City of Time by Eoin McNamee Read Free Book Online Page B

looked more modern, with titles such as
Strata in Time: A Mapmaker's Approach
and
Time Trails of the Late Period
. One book was a thumbed paperback; the cover showed a wintry city scene and the title was
Hadima: A Street Guide Including Restaurant Supplement
.
    Owen was bursting to tell Dr. Diamond what he had found, but had to wait as the man shook Wesley's hand gravely. Wesley told him about the sleeping children and the decay that surrounded them.
    Dr. Diamond nodded. “Something similar is happening in our own Starry. We have to move quickly. I've been checking the books. They all point toward the same thing. The flow of time into this world is slowly but surely drying up—”
    “Owen found the entrance to the City of Time,” Cati interrupted.
    “Did he now,” Dr. Diamond said, wheeling around sharply.
    Quickly Owen told him about the earthquake and the water that had swept him into the storm drain, and what he had found beyond it.
    “So the tremor unsealed the entrance?” Dr. Diamond asked, his shrewd eyes flickering from one to the other.
    Owen looked the doctor in the eye. “No,” he said. “I guessed where it was and fired at it with the magno gun, which weakened the wall.”
    “You heard what I said about not reopening it?” Dr. Diamond said. Cati had never seen him like this. His eyes bored into Owen.
    “I heard,” Owen said quietly.
    “It was forbidden,” Dr. Diamond said. He turned to Cati. “Your father would never have permitted this!”
    Owen could see tears spring to her eyes. “I didn't askfor permission,” he said angrily. “It was nothing to do with her! Besides, her father sent the message.”
    Dr. Diamond glowered at him. “You will have to answer for this to the Convoke.”
    “There won't be any bleedin' Convoke if we don't do something!” Wesley broke in. “What's done is done. Let's get on with it!”
    “Owen, your father was impulsive too,” Dr. Diamond said, almost to himself, the fire fading from his eyes, “and we do not know if he did good or evil. Very well. The tunnel is open. We will go to Hadima and find a tempod and perhaps set the world to rights. For now.”
    Owen looked away, unable to meet Dr. Diamond's eyes.
    “What about the Sleepers?” Wesley said.
    “We can do nothing for them until we fix time. You will have to watch the Workhouse, Wesley.”
    “On my own?”
    “Owen will have to wake Pieta,” the doctor decided.
    Owen got wearily to his feet. Since he had roused Wesley in the Warehouse he'd felt tired, almost as if a little of the darkness he'd penetrated to reach Wesley had seeped into his mind. And he knew that Pieta would be harder to wake. Would her mind help him or fight him?
    “Let's go,” he said. “I can try to wake one more at least.”
    “Go with him, Wesley,” Dr. Diamond said. “Cati can help me get ready here.”
    “Get ready?” Cati said.
    “Yes,” Dr. Diamond said. “Can you not feel it? Time is exhausted here. If we are going to the City, we must go soon.”
    After Owen and Wesley left, Dr. Diamond started to pick out maps and books from the pile on the floor and pack them into a leather attaché case with his initials on it.
    “Now, to be practical, Cati,” he said. “Both ovens are full of fresh bread and cakes we can use for the journey. I want you to pack them into this!” With a triumphant flourish, the doctor produced an ancient rucksack. The canvas was faded and the whole thing smelled of mothballs, but it was enormous.
    Resisting the temptation to hold her nose, Cati took it from him and started taking loaves from the oven, putting them on a rack to cool. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the scientist packing all sorts of strange instruments and devices. She had known Dr. Diamond all her life, but there were times, like now, when his blue eyes hid more than they revealed.
    A few miles away, Mary White was almost at the end of her strength, but she had called Owen's mother back and healed her. Martha