Myra looked at it in wonder as well and quietly fit her hand into Twist’s. When her emotions flooded into his Sight, he smiled to feel nothing but sunny wonder and calm.
The huge astrolabe was moved inside the glass sphere by some of the workers, while others finished welding and riveting in the last panes of glass to complete the sphere around it. Twist watched the process with fascination. Some of the workers looked dirty and ragged while others—the ones wearing blue and black to match the uniform Twist had seen Aden wearing—appeared eager and rested. Despite their apparent differences, all of them worked efficiently together. It seemed like very little time at all before the work on the sphere around the astrolabe suddenly ceased.
“Come along, inside,” Everest yelled to Twist and his companions, who had been trying to stay out of the way.
Samay and a handful of workers entered the sphere through a metal hatch—Twist quickly recognized it as having the same design as those Jonas had seen connecting rooms and walkways on the spaceship. Twist and the others moved to follow and then clustered together inside the sphere, standing to the side of the only flat section of the thick glass floor, just under the astrolabe. Even though the glass bubble around them was easily five or six times larger than the massive machine, Everest and Samay changed quickly into their human forms in the cramped flat space.
“Right, is it locked?” Everest asked as one of the workers closed the hatch.
“Yes, Master, locked tight,” the man replied.
“Good,” Everest said. He then closed his eyes and pressed his hands together tightly before him.
Twist felt the air inside the glass bubble begin to vibrate oddly, as a high, barely discernible whine seemed to emanate from everywhere at once. Before he could ask if anyone else heard it, a brilliant white flash filled the world and blinded him for an instant. The light faded just as quickly as it appeared, leaving a totally different view outside the clear planes of glass that surrounded him.
All sounds of construction and boiling rock were gone, replaced by total silence. No one spoke for a long moment as they looked about themselves. Twist and many of the others stared in stunned awe at the sight before them of the blue world hanging in a field of black and innumerable stars. A deep shadow of night edged the left side of the world, while sunlight illuminated the rest of the impossibly huge globe. Enormous wings of glistening white cloud hung over the brilliant blue ocean, appearing so close to its surface that they looked painted on. A few tiny shapes of green and gold marred the otherwise flawless ocean, making a little line of islands.
Jonas made a lighthearted sound. “Deja vu.”
“Is that the Earth?” Myra asked, pointing.
“Yep,” Jonas responded casually.
“Oh…” Myra muttered, her amazement clearly washing all other thoughts away.
“Yes, yes, it’s very pretty,” Everest grumbled, his arms crossed. “Come along, now. I didn’t bring you all here for the view.”
Twist turned to look at him but paused to see the moon hanging in the stars just behind the white dragon. The face of it was so full of stark sunlight that it made his eyes water to look at it. Beyond, he saw the smoky river of the Milky Way lying like a slightly angled ring around the sky, but without the atmosphere in the way, he could now see the countless distinct points that created the ghostly glow, each one a sun with its own worlds. Myra stepped away to gasp in delight at the impossibly bright face of the sun, burning in the blackness like a lighthouse on the clearest night.
The workers managed to turn their attention back to their work, while Twist continued to stare at the wonder around him. The workers gingerly began to walk up the sides of the sphere to check and attend to the joining seams of metal between the panes of glass, while their gravity shifted to always follow their feet. Twist’s gaze drifted down to the seam nearest to where he stood, but then he glanced down between his own feet. The stars thinned somewhat into the ominous black below him, while two twin nebulae—no, perhaps they were galaxies—huddled together at the very bottom of the sky.
For a moment, Twist only stared down at the stars, but then his head began to swim as he slowly realized that there was literally nothing beneath him but a thin sheet of glass and a field of stars impossibly far below.
“Twist,” Jonas said, moving closer. “Look up now.”
It took a great deal of will, but Twist managed to wrench his gaze up to meet Jonas’s blue-green eyes. Twist’s vision continued to swim uncomfortably, and his skin was starting to feel clammy. Jonas smiled gently and put his hands on Twist’s shoulders. Twist’s mind washed over with the calm, steady, weight of Jonas’s Sight against his own, and he took a few slow, deep breaths as his terror began to subside.
“There you go,” Jonas said, watching him carefully. “If it helps, try to remember that there really is no up or down out here. The gravity we’re feeling is artificial. If they turned it off, we’d all float around weightlessly, safe and sound.”
“Wouldn’t we fall to Earth?” Twist asked, glancing at the glowing blue ocean that hung just beside them.
“From this distance…” Jonas said thoughtfully, glancing at the globe. “Well, we’re moving pretty quick right now. Even without any more propulsion, momentum would keep us roughly this far away for a while. But at this speed, we could orbit forever. Couldn’t be safer.”
“Right…” Twist muttered, deciding to try not to think about it at all.
“Twist, look!” Myra’s voice called brightly to him from above. Twist looked up to see her standing upside down at the very top of the glass sphere, smiling down at him and waving excitedly. “Isn’t outer space just marvelous?” Twist just smiled up to her and waved.
Jonas laughed and waved back as well. “How’d you get all the way up there?” he called up to her.
“I walked,” Myra said with a shrug. “You look like you’re upside down.”
“So do you,” Jonas said back.
“Hey, watch this!” Skye yelled happily.
Twist and the others looked to where she stood, halfway up one side of the sphere. She crouched down and then leaped out—or upward, from her perspective—and flew right through the middle of the sphere with a delighted-sounding call. Near the center, and only a few feet away from the top of the astrolabe, she tumbled head over foot a few times before righting herself and landing easily on the other side of the sphere.
“Ta-da!” she said with a wide smile, holding her arms out. Myra cheered and clapped her hands. Jonas laughed, his bright emotions sparkling at the edges of Twist’s mind.
Everest gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. “Humans…” he muttered, turning his attention back to overseeing whatever the workers were doing at the base of the astrolabe.
“I want to try that!” Myra announced.
“Just jump off, as hard as you can,” Skye said. “It’s easy!”
“Now, wait just a moment—” Twist began, but he stopped as he looked up to see Myra launch herself off of the ceiling of the sphere, gliding straight for him.
Myra giggled like a child, spinning haphazardly around in midair, while Twist’s heart thundered in his chest. He moved instinctively to remain directly below her, desperate to catch her if she didn’t right herself in time. Only a few feet above him and moving very quickly, Myra let out a frightened sound as she seemed to have lost control of herself, still spinning chaotically. Twist reached up and caught her in his arms, falling to one knee under her weight. Myra’s fright vanished into brilliant joy as she laughed and threw both arms around his neck. Dizzy from her joy and his own relief, Twist remained kneeling and put her down to sit on the glass.
“That was brilliant!” Myra cheered. “I want to do it again!”
“No, no, please,” Twist muttered, horrified.
“But why?” Myra asked him, clearly confused by his fear.
“He’s right, Princess,” Draig’s voice said smoothly. Startled to hear his voice, Twist turned to find the huge red dr
agon standing on the glass to one side, on his black talons. Twist guessed that he must have magically arrived while no one was looking. “You might hurt yourself.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” Myra said, getting to her feet with Twist’s hand to steady her. Standing beside her, Twist stared at the dragon ungratefully.
“You don’t want to break your pretty puppet, now do you?” Draig asked gently.
“You’re no fun,” Myra said, pouting at him.
“If the monkeys are finished jumping around,” Everest said loudly, “I could use your Sight, little one.” He gestured for Twist to come closer to the astrolabe.
“Yes, of course,” Twist said. He glanced at Draig again, before he gave Myra a smile. “Please just stay right here,” he asked gently.
“All right, if you really want me to,” she said sweetly to him.
“Thank you, dear,” he said before leaving her to join Everest.
“Make sure nothing has shifted during installation,” Everest instructed, stepping back to watch.
Twist did as he was told and found that a few tiny pieces of the machine had been shaken slightly out of place. He moved quickly, resetting each affected gear and cog before climbing back out of the astrolabe.
“It looks fine to me now,” he told Everest.
“Good,” the white dragon said, moving to the control mechanism near the base. He sent the crystal planets spinning around their golden sun and watched carefully as they glided smoothly. “Yes, that looks just lovely,” he said, smiling.
“Would you set it for today’s arrangement, so that we can double check the alignment?” Samay asked Everest.
Everest complied, adjusting the controls. Samay then climbed inside the astrolabe and stood beside the sapphire Earth and its milky opal moon. He then took a spyglass and peered through it at the ruby Mars.
“Magnificent,” he murmured with a smile. “The alignment with Mars is flawless.”
“Check the outer worlds as well,” Everest said. Twist glanced back at Myra to find Draig speaking with her in his human form. Thankfully, Jonas and Skye were both standing close beside her and watching Draig with cold expressions.
“Neptune is spot on,” Samay said as he continued to look around from inside the astrolabe with his spyglass. “Uranus, as well. Jupiter is set, but let me check the moons as well. Europa…Callisto…yes, they all look perfect,” he said, starting to sound amazed. “Io is just where it should be. We already checked against past star charts, so there’s no reason to think that the movements won’t continue to match this exactly in the future as well.”
“You did a good job, little one,” Everest said, turning to Twist. “You and the other one have done exactly what we needed.”
Twist smiled politely and bowed. “Thank you. I’m glad we could help. Are we now free to go?”
“I don’t see why not,” Everest said lightly. “Samay, will you take them back?”
“Sure,” Samay responded, already heading down the spiral stair in the center of the astrolabe.
“Thank you,” Twist said to Everest before he turned to leave. Everest waved him away and turned his attention back to the astrolabe. Twist hurried back to his friends and found Draig still speaking to Myra.
“Europa is another moon around Jupiter,” he said with a charming smile. “It’s covered in ice and sparkles like a jewel. I’m sure you would like to see it in person, Princess.”
“The lady said she’s not interested,” Jonas grumbled.
“I’m not talking to you,” Draig said to him unkindly.
“We’re free to go,” Twist said, drawing their attention.
“Oh! Wonderful,” Myra said, smiling to him and taking his arm. “Do you think we could go to visit those lovely beaches that Jonas spoke of now? I’d like to see the sea.”
“Kona is always lovely,” Jonas offered brightly.
“Waikiki is better,” Skye added.
“I’ve always wanted to go there, but I never end up making it,” Jonas said thoughtfully.
“Then we have to go!” Skye said with finality. “Come on, Twist. Let’s take Myra and Jonas to Waikiki.”
“That sounds like a lovely plan,” Twist agreed. Myra smiled brightly at the idea.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go sailing in the golden rings of Saturn?” Draig asked her. Although Twist felt her emotions tingle with wonder at the sound of the invitation, it was fleeting. She glanced at Twist, still holding his arm.
“Actually, the rings of Saturn are made up of huge lumps of rock,” Twist said, remembering what Jonas’s Sight had shown him of that distant world. “The whole planet really looks best from far away. Besides,” he added, looking Draig levelly in the eye, “Myra isn’t going anywhere alone with you or any of your brothers.”
Smiling from ear to ear, Myra looked back to Draig and shrugged. “Sorry. But I really couldn’t go. I hope you have a lovely time.”
“Well, if that’s your decision,” Draig said with a sigh. “I hope you’re not too bored in the future, Princess. It was very nice to see you again.”
“Thank you,” Myra said sweetly, though she made no effort to agree with him.
Samay whisked Twist and his companions back to the Earth with a wave of his hand. They found themselves once again standing in the chilly air of the plaza atop Mauna Kea, just beside the fountain of boiling lava. The sun beat down from the clear blue sky above, and the wind whipped playfully about them. Twist noticed that some of the golden and crystal-domed buildings appeared to be missing now.
“We’re almost ready to leave,” Samay explained when Twist mentioned the missing buildings. “We will take most of this place with us.” Just as he spoke, Twist saw one of the distant domes suddenly drop into the Earth.
“So, you’re just going to leave us standing here on an empty mountaintop?” Skye asked with a frown.
“Why don’t you ask your Rook friends for a lift?” Samay replied, shrugging. “Now that the astrolabe is calibrated and installed, your purpose here is complete.”
“I’ll give Aden a call then,” Skye muttered, reaching for the pocket watch that hung around her neck.
Samay took them back to the guest house and waited as they collected their things. By the time they were finished, a Rook captain in a sharp blue-and-black uniform arrived to join them. The lady was gently middle aged, with flashes of white in her long, braided, sandy-colored hair and an air of confident experience in her manner. She wore blue trousers the same as the other captains Twist had seen, but her short black jacket clung more to her slender waist.
“Captain Kripke, at your service,” she said with a short bow.
“Agent Blue,” Skye responded. “Pleased to meet ya, Captain.”
“Likewise,” Kripke said with a smile. “Are these gentlemen Twist and Mr. Davis?” she asked, looking to them. Once everyone had been introduced, the captain looked to Twist with a cordial smile. “When you’re ready, I’ll escort you to my ship. Aden has asked me to be your host until he is free to speak with you in person.”
While Twist wondered why Aden could possibly want to speak to him, he could only wait to find out. He and the others said their good-byes to Samay, as none of the other dragons were there to bid farewell. Samay responded politely and then hurried away to join the other dragons as they prepared to leave the Earth. Twist and his companions then followed the Rook captain to her imposing black airship, which was moored to one side of the mountaintop with the rest of the Rook armada.
Climbing the steep gangplank that led from the ground up to the top, open deck of the airship, Twist glanced toward the massive silver sphere of Shiva’s strange airship, looming silently on the far side of the mountaintop. After his few appearances in the dragons’ palace, Shiva hadn’t shown himself again. Twist could only hope that no news from the strange blue Cypher truly was good news.
On board the airship, Twist couldn’t help but notice that the design of the ship was remarkably similar to that of the Viman
a. He felt as if he were aboard an old sailing vessel from the time of the Caribbean pirates, except for the fact that the billowing white sails had been replaced by a cloud of white balloons. This ship, however, unlike the Vimana, was much larger and very well armed. Shiny silver canons lined both sides of the long deck, and from the outside Twist had seen the mouths of many more on the lower decks.
The crew of the ship was almost entirely absent. Twist assumed that they must all be inside the volcano, working alongside the Cypher slaves to finish the dragons’ spaceship. Those who did remain were either the top ranks or the lowest of the airship’s crew. The ship’s doctor and quartermaster were already having tea in the sunlight, at a table that had been set out just before the quarterdeck. The captain took a seat beside the quartermaster—a dark-skinned man with a clean-shaven scalp and pointed black beard—and called for the cabin boy. A young, sun-burnt and freckled lad of no more than nine years appeared quickly.
“Yes, Aunty?” he asked the captain.
“Would you be a dear and bring out some new cups for our guests?” the captain asked him gently. “And another pot of tea, as well.”
“Right away,” he responded with a smile and salute, turning to leave without a moment’s hesitation.
“What a sweet boy,” Skye remarked as she and the others found empty seats already set around the table for them. “I wasn’t nearly so polite when I was his age.” The quartermaster and the doctor—a young-looking woman with sharp Asian features and short black hair—greeted their guests politely.
“Yes, he is sweet,” Kripke replied, smiling to Skye. “Jeremy is a frightfully clever young man. I’m sure he could become anything he wished. But he dreams only of being an aeronaut. Not that I can blame him.”
“It’s nice to have him around,” the quartermaster added. “Mentoring is good fun.”
“Yes, you’re always happy to offer your knowledge,” the doctor said with a sly smile as she raised her teacup to her lips. “Asked for or otherwise.”
Inquest Page 26
