Lady Blackbird peered through the window.
“Atlantis is very different in this spacetime-frame!”
Captain Avery followed her gaze.
Below them, the sea had acquired several additional directions.
A mountain was currently sliding sideways across the horizon with the embarrassed determination of a cupboard being moved through a narrow doorway.
Leonardo frowned.
“Atlantis?”
“Yes,” said the guardsman at the gate.
“But Atlantis sank.”
“In your spacetime.”
Avery looked at him.
“And in this one?”
“It was promoted.”
Nobody asked what that meant.
This was partly because the question seemed dangerous, and partly because a second bronze beacon had just begun emitting a noise rather like a giant clearing its throat.
The masked guardian turned.
“Lighthouse Forty-Nine is unstable.”
“What does it prevent?” asked Lady Blackbird.
“Time.”
“From doing what?”
“Arriving in the wrong order.”
There was a pause.
Leonardo looked deeply unhappy.
“That sounds important.”
“It is.”
“What happens if it fails?”
The custodian considered this.
“Yesterday may occur tomorrow.”
Avery sighed.
“That already happens.”
“Not with consequences.”
The beacon flashed.
Leonardo stared at Avery.
“You look pale.”
“I’ve just remembered something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Lady Blackbird, meanwhile, had opened the chest.
“Ah,” she said.
Everyone turned.
Inside, beside the lightning rod, was a small brass lever labelled:
GEOGRAPHY — RESET
Underneath, in smaller letters:
DO NOT USE UNLESS MAP IS ON FIRE
Leonardo swallowed.
“Is the map on fire?”
Lady Blackbird glanced toward the horizon.
A river had begun flowing uphill.
Avery reached for the lever.
The custodian caught his wrist.
“Captain.”
“Yes?”
“Maintenance is not complete yet.”
Behind them, something enormous knocked politely on the door.
Three times.
Then it waited.
Ping:
Dreamquest 