Michael Swanwick's Periodic Table of Science Fiction

Iron

55.847

The Era of the Iron Horse

Things might have been different if Columbus's ships hadn't sunk

immediately upon arrival in the New World. Things might have been

different if there hadn't been a gunsmith and a blacksmith on board.

Things would definitely be different if the Carib Indians hadn't taken to

the new technology like fish to water. By the time Leopoldo di Pisa

discovered Mexico in 1598, both North and South America were in the

throes of an industrial revolution, the Aztec Empire had fallen, and the

Incas had extended their civilization northward through Mexico into

modern-day Texas.

There they encountered the Plains Tribes.

There is no more romantic image than that of an Apache warrior in war

paint, leather jacket, and shades, sitting astride his "iron horse," as

motorcycles were then called. There was no more terrifying sound for an

Inca noble than the sudden roar of a Comanche war party swooping down

upon a convoy of supply trucks.

Though we still see the Plains warriors as freedom fighters, the end

result of the war was a foregone conclusion. The industrial base was with

the Incas. History favors those who have technological superiority.

Comanche and Apache warriors so proved their courage and skill however,

that they are employed even today as mercenaries to pacify the natives on

those rare occasions when they attempt to break out of their reservations

in Austria and Russia.