The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles
Page 22
She offered an answer he didn’t expect.
“What is life, Ehrich?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you define as living?”
“I never thought of it. I guess it means the ability to enjoy the world. To be with family and friends.”
“Life is the freedom to make your decisions and to shape the world as you see fit. Even when I lost my people to Ba Tian’s army, I appreciated my life despite the grief. I knew I could reshape my life. I could have surrendered to grief, but Mr. Serenity and I clung together as the sole survivors of our race. We reshaped our lives so we would try to give meaning to the deaths of so many. That’s why we chose to rebel against Ba Tian, fully aware this act may cost us our lives. The freedom to control your own destiny is what makes you alive.”
“Kifo took away this choice from my brother and the others inside the Infinity Coil,” Ehrich said.
“Now you can give it back to them,” Amina said.
“How?”
“We don’t know how the Infinity Coil will work. Maybe the medallion will release the souls into the ether and dissolve them into nothing. Who knows? What we do know is they are trapped without form. If they want to remain in the Infinity Coil, I believe they will linger. If they want to be released, they will surge forward, even if this means the end of their existence. No matter what the result is, remaining trapped in the prison of the Infinity Coil isn’t being alive, either.”
“What if they don’t have a choice? What if reversing the Infinity Coil will jettison them out? What if Kifo kept them from winking out of existence? What if my one decision changes everyone else’s lives?”
“Ehrich, you’ve just described life. Everything we do has an impact on someone else. If you had not been on Demon Watch, you would have never found me to begin with, and I might not be here now. Whatever decision you make, Ehrich, it will have an impact on the souls inside the Infinity Coil. But you can’t make their decisions for them. You can only make your own choice.”
“What do you think Ning Shu would do?”
Amina tilted her head. “She risked her life to stop Ba Tian. I can’t imagine she launched into this ploy without understanding the consequences. She didn’t ask to be the daughter of a warlord tyrant, but she chose to stand against him. She acted so no one else would ever suffer because of her father or his emissaries. You forget, Ehrich—you are one of his victims.”
The weight of her words rested on his conscience. “I think I’m ready to decide.”
v
They gathered around the cryogenic chamber. Mr. Serenity placed the Infinity Coil on Dash’s chest, then he powered down the bed so that the chamber began to warm up. Tesla and Amina gathered on one side of the chamber, leaving Ehrich alone at the other side. He took his brother’s hand and squeezed it tight.
Mr. Serenity then reached down and pressed the gears on the Infinity Coil. Slowly, the tiny wheels began to spin, each one connected to the other, spinning a universe of souls. There was no sound, but the reek of sulphur filled the room. Ehrich winced at the smell, but he kept a hold of his brother’s hand. To his surprise, the hand began to feel warm.
“Dash? Dash?”
The younger Weisz brother opened his eyes. “Am I really here?” he croaked.
Tears welled up in Ehrich’s eyes. “Yes, you’re here. It’s real.”
Dash coughed. “I’m cold.”
Ehrich pulled his brother up out of the cryogenic chamber and hugged him, refusing to let him go even when Amina tried to place a blanket over the young boy’s shoulders.
“Do you know anything that happened in there?” Mr. Serenity asked.
“One moment I was in this…place…with everyone else. Ehrich, do you remember when you used to tell me about the ghost in our room? How you told me to stay in the light? I tried to do that in the weird place, but I couldn’t find any light until now. I ran toward the light until I found myself here. I could feel the others around me, pushing to reach the light. I had to fight them off. They wanted to come with me, but I wouldn’t let them come.”
“Do you think they are still there now, Dash?” Tesla asked.
“I think so.”
Ehrich squeezed his brother once more. He was glad to have his brother back. He was relieved to know Ning Shu might still be in the Infinity Coil. He had hope that she too could be free.
“You’re crushing me, Ehrich.”
“Dash, I’m going to take us home. Back to mother and father. That’s a promise.”
The younger Weisz beamed and returned his brother’s hug. “Home would be perfect.”
THE PURPOSE OF DUST
Outside the fence surrounding Thomas Edison’s West Orange facilities, two sentinels walked their nightly patrol. A whistling caught the attention of the blond sentinel. She reached for her weapon, a dynatron pistol. Her companion did as well. The whistling came from behind an oak tree a few dozen yards beyond the fence.
The pair approached the base of the massive tree. She pointed her weapon up, letting the glow of her bowler hat light illuminate the foliage overhead. “You see anything, Bernard?”
There was a short hiss of air.
“Bernard!”
Bernard clutched his throat as he fell to the ground. His partner rushed to his side, but he was dead. The whistling grew louder. The woman came face-to-face with Ole Lukoje.
“Been s-s-so long s-s-sinc-c-e I had some tas-s-sty peepers-s-s,” the raggedy man rasped.
Before the woman could scream, he was on her. She fell to his iron claw, and he gleefully inserted his talons to scoop out her eyes.
A few minutes later, Ole Lukoje dragged the eyeless bodies to the main gate where a quartet of sentinels was stationed. He let out a low groan, loud enough to attract the men, then backed away into the safety of some nearby bushes. Two of gatekeepers emerged from their station with pistols drawn. Upon discovering the corpses of their fellow sentinels, they sounded the alarm. Soon, more men rushed through the iron gate.
Ole Lukoje slipped along the fence away from the commotion until the clamouring was a dull roar. He scaled the barrier and scoped the courtyard. No sentinels. He jumped down and scurried across the grassy area to the laboratory building.
Inside, two scientists in white lab coats tested a cameo that projected three-dimensional images in the air. They were so absorbed in the image of an ebony girl, they didn’t hear Ole Lukoje sidle behind them. With a few quick slashes of his iron claw, the scientists were no longer a problem.
The raggedy man searched the room. The array of items confiscated from Dimensionals was a junk peddler’s dream, but Ole Lukoje didn’t care about the clothing, baubles or books the humans had pored over. He needed to find what the hunters had taken from him. He stopped when he noticed a green glow from the back of the room. As he inched toward it, the glow grew brighter. On a shelf, a glass jar emitted an eerie green light. The fireflies within had woken up in his presence.
“Dus-s-st,” Ole Lukoje wheezed. “My friends-s-s, I have miss-ss-ssed you.”
He smashed the jar on the floor and the green fireflies swirled upward and around him. He laughed as he waved his hands as if he were the conductor of an invisible orchestra, and the dust danced in the air. A loud rending sound resonated as a hole ripped in the fabric of the space.
Like a cat’s eye opening, a portal formed to a barren dimension. On the other side of the gateway was a realm that had been blackened and devastated by war. No signs of life could be seen on the ground or in the air. The raggedy man twirled his copper hand, making a beckoning motion. He stepped back from the glowing portal.
A red hand began to emerge from the portal.
The raggedy man bowed with an exaggerated flourish.
“Welcome back, Ba Tian.”
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Text copyright © 2015 Marty Chan
Published in Canada in 2015 by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 195 Allstate Parkwa
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Published in the U.S. in 2015 by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 311 Washington Street, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Infinity Coil
ISBN 978-1-55455-345-7 (paperback), 978-1-55455-859-9 (ePub)
Data available on file
Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S.)
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Infinity Coil
ISBN 978-1-55455-345-7 (paperback), 978-1-55455-859-9 (ePub)
Data available on file
Text design by Daniel Choi
Cover design by Tanya Montini
Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock | Cover art courtesy of Suzanne Del Rizzo