Trailblazer: Adventure by Association The Everternia Saga Read online

  Success! She just had to do the same thing two more times.

  The next jump went a little better than the first.

  The final jump started out well, then quickly went wrong. Somehow, she landed too far forward, putting her too far away from the center of the table. She fell forward, onto her knees, catching herself on the edge and pushing back quickly.

  Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall.

  The table tipped, and the surface beneath her slammed to the floor, tossing her off. She sprawled across the dirty floor.

  Scrambling to her feet, she raced to the machine at the center of the factory. She jumped up on it—not because it would keep the clickers from coming, because she could hear them already. But if she was lucky, they might not be able to reach her if she stayed off the floor.

  She could still do this. She just needed to be quicker and smarter than the mechies.

  Nan had said, “In a place protected by legs, you’ll find shadows and dust. If you look beyond the gloom, you’ll find the heart. This will make the heart beat again.”

  She knew exactly what she needed to do.

  Carefully, she made her way to the center of the machine, which wasn’t easy, because it wasn’t meant to be walked on. She had to find handholds and toegrips that had never been designed as such. But she got there.

  She took off her backpack and put it down, opening it to pull out the device she’d taken from here on a day that felt so long ago.

  She inserted the cotter pin key and the device—the heart—lit. Carefully positioning her feet, she braced her thighs against the machine and leaned her body into the very center of the it.

  Holding her breath, she slid the gadget into the wide-open slot she remembered from her first visit here. She gave the heart a firm push.

  It clicked into place.

  The sound of the clickers grew loud, and she looked over her shoulder to see them swarming in, nearly obscuring the entire floor.

  She hoped Rex was okay.

  She felt a heaving churn that restarted the machine, kicking it into gear, and it whirred to life. The sound it made grew louder and higher until it generated enough energy to throw the lights on and bring the other machines alive. The factory hummed with unending possibility.

  Still standing at the center of it all, she wrapped her arms around the long pipe, feeling it coming alive and shivering with energy.

  She knew how it felt. She felt the same. A feeling of power filled her. This factory belonged to her now.

  The heart was beating.

  The clickers paused. She looked to them. “Go hibernate.”

  Immediately, they shuffled off, disappearing through small cracks and openings, returning to their place in the subbasement to wait for her call.

  When the cascade of tiny mechies ended, and the last had disappeared, Rex staggered in, looking rough but in no immediate danger.

  He saw her, in the center of it all, and stared. “What did you do?”

  She smiled. “I pushed the right button. That’s all.”

  He grinned. “I think you’re lying. But it’s cool.”

  She laughed and walked toward him. The experience bonus hit him and he froze, then began shouting in celebration. Whatever he’d gotten must have been wonderfully good.

  “You shouldn’t have let me have it all,” he said after a wild victory dance. “Not that I’m sad about it.”

  She didn’t care about the experience. She had the factory and all its future wonders. Nothing could compare to that.

  It was hers, this place. She’d do something wonderful with it. Having a store and helping people was nice, but the endless possibilities in front of her made her heart soar and opened up her mind to new possibilities.

  This wasn’t what others thought she was. This was what she really was.

  She was alive and ready for what came next.

  12

  “It’s incredible, Sal. Really.” Darthrok stood in the center of her factory, taking it all in.

  “But?” Sally knew him. He was thinking something.

  “But…well…it sure is dirty.” He looked like he regretted saying so.

  “Very dirty,” Sally agreed. “But I have good friends to help clean.”

  Essley laughed when Darthrok’s jaw dropped.

  “What?” he asked. “You want me to push a broom? I’m a little more skilled than that. You could hire anyone to clean.”

  “Don’t want just anyone here,” Sally said. “Keeping it quiet.”

  “What about that thug Rex?” Essley asked. “Will he keep the secret?”

  Sally bit her bottom lip, thinking. She had no real way to know what Rex would do. She just didn’t know him well enough yet. “I hope so. If not…I’ll kick him in the gasket.”

  Darthrok laughed along with Essley this time.

  “Once we get it clean, then what?” Essley asked. “How do we get the factory actually working again, now that it’s all powered up?”

  Sally had spent the past two days examining the place from top to bottom, and she knew she didn’t have the necessary knowledge to get the factory going again on her own. Bringing it back to life had only been the first step.

  “I’ll bring Sujan here,” she said. “He’ll know.”

  Her friends stared at her.

  “Sally,” Essley said hesitantly. “He’s not like you. He can’t leave his store.”

  Sally had already thought a great deal about what she’d do if she managed to wake the factory up. Her journey had started with her own awakening, and she’d completed a quest here that no regular adventurers had managed. That had to mean she could do more. What else in Everternia could she bring to life?

  She had some ideas.

  “Not yet,” Sally said. “But he will. I’ll figure out how.”

  She’d learned a lot since she’d woken up. She learned more every day. Sujan and the factory were puzzles she could solve, if she kept working hard. And she would, because it was what she wanted. She wasn’t someone who just did what was expected of her. Not anymore. She’d keep learning and adventuring and growing.

  She was Sally Strong, and she was going to change the world, whether it was ready for her or not.

  Message from the author

  Thank you for reading! Sally is a very special character, and I’m glad to be able to share her with you. With everything going on in the world, I really needed to write something that was bright, shiny, and hopeful.

  Reviews are critical to my being able to keep bringing you new books, so if you enjoyed this story and can spare a minute or two to leave a review on Amazon, I’d be grateful.

  Please sign up for my newsletter to receive updates on new releases.

  If you’re ready for more adventures with Sally, things really heat up in Innovator. Click or tap here to get started!

  I hope to hear from you!

  In gratitude,

  Zen DiPietro

  About the Author

  Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, dreamer, and writer. Perhaps most importantly, a Browncoat Trekkie Whovian. Also red-haired, left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. A recovering gamer, but we won’t talk about that. Particular loves include badass heroines, British accents, and the smell of Band-Aids.

  www.ZenDiPietro.com

  Other Works by Zen DiPietro

  Dodging Fate series

  Dodging Fate

  Dodging Fate 2: Extra Fateful, Uber Dodgy

  Hello Protocol for Dead Girls: A Virtual Awakening

  The Dragonfire Station series

  Dragonfire Station Universe

  Original Series (complete)

  Dragonfire Station Book 1: Translucid

  Dragonfire Station Book 2: Fragments

  Dragonfire Station Book 3: Coalescence

  Intersections (Dragonfire Station Short Stories)

  Mercenary Warfare series (complete)

  Selling Out

  Blood Money
/>   Hell to Pay

  Calculated Risk

  Going for Broke

  Chains of Command series (complete)

  New Blood

  Blood and Bone

  Cut to the Bone

  Out for Blood

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