Clockwork Twist : Waking (7 page)

It was only a few moments before the wheel in the center of the door began to turn.  Twist pressed his palm onto the warm surface of the steam engine's face, and let the enormous pressure, rage, pride, and blazing fire pour freely into him.

“What are you two doing?” growled one of the two thugs who opened the door and stepped inside. “This is no time to rest!”

Twist's blood pulsed fast and hot through his veins, his vision sharp and his body tight.  He walked towards the thugs as they both came into the room.  One of them smiled at him unkindly, holding a thick, baton-like stick in his wide hands.

“You need to learn your pla—“ he began to say, before Twist swung his shovel at his head, swift and strong.

The thug let out a yell of pain as the unexpected blow connected hard against the side of his head.  He fell to the coal at Twist's feet in a heap, and the other thug rushed with a growl to attack Twist.  Twist thrust his shovel forward into the thug's stomach, the force of the blow pushing him back a step.  The thug let out a grunt, his eyes glassing over as his dropped to the ground beside his fellow.

“Come on,” Twist said over his shoulder to Halil, already heading out into the hallway again.  “Which way is the bridge?”

“How did you...?” Halil gasped, stepping carefully around the fallen thugs.

“Halil,” Twist snapped, stopping to turn on him with a threatening fire in his bright, steel-blue eyes, “I have neither the time nor the patience.  Are you coming or not?”

Though he jumped back at the sight of Twist's intent gaze, Halil nodded quickly and pointed. “Down that hallway, and take the stairs.”

The two hurried through the cramped passageways with Twist taking the lead.  Halfway along the upper hallway, a man appeared in a corridor to the right.  Twist swung his shovel back without slowing his steps.

“Benny!” Halil yelped, hurrying to the new man. “Twist, don't!”

Twist backed away from Halil and glared at him like an angry dog.

“He's a slave, like us,” Halil said, his voice shaking slightly.  Twist glanced up to see a fair skinned older man now behind Halil.  He stared back at Twist with green eyes, edged with alarm.  He was holding a tray of wretched looking food and a metal cup of dark liquid.

“Halil, what are you doing?” Benny asked with an accent invisible to Twist's ears.

“Escaping...” Halil said, looking rather uncertain about it.

“Where are you going with that?” Twist asked, nodding at the tray of food.

“The captain ordered something to—“ Benny began.

“The captain is on the bridge?” Twist asked, a wicked grin taking shape on his face.

“Yes, he usually eats—“

“Perfect,” Twist said, nodding to himself. “Take the lead, Benny,” he said, stepping back to let him pass.

“But … how do you plan to—” Benny began to ask.

“Now,” Twist said, his voice quiet but sharp as a knife.

Benny stared at him for only an instant longer before he hurried past him and on towards the bridge.  Twist and Halil followed him silently until they stopped at another closed metal door with a wheel in its center.

“I'm supposed to announce myself and then enter,” Benny said quietly.

“Get on with it then,” Twist said with a heavy helping of indignation.

“I want no part of this escape of yours,” Benny said, pulling himself up to his full height as he stared back at Twist.  Twist looked up at him, unmoved.

“Afraid the pirates will beat you for helping me?” he asked, his voice even but acidic. “Open the door or I'll beat you until you beg for them.”

Benny only spared one more moment before he gave a sigh and turned to the door.  He knocked and yelled through the metal that the captain's meal had arrived.  After a pause, the door was opened.  The man who opened the door didn't even look at Benny.  Instead, he turned right around and walked away into the room.

“Why are we still only at half speed?” a voice said from within.

Twist pushed Benny aside with his shovel and leaped into the room.  Large flat windows filled the front half of the room, looking out into the green sea over consoles of varying design.  A single brass chair with blue velvet cushions sat in the center of the room, the ship's captain sitting at the edge of it.  Many other controls, pulls, and speaking tubes filled the back wall along with the now opened door.  Three other men stood at places inside the bridge, each concerned only with the consoles in front of them, as Twist swung his shovel back.

The first man was struck heavily across his shoulders from behind, and he fell instantly, motionless to the floor.  The captain and the other two turned to look, but the captain was the first one to move.  He got to his feet and lunged for Twist, who jumped to the side, turning to swing his shovel again.

“Mr. Twist!” Halil's voice yelled, drawing his attention.

One of the other men was rushing towards him too, from the side.  Twist spun, striking his attacker and throwing him into the captain.  Both men tumbled away while the last crew member leveled a pistol at Twist from across the bridge.

The shot rang out like a thunderclap in the metal room.  Twist ducked down just in time and the bullet struck the metal behind him with a spark.  Twist sprang back up instantly, leaping at the shooter with his shovel raised high.  The man backed away, dodging the blow and taking aim again.  Twist jumped quickly to his right, his eyes on the gun.  The shooter followed him and fired again, but Twist fell to the floor on all fours.  The shot rang loudly again, but there was no spark of it striking metal.

“No!” the shooter yelled, staring over Twist.

Twist lunged at the gunman's legs with his shovel, throwing him to the ground, before smacking at the side of his head with it.  The man's body went limp on the floor and Twist sprang to his feet, turning.

“You little British bastard!” the captain yelled at him, gripping at a bleeding bullet wound in his side.  Twist's eyes fell on a brass chain that hung from the captain's pocket, just below the wound.

“That's my watch!” Twist growled, taking hold of his shovel again.

In the instant of the captain's confusion, Twist lashed out at his face with the flat of the shovel.  The blow came so fast, from so close, that the captain had no time to dodge it and he too fell to the floor.  The last man stood behind his captain, his eyes wide with shock and his jaw already growing red from Twist's previous attack.

Twist took a solid grip of this shovel and stretched his neck slightly, pulling his shoulders back, and smiled at him.

“I'm just a mechanic!” the man said, holding up his hands.

“Get out,” Twist snapped, nodding at the door.

“Right,” the man said, hurrying to the hallway.

The moment the man was out, Halil slammed the door and quickly spun the wheel to lock it closed. “That was amazing!” he said, looking at Twist with wonder.

“They were all twice your size,” Benny said, his face an image of bewilderment.

Twist leaned down to pluck his watch from the fallen captain's pocket by the chain.  Seeing it again, he wanted nothing more than to touch it.  But, he knew this wasn't the time.  He dropped his shovel on the floor and slipped the watch it into his pocket, careful to touch nothing but the chain, as he looked over the consoles around the room.

“If any of them start to wake up, hit them again,” he said, finding a central looking section of the controls.

“But what are you going to do now?” Benny asked. “We're still under water.”

Twist took a breath, already feeling the rage and confidence of the steam engine begin to fade from his mind.  He pressed his hands against the brushed metal surface between a lever and a number of small wheels on the console.  Cold, calm, methodical, mechanical simplicity rushed over him like heavy rain.  It stilled his anger and pride, replacing it with the familiar, unemotional, rhythmic pulse of a complex machine.

His mind flew over the controls, mechanisms, and a multitude of systems at such a pace that he could hardly keep up with the rush of pure information.  Many small things were wrong—loose welding, leaking valves, rust, age—but in an instant he also knew precisely where the ship was, exactly how deep and how close to port.

He opened his eyes and crossed the room, turning a wheel fully open, pulling a number of small levers, and then taking a seat in the captain's chair.  A small copper wheel stood just in front of it on an articulated arm.  Twist ran his fingers over its surface lightly, gaining another rush of detailed information.  He closed his eyes and focused hard on his own breath to keep himself from getting totally overwhelmed.

“What are you doing?” Benny was asking. “How do you know how to pilot this ship?  Who are you?”

“Leave him be,” Halil said. “Look, we're nearing the surface.”

Twist opened his eyes again, but they gave him little clarity as the senses of the ship flooded his mind: Heavy water pressed in on all sides, held back by strong metal and thick air.  Currents pushed and pulled against his course as the huge, angry engine struggled against it all.  Cold water outside and fire in its belly, the contradictions were more confusing than anything Twist had ever felt.  It was all he could do to steer the ship back up to the surface.

The water outside the windows grew rapidly brighter and thinner.  In an amazingly short amount of time, the ship burst up onto the surface under a rusty dusk sky, moments from full night.  Twist heard Benny and Halil cheer.  The ship fell into a restful mood as it sat easily on the surface of the silty water.

Twist got up, walked to the side of the bridge, and quickly climbed up a small ladder that was set against the wall.  He threw the top hatch open to the cool night air outside.  A gust of air rushed into the bridge, calling out more cheers from the other two within.  Twist pulled himself out onto the top of the bridge just as Halil appeared at the top of the ladder.  There was a small flat area above the bridge, but the ship curved back into the water on all sides of it.  Twist looked over the side into the dark water and realized that he hadn't thought through this final step.

“Benny, look!” Halil said, his arms open wide and his face full of joy. “It's the sky!”

“I can't believe it,” Benny said breathlessly, getting to his feet on the top of the ship and staring up as the brightest stars began to shine in the darkening dusk.

“Any idea how we should get to the shore from here?” Twist asked, looking out at the nearest town along the coast, about a hundred feet away. “The sea is shallow here and the ship didn't think it could get any closer.”

“The ship had a thought?” Benny asked.

“We'll swim,” Halil said. “It's not far.”

“I've never tried to swim in my life,” Twist said, staring into the water uncertainly.

“What happened to your courage, boy?” Benny asked. “Just a few minutes ago you took on four pirates with nothing but a shovel!”

“That wasn't me,” Twist said curtly. “That was the boiler.”

Halil and Benny stared at him for a moment.  Sounds crept up from the hatch.  Benny and Halil backed away from it, moving behind Twist.

“They're awake!” Halil whispered fearfully.

“Time to find out if you can swim or not,” Benny said to Twist.

Twist's thoughts turned instantly to his watch; he'd almost lost it once.  He took it from his pocket, and his Sight slip into it before he could stop it.  The confused details of the ship melted in the warm, comforting presence of his own memories, thoughts, and emotions that were still preserved flawlessly in the steady rhythm of the watch's tiny clockwork heartbeat.  Peace and true relief flooded through him in an instant.  The way forward was clear to him just as quickly.  Whatever happened from here, he had to get to her somehow.

“Come on, then” Twist said, wrapping the watch chain around his wrist and making sure that there was no way it could get free, “let's give it a try, shall we?”

The voices from below grew clearer and the sound of feet on the ladder rose quickly.  Halil jumped first, diving expertly into the water.  Twist took in a deep breath but his nerves seized, rooting his feet firmly in place.  Benny saw the problem and shoved Twist hard on the back.  Shock jumbled his mind enough to pick up nothing but a whisper of a vision from the quick touch, but his body reacted on its own, curling up as he fell gracelessly into the water.