Because sometimes we are busy and the blogs just blow by,
DL Hammons invented the Deja Vu Blogfest (please visit other participating bloggers!). The idea is that over the Dec. 18-20 weekend, instead of writing a new post, we re-post our best work from the previous year. That of course is completely up to my judgement...I'm narrowing the field by limiting it to my Flash Fiction. Even so, it probably took as long to pick a story (and clean up my story index, which hadn't been updated in far too long) as it would to write one!
After much debate, I chose Dragon Library.
Dragon Library
The woman paused at the entrance to the library. By her scruffy
attire, workmanlike and worn, she was a miner. Key looked her over.
“You have come to use my library?” The dragon’s voice was cultivated, aristocratic, and entirely non-human.
The
woman nodded. “I need to do a bit of research.” She didn’t say what
sort, and Key didn’t ask. That wasn’t the way the Dragon Library worked.
Instead, Key asked, “You are aware of the terms?”
The
visitor nodded again. “I can use the library for as long as I need, for
whatever research I wish. In order to leave, I must give you a book or a
piece of information you don’t already have. No one seems quite clear,
however, on what you will do if a patron cannot pay.”
“It all depends.”
“Depends?”
“On who they are, how interesting, how I feel.”
“And if you are hungry?”
The
dragon laughed, carefully controlling the flame this caused. A dragon
with a library of antique paper books learned fast to be careful of
fire. “Few of my patrons would make for very good eating. You have a
name?”
“Etta.” Etta noticed that the dragon hadn’t actually
denied eating patrons. Just that they were good eating. She, Etta, had
eaten plenty of things that weren’t very good eating. The life of an
asteroid miner wasn’t an easy one, and cheap space rations were poor
enough to have you eyeing your partner before the end of a trip. She
hadn’t ever come to that. But for a dragon, it wouldn’t be cannibalism,
would it?
“Well, Etta,” the dragon asked. “Do you wish to enter?” The huge multi-colored eyes were fixed on the visitor.
“I do.”
The dragon let out a happy sigh. “Then do come in. Would you like a cup of tea?”
Etta
knew about this part, too. Key was notoriously social. “I would love a
cup. Earl Grey, if you have it.” She watched as the dragon heated a pot
of water with a few careful puffs of flame, brewed the tea—how did it
manage to handle the delicate cups with those claws?—and gestured to a
padded armchair.
“Please, sit. Enjoy your tea. The books will wait.”
As will you, Etta thought. “Has business been brisk of late?”
“Oh, you know.” Key had social chit-chat down to an art. “They come. Yes, they do come. And go. Mostly.”
Maybe
not such social chit-chat. Etta was still being warned. She wondered if
it were too late to change her mind and go. What if this didn’t work?
The dragon shifted and chatted on about the weather on Ganymede Seven,
and Etta picked up her cup.
Key watched the new visitor drink her
tea. The miner had something important on her mind, and Key wondered if
she would be able to pay. Key breathed a little faster at the thought.
The dragon wanted company, and not so many people were coming by the
library these days. It had grown difficult to find new books or even
information, and that scared them off. Well, this one would provide
entertainment, at least for a while. Key set down the teacup it had been
holding.
“So where do you mine, these days? Any good luck?” You
could always get a miner talking about their luck, though few would say
anything specific about where they met that luck.
“Oh, I’ve been
about,” Etta responded with the vagueness Key expected. “But I’ve found
a thing or two. Yeah,” she repeated with a significance Key did not
miss, “a thing or two of interest.”
Key smiled, though no one but
another dragon would have known it. This one, it seemed, would be able
to pay. She might not wish to, but in the end, she would. If the
information led to wealth, Key could buy more books. If there were any
left that were not in the library already.
Key engaged the miner
in light chat about the state of the galaxy and the sad difficulty of
getting good tea these days, until at last Etta set down her cup.
“I mustn’t keep you any longer. I should get started on my research.”
“May I show you to any section in particular?” Key was fishing now, and the miner knew it.
“No, thank you. I’ll learn so much more by finding my own way.” Etta flashed a meaningless smile at the dragon, and stood.
“Very
well, then. There are bells scattered about. Ring if you require food
or drink. Both are allowed in the lounge areas, though not in the
stacks.”
With a nod, the visitor was gone, down the hall toward the miles of corridors and endless bookrooms.
She
could find her own way? What kind of inside knowledge did this woman,
this asteroid miner, have? Key shrugged the thought off. Few humans were
as smart as they thought they were. Meanwhile, there were books to
read, and tea to drink. Key preferred the smoky varieties.
***
Etta
ranged down the halls, glancing into the lounges and book-filled rooms.
At the moment, it didn’t appear that anyone else was in residence, as
it were. Though somewhere there should be at least half a dozen patrons,
if her information was correct. At least that many had gone in and not
come out over the past year (Standard Measure year; based on the orbit
of the Old Earth). At least one of those was her partner.
Etta
knew that Eleanor hadn’t become a dragon snack. When they’d flipped a
coin and sent Eleanor in first, they’d made sure they could stay in
touch. Key could guard the entrance, and no signals could get out from
the interior. But nothing could stop Eleanor from sending messages, once
she’d found her way to Key’s immense computer database.
The miners’ reunion in the central computer hall was warm, but brief. They got right to business.
“There
are eight others, working in the stacks. I never have seen any proof
that Key eats people. But some are most ill-suited to work as
catalogers, and all wish to return to their own lives. Do you have
enough information?”
It wasn’t a query about Etta’s knowledge of the library or the captives.
“Enough for a full dozen. It wasn’t easy, El. Sorry it took so long.”
“Oh,
I’ve been happy enough here. I never knew I had a turn for research and
cataloging.” She cast a look at her partner. “Key doesn’t pay, but we
are fed, and it’s safe here. I’d only wish to be able to leave at times.
For vacations, and such.”
Etta grunted. She knew what Eleanor was driving at. It would require thought. Meanwhile, there were the other captives to free.
***
Key
wasn’t as startled as one would have thought, when all the captives
came to the exit in a line. Each offered a nugget of information, mostly
about the asteroids or a newly-discovered planet that hadn’t yet made
it into the databases. Key was delighted to gain the information.
Etta
and El were last in line. El gave the dragon a book. Key did a quick
search, humming a happy tune. New books had become extremely rare,
and—yes, this one was new! This time the dragon’s smile was
recognizable.
“I thank you. You are free to go.” Key watched as
Eleanor stepped through the doorway, and stopped to wait for Etta. “And
what do you have to offer?”
The human smiled, in a way Key didn’t much like. “Do you know my name?”
Key
huffed, remembering only at the last second not to scorch the visitor.
“Of course. You gave it on entrance. You are Etta Sant. That won’t do
for your release.” Key moved to block the exit.
“Oh, that was
just a test to see what I would need. Now I will lay down some terms.”
The human—Key thought she now looked unendurably smug—spoke for several
minutes.
“What makes you think I would agree to that?” Key said when the miner had finished.
“My name.”
“Your name?” Key was mystified.
“Georgetta Saint. You’ve heard of Saint George, I believe.”
Key recoiled from the miner. Saint George? The Dragonslayer? What did this woman think she was getting at?
“Oh,
don’t worry.” Etta was actually laughing. “I have no desire to slay a
dragon these days. Just admit I gave you information you didn’t have.
Then you can hire me and El as your assistant librarians, with a regular
salary and four weeks vacation a year, to start. We’ll keep the library
in order and recruit help when needed. In return, you can open the
library for wider use and the Galactic Federation won’t take steps
against you. They are thinking about it, you know.”
Key hadn’t known. This annoying human had twice pulled out surprises. There was really only one thing to do.
“You’re hired.”
“On our terms?”
“On
your terms,” Key huffed. “Return next week to take up your duties.” The
dragon’s natural desires forced it to add, “And can you bring some
Laspang Souchong when you come?”
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2015
If you want to look at some of my other stories, go
here.
###
And then there's the other big news: We have a release date for
Death By Trombone. It should (knock wood) go live on January 8th. Preorders are available at Amazon and
Smashwords.
Special deal: use the "Find My Books" link above and order direct from the author before Jan. 8 and receive a signed copy for only $12.00 US, shipping within US included (international shipping charged at cost).
JJ MacGregor is ready to relax into summer vacation. She just has to get through
Senior Prom, graduation, and a divorce hearing without going nuts. Then she
trips over a body behind the gym and life gets messy.
