The Pipes of Columbia

The Pipes of Columbia by Jay Barnson

"The Pipes of Columbia" is a first-person detective story set during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, narrated by Allen Murphy, a former Bureau of Detectives officer now working as a night watchman at the exposition. Murphy is approached at dawn by Emma Ellsworth, a widow from Utah Territory who presents herself as a married businesswoman. She explains that her late husband's company manufactured a shipment of specialized organ pipes from Deseret Steel, a unique alloy produced in Salt Lake City, under commission from a man named Allister Smith. The pipes were intended for demonstration at the Fair, paired with a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Smith never appeared to collect the shipment or complete payment, and after Emma arranged warehouse storage, the pipes were stolen overnight. The two Mormon men guarding them were found unconscious, reeking of whiskey they claim never to have drunk. Murphy accepts the case for a substantial retainer and potential bonus. Investigation reveals the telegram confirming the delivery had been sent by Patrick Prendergast, a dim-witted Irish newspaper distributor with delusions of importance. Murphy tracks the stolen crates to a cottage near the Midway Plaisance, where Prendergast confronts him at gunpoint. During this encounter, Prendergast reveals that Smith's business partner, Dominic King, has taken over the enterprise. Murphy knows King well. As a city detective, Murphy had gathered evidence implicating King in fraud and murder connected to the 1886 Haymarket Riot, but was forced out of the police force before he could act on it, pressured by superiors whom King had cultivated through gifts and influence. Murphy disarms Prendergast and makes his way to the Midway, where he discovers Emma already seated with King at a tea garden. King, a former stage mesmerist, has fashioned a whistle from Deseret Steel using design specifications derived from Emma's own published acoustic research. The whistle produces harmonic chords capable of lowering inhibitions and implanting suggestions in listeners. King uses it on Murphy and Emma, leaving them with no memory of a prolonged and very public display of romantic affection that gets them both expelled from the fairgrounds. Outside the park, Murphy and Emma piece together what happened and what King intends. The stolen pipes are being installed in the steam-powered automated organ at the Ferris wheel, which can project sound across enormous distances to thousands of fairgoers from around the world. King plans to use the organ to mesmerize massive crowds, implanting suggestions that could persist for days or longer after visitors return home, effectively building a far-reaching network of compliant subjects to carry out his version of justice against those he holds responsible for the Haymarket bombing. Murphy and Emma slip back into the Midway. Murphy confronts the workmen completing the pipe installation, but King appears and uses his whistle to incapacitate Murphy again. Emma retrieves the dropped revolver and holds King at gunpoint, firing a warning shot and breaking Murphy free of the mesmerism through direct physical contact and force of will. King retreats by grabbing hold of a passing Ferris wheel car and climbing the structure. Murphy pursues him across the cars near the apex, over two hundred feet in the air. King uses the whistle again, commanding passengers to pry Murphy loose from the rail. Emma saves Murphy by playing the organ pipes at random, filling the air with harsh, discordant noise that disrupts the mesmerism. Murphy kicks the whistle free from King's hand, and in the struggle, King loses his grip and falls, striking the wheel's central axle and then the platform below with fatal force. In the aftermath, officials quietly suppress the affair to protect the Fair's reputation. Prendergast is treated as a victim of mesmerism rather than a criminal. The Deseret Steel whistle is dented and rendered useless. Murphy, now unemployed and unwelcome in Chicago, arranges to have the organ pipes returned to Emma in Salt Lake City and suggests he may accompany them. Emma, who has by this point revealed her widowhood and her own primary authorship of the acoustic research behind the pipes, bids Murphy farewell with a handshake rather than the kiss both acknowledge they are still tempted toward, and boards the train home.

By Jay Barnson · First published 2018 · Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Mystery · 9,779 words

First lines

The dawn hour was my favorite time of day during the World's Fair. The sun broke over Lake Michigan, silhouetting the great airships moored over the harbor, glinting off the colossal steel and wood structure of the Ferris wheel on the Midway Plaisance, and breathing life into the White City occupying Jackson Park. Of course, for the fairground's night watchmen like me, the dawn held special significance. It meant our shift was nearly over, and soon it would be time to get breakfast and some sleep.

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science fiction · fantasy · adventure · mystery · alternate world · underground civilization · ancient technology · exploration · political intrigue · dystopian society · survival · coming of age

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The Pipes of Columbia is listed on Textopian as a short story by Jay Barnson, dated 2018 CE.

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