The Gadgeteer Box Set

by Gin Hollan

  “What about Graham? He has to know some of that to build his explosives, right?” Melanie suggested.

  “Oh wait! I do know someone.” Arabeth laughed. “The mining supervisor I’d hired is highly trained and experienced in all things geophysical.”

  “Okay, good. Now, tell me what is going on with that grimshaw we sent over.”

  “It’s all yours.” Arabeth smiled as she fished out the key for the office where it sat. “The address is 508 First Street. Nate has a key and has tinkered with it a bit.”

  “He’d better not have!”

  “Not that kind of tinkering.” Arabeth chuckled and stood. “But if you need a hand, he’s your man.”

  “Good to know.” Melanie rose to her feet and took her dishes to the kitchen cleaning receptacle. “I’ll be crashing at your place, right?”

  “Spare room is all yours.” With Rorigard in the hospital for an indefinite amount of time, they could sort out rooming later, she thought as they left the cafeteria. “Oh, and I have a full set of the Sage’s books now. You might want to take a look through them.”

  “Nice! I’ll do that.”

  They parted with a wave where the hall split, with hospital rooms one way and the exit another.

  When Arabeth went into Rorigard’s room, she was relieved to see Dr. Pennings at his bedside. He was the healthiest eighty-three-year-old she’d ever seen, and he walked with a determination and energy that were unmatched by those even twenty years his junior. That had to say something about his knowledge of health and the human condition, she thought.

  Arabeth walked to him and took hold of one his hands, shaking it. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  “Of course, Miss Barnes. You do bring me interesting cases, after all,” he said with a half-smile, his twinkling ice blue eyes proving his interest in the case.

  It took over half an hour to bring him up to speed. Arabeth tried to be thorough, but found herself distracted. She had other places to go, and her ability to explain was limited by the doctor's understanding of the relationship between Rorigard and the serenthex. The serenthex had fallen apart right after it had ejected him.

  She was glad the safety protocols worked . . . but did they really? She needed to get the serenthex rebuilt. That might give her a clue, or better yet, heal Rorigard's mind.

  “If you know a better place for him, please move him and send me word,” she said, standing to leave.

  “I’m sorry to confirm your suspicions—time may be his only cure,” the doctor said. “Have him moved to a private room and I will check on him daily.”

  Arabeth's throat caught at the prognosis.

  “Are you sure there's nothing we can do?”

  “It would be good if someone were nearby for the moments when he does regain consciousness. I suspect that would preferably be you.”

  “How about a fox?” Arabeth joked.

  Dr. Pennings frowned a moment. “That’s not actually a bad idea, if it’s your fox.”

  “Or one of her kits. She had twins not long ago.”

  “Did she? That’s. . . . Well, congratulations to her,” he said with unexpected warmth. “You must be happy.”

  Arabeth smiled and looked down. She hadn’t had much time to play with them. She’d have to make a point of staying in with them for a while each day. “Thank you.”

  “So, I’ll check in daily. You arrange for a companion of some sort. We’ll exchange notes in this book, to communicate as needed.” He put a thin black leather-bound book with a pencil on the table next to Rorigard’s bed.

  As he did, Arabeth felt slightly dizzy, followed by a hum under her feet.

  “Tell me you felt that,” Dr. Pennings said.

  “Yes.” She frowned. “I’d better head out.”

  “You didn’t—”

  “No, it wasn’t me, or anyone I’ve hired.”

  “Be careful. I don’t want to be watching over your hospital bed as well,” he said.

  “I’m sure my luck will hold out.”

  “Now you’re patronizing me. I know you don’t believe in luck.” He waved her off.

  She wanted to smile, but with the ground continuing to vibrate ever so slightly, she couldn’t do it.

  Things had to be simply settling into a new normal. The pressure of the mountains moving lower couldn’t disrupt the planet layer that actually held things together, could it?

  // Chapter 29 //

  AT THE NEW EDGE of the moderately shorter Hennesay mountain range, Arabeth stood, wondering what she could do. The formula to move the mountain was tucked away with Howard. Removing that formula hadn’t even crossed her mind at the time, even if she could get to it.

  Melanie’s red communication crystal started shaking in its holder, indicating she’d sent Arabeth a message.

  ‘Gregor says he can help.’

  Gregor? He was the one who’d identified and trained Melanie as a Seer—trained her to interpret crystal signals and transmit the messages and images sent via crystal grimshaw stations. He wasn’t a Sage. How could he help?

  Still, Melanie must have a reason for sending that message. Arabeth headed back to town, hoping Melanie found the grimshaw in working order. When she arrived, she recognized a familiar face sitting on the steps outside.

  “Kennen! What brings you all the way out here . . . again?” She smiled, hoping it hid her dismay. His appearances frequently preceded bad things happening. If she were ever to believe in luck, it would be his doing.

  “As usual, divine guidance,” the young man said, voice flat and humourless. He stood up and opened the door, indicating Arabeth should enter first. “And it seems I’m a little trapped over here, until I find a way back. Your underground tunnels are a little unstable these days.”

  “You could go around the mountains,” she said.

  “It’s a thought, but that sounds long, and dull. Especially dull. Truth is, I feel like I’m needed here.”

  As they reached the other end of the narrow hall that led into the office, Arabeth could hear humming and the odd thunk followed by a crystal chime.

  “Tuning?” she asked as she walked in.

  “That’s how we know if they’re properly seated. Three of yours weren’t,” Melanie replied.

  “What happens if they’re in wrong?” Kennen asked.

  “They break—sometimes with tragic consequences, seeing as how they are usually being used at the time.”

  “So, what’s this about Gregor helping?” Arabeth asked.

  “Okay, so this may come off as a foreign language, but he says you’ll understand it.” She picked up a piece of paper and started reading it out loud.

  “He says, ‘the mountains will revert if left alone, but the planet crust might still have microfractures that cause the whole thing to shake apart anyway. He wants you to use a formula called 'Sense Touch' while I’m doing a far-see thing under the mountains. If you find a fracture, you are supposed to knit it back together using a formula called ‘Ribbing.’”

  “That sounds amazing. You can do that?” Kennen said, eyebrows raised.

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Melanie said.

  “That makes two of us,” Arabeth said, trying to recall the index list of the sage’s book she’d read. “I don’t remember reading about those. It never occurred to me that I could use two formulae at once, either.”

  “He also sends a reminder that every formula has conditions and notes, and that you shouldn’t try one if you haven’t read about those.”

  “I have the complete set at my house now,” Arabeth said.

  “Bring them here,” Melanie said to Kennen.

  “I don’t know where she lives.”

  “Oh, right. Well, go with her and learn. If you’re going to be useful here, you’ll have to know at least where she lives. Maybe get a proper tour of both workshops.”

  “I doubt we have time for that,” Arabeth said, uneasy with her friend’s willingness to throw open the door to her
very private space.

  Melanie had certainly changed in the time since becoming a Seer. She had become confident, almost arrogant.

  Melanie blushed as she realized who she was actually ordering around. “Sorry, Arabeth.”

  “Okay, young friar, let’s get you up to speed on my side of the mountains,” Arabeth said, leading the way out. “We’ll find out how you may be useful as we go.”

  As they walked out, Melanie tapped another crystal and the resonance sent a jolt up from Arabeth’s heel to her ears, making her shudder.

  “I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Kennen said, apparently feeling the effect as well.

  “This is all unfamiliar territory. She’ll figure it out, I’m sure.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Now do you want to tell me the other reason you’re here?” Arabeth asked.

  Kennen’s stride faltered.

  “My time with the friars will be up soon. They sent me out to see what my other options might be, even though I said I’m content as one of them.”

  Arabeth walked silently beside him. His life as a young thief had landed him a choice—prison or service. He chose service. Now the four years were coming due, and society wanted him gainfully employed. Arabeth had no need for a thief, even one with the Divine on his side.

  “I’ve heard you are closely tied to the . . . well, that your sister is closely tied to people I might fit in with.”

  Arabeth coughed into her hand.

  “My sister suggested this?”

  “Not directly.”

  “Good. If she had, I might have had to change my opinion of you.”

  He laughed. “You’re funny, now and then.”

  “Sure, sure.” She pointed as they got near her home. “My workshop is in the back corner of that house.”

  He looked over and his mouth slowly dropped open.

  “What?”

  “You live there … by yourself? It’s massive. Three stories, and I’m guessing a basement.”

  “Unless you count foxes as housemates, yes. Why?”

  “It’s just . . . when you’ve talked about your house, it seemed small, almost cozy.”

  Arabeth chuckled. “I suppose I’m just used to it. There’s only a small section of basement, and a partial third floor. The workshop takes up most of the second floor, vertically. If you think this is impressive, you should see the large workshop.”

  He nodded, still staring. “Wait . . . foxes . . . plural? I thought you only had the one pet fox.”

  Arabeth shrugged. She pulled out a set of keys before noticing her door was ajar. “I really need to have the locks changed.”

  “I thought your workshop had high security, from what you said to Melanie.”

  “It does. The rest, not so much. My family has a key, as does the housekeeper and a close friend or two. None of them would leave the door open.”

  Inside, Arabeth found stacks of wooden crates littering the entryway and continuing into the kitchen. She started to laugh. “I guess they came to the wrong workshop. This is supposed to be over at the other one. How they got it inside is the question.”

  “That was my doing.” A man with grey hair at the temples, standing roughly Arabeth's height and slightly heavy around the middle, walked into view.

  “Thank you, Father,” she said, sounding a little colder than she intended. She was still stung by being asked to replace her sister in prison. In a way, it was a miracle she was even talking to him right now. Still, she wouldn’t use that as an excuse for bad manners. “I’m guessing you are here for more than a delivery.”

  Kennen stepped back outside, closing the door behind him.

  “Tell me what you've been doing. Samuel and Maralise both tell me that you are partly to blame for what’s happening with the Hennesay mountain range. These crates are filled with a metal I have never seen before. I’m not a mining expert, but I can tell you’re into something dangerous. I used my connections to get you that mining permit. You know our family is going to get blamed.”

  “If by blame you mean being recognized as the only one able to stop the madman that’s behind it, then fine, blame me. I didn’t catch Tamden soon enough to stop him, but there is a slim chance I can repair the damage he and Howard have done. I need to catch him to confirm it, and I am still in the process of catching him, so this is a really bad time to step in and demand explanations. I would love to explain it all to you, but since you won’t believe me anyway, I think I should just go.”

  Her father fumed a moment, putting his fists on his hips then dropping them.

  “If you would rather, I can hold these boxes until you do have time to properly explain,” he said, his voice just a little too calm.

  Arabeth looked at her father, wondering if he’d ever see her as an independent adult.

  Almost on cue the ground shivered again. Arabeth reached out to hold the edge of her kitchen counter, wondering if she should turn around and leave, but her father rarely bluffed.

  She put a hand in her pocket and pulled out the communication crystal from Melanie. “I guess I do owe you a bit of an explanation. Let me show you what I have in the backyard.”

  “I’ve seen the assortment of crystals in the back yard.”

  “Then you’re going to want to see what they do, and why I keep them fenced in.”

  Her odd phrasing seemed to pique his interest, but mining was a normal activity, even when the mining was for an odd metal.

  Hopefully he wouldn’t pitch a fit when she explained the formulae. Inviting foreign items to course through her body, under her skin, giving her impossible abilities. . . . Well, that wasn’t what a father typically wanted for their daughter.

  It wasn’t a parasite, or a drug. What could she compare it to, to help him understand? On second thought, maybe the formulae were addictive. When they had all been put back in the book, she found herself constantly drawn to take another one on. It was like a part of her was missing.

  The crystals were easier to understand. A demonstration would have to do. After he saw the potential, he’d care less about how it happened . . . that or be completely panicked. Arabeth couldn’t decide.

  Her father snapped his fingers near her face to get her attention. Normally a rude gesture, they had come to accept it as a necessary intervention for when the Arabeth got too deep in her thoughts. She stood with one hand on the doorknob leading to the backyard.

  “I’m hoping you’ll keep an open mind—”

  “Just not so open my brains fall out.” He finished their usual quip.

  Father and daughter had, at one time, been close. After her grandfather disappeared, it left a void in Arabeth’s life. Her father didn’t understand her obsession with inventing, but he supported it.

  She led him outside, hesitating a moment at the door. She wanted to trust him again. If only he hadn’t suggested Arabeth proverbially fall on her sister’s sword. She shoved the door open harder than planned-—it slammed against the guard rail and she caught it as it bounced back.

  “How did Maralise get out of prison?” she asked, suddenly more than curious.

  “This is hardly the time or place.”

  Why was she going out to the crystals to explain the tremors? Really, she didn’t have time for that. She had to find the Ribbing formulae Gregor mentioned, return them to their original location, and hope the long-term damage was reversed. Still, her father would be a barrier until he saw what she was capable of now.

  “You should wait here, on the steps,” she said.

  With a sigh, she stepped out into the middle of the crystal field. She brought her hands up to her face. Suddenly very tired, she rubbed her eyes.

  What formula would. . . // No, show Father what these fields do.

  The crystals were just rocks with an interesting chemical composition. She’d tested that, building extensive charts for their interactions and the compounds they released, moving them from mythos to science.

  She held her arms o
ut at her side, knowing the silver in her blood would start a resonance shift. Soon they’d release the chemical that, when breathed in, caused interesting physical reactions. The crystals brightened, their light circling her as she stood.

  Sages, Seers, and variants she hadn't heard of yet—this was how they were made. The silver in her blood interacted with the Sage’s formulae and with the crystals. Could there be a link between the two? She didn’t have an active formula in her system right now. She’d never thought to try the crystals and the formulae at the same time.

  “I’ll be back directly. I just thought of something!” She dropped her hands and ran to the door, nearly bumping into her father as she did.

  If she’d been paying attention, she would have seen the dumbstruck look on his face. “Wait—what were you doing?” he asked as he reached out and caught her arm.

  She brushed it off. “Just trust me, all right?”

  When it seemed he would follow her, she raised her hands, palm facing him, to stop him. “You don’t want to follow me. Not until you understand the consequences.”

  His scowl was both deep and wide, but he nodded. “I do trust you. You have never let me down.”

  “What about Maralise?” she snapped. “I let you down with her.”

  He shook his head. “I knew you’d decline. Agreeing to at least ask you to take Maralise’s place in prison was the only way to make your mother calm down. You know how she gets.”

  The unexpected revelation didn’t surprise Arabeth. If she hadn’t been so startled that he'd asked, she would have realized that was what was happening. Her mother was cold and calculating until Maralise became the topic of conversation. Then her protective instincts kicked in. Her father was a strong man, and clever. He knew which battles were worth fighting.

  Not right now, she scolded herself. It was a small relief to know the truth behind her father’s behaviour, but she needed to get back on task.

  She turned to him. “Thank you for saying so. Please stay on the steps, no matter what happens. I will be safe, regardless of how it looks.” She stepped out into the field, noting the lowering sun was going to amplify what she was about to try. The timing couldn’t be better.