Hidden Magic (The Magic Carnival Book 5)

by Trudi Jaye

  CHAPTER THREE

  Fee watched as Pelly tried to argue with Lucas. She could see he’d made up his mind. That was the thing about Lucas. He appeared all teddy-bear cuteness, but he had an internal steel that allowed him to make the tough decisions. That was why he had a multi-million-dollar research company at such a young age. Certainly not through luck.

  The consultant had appeared as stunned as the rest of them at the announcement, which was a point on his side.

  Henry, the consultant.

  She didn’t know what had happened when she’d shaken his hand, but it had been...unexpected. Like her brain and her magic were scrambled at the same time. It was possible the reaction they’d had was some kind of new device being used by the Witch Hunters to find their quarry. Had she given herself away? Was that the big change she’d sensed when Henry had walked in the door?

  She considered Henry through narrowed eyes. It had felt organic, natural. A zap of electricity that hadn’t quite died down even now. She didn’t think the Witch Hunters would approve of something like that; it would go against their fundamental beliefs.

  She blinked, trying to get moisture into her contacts. They felt gritty, as if she’d gotten dirt under them. She was also still feeling shaky, and didn’t know if that would go away while Henry was around. She hoped so. She couldn’t operate with this level of ongoing disturbance.

  Had he felt it as well? He seemed so calm. And she didn’t think he’d fainted.

  Why had it just been her?

  Questions were running around in her head, and Fee just wanted to stand up, pull at her hair, and scream. Luckily, she’d cured herself of those kinds of emotional outbursts a long time ago. She pictured herself doing it inside her head, and continued to watch the argument in front of her.

  “I’m sorry everyone. I know it’s hard. But it’s my final decision,” Lucas said. He stood up. “I’m offering you Henry as a way to improve your chances because I think it’s an idea that has merit. But I can’t keep shovelling money at you with no actual results.

  “I’ll leave you with Henry now. I expect you to get him settled in and discuss your plan of action.” Lucas nodded at them all, and then strode toward the elevators. Luckily, the doors opened quickly, and his exit wasn’t made awkward by standing there for ages. Fee grinned. She knew about the alterations Lucas had put into the elevators, and they included a fingerprint recognition system that cancelled every other person’s call request and went straight to wherever Lucas was waiting whenever he pushed the button.

  “I don’t know what you think is so funny, Fee, but finding out we will have no job in a month doesn’t seem worthy of humor.” Pelly was in a fine form, his latent drama queen emerging with force.

  Fee rolled her eyes. “Don’t give up on us yet, Pelly,” she said. It said something about his state of mind that he didn’t reprimand her for using her nickname for him. “We’ve still got a month to prove ourselves, and we’ve got Henry here to help.” She considered Henry, sitting across the table from her, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world. “So what’s your expertise, Henry?”

  He cleared his throat. “I’m an engineer by trade. But I can put my hand to nearly anything and make it work.”

  “And you do consulting work?” asked Pelly.

  Henry paused. “Ah, no, not usually. This is the first time.”

  Fee frowned. “So do you work for another tech company? Surely, Lucas would know better than that?” She glanced at Pelly.

  “No, I don’t work for another tech company.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t usually work in this field at all.”

  Fee felt a strange foreboding sensation crawling up her spine. She had an idea that she wasn’t going to like the end of this conversation. “So where do you usually work, Henry?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure that’s relevant. How about we all get on with the work, and try to save your jobs?” said Henry evasively.

  Pelly had been watching this exchange, but now he broke in. “No, I think this might be extremely relevant. What is your background, Henry? Where did you go to graduate school? What is your experience in this area? We are being forced to rely on you for our very livelihood. I think you owe it to us to give us an answer.”

  Henry looked at them for a moment, considering. He sighed. “You’re not going to like it, Pelgrim.”

  “If that is the case, then it’s doubly important you share this information with us.”

  “All right. I’m part of the thrills crew for the Jolly Knight Carnival. I don’t have any kind of formal degree or diploma from a college. I just know what I know from hard work and experience.” He held his arms wide and shrugged. “It’s always been enough for me.”

  Fee’s eyes widened. She was less inclined to place value in postgraduate education than the others, but even she was shocked. Lucas had left them in the hands of some guy from the circus who had no formal education or research experience? How was that possible?

  Pelly stood up, his mouth opening and shutting, but no words came out. His jowls flapped up and down, like a demented turkey. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Fee might have laughed.

  ***

  Henry sighed. It was always this way. As soon as an outsider found out where he was from, they refused to take him seriously, no matter how much he tried to prove himself. His sensible self usually suggested that he didn’t tell them, and he often didn’t. But he wasn’t ashamed of his background, either. So, if ordinary folk insisted on knowing, he told them. Then weathered the consequences.

  “You’re a carny? Is Lucas aware of this? I’m going to inform him right now!” Pelgrim strode off toward the elevators. He banged the button, but the lift didn’t come straight away. He paced in front of the lifts like a caged lion.

  “He knows, Dr. Shaw,” said Henry raising his voice slightly so the researcher could hear. “He seemed pretty excited about it,” he added in a lowered voice, just for the others who were still sitting at the table. He looked around at the remaining researchers. Nolan had been the most interactive so far after Pelgrim, and even he was looking like a deer in the headlights.

  The lift dinged, and the doors opened behind them. “I’ll be back with your walking orders, Mr. Kokkol!” said Pelgrim as he stormed through the doors. If he could have slammed the door, Henry was pretty sure he would have.

  Eugene broke the silence. “What does the thrills crew do, Mr. Kokkol?”

  Henry smiled at him. Eugene was small and shy with dark hair and dark skin. “We keep everything running, all the machinery at the carnival. From the Ferris wheel and the other rides to the trucks, which carry everything between stops and even the computers and ticketing machinery. We don’t have the luxury of calling in someone else, so we have to be experts at everything ourselves.”

  Nolan nodded, his glasses flickering in the light above their heads. “So you’ve some experience with engineering?”

  “Sure, engineering, computing, lighting, almost anything you could think of. I’m the one they come to when they need something fixed.”

  Fee leaned back. “That’s not so bad. Have you ever invented something? From scratch?”

  Henry smiled. “That’s my favorite pastime, Fee. That’s why I’m here. I think like an inventor, and I look at problems in a completely different way.”

  “It couldn’t hurt,” said David softly. Henry had to lean in to hear him. “To show him I mean. We are stuck.” David’s eyes darted to the lifts as if to make sure Pelgrim was definitely gone.

  Eugene and Nolan nodded, and all three men looked to Fee, who stared at Henry for a long moment, her grey eyes serious. Then she shrugged. “Let’s show him Violet.”

  As one, the other researchers surged to their feet, the excitement suddenly palpable. It was as though a switch had been flicked, and Henry didn’t know if it was the disappearance of Pelgrim, or just the delight of a researcher being able to show off their project. It was good finally to see some excitement i
n their faces.

  He stood and walked after them, feeling like he might be able to help them after all.

  They took him to a locked side room. Nolan used his thumbprint and a number code to unlock the mechanism at the side, and they all entered the large temperature-controlled room. There was a large, covered object in the middle of the room.

  Eugene and Nolan went to either side and pulled the cover off.

  Henry just stared. One part of him was horrified. It looked awful, the skin was the wrong color, and was a patchy rubbery texture, which made Henry want to cringe. The wiring was obvious and clunky, and the fingers looked like five fat sausages on each hand.

  “I know,” said Fee. “We have work to do. But it’s coming together.”

  Henry nodded. Because another part of him could see the possibilities. Visions already were flowing through his mind of the improvements that would make this second skin the most amazing idea that Callaghan Technologies had ever come up with. However, he had to get them on board first.

  “It definitely has potential,” murmured Henry, walking closer to the suit.

  He touched one of the arms. The skin felt like thick rubber, not at all pliable. “Have you talked to a chemist about creating a more... pliable... skin?” he asked.

  Fee nodded. “We wanted to, but Pelly doesn’t like the idea of involving more people than necessary. Hence his tantrum,” she said, nodding toward the lifts. “He thinks we can do it all ourselves.”

  Henry took a deep breath. He could give them the recipe for the skin he used on Kara’s leg. To make it work, they would have to make some improvements to get it thinner. But did he really want to do that? He wasn’t sure yet. “It would need to be something that wouldn’t be affected by the electronics running through the suit.”

  Eugene nodded. “We’ve been trying ourselves, but it’s not easy if you’re not a specialist. Hence, the Sausage Suit.”

  Nolan and David both sniggered.

  Fee just grinned. “Pelly doesn’t like us calling it that. He says it undermines the serious nature of what we’re doing.”

  “What else is going wrong?”

  David stepped up to the suit, and pressed a small panel on the side. “Hello, Doctors,” said a soothing female voice.

  “Hello, Violet,” chorused the four researchers in front of him. Henry struggled not to laugh at their childlike delight in the creature they’d created.

  “How can I help you today?”

  “Can you tell Henry here where you’re having problems?” David smiled at Henry.

  “Certainly, Doctors. Hello, Henry. My name is Violet, and I am a Second Skin Kinetic Intelligent Neurosystem, capable of organizing and helping in the life of my wearer, as well as diagnosing and/or controlling common diseases. I know the time. I can schedule appointments. I can monitor heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, metabolism, and stress levels of my wearer.”

  The voice sounded like she was smiling, and it made Henry smile back.

  “But there have been problems. The first is my support structure. As the Doctors have explained, my skin is not optimal and certainly not viable for common consumption yet. Also, the problem of overheating has been difficult to overcome. The wiring system has been problematic, and I am not learning as well as my makers would like.”

  Henry saw the three researchers look at each other quickly. “What? What else is there?” he asked.

  They all started, and looked guiltily at Henry. Fee cleared her throat and spoke. “Well, the bit that Dr. Shaw has been in charge of, creating the nanotechnology, which operates under the skin, hasn’t been going according to plan. He’s been stalled on some of the technical aspects.” She glanced at the others. “It’s not entirely his fault; we don’t have the right skin for the project.”

  Henry nodded, suddenly understanding. Dr. Shaw was the one holding them back, but none of them had been able to do anything about it. Even Fee, who didn’t seem exactly a wallflower when it came to expressing her opinion. “So you actually know exactly how to move the project forward, but you’ve all been letting Pelgrim bully you into believing it was something else?” he said softly.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Fee couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was blaming the fact that Pelly was an overbearing pompous fool on them. What were they supposed to do? Fight him every inch of the way? He didn’t understand what Pelly was like. It was an uphill battle to get him to change the brand of tea they had in the kitchenette, let alone talk him into doing anything differently with the actual SSKIN project.

  “It’s more complicated than that,” she said frowning at Henry. “You’re simplifying it for your own purposes.”

  Henry shrugged. “Explain it to me.”

  “He’s in charge. And he doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way,” said David in a rush.

  Eugene nodded. “He’s actually rather intelligent. But once he’s decided on a path, he won’t listen to anyone else, and it’s impossible to tell him when he’s going the wrong way.”

  Henry sighed. “But you all know exactly where the problems are. Why doesn’t Pelgrim?”

  David blinked owlishly. “Because we don’t tell him. We let him believe what he wants to believe.”

  Fee looked around at the others. Nolan was gazing at the floor, biting one fingernail. Eugene and David were watching Henry with wide eyes. They all looked deflated, like he’d just told them the world was ending or their mother was dying.

  But Henry kept talking. “Look, the point here is that it’s something you can solve. That’s really positive. Imagine if you had no idea where to go, or what to do next?”

  If only it were that easy. Fee shook her head morosely. “You don’t understand. Pelly won’t accept what you’re saying. He’s going to have a meltdown.” It was going to be a nightmare. She desperately wanted Violet to succeed; but from bitter experience, she knew Pelly could be as stubborn as a rock. He’d taken an instant dislike to Henry, and he wouldn’t back down from that. Even if Henry could produce some kind of amazing breakthrough, Pelgrim just wasn’t going to accept it.

  Her usual peaceful work environment was about to be filled with arguments and sulking. And at the end of it, she was going to have to find somewhere else to work because there was no way Pelly was going to admit he was wrong.

  “What did you expect when you first saw me?” Henry said, his expression concerned. “Did you think I was going to find some miracle cure, some magic way to make this all work?”

  Fee couldn’t help it; she flicked her gaze to Henry’s face at the mention of the word magic. He was staring back at her, a little bit of knowing on his face. Her heart did a flip-flop. He knew she used magic in her robotics work; she was sure of it. That flash of blue lightning hadn’t been natural, and he hadn’t so much as mentioned it since. That suggested he knew exactly what had caused it, and why. She wished she knew that much.

  Looking away, Fee tried to act as if she didn’t understand what that knowing look in his eyes meant.

  “We knew it was going to be a disaster from the very beginning,” whispered Eugene. “And now we’re all going to lose our jobs.”

  Henry smiled. “It’s not going to be like that. I’m going to fix this situation, and you’re all going to be free to work on whatever project you want to in the future.” Henry patted Eugene on the arm, and Fee felt a sinking sensation when she saw the hopeful expression on Eugene’s face.

  “Don’t go promising anything you don’t know if you can keep,” she said, frowning at Henry.

  He grinned at her. “Don’t consign us to the garbage heap just yet, Fee. We have more than enough to work with here. Now that I’ve met Violet, I know I can work with her, and with all of you. Even Pelgrim.”

  “You don’t know him well enough to say that,” warned Fee, feeling like Oscar the Grouch. But she wasn’t going to let this guy go all Pollyanna positive when he really didn’t know what he was getting himself in for.

  Henry s
hifted to stand directly in front of her. He looked down at her, his brown eyes showing flecks of gold in their depths. Fee swallowed hard.

  “I’m not making this up. We are going to make this work, and you are going to keep your jobs. I’ll find a way to work with Pelgrim. It’s going to happen.”

  Fee could only look up into his eyes, watching them sparkle with magic.

  They were all doomed. But if they were going to be doomed, at least a golden god was around to make it interesting.

  ***

  Henry didn’t know whether to be annoyed at Fee or intrigued she wasn’t falling for his usual ability to make everyone around him feel at ease. All the others were glowing in their newfound positivity and had returned to their desks to work on three separate parts of Violet’s problems. Their enthusiasm was contagious; Henry had realized while he was in the room with Violet that he was hooked. They’d given him a problem that needed to be solved, and he’d always been unable to resist a challenge. He would help them as much as he possibly could in the time he had available.

  Meanwhile, Fee was sitting at her desk, staring at him with wary eyes.

  “Thanks, Frankie, I really appreciate it,” said Henry into his mobile phone, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched.

  “You better, my boy. You know I hate doing this boring research stuff for you,” said Frankie.

  Henry could hear the smile in his voice, and knew the younger man wasn’t serious. They’d been friends a long time, since, well, before Frankie had become the Chancemaster at the Carnival, and inherited the family powers. He was just keeping up his reputation as a gambler and a wastrel. He led a difficult life, and Henry didn’t envy Frankie one bit, despite his abilities.

  “Just let me know when you’ve got information for me. I’ve got a few things to sort out around here first.”

  “Are you organizing their lives for them?” Frankie sounded amused.