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~~~
Tesla awoke suddenly in the warmth and dim darkness of the cabin and lay still for a long time. The comfort and warmth of the bed combined with the motion of the airship and the occasional sound of the rigging above shifting in the breeze threatened to lull him back to sleep. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since their departure from Akron, and they had to make some tortuous course changes, first to avoid paying tolls for the use of the Objectivist Republic air space, the second a series of twists and turns as they avoided a line of thunderstorms pushing in from the west over the Mississippi River valley. Nightfall had seen them drifting over the forests of Ouachita- now, Tesla had to imagine they were getting close to their destination.
Reluctantly driven by the need to empty his bladder, Tesla sat up. The light in the cabin was dim and grey, the curtains over the portholes lined with brightness indicating that the sun must be up. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood up, stretching as far as he could in the cozy space of the cabin. Staggering and shaking the embers of sleep and the pain in his back off as best he could, he made his way to the water closet and palmed the light switch, and relieved himself. That done, he made his way over to the curtains and pulled them to one side.
Sunlight streamed in and he glanced out of the porthole. Nothing but shades of tan and beige greeted him. They were over the desert. Turning back to the bed, Tesla moved around the edge of it and found his bag right where he had left it when they had boarded the morning before. He disrobed and reached into his bag to pull out a fresh set of clothes. He put them on and then sat down on the bed and pushed a button on the silver bracelet around his wrist, a small compartment opened up and he pressed a button to activate the access point to the information he had smuggled out of the Black Archive.
The display projected a paper-sized image just above his wrist and using the pointer finger of his left hand, he began to scroll through the files until he found the information on the Jericho and began to review it again for what felt like the millionth time. “At Time’s Mountain, ring the bells six times before the chimes ring the first time beyond the first hour and the ram’s horn will reveal what you seek.” He shook his head in frustration, both annoyed that it was some kind of riddle and respecting the genius of those who had hidden the device, so long ago. “They didn’t want it to be easy to find, Tesla,” he reminded himself. Still puzzling over the meaning behind the riddle, he stood up again, sliding the compartment on the bracelet closed and watching the paper-sized image vanish before heading to the door of the cabin and opening it.
The hallway that was below decks was long terminating in a wide galley area at the back of the ship and a set of stairs that led up to the deck above at the other. Not feeling particularly hungry he made his way to the stairs and headed up to the deck.
Bright sunlight and a cloudless blue sky greeted him. It was early morning yet and the heat of the day had not fully taken hold. Paul was at the wheel and gave him a reserved nod of greeting as Tesla made his way over to where he was standing. Paul pointed ahead of them. “There they are.”
Tesla stepped forward- stopping a few paces short of the railing and looked out toward their destination. The landscape below was cracked, brown, and flat, but ahead of them, rearing up to the horizon were the black crags of the Sierra Diablo.
“There’s a docking port on top of the mountain,” Paul said. “We’ve got a berth waiting for us and then you can go and do your business, whatever it is.”
“Thank you,” Tesla said. “Hopefully it will be a nice, easy trip.”
“Let’s hope,” Paul said.
The elevation on the ship dropped as they made their final approach toward the docking port and Tesla made his way to the small hut behind the wheel and slipped inside where, as usual, Angus and Sasha were arguing.
“Why can’t you tell me what color it is?”
“Because I need to concentrate on our approach, Angus,” Sasha replied. She picked up a radio microphone. “Diablo tower, this is the Mariposa on final approach. Requesting permission to dock.”
There was a brief pause before the response came through. “You’re cleared for approach, Mariposa. Docking port one, please.”
“Copy that, Diablo,” Sasha said. “You got the lights on for us?”
“Aye aye Mariposa,” came the reply, and just like that a series of landing lights appeared in front of them. The ship tacked left somewhat to avoid them and Tesla was astonished to realize that they were attached to an immensely long wire that was attached to a pole that stuck out an impossible distance into the sky. There were others- or, Tesla assumed there had to be others, as there were multiple docking ports on the tower ahead of them, and in his head, he suddenly had a mental image of a giant hedgehog in the sky.
“You see them, Angus?”
“I see something,” Angus growled. “What color are they?”
“Red and blue,” Sasha replied.
“You wanna go a little deeper than that?” Angus said.
“Red like strawberries and blue like--”
“Like the sky?”
“Not exactly,” Sasha replied. She reached up and grabbed another microphone above the window. “All hands, prepare for docking,” she said. “All hands, prepare for docking.”
As if by magic, the rest of the crew came popping out of various hatches and began moving with purpose as they began docking procedures. It was almost like an elegant dance the way everyone knew exactly what their tasks were and soon enough ropes were being thrown across to the docking gantries and slowly and carefully, the Mariposa was pulled toward its docking berth and then, finally it came to a halt. “Mariposa, we have contact,” the radio chirped.
Sasha stuck her head out of the window to the hut they were standing in. “Do we have contact?” She yelled. A chorus of assent answered her and she ducked back into the window and grabbed the radio. “Contact confirmed, Diablo.”
“Welcome to the Mountain of Time, Mariposa.”
~
Nearly two hours later, Tesla was on the verge of giving up. Maybe the clue had been wrong. Maybe he had misread it somehow. He stood at the very bottom of the main chamber looking up at the gigantic clock in frustration. It was beautiful, he had to admit- they had finished it centuries before and had intended it to last for ten thousand years and so far, they were on track to meet their goal. Most people who came here just wanted to see it for themselves, but over the centuries a small group of caretakers had evolved into a quasi-religious order dedicated to keeping the clock functioning and working until it had reached its intended goal, thousands of years in the future. They called themselves The Watchmakers and some of them, too many of them had been glancing at him with a certain curiosity, trying to determine why he was here.
Over the centuries the Watchmakers had carved an intricate frieze on the inside of the stone chamber in the heart of the mountain- it served as a chronicle of their order and began at the bottom and slowly made a circuit of the chamber before another ring of carvings began directly above that. Each ring was about six feet in height and so far there were four rings that had been completed. Tesla had examined them all in detail and could only find one ram’s horn and that was on the fourth ring that maybe was what he was looking for, but he had no way to get up there. The Watchmakers weren’t about to give him a ladder- on the contrary if he tried anything right now, in the middle of the day, in all likelihood he would be asked to leave- how politely they would ask he wasn’t sure- but he wasn’t all that eager to find out.
Feeling a certain amount of despair, Tesla was ready to go back to the ship and go over the material in his bracelet with a fine tooth comb, and then, the bells began to chime. Bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong… Six times, Tesla thought. Wait. Tesla’s eyes opened very wide as he realized what it all meant. Six times after the first hour- the first hour would be one o’clock in the morning so… he glanced down at his watch. One thirty to be precise. He sighed heavily. He was going to need to break in and that meant… that meant he was going to need help. He headed back toward the elevator that led up to the docking ports.
The elevator ride was long, but finally, the doors slid open and he made his way out onto the docking ports and headed for the Mariposa’s berth. The doors to the complex slid open and he felt the full blast of the desert heat hit him. He made his way out onto the deck and saw Paul standing with Angus and Sasha in the communications hut that they had used to coordinate their docking. Sasha and Angus looked like they were bickering again. He made his way toward them even as the three of them came out of the hut. Paul glanced over at him.
“Back so soon?”
“I need your help,” Tesla said. “And I need the help of your crew.”
“To do what?”
“To break in,” Tesla replied.
Sasha and Angus stopped their bickering for a moment and turned. “You want to do what?”
“To break in,” Tesla said. He hesitated for a moment. “I also haven’t been entirely honest with you,” he said.
“No kidding,” Paul said. “Your accent is off, you were flashing Old Republic dollars around back in Akron and now you’ve got us chasing some mystical mumbo jumbo in West Texas.”
“If I tell you the truth, will you help me?” Tesla asked.
“You haven’t dealt with many anarchists, have you?” Paul asked.
“No,” Tesla admitted.
“I might be the Captain of the ship, but I don’t get to decide what jobs we take. The crew does,” Paul said. He nodded to Sasha. “Sasha, get everyone up here,” he said. “Let’s see what our passenger is going to tell us.” Sasha turned on her heel and went below, leaving Tesla, Paul, and Angus standing awkwardly in silence with each other. She and the rest of the crew were not long in returning and soon they were all standing in a loose semicircle and waiting expectantly for Tesla to begin.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t really know a good place to begin,” he said, “So I’ll just come right out with it. About a month ago I was expelled from what the Old Republic calls only ‘The Order’ and thrown out of the Tower of Fire along the Pennsylvania border.”
“Why was I expelled?” Tesla asked. “Well, I guess the easiest way to put it is that I found out what The Order was really about. I got caught trying to sneak into their Black Archives- the same place that my father broke into- and they executed him for it. What I found in the Black Archives was troubling indeed.”
“Before you go on,” Paul said. “I have a simple request. You say that you are a member of The Order that guards and maintains the Frontier Wall?”
“Yes,” Tesla replied.
“Prove it,” Paul said.
Tesla considered the challenge for a moment before asking a question of his own. “What do you know of The Order?”
“Not much,” Paul said. “We know they defeated us at the Black Day at Wheeling two centuries ago. There are some other legends.”
“What other legends?” Tesla asked.
“It’s said they’ll be marked,” Sasha said. “With a diamond and the letter G.”
Tesla rolled up his right sleeve and held up his bare forearm for the crew to see. “Your legends are true,” he said. “Every member of The Order is given this mark on their tenth naming day.”
“Marks can be faked,” Paul said.
“The legend says that the mark is a hidden one,” Sasha said.
Tesla nodded. “That’s right as well.” He thrust his arm down into the path of Angus’ long shadow and everybody leaned in and watched as it appeared to slowly dissolve. “It only appears in direct sunlight.”
Paul’s eyes narrowed. “This all seems a little too convenient and has offered us nothing in the way of proof.”
“I have proof,” Tesla replied sharply. “I risked my life to break into the Black Archive to get it. I’ve seen the knowledge that they’re hiding. It’s more than anyone can imagine. They say it’s for our own good. They say we are not ready to reclaim the ancient knowledge from before The Great Silence. They’re wrong.”
“So, show us this proof then,” Paul challenged. “Prove that they are hiding miracles that could help us all.”
Tesla reached into his satchel and pulled out a small bottle and placed it between his pointer finger and his thumb to hold it up to the crew so that everyone could see it. “You want proof? I’ve got it right here. Angus, you said you were color blind?”
“Aye, what of it?”
Tesla stepped over to him and handed him the bottle. “Two drops in each eye should fix that for you.”
Angus took the bottle and held it up to the light. Sasha leaned forward. “It could be poison!”
“Damn stupid of me to offer him poison in front of you all, don’t you think?” Tesla asked. “Besides, if it is poison, I imagine you’ll throw me over the side just to see if I can fly.”
There was a chuckle at that from the crew and Paul grinned, mirthlessly. “You would be correct,” he said.
Angus looked at Sasha for a moment and then looked over at Tesla. “If I end up blind, will you make sure he dies?”
“I promise, but Angus, you don’t have to do this.”
“You always tell me how red your hair is,” Angus said with a grin. “Now I get to see for myself.” He unscrewed the top of the small bottle and tipped his head back, raising it until it was over his eye and the crew watched as he gently squeezed and two drops fell into his eye, first his left eye and then his right eye. Then he lowered his head again, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Angus?” Sasha said.
“It’s… it’s okay,” he said. “My eyes feel warm, but… not in a bad way. It’s not painful.”
“Can you open them?” Sasha said. She moved slightly so she was standing right in front of him and gently reached up and touched his cheek. “I’m right here in front of you.”
The crew fell silent as Angus slowly opened his eyes and watched as an expression of incredulous surprise swept over his face and his eyes filled with tears.
“Angus?”
“You... “ his voice cracked with emotion and they watched as Angus swallowed hard, trying to fight back the emotions. “You’re even more beautiful in color.”
Sasha reached up and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a long kiss as the crew began to wildly cheer. They kept cheering even as Angus and Sasha came up for air and he began looking around and exclaiming his surprise at the view of the desert behind them and the mountains in front of them. Tesla just watched, still feeling slightly nervous about it all, and actually flinched ever so slightly when Paul stepped up to stand beside him.
“So, what are we stealing?”
“I thought the crew decided on what jobs you took,” Tesla said.
Paul chuckled. “You honestly think they won’t want to help you after this? You performed a miracle, as far as they’re concerned.”
Tesla shook his head. “It’s not a miracle, merely the tip of an iceberg of knowledge that The Order protects for their own benefit.”
“So, what are we stealing?”
“It’s called The Jericho,” Tesla said. “I’m not sure what it does yet, but I know it terrifies them and they went to a great deal of trouble to make sure it stayed hidden.”
“Could it be the key to bringing them down once and for all?” Paul asked.
“I believe so,” Tesla replied.
“Then we’re in,” Paul said. “All in.”