The Massacre Mechanism (The Downwinders Book 5) (8 page)

Awan turned
to look at Winn. “Alright,” he muttered.

“That’s all
fine and well, but what if the cameras are monitored live?” Winn asked.

“Lots of
storage places don’t have anyone there,” Awan replied. “We’ll have to scout out
the place to know for sure.”

Daniel took
a deep breath. “So, we’re gonna try to break into her storage bay and steal it,
then.”

“Not steal
it,” Winn replied. “Just borrow it to decipher this message. If it really is
the device we’re after, I’ll bet it belonged to Deem’s father. The family owns
it, and I wouldn’t steal from them.”

“If it is
capable of diagnosing and slipping to the differential,” Daniel said, “it’s
incredibly valuable, particularly to gifteds. It would be like leaving a
priceless diamond in a storage bay. Very bad idea.”

“Deem’s father
must have had his home protected in some way while he was alive,” Winn said.
“I’m sure Deem’s mom had no idea of its value. What do you suggest?”

“It needs to
be kept somewhere safe,” Daniel replied. “Behind a legend shelf, at least.
Preferably more.”

“I know
where,” Winn said, aware that he couldn’t tell Daniel about Lyman without breaking
Carma and Lyman’s trust. “It’ll be protected until his daughter is able to care
for it herself.”

“Let’s go
check out that storage facility,” Awan said, and they turned to walk out of the
empty, quiet shell that used to be Deem’s home.

Awan got
back into the Jeep, which Winn had parked a block away from the office of St.
George Moving and Storage.

“Well?”
Daniel asked from the back seat.

Awan handed Winn
a brochure. “Cameras everywhere,” Awan replied. “They really want you to think
it’s secure.”

“What about
guards?” Winn asked.

“No one in
the office after hours,” Awan replied, “but a security guard does patrol the
place in a golf cart. Who knows what his routine might be.”

“And then
there’s the issue of getting in,” Daniel observed. “Huge fence all the way
around, as far as I can tell.”

“The code to
the front gate is on the brochure,” Awan said, pointing to the papers in Winn’s
hand.

“What?” Winn
asked, looking through them. A five digit code appeared in ink at the bottom of
a contract.

“I rented a
space,” Awan said. “Number 140.”

Winn stared
at Awan in disbelief. “You did not!”

“I did,”
Awan replied. “I asked for a map of the place so I could pick a spot I liked. 140
was open.”

“Right next
door?” Daniel asked.

“I suggest
we drive inside and see what the wall between our unit and number 139 is made
of,” Awan replied.

Winn let out
a hoot and raised his hand to high-five Awan, who returned the gesture with a
calm nonchalance. Winn started up the Jeep and they pulled toward the front
gate of the facility.

“How much
did it cost you?” Winn asked.

“A hundred,”
Awan replied.

“I’ll pay
you back,” Winn said.

“No need,”
Awan answered.

Winn stopped
the Jeep at a keypad and punched in the code. The large black iron gate in
front of them began to slide open.

Once inside,
he maneuvered through the rows of storage units, following Awan’s directions.
Soon they arrived in front of number 140, and Winn parked the Jeep.

They got
out, looking over at unit 139. A large padlock hung from the unit’s door.

Awan grabbed
the handle to 140 and raised the rolling door into the ceiling. A large ten by
ten storage space was exposed, empty except for a shiny nickel on the ground in
the middle of the cement.

Winn looked
down at the nickel and decided not to pick it up.

Awan walked
to the wall that bordered 139 and knocked on it. “Simple sheetrock,” Awan
observed. “Unpainted. This should be easy.”

“What are
you thinking?” Winn asked.

“We take off
this entire piece of sheetrock,” Awan said. “That’ll expose the studs. We punch
a hole to get through. When we’re done, we’ll reattach a new piece of sheetrock
on this side.”

“What about
the hole on the other side?” Daniel asked.

“We’ll
arrange things so that it appears it was damaged from that side,” Awan replied.
“Like a piece of furniture fell into it; something like that.”

“Sounds
risky,” Daniel replied.

“But worth
the risk,” Winn answered. “Let’s do it.”

“Did you
rent this space under your name?” Daniel asked Awan.

“Of course
not,” he replied. “Paid cash. And if you ruin their camera feeds from today, I
think that should cover our tracks well enough. They’re likely to not discover
the damage on the other side for a while.”

“That’s good
enough for me,” Winn said.

“Let’s go
rent a truck,” Awan replied. “We’ll need to stop by a hardware store and pick
up tools and the sheetrock. It’ll never fit in your Jeep.”

“This is
getting expensive,” Winn replied as he stepped out of the storage space and
waited for the others to exit so he could pull down the door.

“Another
hundred bucks, tops,” Awan said.

Winn scanned
up and down the storage units, looking for anyone who might have seen them. It
was noon, and the sun was beating down. No one else was around.

“Too hot for
people to be out,” Winn observed. “That’s to our advantage.”

“They’ll
start showing up after work, when the sun starts to go down,” Awan replied.
“The faster we do this, the better.”

Winn started
up the Jeep and they left for the hardware store.

▪ ▪ ▪

They’d been
going through boxes for a half hour. Winn could feel the sweat pouring off his
body, soaking his shirt. They couldn’t open the door to unit 139 to let in
light or air, and were using lanterns to illuminate the space. The heat was suffocating.

He stopped
to close up the last box he’d looked through and glanced over at the wall. A
roughly punched hole just big enough to crawl through didn’t bring in any air
either; the door to 140 was closed as well. Couldn’t afford to have someone
drive by and see that they’d removed an entire piece of sheetrock from one wall
of the unit.

He opened
the next box and rummaged through it, lifting clothes and shoes.
These
belong to Deem’s mother,
he thought, a little disturbed at his act of
invasion. He finished the box quickly and went on to the next.

“Damn, it’s
hot in here!” Daniel said. “I’m sweating buckets.”

“Me too,”
Awan answered. “Just gotta keep going as fast as we can.”

Between the
heat and the extra caffeine they’d ingested to keep their energy going, Winn
was starting to feel lightheaded. He closed up the box and started another. It
contained a glass vase that had been wrapped in tissue and a couple of small
knickknacks wrapped in paper. At the bottom of the box was another object
surrounded by bubble wrap; he could see bronze through plastic.

Is that
it?
he thought.
It’s
about the right size.

He carefully
removed the object and peeled the bubble wrap from around it. A metal framed
box emerged, with glass sides that exposed a finely-crafted set of gears
inside. Its top was rounded, capped by a metal ball. He stared for a moment
down into it, admiring its beauty. There were dozens and dozens of gears
inside, maybe hundreds. It looked like the inside of a fantastic clock.

“Guys,” he
said. “I’ve found it.”

Awan and
Daniel stopped what they were doing and turned. “You sure?” Awan asked.

Winn held
the mechanism up for the others to see.

“Oh my god,”
Daniel said breathlessly. “I didn’t really think…”

Winn stepped
to the only spot in the storage bay that wasn’t cluttered, and the other two
joined him. “May I?” Daniel asked, reaching out for it.

Winn passed
the mechanism to Daniel, and he cradled it like a baby, admiring its detail.

“That is
one, right?” Winn said. “Or is it something else?”

“No, it’s
one of them,” Daniel said, his lips moving to answer although his mind seemed
far away. He turned the device, looking at it from all angles. “I didn’t think
I’d ever see one in person.”

“How do we
make it work?” Winn asked, reaching to take it back.

Daniel was lost
in a fog for a moment, the wonder of the discovery still blowing his mind.
“Work?” he repeated. “Work…well, we need it to read your document first. Then
it shifts you. Maybe it would be best if we went back to the other storage
space for this.”

“You two go
through,” Awan said. “I’ll clean things up and make it look like something fell
to cause the damage.”

Daniel and
Winn passed through the small hole into unit 140, and waited while Awan worked
on cleaning up the dust on the other side. Once he’d come through and joined
them, they could see the edge of a large box poking through from the other
room.

“Nicely
done,” Winn commented. “Once we replace the sheetrock on this side, it’ll look
perfect.”

“Do you have
the symbols?” Daniel asked.

Winn removed
the paper from his back pocket and carefully unfolded it, trying to remove
creases. Once he was done, he handed it to Daniel, who spread it out on the
cement floor of the empty storage unit.

“Place the
mechanism on the paper,” Daniel instructed, and Winn carefully set the device
on top of it, squarely in the middle.

“What now?”
Winn asked, watching. Nothing seemed to be happening.

“Um, not
sure,” Daniel said. “I’ve only read about these, you know. Never thought I’d
ever get to use one.”

“Seems like
it needs to start up,” Awan commented.

“Ah!” Daniel
said, striking his head with his hand. “Of course, you’re absolutely right. I’m
so tired I’m not thinking straight. It’s been dormant for a while; it’ll need a
kick to crank up. Have either of you ever participated in a focus?”

“Just tell
us how to do it,” Awan said.

“We drop
into the River,” Daniel replied, “and then it’s like a trance. However, all
three of us will concentrate on the same thing — that mechanism. Exclude all
else from your mind. The power from the focus might jump-start it.”

“Alright,”
Winn replied, and watched as Daniel instructed them to stand around the paper
and the device. Daniel’s arms went out to reach for their hands, and Awan and
Winn took the hint, forming a circle.

Winn
dropped, feeling himself slip effortlessly into the River. The oppressive heat
of the storage space dissolved, and the world around him changed in slight ways
that seemed to make everything partially transparent.

Below him
the device and the paper sat motionless, nothing indicating their potential
power or message. He thought about the box, letting his first impression of its
design fill his mind. He saw the gears and cogs, the ragged teeth, the small,
almost invisible springs and levers. It was impressive in its complexity, and
he let it wash over him and wipe away all other thoughts.

Then he felt
the power center in him, and he opened his eyes to see their focus emanating
from each of them, joining in the center and continuing toward the mechanism.
As the energy reached it, it glowed with the familiar hue he’d seen before on
River objects, and the gears inside began to move. Daniel was right — it needed
the focus to start up. It had been sleeping; now it was alive.

He felt
Daniel break the circle by dropping his hands. In response, Winn retreated from
the trance, but remained in the River. Daniel had dropped to look into the
sides of the device; Winn was intrigued, so he knelt down to join him. Inside
were mechanical displays that hadn’t appeared before; a series of metal wheels
with numbers and symbols were spinning slowly. Several stopped near markers.

There’s
the differential!
Daniel said, pointing inside the mechanism.
See that series?

Winn made
out a sequence of several numbers and other bizarre symbols he couldn’t
describe.
How do I interpret that?
he asked Daniel.
I don’t know what
the symbols on these wheels mean.

You don’t
need to,
Daniel
replied.
The differential couldn’t use just our numbers to identify it. It
would take a list of numbers a mile long. These symbols represent it more
accurately than our numbers can.

What now?
Awan asked.
If
that’s the differential, how do we use it to figure out the message on the
paper?

One of us
needs to travel to that differential,
Daniel said,
and try reading the paper.

How?
Winn asked.

Daniel
looked down at the mechanism.
Touch it,
he replied, and looked back up
at Winn.

Me?

You’ll
only be gone for a moment,
Daniel said.
Try to memorize what you see.

Winn slowly reached
for the device. As his fingers neared the metal ball on the top, he felt a
surge of electricity crackling over his skin, tingling and needling his flesh.
He wrapped his palm over the ball, grasping tightly.

Everything
narrowed rapidly, and he briefly felt relieved, as though every care in the
world had been extinguished, and he was no longer bound by anything —
obligations, concerns, duty. It was a split second of the bliss of being free
from time, and when it passed, he knew it was a good thing he wasn’t able to
control what was happening to him, because he knew he’d choose to stay in that
bliss had he been given the choice.

Awan wasn’t
in the room any longer, but Daniel was still there. The storage area had
changed shape, and when he glanced around, he saw that the door to the unit
wasn’t the kind that rolled up — it was a normal door that opened from the
side. A single bulb above them illuminated the space; it was a strange bulb, squarish,
hanging in the air with no observable means of suspension, rotating slowly.

Daniel was
looking down, and it reminded Winn of the instructions he’d received. Slowly
what he was trying to accomplish came back to him, and he glanced down at the
paper under the mechanism.