New Ventures Part 1

The Kingdom of Belfast was fast becoming a nation of machines.

In Helmarte, private motorcars navigated the paved avenues. Along the trunk rail lines, heavy locomotives hauled passengers and manufactured goods between towns that had once been days apart. In Oriel, factories worked through all shifts, turning out steel plates, dynamos, copper wiring, and the automobiles bearing the Teucher crest. Even the rural market towns were shifting; motor trucks were beginning to line up beside provincial stations, swallowing grain sacks that used to require teams of draft horses.

Yet step just beyond the graded roads and rail sidings, and another Belfast remained untouched.