The Quest of the Prodigy (The Alchemist of Time Book 1) Read online

  She had never experienced such freedom as she felt when the cold night wind brushed past her.

  Although Knox was always at her disposal, she didn’t make it a habit of using him as a taxi. She wanted to keep his gears running smoothly for as long as possible, and she worried that using him as transportation too much might age him too quickly. She’d be very sad without her dearest friend, Knox. But tonight was too important not to leave as soon as possible. It was a delight to rush through the clouds, high above the troubled people of the Queen’s Court.

  It was the ultimate sense of mental closure; she felt by fleeing the castle she could flee the pressures of being the Queen’s daughter. For a moment, as she flew in the air, she could feel her troubles slip away as her hands stretched toward the clouds. She closed her eyes as she felt them trickle through her fingers, and their coolness made her smile as she wondered if this was how the birds felt every time they flew.

  FIFTEEN MINUTES later, she and Knox reached the threshold of the Gate of Raw Earth. Many times she’d heard stories of travelers passing through the magnificent Gate. She was so excited, she didn’t even mind the mud that sank under her shoes; nothing could spoil this night for her.

  What a sight it was!

  The Gate of Raw Earth was impressive, its entrance on the western shore of England. There was a massive metal dock built especially for it, and The Gate stretched fifty feet high. The natural setting would have been soothing had Odette not been so excited about the REP and the journey to her one true love. She gazed down at the dome fifty feet away, and saw twin brass straps were bolted like an X over the dome to hold it in place. Every inch of the sphere was lit up by seemingly invisible lights to make the dome appear to be glowing.

  With technology scarce in the year 4218, it was very difficult to travel long distances in a short time. Like days long ago, sailors took months to reach a continent, and flying had become an ancient lost art. But the Raw Earth Pod was a relief for desperate travelers, though access to the REP was strictly limited. One needed permission from the royal party to ride the single monorail device that connected both Courts of the world by traveling under the Atlantic Ocean at hyper speed.

  The most difficult task was finding a need for a ticket request, for they were very seldom handed out. Which was why the device was guarded at all times by a Conductor on either Gate of the Raw Earth Pod.

  “Princess Odette?” asked the kind Conductor with confusion as Knox landed.

  Although she had never seen the man before her, this was her first time ever at the REP and she wasn’t surprised the old man recognized a royal figure such as herself.

  Odette had to calm her breathing before she could properly talk. “Yes, I have a ticket,” she said proudly.

  Her thoughtful Captain had sent her one with the letter. The fact her Captain could obtain such a precious ticket was proof to Odette that this was meant to be.

  The Conductor wore a traditional cobalt blue wool uniform, complete with a matching cap, and looked trustworthy enough to Odette. She judged this based on the polite yet professional smile he wore. He pulled off the blue cap and ran a hand through his shiny white hair. He looked like he was struggling to understand why she was there, but thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions.

  “Very well, this way please, Princess,” he said with a scratchy voice that suggested years of cigarette smoking. He led the way with a bronze lantern housing a lit wax candle.

  “Welcome, Princess, to the Gate of Raw Earth,” the Conductor said.

  She gasped. The impressive height of the arch was matched by its massive strength. It was constructed of gray clay and mud and occasional bits of straw sticking every which way. It had a smooth finish, and looked very polished. It reached upward toward the dark heavens of the night, and the sight made her smile.

  “It’s magnificent,” she had to tell the Conductor.

  “Yes, it truly is. There is a twin gate in America, where the Raw Earth Pod connects. And in an hour in the REP, you’ll be at its twin arch in New York City.”

  Nervously Odette looked over her shoulder, expecting her mother or her favorite guard Donnan to show up at any second. When no one came, she followed the man to the glass entrance of the transparent dome.

  “Step here, please.” The Conductor unhinged the glass door of the Raw Earth Pod to reveal the start of the tunnel.

  The inside of the REP was surprisingly simple. They stepped onto a platform made out of some kind of stone that looked like a million pebbles glued together. The dome looked like a giant cave. The inside of the dome looked very natural, instead of the industrial appearance she had been expecting. Below her on the platform swished waves of the water, water that would lead her across the pond.

  Attached to the platform she stood on was a single monorail that seemed to extend forever. She stared at the monorail as the metal bar bent downward, toward the hollow carving of the Earth. The depth it reached made her gulp. How was she expected to travel that far downward?

  “Here, Your Highness, allow me,” the Conductor offered as he stood beside her and pushed a button.

  With a loud whoosh a singular pod appeared, looking large enough to fit two adults inside. The pod was egg-shaped and had four long panels of thick glass wielded together with brass rods. Though the pod looked sturdy on the monorail, with its giant gear-shaped wheels to support it, Odette was still nervous.

  “Having second thoughts?” the kind Conductor asked.

  “I...suppose so.”

  “Don’t worry, miss. I have ridden this thing a hundred times, ever since I was a child and I have never been sick. You know, it was built by King Noctria the Second, your Great-Grandfather. It took fifty years to complete.”

  She smiled kindly at him. “I know the history of it. But to see it in person! Oh, the books could not capture its magnificence.”

  The Conductor laughed and nodded in agreement.

  She accepted his hand as he helped her step inside the white cushioned pod. She laid down and placed her hands to the side, feeling the soft hem of her simple black dress. Knox, now the size of a raven, rested by her lap.

  “Bon voyage, miss. In an hour, you will be in America.” With those final words, the Conductor closed the lid of the pod.

  A sharp blast of cold was evacuated from several jets, and with a whoosh the pod took off, zipping through the clear tunnel of the REP before bolting downward at lightning-fast speed. Once the steel pod zipped underneath the Atlantic Ocean, the clear tunnel was surrounded by the wild waters of the deep. The glowing eyes of creatures outside frightened her. Odette closed her eyes tightly, worried those glowing eyes from the creatures of the deep would haunt her dreams if she didn’t. An hour later, just as the Conductor promised, the pod gushed upward to reach the American Gate near the Brooklyn Bridge.

  The failure to capture the Diary was a dismal one. Captain Daniel Deatherage was not looking forward to report to the King that he had failed. It seemed to be happening a lot lately, failing, and he was dreading each step he took toward the King’s Hall. He knew the only reason he was still alive and still employed was because of his father, who was the King’s Admiral of the Navy. If not for his father’s status, he’d most likely not be alive. He was looking forward to capturing Barkley and the Diary to prove he could do something useful. He knew that blaming his partner Bellator would not get him off the hook either. When they had brought Barkley to the King as a prisoner, he could see the way the King looked at him. The King thought him to be a fool, not worth his time, a disappointment. Deatherage could not handle that. He would rise above expectations. He would make the King, and his father, proud. He was done with disappointment.

  With a deep breath, he stepped into the King’s Hall. He looked up at the King, trying not to reflect in his eyes the fear that he felt.

  “Let me guess,” said the King, his tone of voice beyond disappointed, “you don’t have the Diary.”

  Deatherage bowed his head in regret. “W
e had it, Sir. It was within our grasp. But Barkley’s son is either incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled. They got away.”

  “They?” asked the King, curiously.

  “The Diary was picked up by a girl. We were able to trace the Diary’s temporal residue to the year 2015. A girl picked it up, joined Barkley and they got away. It wasn’t our fault.”

  “No,” said the King, sounding bored, “it never is. I’m getting tired of your excuses, Deatherage. You can’t hide behind your father’s status forever. Perhaps I should dispose of your father for raising such an idiotic son.”

  “No!” cried Deatherage, sounding horrified. “The fault is mine. Please do not blame my father for my mistakes.”

  “Ah, so you are capable of responsibility. I was starting to wonder if all you were made up of were excuses.”

  His Majesty rose to his feet. “Idiocy is a disease, Daniel. The cure for ignorance is training and experience. I’d prefer to think of you as an idiot than a disloyal soldier who sides with the Queen. For how many times you failed me, it’s almost as if your incompetence is deliberate.”

  “No, Your Majesty. It is you I follow,” Deatherage said somberly.

  “Good. I have been fighting this war for forty bloody years. I’ve killed thousands of people without a blink of an eye. Those in my own Court have been killed by my hand. Am I making myself clear? You don’t want to fail me again. I’m getting tired of your excuses.”

  Deatherage tried to think clearly for a moment, but the fear of failure clouded his mind. He nodded, saluting the King to show his loyalty and respect.

  The King smiled, a scheming smile. “This is your last chance to cure yourself of your disease. Bring me that Diary. Bring me Barkley’s son. I want his time traveling ship. Or at the very least, that book that explains time travel. His Diary, he called it. Kill anyone who gets in your way. Anyone who is a friend of Sebastian Barkley is an enemy of mine. Is that understood?”

  “Understood,” Deatherage responded. He gave another salute, and made to leave the throne room, eager to get out of the King’s shadow.

  “Before you go,” started the King. Deatherage swallowed heavily, worried he was in trouble. He slowly turned around, to face the King. ”Send that partner of yours in, would you? I’d like a word with Ms. Impes.”

  Deatherage let out a sigh of relief, and nodded. “Yes Your Highness.”

  Friendship was a curious feeling. When Bas sent his Diary off through time on random, he hadn’t expected anyone but himself to pick it up again. He knew he would be able to trace it faster than the Ambassadors, as no one knew the Diary better than him. But then the girl found it, and her brother got dragged along. Now they were on his ship. Would he call them friends? He wasn’t sure. They were a bit young to be his friends; if they had just met passing on the street, he didn’t think he’d stop and say hello to them. The girl was rather bossy and far too logical. Always asking questions and demanding answers. And they were only from the 21st Century! How quaint! The age where technology was just starting to really kick off. Couldn’t they have been from the year 3600 when they used music as currency?

  Still, this had been the most honest he’d been with someone since he met Sara Rogers two years ago. The only friend he had was JAB, and she wasn’t human. The thought that his only friend was a robot was a sad one, that crushing sadness where for a moment the idea of happiness is completely forgotten. But then, before the sadness could become crippling, Bas’s brain thought of happier times, killing the brief wave of sadness. It was better to bury the sadness than to dwell on it, or at least, that had always been his philosophy. Some phycologists called it “repressed emotions” and “unhealthy,” but he called it life.

  Bas tried to ignore that wave of loneliness that hit every so often with his roving lifestyle, by leading the guests, friendship status pending, back to his kitchen. There, he decided, they would learn everything. Mimi would get the truth, even the boring bits. In his opinion, it was all the boring bits. Despite being a time traveler, he wasn’t fascinated by history. He liked meeting famous people and collecting cool artifacts, but the actual events weren’t his cup of tea. He enjoyed living through history, not studying it.

  Though, if it would get Mimi to stop asking a question every five minutes, it might be worth it, to show her the story.

  “Right you lot, this will show you everything,” Bas said, trying to show some level of enthusiasm. “From the Courts to the Royals to the Ageless War. Welcome to your virtual history lesson. Well, my history anyway. Not sure what you’d call it for you...future history, I guess. Bit of an oxymoron for you. Ah well, that’s time travel.”

  Bas could tell the shorter person, Albert he thought the name was, wasn’t buying his enthusiasm. Smart man. He shrugged and gave the kid a handheld gaming device he had snagged from the year 2029. Maybe they had more in common than he thought. Albert’s eyes lit up as he grabbed the yellow and blue handheld console controlled by the mind.

  The girl didn’t look pleased he gave her brother a video game. Bas didn’t understand why she was so uptight all the time. Couldn’t she relax?

  “Is it a movie?” she asked.

  “Uh sort of. JAB! The 4D version of the Brief History of the Ageless War please.”

  “But you hate that story,” JAB said with a pout.

  “I know, it’s for that one.” He pointed to Mimi.

  Sitting on the nearest barstool, Bas waved his hand at JAB to give him the video chip and she reluctantly obliged. She didn’t like doing anything she knew he didn’t like, as a true friend would. He took the small chip from her and placed his hand on the kitchen counter. Once more the blue laser lights beamed from his palm, and the computer monitor rose up. Instead of reading his hand for which meal he wanted, Bas pushed a button on the floating monitor. A small CPU popped up from the kitchen counter. Bas inserted the small square black chip inside and then the computer beeped. After a couple more beeps it began to project a video image.

  Albert had already left the room to play his game, and Bas envied Albert’s lack of responsibility.

  He slouched once more in the bar chair and propped his red leather cowboy boots up on the counter, ready to take a nice catnap while the girl got her history lesson. A nap was a far better use of one’s time.

  MIMI WAS confused how someone could be so bored over fascinating history. She loved history; as long as it was something to do with learning, she loved it. She was disappointed when both Albert and Bas looked so bored at her demand to know what the Ageless War was. They could at least humor her and pretend to be interested.

  The video was nothing like watching a movie at a movie theater like she was used to back home. The picture was crisper than High Definition quality and it filled up the entire room, somehow identifying furniture and making gaps around it.

  The image was of New York City. The camera zoomed in over the impressive New York City skyline, and Mimi’s eyes widened as she saw two tall buildings she’d only really seen in history books: the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Then the camera zoomed down quickly to street level, and a narrative voice began speaking.

  The narrator didn’t sound old, but the age of the American narrator was hard to place. He sounded worried and dramatic. “This is New York City, how it appeared in ancient times. The year is 2001. September 11th, 2001 to be exact. And some historians including myself, Julian Barros, agree that this is truly when the Ageless War began. Because this is where it all starts. The War on Terror. As we know, the terrorism don’t stop with 9/11, as this day will be known, and the War on Terror, also known as the Freedom War, lasts for over a thousand years. Let’s take a moment and see how it all began.”

  Although the buildings of New York fit inside Bas’s kitchen, Mimi felt like she was really there. The camera zoomed up to the two massively tall Twin Tower buildings. She gasped as the plane flew toward the buildings.

  “Stop!” she yelled at Bas, not feeling strong enough to witness so clos
e what she could guess the video was about to show.

  “What?” asked Bas as he paused the film. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding horrified he didn’t understand her emotional reaction. “How could you watch such a scene? I was there when it happened, Bas. When that plane hit those buildings. That’s what happened on 9/11, and now they just treat it like any other page in history?”

  “Well yeah,” said Bas, “that’s what history is. Events. Some of them more tragic than others. Like the fires of Pompeii are in your time, just a story. But if you were there on volcano day with the ash and dust, you’d be just as horrified as if on 9/11. By my time, the year 4218, it’d have been over two thousand years ago since 9/11 happened. Ancient history to us. Just another event that had a ripple effect of the longest war in history. What do you mean you were there for it?”

  “I was only five,” Mimi said with a frown, “but I remember being scared and confused. And I remember my dad, he’s in the Navy, being gone a lot that year. I know that New York was forever changed that day. What is some historian from the future doing talking about 9/11?”

  “Just watch,” said Bas.

  But luckily, they didn’t have to see the detailed version she feared. They watched it on fast forward. The plane hit the buildings. The people screamed in the streets, and chaos followed. Mimi had always hated the city in September, because it was a grave reminder of that terrible day. The video talked about the War on Terror, and showed Presidents of Mimi’s time and future Presidents of the United States. She felt like she was cheating to know so much of what was to come.

  Although the images were on warp speed, the technology of the movie was advanced enough that the voiceover remained steady. No chipmunk voice despite the swift moving images.

  “Because of the terrorists, countries eventually began to work together and merged. Cultures were also merged and eventually individual countries became united, divided geographically as continents rather than countries and culture. It affected everything: art, music, education and the economy. The poorer countries gained great rewards for merging with the richer ones, and the thriving countries felt safer having a stronger border for the terrorists to penetrate. But so too did the terrorists grow stronger. This tug and war of power and country merging lasted for a thousand years. Some people consider this only part of the Freedom War, but I, and other historians, consider it part of the Ageless War. It was how Courts were formed. Courts, as we know, are the only two countries left in the world.”