Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [45]
That's a lot of pieces," Corin said. "We'd probably need a dozen or so."
Fendel shrugged.
"I've got plenty, and they're surprisingly light, but strong, very strong."
Corin hefted one of the four-foot lengths, surprised at how little weight there was. "Mithral?" he guessed.
Tartly," Fendel replied. "It's an alloy I like to work with. A little mithral, a bit of tempered steel, some iron, and a few other things thrown in. My own personal recipe."
Lhasha grabbed several of the pieces and snapped them together in the space of a few seconds.
"Good fit," she said. "I like it. Throw them in a backpack and you're ready to go."
"All right, I can see how they fit together," Corin admitted. "But where's the ladder part? So far all we've got is a really long pole with squared off edges."
"Here's the beauty of it," the gnome said with obvious excitement in his voice. "See this mark?" he said, indicating a small circle imprinted on the base of each section. "Press here."
Corin hesitated, a little wary of what the gnome might have in store, but with Lhasha watching he wasn't about to refuse. Using his thumb, he applied firm pressure to the spot. The circle clicked inward, triggering a spring. Two sets of metal bars, popped out at perpendicular angles to the rod. Corin dropped his piece in surprise, letting it clatter to the floor.
Fendel let out a gleeful laugh, and picked the rod up again.
"See that? Spring loaded. You can stand on these, to use them as rungs to help you up and down the pole."
Corin picked the pole up to give it a second look. The small bars that extended out were attached to recessed hinges set into the main body of the rod. When folded down the bars lay almost flat against the pole. The area beneath where they folded down had been shaped and shaved away to allow the bars to lay flat against the pole in the recess, making them almost unnoticeable when they weren't extended.
Corin pushed on one of the bars, trying to bend the hinge. He grunted and strained, but couldn't budge it.
"I guarantee you won't be able to fold it back down," Fendel assured him. "Push the button again and they'll retract."
Corin did, and with a quick snap the bars folded back into place, recessed into their respective notches in the rod. Even though he knew they were there, Corin could barely see the thin line marking out the section that folded open.
"This craftsmanship is exquisite," Lhasha said admiringly. "I mean it, Fendel. Truly amazing work. You're the best." She gave him another kiss on the forehead. Corin wasn't certain, but he thought he caught the gnome blushing. It was hard to tell beneath the soot and grime that seemed to permanently cover his face.
"So," Lhasha continued, "this can get us onto the roof. Then what?"
Fendel jammed his finger down on the blueprint.
"All of these warehouses have a few ventilation chimneys in the roof. It helps cut down on smells and odors in the agricultural warehouses. If there's ever a fire, it gives the smoke somewhere to escape, so that it doesn't get trapped in the building and damage all the goods. Also helps keep them a little cooler in the summer."
"That's right," Corin said, nodding in agreement. "I remember one summer we were sent to guard a spice shipment at one of these warehouses. You could see little streams of light coming down during the day through those things." After a brief second he added, "But they had metal screens on them to keep the birds out."
"True," the gnome admitted. "The screen shouldn't be a problem. I can lend you a pair of metal shears that will slice through the mesh like thread. But a lot of the screens are reinforced by iron bars, to keep people like you out."
"So how do we get by those?" Lhasha asked on cue. "Don't keep us in suspense, Fendel. I know you've already thought this out."
"Another little invention of mine. I call it the Bar Spreader. Not the catchiest name, but it gets the point across."
Lhasha and Corin waited patiently while Fendel hunted through bis collections of gadgets.
"Here we go," he said after a few