Washington City, United StatesWinter 1846.
Snow fell over Washington through the early morning darkness, mixing with smoke and ash that drifted above the city like a second layer of clouds.
Not enough to bury the streets.
Not yet.
But enough that people noticed.
Thin streaks of black dust gathered along rooftops, wagon covers, and the corners of stone buildings near the industrial districts by the river. Chimneys from foundries and rail workshops pumped smoke constantly into the winter air now, far more than they had a year earlier.
The city smelled different too.
Coal.
Steel.
Oil.
Burnt wood.
Washington was changing faster than anyone expected.
Factories had appeared almost overnight around parts of the capital and nearby states. Railroad expansion projects ran day and night under government contracts while workshops that once repaired farm equipment now produced artillery components and rail hardware for the war effort.
