The Mechanical Turk, or All’s Well That Ends, by Tucker Cummings

For most citizens of the Anglo-Ottoman Empire, Unification Day had been a triumph; a cause for celebration late into the night. Photographers lined the streets of Constantinople, selling tintypes and albumen silver prints of the royal couple sharing their first kiss as husband and wife.

Queen Victoria had been resplendent in her white gown. Sultan Abdülmecid was every inch the modern monarch: formal dolman jacket, a top hat with a high horsehair plume, his mustache waxed into the most charming curvature. Their fingers intertwined, and with a single kiss, the two empires became one.

While the cameramen plied their trade on the streets, other vendors sold heart-shaped almond candies to small children, who raced through the streets with the sweets held high above their heads. Still other vendors offered up their own wedding day wares: commemorative clockwork dolls, specially-brewed teas, handkerchiefs embroidered with the new royal crest.

Miniature aerostats zipped through the crowds, blaring calliope renditions of “God Save the Queen” and the Mecidiye March. By the time the moon had fully risen, the streets of Constantinople were covered in drifts of confetti so deep that it would take three weeks to clear it.
But for for Helena al-Jazari, the royal wedding was a somber occasion. While revelers waited outside Topkapi Palace to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds, Helena sat by her father´s bedside and watched him die. In the moments before he passed, he took her cold hands into his own.

“Helena, you were not my natural-born daughter, but I have always thought of you as my own flesh and blood. I have taught you all I know, and I am certain you will make a fine physician. You have saved many lives, and will save many more, my beloved daughter. You have made me very proud.”

“But father, what will I do without you?”

“Lyilik yap denize at, balık bilmezse halik bilir,” he whispered. And then, he was gone.

#

Days later, after the funerary customs had run their course, Helena sat alone on the steps of her house. The Unification Day aerostats had begun to lose altitude, veering like drunkards through the empty streets. The nuptial blessings and songs played on, distorted but still recognizable. Helena stared at the sheaves of paper that blew about in the breeze. The man who had been like a father to her for all these years was dead. Who could tend to her if she should begin to fall apart? There was no brother, no uncle, no husband. No means of support, save what income she could earn with her father´s teachings.

Not all men were like her father, not even in this enlightened age of steam. A Turk and an English rose might wed, minutes of Parliament might be recorded in two tongues, but a woman still would find little respect if she styled herself a “doctor”. And her female form was not her only handicap.

A small boy scrambled down the street, tossing the afternoon mail against the doors of all the houses. A newspaper thumped at Helena´s feet. The headline read:

SULTAN FALLS ILL

MYSTERIOUS AILMENT STRIKES ON ROYAL WEDDING NIGHT

Helena´s eyes raced across the lines of text, distilling the meaning of the words and hoping that some phrase might give her a clue that would help her remedy his affliction.

Inside Helena, there was a steely resolve, a certainty of purpose that had eluded her ever since her father had fallen ill. As she trudged through piles of confetti on her way to the palace, her father´s last words echoed in her ears.

Lyilik yap denize at, balık bilmezse halik bilir. An old proverb. “Do good and throw it into the sea; if the fish don’t know it, God will.”

Her father had given her life, such as it was, for one reason: to do good work. With her skills, and her father´s medical equipment, Helena knew that she was more capable than any physician in the whole empire.

Her intent was fixed: she would use her father´s devices to cure the sultan. If she could do that, then she might finally be able to lead the life her father would have wanted for her.

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Stories in the Ether, Issue #4

A Digital Storytelling Anthology

$2.99

Stories in the Ether is a quarterly story telling anthology of fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction short stories from Nevermet Press. This issue features 11 compelling works including:

• The Gorgon’s Love, by Martin Shelby
• The Stars at Night, by JC Hemphill
• Big Heart, by David J. Fielding
• The Chase, by J. A. Gonzales
• A New Beginning, by Colin W. Campbell
• The Mechanical Turk, or All’s Well That Ends, by Tucker Cummings
• Shelled, by M. R. Williamson
• Exodus, by Eric Staggs
• The Emerald City, by Per Wiger
• The Occurrence of the Cavalry Horse, by Teel James Glenn
• Empyrean Skies, by David Gaither

With artwork by Paul Hagwood

$2.99 in ePUB for all eReaders from Lulu, DriveThruFiction.com, Smashwords, B&N Nook Bookstore, and Apple's iBookstore. Also available from Amazon for Kindle.