#49 Unity, part 3

(Previously, in Shelver Explorer: Shannon and I break into Council to recover documents which will liberate the library. As we try to leave the building we encounter trouble in the form of two security guards. The story continues as we are given the ultimatum: surrender or die (well, not literally)…)

I breathed deep, too scared to go for the expected shallow breathing in this ind of situation as it would have alerted the guards to our position. I’ve never been in trouble with the law before! Once I was driving home at night and was pulled over by a booze bus for a random breath test. I hyperventilated so much they had to call an ambulance. I don’t do illegal things! I’m good, and law-abiding. It’s all Shannon’s fault – she got me into this mess!

As I turned to accuse Shannon silently I noticed that she wasn’t next to me. My eyes darted wildly and found her leaning against the doorway to an office, rummaging through the duffel bag. She fished out a pile of library DVDs, ripped out the discs and nodded quickly to me. I dove my hands into the bag and came up with old, thick leather-bound journals. Time for us to check out.

We jumped out in plain view in the corridor. The DVDs went flying at the security guards like shurikens. One got hit between the eyes by a fast-flying U2’s Greatest Hits, stunning him momentarily, and a well-aimed edition of Alluvial Geomorphology: A Compendium Of Field Reports took him down. The second guy copped a barrage of Walking With Dinosaurs and the complete first and third seasons of The Sopranos before falling to a Collection Of Poems By Edgar Allen Poe straight to the face. While the men were dazed we made our hasty exit to the library next door.

We made a beeline for the room where I had first met the ghosts. They were waiting for us there, and once we were inside the door closed and the lights to the rest of the library went out, covering our getaway tracks. I flicked on the light function on my pocket knife, and myself, Shannon and a multitude of ghosts peered over to read the pilfered documents.

We sped-read our way towards the truth. It turns out that Viktor was not actually representing BiblioTech when he took command of the library. He had resigned several months ago over the incident with the other library that went bankrupt, but before he left he stocked up on library technological gadgetry. He had been using our library for a testing ground to see if one could work as a private business rather than a public service.

Shannon, her father and I each smiled in the knowledge that by this time tomorrow we could have Viktor out of the library and our lives (or afterlives). I carefully wrapped up the documents and stored them in a filing cabinet. Shannon promised that she would show them to Boudecia at the next meeting. We left the room and the door shut behind us, sealing itself form the inside. Shannon hugged me and told me I wasn’t as stupid as I looked. She then pecked me on the cheek and walked out through the back door, leaving me alone in the library.

As I drove home I wondered whether I should have said something back the, when I had the chance. If Shannon reveals those documents I her possession, she’ll go down with Viktor and probably be arrested. Even if she doesn’t go to jail for breaking into Council property, she’ll be suspended and won’t be able to work in a library again. I’ve come to admire her since that night; I wouldn’t say I like her, but I do have a newfound respect for her trepidation. I don’t want her to have to leave because of this. What should I do? The next meeting is... tomorrow!

-Jay