The Time Mechanic

by Victoria Bastedo

“Please, stepfather, listen for a moment?” she begged. Her dark blue eyes blinked as she appealed to him. For the first time, Jeremy thought, his stepdaughter was showing him a softer face. If Stedland rejected her plea now… but Stedland twitched and then capitulated. He sat down in his seat without another word but kept hold of Kannikey’s hand. Everyone else followed suit. Jeremy had their full attention.

  “I’ll tell you what I think it all means,” he said. “I know QuRellon’s past, at least I know of one thing that happened to him. When he was a young man in Tetoross there was an outbreak of terrible poison in his city. Halbernon here was called to Tetoross 30 years ago. He identified the poison and developed the antidote to be offered, but some of the citizens died anyway. In the vision you saw young QuRellon scowling at the coffins. Perhaps it was because his parents were killed by the poison that he developed an interest in using it himself, against others. He spent many years gaining power and prestige. He made many plans as well. He couldn’t poison Tetoross, because the citizens there might remember what’d happened in the past and fight it with the known antidote. So he had his agent, Serrin, rent the two hidden fields beyond Tonturin and grow the poison berries here.’

  “Meanwhile back in Tetoross he waited and watched for the perfect tool he could use to further his plans. He had another man working for him at the College in Tetoross. He’d connected with the professor of engineering. No doubt he took note of each new invention the students proposed, analyzing their projects for his own designs. One day our friend Fillipi designed an amazing contraption. She meant it for good- for farmers to use in crop dusting or watering their fields. She turned her designs into her professor; he passed them along to QuRellon to study. The man realized what the steam eagle could do for him. He told the professor to steal the designs from Fillipi but she took the most important part of her design and ran away to hide here in Tonturin.’

  “QuRellon was forced to stumble along as best he could and the engineering professor developed a design similar to Ffip’s, workable enough for our villains to build their own steam eagle, which you saw in the vision. If you haven’t realized my urgency I’ll explain their plan now. Tomorrow is the Loop Festival of Tonturin. During that day almost every citizen of our fair city will be outside, dancing in the streets. QuRellon’s plan is simple. He’s harvested his massive fields of poisoned berries. No one knows the berries were even grown in those hidden fields and they wouldn’t know what the poison plants looked like if they did see them. It’s critical to him and Serrin that the poison is delivered in secret so that they can remain exonerated. That’s why Serrin was so determined to kill me when he got me in his clutches. He questioned me because he needed to find out if I knew everything and whether I’d told anyone else. But Mars saved me and I got away. They’ve decided I’m a little threat at this late date, I imagine. Serrin thinks I probably died from poisoning. Even if I’d survived and told my story, few would believe me over such respected businessmen and besides, soon all of Tonturin will be distracted.’

  “The poison has been harvested and distilled. I didn’t act soon enough and burn down those fields when I had the chance. Tomorrow, during the loop dance, Tonturin will be amazed by a new steam contraption flying over their heads. They’ll clap and look up when the steam eagle appears. The steam diffuser, part of the underbelly of the steam eagle, will release a mist that will sink down and settle on their skin or be breathed into their lungs. The citizens of Tonturin will be poisoned but none of them will know it at first.”

  “Jeremy no,” Ffip gasped in horror. She burst into tears. He went on talking.

  “It won’t be long before the effects are felt,” Jeremy choked out. “People will be clutching their stomachs in pain and the severity of their illness will be impossible to ignore. ‘But wait!’ they’ll be told. ‘There’s something marvelous available that can save them! The new product Surebelow has been released just in time! It’s such a wonder as a medicine that it can cure even this dreadful mystery plague infesting Tonturin.”

  “This whole story is insane!” Stedland protested with a gasp. “I don’t believe it! What’s the point anyway? If QuRellon is such a mastermind hoping to take over the world as you say, then why bother poisoning people just to turn around and offer them the antidote? Even if he sells out all the bottles of Surebelow that have been processed so far he’ll only make a years-worth of profit!”

  “Don’t you understand what that vision about the signs meant, sir?” Jeremy said, getting to his feet and pacing in front of them. “Think about it. Two signs have been painted in an artist’s studio. One says supplies of Surebelow are limited, and the other, that payment options must be made to get some.”

  “I’m still trying to process that we all saw the same visions together but, so what about those signs?”

  “Tell me, Stedland, when the time comes and you see your wife and Kannikey here feverish and crying out in pain; no, when you feel the knock of death at your own door, how much will you pay to get a hold of the antidote?”

  Stedland rose to his feet too and looked murderous at Jeremy’s harsh words.

  “How dare you imply that I…”

  “Listen to me!” Jeremy roared, interrupting him. “This is the money that QuRellon needs, don’t you see?” he said. “Every citizen of Tonturin will pay all that they have once they ‘see a representative to discuss payment options!’ All of Tonturin’s money, funneled into QuRellon and Serrin’s pockets! All of our property and resources will switch ownership or the land holder will die! Then their property will be forfeit anyway! Tonturin doesn’t need an army surrounding her to be conquered. Soon QuRellon will own everything and everyone here. And he’ll look like a savior in the process; the man who developed a medicine that cured a large city. What’s to stop him from poisoning the other ten cities after that? To spread a rumor that the plague visited their streets when a sick person from Tonturin ran away and infected them? To then, systematically, sift from those cities so vast a profit that he can rule the world? QuRellon and Serrin must be stopped!”

  Jeremy’s voice had risen and also deepened. It was as if one of the changes being a Time Mechanic had made in him was the ability to turn his chest into a sound box, like a steam contraption he’d seen one time. By the end of his speech he was yelling so loud that Mars’ windows rattled. He was panting in exertion, his hands were clenched and he was shaking as if he were bitterly cold. He even felt his teeth chattering. At last Stedland looked away from the spectacle he presented.

  “No,” the man whispered. “I don’t believe it. QuRellon and I dined just recently. I’m an investor in the product! I’m a shrewd businessman myself, you know! I can tell when I’m being cheated!”

  Jeremy leaned down and peered in the man’s face.

  “Only if your opponent has human thoughts and feelings,” he growled. “QuRellon doesn’t care about you or what you think.”

  “But I just gave the man a huge check! I’ll be nearly broke if Surebelow doesn’t pay us!”

  “If we stop QuRellon you’ll have been a part of the team that saved Tonturin. The fact you took a loss will make you even more a man of the people,” Jeremy said. “With such good will your business will boom. You’ll have your investment back in no time, if you’re wise in the way you go about marketing yourself.”

  “You’re very clever, aren’t you, young man?”

  “So some people say,” replied Jeremy, glancing at Mars with a frown.

  “Well if you’re so smart, then why haven’t you made your own fortune? Why haven’t you dominated in your chosen field?”

  Jeremy blinked in surprise, especially when Mars spoke up from the corner.

  “That’s the big question, all right,” he muttered.

  Jeremy brushed it off.

  “None of that matters!” he said to Stedland. “Right now I’m just a man with one job! I’m going after my enemies, but I’m also telling you the truth!”

  “I don’t see why I should
count you as a friend over QuRellon and Serrin,” Stedland replied in a stubborn voice.

  “I’ll tell you why. Answer a question for me, will you?”

  “One last question before I take my daughter and get her away from all of you, no matter how she protests,” Stedland growled in return.

  “Tell me something then. The festival is tomorrow, right?”

  “So?”

  “So I’ll bet you that QuRellon and Serrin aren’t going to able to attend, are they?”

  “Well they said… what?”

  “They have to be out of town for some important meeting, isn’t that so? Of course they wanted to see Surebelow launched, but this business they have is critical. They’ll leave the opening of their booth to one of their major investors. In your capable hands Surebelow will be introduced just fine.”

  “How… how did you know they said that to me?”

  “They don’t intend to be here tomorrow,” Jeremy stressed, “because that’s when the poison is going to be released. Those two fine friends of yours intended for you to look up and see the eagle too while they were safe in Tetoross. They’ve taken only a part of the money you have to give. You’ll profit them far more after you’ve been poisoned.”

  Now Stedland was breathing hard too, and clutching his throat.

  “Who are you?” he demanded.

  “I’m nobody special.”

  “How do I know you’re not the mastermind?”

  “Just help us!” interrupted Kannikey, leaning forward.

  “I can’t risk it.”

  “Just tell us what we want to know,” insisted Jeremy. “QuRellon won’t be the wiser.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “The location of all the holdings related to Surebelow. Every warehouse and office, every building you’ve seen Serrin visit, and any pertinent conversations you might’ve overheard.”

  “I could just take Kannikey and her mother and…”

  “What? Leave town before the festival tomorrow?”

  “I wouldn’t go!” inserted Kannikey.

  Stedland shook his head and then grabbed it with a roar.

  “Fine!” he said at last. “I’ll tell you what I can! But if I discover you’ve been lying to me, you’ll find that QuRellon isn’t the only powerful man around here! I’ll see you arrested!”

  Jeremy cracked a smile. “The least of my worries,” he said.

  Chapter Thirty-Four (In Which Jeremy Groups Seven Into One Direction)

  “I’ve only ever seen two buildings related to Surebelow,” Stedland insisted a short while later, “The two warehouses that have been bought for the production of it. This isn’t some illegitimate enterprise developed in the last month or so, you know! It’s been researched and tested!”

  “I imagine the production took a sudden leap of effort though sometime in the last year,” Jeremy guessed. “Right after the Steam Eagle was introduced?”

  “Well it…” after a few seconds of consideration Stedland bellowed in fury. “Blast!” he roared. “You’re right, it did!”

  “Go on about the warehouses,” Jeremy said. “There are two of them, you say?”

  “Yes, just across the street from each other.”

  “And have you ever been allowed inside them?”

  “Of course! I’m a major investor so naturally I’ve seen it in production!”

  “But there are rooms you weren’t allowed to go in, correct? Locked rooms, or even guarded and locked?”

  Stedland sighed. “You might as well just describe everything to me, young man, instead of the other way around.”

  “No, we need the information you provide. Where were the areas you weren’t allowed to go into, just in one of the warehouses?”

  “There’s a closed off area in both warehouses; in the back of each.”

  Jeremy jumped a bit when Halbernon interjected into the conversation, clicking into their faces.

  “Don’t just describe it!” the old man protested. “Diagram it! That’s what paper and pencil are for!”

  Jeremy smiled. “Good idea. Mars?”

  “Just a moment, I’ll look for some,” Mars said, going over to rummage in his big desk by the hallway.

  Kannikey went over too. “I’ll help,” she added. “Your desk is such a mess it’s a wonder you can do any work here!” she scolded him.

  “It was less messy before you girls decided to ‘organize’ it!” he said in reply.

  “Impossible. Here, take these,” she said with a smile.

  “Thanks,” Mars replied.

  Mars and Kannikey came back and Jeremy noted that Stedland was watching their casual interaction with narrowed eyes.

  “Here you are, sir,” said Mars, handing the paper and pencil to him and then carting over a small table for him to write on.

  “Hmm,” Stedland said, frowning. He bent over to draw two boxes representing the warehouses. Six people leaned over him to see. “Here’s the street in the middle,” he mumbled. “The two warehouses are identical. Each has big front doors and big ones in the back too. Inside the large rooms are split in half.” Stedland glanced back at Jeremy and frowned. “I’ve seen the steam eagle, by the way,” he admitted. “It’s in this warehouse here. Serrin told me it was built special for the Festival, as a way to excite the populous about Surebelow. It’s meant to carry a banner over the people’s heads, not poison.”

  “So you were told,” said Jeremy.

  “I’m tempted to just have the lot of you locked up and then see for myself what flies over Tonturin tomorrow.”

  “Are you willing to risk Kannikey while you watch the steam eagle fly towards you, or your wife?”

  “I wonder what would happen if I punched you right now,” Stedland fumed.

  “I wonder that often,” put in Mars, “but I wouldn’t try it if I were you.”

  “If you threaten me, young man, I’m hardly likely to recommend you as an appropriate escort for my daughter.”

  “Don’t blame Mars for defending me,” put in Jeremy. “It’s the job he was given to be the guardian of our group. Otherwise I think he’d let you flatten me if you wanted to.”

  Stedland looked back at Mars and Jeremy again, the light of curiosity in his eyes.

  “Have you two been opponents in the past?” he asked.

  “The worst kind of opponents,” said Mars. “He used to be my best friend.”

  “Ah,” said Stedland.

  “Go on with your drawing, sir,” said Jeremy. “You say the steam eagle is in the front room of this warehouse. What’s in the front room across the street?”

  “Surebelow’s distribution line and where the supply is kept.”

  “And you haven’t seen what’s in the room behind— in either of the back rooms?”

  “No. Serrin told me the room behind the steam eagle is for development of new concoctions to sell- naturally they want to keep their recipes locked up.”

  “And the room behind Surebelow, what did Serrin say was back there?”

  Stedland looked stubborn for a moment. “He wouldn’t tell me,” he admitted at last.

  Jeremy stood up straight and thought about it. A small smile formed by itself at the corners of his mouth. “Aha. So this room is locked and kept secret. Is it also guarded?”

  “Yes it is. From the inside and on the outside it’s sealed except when needed.”

  “Then that’s our next stop. Take us there.” Jeremy gestured towards the door.

  “I thought you said that I only needed to tell you where the warehouses were located…” Stedland looked troubled.

  “I did. I just assumed you’d want to come along, since Kannikey is going,” said Jeremy.

  “What do you mean!” he bellowed.

  Jeremy sighed and went over to the hall closet. He opened the door and removed his coat. He hadn’t worn it that morning when they went out but now he felt the need of it, and not just because he was suddenly cold. He wasn’t at all sure he could accomplish h
is given task, especially alone. He squared his shoulders and went to Mar’s front door and opened it.

  “I’m the new Time Mechanic and the time for consideration is over,” he stated. “In order to save Tonturin I’m willing to risk my life, break the law and attack— but try not to kill— my enemies. Yes, I want to turn them into the authorities to deal with after their threat is removed but no, I’m not going to waste precious time trying to convince the constables beforehand. This is your moment to decide. Refuse to join me if you must, but please, don’t try to hinder me! I’m going. Who is coming with me?”

  Ffip was the first one to be on his side, getting up even before he finished his speech. She was wearing one of Kannikey’s outfits, not a flowing dress today but one with the pants on her legs and the overdress that clung to her figure. Her shapeless boots somehow fit the outfit, as if here she was comfortable and the clothes knew it. But she didn’t carry herself like a man who no one paid much attention to. She looked determined, intelligent and, Jeremy thought, exquisitely sweet and beautiful with her shining eyes.

  The next one to move towards him, slipping away before her stepfather could object, was Kannikey. He sighed and supposed that these two had the least to lose. Halbernon turned and clicked his fingers into Mars’ face. That had the right effect for he got Mars to cross the room with him.

  Jeremy was most surprised when Nemeth moved in his direction as well.

  “I’ve worked with you for a long time, Jeremy,” he said. “I know how smart you are and what you say is compelling enough that it must at least be checked on. I’ll go along for a little while. I don’t promise to do anything illegal though.”

  Jeremy found himself blinking hard as Nemeth reached his side. He really began to wonder. For many years he’d told himself that he wasn’t worth much. He’d told himself that ever since… he choked in emotion as the distant memory of the past came up to strike him in a vision so sudden he didn’t have the chance to snap it off.

  This vision wasn’t related to the mission. It was a vision only related to him. Once again he was a boy by the creek, waking up to find Uncle Tov’s wife with a strange glazed-over look in her eye staring down at him. It had hurt to realize what she wanted and had hurt physically when she struck him. But nothing had hurt him more than the words she’d said after he’d rejected her.