Second Chronicles of Illumination

by C. A. Pack

  ★Yes, but now I’m afraid she may be lost once again because of the temporal rift.

  “We’ll take good care of her,” Mal assured the overseer.

  ★I fear you may be forced into duty, Mal, because of what has happened. Johanna and Jackson may be as well. Is there someone else who can come here, someone you trust, to watch her?

  They all turned and stared at Jackson.

  “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

  Johanna placed her hand on his arm. “Just how much does your mother know about the Library of Illumination?”

  “Nothing,” he answered, “except that you live and work here. But I never told her anything else. I didn’t think you wanted me to.”

  “And you were right,” Johanna assured him. “But now things have changed.”

  “Really changed,” said Mal, “because outside this library, it’s probably three weeks ago.”

  “That’s impossible,” Jackson said in disbelief. Johanna fished inside her bag and grabbed the taxi receipt from their trip home from the airport. She squinted at the date. Then she grabbed the receipt from her airline ticket and checked that as well. “He’s right. It’s three weeks ago.”

  “No. I don’t believe it. And I’ll prove it.” Jackson picked up the phone and dialed his friend Logan. “Hey buddy just a quick question. What day is that big math test scheduled for?” His shoulders slumped. “Right. I’ll catch you later, there’s something I gotta do…”

  “Well?” Johanna asked.

  “I expected him to say I was crazy because we already took it. Instead he said it’s next Tuesday.”

  “Jackson, we need to contact your mom,” Johanna said. “We need to get her in here to watch Bel. We need to bring her up to speed on the library.”

  He shook his head. “She’s never going to leave Ava and Chris on their own. And there’s not enough room for them here.”

  ★But there could be. Pru Tellerence left for a moment and returned with a travel guide. ★Follow me. She walked into the room reserved for current periodicals and opened the book. A two-bedroom hotel suite appeared. She looked around for a hiding place and slid the open book under a piece of furniture where it would remain undisturbed. ★Do you think they would mind staying here? Your mother, sister and Bel could share the larger room and your brother could take the smaller one.

  “This is beautiful,” Joanna said. “Where is it from?”

  Pru Tellerence closed her eyes for a second. ★It’s a hotel called George V in a place called Paris.”

  “Nice.” Jackson said. “Do you think it comes with room service?”

  “Your mother could always cook upstairs in my kitchen,” Johanna said.

  ★Please. Contact her while Johanna and I go downstairs to retrieve my miter.

  “Here goes nothing,” Jackson said, as he dialed home. “Getting her here may be easy. Explaining why is going to be a bit more difficult.”

  ★

  Furst entered Berra the inventor’s workshop and saw a Terrorian decimator laying in pieces on a bench with a note next to each piece. “Made any progress, have you?”

  Berra looked up from his workbench. “Easy to duplicate, some parts are. Difficult, others are. Progress, we are making, but slow it is.

  “Come to visit, an overseer has. Aware of our battle, they are.”

  “These weapons, do we still need?”

  “Yes.” Furst knew the overseers would do their best to end the battle, but he had no assurances of when that might be. He thought of the Two Millennia War. It didn’t get that title because it had ended quickly. Better to have too many weapons, than not enough. “Still work on them, you must.”

  “Doing our best, we are, but alien, this technology is. Understand it, I am trying to.”

  Furst picked up a piece and examined it. “Time, I hope we have. Without it, we may be doomed.”

  ★

  “Some right-minded citizens who knew of the rabble-rousers’ plan reported them. Sadly, there’s been some unrest among our youth, recently,” Nero 51 claimed. “Having heard the rumors, I thought you should immediately be made aware of the possibility of an attack.”

  Ryden Simmdry closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he stood beside Nero 51 and the general in the Terrorian Library of Illumination.

  ⌘Johanna Charette, please gather your personal belongings and meet me at the circulation desk.

  A few minutes later, Johanna appeared with her backpack.

  Ryden Simmdry advised Nero 51 and General Lethro 814 to remain where they were. ⌘I will return momentarily.

  The master transported Johanna to her office in the Fantasian library. ⌘Please wait here for me. Do not leave this room. Do not contact anyone—even Jackson. That is of the utmost importance. The lock on the door clicked. ⌘I’m locking you in for your own protection. He disappeared leaving her alone and bewildered.

  The master overseer found the Terrorians where he’d left them. They were busy discussing how to handle the situation when he reappeared.

  ⌘Please. Show me where you kept the missing weapons that were allegedly stolen.

  “Follow me,” Nero 51 told the overseer. He walked over to the curator’s staircase. “I kept them safeguarded in my personal chamber to avoid having something like this happen. Obviously, someone close to me took advantage of my trust in him.” Nero 51 led Ryden Simmdry and the general into his residence and closed the door. A small number of weapons lay piled in a corner. He picked one up, quickly checked it over, and handed it to the overseer.

  The master carefully examined the firearm. ⌘You say this will stop an animal without hurting it.

  “Correct.”

  ⌘How does it work?

  Nero 51 demonstrated the weapon on General Lethro 814, who was immediately locked in a force field.

  Ryden Simmdry took back the weapon and switched the lever on top. He took aim at the general, whose eyes widened. ⌘Does this undo the force field?

  Nero 51 snatched the weapon away. “That is a design flaw that is being remedied. It’s supposed to deliver a more powerful stun for larger animals, but it doesn’t work correctly.”

  ⌘What is wrong with it?

  The door to the curator’s residence flew open and Ilio 22 appeared. “We have—”

  “It is you who betrayed me,” Nero 51 shouted and pulled the trigger. Dust particles that had once been Ilio 22 floated gently to the floor.

  ⌘This is no simple stun gun.

  “I did not mean to pull the trigger,” Nero 51 said matter-of-factly. “He surprised me. But he’s the only one who could have betrayed me by stealing weapons and starting a battle.

  “As I’ve said, this firearm has a design flaw. The unfortunate demise of Ilio 22 is a sad consequence, but may actually be preferable to the punishment that would have been meted out to him for starting a war.”

  ⌘That statement is taken under advisement. I will take these weapons as well. A moment later, Ryden Simmdry and all the decimators in Nero 51’s residence disappeared.

  Mauk 232 entered the residence. “Did Ilio 22 tell you we have moved almost all the guns to a safe place?”

  “No,” Nero 51 answered before releasing the general from the effect of the stun gun. “Carry on.”

  The soldier stared at the empty corner. “Where are the rest of the weapons?”

  Nero 51 paused a second before answering. “Perhaps Ilio 22 already removed them.”

  “Perhaps,” the soldier answered. “I’m surprised I didn’t see him.”

  “Well, I advise you to get right on it and discover what happened to those weapons.”

  Mauk 232’s tentacles quivered. “Yes, sir. I’ll do that immediately.” He fled the residence.

  Nero 51 turned to the general and folded all his tentacles across his chest. “Now, General, it’s time for you and I to devise a new strategy, and for everyone’s sake, it had better be a good one.”

  If there had been any water in the chamber
, it would have immediately turned to ice.

  ★

  Although anxious to leave, Pru Tellerence waited to meet Jackson’s mother, to ensure she’d be leaving Izabella in safe hands. While she waited, she exchanged her Fantasian street clothes for her overseer’s robe and miter hat. By the time she finished, Naimh Fitzpatrick Roth had arrived at the Library of Illumination with her son Chris and her daughter Ava.

  “Hey,” Jackson greeted them.

  Chris looked around. “Another party? I didn’t bring Brittany.”

  “No. And you can’t tell Brittany about this.”

  “Why?”

  ★Perhaps I should explain.

  Mrs. Roth and her younger children gawked at the overseer.

  ★I am…

  Pru Tellerence watched their faces register disbelief and confusion.

  LOI

  CHAPTER 32

  Pru Tellerence abandoned telepathic communication and addressed Mrs. Roth and her children aloud. “I am a dean of the College of Overseers for the Library of Illumination. Obviously, you are not familiar with what that means, which in the past has been for the best, but we are faced with a terrible threat and must make you aware of information we previously kept confidential.”

  Mrs. Roth looked at Jackson and then Johanna, who both nodded gravely.

  Chris edged over to Jackson’s side. “So what’s the deal, bro’? What’s going on?”

  “What’s today’s date?” Jackson asked.

  “April second, so if you’re thinking of pranking us, you’re a day too late.”

  “But it’s not April second. That’s the problem,” Jackson explained. “It’s the twenty-fourth.”

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “Look at this.” Jackson pulled out his airline ticket and stuffed it in his brother’s hand. “I just got back from Wales.”

  “What were you doing in Wales?”

  Mrs. Roth had little patience for lies. “You did not go to Wales, Jackson. You’ve been home with us.”

  “Look at my airline ticket. It has my name on it. It has the date I flew to Wales on it. It says I flew to Wales on April twenty-first of this year. But you say today’s date is only April second. And that’s the problem.” He pulled out his passport and showed it to his mother. “Look, that’s me. Look at the date they stamped it in Wales. Three weeks from now. Something bad has changed time as we know it.”

  Mrs. Roth stared at the passport without saying a word.

  Mal took over the conversation. “This library is special. The people inside its walls have been shielded from the time change. Johanna and Jackson, as well. However, we believe something bad has happened and we may be called on to investigate what that is.”

  “So tell me,” Chris said, “if you were protected because you were in the library, but Jackson was in Wales, how was he protected?”

  “Maybe Myrddin’s workshop is protected,” Jackson said.

  “No,” Johanna answered. “Cathasach and Beck no longer recognized us after breakfast. Could the longevicus ritual be protecting us?”

  Mal nodded. “That’s a distinct possibility.”

  “What’s this ritual you’re talking about?” Mrs. Roth asked.

  “I like to think of it as the Bruce Banner treatment,” Jackson said.

  Chris sneered at his brother. “You were belted by gamma waves?”

  “I don’t think they were gamma rays, exactly,” Jackson answered. “They were blue.”

  The brothers stared at each other for a few seconds until Johanna broke the silence.

  “That’s not why you’re here. A little girl just arrived here this week, and we’re afraid if she leaves the library, she may disappear. So we have to keep her safe. However, since we could be called away at any time to investigate the problem, we need someone who can stay here to keep an eye on Bel.”

  “Ava and Chris can still go to school and stuff,” Jackson added.

  Chris let out a low groan.

  Jackson punched him in the arm. “We just need to make sure Izabella stays safe, Mom. You could do that, couldn’t you?”

  “Where is this Izabella that you’re talking about?”

  They all turned to Pru Tellerence, but she was gone, and Izabella was nowhere to be found.

  ★

  Berra found Furst sweeping up the dust particles of books that had once lined the shelves of the library. Even the shelves that held them were now gone or burned beyond repair.

  “A lot of damage, they have done, I see,” the inventor said.

  “Rebuild, we must. Take time, it will,” the curator replied.

  “Unless, back, they come.”

  “Do what we did, again, we will. Fight back, we will.”

  “Have a book that might help me, do you? Heard, I have, books from other worlds, this library has. Manuals for the monsters’ weapons, does it have?”

  Furst stopped sweeping, he took a ring of keys from behind the circulation desk, which had survived the battle unscathed. “Me, follow.” The curator led Berra into sub-level six where he twisted the light housing to open the door to the elevator. “Come.”

  Together they rode in silence to the sub-basement that housed the Terrorian collection. Furst sifted through a large card file looking for one listing Terrorian weapons. He located a book on Terrorian military patents and another for technical weapon specifications. He handed them to Berra. “Help, this might.”

  The inventor opened the book on technical details and found a schematic for the decimator. His eyes lit up as he looked at the diagram. “Help, this will. But ‘zalor,’ I do not understand.”

  Furst took the book and looked at the word perplexing the inventor. He returned to the card catalog and located a book on Terrorian elements and minerals. He pulled it off a shelf and paged through it looking for ‘zalor.’ He nodded and then looked for another book. “To another level, we must go.”

  They rode the elevator up to sub-level six. Furst led Berra through a maze of hallways and stopped in front of a stone wall. He held his hand against the rock and the wall slid out of sight revealing seven doors. Furst walked to the last door on the left and place his hand bearing the Illumini constellation against the lock. The door swung open revealing a room that resembled a bank vault. Inside, what looked like tiny safe deposit or post office boxes lined the perimeter. Each metal door had a dozen miniscule lines of symbols or letters etched on it with an odd looking depression below it. Furst searched for a particular door and inserted his thumb in the depression. The door clicked open and the curator pulled out a small tray with a rock on it. Except, it wasn’t a rock exactly, but a quartz-like substance with gold veining.

  Berra reached for the rock and held it close to his eyes. “Recognize this, I do. From the river bed by Baerfeng, it comes.”

  “Zalor, it is.”

  Berra’s mouth split into a semi-toothless smile. “Solved a problem you have. Take this, I must.”

  Furst snatched the rock back. “No.”

  “But I must,” Berra said.

  “The Rodo twins, send me. Show them the rock, I will. Mine it for you, they will. But leave the library, this sample cannot.”

  “Go, I must,” Berra said. “The better, the sooner. And immediately, send the Rodo twins to you, I will.”

  Furst pretended to place the rock back in the vault, but hid it under his caftan instead. He couldn’t let Berra have it, but he did not want to allow the Rodo twins inside the depths of the library. He would replace the rock after showing it to them.

  ★

  “I suggest we recall the troops immediately while we devise our new plan,” General Lethro 814 said with more bravado than he felt.

  “Yes,” said Nero 51, “if there are any troops left to recall.”

  The general puffed out his chest. “The key is in the time machine.”

  “No, it is not,” Nero 51 said. “We have already gone back to the only time in our lifetimes when we are sure the portals were open. I do not r
elish returning to a time, possibly eons ago at the brink of the Two Millennia War, to wage a battle against unknown entities, with others in charge of strategy. We would merely be unknown, and unwelcome, visitors.”

  “Then the time machine is of no use to us?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. We could return to a time here on Terroria before our troops first launched, and advise them of what to expect.”

  “What is that exactly?” the general asked.

  “Recall the troops immediately. We must determine the answer to that question.”

  The general seethed. “I do believe I said that in the first place.”

  ★

  Pru Tellerence appeared in the overseers’ chamber on Lumina, earlier than she anticipated. She stared at Ryden Simmdry. ★Did you just pull me here without my consent?

  ⌘There have been developments. He pointed to the pile of weapons he’d confiscated from the Terrorians. ⌘The Terrorians have attacked Dramatica.

  Her stomach dropped. ★How bad is it?

  ⌘I have to congratulate Furst. He handled it well. He managed to contain the fighting within the aboveground levels of the library. There have been casualties on both sides. However, the Dramaticans managed to capture some of the Terrorian weapons and use them to their advantage, which mitigated the damage. They lost a lot of books from the upper levels, but as I explained to Furst, they can be replaced. I became concerned when I learned the Dramaticans are now busy trying to replicate these weapons. It is a foreign technology and not one they developed on their own. On the other hand, it does seem to equalize the Terrorian advantage. I believe we also should replicate these weapons en masse, and provide an abundant supply of them to each realm with the warning that they should be used only in retaliation if one of the other realms attacks. I believe it’s the Fantasians who say, ‘Forewarned is forearmed.’

  ★Wouldn’t that result in even more casualties?

  ⌘Not if we go back to a period in time before this latest battle started and deliver these same weapons to Terroria with the same warning. They will undoubtedly recognize their own weapons and know their surprise attack is no longer a secret.