The Gravity Escapement (TWS)

McCloud gestures for you to come closer. The pendulum holds itself in the air, turning slowly in defiance of gravity. You wave an experimental hand above it, and then below; there are no wires that you can see. For a moment you fumble in your jacket, producing a small magnet on a string. You give McCloud an enquiring look, and he nods; the magnet rings dully as you swing it against the strange blue-silver metal, but it does not stick. Finally, you give it a poke with your index finger, to which the metal seems to tingle your skin. It's oddly neither warm nor cold, and the markings carved on it appear to turn and twist whenever you avert your eyes.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" His already pale lips are going white, you notice, as he stares at the impossible object.

"How did you make it, sir?" The lips grow whiter. "Did you make it, sir?"

One corner of those lips twitches upwards. "Very astute. No, this mystery I found in the chronochasms below Source Gloriana. I was investigating the recent earthquakes; I found this instead."

You're scribbling all of this down when one word catches your ear. "Earthquakes?"

"As you understand we are under the utmost secrecy. The Source is the wellspring of the Empire's power and it would not do for the Renegades to hear of trouble with Gloriana." He sighs. "But yes, earthquakes. As of late minor shakings have rocked our fair isle, a disturbing trend, to say the least."

You nod, and turn your gaze back to the space oddity. It hangs there, floating in the most peculiar way, as if mocking gravity. "Do you think the two occurrences, that they might be," you spit out the unthinkable, "that one may have caused the other?"

His answer is immediate. "Presumption. As I have said, we are still investigating; this is but one of the things I discovered in the chronochasm - though it is by far the strangest." The slender hands wave in dismissal.

"All right." You frown at your notes. Something still doesn't add up - "But surely you haven't called me here just to observe the inexplicable. What is it you want? A, a newsheet article? A discovery license? A drafted research paper?"

"Hah!" His laugh comes out in a bark. "I have the skills to do each of those myself. This oddity," he gestures at it, "is a symbol of the journey you've joined me on, the story you're going to write. And in a decade, when the world clamours for the story of our triumph, this is the story you'll give them!" His eyes are shining bright at this proclamation.

"Our triumph, sir?"

He leans in close, and his voice becomes conspiratorial, dropping to a near-whisper. "I am positive that in the chronochasms below the surface, more of these oddities can be found. If we can gather enough of them, we may be able to reassemble the mechanism, which I believe to be a device for cancelling out that strange Newtonian force, gravity." He smiles wickedly, as if enjoying a private joke. "Thus the name of the project, the Gravity Escapement. A good joke, yes?"

"Very droll, sir."

"I already have several of the parts in my possession; I believe only one more expedition into the depths of Gloriana will reveal her most deeply-guarded treasures. This was where I began to realise my own capacities for recording, while useful for those with scientific and engineering training, were far outstripped by the story I was telling! So now you have your answer; that is why I have brought you here, to record the facts of the matter as we stand here, on the brink of a revolution in the mechanical sciences!" He has grown entirely too animated, considering his face is still an inch from yours and he has moved from the conspiratorial whisper to full-on shouting. He probably sees it in the set of your features, and returns to a more appropriate distance.

"And now you know the story at hand, so far. Now, if you feel that this matter is all but a load of poppycock, excuse my language, I will extend to you this courtesy - provided you remain silent," he reaches over and pats the manila envelope again - "you need not accompany me on this expedition. It very well may be dangerous, and we shall be journeying to depths no man - not even I - have plumbed before. You can walk away now a free woman, unbeholden to this story and its consequences."

You are suddenly very aware of the sound his shoes make on the rich velveteen carpeting.

"However." He takes his seat behind the messy desk again. "If you walk with me into the chronochasm, into Source Gloriana, then you are bound to this. We will see this through the end, together, and I will give you a story unlike any other in this meagre world. It will be hazardous, yes indeed, but it will also be a unique adventure of a magnitude humanity has not seen the likes of yet. I will not give you this offer again, though if I have learned enough of you, you will not need it."

The pendulum continues its stately swing.