Rebel in the Library of Ever

by Zeno Alexander

  And then the man in the green raincoat leaned down and whispered in Lenora’s ear, so softly that even Lucy could not hear, a whisper that slithered and writhed like a cobra about to strike, a voice that was not at all human: You won, little girl. But only for a moment. There are thousands of us everywhere here, and soon enough we will eat you and that giantess and everything else, and burn this Library to the ground just like we did the others.

  And then there were several popping sounds. The man and the rest of the Forces vanished.

  Lenora sagged in Lucy’s arms, her desire to fight gone. She felt only a deep weariness, like a sickness had passed through her. Lucy released her, and Lenora slumped onto the steps.

  “Lenora, what happened?” cried Lucy, sounding almost in tears. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m … sorry,” Lenora said, hardly able to muster words. “I … don’t know. It was … was like … like I wasn’t myself.”

  “Maybe we should go back and ask Daddy,” Lucy said anxiously. “You might be sick.”

  “No,” said Lenora. Her strength was coming back to her, but slowly. “We must keep on. Just—help me into the tube.”

  With one arm around Lucy for support, Lenora climbed into the tube and fell into the seat. With Lucy beside her, she inserted her key with a shaking hand and set them on their way to Philosophy.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Lenora and Flight

  Once they reached the Philosophy section, Lenora was feeling much better, and though quite worried about the episode with the man in the green raincoat, she still had a job to do. And so she did it.

  Lenora certainly felt odd giving orders to the Forces of Darkness, who were only disguised as humans, and who certainly had no desire to take any orders from her. But take her orders they did, as they brought in boxes and boxes of books that had been hidden away in some other location (Lenora was determined to find out where) and began to put the books back on the Philosophy section’s shelves.

  All the boxes were marked FOR IMMEDIATE DISPOSAL. Lenora sighed in relief as each box emptied.

  She did her best to direct the Forces to put the books in the correct location, while still sticking with the Director’s command that they be mixed in with his. While she was at it, she decided to see how far, exactly, this new cooperation would go.

  “So,” Lenora said casually to one of the Forces, this one taking on the appearance of an elderly woman (Lenora felt that she might have seen this one before, but she couldn’t remember where), who was bitterly shelving Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan next to the Director’s How to Be Almost as Good-Looking as Me. “Why are you taking orders from the Director, anyway? You and I both know you’re really just an evil monster.”

  The woman merely hissed in reply. Lenora failed to flinch, having gotten used to these hisses, and turned away, realizing that she perhaps might have been more diplomatic. But the Forces seemed unlikely to answer her queries anyway.

  Lucy trailed after Lenora as she moved down the shelves, making sure the Forces weren’t cheating by leaving any books in the boxes. “So they’re really evil monsters, huh?” she whispered to Lenora. “How can you tell?”

  “I don’t know,” Lenora said. “I just can.”

  Lucy stayed very close to Lenora after that.

  At last the work was done, and the very moment the final book went onto a shelf, all the Forces gave Lenora one last murderous look (they’d been giving them to her the entire time, which, like the hisses, had become boring rather quickly, so Lenora hardly noticed), then popped into nothing, off to wherever they went when they did that.

  “Finally,” said Lucy. “Now let’s do something fun!”

  “I have a job to do, Lucy,” said Lenora. “And I’m going to do it. But I am pretty sure that if you come along you’ll find out this job provides more fun than you can handle.”

  “Okay!” said Lucy, hopping in place, ready to go. “And we can go wherever we want now, because Daddy told those Forces to leave you alone. They won’t come after you anymore.”

  Lenora thought for a moment. “And do you still think your father knows everything, Lucy?”

  Lucy paused. “Well, he thought I was making all that stuff up about the slide rules and big numbers and stuff, so … maybe he doesn’t know everything. But he’s really smart.”

  Lenora decided to leave it at that for now. She took one last look around Philosophy, feeling deep satisfaction. She had managed to restore one section, at least. But doubt quickly crept in. She was only one librarian, and the Library overall was in terrible shape. How could she possibly save it all, when even a librarian as powerful as Malachi had been rendered almost helpless?

  She shook herself. One step at a time, Lenora, she thought. That’s the only way any big job ever gets done. And then she said to Lucy, “Let’s go.”

  Before they left, Lenora plucked one copy of Plato’s Republic off a shelf and dropped it into her pocket. If she once again ran into the woman who’d bought an island, she wanted to make sure she had a copy.

  The pair walked out of Philosophy. Lenora looked up and down the impossibly long hallway outside. She shivered a little at the eerie sight. Normally, these hallways were bustling with librarians and patrons and who knew what else. But now they were largely empty, with only a few confused-looking patrons wandering around, no doubt trying to find a librarian to help them. Lenora wondered how many real librarians were left.

  Then she spotted one. A librarian whose badge said PHILLIP went rushing past, and he had a box in his hands and tears on his cheeks. Lenora knew exactly what this meant, and she leapt to intercept him. “Wait! Don’t leave!” she cried, grasping his elbow.

  Phillip looked at her. “I have to,” he said in a broken voice. “I’ve been fired.”

  Lenora thought fast. Motioning to him to lean down, she cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered in his ear, “Go to Googology. The Forces are frightened of the large numbers. You’ll be safe there.” And then she had another, even better thought. “And find Aaliyah and Paolo and take them with you. And spread the word to every real librarian: We’ve got a rebel base.”

  Phillip straightened and looked at Lenora, eyes wide. “Lenora,” he said, “everything they’ve said about you is true. Thank you.”

  Everything they’ve said about me? thought Lenora. What did that mean?

  Phillip moved to leave, but Lenora said, “Wait!” and motioned again. He leaned down. “Do you know where I can find Zenodotus?”

  “No,” whispered Phillip. “I’ve never even met him. But I’ve heard he is always rushing around the Library in his blue robe, full of vigor and strength. It’s amazing how he could go on after the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in AD 272 by the armies of the emperor Aurelian. Or at least, that’s what I heard.” Then he turned around and ran back in the direction he’d come.

  Lenora was becoming more and more impressed by this Zenodotus. He sounded like exactly the man who could save the Library. Lenora was also becoming less and less impressed that no one seemed to really know how the Library of Alexandria had come to an end. In her notebook, she added, No one seems to know true L of A story. Find out.

  Then Lucy was tugging on her arm. “Lenora! Look!” She pointed across the hallway, where a koala wearing a green backpack was scampering by.

  Lenora got a creeping feeling as she watched the koala go. “Something is off about that koala.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Lucy as it slipped out of sight. “Is it one of the Forces?”

  Lenora shook her head. “No, but…”

  They were interrupted by a voice. “Excuse me, are you a librarian?”

  They turned. Before them was a confused-looking boy about Lenora’s age. He had black hair and olive skin and was holding a wrench in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.

  “Yes, I’m a librarian,” said Lenora. “Hello. How may I help you?”

  “At last!” said the boy, rubbing the back of his head and blushing fa
intly as he looked at Lenora. “A librarian! I have been looking everywhere for one. I need help with the contest. I’m so close!” He pointed at a sign next to an archway:

  GLIDER BUILDING CONTEST

  THIS WEEK ONLY!

  Lenora looked up to see the name of the section, which said simply: FLIGHT.

  “I really need help with my school project,” the boy said. “My glider’s all messed up. It’s really terrible. I’ve done an awful job.”

  “We’ll see about that!” said Lenora. “Lead me to your project…”

  “Haruto,” said Haruto, and off they went into Flight, Lucy tagging along eagerly.

  The section was huge, as Lenora supposed it had to be. Hanging from the ceiling were all sorts of flying machines, like hot-air balloons (Lenora shuddered), airplanes, dirigibles, autogyros, and even a rather eye-catching red kite, which seemed to be flying in circles all by itself.

  Getting to the glider contest area was difficult. The three had to clamber up several ladders and through a few trapdoors as they ascended to the heights of Flight. Lenora wondered if the Forces of Darkness simply hadn’t managed to get up here yet. At last they reached a long row of work areas, the floor of the section far below them. People were working busily at various gliders. Lenora was doubtful about a few of them, having had a bit of experience with flying. Finally the three passed by one particularly impressive project. It was a sleek, beautiful machine, which looked all the world like a finished glider as far as Lenora could tell.

  But Lenora didn’t praise this glider, as Haruto was so insecure about his own. “So where is your project, Haruto?”

  Haruto blushed even harder. “This is it,” he said.

  Lenora cocked her head. “Haruto, this is amazing. Believe me, I know terrible flying machines. I had to deal with the most awful hot-air balloon once. But if I had had this fine machine, I’m sure I could have completed my quest without danger.”

  Haruto’s blush reached dangerous proportions. “There is a problem, you see,” he said. “Sometimes when the glider is turning low to the ground, and I try to make it level, the turn only gets worse, and the tip of the wing hits the earth.”

  That sounded very familiar to Lenora, from a book called Early Aerodynamics: Problems, Solutions, and Bitter Arguments. “The Wright brothers had the same problem when they were working to build the first airplane,” she said. “Apparently, they were finally able to solve it by inventing the first moveable rudder.”

  Haruto snapped his fingers. “Of course! I’m so stupid not to have thought of that!”

  “You are not stupid,” said Lenora, but Haruto had already attacked the problem, wrenching and screwing and tightening away at the tail of his glider. The ever-curious Lucy, too, was climbing all over and under the machine, fascinated by everything. Lenora sighed and went to the cockpit to have a look at the controls. The glider, she could see, was held in place by a large brick blocking the front wheel and preventing it from moving. The whole project was terribly interesting and, to get a closer look, she climbed into the cockpit.

  She was just looking over the controls, trying to figure out what everything did, when suddenly she felt a horrible sensation.

  The glider was moving.

  At the same time, she heard Lucy ask, “What’s this for?”

  Lenora whipped around to see Lucy holding up the large brick in front of a horrified Haruto.

  “Yikes,” said Lenora.

  “Lenora!” yelled Haruto, racing for the glider.

  Lucy screeched and hurled herself at the glider’s front wheel, trying to get the brick back in place.

  But she was too late. The glider pitched right over the edge of the work area and plummeted toward the floor far below.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lenora Lands

  Lenora and the glider were plunging toward the floor of the Flight section. She was trying desperately to recall anything she knew about flying gliders, which was nothing. The floor was approaching at a rate she felt would certainly pulverize her and the glider both if she didn’t come up with something, fast.

  Then she remembered. She had never flown a glider, but she had played flight games. And to fly up, you had to pull back on the control stick, which was right in front of her. She grabbed it and pulled back as hard as she could.

  The force with which the glider suddenly shot upward shoved Lenora back into her seat twice as hard as the tubes ever had. Her relief lasted only for a moment, for the glider began to fly ever more slowly. Stalling, thought Lenora. Thinking about the games again, she pushed the stick forward, and the glider leveled out.

  Directly at a wall. Lenora yanked the stick to one side, and the glider turned, missing the wall by inches. Soon Lenora had figured out how to fly the glider in slow circles, never hitting the walls but always, always flying lower and lower. This glider had no engine and Lenora had no idea how to land, and even if she did, she didn’t think she had room to do it. Sooner or later, she was going to crash.

  People were starting to gather on all the different levels, watching her. One of them, Lenora saw, was the elderly woman who had been looking for Plato’s Republic, and as the glider went by, Lenora whipped it out of her pocket and flung it at the woman, who caught it out of the air with a “Thank you!”

  Now all these people started screaming instructions from different levels of the Flight section as she whizzed by, lower and lower. Not helpful! Lenora thought. She was trying to concentrate, and—

  She saw it. A window. A large, open window, surely meant for things to fly through. She aimed right for it. Whatever was out there had to be better than what was in here, for in here she was about a minute away from a crash landing, and whatever happened, she did not want to take the chance of hurting a patron in the crash.

  Out that window she went.

  She gasped, all thoughts of her predicament driven momentarily out of her head.

  She was hundreds, if not thousands, of feet above a massive number of huge earthen flat-topped mounds, all around for miles and miles. They all had one or more buildings on top of them, sometimes one big one, sometimes several small ones. A few of the largest mounds had even more smaller mounds on top of them, with more buildings on top of those. It was a huge, very strange city like nothing she’d ever seen before, not even the metropolis of the ants, and as she looked at a long, straight, well-kept boulevard near the largest mound of all, she began to get an idea. Perhaps, just perhaps, if she was very careful and very lucky, she could …

  And then something else entirely had her complete attention. In the far, far distance, beyond many towers, and buildings new and old, and thousands of other structures intertwined with tubes and bridges and causeways that made up the Library, was the very tallest tower of them all. And at the very top, it was burning.

  Soon enough we will eat you and that giantess and everything else, and burn this Library to the ground just like we did the others.

  The Library was burning. Or was it? Lenora had a strange unease about this fire, the same unease she felt when one of the Forces was around, but this time it was pouring over her thousands of times more strongly.

  “Pull back on the stick to fly up!” yelled a voice. Lenora whipped her head around. To her shock, she saw Haruto piloting a hang glider that was coming alongside her. Whereas he looked perfectly comfortable piloting that craft, Lucy, who was strapped in right beside him, did not, judging from her screaming and her white-knuckled death grip on Haruto’s arm as her long scarf whipped against her face and she stared wide-eyed in utter terror at the city of mounds far below.

  “And move the stick back and forth to steer,” Haruto yelled over the wind.

  “I know,” shouted Lenora, slightly annoyed. How did he think she’d managed to pilot this thing out here? “I just need help landing!”

  Lucy stopped screaming. “F-fly up h-higher and I’ll j-jump down and help Lenora,” Lucy cried out, rather bravely, Lenora thought, as she sounded like that was absol
utely the last thing in the world she wanted to do.

  “NO!” shouted Lenora and Haruto at the same time.

  Lenora continued, to Haruto, “Land on that boulevard down there and I’ll follow you in!”

  Haruto looked down at the long, straight boulevard and nodded. He turned his glider and made a wide pass over the city, descending slowly all the while, Lenora doing her best to follow. The longer this went on, the better she was getting, and she was just starting to think she might want to fly around a bit more when she realized they had passed over the entire city. Haruto made a wide turn, Lenora following. Now they were headed straight for the boulevard. As they came back over the city, Lenora saw a giant arch with a sign that said CAHOKIA. Haruto flew lower and lower, until he landed right on his feet with a few running steps. For her part, Lucy proved that platform shoes and hang gliders do not mix, as she immediately stumbled over them and fell. Lenora touched down beside them and her glider rolled to a slightly bumpy stop. Feeling disappointed that the ride was over, she walked over to the others.

  Lucy was picking herself up and dusting herself off like nothing had happened. “I’m fine! Good landing! That was fun!”

  “Really?” replied Lenora. “Do you always scream in terror when you’re having fun?”

  “I was screaming in fun,” cried Lucy, jumping up and down. “I want to go again! Can I get my own hang glider, pleeease?”

  Then Lucy and Haruto both noticed the burning tower. “Is the Library on fire?” Lucy asked anxiously, forgetting all about the glider.

  Lenora shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Look, there’s no smoke coming from the flames, and it’s not spreading. I think there’s something in there. Something bad. It feels like it has to do with the Forces of Darkness.”

  And then Lucy was screaming again, and Lenora and Haruto whirled around to find a giant monster emerging from a hole in the ground.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN