by Lyndon Hardy
Briana stared back at him for a second, then answered. “You have no accent. You are from here, not Murdina, yet you speak of — ”
“Briana?” The big man moved menacingly close.
Briana shook her head. “No Maurice. I must take the chance. There is nothing left to try.” She turned her attention back to Fig. “USX, the aerospace company. We have made almost a dozen attempts to see an Ashley Anderfield, but have failed every time. And with each day, the time remaining grows less. I must find out soon, or it will be too late.”
“USX?” Fig asked. He sprang to his feet. She was in distress! Unbelievable. On top of everything, every bit of it, all of his childhood fantasy was going to come true!
“I can get in there!” he said. Like from the spillway of a dam, the rest gushed forth. “I have an offer to start this Friday.”
Briana drew back. “You are trying to fool me. This is too much of a coincidence.”
“No, no. It is true. The aerospace companies are always blasting ‘come work with us’ emails to campuses everywhere. All of the physics grad student do it — send a resumé in reply to every single one. A good number of the times, we get called in for an interview, and a job offer follows. A short vacation if nothing else. I got five acceptances this year — just in case. USX was one of them. And once I show up there, I can arrange for you to meet with whomever you wish.”
Briana’s face brightened. The fatigue faded away. “Besides matchmites, what else do you know about me?” she asked.
“Briana?” Maurice’s voice became more urgent.
Fig ignored the implied threat. As he looked at Briana, now all he saw was beauty shining through the weariness.
“Well, nothing. I only want to — ”
Briana put a finger to his lips. “Come outside, and I will explain,” she said. “Explain about more things than matchmites. Although I warn you, you will not believe everything that you will hear.”
“Try me!” Fig said, smiling from ear to ear.
Part Four
Turn of the Ratchetwheel
Escape
THALING FROWNED with disgust at the guilt hanging over him like an obsidian cloud. Angus had been sentenced to die a prolonged and horrible death while he himself was free to roam wherever he desired. The words he had spoken to Dinton when Angus was captured had only postponed his brother’s fate, nothing more.
Thaling ran his reasoning through his mind one final time. He could confess he, too, had used the forbidden crafts and offer himself up also. There would be justice in that.
But what he was doing was important — so very important. It was the means to strike back at the Faithful, to revenge what had happened not only to Alika, but to everyone else, too.
Therefore, if he was not to die, then so should not Angus. For the thousandth time, the conclusion was the same. His brother must be freed.
“Stand back!” He tried to sound as authoritative as he could as he approached the two guardsmen in front of the little alcove. Angus could not be seen in the opening. He was probably back in the little cavern’s interior that snaked off to the left.
“Flock Leader Dinton has commanded the prisoner is to have no visitors,” one of the guards said.
“I am a flock leader as much as is my older brother,” Thaling said. “I can speak wherever I please.”
The two guards muttered something but moved down the passageway out of earshot. Thaling entered the alcove. His brother was squatting with a brush over an uncoiled portion of a large scroll.
“Greetings, brother,” Thaling said. “I bring you good news.”
Angus startled and looked up. “What took you so long?” he asked. Then he pointed at the scroll. “I have almost run out of more nonsense to add to this fable.” He cocked his head as he rose. “I am curious. What did you say to change Dinton’s mind?”
“Nothing,” Thaling said. “I don’t think any more words would alter his disposition.”
“Then, begone. I do not need a stool or easel to make things a small bit easier for me here.”
Thaling looked around the alcove. Except for the scroll, a bowl of ink, a brush, and a few stalks of uneaten greens from the garden near the surface, it was completely bare.
“What I offer is far better,” Thaling said. “I have the means to secure your escape.”
“Escape? Escape to where?” Angus snorted. “Everyone knows every cranny in these rocks. They have all been explored many times before.”
“Not here,” Thaling said. He was starting to feel quite satisfied with himself. It was not often he held the upper hand over his brother. “Another cavern. One not connected by a passageway with this one at all.”
He stepped back to look out the alcove entrance. The guards were at the turn in the distance, far enough away.
“Mintbreath, attend unto me,” he said.
Angus looked curious now, like a courtesan expecting a gift. Thaling’s pleasure grew. “Watch the wall there,” he pointed as he rocked on his heels like a child expecting a treat.
A small circle opened in the back wall of the alcove and rapidly grew in size, revealing a truncated sphere containing a hovering imp.
“A rockbubbler,” Thaling explained. “I have control over quite a few of them.”
“Wizardry,” Angus said softly. Then, he roared with laughter. “My timid middle brother.” He lowered his voice again. “Whoever would have guessed? You have violated the oath.”
For a moment, Thaling’s bliss soared even higher. His brother actually was astonished at what he had been doing. Then almost as quickly, like a balloon punctured by a spear, his satisfaction fell into irritation. Astonished. Why should that be? Were his capabilities so lightly regarded?
“Your words are like the tunic calling the britches black,” Thaling snapped back.
“You mean, brother, that I can step into this sphere, and the sprite will take me wherever I want?” Angus asked.
“Wherever I want,” Thaling answered.
“It was supposed to be Lilacbottom’s turn,” Mintbreath said.
“Not now, Mintbreath.” Thaling’s irritation grew. This was not starting out anywhere like he had envisioned. Angus was the same as he always was — trying to cow him into irrelevance.
“I can arrange for food and water to be brought there so that no one notices,” Thaling rushed on. “In time, we can get your table, clock, and whatever else moved there as well.”
Angus scowled. “So instead of being a prisoner of Dinton, I become one of yours?”
“No, it is not like that at all. I can — ”
“Where else can this bubble in the rock go?” Angus interrupted.
“Anywhere. Even up to touch the surface.”
Angus’ eyes closed. Thaling had never seen him this way. Whenever the three brothers met, Angus was always alert. His eyes flickering from Dinton to himself and back, looking for some advantage, small though it might be.
“I must put on swathing,” Angus said.
“There is no need. The environment is the same as it is here.”
Angus suddenly reached out and grabbed the dagger at Thaling’s waist. He wrapped one arm around his brother and pressed the point into his chin.
“I will need my swathing,” Angus repeated.
Thaling tensed. With Angus, one could never quite be sure. He squirmed to crane his head upward and look his brother in the eye. But the knifepoint bit a little deeper, and he stopped. “All right,” he said. “You will see soon enough that the protection is not necessary. I will go and fetch your bundling from your alcove and return.”
Angus released his grip, and Thaling hastily stepped into Mintbreath’s sphere. Soon it disappeared back into the rock leaving not a trace.
THALING INSPECTED Angus’ back after he had wrapped him. He tucked and pulled at several places until the coverage was complete. Then they stepped into the rockbubbler’s hovering sphere.
“To the other cavern,” T
haling said.
“No!” Angus growled through his speaking tube. “The surface. Take me to the surface.”
“Don’t you understand?” Thaling exploded. “I am not offering you a less gruesome death. It is life instead.”
For a second time, Angus reached for Thaling’s dagger, but the bundling he was in slowed his effort. Thaling managed to step back a bit but then stumbled against the curved wall of the sphere.
“Are you crazy?” the magician continued. “There is death up there. Only death. That certainty is what has confined us here below.”
Angus spread his arms wide in a threatening circle and leaned over Thaling as he sprawled.
“The surface,” he repeated.
Thaling exhaled slowly. He had tried his best. The long confinement affected each of them in their own unique way. Angus was high strung. Maybe he could stand it no longer.
He stretched out his hand and grabbed Angus’ arm, pulling himself back erect.
“To the surface, Mintbreath,” he said through clinched teeth. “If that is what my brother wants, then so shall it be.”
As the sphere started to rise, Angus’ eyes widened slightly as he saw the rock around him seem to sink and disappear below.
“Third floor. Lingerie. Ding!“ Mintbreath said after a moment.
“What? What did you say?” Thaling asked.
Another moment passed
“Second floor. Men’s clothing. Ding!“
“What are you doing?” Thaling’s voice hardened.
“Gimme a break, Boss,” Mintbreath said. “It gets boring only going back and forth. Up and down is a rare treat.”
Thaling scowled. He would deal with the rockbubbler later.
“Ground floor. Watch your step,” Mintbreath said, as a tiny circle appeared directly overhead. Thaling looked up. The boundary was ringed with a ragged wreath of unmowed grass.
As the sphere continued its slow rise, Angus placed his hands on Thaling’s shoulders. He raised one leg knee-high. The air below began mixing with that above.
Haste, Thaling thought. Haste was what was needed now. So that this all could be over, and he could return to the safety below.
Without thinking any more about what to do, Thaling cupped his hands underneath his brother’s boot and strained upward. The sphere continued climbing, and Angus leaned awkwardly over Thaling’s head to keep his hands grasping the expanding circle’s edge.
Finally, when Angus could get enough advantage, he scrambled out of the sphere and onto the surface, vanishing from sight. Thaling’s last image of his brother was his white shroud-like swathing disappearing voluntarily into what must turn out to be a waiting grave.
Mintbreath reversed direction and soon the sphere was completely below ground.
“One thing I gotta say, Boss,” Mintbreath shook his head. “All white? It is not mid-summer yet. You guys sure don’t have any sense of fashion.”
Convergence
ASHLEY LOOKED across her desk at Fig. He was dressed much the same as when he had interviewed. Only his eyes appeared different. They kept moving back and forth from her face and down to her phone.
“Thank you for coming in a day early,” Ashley said. “You will get paid for today as well, but it will take a few weeks for the computer to sort things out and have it show up in a check.”
“That’s Okay, Ms. Anderfield,” Fig said. “There is something more important I need to talk to you about.”
Ashley couldn’t help but grimace. He must be backing out and did not have the guts to tell her over the phone. Something must have come up with CERN. So much for her little barb of spite. “Oh?” was all she managed to say.
The phone rang unexpectedly before she could continue. It had been silent for almost a week now.
“Maybe you should answer,” Fig said. “It might be important.”
“Shouldn’t be.” Ashley reached for the handset. “One thing I need to tell you at the very first is that this is my last…”
She stopped and spoke into the phone. “This is Ashley Anderfield.”
“Gate Seventeen Security here,” the voice said. “Sorry to bother you on your last day, but the persistent trio is back again — the ones who claim they must see you but will not say about what.”
“Same answer as before,” Ashley said. “Send them away.”
“This time, the story is a little different. The woman says she wants to speak to a Figaro Newton who should be in your office right now.”
Ashley felt puzzled as if she was the butt of an elaborate prank. She covered the handset and shook her head at Fig. “Some pests I can’t get rid of. Apparently, they know you. What is this all about?”
“I think you should give them the okay to come in,” Fig said. “What they want to ask you is important.”
“Important? Well, yes, to them obviously, but why is it of concern to USX?”
Ashley frowned. Wait a minute, she thought. By tomorrow, she would not be part of USX. That was no longer relevant to her. She studied Fig for a moment. Whatever was going on, he seemed very eager.
“I was amazed about what they had to say. You will be, too,” he said.
She shrugged and spoke back into the phone. “Okay, badge them as Unclassified and escort them to my office. I guess I will see them this time.”
“One of them, the woman, says she has no ID.”
Ashley looked critically at Fig. “You were amazed? How exactly?”
“Have you ever experienced something you never dreamed would be possible? But could be proved to you without a shadow of doubt.”
Ashley frowned again. It was her last day. What did she really care? Maybe this would give Tom an even bigger problem to solve than she thought.
“Badge her anyway,” she said over the phone. “I will take full responsibility.” She crossed her fingers. If security thought it through about her not being around later….
“Yes, ma’am,” the guard said. “One of us will bring them right up.”
Ashley raised one eyebrow and looked at Fig for an explanation, but he offered none. In silence, they waited until the trio of visitors appeared.
ASHLEY DID not know exactly what to expect, but certainly not this. The small woman led the group. She wore a business suit — wrinkled and in a far too shocking green, no stockings, scruffy sandals rather than heels, no makeup, and long red hair that could use a vigorous brushing.
The two men accompanying her were stranger still. One was tall and muscular. He hovered near the woman with a tense expression on his face. Shabby jeans and a dirty tee, his triceps flexed as if he would lash out in an instant if the guard so much as touched the woman at his side. The third man was shorter and dressed in much the same way. But his eyes held a vacant stare, searching in the distance for something no longer there.
“My name is Briana,” the woman said. “I apologize for our appearance, but serving meals and bussing tables in a dive has given us meager funds to make ourselves more presentable. My companions are Maurice and Jake.”
Maurice tipped his head slightly but remained silent. Jake seemingly returned back to the here and now. “My car,” he said. “It must be protected. It is in the open for everyone to see.”
“Jake, this whole place is guarded,” Maurice said. “Surveillance cameras everywhere. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Suppose they check the VIN number.”
“Jake, we have been over this more than a dozen times, remember? I popped out the car’s ID and replaced the plates with some dealer cardboard. We made sure to park it somewhere different every night. Relax, let Briana give her spiel.”
He shrugged at Ashley. “Sleeping on the open ground in some cheap blankets can make one grouchy after a while — or in Jake’s case, maybe a little more out of it than usual.”
“Why are you here?” Ashley asked as politely as she could. She was seriously considering calling the guards to escort these looneys back out.
“Let me
show you a little demonstration.” Briana moved to Ashley’s desk and took the seat Fig had hastily abandoned.“This is going to be hard for you to believe. It is an example of what you would call ‘magic.’“
“Magic? Hard to believe?” Ashley let the glimmer of a smile form on her face but said nothing more.
ASHLEY POINTED out the assistant’s bay, and Fig and Maurice brought in three more chairs so they all could sit. Briana’s demonstration had been convincing. Somehow, she was able to manipulate a hand-sized metal cylinder without touching it at all. Then she released a tiny winged creature from a jar and had it buzz around the room according to her commands.
If it had not been for the visit to Ziggy’s, Ashley would have dismissed it all as some very clever stage magician’s performance. But the way she had felt when gazing at the little gnome was still a vivid memory. Dumbfounded, she listened to all of Briana’s tale, and then Fig’s after that.
All vestige of doubt crumbled. A week ago, stockbrokers who used sorcery to predict the market and tiny imps altering digital records would have been mind-blowing. But not now. If there were such things as love potions, then other wonders were equally plausible.
“And you think that somehow Kahuna Enterprises is involved with… with magic?” Ashley asked.
Briana nodded. “Has to be. The broker, Emmertyn, said he had a single client. The RFP you received must have been from whoever was directing him. The return address on the document tells us where he is.”
“But for what purpose?” Ashley shook her head. Her stomach rumbled, even though it was still early in the morning. “This is so much to take in at one time.”
“I think they are trying to escape,” Briana said.
“Escape? Who? Escape from what?”
“They are beings from another orb, as am I.”
“Stop right there!” Ashley stood and pushed out her upraised palm. “I accept the magic part. I… I have to.” She gulped in a lung-full of air.
“But aliens from another planet. And you are from somewhere else, too?”