The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [89]
It was true I had often opposed their interests. Of all those at Obernewtyn, the abilities of Teknoguilders were hardest to define, being little more than a vague empathy for inanimate things, a slight power to move things by will alone, and a passionate interest in the past. The Teknoguild was the only one that had established its base outside Obernewtyn because the caves that housed it were the remains of a Beforetime establishment and contained a number of ancient machines.
Pavo’s request that I visit the cave network had been unexpected and unnerving. I had not been there since Alexi had tortured me with the Zebkrahn machine in his effort to force me to use my powers to locate an Oldtime weapons cache. In the end, I had gone, as much to lay my fears to rest as out of respect for Pavo, who was more concerned with understanding the Beforetimers than unearthing their mechanical secrets.
Also, I had been curious.
Returning to the cave had been a disturbing experience. The past had seemed to lie tangibly beneath the present, despite all that had changed. The passage into the cave network was now littered with boxes and sacks of Beforetime papers, books, and other relics unearthed in previous expeditions. The passage was well lit by candles set in sconces at regular intervals.
Coming from the sloping passage with its strangely smooth walls into the main cave, I had been forced to stifle a gasp, having forgotten how big it all was and how bright the Beforetime sphere of light that lit the area. High up in the shadows, stalactites still hung, poised like spears. Yet it was also very different than I remembered. Woven rugs and thick mats softened cold floors, and the walls were almost covered with paper, scrawled with lists and notes and diagrams. Tables and chairs were occupied by busy teknoguilders, who barely registered my entrance.
Only the Zebkrahn machine had looked the same, though I knew it could no longer be used to coerce and torture, having long since been modified. Now it served as nothing more than an enhancer, enabling farseekers to double their normal range. Even so, my skin had risen to gooseflesh at the sight of it.
I thought of all this as I stood before the guildmerge. “Pavo asked me to come to the Teknoguild cave network this morning,” I began in answer to Rushton’s puzzlement.
The guilden gave a dry cough and rose. “It might be better if I explain, Guildmistress,” the Teknoguild ward offered diffidently.
As in the cave that morning, I was struck anew by his pallor.
“I did not know Elspeth would raise this matter today, and so I have not brought my notes; therefore, you will have to take my word on some matters,” Pavo said. “A while back, we uncovered evidence of an enormous book storage, which we believe might be untouched since the Beforetime. However, because of the ban, we set this matter reluctantly aside. Meanwhile, we succeeded in getting the Zebkrahn machine to penetrate the blocking static over tainted ground.” He paused to remind everyone that the machine, like farseekers, had been unable to project through Blackland wastes; even the tainted ground at the borders of the Blacklands produced a static that limited our range to just beyond the mountains that surrounded Obernewtyn.
“It still only locates Talents—it won’t help us to communicate with them. But the machine is now able to monitor areas previously out of reach even to farseekers as strong as Elspeth, whose range is otherwise better than that of the machine,” Pavo said. “I thought it was necessary for Elspeth to see the machine—not to admire the new modification but so that she could see what it revealed.” Pavo looked at me, and all eyes swung expectantly my way.
I said obligingly, “The Zebkrahn was registering a Talent at its outermost limit.”
“But … that’s impossible. Th’ machine has to be focused through a farseeker,” Matthew objected.
Pavo shook his head eagerly. “Only to detect ordinary or weak Talents. That is to say, in most cases. But the Zebkrahn would need no farseeker focusing to register, for instance,