes, but not with so much at stake. Master Leonardo and Bianka here have put at risk the very secret our organization has been trusted to guard. And now, we're in this blasted cage going who-knows-where, and that crate could easily fall into the wrong hands."

Turning back to Bianka, with fire in his eyes, he exclaimed, "Have you learned nothing from history!? That whole war here in the states might have been avoided if Master Leo had focused his time and energy on making things to improve lives, not weapons of destruction!"

It was now Bianka's turn to stand up with fire in her eyes.

"Young man! My husband was once young, too. He let his mind wander to anywhere it pleased, and he recorded the results. He was tasked to build some of those weapons in defense of his city. Let me tell you...those who would conquer it were worth fending off! If you want to see inventions, then you should have lived through the Inquisition! There were such inventions of human cruelty, that if I live five hundred more years, I will never see the like of. Yes, Leonardo designed some fearsome weapons. But he also brought countless good things into this world. You know that."