Spectrum

  Chapter 2.

  Elijah choked on his drink, and slammed the mug down. He probably would have screamed, if he’d been able to. Molly turned around to see what all the fuss was, and let out a delighted squeak when she saw who was at the window, which then quickly descended into a fit of giggles when she saw Elijah spluttering and waving.

  “Noah!” She yelled, “Come right in!” The face disappeared from the window, and a few seconds later they both heard the front door open, and the sound of extremely heavy footsteps padding down the carpeted hallway. Moments later, the same enormous head that had been peering through the window a short while before popped around the doorframe.

  Noah was an absolute giant of a man, and had to duck a little as he came into the kitchen to join them both. He had been an acquaintance to the two of them since they were very young, before they had ever even considered launching their business. He had a giant, bright white beard, wiry hair to match it, and a smile that looked like it would split his face in half. His deep blue eyes constantly twinkled, as if he had just heard a good joke. Noah owned an inn in what had once been one of the shadier areas of Spectrum. Noah had once employed them to take care of some of the more organized gangs in the area, and Elijah and Molly had seen to it that the area was cleaned up as part of their work. The three of them had gone from acquaintances to firm friends ever since.

  Elijah had recovered sufficiently now, and raised his hand in greeting as Noah entered the kitchen. Molly ran over to give him a quick hug, and briefly disappeared into Noah’s giant arms. She reappeared, and asked what brought him round.

  “It’s funny you should say that. I was headin’ on over to see Elijah there, and thought I’d stop by just to say hello. Most fortuitous that you’re here I’d say, lad.” He went to take a seat on one of Molly’s stools, realized how small it was, and thought better of it. He stood, looking awkward for a moment, and then went to lean on the mantelpiece above the fire, which had now settled down and was just giving out a warm glow. Elijah had always had trouble understanding Noah’s thick accent, (Noah himself had originally come from the south, and moved to Spectrum, hence his accent) and just about managed to comprehend what he had said as Noah made himself comfortable.

  “Alright…what are you after me for this time?” Elijah asked. With Noah he was never quite sure what the request was going to be, if indeed it was one. This particular time, it was not.

  “I wondered if you’d heard of the big gatherin’ up on the old Cloud? Apparently everyone who can conduct is headin’ up there for some big meetin’. I never bothered with any of them scholars, Well, Percy being the exception I suppose. Thought I’d give it a miss, and was goin’ to see if I was the only one really.”

  Elijah’s brain took a moment to catch up, and then he replied.

  “Nope, couldn’t care less about heading up there. Especially after the way they’ve treated the two of us…” Elijah trailed off a little here, and Molly took the opportunity to pipe up.

  “Do you want some tea, Noah? I got some South Sea Mix in especially for today. If you’re here, you might as well…” She had already begun to pour the cup of tea out as she asked. She already knew the answer. She finished pouring and went to hand the cup over. She couldn’t quite reach, and was about to move around the counter top when the cup suddenly lifted up from her outstretched hands. She squeaked in panic, and then remembered that Noah, much like Elijah, could conduct. It was one of the things that had first encouraged their friendship, and Noah had taught Elijah much about conducting over the years. The cup settled into Noah’s hands. It was the biggest one she owned, and still looked miniscule as he held it. He thanked her and gave her a big smile, and Elijah continued as he took a swallow of tea.

  “Good to see you’re conducting to help with important things.” He said as he rolled his eyes, “Anyway, they’ve treated us like dirt in the past, which I know you know. I’m surprised anyone up there even sent me an invite.”

  Noah nodded as he considered this. He wasn’t prone to doing things quickly, and where most people might consider him slow because of this, Elijah and Molly both knew it was careful consideration of all things, as opposed to anything else. There were at that precise moment, twenty four people in Spectrum who could conduct, much like Noah and Elijah, which meant that twenty two of them were up on the Cloud right at that moment, for whatever reason.

  There was a comfortable silence for a moment. Molly had a thought, and decided to broach the subject that she and Elijah had been discussing not minutes before Noah turned up. She caught Elijah’s eye just before she cleared her throat. He had been toying with the idea himself. There was no reason not to tell Noah, he was one of their most trusted friends. Elijah gave an almost imperceptible nod and Molly gave a short cough. “Noah…”

  She spent the next little while explaining everything that she had been explaining to Elijah. They stayed up late far into the night, discussing what to do, if anything. They were only three people, and this potentially affected the entire city. Noah agreed that it seemed like a good idea that they were taking the news up to the scholars on the Cloud, but declined when they invited him up there with them, to neither of their surprise. They discussed a few other things as well, throughout the length of the conversation. It wasn’t too often that the three of them were together, what with Elijah and Molly working so much, and Noah usually taking care of his Inn.

  As it begun to get late, Noah stood up to stretch his legs. “I best be wanderin’ off I suppose.” He murmured, glancing out of the window. The sun had set, night time following as it always did, throwing up a handful of stars and a beautiful, crescent shaped moon that hung low in the sky. Molly and Elijah bid him goodnight as he made his way to the front door, Noah receiving an enthusiastic hug from the former and a handshake from the latter. They promised they would see each other soon, not leaving it so long until the next time they caught up. As the door closed behind him and the two of them wandered back into the kitchen area, Elijah asked Molly a question.

  "Why didn't you let me know sooner that you were looking into all this?" Elijah asked as they banked the fireplace up, preparing to call it a night.

  "It all happened so fast. At first I was just studying the ether. I had to make several trips down through the sewers and into the catacombs, and noticed huge areas of the tunnels down there just...gone. Like something had swallowed them up. While I was down there I felt the first quake, and things have just escalated from there. I didn’t really think too much of it until they kept happening."

  "Well, at least you found out. I find it hard to believe that we're the only ones who know about it though. I mean, surely the academy has some knowledge of this? Those scholars know everything that happens in this city. We’ll pay them a visit tomorrow. I know you're not keen, but I think we really need to."

  Molly pouted. She really didn’t want to go up there. The academy of scholars, based up on the Cloud, were dedicated to discovery and invention. They took new applicants yearly, and although she had applied a number of times, each had been without success. Molly knew that she was more than clever enough to join, and had never really revealed to Elijah why she wasn't allowed to. This left Elijah to guess. He had tried to get the answer from her, but to no avail. One thing was for certain though, she resented and avoided them at all times.

  The academy itself was moored in just about the center of the city. Moored would be about as accurate a word as someone could use, as the academy was based on what everybody in Spectrum and beyond referred to as the Cloud. The Cloud, however, was a very deceptive name. The Cloud was an enormous chunk of rock. Floating rock. It was anchored to the ground by three massive chains, the thick links of which, as well as the rock itself, were visible from anywhere in Spectrum. The Cloud itself was another one of those perpetual mysteries. It was theorized that the rock was made of solidified ether, but no one really knew what kept it afloat. The faces of visitors to the city upon first seeing the spectacle thou
gh, were priceless.

  "Oh boy…I really don’t want to go up there tomorrow" she sighed, "I'm not going to like it. We head up, explain everything, come back down, and we're done, right?

  "Yeah, I promise. In and out, no problem. It won’t take us long. And it’s important. We need to do this, by the sounds of things. Whatever it is, I’m sure they can fix it, if it does need fixing."

  Molly nodded at this and stretched and yawned, suddenly realizing just how tired she was. The yawn was infectious, as they so often are, and Elijah suddenly felt incredibly tired as well. To think that a few hours earlier they had been having a break from work, relaxing, and taking time for themselves... It looked like the foreseeable future was going to contain a good deal less of that for sure.

  Elijah began banking the fireplace up to keep the warmth in overnight, the fire would be good to go for the morning as well. Molly bid him goodnight, and headed off to her bedroom, instructing him to take any of the spare rooms he wanted. She quickly explained that the house had expanded since he had last been there, and there was now a fourth bedroom on the second floor he was welcome to try. He laughed and said he would do just that, and then she was gone. Alone with his thoughts for the first time that evening he wandered over to the window and gazed out. The moon was partially covered by the looming outline of the Cloud, but about half of the crescent was uncovered, shining down onto Spectrum. The night sky was truly beautiful. To Elijah’s mind it was like someone had poked tiny holes in a blanket and was shining a light through it. The rain from earlier still lay in puddles here and there, and a rainbow of tiny droplets still covered the window panes, shimmering in the moonlight.

  Molly and he had been together a long time, and had been through some tough situations. With the amount of near scrapes they had been through he was sure this was something they could handle. All they needed to do was let the correct people know, and it would be out of their hands. Or so he hoped. Just one thing was bugging him though, and that was why no one from the academy, or anyone else for that matter, had discovered, or even stumbled across this. They weren't exactly fools. Something about that didn't sit right with him, and he supposed he would have to find out why the next day. It was strange though...

  Elijah wandered up the stairs and searched out the new room. He remembered the layout of the house, what had been where before, and found the new room without any problems. As he walked and got a good look at the room he chuckled to himself. The walls and ceiling were at insane angles, and the room itself almost felt as if it were tilting. He thought to himself that you had to love the bizarre effect the ether had on the city. There was a mirror in the room, and Elijah caught sight of himself in it. He looked extremely tired, and there were dark circles beneath his deep brown eyes. His hair was a complete mess as well, although there was nothing unusual about that. It was its usual light brown mass of tangles and matted knots. He briefly considered whether or not he should tidy up before they headed out tomorrow, and then thought better of it. Crisis or not, he could stand to be a little scruffy. It was just how he was.

  He climbed into bed, and felt instantly like he was sinking into the mattress, the room began to spin a little, and as he closed his eyes he began to drift off quickly and easily, slipping into a dreamless, peaceful sleep. In her room on the other side of the floor Molly sat, thinking about the following day. Unable to get to sleep she sat tinkering with one of her latest inventions. She truly hoped that tomorrow went well, as they were going to need all the help they could get to do something about the ether, if indeed there was something wrong. She truly despised the academics though, and hoped she could bite her tongue while they were up there. It was going to be an interesting day either way, and she hoped that ultimately her fears were unfounded, although things rarely ever worked out that easily. She sighed, knowing she should get some sleep, but sleep continued to evade her, so she sat and tinkered long into the night.