Exciti

Chapter 18 (Adam)

They had stopped at one of the outermost globes. The TerraFerry attached itself to one of the crystals on the surface of the Bubble and Lucy got off. She was starting to look nervous again, "Just don't forget the rules. We may be encountering many Antiquarians from hereon. Oh. And don't look down."

Like a knee-jerk reflex, Adam looked down, "Why? What's...oh wow!"

He turned around in a whirl and held Liam's head between his palms, skewing his glasses, "Do... not... look... down!" he mouthed in warning. Liam nodded stiffly and Adam let go and sighed. Liam would freeze if he had looked down and saw through the glass floor of the dock to the very, very long fall below. It would be like their families' trip to the Grand Canyon all over again. Liam's dad had to ask the security guy to help him carry an eleven-year-old-and-frozen-solid Liam off the skywalk.

The three of them walked around a U bend to climb a set of stairs into the Bubble. Once they were inside, Adam had to blink several times to absorb what he saw.

Lucy hissed, "Please stop looking gobsmacked by everything! People will get suspicious!"

Adam schooled his face into a neutral expression, trying not to ogle too much. The space was big enough to fit four city blocks, buildings and all. The indoor gardens had pathways that were paved with bright yellow tiles that reminded him of the yellow brick road, but he refrained from mentioning the song because the pun would be lost on Lucy.

He took off his jacket since the sunny Bubble was pretty warm, and tried stop craning his neck too much to look at the bright flowers on the low plants and the bright yellow and red dates on the high palm trees.

Then, he saw the dome above his head.

Gold and red tiles against a blue background formed rows of gazelles, lions, oxen and other animals that Adam couldn't name. The rows topped each other, ringing the dome in tiers that surrounded a central gold disc. It was beautiful, but that wasn't the best part.

Adam shared an amazed look with Liam, who mouthed, "They are moving!"

He grinned in reply and looked up at the animals again. The images marched along the rings, round and round. Some clockwise, others counterclockwise, some animals even jumped from one ring to the other.

The dome was starting to make Adam dizzy, so he focused on the building in the middle. It looked like a multi-tiered wedding cake, except the walls of each layer leaned inward a little at the top like a chopped off pyramid. Multiple staircases connected the different levels on the outside. The building was covered with colorful tiles and lush green plants.

He leaned in to talk to Lucy, "You know I have to ask!"

She looked like she was suppressing a sigh, "It is a ziggurat, a Sumerian structure. The library lives in there."

He nodded then did a double take, "Lives?"

"Shh," she warned him

"Sorry." He looked at Liam, mouthing, "It feels like we are already in the library." Liam snorted.

He started looking around again. The vast space was occupied by a few people, all of whom were at quite a distance from them. "Is it always this quiet in here?"

"Do you go to the library during a school's Halloween party?" Lucy replied.

Touché, he thought as they entered the ziggurat. It wasn't less impressive on the inside. The ceiling was still sky high, and the space was brightly lit, cooler, and made up by creamy white walls that surrounded a...

Liam gasped, "Lucy, I think your library has been robbed!!" he signed.

The library books, documents, and other material were all piled on the floor in one gigantic mound, a papery mountain that reached almost to the ceiling far above them.

Adam's heart drummed away in his chest, "We are so going to be blamed for this!!

"Shh," came the reply.

He turned around to tell Lucy to stop shushing them and get them out of there, but stopped when he noticed her half amused, half annoyed expression. It took him a second to realize that she wasn't the one who had shushed him this time.

He turned to look back to the pile. "Who..."

"Shhh, you are in a library, young man!" came the annoyed voice of a woman.

Adam watched as the head, shoulders, then the thin torso of a young woman emerged from the pile. He took in her ink black updo, her papyrus colored skin and her ruffled dress that seemed to disappear into the pile of library contents.

"Hello, dear, long time no see." The woman shifted to give Lucy an affectionate hug, making the entire pile shift with her.

Adam gasped and pointed at the mound of books, "This is your SKIRT?" his voice climbed into a squeak at the end.

The woman's head reared back in surprise, before she let go of Lucy and turned to look at Adam. She pushed her golden glasses up and huffed, "Young men these days! A simple greeting and introduction would give a much better impression than rude remarks ever could, don't you think?"

Adam didn't respond, he was still staring at her dress, noticing now that the bodice was made of book spines and inked paper. Lucy pulled on Adam's arm, giving him an admonishing look as she mouthed, "Stop staring!"

"There is nowhere else to look," he informed her.

She turned to the woman with a smile. "Sorry, Lib. He is new. Lib, meet ...um...Gib and Gab... They are new apprentice candidates."

Liam went into a coughing fit, and Adam slapped his back as he glared at Lucy, "Gib and Gab?" he hissed.

She turned to him, hissing back, "Just go along with it... Now, both of you, say hello."

Liam, recovering from his fit, barely lifted his hand in what looked more like a salute than a wave. Adam mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a Hi and Pleased to meet you.

Lucy rolled her eyes and continued with her introduction, "Gib and Gab, meet our lovely Lib, The official Library of The Society."