Clockwork Twist : Dreamer (7 page)

It was deep into the early hours of morning before everyone settled down enough to rest.  They would be catching an airship to New York in the afternoon, leaving plenty of time to finish packing after some sleep.  Twist slept with his pocket watch in his hand, nestled under his pillow, to ward off any fitful dreams.  When he woke, his mind felt significantly clearer, and very nearly stable.  The weight of embarrassment and regret still hung heavily on him, but now at least he could carry it alone.

Tasha finished writing her report to Aden—the man who personally chose each new place where they performed, and set up all of the theater rentals and the travel details—and dropped the letter in a post box on their way out to the coast.  Twist had to admit that it was considerably easier to follow Aden's instructions than it had been to travel around the world with just Jonas and Myra.  He always recognized the name of every place he went, he always found a comfortable bed when he got there, and the travel itself was usually straightforward.  It was also comforting to spend so much time in English-speaking countries, as they had for the last two weeks.

“You know what I miss?” Jonas said, as they got out of the cab at the airship docks that hung over the cliffs at the edge of the Pacific. “I miss the adventure.”

“It's awfully early for that level of philosophy,” Niko said, as they all walked together along the graying redwood jetty, towards the airships.

“Actually,” Twist said, opening his pocket watch to check the time, “it's almost four in the afternoon.”

“I only woke up a few hours ago,” Niko grumbled.

“Grumpy,” Jonas jeered.

“Reckless adventure hog,” Niko snapped back, under his breath.  Tasha gave a sigh and shook her head.

Myra stepped purposefully between Niko and Jonas, taking Jonas's arm and smiling at him from under the edge of her wide, white hat. “Tell me what you mean,” she said pleasantly. “I want to hear it.  What adventure do you miss?”  Twist caught a glance from her and moved his steps closer to Jonas as well.

“Yes, do tell,” he added, smiling at Jonas too.

“I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted right now,” Jonas said, frowning at them in turn.

“Take flattered,” Twist suggested with a smile.

Up ahead, their chartered airship hung just off the edge of the docks, looking exactly like a small sailboat with a cloud of white balloons where the sails would be.  There were also a number of brass propellers hanging at the squared-off stern, with very wide blades.  Two men in rough, simple clothing stood waiting at the gangplank.

Jonas sighed. “Well, I mean, all we ever do these days is whatever Aden tells us.  We always have a plan in front of us.  It's boring.  Whatever happened to just, you know,
going
and ending up somewhere you didn't expect?”

“Sometimes you say things that make me wonder if I know you at all,” Twist said, looking at him seriously.

“I know what you mean, Jonas,” Myra said, patting Jonas's arm. She then turned to walk across the gangplank with him, holding his hand for stability, onto the open top deck of the ship.

“You do?” Twist asked her, following after them as Tasha stopped to speak to the crew.

“Sure,” Myra said, coming to stand with Jonas and Twist at one side of the open deck. “We are on a tour.  It's very interesting to me, but I haven't been to any of these places before.  Poor Jonas has been everywhere, haven't you?”

“I've never been to Singapore,” Jonas said, turning to sit on the low railing around the edge of the ship, over the crashing blue waves below.

“Oh?” Myra sounded surprised. “Really?  Why not?”

“No reason,” Jonas said, shaking his head. “I just haven't been there.”

“We're ready to cast off!” one of the men called in a loud voice.  Jonas slipped off the railing onto his feet, leaning against it instead.

“But really, aren't you bored?” he asked Twist.

Twist thought it over for a moment as the ship's small engines rumbled into life and it began to move slowly away from the dock.  Once the moorings were gone, the ship began to bob and sway slightly in the wind.  Twist's body fell into the soft rhythms easily, without losing his balance for a moment.  He tugged his long, thin, gray scarf tighter around his throat in anticipation of the coming rush of air as the ship began to speed up, arcing out to sea.

“I've never been anywhere either,” he said to Jonas. “I'm well entertained.”

Jonas shook his head and looked up to find Tasha standing not far off, gazing out over the bow. “What about you, Tasha?” he called to her, drawing her attention. “Aren't you bored, always knowing where we're going next?”

“We're going to interesting places,” she said with a shrug. “It's more fun to enjoy the ride than to complain about the details.”

“Oh, you people are no fun,” Jonas said bitterly.

“Maybe you're too much fun,” Twist offered with a smile.

Jonas looked at him uncertainly. “Again, is that a compliment or an insult?”

“Take it however you like,” Twist said, looking away to the horizon before them.

While Jonas grumbled something about monotony, Twist watched as the little ship rose in its long loop over the coast.  It straightened out again, heading inland, at a height that brought them only halfway up to the thin white clouds that covered the sky.  The sun struggled to force through the high mist, making the whole sky seem to glow in a continuous level of white brightness.  The ground below filled with rich green forests that rolled over the jagged mountains like moss.

Up here, the moist air took on a much sharper chill.  It wasn't long at all before everyone started to dig coats, jackets, and gloves out of their luggage, and huddle together around an open fire that one of the crew had set in a wide metal hearth in the center of the deck.  Although she took her hat off and let her long, maroon hair fly free in the chill wind, Myra was the only one not visibly affected by the cold.

“You're honestly not cold?” Niko asked her, warming his long fingers by the fire.

“No skin,” she said with a shrug.

“But you can feel things,” Niko said.

“Sure,” Myra said. “I just don't mind the cold.  It doesn't hurt my clockwork or the metal, or anything, so it doesn't hurt me.”

“Lucky,” Jonas muttered, sitting down on the deck, very close to the fire.

“Who wants cocoa?” one of the crew members asked, holding a tray full of mugs.

Everyone but Myra took one instantly, nestling in around the fire.  Myra brought out a box of her cookies and passed them around, making sure that Twist got the lion's share.  In no time at all, the faces in the fire's glow began to smile and laugh as they chatted together.  One of the crew, a man with gently graying black hair and a bushy salt-and-pepper mustache, joined in with the conversation after a while as if checking to see that his guests were happy.  With the cocoa warming everyone from the inside, and the fire burning brightly, some of the scarves were being loosened and the gloves taken off.

After a few miles, the skies around them began to darken.  At first, Twist thought it was the approaching evening.  He checked the time on his watch and saw that it was still early.  Even in winter, there should still be at least another hour or two of true daylight.  He looked more closely at the sky and saw that it was only the clouds above them that had darkened.  The wind also began to pick up, cutting more violently at the little airship.

“Jonas, what's that look like to you?” he asked, nudging his friend.

Jonas had been wearing his goggles as they all sat around the fire, and pulled them off to look up at the sky.  His expression darkened instantly to match it.  He hurried to his feet and went to the railing, staring into the sky.

“Captain!” Jonas yelled over his shoulder, his voice sharp. “We have to turn south.  Now.”

“It's just a little rain storm,” said the man with the bushy mustache. “We'll steer cle—“

“It's not rain,” Jonas said, walking back to Twist.  When he caught Twist's eyes, his own were a colorless gray like the sky above. “Take Myra and get below decks.”  Twist nodded, obeying instantly.  He felt the serious, almost frightened edge in the buzz at his neck, and needed no other explanation.  He got to his feet quickly and took Myra by the hand. “Tasha, Niko,” Jonas said, still looking at the sky, “you too.  This is going to get rough if we don't miss it.”

“Calm down,” the captain said with a smile. “I'm telling you, it's nothing—“

“It's not nothing,” Jonas said, his voice strong enough to make the other man pause.

“Can we help?” Tasha asked Jonas.

“No, just get below,” Jonas said. “And turn off anything electrical,” he added to Niko.

Niko's luminous blue eyes widened and he pulled the sleeve up his left arm—turning tiny switches in the cage of copper that clung to his skin—as he began to hurry to the hatch.  The two-man crew watched as everyone but Jonas climbed quickly into the shallow cargo hold under the deck, and both looked at the gray clouds again.

“We have to drop, too,” Jonas said to them as Twist followed Myra into the dark, tight space under the deck.

There were a few crates and barrels stuffed into the curving space that would be the bilge on a seafaring ship, and there was just enough room to sit upright comfortably along the low center seam of the hull.  Niko was the last to enter and called up to Jonas, asking if he was coming inside.  Jonas told him to shut the hatch and leave him on deck, so Niko complied.  Darkness swallowed them all until their eyes adjusted.  Piercing shafts of daylight fell through small glass disks set regularly along the deck every ten feet, illuminating the space just enough to let them see each other.

Twist knelt down in the center of the cargo hold, a full arm's length from Tasha, as his mind began to supply him with horrible possibilities of uncontrolled tumbling.  Jonas wouldn't tell them to go below if there wasn't a chance that they would be thrown violently around by whatever he saw in the sky.  He could also guess that there might be lightning by what he'd said to Niko.  As his mind worked to unravel the few clues he had, Myra pulled silently closer to him.

Her touch washed his Sight over with fear.  Twist had been fighting his own, trying to focus on the tasks at hand, but her added fears threatened to overrun his defenses.  For his own sake, he had to calm her down quickly.  A recent memory flashed to mind, giving him an idea of how he might.  There wasn't much room, so he turned Myra and then sat down just behind her, pulling her close and wrapping her in his arms.  She curled up against him, pulling her knees up as well, and her worries began to fade ever so gently as he held her.

“It's going to be fine,” he said, speaking softly to her ear.  She moved slightly to one side until she could fit her head against the curve of his throat.

“What's happening?” she asked softly.

“I don't know,” Twist said. “But Jonas can see it.  He can keep us safe.  We're just in here to make sure.”  As he spoke, focusing on the few calm thoughts still in his mind, he felt her fear begin to ease a little more.

Tasha leaned towards them to catch Myra's eye and gave her a smile. “Don't worry, dear.  You're surrounded by daring and capable people who care about you.  You couldn't possibly be safer.”

Myra smiled back to her weakly, and her fear slipped just a bit farther away.  Up above, they all heard feet running quickly over the deck and the muffled call of voices.  The ship felt like it was falling slowly through the air and turning as well, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.  Then, suddenly, the ship lurched to one side as if struck by something.  Myra yelped in surprise and Twist clung tighter to her metal form as the scent of scorched wood filled the air.  He opened his mouth to say something calming to her, but the ship was struck again before he could, and almost threw him and Myra both into a nearby barrel.

In a moment, all semblance of stillness was lost.  The ship was jolted, struck, thrown, and spun in a chaotic jumble while loud cracking, roaring, and explosive sounds filled the world.  They rose suddenly, then fell into momentary weightlessness, while spinning on and on.  It was all Twist could do to hold on to Myra as he and everyone else were thrown about wildly.  She clung to him just as tightly as she screamed.  And then Twist's world went black, empty, and silent.