The Gadgeteer

Chapter 26

ARABETH IMMEDIATELY LOCKED herself in her workshop. This task would require no small amount of concentration, and the wrong disturbance at the right time could lose her innumerable hours' work.

She put extra food and water out for Marble, grateful the fox knew how to pace her eating. Her own sustenance sat in a large bowl on a side table - dried fruit and meats, beside a pitcher of water.

Pulling out every book her grandfather had ever written, as well as her own notes, she leafed through looking for information on the behaviour of radio waves. Maybe she'd have to trust Graham. He may even admit he owed her his life. Would that keep him honest?

She opened a copy of the most recent scientific journal on this topic, pacing to keep her blood flowing while she read. Curiously, someone had written an article proposing that radio waves be used as a method of distance checking, and that the technology already existed, with a few minor limitations. After an hour of concentrated searching, Arabeth stopped pacing and put the journal down.

"Marble, they need this soon. I'm going to have to break the project into parts and hire specialists without giving them the big picture," she said, flopping down onto the only cushioned chair in the room. She wasn't sure. Maybe she was just tired, but there were other things pulling at her right now. "Would hiring out be all right?"

Marble looked at her but didn't respond. Normally she'd cock her head or look away. Something. Marble's response was usually a reflection of her own instincts, but she was better at reading Arabeth than Arabeth herself. A lack of reaction meant Arabeth hadn't thought deeply enough, or she wasn't convinced one way or the other yet. That raised a question: what was she so conflicted over? Did she not trust Graham now? How could she give him the level of trust she needed to?

She closed her eyes, wishing the answer would miraculously appear when she reopened them. She felt exhausted already. Besides, this was the wrong way to do it. You work for luck. You pray for miracles. She didn't see it being an actual miracle just yet. She just needed a short break. A moment to clear her mind.

When she opened her eyes next, Marble had curled up in her corner bed. She'd fallen asleep and felt good again. Rested. It was time to design a new toy. She stood and went to the desk. Sitting, she started sketching the bits and parts she thought the device would need in order to do the job.

Clear-minded now, she realized the device was already half-done. The other half was in her grandfather's seventh journal, needing only a hopefully minor modification. How she wished she'd inherited his genius, his ability to extrapolate product development and invention into the distant future with a reasonable rate of accuracy.

Flipping open the journal, she quickly found the page, but as she did, a scrap of paper fluttered oddly. Going back a few pages, she saw a loose paper tucked in. She'd been through these journals a hundred times. How had she missed this?

At the top of the faded sheet were the words, "For Arabeth." Looking below, there was a series of small diagrams, mostly a combination of clockwork, but even at the end she couldn't tell what it should do. Maybe it was related to the pages it was between. She'd heard of people being given a life quest by a grandparent or parent and spending the rest of their life figuring it out. In fact, that was how she viewed her grandfather's secret room.

No time, she reminded herself. Tucking the paper back in, she moved to the page she wanted. This project was one small part of a much bigger picture. As soon as it was done, she might get a bigger task. Something more significant. Something to prove she could hold her own with the big players.

She walked over to her turntable and loaded a record tube. Music would help block out the side thoughts that would try to derail her. Sitting back at her desk, she picked up her pencil and a stack of paper. The hardest part would be figuring out the audio component, but that was where specialists came in. She'd sketch one in and not worry about how it actually looked.