Medieval Machines

“It is said that he, like this Italian Galileo,

is in collusion with the Devil himself,
and that deep in the Abby he has a
fortified room where he conducts is
dark dealings under cover of night.”

“And has anyone a means of entrance to

this ancient Abby Marcus? Has anyone
seen this exchange taking place? Or is
this more rumors, more of the same
suspicious pointing of religious fingers,
that we, members of the scientific
community have tried so hard to
separate from the dealings of the
State?”

“It is said, Your Grace, that at these

times, strange hissing noises can me be
heard coming from this chamber

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accompanied by mutterings as if the
Doctor were speaking to himself or
another who never answers.”

Doctor Gasparin knew the world wasn’t

ready for this thing and it tortured his
soul. He felt like a person out of time, an
anachronism. Were it not for his
correspondence with Galileo Galilei, he
would have no place in the world to turn
with his ideas. Perhaps the loneliest
person alive!

He knew that the men of his day were

deluded by a false and over exaggerated
faith that was both antiquated and
fundamentally naieve. And yet he was
one individual against the universe. No
one would listen or believe. Worse, he
would be questioned about certain basic
aspects with regards to the functioning of his
device, and therein lay the greatest part of his
dilemma.

Worse still, he could be examined,

incriminated, condemned and burned at the
stake as a witch and heretic.

It were not so much for his instrument, the

telescope, that Galileo was persecuted, but for

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his theories and discoveries which resulted
from it’s development. The court could see,
plainly and with their own eyes, the practical
applications of such a device, though they
failed to see the greater, more profound
ramifications of what it would reveal.

None of this was true for Gasparin. His

machine could not even be comprehended.
Although it’s theoretical function had long been
the very foundation of his scientific thinking,
it’s development sprang entirely from the
conversations he and Galileo had had
regarding improvements and developments to
his new fangled instrument.

September, the Year of our Lord, 1610

My dearest Gasparin,

...I can only conclude, and you are the

only man able to follow this line of
thinking, that by aiming and controlling
light alone, may I penetrate deeper
into the heavens and more accurately
guide my eyes toward their greater
mysteries. I know not how to
accomplish this end, but have faith, my
good friend, that you must be close to
some such reckoning in your physical

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 research...

For now & for ever, Galileo Galilei

And so, after many such letters and much

quizzical thinking, Gasparin decided to embark
upon his work: the task. He would construct a
machine that served the purposes Galileo had
so often referred to, based upon the principles
he had been observing for half a lifetime, and
upon theories which had evolved from these
calculations. Materials were tantamount. First,
several obstacles would have to be
surmounted.

Then one night in the chambers of Lady

Lucile...:

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“My rubies! My rubies
have been stolen. They are gone! My rubies!”
Her shrieks and cries brought armed persons to
her chambers but no evidence was discovered
there. Ironically, these stones had been gifts of
the clergyman Marcus.

He regularly and covertly rewarded Lucile and

others for their cooperation in uncovering
information about plots that might serve to
undermine the interests of the church.

After all, This was the Inquisition and the

climate in Spain was volatile, at times ever so
much out of proportion. Consequently, the
greatest possible efforts would be redoubled in
an attempt to recover the stolen jewels. But for
the time being, no one had the slightest clue.

Meanwhile a fool, Flavio, in the employ of the

church, sneaked about late in the evening
spying. He would hang in the corridors, listen

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at the entrance and follow the Doctor as he
came and went. He watched the comings and
goings of Doctor Gasparin. He reported to
Marcus the strange hissing noises and a dozen
other happenings of suspicious nature that
went on there.

Toward the end of June, 1611, Flavio witnessed

several times, a mysterious red glow
emanating from the sealed chambers.
Shooting out and flickering through the top,
bottom and sides of the door jams.

The esoteric and clandestine work of Doctor

Gasparin was in full swing.

But under no circumstances could anyone

know, could anyone discover. Anyone. About
the pact. The pact with Lucifer himself. For
power. Not power over other individuals and
circumstances as lesser souls are apt to desire,
but power. Raw and ultimate power.

He threw his black hat into the circle and

deliberately pronounced the timeless
incantations and conjurations. It was true, all
about there was an overwhelming stench of
sulfur and camphor, of flesh and sweat, of fire
and coals.

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Outside, cracks of lightening and the rumble of
thunder. Torrential rain beat mercilessly upon
the ceiling and walls of the great old Abby.
Strangely, for Flavio in the outer hall, all
seemed still but for an eerie scratching and
clawing at the inner walls as if wild animals
were loose and trying to escape.

At the first coming on of the vision there were,

surrounding him, the beating of wings in a fury
of turmoil.
These tall, choleric bodies had a filthy
countenance, of color brown, swarthy, or red,
having horns like harts and griffin’s claws and
bellowing like bulls. Their motion was like fire
blazing.

Others bore a great, full and phlegmatic stature

of a color like black but more metallic. Like an
obscure cloud and having a swollen
countenance, with eyes red and full of water
surrounded in steam. With teeth like a wild
boar and a motion like an exceeding great
tempest at sea. Gasparin quaked and cowered
in mortal fear before these fabulous
apparitions.

And then the visions ceased. He never had to

say a word, indeed, this monster knew his mind

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and knew his heart. If it was power the Doctor
needed, he now must needs know what to do
with it.

By August the machine was near completion.

..And so were Marcus’s

plans for seizure and arrest coming to fruition.
He had assembled a compliment of guards
through his diplomatic channels, and in the
name of the Church was enroute to the old
Abby to take Doctor Gasparin before a board of
inquiry.

Quite by chance, these two events coincided.

Gasparin was at last ready to initiate his
completed machine and test it for the first
time. Under his breath he uttered the
inexplicable words. The conjuration that
brought forth the very breath of hell which lit
the boilers to produce the extraordinary power
required to fire a beam from his, the first, ruby
laser.

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All of the peculiar clanking and sizzling could
be heard from the hall... and then, the red
beam began to intensify becoming more and
more bright and focused. It shown toward the
massive wooden doors and again the
assemblage in the hall saw the mysterious red
light flashing through the door frames and
through the cracks.

Marcus ordered the door broken down and the

soldiers rammed it. It crashed open to the
sound of screams and hollering. The brilliant
light shown directly into the eyes of Marcus,
instantly blinding him.

The guard took Doctor Gasparin by force into

custody.

He face the board of inquiry and was forthwith

condemned to death for heresy. He faced
many months of imprisonment whilst the
authorities determined the fate of his infernal
machine.

During these months the Devil never visited

him, nor did the Lord console him. Neither
helped him. His soul had already been bought
and paid for. Worse still, the world would have
to wait another three and a half centuries for
the next laser been to be constructed. This

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time with legitimate, worldly power. The
natural power of electricity.

Gasparin’s machine was whisked away to a

remote monastery and buried in the catacombs
there. This is a mater of monastic record
though the awkward lamp has never been
discovered.

“It is said that he, like this Italian Galileo, was

in collusion with the Devil himself. What think
you now of these odious transgressions, My
Lord. My Lord Scientist?”

“There will always be differneces in opinion,

my dear Marcus. Is this not the suchness
God has required of each and every one?
And in contemplation: Is not religion
science? Is not science religion?”

Like OEdipus, Gasparin’s eyes were gouged out

by the executioner. This was specifically
requested by Marcus, now living in total
blindness. Total darkness. Then they bound
him to the stake along side two other witches
who met their fiery end that morning. This was
the trilogy. It was a cold, crisp December
morning, Christ Mass Eve, that the executioner
lit the kindling beneath the pyres.