Two Renegade Realms (Realm Walkers Book 2) (3 page)

Cantor broke the grasp with Dukmee and turned a little to include her. “Nothing much. Bridger and I have been looking for Ahma and Odem. We’ve made meticulous searches and discreet inquiries in every realm on every plane in our planeary system. And we failed.” He heaved a sigh. “And now your parents have assigned us with the task of finding —” He gestured
with an open hand. “What you have already found. Which reminds me . . . your father sends a reprimand. He wants you to send in reports. And your mother complains that she doesn’t hear from you. Letters, lots of letters, are her request.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I do forget.” Bixby gave her head a shake, sending her white-blonde curls into a frenzy. Her expression changed from annoyance to compassion. She reached up to touch Cantor’s arm. “I can’t imagine the loss of ones so dear.”

He liked the feel of her small, comforting hand. But when he looked in her eyes, he saw emotion, and he didn’t want to deal with emotion just now. Nevertheless, he felt the frustration rise at his own failures, not to mention the feelings of inadequacy and loneliness he’d cooped up in the same unwanted burden box. Ahma would have counseled him to throw the thing out. Sometimes it was difficult to trash a concept. Cleaning stable stalls was harder on the back, but easier than clearing negative thoughts from the mind.

Frowning, he shook off her hand and took a step back. Dwelling on his failure wasted time and distracted from this mission. He would not let Bixby lure him into such a quagmire.

Bridger lifted his head from examining an old, faded map on discolored parchment. “We still believe Ahma and Odem are alive. We haven’t looked for them inside any mountains.” He waved his arm around, indicating the cavern. “I bet there are lots of these little hidey-holes around in places we’ve already been.”

A tiny spark of hope flickered in Cantor’s heart. “Once we figure out this mess with the renegade planes, we’ll look into it.”

“Literally.” Bridger grinned.

Dukmee laughed, then his face turned somber. “What rumors brought you here?”

All at once
the weight of the Lyme prediction fell onto Cantor’s heart. As long as no Library of Lyme was found, he could believe that the doomsayers had no ground on which to stand. Now that he was in the very library he’d hoped did not exist, he had to give credence to the rest of the tales.

Reluctantly he related how they’d been lured into investigating the Lyme phenomenon. “Bixby’s father related a string of unsettling happenings. Old folklore has been reborn. The Lyme Wars were a legend from an era so long ago that they were mostly forgotten. But men of dubious backgrounds began mumbling about the day approaching when the path of Lyme Major and Lyme Minor would once again intersect our orbit. At first I thought it was some council plot to demoralize the populace.”

Bridger perked his ears. “Considering the source of the rumors, that was an understandable conclusion. The council may not be the same as it was, but we’ve seen evidence that it still promotes discord.”

Cantor nodded his agreement. Every once in a while, Bridger sounded like a dragon raised in a proper home, which he was. Proper in that he and his sister were educated, primed with cultural advantages, and expected to become worthwhile citizens. Other times he sounded like he’d missed the point of all that quality background.

Cantor brought his thoughts back to his story. “Then more reliable storytellers began reciting obscure tales of the Lyme Wars. Of course, charlatans latched on to the growing rumor. To them, it was another opportunity to make money. Charm makers, soothsayers, and dealers of amulets sprang up in the marketplaces.”

He studied Dukmee, glad to have the mage on his side.
“With all this perplexing activity, it seemed a good idea to verify some of the rumors as true or false. Hard evidence gives us a better foundation for making decisions.”

Cantor let his gaze wander around the room, taking in the many volumes of books and shelves filled with scrolls. “What have you found?”

Dukmee crossed his arms in front of him, hiding each hand in the opposite sleeve. “Enough to convince me that there are two planes circling our sun in an orbit that brings them into contact with us in a set number of years.”

“Centuries,” interjected Bixby.

Dukmee nodded. “Yes, great lengths of time, long enough for the event to fade in the memory of our people. That’s why Bixby’s father charged us with this search. We’ve been at it longer than you have, but we haven’t been here more than a week.”

He paused and let Bixby take over. “This library was designed to record details for future generations. According to these writings, the intersection of our path with that of the two Lyme planes is never fun.”

Cantor clenched his jaw. “So now we know that the Lyme planes exist, but do we know the time of the interpass?”

Dukmee sighed. “Three or four months. Probably sooner.”

ORRERIES

B
ixby stood in the arch that separated the library from the next room and gestured to her friends. “Come into the Orrery Chamber.”

Bridger and Cantor — she still had trouble believing that giant was Cantor — moved to join her, but Dukmee’s nose was already in another dusty book, and he stayed behind. Bixby didn’t mind at all. When Dukmee led a discussion, she didn’t feel comfortable interrupting. She might be superior in social standing, but his experience and knowledge humbled her. Still, not being able to say what was on the tip of her tongue irked her to no end. When he was with her, she only spoke when he gave her an opening.

She welcomed the arrival of the two realm walkers. Dukmee had been in his scholar mode and not much company. Plus, the prospect of meeting hostile aliens made her nervous, and Cantor and Bridger were warriors in addition to being realm walkers. And to top all that, the sight of them dispelled her fear
that the council had taken her friends as prisoners. After all, she hadn’t heard anything from them in two years.

Her father had reassured her that he, as king, would have knowledge of any arrest, but Bixby had firsthand experience with the council. Her instincts told her that her mother and father were not as well informed as they believed.

She stepped back from the arch as her two friends approached. She wanted to see their faces the first time they saw the Orrery Chamber. All by itself, the big model in the middle was most impressive. And it was not all by itself.

Both Bridger and Cantor fulfilled her expectations. Their mouths dropped open, and their eyes widened with wonderment. They stood inside the door with their heads moving slowly as they took it all in. The room clicked and hummed as the models moved in tiny increments.

Jesha trotted through the arch and began exploring in and out of the scattered orreries. Bixby wondered if the cat would be enticed to pounce on one of the many moving parts. Some of the instruments were fragile. With a glance at Bridger, it occurred to her that perhaps she should also worry about the dragon’s tail. He’d been known to sweep surfaces clean with a single, sudden movement.

“Bridger.” She spoke hesitantly. “Be sure Jesha doesn’t take a swat at the orreries.”

Cantor jumped in before she continued. “And take notice of your tail as well. A swat from Jesha might do some damage. Your tail could take out the whole room.”

“Not so!” The dragon’s face showed outrage, but after a moment it shifted to serious. “I suppose it could. I’ll take care.”

The largest orrery stood on the floor. Its arms and orbs and disks gleamed with different colored shiny metals, most
of which she could name. Silver, gold, brass, copper, and tin were common. But there was one with a pink tinge she didn’t recognize. Dukmee probably knew, but she never remembered to ask him.

Along the wall, smaller orreries made of different materials demonstrated a wide variety of complexity. Fancier models boasted precious metals and gems. Some wooden mockups portrayed the same dynamics but in a simpler form.

Cantor asked the first question. “What energy keeps them moving?”

Bixby guided them to one of the simpler models. “Some respond to a cranking device. This one has a key similar to those used to wind up mechanical toys.”

“But others are moving on their own, with no key,” observed Cantor.

Bridger approached a model hanging from the ceiling and gently touched a part with his claw. “And nothing could be wound up centuries ago and still be running.”

“Right.” Bixby motioned for them to follow her to the other side of the room. “Dukmee hasn’t determined exactly how it all works, but he’s sure that this is responsible for the energy.”

She pointed to a round hole in the ceiling. A stream of sunlight shone down on an apparatus in front of them. A wide metal semicircle half surrounded a ceramic orb. The sunbeam hit the metal. As the day progressed, the light would travel around the center on the band of metal.

Cantor held his hands, palms downward, about six inches above the device. “There are a lot of wards around this thing. Some for defense, some for obscuring the mechanics of how it works.”

“Exactly. Dukmee decided it was more important to seek
the information we need about the Lymens rather than discern how the creators constructed this.” She nodded at the intriguing device.

Bridger had his back to them, examining the biggest orrery in the middle of the room. “Bixby, can you show us how this works?”

“Yes, but let’s use a smaller one.” Bixby giggled. “I need to be able to reach the planes.”

They moved to a glass and metal orrery no taller than Bixby. The different colored disks corresponded to planes. Burnished brass rods held them in position and rotated them in synchronization to the real objects in their solar system.

“You see, the globe in the center is our sun. Right in front of us we have the stack of planes in our system. These don’t have any geological markings but they are scale model in size to the real thing.” Raised letters on each disk named the plane it represented. “Over here we have the trio planets of Nedian, Narr, and Nosco. Notice they are plump in the middle, not flat like our planes. And they have an additional pattern of movement, rotating within their solar orbit. And out here are Dander and Canady.”

Bridger huffed. “Where are Lyme Minor and Lyme Major? I thought the whole point of these orreries was to be able to plot the course of the rogue planes.”

“They aren’t in this model, but I wanted you to see the normal pattern before we introduce the renegades.”

She put a finger on the bottom plane in their stack and pushed it along its course. “Now it’s ahead of where it is today. See how the other planes and even the sun have moved more quickly and kept up with the one I pushed? They are still in the correct position, in line with all the other parts.”

Bridger had a silly grin on his face. He pointed at the model with obvious pleasure. “So, if our planes are here, then the trio would be there.”

Cantor scowled. “How does it get back to where it should be today and at this minute?”

Bixby shrugged. “I don’t know. But if you leave it alone, it rewinds or something. In a couple of hours, it will be right on course.”

“Fascinating.” Bridger put a claw out, then paused. “May I move it some?”

“Go ahead,” Bixby said.

They spent a quarter hour moving different orreries, using the keys to energize the simpler models.

Bridger liked the ones he could crank. He spent a great deal of time turning the handles. “These are coordinated with the present position of the planes, aren’t they?”

“No.” Bixby pointed to the larger models. “With the wind-up models, you can line one plane up with how it is in one of the perpetual orreries. Then for the length of time your turning of the key provides, you will have accurate rotations.”

“I agree with Bridger,” Cantor said. “Fascinating. But what about the rogue planes?”

Bixby nodded. “Over here.”

She led them to a more complex model. “Here’s our stack, and here are the Lymes. They’ve been painted red. I’ll speed up the orrery, and you can watch the planes interpass.”

She pushed a button on the frame. As she held it down, the planes moved along their orbits at a greater speed. Tracking the red rogue planes as they approached their planeary system proved easy but unsettling. For a moment, the Lymes
appeared to be on a collision course. In the end, they slipped between the inhabited stacked planes.

Bridger let out a big sigh of relief. “Good thing they aren’t going to crash into us.”

Cantor put a finger on Richra and then tapped Derson. “Before they disappeared, Odem showed Ahma how these two planes were in danger of colliding. None of the orreries depict such a happening.”

Bixby frowned and came to stand beside her friend. “I think it would take something out of the ordinary to make the planes wobble enough to lose their patterned orbits.”

“Out of the ordinary? What constitutes out of the ordinary?”

“We’ll have to ask Dukmee for precise answers, but I remember reading about unbalanced mining, like we’ve had in Richra. It unsettles the polar lines and gravitational pulls.”

Bridger scratched his chin. “So how do these rogue planes interfere with our people? Why are they such a threat?”