Chapter Fourteen: Exposed

Kate wanted to do some training in the base battle room. Just as she stepped outside her quarters Eric was waiting, standing guard outside.

“You know you just can’t take off,” he said.

“I know.”

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

“To the battle room,” she said.

“Would you like a sparring partner?” he asked.

“Why not?” she responded, knowing she couldn’t get rid of him anyway.

“I’ll let Omari know,” Eric told her. “He just left to speak with William.”

“Why is he speaking with my father?”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “it’s not about you.”

“I wasn’t,” she tried to say, but Eric cut her off.

“It’s about his investigation into Yori’s assassination.”

Kate paused for a moment, took a deep breath and swallowed her emotions. “Let’s go,” she said.

Eric contacted base security before they left to make sure the room was cleared and secure. He also had them turn off all the monitors and cameras in the room, so that Kate could have privacy while she worked out.

The battle room on Shackleton Base was simple. A few practice dummies were scattered throughout, but they did not sink into the floor like the ones in the Alexander compound. The floors were bamboo and the walls were made of the same polymer that covered the entire station.

Kate and Eric stepped to the center of the room with their staffs, faced each other and bowed. Then Kate took the first swing.

When the two sparred, Kate would often hold back. She did not always use the light feature of her staff because she felt it gave her an advantage. And she didn’t need it.

Only the Alexanders had specialized staffs. They were covered in the same intelligent skin that covered the box. Past engineers had adapted the technology, but it was not available to everyone. Sun’s grandmother had decided not to offer it people outside the family, giving the Alexanders an advantage against any enemy.

The troops and guards, which included Eric, were given staffs with sharp implements that would extend from either end like a lance or spear.

As the two fought, Kate began to get the upper hand. She pushed Eric toward the back wall with several stabs and kicks. Eventually Eric rolled away from her attacks and back into open space. Kate tried to cut him off, but just missed and slammed the floor with her staff.

Eric swung low as he came out of his roll, trying to take her out at the feet. She jumped out of the way and stabbed at his torso just as he was standing up. She hit him directly in the stomach and knocked him back off his feet. He used the momentum to roll back again stabbed at her as she came in for another shot. She pushed his staff to the side and came at him with both hands on her staff. The two clashed against each other until they came together, staff against staff and face to face. They both paused, breathing deeply. No one moved for a moment. Then slowly they began to come together.

Suddenly the door to the battle room opened. Eric quickly pushed Kate away and the two turned to see Omari standing at the entrance.

•••

After being named the next Curator of the Library, William was granted access to sections of the building he had never seen before, including the curator’s office. Although, Yori left behind a wife and two twin daughters, they had not been allowed to enter the office or collect any of his things. William would be the first to enter it since Yori’s death. The curator’s office was sacred and only a librarian was allowed to witness the secrets it held.

The office was underneath the library, deep underground at the end of a long hallway. Its entrance was a guarded by a large oak door. A detailed image of the Alexander tree was carved into the center and it had no handle, only a small glass pad on one side. William stepped up to the door and placed his hand on a glass pad. At once the door opened revealing a circular room with a large wooden desk in the center. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling with large glass panels on opposite sides, approximately the size of doorways.

William stepped inside and the door closed behind him. At first, he walked slowly and methodically around the room. He scanned the shelves and all the objects they held. Stacks of books and tablets, crystals, stones and elements of all different shapes and sizes glinted in the lights. Models of buildings, marine ships, spaceships and stations were scattered throughout the shelves.

Then William walked around to the desk. Yori’s staff was leaning up against the chair. Several books were left open along with Yori’s personal journal, his pen still open and resting between the pages. Across the top of his desk several tablets displayed star maps.

William took the staff in his hand and sat down in the worn leather chair. He gripped the staff tightly and looked over it, smiling as he recalled some of the battles he had with the former curator. He leaned the staff against the shelves behind the desk and spun back around to examine the items on the desk.

He looked over the star maps and realized they were the most recent ones from the professor. Typically, the professor would bring the maps with him when he came to ask his next question. William wondered why he would have sent them to Yori early. After all, he was investigating his death as much as he was remembering his life. William continued to look over the open books. They included past reports from the Odyssey, blueprints of the ship and astronomical briefs on the Nekuian system.

Then he picked up Yori’s personal journal and leaned back into the chair as flipped back a couple of pages.

Slowly, as he read he began sitting back up. By the time he got to the end of the last entry, his chin had dropped along with the journal. He sat in silence for some time, wondering how to continue the preparations that Yori had been making without meeting the same fate.