by Michael Vu
*******
The evening was warm, and the clouds that drifted across the night sky created a pleasant atmosphere in the city. Many people were out and about – having late dinners, going to clubs, and shopping. John and Quin worked to stay in the shadows, and quietly made their way down the street towards William Oliphant, booksellers.
“Maybe we should tell Tom and Drake,” Quin said. “Instead of sneaking around.”
“We only just started sneaking around,” John replied. “All the other stuff was my fault.”
“So we should tell them.”
“No.” John sighed and slowed his pace. “Quin, I need to tell you something. When I was on my way over to the Globe to find you, I took some time doing a recall of the books that Oliphant mentioned – well, the ones I’ve read at any rate.”
“You mean a photographic memory recall?”
“Yes. And I’m worried about what Grise is doing, and I’m afraid that if we tell the Committee what’s going on, they’ll tie us up and gag us with red tape, and then take so long to get around to doing anything that Grise will… well, possibly explode a planet.”
“What planet?” Quin’s tension was quickly rising.
“Whichever one he’s building – or built,” John replied. “There is this other book, called Antony’s Journal: Years Eight Through Ten. It’s actually a journal.”
“I guessed as much.”
“But it comes after all of those other books were written – I mean, it was written later. And Antony D’Marko studied the results of the other scientists’ experiments. Keep in mind that they didn’t live as long as we do now, and studying planetary evolution is a big deal and takes a long time.
“Anyway, he made one crucial observation which impacted the way we developed planets forever after: using the incorrect mathematical algorithm to determine the placement and makeup of atoms in the planetary space, the planet – if it was created at all – would be unstable. The planet Antony was studying – Catalor, it was called – actually exploded, killing everyone on it. It also caused a massive crater where the one Door connecting the two planets sat, and killed everyone and everything in a three mile radius.”
“So if Grise did something wrong, it could have huge consequences.”
“Not only that, but this new Door he’s created – we don’t know what consequences that would bring if the planet on the other side exploded. It could impact every Door ever created. Our entire planet could disappear.”
As they started walking again, Quin took a deep breath. He supposed that if the options were people dying or people not dying, it was better to risk the wrath of his supervisors and prevent people from dying. And if Drake and Tom needed help, they would come and get it.
“How are we supposed to fix it?” The other question that had been plaguing him seemed impossible – fix an entire planet? Maybe they could just shut down the Doors on the planet or evacuate and then shut down the Doors – depending on how much time they had.
“I have something I’m not supposed to have,” John replied, patting his bag. “It’s a tool built by Antony’s son, which has never needed to be used since we started following the new rules. But if what I think he’s done is true, then this will be the perfect opportunity to use it.”
“What’s it do?”
William Oliphant, booksellers came into sight as they rounded the corner.
“It fixes it, I told you!” John replied. “Let’s get going.”
Shaking his head at the vague answer, Quin followed John into the dark shop.
“Oliphant!” Quin called. The duffel filled with books was on the counter, and his backpack on the floor next to it. He picked up both. “Oliphant!”
There was no sound.
“I’m going to check,” Quin said.
“Okay, but we better not hang around,” John said. “He’s not reliable. And we probably shouldn’t come back through this Door again.”
“Agreed.”
Quin took a quick peek around the bookstore. There were books everywhere, of course, and it was impossibly clean, but he saw no signs of Oliphant.
“What do you suppose he’s up to?” Quin asked John.
“I don’t know,” John said, “but he’s probably just some innocent bystander that your dad managed to manipulate.”
“Possibly,” Quin said, looking behind the counter. On the floor, he saw a stack of books, shoved hastily into a corner. Probably nothing, he thought, but he bent down to look anyway. He picked up the first one and opened the front cover. Inside it was stamped “Path Temple.”
“John,” Quin said, “what do you think this means?”
John looked at it. “Is that our Path? As in the world Path?”
Quin shrugged. “Let’s take it with us. We can ask.”
John nodded. “Good plan.”
Burdened with books, tools, and supplies, Quin and John stepped into the back room. The Door was there, peeking out from behind the curtain hung to hide it. Then they each took a deep breath and, with John’s hand on Quin’s shoulder, stepped through.
8. VILLAGE AT THE END OF THE PATH
For the first time since they had begun their journey through the Doors, Quin looked down as he stepped through; he saw the moldy grey-brown of the wooden bridge and the blazing red liquid that streamed underneath despite growing darkness as night drew near; and it finally occurred to him to wonder: what is flowing in the river?
“What substance is that?” Quin asked, as John came stumbling through the Door behind him.
Before John could answer, Quin suddenly realized: the odd thing that bothered him every time they came to this world – he knew what it was. The river. It made no sound. No bubbling or gurgling, no rushing or roaring, no babbling or even dripping – not a single sound.
“It doesn’t make any noise,” Quin said, speaking over top of whatever John had started to say. “It doesn’t make any noise.”
They both bent to look over the bridge railing. The liquid was ridged and bold, and glittered, giving the impression of movement. But it wasn’t moving. It was as still as the bridge itself. A look of confusion crossed John’s eyebrows.
“I can’t imagine any good reason why you would make something that looks like a river but isn’t.” John bounced down the bridge and waded through the grass to the river’s edge. “There’s a steep embankment. I don’t think I can reach.”
“Maybe it would be a good time to head down to the village. We could ask the people there,” Quin said, “and find a place to sleep?”
“I bet Meriym would let us bunk at the house,” John suggested.
“Yes, but sleeping in town would give us a good excuse to poke around. We can pretend to be travelers.”
John grinned broadly. “Undercover! I love pretending! I’m a fan. Let’s deliver these books and then head into town. How long has it been since we were last here?”
“About four hours,” Quin replied. “Give or take whatever the time differential is.”
The grass crunched under John’s feet, but to Quin’s amazement, it seemed to pop right back up as soon as he passed through it, as though John’s feet had never been there.
They set out towards the house. It was almost dark, with the cloud cover blocking the stars and the dim light making the house nearly invisible in the distance, except for the glow that emanated from the windows on both floors.
When they knocked on the door, it was answered not by Meriym, but by a man they had never met.
“Can I help you?” the man asked.
“We’re here to see Meriym,” Quin replied.
The man smiled and gestured for them to enter the house. Meriym was sitting in the living room with a rather large group of people; several children played in the corner, an elderly couple sat close on the couch, and still more stood here and there in small groups.
“Quin and John!” Meriym exclaimed as they entered. “I wondered when you would be back! This is Tobias.” She reached out an
d touched the shoulder of the man who had let them in. “He’s our resident doctor, about to do his nightly examinations.”
“Nice to meet you,” Quin said, shaking the man’s hand. John did the same.
Quin lifted the large duffel bag filled with books. “We brought you the books,” he said.
“The books?” Tobias asked.
“The ones that Mr. Oliphant took?” Meriym asked.
Nodding, Quin set the bag on the kitchen table and unzipped it. Meriym squealed with delight and darted around the table to give Quin a hug. John’s eyebrows nearly leaped off his face as he watched. Quin glared back at him. He hadn’t been hugged in a long time. Most people were too afraid of him.
“This is incredible,” Tobias exclaimed, lifting one book at a time from the bag. “I can’t believe it – you got them all back! I have been missing them, as I’m sure you can imagine, and we don’t have the resources to trade for new ones.”
John stepped forward and began to sift through the books as well. “We had Oliphant pull them from his shelves, but since we didn’t know everything that was taken, we couldn’t be sure he gave us all of them.”
“Well it doesn’t matter,” Meriym replied. “This is going to be a huge help.”
“We should keep these here now,” Tobias decided. “I can make room for them in my lab.”
“I would like to set up a library, eventually.” Meriym began to stack the books neatly in piles on the kitchen table. “But I agree, for now they will be safest here. I will get Kip and the other kids to help you carry them upstairs.”
“We are going to head into town,” John explained, as children began swarming around the room and taking books from the table. “But we will probably be back tomorrow.”
“That would be lovely. Perhaps you could join us for breakfast or lunch.” She smiled, and Quin noticed that when she smiled, the left corner of her mouth was a little bit higher than the right.
“We’ll do our best!” John replied. “All right, Quin, let’s get out of here.”
He performed a Cadrellian goodbye – properly, this time Quin noticed – and then Quin copied, slipping another leaf, which this time he had taken from a bush in Pomegranate City, into her hand. He turned and left without a word.
“Nice hug you got there,” John said smugly, as the door closed behind him.
“I have no control over the behavior of others,” Quin replied.
“You do too. You subconsciously encourage them to stay away. Who was the last girl that hugged you? Besides your housekeeper, I mean? Linda Cavaroti, the mob boss’s daughter that asked you out, if I remember correctly.” Grinning, John gave a little hop and skip.
Ignoring his taunts, Quin pointed to the base of the house. “Before we go,” he interjected, “I want you to take a look at the house. Wolf says it grew out of the ground.”
“Oh my,” John exclaimed, bending forward to peer at it more closely. “This is stone, not wood. It does look grown.” He crouched down in the grass to get a better look. “It’s like it just popped right out of the ground! Amazing!” His neck craned backwards as he gazed at the roof. “That grown too?”
“Yes,” Quin said, “but not the roof on the shed in the back. Wolf made that one.”
John’s thinking face appeared, resting in his eyes and brows. “I’m going to need to think about the possible meanings for this. Let’s head towards town, and if I can think of anything, I’ll let you know.”