Shadow Rising (Shadow Born Trilogy Book 2) by Jamie Sedgwick

Author:Jamie Sedgwick [Sedgwick, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, spies, Sci FI, assassins, fantasy, young adult, Science Fiction, magic
ISBN: 9781470026486
Publisher: Timber Hill Press
Published: 2012-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

That afternoon, Pete found himself alone in the Tech Sector. Hank had gone off to help some of the other lab workers with a problem, leaving Pete alone with the fiber optic solar array. As fascinating as this was, there was something more important that drew him away. Pete nonchalantly wandered to the back of the sector and entered the giant room that housed the clockwork machine. He had started calling it that because he didn’t know the actual name of the thing and he couldn’t think of a better description.

It stood in the center of the room like a tower, rising more than twenty feet in the air. The base was approximately fifteen feet in diameter and it tapered slightly towards the top. The lines were not symmetrical, and there was something slightly disconcerting about the shape. Pete felt like the machine was pulling him in as he stared at it.

A low humming sound came from deep inside the device, almost like the sound of a generator spinning. Gears clicked and whirred here and there for no apparent reason. It was impossible to discern how they were connected or what purpose they might serve without taking the machine apart. The only telling thing was the presence of the statues. The fact that the Shadow was after them and that the government had been collecting them could only mean one thing: the machine was some sort of weapon.

Pete slowly circled the base, looking for clues as to how the machine worked or what exactly it was supposed to do. It looked extremely old, judging by the patina of black and green that covered most of the machine’s surface. Brass gears and steel springs were visible from every angle, all the way up to the top. Large gears connected to small gears, sprockets connected to chains, and rivets and rods held it all together. The deeper Pete looked into the device, the more perplexed he felt.

“What are you?” Pete said quietly. He reached out and touched the rough, blackened surface, feeling the coarse texture under his fingertips. The machine hummed and clicked quietly.

An idea struck him, and Pete glanced at his watch. He looked back at the machine. There seemed to be a pattern to some of the sounds, as if they repeated at regular intervals. Was it counting? Was the machine some sort of time-keeping device?

No, he thought. Who would build a clock like this? Why make something so huge, so intricate just to keep time?

He stood back, contemplating. “You’re not a clock,” he whispered, thinking aloud. “A clock is simple. A spring contains the energy to turn the gears. The gears turn at certain speeds to simulate the passage of time. One tick is a second, sixty ticks a minute…”

Pete’s eyes lit up. He stepped back even further, trying to view the entire machine at once. “Aha!” he said. “That’s why you’re so big! A clock is simple because it only tracks the passage of time by measuring the movement of the earth and the sun.

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