Chapter 25

“Where are we going, Librarian?” Rahim asked as they ascended the stairs.

“Ultimately, we are going to the columbarium, Rahim. However, I’m going to need a Librarian’s help and I’m not quite sure how I’m going to get it. This morning’s breakfast was not exactly a vote of confidence.”

They emerged into the storage facility for the great building machines. They made their way across the room and began to ascend the stairs again. Rahim grunted with each step he took.

Rahim finally spoke, “Surely, the Head Librarian will assist you.”

“I think Head has lost some of his political capital,” Danel said. “He cannot or is not willing to order any of my fellows to accompany me. He didn’t order Sunder either, for that matter.”

“He isn’t a military commander,” Rahim said. “The Head Librarian cannot order people to march into deadly encounters. Only I come from a military background among the cadre, and my time in the legion was less than glorious. My commanders were not the gifted ones. He’s a political leader, I suppose, but you are Librarians; seems like a contradiction to me.”

They emerged in the back of the linen closet. “If no one claims these sheets, I’m claiming them for myself,” Danel announced. “Just because.”

“They’re soft, but you should let your wife decide,” Rahim said.

“I don’t have a wife,” Danel said. “I’m quite comfortable with my personal life the way it stands now.”

They walked down the corridor.

“You will have a wife,” Rahim said firmly. “Every Librarian has a partner; I think it’s one of those unwritten requirements. I know you’re sweet on that Serengay woman, and let me say, ‘Whoa!’ She’s going back to Serengay sooner rather than later though. In a few days, I believe.”

“How do you know about Ka’andel?” Danel asked, concerned and curious.

“Do you think you’re the first to make a play for her?” Rahim asked. “We’re not talking about a platoon of suitors, we’re talking about an entire company.”

“No shit?”

“No shit, Librarian.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to know, Rahim. Back on task, we are going deep into Librarian territory. The man I need for this search is definitely not the explorer type. I have nothing over him in terms of extortion; bribery and kidnapping are not possibilities either because, <click>, Librarians. We will need to appeal to his sense of duty.

“Nah, just scare the shit out of him,” Rahim said. “We’ve got a man downstairs, and we’ve got to run this game into the ground.”

“Mixed metaphor, but I get the gist,” Danel said as they pulled abreast of a closed door. “Ready or not, here we are.”

They went in. “Good Morning, Fauntel.”

“Good morning, Danel. I take it that this is not a social call.”

“I’m afraid not. I have a puzzle that I cannot solve, and I require your expertise. I have a man being held hostage until I bring the answer.”

“O dear,” Fauntel said, slowing taking off his spectacles. “Why my expertise?”

“Have you heard of a deceased Librarian by the name of Bustami?”

Fauntel made a face as he appeared to rack his memory for an echo of the name. “I can’t say I have. When did he die?”

“About a thousand years ago, give or take,” Danel said. When Fauntel gaped at him, Danel continued, “I need to find his niche and retrieve his ashes. Have you been to the columbarium?”

“Yes, not only do red cords visit the burial chamber as a part of our duties, we’ve had several deaths since I became a Librarian.”

“I don’t know the organizational principles of the niches and I’m not sure in what language the man’s name is recorded, but I need to find it quickly. I need your skills.”

“It will have to wait until after lunch; I’ve many duties today,” Fauntel said.

“I’m sorry,” Danel said. “I have a man stuck in the depths entertaining an artifact of the god Atuwati, and the sand is running out of the timer. Rahim and I will take you down and get you back safely. As you know, this part of the basement is safe with skilled trackers such as the two of us. We’re going now.”

They more or less ushered Fauntel out of his office and escorted him down to the first floor. Rahim flagged one of the regular security as they walked down the corridor, who fell in step behind them. Danel led them down the stairs into the first basement. Completely unimpressed with the quiet abandon of the corridor, he led them up the corridor to the twenty-fourth hallway and onward to the columbarium. The security guard waited in the hallway.

“Where do we begin? Danel asked when they stopped.

“They began burying on the eastern side and moved onward to the southern wall,” Fauntel said. “Which century the burials began is lost in time, but I am certain the office of the Librarian is far more than one thousand years old.”

“There are thousands of niches,” Danel said. “Ten thousand? How do we find this one niche?”

Fauntel pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket along with one of the famous pens. “Most of these markers are in the standard Yallu alphabet. The three of us can scan the eastern wall looking for the letter “B” as the first letter.” He wrote down the letter for Rahim. “If you can’t read the rest of the word, call the other over. Your big man here can call either of us over.”

They began searching. There were a lot of dead Librarians and plenty of them had names that began with the letter “B.” After an hour of false starts and wrong names, Rahim found the name for which they were searching. He was on his knees looking at the bottom rows near the southern wall when he shouted out, “Lookee here!”

The two others rushed over. Having confirmed the name, Rahim pulled a small hammer from his pack and began chipping away at the seal. The clay was brittle, and it gave way quickly. Danel used his pen to gently probe the opening. He tapped a clay jar no taller than two or three fingers. Carefully, he retrieved the jar and placed it on the ground. Rahim lit a candle and examined the niche for anything else that may have been left there. Nothing else was in the niche.

Danel carefully wrapped the urn in a cloth and put it in his backpack. He escorted his group back up to the First Floor and bid his fellow Librarian goodbye. Following a hunch, he walked over to another stairwell whose rail cap was glowing blue. He placed his hand upon the cap and gave a mental push for the stairway to shift. When he felt a slight heat, he motioned Rahim to follow. They emerged on the Third Floor.