by Paul Kater
think this is as close as I want to get to the thing of doom," she said, eyeing the crystal.
It's circumference softly glowed in the lights of the ship and some of the nearby stars. The crystal looked innocent, dead and large.
"So that is a crystal. Just a crystal?" the witch asked.
"As far as we know it's just a crystal. Well, a big one that can do astonishing things, but it's a crystal," Rebel confirmed. "I checked its structure and that's definitely crystalline."
"Maybe we can use that as a crystal ball," Hilda thought out loud.
"And then? Who would you call with it?" William asked. He didn't understand Hilda's plan.
"That blasted thing got us into this mess, so it'd better be useful in getting us out of it," Hilda displayed her feelings towards the crystal. "If we can turn it into a crystal ball, I could make it connect to the crystal ball at home. At least I think."
"And how do you turn such a thing into a crystal ball?" William asked. He recalled the amount of work and energy Hilda had put in Esmee's ball, at Snow-White's place, and that was a small ball.
The witch said: "Power. Hit it with a lot of power. And then add some magic of the proper kind."
Magic, the magicals knew, would not be the problem. But where would they get sufficient power?
"The engine," Rebel decided. "That delivers tremendous power."
"But we have to get that power to the crystal," Maurizio tried to dampen the enthusiasm.
"So let's see if there are pipes going to it," William suggested, coming back to the idea.
"And then convince the engine to work." Maurizio sounded doubtful.
"We'll see about that." William popped up his wand. "This can be very convincing."
Maurizio frowned for a moment. Then he called out for help and a few sailors came over, curious what their captain wanted. He asked them to check if there were pipes or tubes running from the engine to the crystal. "And if there is nothing of the kind, see if there is a way to put something in place."
The sailors were actually pleased with this assignment. They had been sitting around and do nothing for too long. The men almost ran off to the engine room.
Soon there were sounds everywhere, as more and more sailors scurried beneath the deck searching for any kind of conduit to the crystal. Occasionally a cry of success was heard but most of them ended in a whine as the pipe disappeared somewhere, or a thump when a sailor hit a wall.
But there was some good news. One of the sailors found a line that went from the engine room all the way up to the crystal. It even connected to the pedestal the crystal rested on. There was just a small problem in two parts: the line was thinner than a little finger, and from what the sailor could tell, the line was meant to forward energy -from- the crystal -to- the engine.
"How do you know that? A pipe is a pipe, right?" Hilda wondered.
"There are signs with arrows near it, and they point in the direction of the engine room," the sailor told her. "If you care to take a look, I can show you."
Hilda observed the man in silence, her eyes pointing out the massive amounts of dust all over him. She made her feelings about the invitation very clear. "I only care about arrows when there's an archer with them who's pointing them at me. I say we use that pipe-thing."
Maurizio wasn't so sure if that was a good idea, but he had no alternatives to offer.
"We could see if we can make the engine run and divert some power to the crystal," William offered. "A simple test, and stop when things threaten to go wrong."
"But if they go wrong immediately? Then we're stranded here!"
"I have the distinct feeling that situation is already there, Maurizio."
The captain grumbled. Since their return to the ship he had become very protective of it. "We could wait for something to happen."
"I am not one for waiting. I make things happen."
Maurizio knew that. Hilda was always on the frontline. He gave in. "Let's try it."
"Let's just do it," Hilda corrected him. Then she ordered a few of the sailors around, who ran for her.
"William dear, can you go to that shiny metal room and see if you can make that beast work? I'll stay here and see what happens with the crystal. We can inform each other if something goes awry."
The wizard agreed, and accompanied by Rebel and a few sailors who occasionally operated parts of the equipment he made his way to below deck, to the large steam engine.
Valves were opened, gauges were checked (despite the fact that their needle-fingers did not move), levers were pushed and pulled. In all, it looked as if the sailors knew what they were doing, and they did it well. The only drawback was that they clearly did not manage the crucial part: fire up the engine.
"How does it usually start?" William asked.
"By itself," was the unhelpful answer.
"See," said one of the sailors, pointing at a sign. It showed an arrow, pointing towards one of the large copper barrels. "That is where it gets the power from. I think."
William nodded and looked at the large monster of a machine. His wand in hand, he tried to envision how this thing would look when it worked. He grinned as he sensed impatience from his witch and then pushed the magic to the metal.
"It needs heat," one of the sailors tried to help.
William added heat. For a few moments nothing happened. Then there was a shudder in the wooden floor. Invisible gears crunched, unseen cogs rattled, and then, slowly, large metal beams slowly started moving, pushing inertia wheels round. A soft hiss emerged from one of the boilers as pressure built up.
The wizard drew back his magic. The machines responded by stopping their motion. And the bond with the witch showed him temporary excitement, that fell away as the boilers hissed their last hiss.
"Now look at that," a sailor said, pointing at the arrow on the sign. The direction of the arrow had changed.
42. Tilt
"I think we're on to something," William said. "Hilda was quite happy for a moment."
"You and your magic stuff," Rebel muttered with a grin, "you're scary. I'll pop over and ask what she saw." She disappeared.
"And that's not scary," William commented, to the amusement of some sailors.
Rebel reappeared. "Hilda was bouncing all over. The power flow seems to work, so if you can get that going again, she'll do her trick. And since I am curious and not needed, I'm going to watch her do it!" Only thin air remained where Rebel had stood.
The wizard shook his head and performed his magic trick again. Once more the machinery came to life. The floor trembled lightly as the huge metal hulks settled in their motion. Steam escaped from places, but none of the sailors looked worried, so it would be alright.
Meanwhile, on deck, the witch had her wand at the ready as the huge crystal started pulsating. Spell after spell came from her lips. Mixed with the power the wand gave her, energy swirled around the crystal, blurring it and changing its properties.
The crystal darkened, and suddenly Hilda saw shimmers of her house. "That is where we want to go," she said, loud and clear. "Take us there, thing."
The thing just kept showing her familiar surroundings, while a roaring wind sounded.
"I need more power on this thing," Hilda yelled.
Rebel nodded and popped away to William. She saw the wizard entirely occupied with his magic, so she pushed her powers towards him, linking like she'd done before. "Use this, Hilda needs it."
William was, for a moment, shaken by the sudden extra power. Then he attained a broke or bust disposition and hit the engines with everything Rebel and he could muster. Sailors ran around frantically, turning valves open and keeping scared eyes on gauges that showed all kinds of warnings.
Suddenly William sensed resignation from his witch. This could only mean that whatever she was attempting, it was not going well. "Stop," he told Rebel, "stop."
They released their energy, making the engine slow down.
"Take me to Hilda," William said.
Rebel no
dded and popped them to where the witch was standing, her wand-arm extended towards the still pulsating crystal.
"What's wrong?" the wizard asked.
Hilda stood motionless. "It almost worked." She looked at William. "I don't know why it did not work all the way. I was so close."
The witch lowered her arm and slowly walked to the wooden casing that the crystal rested on. "You are one stupid crystal," she said, and kicked the box.
The resonance in the wood of the casing transferred to the crystal, which stopped pulsating and started to sing. The sound was gentle at first, but became louder and louder, to the point where everyone had to cover their ears. A light then came from the centre of the crystal, illuminating the entire Mimosa. It became so bright that each and every person had to squeeze their eyes shut, not to get blinded.
Then there was a sickening feeling, as if the deck tried to fall away from under Hilda's feet. "Crappedy crap!" she hollered, and "William!" She could not reach out for her wizard, as that would allow the shrill sound from the crystal to burst her skull. She was convinced that would happen. At least the bond told her he was still close to her.
The witch worried about the cats and what was happening and how on earth were they going to get home and then there was a heavy rolling of the ship, some shaking and falling over, and then - nothing. No motion, no more screaming of the crystal. The witch carefully released one finger from one ear. There was relative silence. Another finger, and one more, and still no sound of consequence.
Something scratched her nose. Hilda opened an eye and saw Grimalkin's face very close by as the
