“Oh my! Oh, my bins and bookshelves!”
Nubry’s eyes had been fixed on the big screen for some time now. Broken buildings were all that remained of Near Schloggina. Old stone stalls they seemed to be, roofless and doorless, a refuge for fog and shadows.
“Probably they had to shut down the conventions after the Great Weed,” she sighed. A hand went out to the touchpad on her chair.
Bott sat now in the co-pilot’s seat, his own hands close to the grenades on his belt. He was not entirely easy about having left the Drover uncrewed in orbit. He was mostly certain that, despite the ship’s opinion of him, it still had to do what he said. But this went against all his training.
The library ship skimmed along above the dead city. Cubicles in stone rows, roofless buildings everywhere the same: Nubry went on shaking her head.
She flew pretty well, he thought, though of course this was a pretty short, straight trip. The dof was tricky, though. Easy to see she had a few years’ experience.
She had changed her uniform while tidying the books, and now wore purple over a white bodysuit. Bott hoped this wasn’t required protocol; he had nothing to change into, and he wanted to make a good impression on these librarians. They could deal. No planet could susbsist entirely on its own resources; a hidden planet, especially, would need suppliers, especially illicit ones. If he managed to master the Drover, he could be a very efficient one.
Blinking lights indicated a landing site beyond the empty city. Bott watched Nubry closely; she showed no sign of noticing this scrutiny as she maneuvered the Dragonshelf toward this, going swiftly through the routine of settling a BBB-44 onto the surface. The Dragonshelf obeyed her perfectly, and without comment. The landing circle lowered too, somewhat more slowly than the ship, so that when the Dragonshelf finally touched down, the platform was completely below the planet’s surface. The roof closed over them. Bott had a grenade unhooked from his belt.
Nubry didn’t notice this, either. Once she had settled the ship, she rubbed her palms on the thighs of her suit. Ibe hand came up to hit the release for the main exit hatch. “Let’s go see!”
Reaching the bottom of the exit ramp, she [paused, forwing around at the big, empty cargo area as though she’d been expecting floor to ceiling bookcases. Bitt turned his eyes to seek out more threatening anomalies. He was the first to hear the low hum, though he had not identified the source before it turned into a voice,
“Wecolme to the library! Come any time; come many times!”
Two travelling squares were gliding toward them. The first bore a tall, regal woman in a long grey robe. Red braids hung down her back, red eyebrows shot up in rays halfway across her smooth forehead. A faint golden glow surrounded her.
“I am Opio,” she said, as the square settled in front of the ramp. “Head Librarian here. This….” She indicated the short white-haired man with a monocle. “Is Chief Deputy Libraroan Wanure Smalen.”
The deputy nodded. Nubry bowed. Pirates don’t bow, so Bott didn’t. He settled his hands to his hips, letting the grenade slip into a pocket for future reference.
“Head Librarian Opio, this pirate captain and I have come to offer the Dragonshelf’s 530,000,000 items to refill the Great Library’s once legendary holdings.” Nubry bowed again, gesturing to Bott as she did so.
The Head Librarian inclined her head with all the dignity of her ancient post. “A magnificent gift. But what did you intend to do once you had turned over your library. Had you any thought of becoming one of our docents?”
Nubry’s ears went a bit red. “I’m sure I would not claim….”
Hr smile warm, the Librarian extended a hand. “There are examinations to be endured, to be sure, but certainly one who has tended the library of the Dangerous Rebels would pass those.” She stepped to the side, making room on her square. “Come! Many I offer you a tour of the facility?”
“Oh, yes!” Nubry took the hand and stepped up.
“I can’t stay long,” Bott glanced up at the closed ceiling. “I have to get back to my ship.”
Nubry frowned, but the Head Librarian inclined her head again. “I understand. But can you not stay long enough, to accept our hospitality, in gratitude for your work?” She gestured to her deputy’s square.
Bott was perfectly willing; he had merely sent a message to these librarians that he would like to get around to business as soon as possible. He was sorry to think that, in delivering the Dragonshelf to this haven, he was losing someone who had shown promise to be a great crew member. But librarians, he supposed, belonged in libraries.
He stepped up next to the deputy, and the two squares moved off in different directions. He could hear Nubry saying , “He’s a very amiable pirate. He could probably hunt books for you.”
Bott had been hoping to do that, and a number of other things, for the Great Library if the Great Library was willing to pay. From the looks of things, they could afford it. The cargo bay was well-jept and well-lit, and these travelling squares moved smoothly, unlike the ones he’d used back home.
Moving into the corridors of the building itself enhanced this feeling: the creamy brown walls were recently polished, and the carpet below their squares was in perfect condition. Lighting was gentle and indirect; everything that could shine shone. The designers of this building had shared the same taste for elegance as the Drover’s architects, and designers with such tastes were not cheap.
Specifics were necessary before negotiations could start. “An expert cloaking device,” he said to the deputy, as if just making conversation. “How do you get supplies through?”
The Chief Deputy’s nose went up a bit but he answered, civilly enough, “We have our ways sir. Would you like to stop and freshen up before going on to the lounge?”
“All right with me. Do you get many ships stopping here Libraries and things?”
Wanure looked away. “That sort of information is naturally classified, sir.”
“Is that glass in your eye for seeing things?” Bott inquired, “Or for making sure nothing that gies in comes back out?”
The deputy smiled, and brought the square to a halt before a light orange door. “I must go supervise the transfer of the Dragonshelf to the Deaccession Chamber, sir. The Reader’s Lounge is at the far end of this lounge. If you will wait there, Her Organized Honor will be joining you presently.”
Btt nodded and stepped down. The deputy guided his square along the corridor. After the man was gone, Bott checked the door for traps and security devices. The cameras and snares were well hidden, but he had plenty of experience with them. They were very good ones, built along the same principles as the ones on the Drover. If he and Opio couldn’t come to terms, it might be fun to try and steal them.
The mirrored room beyond the door was very well stocked. Bott studied the array of soaps and colognes. That spiral bottle held a very popular new scent; he’d hijacked a load of it not so long ago. The Library Planet already had pirate connections, then. He hoped it wasn’t Jaller Parroll. Of course, they might have had it from the dealer Bott supplied, in which vase they might be interested in eliminating the middleman.
He picked upthe bottle to look it over and then, with his free hand, reached down and bunched up a big handful of his jacket. Raising this to his nose, he took a deep sniff and was nearly knocked down by the cold and gritty aroma of the cloth. It still smelled like a spring morning on his home planet. He set the cologne back.
The Reader’s Lounge was almost obnoxiously clean and bright, with small tidy terminals for those who knew how to use them. The smooth lines reminded him again of the Drover. He reached down for his collection of cards.
“Ship?”
“Are you still alive?”
“Sorry to disappoint you. Is the Rhododendron still coming on?”
“Yes, but they can’t see through the planet’s cloak. They are following our last course and should miss us by a wide margin.”
“Don’t signal them.”
“I can’t. They could not receive any message unless they come within range of the buoys. And that depends on how clever their ship’s computer is.”
“I’d hate to think it’s smarter than you.”
“You’d never know. We are both advanced too far beyond your brain.”
Bott had more to say, but put the card away and turned as a door opened.
“Such a library!” Nubry slapped her hands together. “The community meeting rooms, the processing center, the…I never saw anything to beat it! Did I? I did not!” She cleared her throat. “Elevator access to all…and the executive offices! You should see the exhibition of bookmarks!”
Bott grinned: she’d like it here. “Do they have as many books as you do?”
Ihe ball if hair bounced left and right. “They didn’t show me that///security./ I used to think I’d hate…but it’s such a beautiful facility! Where’s Wanure? I want to show him where things are. Oh, not the classification system, but which sections are where. They might already, of course….”
She had to pause to catch her breath again. “The deputy said he was going to see the Dragonshelf into the Deaccession Chamber,” Bott told her.
Mintu spread her hands wide. “Well, I guess they would have a special place….” She frowned.
“Deaccession? Are you sure he said that? Not Accession?”
“Yeah,” said Bott. “Why?”
The flush was gone from her cheeks. “But that means weed!”
“That means we’d what?”
“No!” she cried. “Weed! Deaccession!” She looked helplessly at the pirate for a moment and then added “Throw away!” She turned and ran out the way she’d come in.
Blogsy Babbles 