by C. A. Pack
Mal laughed. “I believe I previously mentioned that if you step off the transport disk, it stops. I think you’re just looking for an excuse to kiss Johanna.”
“Don’t laugh,” Jackson said, joking. “You’ll get arrested.”
Johanna dismissed their levity and picked up the thread of their conversation. “So what’s the Toro Zone like?”
“Let’s just say you’d rather watch Jackson fight a bull than be assigned to the Toro Zone.”
“Jackson would be mauled if he ever tried to fight a bull.”
“No,” Jackson said, defending his prowess.
“Yes,” Johanna responded, “and if you ever tried it, I wouldn’t watch.”
“That being said,” Mal continued, “you would rather watch someone get mangled by a bull than watch Luminans wither to death in the Toro Zone.”
The color drained from her face. “How could such a beautiful place have such an ugly … zone?”
“Lumina is not just Lumi, its pretty capital city,” Mal replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s an entire world. It’s Ranbi, and Hypo, and Meccan, and Fridi, and dozens of other rock outcrops. And as beautiful as Lumi may be, it is in direct contrast to how awful the Toro Zone is.”
“Not keeping secrets now, are we, Mr. Trees?”
The three of them looked up, startled by the unexpected interruption. A tall man who would be gaunt except for his very round face and the protrusion of a very noticeable potbelly stood right next to them.
“Governor Tare,” Mal said cordially. “I wouldn’t think of keeping secrets here in Lumi, knowing how the city council frowns on it. To explain, let me introduce Johanna Charette and Jackson Roth. They are the curators of the Library of Illumination on Fantasia, and tomorrow is their Curator Orientation and Longevicus Ritual. I’m just instructing them on the history of all the realms. We tried to be as quiet as possible so our lesson wouldn’t disturb any of your citizens.”
“Carry on, then. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for these two fine curators having a difficult time during their orientation.” He smiled widely and circled his right forefinger in the air in approval.
“Close one, Mal,” Jackson whispered after the governor left.
“You have no idea,” Mal replied gravely.
LOI
CHAPTER 16
“I’d like you both to study the pamphlets I gave you, that way if you have any questions, you can ask me about them later when we get together for dinner,” Mal said.
“Okay.” Jackson grinned. “Johanna and I can study together.”
“No. It would be highly inappropriate for you to be seen in each other’s rooms without a chaperone. And illegal.”
“Land of No,” Jackson mumbled.
“This is not the time to defy authority. Just accept it during your relatively short stay here.”
Johanna disappeared inside her chamber, and Mal escorted Jackson back to his room.
It irked Jackson that they had to be so careful about everything they said and did. “Mal, are we like prisoners here?”
Mal’s face remained noncommittal. “Let’s just say if you abide by Lumi’s somewhat irrational regulations, you’ll avoid becoming a prisoner here.”
*
Johanna reread the Illumini Primo Mal had given her—several times—hoping to commit all facts about the realms to memory. She wished she and Jackson could study together, because she knew he would come up with mnemonic devices to help them remember everything. He was probably doing that right now, alone in his room.
Some connections were easy to make, like Pi being the curator of Numericon. Others were a little more random. How am I going to remember that Zenith Fullova is the dean of Juvenilia? She started reading the pamphlet a fourth time, testing herself as she read, but found it hard to concentrate because she kept thinking about Jackson. Maybe she could call him. She looked around for a telephone but didn’t see anything that remotely resembled one. “Telephone?” she said aloud, hoping a little door would slide open somewhere, but no such luck.
As it turned out, it didn’t matter. “Johanna Charette, Malcolm Trees and Jackson Roth are outside your door requesting your company.”
“Open the door,” she replied as she grabbed her bag and slipped the booklet inside.
“Dinnertime,” Jackson sang as the door slid open. His face widened into a grin as he kissed Johanna hello. He suddenly jerked away and looked at Mal. “Am I allowed to do that?”
“I’m your chaperone, and I’m not filing a complaint. But I would keep displays of affection to a minimum.”
“I can’t wait until we get home. This place is starting to give me the creeps.”
Johanna nodded and looked at Mal. “What happens when two people fall in love here?”
“They don’t. All marriages in Lumi are arranged.”
“Is it that falling is love is frowned upon, or are the Luminans incapable of feeling love?”
“Let’s focus on Lumi. The people in the capital city—the Lumites—have worked for millennia to subdue their emotional and carnal instincts.
“There are people who fall in love on some of the other rock outcrops,” he continued, “but not here in the capital city.”
“What if two young people here did fall in love? Could they run away to another rock outcrop?”
“They could.” Mal paused. “But they would never be able to return to Lumi. Leaving the city without the approval of the city council would be tantamount to breaking the law. And then there’s the problem of transportation. There is no mass transportation to other rock outcrops. To travel between cities, all Luminans must go through a lengthy process to secure preapproved travel orders, which they then use to arrange for transportation.” He lowered his voice. “And as you have already noted, traveling to other rock outcrops by sea can be extremely dangerous.”
“There’s no place like home,” Johanna murmured.
“You got that right,” Jackson agreed.
Their transport disk stopped inside a building bathed in orange light.
“Juice bar?” Jackson asked.
“This is one of the most popular restaurants in Lumi. The color orange stimulates the appetite and aids digestion, and its bright hue apparently hasn’t hurt business here at all,” Mal replied.
A host led them to a table in the center of the room. Jackson squirmed. He looked around at the other diners, and they all seemed to be looking back at him. “I feel like we’re the main attraction. I wish they had seated us in a corner.”
“The corner tables and those along the walls are considered less desirable. The closer a table is to the center of the room, the more important are the people who are seated there.”
“But we’re in the center of the room.”
“I’m a candidate for overseer. You are visiting curators. That makes us very important people.”
Johanna pulled the booklet Mal had given her out of her bag and looked at Jackson. “I’m having some trouble remembering which curators and deans go with which realms. Can you help me figure out a way to remember them?”
“Who’s giving you a problem?”
“I keep thinking Dr. Infinitis is Scientico, but he’s Educon and that doesn’t make sense to me.”
“It would if you think of doctors as college professors who teach in educational institutions. As for Scientico, Galon Senter’s first name sounds almost like Galileo, a fellow scientist who seconded Copernicus in saying the sun is the center of the universe.”
“How do you make it sound so easy?”
“Just talented, I guess. Anyone else giving you trouble?”
“Yes, Comedia. I’ve got Abbello Abbato committed to memory because his name sounds comedic. But I’m having trouble remembering the dean.”
“Think of a comedian who makes you groan. You just want to take a bag of rice and bean him with it. Instead of rice and beans, we have Reichel Bean. Or, as I like to call him, Dean Bean.”
Johanna g
rinned. “Got it.”
*
Mal ordered dinner while Jackson helped Johanna with a few more troublesome associations.
“You two never cease to amaze me,” Mal told them a moment later. “You balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Together, you’re the perfect mix of practicality and innovation.”
Johanna grinned. “Women just love being told they’re practical.”
“That makes me innovative. I like it,” Jackson said.
“I could have said ‘the perfect blend of beauty and brains,’ Johanna, but they both apply to you, and I didn’t want Jackson to feel slighted.”
“I’m happy with ‘innovative,’” Jackson remarked. “And if you would have said ‘beauty, brains, and innovation,’ we would have both been happy.”
Bing … bong … bung.
The triple tone came from the center of their table. A second later the middle of the surface retracted and a turntable filled with food rose. Mal turned the lower shelf. “This roasted vegetable soup is especially delicious, but the salads and meat pies are equally good.” He raised his hand to turn the smaller middle shelf. “This fruited wild game looks wonderful, as do the medallions of veal, and the grilled lobster with lime butter. And I’ve been told the vegetable risotto is an excellent choice. Let’s leave the postprandials on the top shelf for later.”
“‘Postprandials’? Do I even want to know what that means?” Jackson asked, remembering the herg wine and bornivor heart.
“Dessert.”
“Why didn’t you say so? Do we just help ourselves?”
“That’s the idea. Other restaurants in the capital have full wait service, but a lot of visitors prefer to just help themselves rather than sit through a traditional four-hour Lumi dinner.”
Jackson picked up his fork. “How much food do they serve at one of those?”
“Not any more than they serve here, but full wait service is intentionally slow to give individuals time to digest each course.”
“I prefer instant gratification.” Jackson stabbed a piece of meat and promptly ate it.
“Me, too,” Mal said, doing the same.
Johanna ladled soup into a bowl, but swirled her spoon around it instead of eating it.
“Is there a problem, Johanna?” Mal asked.
“Is there anything we need know, like if any of these foods come from the body parts of rodents?”
“Don’t worry, I told our server that we would be dining Fantasian tonight.”
“Thank goodness.” She tasted the soup and savored the flavor. “This is so good.”
“That’s another reason why this is one of the most popular restaurants in Lumi. The food is excellent.”
*
Dawn bathed the city in shades of lilac.
“Johanna Charette, it is time to prepare for the Curator Orientation and Longevicus Ritual.”
Johanna marveled at how efficiently the hotel’s artificial intelligence catered to her needs, but at the same time resented the disembodied voice for being intrusive. She dressed quickly, then studied the booklet Mal gave her one last time.
“Johanna Charette, Malcolm Trees and Jackson Roth are here to escort you to the ritual.”
She grabbed her backpack and walked to the door, but it remained closed. “Are you going to open the door?”
“You did not command me to open the door, Johanna Charette. Do you wish me to open the door?”
“Yes.”
It slid open on her command.
Jackson winked at her. “Hey, Mal, I won’t get in trouble for just winking, will I?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell them you have a nervous tic.”
“That’s big of you.”
Johanna couldn’t help but smile at their banter.
After breakfast, their transport disk took them to an amphitheater on the north edge of the city. Inside, a ring-shaped table with thirteen seats sat in the center of a grassy field surrounding a diamond disk embedded with the Illumini constellation.
“Heads up,” Mal whispered.
Jackson turned to see a dozen overseers file out of the structure. Eleven deans took their seats, while Master Ryden Simmdry approached Johanna and Jackson.
⌘Please accompany me.
The two teens followed him through an opening in the round table, to the marble disk in the middle.
⌘Take your place on the disk.
They did as they were told. A railing immediately encircled them as the disk rose several feet into the air.
Ryden Simmdry took a seat with the others.
⌘Answer the questions to the best of your ability. Dean Proteus Bligh will begin the first round.
ŦJohanna Charette, who is the curator of Juvenilia?
And so it began. The overseers alternated their questions between Johanna and Jackson for more than an hour. The teens stumbled only once.
✖Jackson Roth, who quelled the second uprising of the Terrorians?
Jackson stood speechless for a long, uncomfortable moment as he tried to envision the page in the booklet where the answer to the question could be found, but his mind went blank. He had no recollection of reading any information about a second Terrorian uprising.
Johanna intertwined her fingers with Jackson. In a clear, strong voice she answered for him: “We all did.”
During another long pause the overseers’ hats glowed as they communicated silently among themselves.
♪Jackson Roth, what provides the Libraries of Illumination with illumination?
“Ahhh, that would be the blue orb, a nuclear reactor that needs to be recharged every half millennium.”
The overseers changed topics and drilled them on day-to-day operations and procedures related to the libraries’ unusual properties. The teens’ answers came quickly and easily.
Another period of silence followed their second hour of questioning, while the overseers again communicated internally.
Suddenly, the platform Johanna and Jackson stood on began to descend, but did not stop when it became level with the surface. Johanna gripped Jackson’s hand tightly as they dipped below ground level. They found themselves surrounded by triangular diamond bars inside a glowing chamber. The disk turned, causing the light in the room to shower the teens with the entire spectrum of color. Centripetal force held Johanna and Jackson in place as the disk turned with dizzying speed.
A medicinal odor permeated the room as the disk began to slow down. Johanna found it strangely soothing. Finally, the disk stopped rotating, and a moment later it began to rise. As they rose above ground level, the teens found themselves inside a tight circle of overseers, who were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder, with just enough room between them to allow them to raise their right forearms and rotate their forefingers in upward spirals. Johanna smiled as she remembered Mal describing the action as a sign of appreciation.
ℌJohanna Charette, you have successfully completed your Curator Orientation and Longevicus Ritual. Go forth and illuminate. The overseers changed focus and said the same thing to Jackson. They then formed a single line and slowly made their way to a door leading inside the amphitheater walls.
Mal’s smile reached from ear to ear. “I’m so proud of both of you. There had been speculation that the overseers might approve only one of you because there have never been two curators at the same library before, but that all changed with the question about the second uprising. My heart stopped when you stalled answering the question, even though I knew it was designed to see how the two of you would react to something unexpected.”
He looked at Johanna. “Taking Jackson’s hand was brilliant. It’s a bond that most Lumi residents wouldn’t approve of, but I could hear the overseers as they deliberated afterward, and they interpreted it as unity and strength.” He turned to Jackson. “If Johanna had just answered the question without taking your hand, she alone would have been allowed to go ahead with the Longevicus Ritual. But the simple act of joining with you showed that she was
not trying to triumph over you, but to fortify you, and that impressed the overseers.”
“If I didn’t get to go through the ritual, would that have meant I couldn’t work at the library anymore?”
“You would have remained a curator-in-training, and may have been able to reapply for the Curator Orientation and Longevicus Ritual in another ten years, but it would have delayed the blessing.”
“What blessing?”
Mal rubbed his head. “I guess I forgot to explain to you the benefit of the Longevicus Ritual.” He sighed. “This may be hard to explain to your friends and loved ones, but Longevicus delays aging. For every ten years a normal person ages, you will only age one year. In another ten years, your friends will be in their late twenties, but you two will still be teenagers. You’ll have the accumulated knowledge of someone older, but your physical age will have slowed dramatically. How do you think I got to be over four hundred years old? Longevicus! And it’s even more dramatic for overseers. They undergo a ritual that allows them to age only one year for every thousand years. It provides continuity in the governance of the libraries.
“You’ll both go down in history as being the first curator team, and you’re already in the history books for helping quell the second Terrorian uprising. You’re quite a pair.”
Jackson grinned as he looked at Johanna. “I can’t believe we’re equals.”
Mal groaned. “That’s not entirely accurate.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a full curator, but Johanna is curator primo. She has seniority because she is the chosen curator, and she’s been in the job longer. You’re a curator because she chose you as her second-in-command.”
“Okay. I can see that. Besides, ‘curator’ still sounds better than ‘assistant.’” Jackson picked up Johanna and swung her around. When he put her down, he whipped his head in both directions to see if anyone was watching. “I don’t think anybody saw that. We’re good, right, Mal?”
“I’ll just confirm it’s that nervous tic.”
LOI