First Gear - Eve Langlais

Prologue

Standing at the apex of the mountain, the first prophet, the voice of the Mecha Gods, creator of their bible, lifted his face—that of a man in his prime despite the generations he’d outlasted—into the cool, clean breeze blowing past his cheeks. His eyes closed, and he basked in the warm sunlight. Something the entire world could now appreciate again.

Because he’d done it.

Saved his planet.

Kept his people from dying out.

With the help of the Mecha Gods, they’d been gifted a second chance, and he’d made the most of it.

And now, as his gears began to finally slow, Jool Ius’verrn couldn’t help but remember how it used to be. How close they’d come to extinction.

One wild decision changed history because Jool found salvation and went on to establish a religion that would keep his people safe.

1

“You need to send an expedition into the mountains.” No need to name the impassable cluster that jutted from the ground in jagged spines and covered more a third of the planet. It remained largely unexplored due to the danger and the lack of interest, but they might provide the only chance to survive.

The bureaucrat sitting behind a desk made of hammered metal, its surface pockmarked, leaned back in his seat, which uttered an ominous groan. The man sighed as he tucked his hands over a belly still round. He didn’t yet have the gaunt appearance the rest of the populace sported. Those working for the machine of government received perks—and bribes—that no one else enjoyed.

“Not this again, Jool. We already talked about your plan to send an expedition. The answer was, and still is, no.”

“You need to re-evaluate.”

Geoff, a man Jool had come to know by name he visited him so often, sighed. “No, I don’t. There’s nothing there. Those mountains are incapable of sustaining life.”

“Not true. There are creatures that live in them. I’ve seen firsthand accounts.”

“Perhaps there was a time that was true, but the world has changed.”

And not for the better.

Industrialization brought so many wonderful innovations. Machines that could power them along at high speeds, making travel and trade manageable. However, it came at a price. Waste multiplied a hundredfold, despoiling the land, the waterways. There was an acknowledgement and yet, at the same time, an apathy. There was no clear answer on how to stop it. This was life now. Soon it would lead to death. A fact that kept playing over and over in his head with ominous music.

Giving in wasn’t something Jool wanted to do. “We need to be sure. Send someone to the mountains. A soldier, a scientist.”

“Why don’t you go?”

The very idea. Jool sputtered. “I’m a historian, not an explorer.”

“I don’t know what you expect from me, Jool. We can spare no one, not with the discontent brewing.”

The populace grumbled as food became scarce and hope faded.

“What if there is something in the mountains that can save us?”

“Don’t you think we’d know if there existed a solution? Don’t you think we’ve been looking?”

Jool almost said something snarky, like only if it was right in front of him, but he held his tongue. For the past year, he’d been trying to get someone to take him seriously, yet whenever he mentioned the mountains, a strange stubbornness emerged. An unwillingness to explore every option.

If he were a man to believe in magic, he’d think there was a curse forcing people to ignore the one place they’d not sought an answer.

“We have to do something,” Jool insisted.

“There is something you can do.” Geoff leaned forward. “Leave the city and don’t look back. You didn’t hear this from me, but there’s little time left.”

“But the news reports—”

“Have been lying. The smog is covering over ninety percent of the planet. The sickness pervading the land itself, poisoning everything, is spreading.”

“Sickness?” he scoffed. “It’s a result of the pollution we failed to rein in.”

Geoff shrugged. “Call it what you want. It’s done. Best estimates give us a year before the surface is completely uninhabitable. A few months at worst.”

Months?

The news deflated him. He’d run out of time.

Slouching, Jool emerged from the government building, hands in his pockets. He was immediately hit by the thick smog filling the busy street that played host to a steady stream of vehicles belching smoke.

So many wonders invented in the last two centuries, but progress brought pollution. It tightened the lungs and tainted the breath of just about everyone on the planet. It led to lower birth rates and decimated their senior population. Yet that was only the beginning