New Season: Sparrow's Quest (New Sky Book 2)

by Jason Kent

  "Let me see the pad," Ross whispered loudly. "Are you sure the clock we're after had three inset faces?"

  "Yes," Tivon said softly, slightly exasperated. "See for yourself." She handed Ross her rolled up crystal display pad. She'd seen the clock in her visions and memorized every aspect of the artifact. If Ross felt better double checking her observations, she would let him. Although, she wondered if pulling up the picture so near the shop was the smart thing to do. Merrick was being more circumspect as he strolled closer to their target.

  As the team sniper, Merrick was an expert at becoming invisible in any environment. He was used to avoiding drawing attention to himself when required. Whether this meant he remained perfectly still in a forest blind, or simply fading into the background of a marketplace filled with shouting people. Even with the massive rifle on his back, Merrick exuded the look of a man out buying a gift for his mother.

  Ross unfurled the clear display and studied the image of the Olympus Chronometer. It was an old picture including the Captain and his bridge crew standing on either side of his command chair. The clock was clearly visible on the wall behind the smiling crewmembers. He lowered the screen and squinted at the clock twenty meters away.

  The store owner, a middle-aged man in a green tunic and matching pants, picked up a towel and dusted the clock with unusual care. He took time to flick bits of dust only he could see.

  "Sure as tral. That's it," Ross admitted. He turned to smile down at the archivist only to find Tivon had disappeared while he was studying the flexible-screen. Ross turned a full circle and started when he found Tivon standing right behind him.

  "Try not to seem so interested," Tivon breathed. She was studying a line of pottery displayed on a rickety table outside another shop.

  "Right," Ross hissed. He rolled up the pad and shoved it into a deep pocket. His favorite coat kept the chill out, a plus on this world which seemed to get more than its share of foggy, wet weather. More importantly, it hid the two assault rifles hanging within easy reach. The weapons were attached to a complex harness buckled tightly over his shoulders and around his chest. On his belt, the marine carried no less than ten full magazines. With the auto-retractors activated, the weapons stayed more or less out of sight. More or less.

  Ross bent over to pick up a particularly fragile-looking piece of pottery. As he did so, his coat snagged on the barrel of one of his rifles. The lower part of his coat rode up, revealing the heavy weapons.

  Tivon hissed, "Oh no!" Even though the entire bazaar, heck, the entire planet, was open carry, seeing not just one, but two, assault rifles under Ross' coat would surprise the locals. The shop keeper was staring at the window right at Tivon and Ross, his dusting forgotten.

  Ross froze, noticed his exposed armament and quickly pulled the front of the coat down into place. In the process, he lost his grip on the small figurine he'd been holding. It fell and shattered on the paving stones.

  "Crud," Ross breathed.

  Tivon pulled out a local coin she thought would cover the damage and flipped it at the figurine seller. The man caught the oversized coin out of the air. Tivon knew they needed to forestall the inevitable 'you broke it, you buy it' lecture. When she glanced back, she caught sight of the man studying the coin as a huge smile spread across his face. Tivon realized she must have accidentally given the man enough cash to buy a few dozen of the figures. She pushed the matter aside. The archivist wasn't interested in breakable figurines. She had a bigger souvenir in mind.

  "It's gone!" Ross blurted, no longer even trying to whisper.

  Tivon looked back through the windows of the clock shop. The emerald-clad shop keeper was gone. So was the clock.

  Merrick hurried the last few steps to stand in front of the now-abandoned store. He scanned the crowd then shrugged at Tivon and Ross.

  "Oh tral!" Ross grunted as he quickly stepped across the street. He stopped in front of the store and turned in a slow circle, using his height to see if the man had slipped out into the crowd.

  "He didn't come out the front door," Merrick said. He kicked the door open and had the rifle off his back in a flash. Ross charged inside right behind the sniper.

  Tivon gaped at the two marines. She'd never seen them in action like this before. It was amazing two men could act in such a coordinated fashion without speaking. Before she realized she should follow them, they had checked all of the aisles in the front of the store and were smashing down the door to the backroom. Merrick disappeared first with Ross on his heels, his right gun drawn, pressed against his shoulder, and ready for action.

  "Crud!" Tivon uttered as she dashed after the marines, a grin of sheer joy plastered across her face. She'd never had this much fun exploring the stacks in the Mainspring Archives.

  Chapter 3

  Olympus Chronometer

  Kate climbed down into the engine room and let the atmosphere of the place wash over her. She felt the vibrations of the whirring gears, the thump of the pistons, and the thrum of the rotating propeller shafts press up through her feet and take hold in her chest. The smell of hot metal and oil assaulted her nostrils and made her wonder if some critical component was about to burst into flames. Her fear was allayed by the presence of the tiny woman at the center of the tangled network of machinery.

  Sparrow stood with her feet planted firmly on the metal deck at the engineering control station. Her arms were outstretched as she focused on first one component and then another. The Link Sprite gave every indication she was in complete control of everything within sight, like a sorcerer enchanting the engines. Her left hand stopped moving and hovered over a red valve on the engineering console. Sparrow's right hand roved over a line of gleaming brass dials then stopped over one in particular. The valve moved fractionally through her unspoken command. Kate's eyes flicked to the wall of dials. She could see no discernible motion on any of them. Sparrow, her senses more attuned to the tiniest of fluctuations in the mighty power plant all around her, seemed satisfied and moved her hands to study the status of the next dial. After another minute adjustment, she moved on to the wall of heavy duty electrical switches humming nearby.

  Normally, Kate would hesitate before she interrupted anyone as completely engrossed as Sparrow seemed to be with the task of managing the tangle of machinery at the heart of the airship. But, from previous experience, Kate knew Sparrow was a different kind of person. With her implants and redundant chains of computing processors, the Link Sprite was more than capable of carrying on a conversation while jacked into a worldwide net or dealing with the demanding analog interfaces of their zeppelin's steam-powered engine.

  "Need any help?" Kate offered lightly. She thought she knew the answer even before Sparrow threw one of the massive electrical switches remotely and turned silver eyes upon her. In a previous life, before Kate had become connected to the entity Knowl, thanks to the Tallinn Watcher Javin, she had been a technical specialist for EMTEC. Electromagnetic Technologies was the go-to defense contractor back on Earth. They provided high tech communications gear and weaponry to the Stellar Union Fleet and Stellar Union Marine Corps. It was during her last job with the SUMC when Kate had met Merrick, Garrett, Georges, Ross, and Sparrow. Once upon a time, Kate could fix just about anything with a microprocessor; as much a wizard with computer technology as Sparrow now seemed to be with this mechology.

  Kate's life had been transformed after encountering Javin and Knowl. She and her friends found themselves on a continuing quest, taking them far outside the boundaries of the Stellar Union. Out on the Frontier, the remote colony worlds relied on steam power and amazingly complex mechanical devices. Among these clockwork wonders, Kate found her old skills withering. Sparrow, on the other hand, had been given the ability to work equally well with machines while still being able to use her original implants to access the occasional network. When they came across one, at least. Kate had witnessed her friend's Knowl-induced 'reboot'. She found herself a little jealous of Sparrow's expanded abilities. Kate of
ten wondered what it felt like to Sparrow when she used the mechanical sensors embedded in her skin. What would it feel like to 'touch' machines using her very own magnetic micro-generators? Surrounded by machines from another age, Sparrow appeared as at home here as if she was surfing the web.

  "Thank you, but no," Sparrow replied. She fell silent, staring at Kate.

  When Sparrow offered nothing more, Kate smiled and remarked, "So, the drive shaft..." Kate raised her eyebrows at Sparrow, encouraging the Link Sprite to finish the comment.

  Sparrow blinked. She relaxed her hands and lowered them to her sides. "Dagger told you?"

  "Kind of hard to miss," Kate said and scrunched up her nose playfully. "Dagger nearly fell overboard during your little experiment." She took a step forward and laid her hand gently on the smaller woman's shoulder. She gazed into the machines which now served as Sparrow's eyes. Despite the awe she felt at the capabilities Sparrow now mastered, Kate could not help but be angry Knowl had 'upgraded' the Link Sprite without the woman's permission. The ancient tree had no right to alter Sparrow to fit his own needs. Although, in the end, the upgrades he'd given Sparrow proved essential to getting Kate and the others to Knowl. Not to mention curbing the Tallinn threat against Earth. Still, it didn't seem right and Kate figured the upgrade was finally catching up to her friend.

  Kate noticed she could see her own glowing blue eyes reflected in Sparrow's silver ones. The glowing, iridescent eyes were Knowl's gift to Kate; a sign of her status as a Watcher. Knowl had changed the women in ways they were both still struggling to come to grips with.

  "I..." Sparrow began. Her eyes slid sideways to the bank of valves and gleaming rows of dials.

  "The engine can look after itself for a while," Kate insisted quietly. She gently guided Sparrow toward the hatch. "You look like you could use a little fresh air. Besides, we need to find out how the others are doing."

  Sparrow cast one last look over her shoulder at the perfectly tuned engine. "It's only been a few hours, how much trouble could Ross have gotten into?"

  Just as Tivon reached the door leading to the back of the store, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She gave a sidelong glance over to the counter where she'd last seen the shop keeper dusting the Olympus Chronometer. A line of men and women were now standing where Tivon was sure no one had been an instant earlier.

  The unexpected sight caused Tivon to skid to a stop. Her eyes grew large, betraying her recognition of each and every one of them. She'd seen those faces before. But, it couldn't be, she told herself. How could the bridge crew of Olympus be here now? Yet, here they were, in their jumpsuits. Each wore the same patch on their left shoulders featuring a mountain ringed by a circle of stars. The name of their ship was sewn in a curve along the bottom...

  "Olympus..." Tivon breathed, not needing to read the name on the mission patch. Despite all she'd experienced during her time in the Archives, her mind simply could not accept what she was seeing. There was no way the long dead crew of a lost starship could simply appear out of nowhere. Olympus' bridge crew stared back at her with dark hollow eyes. The Captain turned to face the empty spot where the Chronometer had been hanging. Tivon's eyes darted to the 'Not for Sale' sign and the empty hook. When she glanced back to the bridge crew, they were gone.

  Tivon was still for a moment. A crashing sound from the back room brought her out of her trance. She shook herself, took one last look around the now empty store, and then dashed after Ross and Merrick. As she ran, the archivist muttered, "Great, now I'm seeing ghosts."

  Merrick had his weapon leveled as Ross opened a door to reveal a narrow staircase. Tivon heard the sound of pounding feet on the steps.

  Merrick rushed into the dim stairwell and tilted his head, listening. The sniper pointed upwards and started running up the steps.

  "Our man's heading for the surface," Ross grunted and moved to follow Merrick. He took the steps three at a time and was passing the first landing before Tivon made it into the dank stairwell.

  "Tral!" Ross shouted when he reached the second landing.

  In a flash, Tivon knew what the big marine had run into. She rushed up the steps and looked around Merrick and Ross' bulk. Both men were aiming their guns at a woman dressed in a jumpsuit just like Tivon had seen down in the store. The Olympus patch stood out on her arm.

  "Is that...what I think it is?" Ross asked slowly.

  "Yes, Sergeant Ross, I believe so," Tivon replied.

  The woman turned her empty eyes up the stairs in the direction of the receding footfalls.

  "We can't let our friend get up to the street," Merrick stated. He edged past the mysterious woman then continued swiftly up the stairs. Ross followed slowly, unsure how close he could safely come to the apparition.

  Tivon opened her mouth to ask the Olympus crewman what she was doing here. Unfortunately, Ross moved between Tivon and the woman, cutting off the archivist's view for a brief moment. As Ross left the landing, Tivon discovered the ghost had vanished.

  "Freaky," Ross whispered loudly. He looked from the empty corner to Tivon. "You ever see anything like this?"

  Tivon shook her head.

  "Then you're going to love this," Merrick called down softly.

  Tivon's jaw dropped when she reached the next landing. Yet another Olympus crewman stood there, gazing silently at them. This one was a tall male with a shock of blonde hair as pale as his skin. His eyes were empty holes.

  "Are they dangerous?" Merrick asked Tivon.

  "I'm only an archivist," Tivon replied. "Unfortunately, spectral phenomenon falls outside my area of expertise."

  Merrick looked back at her, obviously expecting a better answer.

  Tivon wracked her brain for everything she'd read about the Chronometer which might apply to their situation. "Okay, I'm going out on a limb here, but I think these...people are dangerous only to the holder of the clock."

  "Why is that?" Ross asked.

  "We're not entirely sure why the effect exists at all. But, as we understand it, the Chronometer gives its owner an incredibly long life span."

  "Yeah, you mentioned that on the way here," Ross replied. "What's that got to do with these guys?" He gestured at the specter and jumped a little when he found only another empty corner.

  "Not dangerous to us then?" Merrick asked quickly.

  "No," Tivon said with more certainty than she actually felt.

  "Explain it on the way then!" Merrick said and took off after the shop keeper once more.

  "You were saying?" Ross called over his shoulder as he pounded after the sniper.

  "I didn't mention it before because it sounded crazy," Tivon began.

  "Oh, I think I'll believe 'crazy' at this point," Ross yelled back as he made it to the next landing only to be met by another silent Olympus' crew member. The big marine gave the vacant-eyed man as much space as he could as he passed then sped up the next set of steps.

  "As I said, the Chronometer gives the one who controls it long life," Tivon explained. "But there seems to be a catch!"

  Ross and Tivon met another crewman, this one a tiny woman with long dark hair. Her pale face was turned upwards as if trying to get a glimpse of the retreating shop keeper.

  "Tell me about it!" Ross shuddered but kept running.

  "In exchange for their extended life, the holder of the Chronometer appears to be haunted by the souls of those who perished aboard Olympus," Tivon finished.

  "No kidding," Ross grunted. He dashed by a dark-skinned crewman without even looking at him.

  The ghostly appearances stopped at the top of the stairs. Tivon paused before following Ross and Merrick out onto the platform beyond the stairwell door. She glanced down to the landing below them. The Olympus crewman she'd just passed was already gone. A shiver passed through the archivist's body. Tivon repeated Ross' earlier observation, "Freaky."

  Tivon ran to catch up with the two marines and was surprised to find herself in a train station packed with commute
rs. Rusted beams rose up to support an iron and glass ceiling high overhead. Ross and Merrick were looking up and down the crowded platform as she joined them. A streamlined engine belched a cloud of steam at the head of a line of four equally aerodynamic passenger cars.

  "This is crazy," Ross muttered. The marine was getting strange looks from people passing by so he tucked his weapon under his long coat. He asked Merrick, "What now, boss?"

  Tivon bit her lip and thought furiously. Should they get on the train or search the platform?

  Ross pointed at a glint of green just visible through the train windows. "There!" He exclaimed. The shop keeper saw him gesturing and hurried to the front of the car, away from them.

  "Nice going," Tivon teased, already pushing through the crowd.

  "What?!" Ross protested. "At least we found him!"

  A train whistle sounded and the cars lurched forward.

  "Get on!" Merrick ordered.

  "Hope they don't mind if we have tickets or not!" Ross shouted back. He reached the steps at the back of the nearest passenger car and easily stepped up with his long legs. The marine turned and grabbed Tivon's hand as she hurried to keep up with the accelerating train. With one strong pull, Tivon found herself crowded onto the car's steps with Ross.

  Merrick jumped into the car behind Ross and Tivon. He gestured to the front of the train, indicating they should continue their pursuit, then disappeared into his car.

  "Let's go find us a haunted clock," Ross said with a grin. He turned to enter the car but pulled up short and stumbled backwards, nearly knocking Tivon out the door in the process. The big man shouted, "Holy crap!"