by C. A. Pack
Natalia nodded but said nothing.
“Finish your breakfast and we’ll meet you at the field. Now that we have co-captains for our platoons, we need to discuss their responsibilities and divide the ranks. There are some pairings we’ll need to be leery of, so a little pre-discussion on our part will go a long, long way.”
Felicia smirked. “You mean like pairing Della with Leisha? I can see how that might turn into a bigger battle than any Terrorian invasion.”
Milencia shuddered. “Della would never take orders from Leisha. Or from Patra, for that matter.”
“Which is why we cannot allow Natalia to moon over what’s happened to the library. It was a devastating event, but life goes on and we have work to do.”
“Dame Erato,” the sisters said in unison as they stood to leave.
“Natalia will meet you at the field, even if I have to hypnotize her to get her there.”
Marbol awakened to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He had fallen asleep sitting at his workbench, putting together another sonic scrambler. It was nearly done. He just needed to attach the outer casing. The call of the weapon was stronger than the knock on the door. Whoever wanted him would inevitably return. Right now, he wanted to test his new gadget.
He took a piece of glass he’d collected the previous night and inserted it into a groove he’d cut into a block of wood. He stood it on the workbench and stepped back. Taking aim, he pulled the scrambler trigger. Five seconds passed, then a minute, then several minutes. All that time, he’d stood there with his finger pressed tightly against the trigger. The piece of glass still remained unscathed in the stand he had made. Something is wrong, he thought as he released his hold on the trigger. He grabbed the pad he’d used to note his research and started recalculating each step. When his numbers proved right, he went back to the source of his research and re-read it. Somewhere in the chain of information he relied on to create his new scrambler, there existed a weak link, a mistake, and he needed to find it and correct it.
Hours passed and he stopped only when his stomach grumbled with hunger. It didn’t help that someone was again pounding on his door. He reluctantly pulled it open and found Selly standing there holding a steaming bowl of corn pudding.
“I brought you something to eat. Guffle said you were on a mission, and that usually means you stop eating and sleeping until you’re done.”
“I slept,” he said, grabbing the bowl of pudding and heading toward the kitchen for a spoon. He left the door open. If Selly wanted to follow him inside, it was her choice.
She looked around the room. “What are you working on?”
“Another sonic scrambler.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Another what?”
“A sonic scrambler to intensify sound waves at a high frequency pitch that will break glass.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“To get into the library. That’s where the monsters came from. But every time we try to get inside, there’s something stopping us. We can’t even get in through the window we already broke.”
“So what good would breaking more windows do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe if we break it at a different frequency, we’ll be able to get inside. It’s worth a try.”
“If you can get in, won’t that mean that monsters can get out?”
“Yeah,” he answered, scraping the now-empty bowl clean with his spoon.
Selly took the bowl from him. “Stupidest idea ever.”
His face fell. He really liked Selly and didn’t want her to think he was stupid. But he had to try. If she doesn’t believe in me, that’s her loss.
Nero 51 impatiently awaited the reappearance of Odyon. At first he’d assumed the shapeshifter was somewhere in Ter 0, the capital city. But when Odyon didn’t reappear after a few hours, the curator began to wonder if the shapeshifter had deserted the time machine for some other location. The thought made Nero 51’s bile rise. How dare he promise to teach me to transmute and then shirk his responsibility. But even without the shapeshifter, the curator practiced recreating the hum that had taken over his body, and after a few hours, managed to do it at will, without having to exert himself running up and down library stairs.
BOOM!
The sound made by the bombardment of energy from a Terrorian weapon on the gate in the Mysterian cave sounded like a sonic boom and literally shook the earth, releasing clouds of dirt and debris upon the small contingent of men trying to open it. When the dust settled and they could see again, they were surprised to find the gates unaltered.
“Well, that was a fine little experiment,” one of Pagaron’s companions complained. “I’m pretty sure everyone in the village heard it and will be flocking here to see what’s going on.”
Pagaron took the weapon from Nycose and examined it. “And they’ll be overjoyed to see we have put the overseers in their place and have rightfully reclaimed what is ours.” He placed the weapon on his shoulder, mimicking what Nycose had done, and aimed at the rock wall framing the gate. He drew in a deep breath and pulled the trigger. Once again, a sonic boom shook the ground and large chunks of debris fell. Pagaron was knocked to the ground. A boulder crushed one priest’s skull. Another trapped Nycose’s legs beneath it.
“Pagaron, I’m hurt. I can’t move my legs. Help me,” Nycose begged.
Pagaron rose, ignoring Nycose’s plea. He walked over to where he had blasted the wall. The rock was gone but was now replaced with a type of crystal he had never seen before. He banged against it with the edge of the weapon. It was solid.
He changed position and aimed at the opposite wall
BOOM!
More debris fell. A razor sharp shard sliced Pagaron’s ear off. He dropped the weapon and wrapped his arms around his head, trying to dull the pain and protect himself. Blood crawled across the sleeve of his garment and pooled on the floor under his head. He soon lost consciousness.
—LOI—
23
Morning sunshine flooded in through the “halo” windows of the Fantasian library. Ava climbed to the cupola with an almond croissant and a cup of coffee. “Hi. I thought I’d bring you some breakfast.”
Johanna reached for the coffee. “I was hoping you came to relieve me. I have some business to take care of today.”
“I can relieve you, but I have to run down and grab something to eat first.”
Johanna offered to return the pastry. “Do you want this?”
“No. I know that’s your favorite. Besides, I need a chocolate fix—hot cocoa and a chocolate donut. I’ll be right back.” True to her word, Ava returned less than fifteen minutes later, ready to guard the portals.
Marbol’s eyes focused on the piece of glass he had tried to scramble. Why didn’t that work? He walked over to it and tried to remove it from the frame he had built. He felt his fingers touch. It was as if the glass wasn’t there, but he could plainly see it. Yet when he reached for it again, his hand passed through it, as if it was merely a hologram and not something solid. As if the molecules were scrambled.
He backed away from the workbench until he hit the wall and slid to the ground, his mind racing. For all intents and purposes, his scrambler worked, but the glass appeared to be untouched. That didn’t matter to him. What mattered was that he might have found a way into the Library of Illumination. He didn’t know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing, or if hallucinations from lack of sleep were causing him to think the glass was no longer solid. There was only one way to find out.
He packed up his new sonic scrambler and headed to the library. This is a one-man job, he told himself, even though he could feel his palms sweating. He didn’t need the others laughing at him if his plan failed. And, he didn’t need them blaming him if the monsters got out and hurt someone.
At the library, he stood a short distance from the windows on a side wall. He took aim with his scrambler and held down the trigger for a full five measures. He didn’t know how long it would take f
or the glass to disassemble, and he couldn’t tell by merely looking at it.
Finally, he tucked the scrambler into his waistband and went around back to grab some of the boxes he had stood on the last time he fired his scrambler into the library. He piled them up and climbed to the top to look inside the library. Some of the interior walls were missing. He could tell where they had been because of the pattern they’d left on the floor. His eyes came to rest on a withered tentacle sticking out from behind one of the few remaining bookcases. He stared at it for several minutes but saw no movement.
He took a deep breath. He hadn’t touched the windowpane, afraid it might still be there. Barking interrupted his thoughts. Several dogs, running in a pack, shot out from around the corner of the library and crashed into the box tower he stood on. He lost his balance and swung his arms in wide circles, trying to regain it, but it was too late. He fell forward, right into what had once been the executive boardroom of the Library of Illumination.
Natalia prepared to dress for field duty with the militairres. Unfortunately, when she reached for her uniform, she found it singed and stained. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she ran to splash cold water on her face to prevent herself from slipping into despair. She put on her dress whites instead and told Dame Erato she needn’t accompany her to the field. I can do this on my own.
Groups of militairres were already practicing their specialties by the time Natalia arrived. She met with the Jolen sisters and the co-captains under the tent. She was the only person wearing a dress uniform. The others’ uniforms smelled of smoke but were not burned. Natalia looked down at her own. “I had no choice.”
“It’s no wonder. You were in the front of the line,” Felicia said. “I’m surprised your hair and eyebrows didn’t burn off.”
Natalia involuntarily reached for her forehead and felt her brow. “I guess I should be thankful for that.”
“And for the support of the community. And good friends. And Dame Erato’s brichi.” Milencia ticked off the list on her fingers.
Natalia sighed. “Of course you’re right. I’ll get over it soon enough.”
“I hope so,” Arraba said, “because we have a lot of planning to do.” They spent the next few hours going over their training plans and breaking up each platoon into two groups.
Felicia’s stomach growled noticeably. “Can we take a break soon?”
“Of course,” Natalia answered. “I didn’t realize how long we’ve been at it.”
“I think we should tell the militairres to take a meal break and meet us back here afterwards to learn their platoon assignments. Once that’s done, we should leave this afternoon’s training in the capable hands of our co-captains while the four of us go to the library and start planning the restoration of the gardens and the fountains. It has to be done, and it will give you back a feeling of control.”
Natalia smiled at her friend. “I agree.” She turned to the co-captains. “Ladies, please inform the militairres.”
Mal’s trip back to Lumina was a quick one. He couldn’t believe the Adventurans rejected the offer to add to their gene pool. “That didn’t go well.”
AR:∑ Yet it should have, logically speaking. It is in their best interest.
“I sense they are a proud species.”
AR:∑ That is a reasonable conclusion, considering they managed to survive near extinction totally on their own.
“I can’t help but think they may be making a mistake.”
AR:∑ It is their mistake to make. Do you have an alternative plan?
“Not at the moment, but I will continue to think about it.”
AR:∑ As will I.
Hue the Elder and Proteus Bligh were awakened by the blast caused by Pagaron and his friends at the Mysterian cave. The overseer hurried toward the cave.
Hue kept pace one step behind him. “I hope no one was hurt.”
PB:♆ It was a powerful blast. It would be naive to think there were no casualties.
“I should have known something like this could happen. Mysterians are fiercely independent and do not like outside interference. They probably tried to bomb the gates.”
PB:♆ That would be regrettable. The gates are designed to return force. If someone tried to damage them, they would repair themselves while retaliating with equal force.
Hue stopped suddenly and grabbed the overseer’s arm. “I was not told that.”
PB:♆ It had not occurred to me that someone would try to bomb the gates so soon. I’d planned to discuss that feature today at Town Hall so everyone would be aware of the precautions that had been set into place.
They encountered a crowd already gathering around the mouth of the cave. Some men busied themselves, removing the pile of rubble that blocked their entrance. There was too much.
They had to wait for the assistance of a mammoth beast to move the largest boulder. When it finally arrived, they tied ropes around the biggest stone blocking the entrance and attached them to the harness of the animal. Even with its help, the boulder only moved an inch.
Proteus Bligh closed his eyes and communed with the other overseers. The rock started to move more freely. In a short time, the entrance to the cave was cleared.
Inside, they found the bodies of Pagaron’s two associates, who had been killed by the wreckage. Paragon was unconscious but not dead. Nycose was nowhere to be found, but the weapon he had taken remained. The gate stood intact, although the walls surrounding it had changed.
A Mysterian high priest managed to rouse Pagaron. He moaned as he tried to move, but otherwise, remained dazed. “What happened here?” the priest asked.
“Nycose…” Pagaron whispered.
“Nycose isn’t here. We found only you, Geera, and Zologg.”
“He is gone.” Pagaron coughed.
The priest looked at the crowd. “Quickly. I need water.” Someone handed him a flask, and the priest held it to Pagaron’s lips. “What do you mean, ‘he is gone’?”
Pagaron took a breath. “He used…Terrorian weapon…on walls surrounding gate…. Instead of removing walls…it removed Nycose.” The effort to speak was too much for him. He passed out.
“There’s a dray outside,” one of the men in the crowd said. “We should use it to take Pagaron home. His mother is a powerful priestess. She will help him.”
Hue the Elder picked up the Terrorian weapon. “Nycose should not have had this.”
“Don’t blame Nycose,” one of the men shouted. “This,” he moved his arm in a wide arc, “should never have happened.”
PB:♆ He brought it upon himself. If he wanted to withdraw some iridium, he should have handed in the currency he was given for his share. Trying to blast his way into the cave proves he was up to no good.
“No. It is you who is no good,” a man shouted. He picked up a rock and hurled it at Proteus Bligh. The overseer disappeared.
“Where is he?” someone else asked. “Where did he go?”
“I don’t know,” Hue replied. “Maybe the force that took Nycose took the overseer as well.” The curator didn’t believe his own words, but he knew how the crowd would react. They began backing up. If Nycose went missing, followed by the overseer, maybe the cave wasn’t the safest place to be. It didn’t take long after that for the group to disperse.
Ava turned when she heard the curator stairs squeak and groan. She smiled when she saw Jackson. She’d started guard duty right after breakfast, and lunch was way past due. “Thank God.”
Her older brother reached for the decimator. “Have you been here all night?”
“No. Just since breakfast. But I’m kind of hungry and Johanna isn’t here.” She paused for a moment. “How was your date?” She emphasized the last word of her question.
“We ate at Mama Marcella’s Trattoria in Lowell. It was good. Where did Johanna go?”
“Are you seeing her again?”
“Johanna? Yes. I see her every day.”
“Stop. You know what I mean. Are you going to
date Emily Brent again?”
“I don’t know. I might.”
Ava sighed. “I think you’re making a mistake.”
“It’s my mistake to make. I thought you were hungry?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. She had prayed Jackson’s date would be awful. Apparently it wasn’t.
Ava trudged down the stairs, making more noise than Jackson had climbing them. This is not going right. He belongs with Johanna. But as far as she could tell, neither he nor Johanna was open to listening to reason.
Johanna waited in the reception area of the administrative offices of Cranford University. An approved Library of Illumination borrower had recommended his former protégé and successor as someone who could be trusted to use the library’s resources and not reveal the properties of the books. Johanna wanted to meet the man in person before lending him any materials.
She heard door hinges squeal as a handsome young man walked out to greet her. She didn’t mean to give him the once-over and blushed when she realized he was staring at her.
“Johanna Charette?” he asked.
“Yes.” She stood. “Are you here to take me to Professor Thorne?”
The Adonis standing before stuck out his hand. “I’m Cameron Thorne.”
She became momentarily lost in the warmth of his smile and the sparkle in his eyes. “You’re Doctor Murchison’s successor?”
“I am. Were you expecting someone older?”
“Yes.”
