Book 2: Chapter 1

Dana stood beneath the ancient telescope, squinting up at a series of gears. It was like staring into the fathomless depths of the ocean, each spindle holding a gear vanishing up into the darkness of the mechanism that positioned the telescope. If she hadn’t spent the last few months rebuilding the system from scratch with her own tweaks, she would have no idea what she was looking at.

“Well?” she asked, then looked at the goblin standing next to her.

“Hmm.” Tink wore a pair of magical goggles that enabled her to see how things worked and what was wrong with them. The magical lenses clicked back and forth over the primary apertures as she scrutinized the array. “Tink see. Gear right, debris wrong.”

Tink handed Dana a screwdriver and then pointed. Dana got on her ladder and climbed to the top, then looked down at Tink.

“Dead girl go higher,” Tink informed her. “Two feet from outside, lost screw.”

“You heard the girl.” Dana tapped her foot on the ladder,