Sink: Old Man's Tale by Perrin Briar Read Free Book Online Page B

place.”
    “Whoever built this digger did a good job,” Jeremiah said.
    “Our engineers restored it,” Leader said. “We’ve tried oil, tried heating it and running it through the system again, but each time we try, it just blows up. Now we need to come up with a different system. Something we can use to convert energy.”
    Jeremiah smiled.
    “It appears my being here may not have been entirely by chance,” he said. “I am, or was, an engineer. I’m sure I can come up with a power system that will make it run.”
    “You could?” Leader said.
    “Oh yes,” Jeremiah said. “It shouldn’t be that difficult. All we’d need is a converter to turn energy into electrical energy. We probably have most of the materials here already. Though some of your people might have to provide the power we need.”
    “We are at your disposal,” Leader said, bowing low. “Anything you need shall be yours. Just name it. I’ll get some workers to move the digger into the castle.”
    He left to make arrangements. Graham sidled up to Jeremiah.
    “Are you sure you can do this?” he said.
    “I was an engineer in the Air Force for thirty years,” Jeremiah said. “I should be able to knock something together.”
    Graham wanted to cry with relief.
    “You mean, we’re going home?” he said.
    “Yes,” Jeremiah said. “With a little elbow grease, we’re going home.”

Chapter Sixteen
     
     
    The digger had been set up in the middle of the room, with tools of every shape and size arranged around it. There was nothing quite like a new wrench set, unblemished and untouched by any hand but the one that had made it. Jeremiah picked up a 3/8” wrench and felt the weight in his hand, like a samurai holding a great sword. He’d forgotten just how good it felt. He could make out little chips in the wrench’s surface from where it had been hand-crafted.
    “Everything you requested is here,” Leader said.
    Jeremiah cast an eye over the materials.
    “Woah, hold on Chief,” Jeremiah said. “Magnets. Where are the magnets?”
    “We’re searching through the items in the museum now,” Leader said. “Please continue to build until we have them.”
    He left.
    “They’re very hospitable, aren’t they?” Graham said.
    “Can you blame them?” Jeremiah said. “With a machine to dig for them, it’ll make their work a lot easier. No more backbreaking labor.”
    “But it’s only one machine,” Graham said. “They’re digging lots of tunnels out there.”
    “We would only need one machine,” Jeremiah said. “It could do the work of a thousand men.”
    “How long do you think it’ll take to build?” Graham said.
    “Most of the machine is ready,” Jeremiah said. “We just need to build the power converter. A day. Maybe two.”
    “That long?” Graham said.
    “There’s no one who can build it faster,” Jeremiah said. “Believe me.”
    “If you weren’t so decrepit and old, I might have believed you,” Graham said.
    “You could show your only hope of getting out of here within your lifetime a little respect,” Jeremiah said.
    Graham bowed down.
    “Yes, Master,” he said, before sitting down in one of the tall-backed dining chairs.
    “Jack up the backend, will you,” Jeremiah said, shrugging off his coat.
    “Who?” Graham said. “Me?”
    “No, the Easter Bunny,” Jeremiah said. “Of course you.”
    “Jack up?” Graham said.
    “It means lift up with the use of a device called a jack,” Jeremiah said.
    “I know what it means,” Graham said. “But why am I the one who has to do it?”
    “Can you see anyone else here?” Jeremiah said.
    “I’m not your lackey,” Graham said.
    “You’re my assistant,” Jeremiah said. “Jack up the backend.”
    “What are you going to do?” Graham said.
    “I’m going to take a look at the engine and see what we’ve got here,” Jeremiah said. “That is unless you want to take a look at it?”
    Graham glanced at the engine. He clearly didn’t know the