Chapter 18:

The Infinite Library

The Villainess of Caerleon


Morgan Pendragon welcomed the Sunless Fleet like family into her own home. Pirate ships moved in parallel with hers and were given docking in state of the art facilities above the planet’s surface. Some would call her crazy, but to Morgan, who cared if you hailed from the fringes of known space, so long as you met her expectations?

We assembled aboard her capital ship, Resident Destiny, one of the few behemoth-class warships that I had ever seen. Many knights avoided these ships because they were fatter than sleeker models, but rumors were deceiving. Resident Destiny was as elegant as she was armed, with three engine rooms to power her bulky faster-than-light drives.

There was a conference room near the top deck. Morgan waited for us, with Ulysses and Lucia sitting across from her in silver armchairs. As if to show off her magnanimity, Morgan sat alone, with no guards to be seen.

“There’s a food menu on the counter next to the door,” Morgan leaned back in her chair. “I’m uncertain what Lady Greymoor has eaten beyond the imperial rim, but Resident Destiny is fitted with a rather luxurious buffet. You are all welcome to partake.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Ulysses said. “But we’re hungry for something else.”

Stephen’s face was smothered in protest. I didn’t blame him. Caerleon buffets were exquisite. Morgan folded her arms.

“What can Hadrian offer you then?” she asked.

“The Caxton Manuscript,” Ulysses said. “Where is it?”

“Interesting,” The Witch of Hadrian laughed. “Perhaps we can help each other.”

“It’s here?” Ulysses acted like he hadn’t believed the intelligence he had received from Nemura. “The Caxton?”

“You sound surprised,” Morgan mused. “Did you come here on a whim?”

“No,” the Pirate King replied. “For a moment I doubted myself. I thought I was a fool to have come here.”

Morgan’s brow furrowed.

“Regardless,” she said. “I do not know if the Caxton is really here. But if it is here, then I know where it is being kept.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“As some of you are aware, Hadrian houses one of Caerleon’s many dimensional libraries,” she answered. “Several months ago, a pair of imperial scholars arrived through one of the library’s warp gates and have remained in the isolation wards ever since. I had wondered what their purpose was. I suppose everything has become clear in light of our conversation.”

“You never asked why they came to Hadrian?” Ulysses said.

“Why does anyone come to Hadrian?” Morgan shrugged. “It’s the safest world in the imperium, and the scholars and I leave each other alone. Besides, the Caxton is of no use to me. My brother, on the other hand, I imagine he intends to use it following his ascension to the throne. If the Caxton is here, then I risk a confrontation with my brother.”

Stephen tapped my shoulder.

“What’s this about a dimensional library?” he whispered.

“Artificial space time anomalies,” I murmured. “The imperium has a library that spans hundreds of worlds.”

“Pfft,” Stephen spat. “Now they’re just showing off.”

“If you’ve no use for it,” Ulysses said, “then I hope you won’t mind that we take the manuscript off your hands.”

“Be my guest,” Morgan said. Several shocked faces compelled her to continue. “Oh don’t look so surprised. If I had wanted something from any of you, I would have demanded it after crushing half of your fleet. Besides, according to legend, the Caxton’s location requires both the Caxton and Winchester manuscripts. Best of luck procuring both.”

“I’ll arrange transportation to the surface,” Morgan continued. “Though it sits on Hadrian, the imperial library itself lies outside of my jurisdiction. Another reason why I would much prefer a relic like the Caxton off my planet. You will need ships with Caerleon transponders to not draw fire from the library’s defenses.”

Stephen tapped my shoulders again.

“What kind of library has ‘defenses?’” he asked.

Though off the mark, Stephen was right to be suspicious. Something about all this didn’t add up. I knew, of course, that Hadrian held one of the dimensions of the Infinite Library. Yet despite its cosmic size, it was a silly place to house a relic. Why all the subterfuge? And how was a Federation AI a source when Ulysses could have leveraged how many other contacts with closer access to the library?

“What about Nightwing?” Diane piped up. “She has Caerleon frequencies.”

“Outdated frequencies” Morgan replied, “and its legacy mimic transponder won’t fool the Library’s cryptographer.”

“We’ll take the transports,” Ulysses decided. “Thank you. I promise we will be gone shortly.”

Morgan smiled and clapped her hands together. Something gnawed from inside me. Everything felt too convenient. A familiar dread began to submerge.

“Well, this has been quick and fruitful,” she said. “I wish you all the best. For whatever amount of time you are here on Hadrian, the station is yours to tour. Now. If you’ll excuse me. You’ll find your transports ready in the docking bay directly below.”

The Witch left the conference room. She passed me, and I smelled scented lavender perfume. Her hand brushed against mine.

A searing heat gripped my face, like a hot iron had been pressed against my temples. I bent over in my seat and squeezed my eyes shut to try to avoid the impending vertigo.

But instead of darkness, still images flashed before eyes. The visage of a thousand starships. A titan rode among them. A great wall of fire. Diane smiled at me through a film of white and black.

“Elaine,” Emiko whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” I gasped. “I thought I smelled something funny. That’s all.”

“I don’t trust her,” Diane said. “That was too easy.”

“What was easy about it?” Stephen gawked. “We were almost killed trying to pass her sick idea of a test.”

“The test could have been harder,” Diane said. “Ulysses. We should abort.”

“We didn’t come all this way just to make an about face, Diane.”

I swallowed my nausea and spoke up.

“I agree with Diane,” I finally said. “Nothing adds up here.”

“It doesn’t matter who you agree with,” Ulysses growled. “We’re going.”

“You can’t blind yourself to everything forever,” I sighed. “I’m sorry to sound like a broken record, but a Federation AI appears, tells you that the Caxton is on Hadrian, and now the Witch herself is giving you clearance to the Infinite Library, and you have the key conveniently in your palms.”

“Key?” Ulysses asked.

I pointed at myself.

“Me,” I said. “I’m royalty, remember? I get special access privileges. This can’t all be a coincidence. And don’t tell me you planned for this contingency, Ulysses. The Caxton could have been anywhere. It could have been in the factory cauldrons, the Phylerian Shipyards, Morgan’s secret dungeon–”

“I knew you would be important,” Ulysses interrupted, “and once again, I was right. Lucia, Diane, you will join me along with Lady Greymoor in the library. The rest of you will be on standby aboard Nightwing. That’s final.”

“You’re making a big mistake,” I warned. “At least bring Nemura. Ask her how she found out the Caxton is in the library in the first place. Federation AIs have limited access to it.”

Ulysses glowered. Diane pressed a hand against my shoulder and shook her head.

“Drop it,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

An unsettled anxiety swept those in the room. The Pirate King was not himself, at least not the sensible version of him. There was a desperation, deeply rooted, in finding this relic. For what purpose? For bringing him and his people home? Was he willing to avoid all the signs of an impending disaster? Fool.

The bigger question was why did no one else protest? Diane had spoken and capitulated at almost the same time. She had even told me to stop arguing. Emiko, often so observant, had remained silent.

“Did you hear all that? Kindred Lancer, Edge of Knight,” Ulysses communicated through his wristband. “Secure an exit route. Let’s not indulge in a witch’s hospitality.”

“Sir,” Friede’s voice crackled. “I request either Alexis or I join you in the library. You’ve taken only imperials with you.”

“They’re all part of the fleet,” Ulysses answered. “Request denied.”

“Sir–”

Ulysses cut the call. We followed and rode a lift down to the hangar. As Morgan had promised, a lone flat dropship stood beside the shields covering the hangar exit. Its pilot waved at us to board. Hadrian’s oceans filled the view. Diane turned to her crew.

“Stephen,” she said. “Check on the two grease monkeys on Nightwing. Make sure they’re still alive. Vladimir, double, triple check the energy cells. Make sure they aren’t totally fried after that last hit. Emiko, prepare for anything. We’ll be back.”

We boarded the dropship and hovered out of the hangar. The ramp behind the ship retracted and a blast door sealed the dropship exit. Gravity took the wheel.

Lucia had taken the seat next to mine, the closest seat to the pilot pitching us through the reentry corridor. The entire time, Lucia did nothing but stare at the cockpit window, where white flames lashed at heat proof glass. As the fires began to fade, a rich fog took its place like smoke rising from embers.

“It’s been so long,” Lucia whispered. “Never thought I’d be back here again.”

“When did you leave?” I asked.

“When Hadrian was still just a backwater colony,” she said. “Before it became the imperium’s crown jewel. I wonder if the lake near the summer cabin is still there.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I met a man. He wasn’t worth it, and once I was free from him, I was indebted and lost. The Sunless paid off my debts in exchange for my talents.”

“Are you staying behind after all this?”

“What? Here?”

“Ulysses,” I said. “He said something about the Sunless finding a home. Is that why he asked you to come with us? You’re back home again.”

“Ah,” Lucia chuckled. “No, it’s not like that. My home is a different Hadrian, Lady Greymoor. This is no longer my home.”

A speaker sizzled above the dropship. I saw the pilot reach for a mic.

“We’re coming up on the library,” announced the pilot. “Popping the hatch.”

The blast doors of the dropship hissed open. A rush of air filled the chamber. The ship soared just a hundred odd paces above water.

The water’s cool surface, its glossy finish, it looked…so, so familiar.

Protective covers that safeguarded the passenger windows drew open. The Infinite Library sat in the middle of the sea.

It looked like a city. Spiral towers pierced the sky, their walls brimming with electric fields. A network of interlocking glass tubes curled like a bed of snakes around the skyscrapers. Inside were magnetized locomotives. Drones weaved in and out of windows. Their arms carried crates and small parcels.

The dropship landed by a dome shaped building. A formidable door groaned and edged open. A man dressed from the top down in red and white robes, appeared from behind the entrance to the library and approached us.

Sorry. Not us. Me. He looked at me.

“Hello,” said the man. “My name is Peter, Head Librarian. What business does House Greymoor have at the Infinite Library?”

Steward McOy
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Nika Zimt
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Kaisei
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