Prof Cuthbert Q Berkley's Fantastic Contraption 4

The trio raced through the house and into the basement to find Sprocket and Smokestack anxiously checking the control panel and the various meters of all kinds that lined the walls. The entire room was completely bathed in blue light from the glowing wires connected to a huge sphere in the middle of the room that was roughly the size of a smart-car and there was a shrill, piercing sound in the air that was physically making Berkley look anxious as he looked at it.

“This isn’t good.”

“What is?!” Faith snapped at him. “What the hell is going on?!”

“The Æthersphere is reacting to a time distortion,” Berkley explained quickly. “Hollow’s on the move again.”

“To where, exactly?!”

Berkley strode past her and walked over to a huge machine that looked like a gigantic telescope lens that was hooked up to the Æthersphere, the lens decorated with a swirling blue pattern that seemed to be alive and moving around like the distorted images of a kaleidoscope mixed with the almost hypnotic dance of an amoeba under a microscope, and in this ever-changing dance of swirling smoke behind the glass, images were beginning to form, though there was really no sense to be made of the swirling shapes, at least from Faith’s perspective. “Hollow still has access to the Ætherial doors,” Berkley explained. “At least the ones he’s corrupted with Equinox.”

“He’s not coming here, is he?!”

Berkley sighed. “No, no…we’ve been lucky this time.”

Eventually things calmed down and Berkley told Faith to go home. Though she wasn’t too sure as to whether or not that was a good idea at the time, Faith could tell the man was a bit tired and needed to be alone, so she left. Still, the incident left Faith rather perplexed, to say the least. This Ichabod Hollow obviously had a plan and he’d more than likely come a bit too close to crossing through that weird, swirling glass. Whatever other surviving member of the Order that had the misfortune of being visited, however, was more than likely dead. It would make sense for Hollow to hunt down the rest of them to exact revenge, but to what purpose? Surely there was some method to the man’s madness, so to speak. Vengeance wouldn’t just be enough- there had to be something else behind that, some ulterior motive, though what exactly escaped Faith’s reach long before she could think of it.

Dinner came along and stir-fry was served. Faith hated stir-fry, but she stayed quiet and served herself, making sure the bits of chicken didn’t touch the rice. She wasn’t that hungry, anyway, and didn’t really make a dent in her food for a good while or speak a whole lot either, other than to say thanks for dinner to her mother before going up to bed. Even as she tried to sleep, the shrill sound she’d heard in Berkley’s basement echoed in her head and made her anxious as she tossed and turned in bed and tried to block it out. None of this had anything to do with her, so why, she asked herself, was she getting worried about this ‘Hollow’ character Berkley had mentioned? Even if he came to this time through the Ætherial door, it was Berkley and the ‘bots he wanted, not her! And, more importantly, why was she worrying about Berkley? Yes, she was interested in forging a friendship with him, but other than that, he was a complete stranger. It was Anum and her Mum that Faith thought it better to worry about; she actually knew and trusted them and they were people that she felt were worth worrying about. What if there were more people in Sydney that would try to pull off Anum’s hijab? What if Mum’s coworkers were bullying her? Those were the questions she should have been asking, but instead, she was asking herself if Berkley and the ‘bots and Charlie, bless his prehistoric heart, were still okay. With a defeated sigh, Faith decided that she might as well make sure that Hollow hadn’t found them. After all, the possibility of a madman from a hundred years ago who could command brainwashed dinosaurs ripping up the present if Berkley and his unabridged encyclopaedia of weapons couldn’t hold him at bay was not one she wanted to think about.

Faith went the very next day to Berkley’s, pushing open the gate that was still missing its lock and chain like it had been the day before and knocked on the door that was still attached to the doorframe and a thankfully intact house. No answer came, so she tried the doorbell, pulling down on the handle that Faith supposed was attached to a normal doorbell that would ring prettily and summon someone to answer it, but she was instead met with a great BONG, as if she were standing next to a huge bell in a cathedral bell tower. The sound was dizzying, and Faith stumbled backwards until she tripped down the steps to the door and landed on her backside, holding her spinning head.

Faith could hear Springer laughing from the door, steam puffing out into the air in erratic patterns. “Have a nice trip?” He cackled.

Faith felt her face turn red and she grabbed a stone from nearby and threw it at the automaton’s head, satisfied with the clanging noise it made when it connected with the copper plating. “Good to see you’re still alive,” She huffed as she pulled herself up and dusted herself off. “Is the Professor home? I’d like to have a word with him.”

“S-sure thing,” Springer replied grudgingly. “Y-y-ya know, ya could learn to t-take a joke every once in a while.”

“I’m not fond of jokes.” Faith walked past him and into the house, thankful to find it still intact, but there was something missing off the wall where all the weapons were kept. “Did you have a break in last night?”

“We did,” Came another voice, and Sprocket came into the hallway looking a bit banged up. “We weren’t as lucky as we’d hoped.”

“Hollow?”

Sprocket shook his head. “No, ma’am,” He replied. “One of his agents came in the middle of the night to try and steal something from the Professor’s drawing room.”

Faith looked over at the drawing room, and it was a right good mess- shattered glass and scattered books and the globe had been knocked over. “What was he after, then?” She asked.

“I have a few ideas,” Came Berkley’s voice as he walked into the hallway. “But whatever it was, he didn’t find it here.”

“Tin-horned coward got away before we could get any answers out of him, too,” Grudged Sprocket.

“But I thought you said Hollow hadn’t found you!” Faith exclaimed. It was then that the ground started to shake, and all those present stood still, save for Faith, who stumbled back into Sprocket’s arms. The automaton helped her stand again once the shaking had passed, and Berkley balled his fists and set his jaw.

“Damn him!” He growled. “Faith, come with me. Sprocket, Springer; find Smokestack and fortify the house and don’t let anyone in except for Charlie!” He started to storm off, and Faith followed after him while the two automatons raced off to carry out their orders.

“What was that quake?” She asked. “This country’s nowhere near a fault line, there’s no way we should be having an earthquake!”

“That was no earthquake,” Berkley told her as they ascended the stairs. “That was a sign of a time distortion!”

“Wouldn’t the Æthersphere be going crazy if that happened?!”

“The Æthersphere in my possession only alerts me to Hollow’s movements through time. However, I can hear the Æther’s shriek whenever time is distorted or damaged!” As soon as they were at the top of the stairs, Berkley had pointed a large telescope at the nearby Jamieson Valley. “This is bad.”

“What’s bad?” Faith asked frantically. “Move over, would you?!”

Berkley stepped aside and let Faith see for herself what the problem was. “Hollow must have found another member of the Order who was hiding here without my knowledge, he’s started opening up Equinox Wormholes in the valley!”

Faith could see it- that same swirling pattern that looked like a kaleidoscope crossed with the wriggling dance of an amoeba, but there was no colour to it, just huge, swirling black clouds with lightning coursing through them over the canopy of the rainforest and spires of swirling black had plunged through the leaves and into the forest below. “Professor…? What’s happening?”

“He’s found us.”

Faith backed away from the telescope. “I have to get home, I have to warn Mum!”

Berkley caught her arm. “Don’t be a fool, girl!”

“But Mum works in the next town over,” Cried Faith. “From downstairs it looks like a thunderstorm, there won’t be enough time to evacuate! I have to warn Mum, now let me go!”

“Pull yourself together!” Berkley snapped at her. “You’ll be putting yourself and your mother in danger!”

“You’re putting everyone else in danger just because you want to run away!” Faith snapped at him, trying to wrench her arm away from him. “I knew I couldn’t trust you!”

“Would you just listen to me?!” Berkley had to grab hold of Faith’s other arm. “If you step outside those doors, you’ll be radiated by the Equinox that’s hanging around in the air. Listen, girl, listen--!” Faith listened, and there were air-raid sirens going off in town. Someone must have noticed a Geiger counter going off, thank goodness. “Faith, I know I may sound mad to you, but when I say you must trust me, then you must trust me!”

“Why should I?!”

“I’m your best chance if you want to live.”

Faith’s frantic mind managed to calm down just enough for her to start being able to think straight again, but it didn’t change the fact that she still didn’t trust Berkley. This was his fault, and she wasn’t about to change her mind about it, but there was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off in the Jamieson Valley and now really wasn’t the time to argue if the guy knew what he was doing. What use is anyone to anyone if they’re dead, after all. So, hesitant and still unsure if she was doing the right thing, Faith made her decision.

“If I go with you, are we going to find a way to stop Hollow and fix this?”

“We can try.”

“Trying isn’t good enough!”

“It’s as best as you’re going to get if it’s Hollow we’re talking about.”

That, Faith decided, would have to be enough. She stuck out her hand to Berkley. “Shake on it.”

Berkley took her hand and shook it firmly. “Good. Now, there’s no time to waste. We have to get moving!” He took off down the stairs with Faith at his heels and hurried into the drawing room, where he took a rifle and a pair of revolvers off the wall, then passed another to Faith, who didn’t even question why he was giving her a weapon (like it was even the time to be asking!). The two then hurried down into the basement, where the robots were hovering over the machinery. “Springer, Sprocket, Smokestack,” Berkley barked to them. “Make ready the Ætherial door- we’re getting out of here!”

“Professor, we don’t know if it’s safe--!” Springer began to object, but Faith cut him off.

“Just do as he says, you stuttering rustbucket!” She snapped at him. “We’re in a hurry! The valley’s filling with radiation and you’re worried if the exit isn’t safe?!” She had no idea why she was being this forceful, but she didn’t want to know what would happen if they stayed. The robots began preparing the machinery with Sprocket shouting the orders to the others. Soon, the giant glass began to glow and the blue substance behind it began to dance faster.

“We’ve set the co-ordinates for the nearest active door that can receive us,” Sprocket reported.

Berkley nodded, then led Faith over to the Ætherial door with the ‘bots behind them. “Everyone ready to jump?”

“Wait, jump?!”

But Faith’s remark fell on deaf ears as she was dragged through the door with the others.

†††

Faith had thought she’d feel like taffy on a puller, or socks in the washing machine going through that door, but she blacked out the second her head was through the glass, and she woke to muffled voices and a ringing in her ears, and an unnatural buzzing in her bones. How long had she been out? Where were they? Was there even a ‘they’ to be asking about? The most she knew was that she was absurdly dizzy and lying on a couch.

“What happened…?”

“Well brand my hide an’ call me Daisy, sugar!” Came a voice as a figure leaned over her, a woman with red lips turned up in a smile and long, wavy hair the colour of black coffee hanging over her shoulder in a long plat. “I was just about to get to reckonin’ you weren’t comin’ round!”