by J Seab
~~~~
Geldane was the first to arrive at Oak Cove’s Doma, eager to get started deciphering the puzzle of the oddment. He scanned the neatly tended, grassy green that extended around him and was shaded by several ancient white oaks. It was crossed by cobbled paths radiating from an open pavilion and dotted with white-granite benches. The Crafter Circle bounded it to the north and east. None of the shops were doing any business this early and there were few signs of any stirrings within. A diffuse haze, tinted orange, illuminated puffy blankets of thin clouds gliding over a ridge to the south.
Geldane already felt sticky. He wiped his hand across his face displacing small beads of sweat that moistened the fuzz struggling into existence on his upper lip and chin, a fuzz he proudly proclaimed a beard.
Geldane turned and squinted at the sun. It was early but they should be here by now, he estimated. Maybe they had already gone inside. He started to pull the door open when he heard a distant voice.
“Geldane.”
Turning, he spotted Willow dashing up the path. Everam followed at a more leisurely pace with Snow padding alongside.
Geldane waited impatiently for them to join him. “Got the oddment?” he asked, stretching out his hand to Everam.
“And good morning to you, Geldane,” Willow said. Everam just passed the oddment over and indicated with his chin that they should go inside.
Geldane frowned a salty good morning at Willow and then led the way in.
They entered the wide, airy hallway that extended through the Doma. Thick, rough-cut wooden beams crossed high above to support the arched ceiling. A soft wash of colored light bathed the hall in a multihued glow from the stained-glass window. Doors spaced evenly between granite columns opened along either side. The rear of the structure contained the large Community Hall. The southeast side, referred to as the day wing, contained the science lab, classrooms, and, at the rear, the kitchen and storage rooms. The northwest side, the night wing, contained a scattering of administrative and service rooms, a section for the guard, and living quarters for the resident Servitors.
Geldane hurried toward the science lab door while Everam paused in the entryway, his head tilted back, and his eyes following the sweep of the arched ceiling. Even Snow seemed awed, her eyes following Everam’s gaze, her nose twitching.
“A grand accomplishment,” Everam said to Willow who waited beside him. “Never ceases to inspire me. A daunting task Oak Cove’s founders set for themselves, yet one that has served your community well.”
“Well, yes,” Willow said, sounding uncertain as to how to respond to Everam’s ruminations. “We’re proud of it and keep it in perfect condition. It’s one of the primary responsibilities of our citizenship.”
“Indeed,” Everam said, head still bent back.
“Hey, you going to stand there and gawk all day?” Geldane said, hand on the door of the science lab, feet shuffling with impatience.
“Perhaps we need to proceed before he gets overly eager and tries to pry open the oddment with a hammer,” Willow suggested.
“Indeed, lead on,” Everam agreed, pulling his gaze back to Willow. They followed Geldane into the science lab.
Geldane ran over and sat on a stool before a lab bench. He scraped at the oddment with a fingernail. A few tiny grains broke free and fell to the table. “Doesn’t want to come off,” he mumbled.
“Don’t scratch it,” Willow cautioned, coming up behind him.
“It can’t be that fragile.” Geldane continued to scrape at it.
“Let’s get a dishpan from the kitchen and fill it with water. Maybe it’ll wash off,” Willow said.
“OK, OK, get some water then.” Geldane put the cylinder down and watched Willow disappear through the door. Everam leaned in for a closer look but didn’t touch it. A couple of minutes later, Willow pushed open the door with a foot and entered the lab carrying a shallow pan filled with water. She was immediately followed by a shorter woman with frizzy, brown hair haloing a rounded face. A small pair of oval eyeglasses perched halfway down her nose. Her narrow shoulders and wide hips were covered by a faded, yellow smock that made her look something like a butternut squash with stick legs.
“I found Servitor Gerood while getting the water,” Willow announced.
“Hi all, hi.”
“Do you know Everam?” Willow asked.
“Yes, yes, I do.” The Servitor bobbed at Everam. “We’ve encountered each other often in our travels. What brings you to Oak Cove?”
Pointing at the oddment, Everam said, “I think that and the dolfina’s story.”
“I’ve heard part of that story as well. It’s all over town. Willow said she would tell me the rest. Intriguing, yes, intriguing but in a sad way. And the dog there, a sentient one, they say. Yours?”
“Snow. She’s my traveling companion.”
“Hi, Snow,” the Servitor said, stooping to pat her briefly on the head.
Snow’s tailed swished. “Ello.”
“Well, well,” Gerood said, stepping back with a smile. “Good, good, very good. Let’s see what you’ve got here,” she continued, briskly walking to the table where Geldane sat scraping again at the oddment with a fingernail. “This the oddment Swiik brought? Willow said it needed cleaning.”
Standing, Geldane picked up the oddment and handed it to her. “Yes. It has some kind of hard crust on it,” he offered. “Willow wanted to try washing it in water.”
Willow placed the pan of water on the table while Servitor Gerood examined the oddment. “No, no, I wouldn’t think so. Not plain water. Here, try it,” she said, thrusting the oddment out to Willow.
Willow took the cylinder and immersed it in the water. She swished it around, rubbing it with both hands. It didn’t have much effect.
“That appears to be a mineral deposit, yes, mineral, not too thick, I think,” Gerood said, watching her efforts. “A strong alkali and stiff brush might do it, yes. Let’s try a lime solution,” she continued, talking mostly to herself. She walked over to a wall cabinet, opened it, and took down a stoppered glass flask. She went to another cabinet and removed a rectangular glass dish, a pair of heavy tongs, gloves, and a brush. “This might do it, yes.” She looked over at Geldane. “Some help here, young man; if you please, some help.”
“Yes, Servitor.” Together they carried the equipment to the table and set it down.
“Let’s try this.” Servitor Gerood placed the oddment into the glass dish. Next, she unstopped the flask and carefully poured the solution over it. “A cleansing solution. Better we don’t touch it,” she cautioned as she poured enough to cover the oddment and then stood back. Tiny bubbles began to stream to the surface. “Ah, good, good.”
“Is it leaking?” Geldane asked, peering into the dish.
“Oh, no, not leaking. It’s a reaction to the solution, breaking down the encrustation.” She tapped Geldane on the shoulder. “You had breakfast?”
“Huh? Breakfast?” he stammered. “Not yet.” Geldane looked at Gerood, his interest suddenly diverted.
“Breakfast. Let’s get something while this soaks for a bit.”
“Hmm, sure, let’s. What’s on the menu?”
“Pancakes, I think. Yes, blueberry pancakes. We still have plenty of juicy blueberries, yes, plenty.”
“My favorite! Pancakes freshly picked off the vine,” Geldane quipped.
With that, Gerood dashed out the door and headed for the kitchen. The other three hurried after with Snow leading the way.
The kitchen was large and well lighted from the rectangular windows along the wall that were open to let in the fresh air. They could hear the whoosh of spinning blades at the wind farm in the hills behind the Doma. It was a good spot for them. The predominately eastern breezes funneled in from a gap in the mountain ridge that bordered Oak Cove provided ample power to service the Doma and Crafter Circle.
Servitor Gerood warmed the griddle and set about mixing the pancake batter while the others took places around
the table in the center of the room.
“Suth?” Snow asked.
“Not this morning, Snow girl,” Everam said fondly. “Would you like some pancakes and eggs?”
“Wuff,” Snow said, tail wagging, ears perked forward, eyes fixed on Everam.
He called out, “Gerood, can you scramble two eggs to go with Snow’s pancakes?”
“Yes, eggs,” she answered with an idle wave, then went back to stirring together the ingredients for the batter.
Willow got up and went over to help Gerood. Everam turned to Geldane and asked, “I understand you’re training with the Patrol?”
“You bet. That’s where the action is.” He slashed his arms about. “I’ve already gained proficiency with a staff, learned how to bonk those bad guys, put them out of action.”
“Do you encounter that much disruptive behavior in Oak Cove?” Everam asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sure, we get our share. Mostly travelers passing through, stirring up trouble.”
“When did that happen last?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Geldane said, “Well, not that many, I guess. But last winter there was some guy on the Doma’s green every morning,” Geldane said, gesturing toward the front of the building, “who was preaching doom and gloom, about how everybody was enslaved by the Servitors, fooled by their lies and evil plots. After a few days of that, and several requests from residents, we, err, the Patrol, that is, ran him off; told him he was preaching nonsense, that Oak Cove wasn’t interested in his hate mongering. Even so, they offered to register him to argue his point at the next community Gather.”
“What happened?”
“He left,” Geldane said, sounding disappointed. “Dad says he packed and headed north, up Sief Road toward Excel. We haven’t seen the likes of him since.”
“Were many people stopping to listen?”
“No, not really. A few might stop for a minute before going about their business. Mostly he was preaching to the air.”
“Anything else?”
“No, the usual stuff: some critters, black bears and wolves, straying in; a small fire in the candle shop. Nothing exciting that I can recall,” Geldane said, his sentence dribbling to an end.
“Breakfast is ready,” Willow announced arriving with a platter heaped with steaming pancakes and a small plate stacked with pancakes and scrambled eggs. She positioned the platter at the center of the table. “Put this on the floor for Snow?” she asked Everam.
“Yes, thanks.”
Willow set it on the floor. Snow hovered eagerly, her tongue slurping across her mouth. With a nod from Everam, she leaped at the plate and began sucking down its contents.
Gerood brought plates, forks, and water for everyone, along with a jug of maple syrup. Willow and Gerood joined the two men at the table.
Geldane, picking up his fork, reached over and stabbed a pancake. “Well, let’s eat!”
After polishing off the pancakes and cleaning up, they made their way back to the lab.
Geldane immediately rushed over to inspect the oddment. “Looks about the same,” he observed, disappointed.
“Isn’t there some sediment accumulating there, just underneath?” Willow asked, leaning in close.
Gerood, easing them aside, moved in. “Yes, the encrustation is breaking free. Now the brush.” She picked it up, and, handing it to Geldane along with gloves, said, “Brush away from you, you don’t want to splash your face. And wear these too,” she added, pulling a pair of goggles from her smock. She stepped back while Geldane resumed his seat.
Geldane donned the gloves and goggles and set to work. It was slow going but he was able to brush away the encrustation, exposing a dull surface beneath. The others clustered about, watching silently, even when it became apparent that there were markings on the oddment’s surface. Their breaths were soft, expectant; the only sounds the swish of the brush and splash of water.
Finally, Geldane straightened and, using the tongs, removed the oddment and rinsed it in the clear water in the dishpan. After pushing his goggles up, he raised the cylinder to his eyes. The others clustered about more closely.
“There are markings on it,” he whispered, eyes squinting.
“Indeed,” Everam said.
Geldane dried the oddment with a cloth and then held it on both ends with a finger nestled into each of the small indentations located there. He rotated it slowly with his thumbs. A thin line circled the cylinder a couple of centimeters from each end. The middle portion was dominated by a long, rectangular symbol with rounded ends. Several curved lines shot up from one end of the symbol and curved sharply to plunge into the other end. Opposite this symbol was a line of text in block letters deeply engraved into the surface. Adjusting the position of the cylinder to get the light right, he read the text aloud: “Invisible fields will open a path to the Ultimate Treasure.”
“Invisible fields?” Willow said, her face scrunched.
“Ultimate Treasure,” Geldane said. After a moment, he twisted his head to face Gerood. “What are invisible fields?”
“Yes, that’s easy, yes, easy.” Tapping the symbol, she said, “That’s a magnet, those are magnetic force fields. Easy.”
Grunting, Geldane said, “Sure, a magnet, I can see that.” Grasping the cylinder in one hand, he tilted it and probed at the indentations on the ends. Each was surrounded by a series of faint radial lines that expanded around the edge and terminated at the line that circled near the end of the cylinder. “Maybe that’s what these are for.”
Willow, placing a hand on Geldane’s shoulder, leaned in for a closer look. “I think you’re on the right track, Geldane. It looks like it’s telling us to put a magnet on each end. Maybe there’s some kind of magnetic latch inside that holds the caps in place.”
Everam stood quietly behind the group, observing.
“Magnet, yes, a bar magnet. We’ve got lots of those that we use in our science classes. I’ll get some,” Gerood volunteered. She went to the cabinets again, rummaged around, and returned with several. “Try these,” she suggested, handing them to Geldane.
Geldane cleared a space in front of him and placed the cylinder on the table. He then picked up one of the magnets and brought it near the indentation.
It snapped into place.
“Did anything happen?” he asked.
“Put one on the other end too,” Willow suggested.
Geldane did so.
It snapped into place.
There was a barely audible click.
“Did you hear that?” Geldane asked, his voice catching.
“Try removing the end caps now,” Willow said, her voice hushed.
Geldane took up the cylinder and begin twisting at the ends.
“Gentle, Geldane.”
“I’m not going to break it,” he retorted but eased off. More gently now, he wiggled at one cap. It shifted slightly. He wiggled it more. Gradually, it began to loosen. Geldane worked it free. Turning the cylinder on end, they all crowded around to examine the opening.
“There’s another cylinder inside,” Geldane observed.
“I think it’s made of glass or crystal,” Willow said, running a finger along the exposed surface.
“And there’s a thin wire running through it,” Geldane said. He picked up the cap. “Looks like it’s attached to some mechanism in the cap.”
“Must be part of the locking mechanism,” Willow concluded. “Does that inner cylinder come out?”
Geldane turned the oddment and began shaking it up and down.
“A moment,” Everam cautioned, gripping Geldane’s arm. “That crystal cylinder may be part of a trap.”
“Oh,” Willow said with bated breath. “A trap?”
“I believe this oddment has been designed as a test. If you don’t understand the message given on the outside and try to force it open, the crystal will break, releasing some liquid or gas that will destroy the contents of the oddment.”
“Wait,” Gelda
ne said abruptly. “I know what to do.” He immediately began working at the other cap. “We can push it through.”
Geldane worked off the other cap and set it aside. The newly exposed end looked the same. Geldane pushed on the inner cylinder with his index finger. It slid easily. He grasped the now protruding opposite end, withdrew it completely, and held it up.
The inner cylinder was dumbbell shaped. Rounded ends were separated by a flattened bar. One side of the bar was engraved with a side view of an eye looking at a lenticular shape. The other side contained a series of long, parallel lines that appeared painted onto the surface.
“Now what?” Geldane said, slumping.
Gerood rejoined the discussion. “That’s easy too. That’s a lens. It’s telling you that you must examine the lines with a micromagnifier.”
Geldane studied the lines. “They just look like lines to me.”
“Try it. Bring it over here,” she indicated as she walked to a series of desks standing against the front wall. Each desk contained a micromagnifier protected beneath a covering. A lectric lamp sat next to each. Gerood removed the cover from one and switched on the lamp. “Here, Willow, you try it. You do a lot of micro work.”
Willow took the dumbbell from Geldane and sat in front of the micromagnifier. She positioned the dumbbell on the viewing stage, the lined side facing up, and adjusted the light. She peered through the magnifier. “Gerood is right,” she exclaimed. “The lines are writing but I need a higher magnification.” She opened a drawer to the right, removed a hinged box, and opened it. It contained several lenses. She selected one and inserted it into the objective end of the micromagnifier.
She peered through the magnifier again. “I can read it now!” she said.
“What does it say?” Geldane asked, nudging her. “Can I see?”
Everam pulled him back. “Geldane, would you get some paper and a pencil so Willow can copy the message?”
“Sure,” Geldane reluctantly agreed. He returned a moment later with the materials.
Gerood, meanwhile, announced she had some things to attend to and would be back once they were finished.
Willow, peering through the micromagnifier, copied the words onto a piece of paper. At first, Geldane hovered over her shoulder, reading aloud each word as she wrote it.
The process was slow. Willow had to carefully shift the dumbbell a tiny amount to see each new section. Tense with excitement, she often nudged it too far or skewed it the wrong way. That required her to go back, locate her previous position, and try again.
Geldane, dancing with impatience, kept interrupting her, asking if she was sure that was the right word or what that word meant or if she wanted him to take over. After about ten minutes of this, Willow finally told him to sit on the bench with Everam and be quiet. So the two men sat, Everam with his eyes half closed, Geldane fidgeting. Snow lay curled in a nearby corner, ignoring everybody.
After almost an hour, Willow sighed and sat up, stretching strained muscles. Geldane immediately jumped up and raced over, grabbing for the paper. Willow snatched it away.
“Wait, Geldane, give me a second to look it over, OK?”
Reluctantly, Geldane stepped aside, hands clasped before him, rocking on his feet as if he were standing on a fishing flat buffeted by the currents. Willow read through her document, word by word, head bowed in concentration, lips pursed. She made a couple of marks, and scratched out one word and rewrote it. Once, she turned back to the micromagnifier and nudged the dumbbell around to verify an entry. Finally satisfied, she turned in her seat, holding the document before her. Geldane let out a soft puff but remained quiet. Everam sat straighter, his anticipation evident.
Willow began to read.