THIRTEEN of THIRTY-TWO
*NOTE – Ladies and gentleman, it is I, TheManFromMudos! That's right, I'm back, and my goodness, it's been a long time. Do you know when the last chapter of Xavier was posted? October. That's right, October. And I can only apologise that it's been so long. But you know, life often gets in the way of your plans, and I just haven't been able to keep writing for quite some time. Thank you for your concerns about my wellbeing during my hiatus, by the way. No, I wasn't dead, and if I was, I'm not anymore. No, I'm alive and well, and it's high time I came back to FanFiction to finish what I've begun. So, here you go. The moment that you have been waiting for, for four long months. Matthew is back. Xena is back. Katie is back. So, as always, read on and enjoy. It's 'Xavier'. THANK YOU!*
*FURTHER NOTE – Before you say anything, I am aware of the hilarious irony of the first four words of this chapter, but please do bear in mind that it is supposed to take place immediately after the events of Chapter Twelve. THANK YOU!*
A short while later, I was in the van, driving down the winding country lanes between Slast and Tinsworth. The journey was filled with tension, despite the fact that I was the only one present, as Katie's words continued to ring out in my mind. How could she do this? How could she have even thought for one second about doing this? She knew full well the struggle that I had been through for Xena. The mutiny and desertion on the Archimedes. The massacre caused by our own son aboard the Constantinople, a registered medical space station, and the eventual destruction of said space station. Not to mention the fact that, as a very literal illegal alien, we had basically trafficked her onto the Angelica. The amount of times I had stuck my neck out for Xena, and Katie had the cheek, the nerve, the sheer audacity, to suggest that I should throw that all away, for her. Alright, she didn't explicitly put it like that, but how else was I supposed to take it? What else was I supposed to think? And while it was pretty far-fetched, I couldn't help but keep thinking that it was very convenient she decided to mention this not long after Xena became ill…
The rest of the journey passed pretty smoothly. I tried to push my apprehensions about Katie to the back of my mind. After all, there were far more important things to think about right now. And I wasn't talking about those errands, either. Oh, no. I was thinking about the library. When we first arrived in Tinsworth a few weeks ago, I remember driving past a public library. It was a reasonably sized establishment, and one which I was sure would provide me with my first clue as to who was behind these mysterious disappearances. It was also right next to a huge supermarket, wherein I could complete one of the many delightful 'errands' that Katie had cast upon me. I sighed heavily then, as I began to think about the future. Was this going to be my life from now on? Shopping? Cleaning? In a few years time, the daily school run? I found myself longing to go back to the days before all of this. Just me and my crewmates, sailing off into deep space, without a care in the world. Nathan, Bradley… Cara. Hell, even Ryan and Alan were occasionally agreeable. And Archie… I wonder what his fate was. Had the Archimedes been used in the evacuation of Earth in 2325? Was it still out there now, sailing under a new banner, served by a new crew, who had no idea of the horror that once unfolded there? Or had it been left for dead, abandoned in the shipyards, gathering rust, until it finally fried along with the rest of the planet and its' unfortunate remaining inhabitants?
Funnily enough, these thoughts did little to elevate my mood, and by the time I finally reached the outskirts of Tinsworth, I was feeling pretty down. But could you blame me? For me, this felt like retirement. All the excitement and action I'd been through, only to end it by spending the rest of my days driving a beaten-up van between my house and the supermarket. What a life… Anyway, it took just a few more minutes after this to reach the town centre, and soon enough, I was pulling the van into a parking space in a huge supermarket car park. I stepped out, slamming the door shut behind me (fortunately, we'd got a replacement key since arriving, so I could actually shut the door without locking myself out now), and drearily made my way over to the automatic doors which welcomed me, along with countless other people who appeared equally dissatisfied with life in general, into the building. Now, at this point, I began some serious, pedal to the metal, extreme shopping. Sadly, it was ultimately no more interesting than regular, uneventful, life-draining shopping. For this reason, I won't bother you with the details. After all, you came here to read about aliens, didn't you? About mystery, excitement, and adventure? Well, I'm sorry that my life doesn't interest you. It doesn't particularly thrill me, either, you know. Fortunately, once I'd finally finished the agonising shopping, it was at last time to go to the library, which relatively speaking would be a roller coaster ride for me.
Now, you might think that a worldly gentleman such as myself had been to every library in the system twice, and read hundreds, nay thousands, of books. But sadly, you'd be wrong. In actuality, I was not a frequent library-goer. This was partly due to the fact that I'd spent most of my life in space, aboard various mining or seeding vessels, where, surprisingly, there isn't much call for a library. It was also partly due to the fact that this was the twenty-fourth century, and there weren't really any libraries to go to, as almost nobody actually read physical books these days. Not when you could download the entire works of Shakespeare in a single instant on any mobile device. But therein lay the problem. Because, you see, I was not in possession of any mobile device. I didn't own a phone. I didn't have a tablet. I'd never had an e-watch, glasses, earpiece, bracelet, necklace, headband, ring, or any of the other ridiculous 'smart' devices that you could purchase these days. I didn't see the appeal, to be honest. Home computers have always been the way to go, if you ask me. Sadly, I didn't own one of those, either. And so, in my desperate, tech-less quest for information, the library would have to do.
As I approached the entrance to the library, I took a moment to stand back and admire it. It was a tremendous piece of architecture, to be sure. Beautiful white stone walls, towering marble pillars, vast arched windows. Sometimes it was easy to forget that all of these grand buildings, all of this brilliant architecture and, indeed, the entirety of this country, was contained within the walls of an enormous space ship. I gazed up at the sky as I walked slowly towards the huge oak doors at the front of the building, squinting to try and make out the faint outline of the ceiling, some twelve miles above my head. Alas, I couldn't see it, my vision obscured by the blinding artificial sunlight which rained down from above, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. I simply sighed, in awe of it all. Then, I looked down again, just in time to avoid walking straight into a marble pillar to the left of the double doors which lead into the library reception. Stepping around the thick slab of stone, I walked towards one of the doors and pushed it open, before crossing the threshold into the enormous building. And do you know what met my eyes as soon as I walked in? Books. Lots and lots of books.
I stood there for a moment, mouth agape as I stared, bewildered, into the vast expanse of the library. The walls around me were completely obscured by shelf after shelf, stacked to the ceiling with books both old and new. There must have been several hundreds of thousands in this very room, and this was just the main gallery. If this was a small, local library, then I could only begin to imagine the sheer size of one in the centre of Ike. Light beamed into the room through a huge ceiling of ornately decorated glass panes, as well as the odd window occasionally peering from between the densely packed shelves. Down on the floor of the huge room, tables and chairs were dotted around, many of which were already occupied by the well-versed, well-educated, or just plain curious citizens of the town. A few doors jutted out from between the shelves near the back of the room, which presumably lead to other sections of the library. But before any of that, barely a dozen yards from the grand entrance doorway, was a desk. A long, windowed desk, behind which sat a middle-aged gentleman, who I assumed was a librarian. I approached the desk silently, hoping to ask of him some assistance.
"Good morning, sir." The man said warmly, looking up from his book as I approached. "How can we help you today?"
"Well, I…" I began, but hesitated as I realised that I wasn't actually sure what I was looking for. I'd come all this way without even thinking about where I was going to start. Should I research similar cases from the past? Should I try to find out more about the ship itself? Neither of these would actually help me to find out who was behind all of this. Then I thought back to what Anne, the little old woman in the shop, had told me yesterday. She said that her friend's grandson had seen his father being dragged away in the middle of the night by men in blue hazard suits. That was my starting point. I had to find out who those people worked for. And I knew just how to do it.
"Yes, could you direct me to your technology section, please?" I asked hurriedly.
"Of course, sir." The man replied kindly. "Section Six, through the left door at the end of the main gallery. Shelves 0 to 39 for Technological History, 40 to 79 for Technology in Practice, 80-119 for Innovators in Technology, 120 t-"
"That's what I'm looking for." I interrupted, eager to avoid listening to every single category within the section. "Thanks very much".
"Not at all, sir." The man smiled. "Feel free to stay in the library to read, or take books out if you so wish. Just ensure that you check them out at the front desk before you leave." I thanked him again for his help, and then walked away, moving further into the sea of literature which surrounded me. 'Section Six', I said to myself quietly as I walked towards the door in the upper left corner of the huge room. Sure enough, above the huge slab of ornate wood was a plaque which read 'Section Six – Technology'. I pushed the heavy door aside and stepped through the wide entryway into a room much smaller than the main gallery, albeit significantly large in itself. The design of the room was almost identical to that of the main gallery, although there was no glass in the ceiling, and far fewer tables and chairs. I walked silently across the room, reading the numbers of each shelf as I passed. The term 'shelf' was something of a misnomer, though, as each one was actually an entire stack of shelves, numbered 000.1, 000.2, 000.3, and so on. Soon, I reached Shelf 80, behind which were Shelves 81-89, and after which the numbers continued to climb. I looked up in awe at the tall bookcase before me, which must have contained a few hundred books by itself. Quite where I was going to begin, I was unsure.
Stepping around the bookcase, I wandered over to the one behind it, numbered 'Shelf 81'. Again, several hundred books filled each shelf, and none of them particularly stood out. That is, except, for one. As I looked up at the towering set of bookshelves, I noticed one particular book was at least three inches thick, and jutted out from the others on the shelf considerably. I reached out to pull the huge encyclopaedia away from its less impressive counterparts, and read the words imprinted in gold leaf along its spine. The Companies of Tomorrow. The front cover read the same, along with a banner which said 'A Comprehensive Guide to the Largest Names in Technology'. The cover also bore the logos of no less than six interplanetary tech giants, namely Kovacs, Weyland-Yutani, the JMC, the MTA, Ashbridge Industries and N.X. Tulmorian. These were commonly referred to as the 'Big Six', and between them, they pretty much ran everything, everywhere. The book was clearly outdated, however, as I'd heard that Weyland-Yutani was practically non-existent after the trillion-dollar lawsuits which ensued after the Earth disaster. In this situation, however, the book seemed a perfect start.
I opened the book and flicked back several dozen pages, stopping at page 162. 'Montreal Technical Association', the title read, along with the sub-heading: 'Canadian Healthcare for the Entire Galaxy'. Below this, there was a brief description of the history of the MTA, and a small index which listed the company's various divisions and departments. I flicked further in, and landed on a page entitled: 'Neolith Xerxes Tulmorian – Russian Steel, Russian Tech, Russian Engineering'. Again, this page seemed to be the first of a separate section of the book, solely dedicated to NX Tulmorian. One last time, I flicked deeper still, and soon found a page which bore the words: 'The Weyland-Yutani Corporation – Anglo-Japanese Titan of Aerospace Engineering'. I had to chuckle at just how incorrect this phrase now was. Weyland-Yutani was once a household name. Everybody knew someone who worked for them. And now… well, let's just say that the illustrious founder of Weyland Industries probably never imagined that his company would one day be so despised. Or maybe he did, who are we to know? Regardless, this entire section of the book was now effectively obsolete. But that didn't mean that it wasn't useful…
After a few long moments of silence, I slowly closed the book, and carefully read its front cover once again. I sighed heavily, wondering if I really was getting myself in too deep. I mean, really. If one of these companies was actually behind this, who was I to bring them down? Me, one man, against a trillion-dollar interplanetary conglomerate? I couldn't keep Xena safe from one crazed ex-employee with a grudge to bear, let alone take on one of the biggest names in human history. And now I had Xavier to worry about, not to mention Katie and Amanda. What if this led me down a path I didn't want to tread? What if they were hurt, or taken? What if I was killed, and I couldn't protect them? I tried to push these thoughts from my mind, but I simply couldn't. I stared blankly into the golden lettering along the spine of the book, and thought for a moment about whether I was doing the right thing. After several long moments, I reached a decision. I turned away from the huge case of books before me, and I walked back out into the main gallery. The decision I made that day would have consequences, let me tell you. But I made it, and that was that. I left the library a few minutes later. And I took that book with me.