by C. A. Pack
“What?” Logan asked. “You want the money right this minute?”
“Yes. We have to put a deposit on the food as well as the cabin.”
Jackson leaned back in his chair. “Does that cover the limo too?”
“Nope. That’s separate.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Emily said sweetly. “I already convinced my father it’s the safest way to travel. I’m sure he’ll pay for it.”
“Finally,” Logan said. “Some good news.”
—LOI—
25
Marbol carried a thick tree branch with him when he returned to the Juvenilia library. He climbed through the window he had shattered earlier and slowly walked around the library with his scrambler in his waistband and the branch poised above his head, ready to strike.
Aside from the group of Terrorians lying in a lump on the main floor, he didn’t spot any other wayward visitors. He took a deep breath before climbing to the residence level, where he looked around. There wasn’t much to see. The shelves and books had all been decimated, even the ones at the entrance to Peer Meap’s apartment. However, unlike the rest of the library, nothing inside the residence appeared damaged. Marbol had only been there once before and really wanted to check it out. Why not?
Once he had satisfied his curiosity about where the curator lived, he inspected the other levels. That went pretty quickly, considering there was nothing remaining on them to look at. The only level he couldn’t reach was the cupola. He’d heard Peer Meap complain enough to know he’d have to go back to the main level and climb the cupola staircase. But, at this point, he held the wood more like a walking stick than a weapon. He relaxed once he confirmed for himself that no monsters remained hidden on the other levels.
The very first step of the cupola staircase squeaked. He smiled when he realized that he had scared himself. But as he took his next step, glass crashed behind him. Marbol froze in his tracks.
Johanna rounded the corner to the Willow Inn and saw Cameron Thorne waiting for her by the front entrance. She broke into a wide smile, and he returned her smile when he caught sight of her.
“I hope I’m not late,” Johanna said, looking at her watch.
“Not at all. You’re right on time. I’ve been studying the menu that’s posted, and I’ve worked up an appetite just reading it.” He held open the door to the restaurant for her, and they went inside. The host nodded at them and led them to a table in the corner.
“This is perfect,” Johanna said. “I hate to talk about the library when there are a lot of people around, but this is kind of secluded. I like that.”
“Are those my books?” He nodded toward the bag.
“Yes. But I don’t want to hand them to you before I explain more about them and what to expect.”
He laughed. “I feel like you’re the dean and I’m the new student.”
“Sorry, Dean Thorne, but—”
“Please call me Cameron. Everyone else does. You’ll find college etiquette fairly relaxed at Cranford.”
“Okay. Sorry if I sound like I’m going to lecture you, but what I have to tell you is really important.”
He picked up the menu. “Let’s order first, and we can talk books after lunch.”
During the meal, they got into a minor discussion about the food on the menu, followed by a major discussion of Johanna’s college goals and how she planned to get a degree while working full-time at the library.
“I hope you’re not planning to carry a full course load.”
Johanna shook her head. “I thought I’d start small with two classes. English Studies in a Digital World and Shakespeare 101.”
“That sounds doable.” He raised his eyebrows before continuing. “I’m what you might call a Shakespearian scholar, so if you have any problems, feel free to come to me for help.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I actually thought, considering I’m curator of the Library of Illumination, if I have any problems I’ll just ask Shakespeare for help.”
Cameron’s jaw dropped just a little. “You can do that?”
She smiled. “Yes, I can.”
“God, I envy you. What I wouldn’t give to be able to talk with The Bard.”
“You can. As long as you’re a patron in good standing with the Library of Illumination.”
He inhaled sharply. “Wow.”
“Welcome to my world.”
“Can I visit you there?”
“Of course. As long as the library knows you’re coming, getting there shouldn’t be too bad.”
“What does that even mean? It sounds so cryptic.”
She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “The library protects itself with a shielding charm. Finding it is never easy for people who don’t have business there. But as long as I have you entered onto the calendar as a guest and give you explicit directions, you should be fine.
“When were you thinking of visiting?” she asked.
“Tomorrow?”
“Okay. Let me write out the directions.”
The discussion pits in the Mysterian Town Hall were crowded beyond capacity. Several citizens removed tapestries used to separate seating areas so they could enter into the discussion about the death in the storage cave. “Why did it happen?” some asked. “Outside interference,” others answered. The noise level grew as more and more people pushed their way into the pits, all wanting the best placement possible. Tempers flared, and the massive gathering was on the edge of erupting into an all-out brawl.
Hue the Elder held up both arms to gather everyone’s attention. The gesture did little to reduce the cacophony. Overseer Proteus Bligh closed his eyes and hummed. The sound reverberated perfectly and soon everyone quieted down. Hue turned to the overseer and said under his breath, “You must teach me how to do that.”
The overseer smiled and merely held out his arms as if to say, you have their attention.
Hue looked over the crowd. “Honored brethren, we are here because of a tragic incident at one of the caves in which a number of people were killed.”
Everyone around him spoke at once, each trying to be heard over his neighbor. After several wasted minutes of shouting, Proteus Bligh hummed once more, which resulted in the desired effect—silence.
PB:♆ Be it known that the deaths would not have taken place if the victims were not trying to illegally enter the caves with a weapon that should not have been in their possession.
The crowd wanted no part of the explanation. This was their realm, their goods and resources, and their caves. They didn’t need anyone telling them what was legal or not.
Proteus Bligh knew another hum would probably fail. Instead, he made a half-circle with one hand while reciting a short chant and was met with complete silence. Mouths still moved; fists were raised in the air. However, no one’s voice could be heard. As the citizens of Mysteriose realized what had happened, they stopped flapping their jaws.
PB:♆ That’s better. As I said, the victims discharged a weapon they had taken possession of illegally, and they brought about their own demise. The gates had been in place less than a day before someone tried to breach them. I can see you’re angry, as you should be, but your anger is misplaced. I would like to know why you aren’t focusing your irritation on those who tried to steal from you? Those men, the victims, were trying to get past the gates so they could remove resources that did not belong to them. You each would have suffered a loss of goods to someone else’s unearned benefit. Is that what you want?
Hue the Elder nodded in agreement. “If we had not been so busy yesterday responding to the cave fiasco, we would have been meeting here to inform you that the gates are enchanted. The meeting had already been scheduled; the spell was put into place to protect our assets.”
PB:♆ The lives of the victims were forfeited because of their own greed. It is not something we wish had happened. It is merely what has occurred.
“We all know Pagaron’s history,” Hue continued. “This was not
his first transgression. It is tragic that he paid for an act of theft with his life, but he had several opportunities to reform and chose not to. He preferred to get out of trouble with a glib tongue and an empty promise. Unfortunately, he did not get that opportunity yesterday.”
PB:♆ Operations at the caves are now re-opened. If you choose, you may remove all your personal assets and keep them at your homes. I believe that would be ill-advised. They are better protected in the cave. However, they can be removed during daylight hours as long as you have the proper notes for the resources you wish to withdraw. That is your choice.
“We are finished here,” Hue concluded. “Pagaron’s death and those of the others are appalling, however, the blame rests with him and his followers and no one else.”
The overseer and the curator walked out of Town Hall together. The noise level suddenly returned. The crowd, relieved to have their voices back, spoke among themselves, but the fevered pitch of their earlier conversations did not return.
A single beam of light widened in front of Nero 51 and settled into the form of Odyon.
Nero 51 merely nodded. “Shapeshifter.”
Odyon raised a single eyebrow. This was not the reception he expected. He shrugged it off. “Are you ready for your next lesson?”
The curator finished signing the dispatches in front of him before answering. “What new feat will you teach me today?”
“First,” the shapeshifter said, “you must perfect the hum.”
Nero 51 hummed perfectly as he stood. He towered over Odyon.
The shapeshifter felt the intimidation in the curator’s stance.
Nero 51 glowered at Odyon. “I believed I used the word, ‘new.’”
“Of course. Yesterday, while you worked on using tonal vibration to clear your mind, I studied the time machine and the adjustments I made to it to escape the confines of the library. We did not have to travel through the portals to do that, but we might have to use the portals to go elsewhere. I thought, at first, we’d be able to travel through time at will, but then I realized the distances between the realms might create problems. So, today, I would like to try a different experiment. Like before, I want you to think of a time and a place that I will give you. Before the trip is completed, I will ask you to change both those elements. If I’m right in my calculations, we can bypass the portals entirely. If not, we’ll have to adapt on the fly, so to speak.”
“Why can’t you give me the correct time and location to start?”
“Because the time machine will automatically want to start the journey by passing through the portals. That is how it’s designed. However, if we gain acceleration before changing gears, the machine may be traveling too quickly through time to readjust for location and should bypass the portals entirely. That is what we want to happen. It is an untested theory, so we will have to make adjustments as we go along.”
“I had the time machine moved in case of an impromptu visit from the Luminans. It is in a warehouse not too far from here. If you’re ready, we can depart.”
Odyon gave Nero 51 a mock bow. “Lead the way, your lordship.”
Jackson watched the overgrowth on the side of the road whiz by. “Where were you this morning?” he asked Logan. “I tried calling you.”
Logan changed lanes before answering. “I would like to point out that you sound just like my mother.”
“I just wanted to find out what time you were picking me up.”
“Now you know.”
“What’s eating you?”
“I can’t believe how much this prom is costing us.”
“C’mon,” Jackson replied. “It sounds like fun. And, what do you care? Your family’s loaded.”
“My father has informed me that since he will be paying for college in the fall, he’s putting me on a budget. And why aren’t you complaining? You never have any money.”
“I got a raise at the library, so I’m good. What I want to know is, how are you going to survive on a budget?”
“I may have to actually go out and get a job.”
“You mean like slinging burgers at Big Buns?”
“I will never sling burgers, even though I could probably eat all the burgers I want for free. I was thinking more along the lines of selling men’s clothing at the Gainesford mall.”
“Like suits and stuff?”
“More like jeans and motorcycle boots.”
“Yeah. I guess you could do that.”
“Unless you guys need help at the library?”
Jackson’s eyes widened. “I’m not saying we do, but that’s a possibility worth exploring. I’ll have to ask Johanna. And, you’d really have to be serious about it. She’ll tolerate nothing less.”
“It’s not like I need full-time or anything. I already signed up for a summer internship, so I’ll be doing that a few days a week.”
“Doesn’t that cost extra money you say you don’t have?”
“If it’s ‘educational,’ the family sperm donor will pay for it. If I work full-time, the pater will just make me save it for the fall. If I lie and say my internship is full-time and work on the other days, I’ll be able to have my cake and eat it too.”
“That didn’t work out so well for Marie Antoinette.”
“I’m not some spoiled French queen; I am an Elliott.”
“A spoiled American brat.”
“I prefer playboy.”
“So, what kind of internship is it?”
Logan’s face lit up. “It’s pure white light. I’m interning as a reporter at the university’s nightly news program. It’s carried on the local cable channel, so you’ll be able to watch my reports.”
“Watch you make a fool out of yourself, you mean.”
“They won’t let that happen. The reputation of Graydon Ransom University News Tonight is on the line.”
“That’s a mouthful.”
“They call it GRUNT for short.”
Jackson snorted. “I knew you’d just be doing grunt work.”
“Not true, my little naysayer. They teach interns what to do and how to do it. They’ll help us write our stories and put them on the air and online. I’m slated for stardom.”
“You’re slated for something. I’m just not sure what. And, don’t expect Johanna to go easy on you at the library.”
“No wonder you dumped her.”
Jackson’s face reddened. “I didn’t dump her. I was trying to motivate her, and she took it the wrong way.”
“So, what are you saying? You’re stringing Emily along? Because, according to Cassie, Em’s ‘in deep’ for you. If you hurt her, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“When did this conversation nosedive from you wanting a job at the library to my choice in women?”
“Sixty seconds ago. You have to keep me in the loop as far as Emily is concerned so I can lay the groundwork in case you decide to go back to Johanna. If Cassie thinks she got blindsided, she’ll go into DEFCON 1. That won’t be pretty.”
“If Johanna would even take me back….”
“Of course she’ll take you back. It was your idea to expand your horizons. And, from what you’ve said, she’s not exactly throwing herself at any other men. Does she even see other men?”
Jackson shrugged. “She sees Chris.”
Logan shook his head. “That would be a real kick in the butt, wouldn’t it? If the former love of your life took up with your little brother.”
Jackson’s face turned red, but his voice remained eerily calm. “For the sake of everyone around, that better never happen.”
Uniformed militairres fanned out across the Romantican capital seeking donations of plants, labor, and money to offset the cost of restoring the library gardens. There were so many enlisted women reaching out to family, friends, and neighbors, it seemed like the entire populace of Roma elected to take part in the reconstruction. The militairres remained persistent, and by late afternoon, many of them were able to stop soliciting donations and start digg
ing up flowerbeds for the plants that had been readily donated. The co-captains placed monetary donations in a large urn on top of a previously soot-covered bench that had been cleaned by several volunteers earlier in the day. As the day progressed, carts of evenly cut stones to line the pathways began arriving, and the badly charred lawn was soon hidden under piles of masonry supplies.
Pru Tellerence accompanied Furst back to Dramatica, now that his assistance in training militairres was no longer needed. He was glad to be back on his own realm. The Terrorians had done massive damage to the Dramatican library, but it remained in far better shape than its Romantican counterpart.
Pru Tellerence thanked him for his assistance on Romantica and departed for Lumina. Furst eagerly wandered about his library, just to make sure what little was left remained intact. Afterward, he crossed over to the town square to catch up with his friends and kin. “Has changed since I left, not much, I see.”
“Change, there has been. The murder, you weren’t here for. Lenc.”
Furst felt his jaw drop. “Dead, Lenc is? Him, who killed?”
Instead of answering Furst, everyone turned and stared at Ozzro.
Furst’s curls tightened as he turned toward Ozzro. His voice thundered. “Lenc, you murdered?”
Ozzro’s eyes opened as wide as his mouth. “No. It, Dungen did!”
Furst couldn’t believe his ears. “Dungen?”
Ozzro nodded. “His arrest, Pondor ordered.”
Furst’s curls loosened. “A sad day, it is. At once, I must see Pondor. Offer solace, I will. Happened, has anything else?”
There was a moment of silence until Berra filled the void. “Enough, isn’t murder?”
—LOI—
26
Unaware of the solar flare crisis, Mal and Artemus Rexana arrived on Adventura to speak with the curator about refusing their offer of living cell tissue from Luminan luminaries. They found him in a lab, babbling oddly to the people working with him. “Specimen 42 goes to the Uven unit. No. It goes to the Vern unit.”
