| |
THE KEY and I exited the Clock Tower.
“How do you unlock the portals?”
Nick smirked. “Time Keeping is a method of reading. I’m able to locate Everywheres on the Clock Tower and unlock portals into those worlds. The tricky part is figuring out the exact time within the Everywhen.”
“Where do you suggest we begin?”
“From what you’ve told me so far, I would recommend seeking the help of those you trust, starting with the present. A search party of sorts.”
Inwardly, I groaned. A direct route to Calla seemed more unlikely all the time. Edgar had led me to Nick. Now Nick wanted a search party. I groaned again, this time externally, audibly, wondering how many more travelers I’d need to pick up along the way. I could count the number of living persons I trusted on one hand. I didn’t want to bother any of them.
“We need a place to start, friend.”
“Let’s start with Ray. He’s been working on one of the TSTA’s elite intelligence teams. He cares for Calla. He may have learned something by now. If that fails, it’s likely he’ll be able to put us in touch with Ivory.”
Nick’s eyes darkened as his chin dipped in an uncertain nod. “A fine start. Let’s get on with it then.” He turned to the tower. “If I remember correctly, the TSTA’s timepiece is blue with gold lettering. They like to believe themselves timeless, and so they’ve adopted a classic look.”
He climbed the tower. Timepieces lit up as they made contact with his hands; they faded again after he failed to show them additional attention. A quarter of the way up the tower, Nick stopped. He motioned for me to follow.
As I climbed, careful not to disturb any of the timepieces more than I had to, I suppressed a chuckle. I’d expected Nick to go farther, up to the compass I’d seen at the center of the tower. Perhaps the TSTA wasn’t the center of the worlds it thought it was.
“Here,” said Nick. His finger pointed to a dark blue clock, the size of a dinner plate, with Roman numerals on it. The numbers and clock hands were gold, as were engravings of the words Everywhere and Everywhen. I’d seen its likeness before, on a wristwatch—the one the TSTA had given Calla before sending us to search for her father.
“I have no doubt that this is the one. Good work,” I said. “How do we get through?”
“Patience, friend. I’ll show you.” Nick reached out and touched the clock. Immediately, it began to glow. First white, followed by red, then blue. The light emanating from the clock obscured the numbers and writing until it resembled an electrically charged disk, with veins of purple like an electrostatic ball.
“It’s ready,” said Nick. “We can pass through to Ray’s present whereabouts at TSTA Headquarters.”
“What about security? The TSTA is—”
Nick tilted his head back and laughed. “Part of the fun of being both a traveler and a Time Keeper is the ability to bend certain rules and, shall I say, physical principles. It’s a...privilege of sorts.” He reached his hand through the disk. “The charges are ready; they’re quite tingly inside this portal. Follow me, feet first.”
I watched as Nick repositioned himself and stepped through the disk, leaving one hand outside which he waved at me. Feet first? Unlikely. I grasped his hand.
The portal sucked me into a purple-blue tunnel. Electrical charge prickled my skin. Sizzling and popping sounds crackled in the air. All of this happened briefly, before turning into a familiar glow of white light.
I fell forward. My face smacked into a slick, hard surface. Someone tugged me upward.
“I warned you, friend. Feet first.”
Grinding my teeth, I answered, “I suppose the landing would have been softer had you been holding my foot through the tunnel?”
Nick frowned. “Have I given you any reason not to trust me?”
“No, you haven’t.” I shook out the tension in my arms. “Fine. Do we need to ground here?”
He shook his head.
“No?”
“Now you know why Aborealians liken this method of travel to sorcery.”
At that moment, everything I thought I knew about travel changed. “I see.”
A throat cleared behind me. Nick and I spun around.
“Valcas?” A blond male, with eyes of dark blue, much like the face of the TSTA clock, stared at me. Cautiously and intensely. He sat at a desk larger than most tables, with his hands suspended in the air, frozen above a laptop keyboard. The wall behind him was covered with shelves filled with books and binders. The spaces in between were stuffed with tubes that looked like maps and architectural drawings.
Ray stood and approached me without breaking eye contact. “Is there news about Calla?”
“No. I’m sorry. But I brought someone who I hope can help.”
He stared at Nick for a long moment before speaking, then held out a hand. “I’m Benjamin Raymond, lead—”
“You’re the Detail Technician Valcas told me about—the one who can capture recordings with nothing more than your mind.” Nick wriggled his fingers around his head as he said this, and then grinned, shaking Ray’s entire arm. “I hear you go by the nickname, Ray.”
“Yes, and you’re—”
“An expatriate of Aboreal,” I said. “He goes by a nickname as well. It just so happens that he’s given himself the nickname Nick.”
Ray laughed. “Pleased to meet you, Nick.” He looked around. “How did you manage to get through security and not cause an impact from your arrival, Valcas?”
“We didn’t travel here with the travel glasses. We came through a portal, unlocked by Nick. He’s a Time Keeper.”
Ray flinched, breaking his gaze on Nick. “I haven’t heard of such a talent. There’s no documentation...in the records.”
“I prefer to keep it that way, friend.”
“I don’t see any reason to challenge that,” I added. “Nick’s travel ability can help us find the portal that will lead us to Calla. I visited a silhouette of my uncle Edgar. He told me to go to the Clock Tower. There, I found Nick and learned of his travel talent. The problem is that there’s not enough time to search all of the portals. Ray, I thought you might be able to help narrow our search.”
“You know I’d do anything for Calla,” he said. He lowered his head. “But I’ve failed. I’ve found nothing.”
I understood his disappointment all too well. “We just need a lead. Are there any TSTA records of what happens to individuals who become lost?”
“If there are, I’m sure the information’s classified, a top level that I don’t have access to yet. I’ve advanced in the ranks more quickly than anyone in history but... I’m sorry, Valcas, I’m just not there yet.”
“It’s all right, Ray. We just need to find a work-around.”
Nick clapped me on the back. “That’s the spirit!”
I squeezed my forehead. “Have you kept in touch with Ivory? We may need to reunite our prior team. Wouldn’t hurt to get Plaka in on this too.”
Ray shook his head as Nick’s smirk subsided. “Ivory and I were really good about having lunch together shortly after we found Plaka and left Edgar’s workshop.” He shrugged. “Then I guess we both got busy. The lunches became less frequent until they stopped.”
“What time of day is it now?”
“Late morning.”
“Can you contact Ivory? We could meet in the cafeteria.”
“Yeah, sure.” Ray walked off, presumably in search of a telephone or a similar communications device.
Nick sat at the desk and cradled his head in his hands.
“We can grab lunch while we chat,” I said. “You look like you could use refreshment. Ivory’s always up for eating.”
He sighed. “Suddenly, friend, I don’t have much of an appetite.”