Chapter 4
 
Anthony traversed his way the entire way back to the entrance, leaning heavily on his non broken leg, and panting from the effort. When he reached the entrance, his leg finally gave out, and he collapsed sideways (not for the first time) onto the stone floor. There he lay for a while, panting, and regaining his strength.
 
The glorious daydream that had fuelled his mind came back to him. Anthony Redwatch, famous scavenger, who saved the human race with his amazing discovery. Anthony Redwatch, saviour of the human race, finder of the Redwatch library (for he had already forgotten the name of said library and named it after himself). Anthony Redwatch, destroyer of the Inarin, who had raised the humans from the cities and led the final assault on the aliens who had attacked his world.
 
With that thought, Anthony heaved himself to his feet again, and stepped towards the staircase. It wound, up, up, up, so high Anthony was amazed at how he had survived. He finally saw light, and panting like a bull walrus in one of those nature films everyone was forced to watch, turned off his torch. Then, he cautiously peeked his head over the rim, and looked up. There was nothing in the sky but dreary clouds. He crawled out, and looked around. He saw where the hillock that marked Vinglen should be, but it was indistinguishable from the other hillocks that dotted the planet. It was so far away. Anthony groaned at the prospect of having to walk so far. Then, a gleam of metal caught his eye. He looked around, and saw T6’s prone form lying in the grass. Anthony hobbled up to it. It was lying on the ground, eyes blank and lifeless. He banged on T6’s back metal plate, and it fell off. Then, Anthony pressed a button inside his circuitboard. T6’s eyes glowed for just a second, and then there was a loud bang, and its eyes flashed out again.
 
Anthony swore loudly. The noise was swallowed quickly in the wind that had started to blow. He picked up the broken down little droid, and stuffed him under his arm. He would be able to make huge repairs to T6’s body when he became famous. T6 would be the best robot in the entire planet. Eyes gleaming, Anthony came to his feet, and started moving (or trudging) off.
 
After ages of walking, Anthony had to have a rest. He dropped T6, and collapsed. He was exhausted. His leg was throbbing harder, his head was aching, and the hillock didn’t seem to be getting any closer. But he had to get there. The sun was high in the sky, but it would come down eventually. And then there would be Inarin. There was something about the sun’s positioning that bothered him. He tried figuring it out, but gave up eventually, and dragged himself to his feet. Anthony started off towards Vinglen.
 
Finally, when Anthony felt he was going to drop dead from tiredness, and the sun was nearing the horizon, he reached the small hillock. Gasping in victory, he fell sideways for perhaps the 10th time today, and crawled the rest of the way to the concealed door. He pressed a button, and the door slid aside. Anthony crawled in, pushing T6 in front of him.
 
He misjudged the distance from the tunnel to the ladder, and T6 went tumbling down it as Anthony frantically scrambled to stop himself. He managed, and then climbed down the ladder to the elevator. In he staggered, as he stepped on his bad foot again. the elevator went ding! And Anthony went down, with T6 clutched like a child.
 
When they reached the bottom, Anthony hobbled out, and towards the door. But he didn’t get very far. 
‘You there!’ cried a voice from behind. ‘Stop, in the name of the council of Vinglen!’ Anthony turned, confused. Two Vinglen guards were standing behind him. He had been so tired, he hadn’t even noticed them. 
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ the one who had spoken before asked. He was standing on the left. Anthony screwed up his face in confusion. 
‘It’s been past the time the High council set for you!’ he said. ‘You had 9 hours. This is the second day you’ve been gone. We thought you had passed the time limit and just left.’ And it all came rushing back to him. Rubidium. Metal. Lead. 9 hours. And worst of all, banishment. The sun had been high in the sky, but it had been setting as he was running from the Inarin. Two days! Days! He was doomed.
 
‘Bu-but…I,’ Anthony said hopelessly. ‘I found something! The high council will want to hear this!’ ‘Oh sure,’ said the one on the left. 
‘What was it the other one said before she was banished?’ ‘Oh, she said she found something,’ the one on the right said. ‘Some sort of ancient civilisation! As if. She’s dead now obviously.’ 
‘And you will be too,’ the first to speak said maliciously. ‘Now, go! You’re banished. Vinglen has no use for useless people.’ Anthony nearly crumpled.
 
‘Can I at least stay the night?’ Anthony pleaded. ‘My legs broken, and my droid needs fixing!’ 
‘Awwwwwwwwwww,’ said the guards in unison. ‘Does wittle baby scavwengwer have bwoken leg?’ They laughed. 
‘You won’t be needing the droid where you’re going,’ said one. He took three steps forwards, snatched T6, and stepped back. ‘He’ll make lovely scraps.’ 
‘Hey! That’s mine!’ Anthony yelled. He stepped forwards, and fell into the other guard’s extended foot. He sprawled between them, and in unison, they grabbed his arms, and chucked him back into the lift.
 
‘Safe travels!’ one said, waving cheerily. ‘Don’t let the Inarin bite!’ said the other, likewise waving. The elevators shut, and Anthony’s fate was sealed. He had no droid. No food. No special equipment. And night was falling. The Inarin would come. And he would die. Yup. He was doomed.
 
Chapter 5
 
Anthony decided that he could at least stay the night in the hillock tunnel. It wasn’t like anyone would come to scavenge or do whatever other jobs people had. So, he pulled the useless metal scraps from his backpack, dumped them outside of the tunnel, went back in, and used the backpack as a pillow. Anthony lay awake for a long, long, long time, going over different plans he could use to survive. One by one he made them, and one by one they were discarded. Finally, after obsessing about a plan to somehow send himself to space and see whether there was food on the moon, he fell asleep.
 
Later, he woke up, slightly more refreshed than yesterday. Rubbing his eyes, he discovered something was digging into the side of his leg. He rolled, thinking it was a rock, but the thing was still there. Finally, he pushed his hand into his pocket, and drew out something wrapped in his jacket. It was the blue and gold badge. He had forgotten about it in all the craziness. What happened to that library was Anthony’s question. He knew he couldn’t find the answer in Sydney. But maybe if he was able to sneak back…
 
He knew they only posted guards on the elevator gates when someone was being banished. And if he waited till late afternoon, he could head off towards his quarters, get some better clothes, and see if the historian’s guild had any books on this library. He might also be able to lay low for a while. That would postpone his imminent demise. The only thing he couldn’t do was fix his leg. That was a shame, but it would take too long to mend, and if the guards threw him out in the middle of treatment, then his leg would be even worse off. That would mean he’d have to go out, get the metal, and hide.
 
Anthony heaved himself to his hands and knees, and crawled outside. He grabbed the metal, and put it all in his backpack. Then, he looked around for a suitable hiding place. About 100 meters away, he found a suitable hiding spot. It was a sizeable patch of tall lemongrass. He crawled through, surrounded by the scent of lemon, and lay there, gasping. There was a depression in the ground, not as full of grass as all around. He rolled into there.
 
He would have to wait for a while. The scavengers almost always came at 5 or under. The hillock door shut down at 5:30. If you were too late, then the Inarin got you. That was the conditions of the scavenger’s codes. It was a dangerous business. Anthony didn’t know when he fell asleep. But he woke when he heard a droning noise. He was awake instantly.
 
For a terrifying second, he thought that the Inarin had found him. Then, he recognised the sound. It was the droning noise of a windrunner engine. He relaxed. He’d just have to wait for when they all went in. The droning grew louder, but it was still quiet. They couldn’t all come one at a time, and too much noise would probably attract the Inarin. There was the muffled noise of conversation, and Anthony crept closer to hear.
 
‘—Wonder what happened to Anthony?’ came a strong and roughened voice. Anthony recognised it as the voice of the oldest scavenger, Tim Rugaskin. If the scavengers had had a leader, then Tim would probably be him. He had over 30 years of experience, starting from the age of 24. At nearly 60, he was still as fit and strong as if he had been 30 years ago, and he was still a scavenger. There were rumours that he had never failed a single assignment, and even though Tim himself laughed at them, he never contradicted them. His eyes were still full of laughter, even after countless near escapes from the Inarin, and after watching his comrades, one by one, fall to their deaths. He was a man to be respected, and feared.
 
‘I ‘eard from h’e guards,’ said another one. ‘He wa’ banished. Failed too many assignments ‘s rum’r.’ That was Owen Inling. Owen was a good chap, tall and gangly, and 5 years younger than Anthony. He was agreeable, and pretty much average at scavenging. But as he would constantly tell everyone else, scavenging was the only thing he could do properly. Anthony liked him.
 
‘He was always too full headed,’ came a sneering voice. Anthony winced. That was Winter Himalaya. Winter was one of the only three women scavengers, and she liked to make a big deal out of the fact. She was a devious one, and there were rumours that she had stolen from other scavengers to complete her assignments. Winter was the kind of woman who hated almost everything.
 
‘Shut yer trap,’ Owen said. ‘Anthony’s sa good chap. Never fast ‘nough though.’ 
‘Aye,’ Tim agreed. There was a loud scoffing noise, and the noise of the hillock door opening and sliding shut. 
‘And ther she goes,’ Owen muttered. ‘Ain’t she cheerful.’ 
‘We’d better get in too,’ Tim rumbled. ‘It’s approaching 5:30, and you know the council is strict about things like this.’ The hillock door opened again, then closed.
 
Anthony sighed. Well, now probably all the scavengers and half the city would know that Anthony Redwatch was banished, now that Winter was involved. He’d better move quickly once he was in and hope that the guards at the door were different to the two pairs that he had met while going out and trying to get in.
 
After waiting 30 seconds, Anthony went to the hillock door and pressed the button to get in. It opened, and then slid shut. Anthony was actually doing this. He was going to sneak into Vinglen, the 3rd largest underground city in all of earth, just to find out about this…what was it called? Oh yes, the Library of Alexandria, then maybe go to his room and have a good night sleep. Well, he could go to his room first. Maybe have a goodnight’s sleep, and then come out during midnight. Yes, that was a brilliant idea. He should do that. Anthony’s mind made up, he went to the elevator, and stepped in to go down.
 
Anthony stepped out to the corridor, and walked down it. He remembered his broken leg and beat up appearance, and quickly started panting. He managed to get a reasonable performance up of exhaustion (not really a performance actually, he was really bone tired) before he reached the steel doors. He pressed a button, and the doors slid open. Two guards stood on either side of the door, and they weren’t the ones he had seen before. One of them gave him a passing glance before turning back to her conversation with the other. Anthony hobbled past, and down the corridor. The first part of his plan was over. Now for the hard part.
 
Anthony walked quickly through the corridors, moving at a steady tu-tunk, tu-tunk, tu-tunk, until finally he reached his room. He opened the door, and looked inside. It was completely bare. There was absolutely nothing in sight except for a stripped mattress in one corner, and a small wooden desk with an electric lamp. All of his possessions were gone, probably given to the high authorities of Vinglen. Anthony swore quietly. They had no right to treat his room like this. They had no right! But it had happened. There was nothing he could do about it now. At least he had taken his most precious possessions with him on his scavenging trip. Anthony sighed, and walked over to the mattress. He flopped down onto it, let out a big whoosh of air, and lay back. And he was out like a light.

Chapter 6

Anthony woke with a start. He could hear voices outside. Anthony panicked. He bolted upright, and made a run for the small bathroom on one side. Anthony shut the door behind him, and sat panting. There was a window in the bathroom door, so that one could look out, but no one could look in. Anthony was glad for it now. He stood and looked out…and his stomach dropped.
 
He could see his backpack, in one shadowy corner. It was mostly indistinguishable… except for one of the straps. Anthony gave a silent groan, and was about to risk his hiding spot to get his backpack, when the door slammed open. The two guards that had so unceremoniously kicked him out walked in, boots scuffing long dirt lines all over his tidy floor. Anthony had to suppress a yell of rage. He wouldn’t be able to fight two trained guards of the city, and besides, he had a broken leg. But they had scuffed his perfect floor!
 
Behind them, face calm and impassive, hands behind his back, strode Tim. 
‘So, this is the scavenger’s hole?’ one of the guards asked. ‘Yes,’ Tim said shortly. ‘Why did you want me to bring you here?’ 
‘We got words from the high council,’ the other guard said, leering viciously. ‘Was that little scavenger a friend of yours?’ Tim didn’t reply. He was looking directly at the backpack strap. Then, his eyes flicked back to the guards.
‘Well,’ said the guard, after a short pause, ‘There’s rumour that he snuck back into this city.’ Tim twitched. It was a tiny movement, but the guard’s small malicious eyes caught the movement, and darted to stare at him. He grinned. 
‘Do you have any idea where he is?’ he asked. ‘Or why he’d come back?’ Anthony’s breath caught in his throat, as Tim stood stock still, not even moving.
‘No.’ One word. That was all Tim said. He looked at the guards. They stared back. Then, one of them shrugged. 
‘Just checking, is all,’ he said. They swaggered out.

Tim stood, hands behind his back, contemplating something. Then, he said, ‘You can come out now, Anthony. They’re gone.’ Anthony opened the door, and stepped out into his room. Tim showed no signs of surprise at seeing that Anthony was actually in the room. 
‘Go and do what you came to do,’ he said. Anthony opened his mouth, and Tim raised his hand. 
‘No, don’t tell me. Just go.’ Anthony nodded his head in thanks, and crouched to pick up his backpack, and slipped out the door.

Anthony sped through the corridors. It was late at night, he found from the clocks on the walls. The lights were all dimmed, but there was still enough to see by, and finally, Anthony reached the unmarked, unlabelled generally dingy door that marked the historian’s guild.

The historian’s room wasn’t a very impressive sight. Armchairs were placed higgledy-piggledy around the room, in a vague form of a circle. At the centre, there was a raised dais, with a podium. Anthony walked to the centre of the room, around the puffy chairs, all the way to the dais.
 
On the podium was a blackened screen. Cords with little cups at the ends hung from it. Anthony knew what to do. he’d seen things like this before. He picked up the cords, 5 in all, and attached them to various parts of his head. Instantly, the screen flared to life. An automated male voice slid smoothly into his mind.
 
‘What would you like to find?’ it said. Anthony thought, ‘the library of Alexandria.’ Two pages popped up. Both were labelled, the Library of Alexandria. One of them, however, had the familiar symbol of a skull in a book. Anthony thought about that one, and the automated voice spoke smoothly into his head again, and a huge Parthenon-like building showed up on the screen, with measurements on the sides. According to the map, the Library of Alexandria was at least 5 kilometres long, 5 wide, and 3 high!
 
‘The Library of Alexandria was established in 1349 by a mysterious cult in south America . Their goal was to gather all the knowledge of the entire world into one place, so they named themselves after the famous library of Alexandria, which established in Cairo, and burned down in a devastating fire. Over hundreds of years, they accumulated tomes of books, old scrolls, rare artifacts, and other things, almost never thought of. Their power was immense. They were privy to decisions that other people could only dream of, and their words carried much weight.
 
‘They had a leader, who they hid with tall tales and fantastical stories. No one knew exactly what the leader was. The librarians, as they called themselves, thought he was immortal, and could see the future. They thought he was the most powerful being in the entire world.
 
‘But whoever this High Priest was, he couldn’t save the Library of Alexandria. On September the 2nd, the library fell silent. When the government sent agents off to see where it had gone, they couldn’t find it. It had simply vanished into thin air. There were huge searches. People scoured the entire face of the earth to find it. But it was never found. And 7 years after, the Inarin attacked.’
 
The screen blinked out, and Anthony realized he had been leaning forward. He drew himself back hurriedly. So, something had happened to the library. Anthony tried to recall the date the librarian had named. What was it? Right, August 30th. And today was, if he was right, the night of September 1st. Tomorrow would be September 2nd, and then…it was going to happen. And if the library was destroyed, then they would most likely die before they could find a way to destroy the Inarin in that giant library. So he had go back and stop whatever had happened from happening. But—
 
‘Finally,’ came a voice from behind Anthony. ‘You have come.’

Chapter 7

The voice sounded ancient, and cracked and creaked like dry wood. Anthony whirled around, and saw behind him an ancient man. His eyes were a faded blotched blue, clouded by age, and his skin was crinkled with wrinkles. He had a gnarled cane in his left hand, and his right hand trembled as it pointed directly at him. He was wearing a green puffy jacket, that engulfed his entire frame, and a pair of baggy yellow pants. His head was bald, with two tufts sticking out, one on the left and one on the right.
 
‘Who are you?’ Anthony asked. The man was the oldest man that Anthony had ever seen, and he was probably the oldest man that was in Vinglen, judging by his appearance. The man laughed. It was an old creaky cackle that went on and on, until he started hacking and coughing like he would never stop. Just as Anthony was getting worried, the man stopped.
 
‘Who I am isn’t important, son,’ he wheezed. ‘You’ve come now. I assume you have the badge?’ Anthony gaped. 
‘How do you—’ he started.
‘How I know doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘You have the badge?’ Anthony nodded dumbly.
‘Good,’ the man clasped his hands on his staff with both hands. ‘I—I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my time kid. And some I can’t fix. But you can. Take this.’ And the man pulled a rock out of his pocket. It looked…like a normal rock. Sure, it was probably the smoothest rock that Anthony had ever seen, and it was quite a strange colour, a dark shining red, but it looked actually like a rock.
 
‘Take it!’ The man rasped. ‘I went to that library. I marvelled at its giant collection. And I stole something. I thought it was small, thought it wouldn’t change anything. But then I came back to the present, and looked on the world, the apocalypse that I now knew that had created, that I had birthed. And the time medallion vanished in my hands. I couldn’t fix it. But you can. I can’t keep it! You must fix my moment of idiocy! The fate of the worlds depends on it!’ and he thrust the rock at Anthony with surprising force. Anthony’s eyes remained fixed on the rock. He had to take it. If this man was right, and he was the only one who could do it, then it was literally the only thing he could do right now. He was banished, and he was going to go back to the library anyway, right? Anthony, mind made up, reached, and took the rock from the man. A pulse exploded from the rock, and Anthony’s eyes widened as a voice whispered straight into his head.
 
Bring me to the Library of Alexandria…take me to the sanctuary of the Keystones…all shall be well again… It was an ancient voice, a powerful voice, and a voice that no one in their right minds would ignore. Anthony staggered as the voice faded from his mind. He put weight on his broken leg, and expected it to collapse underneath him. But instead, the leg held out underneath him. It wasn’t broken! It had been fixed. The man gave a great sigh.
‘Go then,’ the man said. ‘Fix my mistake. I hope you will be a better man than I was.’ And Anthony gasped as the old man simply sank to the ground. Anthony ran to him, but the old man was already dead. Anthony gathered himself.

Anthony simply had to go to the past. The voice—the rock—had told him. And if there was any chance that Anthony could save the world, then he should do it. No one would believe him if he told them, so he was the only one for the job. WHAT WAS HE KIDDING? HE WAS JUST A SCAVENGER! HE COULDN’T DO THIS! But he had to. If he saved the library, then they would be able to stop the Inarin. Anthony, mind finally made up, pulled his backpack higher on his back. He reached into his backpack, and grabbed the badge. This time, Anthony braced for the pain, but it didn’t seem to hurt as badly. Then he was off, hurtling through the vortex of colours, more colours than you could count. And this time, he could hear the voices.

‘But if you’re not him, then who are you?’
‘The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions.’
‘But he has the Keystone!’
‘You know, I really must thank you.’
And then came a chilling voice, a voice that sounded so cold and ruthless, so inhuman that it had to be an Inarin.
‘Surrender or die. There’s no other alternative. We will conquer this planet whether you are alive or dead.’

And then Anthony was stumbling out of the vortex. He fell down onto the ground, panted, and the badge flew out of his hands. He lay there for some time. Then, a voice shook him out of his stupor.
‘You’re not him.’ Anthony looked up, and jumped back as he saw the woman who had tried to arrest him last time.
‘Calm down,’ she laughed. ‘You’re not him. You can’t be him. He’d be almost 300 years old now. There’s no chance he could have found an elixir of immortality to top it all off.’ Anthony eyed her cautiously.
‘But if you’re not him,’ the woman mused, ‘then who are you?’ Anthony felt a sudden shock. Those were the exact words that he’d heard as he sped through the vortex.
‘Are you mute?’ the woman asked. ‘Who…are…you?’ Anthony finally completely came back to his senses.

‘I’m Anthony Redwatch,’ he said, standing up and offering his hand. ‘I’m from 2524.’ the woman stared at the hand uncomprehendingly. She held up her hand and sort of half high-fived half handshaked Anthony’s hand.
‘I’m Julia Anders,’ she said. ‘So you’re not Zinchovich.’
‘Who’s Zinchovich?’ Anthony asked. ‘I think I should know him, but I don’t.’
‘Oh Zinchovich,’ Julia said. There was a new cold edge to her voice. ‘He’s no one important. He simply murdered the library and the rest of the world.’

‘Murdered a library?’ Anthony asked. He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice. ‘How could someone murder a library?’
‘Yes, he murdered the library,’ Julia sighed. ‘He came like you did. Three hundred years ago, he just appeared out of nowhere. Said he travelled through time, and that the future was horrible. Begged for our help. Well, we couldn’t help him. This library wasn’t a fortune telling tent, and we’d never heard about these Inarin! Anyway, he grew quite malicious. Said if we wouldn’t help him we’d regret it. And we did. He stole the Keystone of the library.’
‘What’s the Keystone?’ Anthony asked.

‘Oh, it’s just the heart of the library,’ Julia said. ‘The library is a conscious being. It is the centre of the universe. If it dies, then the entire universe will collapse and be destroyed. And the Keystone is the centre of the library. It’s its heart. The library can’t live without it. And that filthy, despicable, evil man stole the library’s heart! The library’s been dying ever since. Just 100 years ago, it shrank into itself. It hasn’t talked to anyone for years. The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions. But while its still alive, we’ve been trying to find a replacement for the Keystone. No one’s found it yet though.’ Anthony had internally gasped as he heard the words, ‘The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions.’ They were exactly the same as the second sentence. A sudden thought came to him.

‘Could this be the Keystone?’ Anthony asked. He fished around in his backpack, and pulled the strange rock that the man, no, that Zinchovich, had given him. Julia’s eyes widened.
‘Yes, that’s it!’ Julia gasped with surprise. ‘How did you get it?’
‘Zinchovich gave it to me,’ Anthony said. ‘He seemed regretful about his actions, but he said he couldn’t fix them. So he gave it to me since I had already gone to the past.’ Julia scoffed.
‘Zinchovich? Regretful?’ Julia said. ‘Well, I guess there’s a first for everything. But this…this changes everything! We can save the library!’
‘And if we do,’ Anthony asked hesitantly, ‘do you think you could just check to see if there is anything about the Inarin in it?’
‘Inarin?’ Julia asked.
‘In the future,’ Anthony said, ‘an alien race has attacked earth. We’ll all die if they keep it up.’ Julia nodded seriously.
‘We can try,’ she said. And that was enough for Anthony.
‘Then let’s go save the library,’ he said.

Chapter 8

Julia started running, and Anthony ran after her. They had been in some sort of office room, and when they ran out, there were doors and hallways branching off everywhere. Anthony had to look around to find Julia, and he ran after her. Being a scavenger had made him fit, and he caught up to her easily. Then they opened up onto one of those balconies that Anthony had seen from his first visit.

Anthony looked down, and felt a sensation of vertigo as he saw that they were at the top floor. The bottom was just a circle the size of a basketball. Anthony swore, and tore himself away from the edge quickly. Julia was stepping through two doors in the wall. Anthony followed her quickly, and got in before the door closed behind him. It was an old fashioned elevator. Julia pressed a button, and the elevator started trundling downwards.

‘Where are we going?’ Anthony asked, after a few minutes had passed in silence.
‘To see the head librarian,’ Julia said. ‘We need permission to enter the sanctuary of the Keystones.’
‘Wait,’ Anthony held up his hands. ‘I thought you said that there was only one keystone.’
‘No!’ Julia said. ‘The one you apparently have is the Heart Keystone. There are others, but none are as important to the library as the Heart Keystone, like your spleen or kidneys aren’t more important as your heart.’ They trundled downwards for a few more minutes.

‘How long is this going to take?’ Anthony asked.
‘Only a few more minutes,’ Julia sighed. ‘I asked whether they could make the elevator faster, and put seats and buckles on the sides so you could hold on. But they refused. Such boring oldies.’ Anthony could sympathise. Finally, the elevator made a loud DING! Noise.
‘We’re here,’ Julia said. She jumped up from the ground, and smoothed her blue jacket. Anthony thought she looked nervous. The elevator opened up on the book floor. Anthony followed Julia down the hallways of books. She weaved through different aisles and corridors confidently, and Anthony marvelled at the fact that she had seemed to memorise the entire route. Finally, they came to a nondescript wooden door.

Julia raised her hand, and knocked. There was no sound from inside for a minute. Then Julia knocked again.
‘Oh, for Cairo’s sake! Come in then!’ came a weary voice from inside. Julia rolled her eyes at Anthony, and went in. They entered a small study room. Bookshelves covered all the walls, and most of the floor too. A desk and chair were shoved to one side of it, and a man sat in the centre of the bookish chaos.

The man was old, with his skin wrinkled, and balding. He was tall, and looked quite strong. He wasn’t hunched like some other men that were as old as he was. His eyes, probably once shone with mirth, were now slightly clouded. He wore half-moon spectacles, and a black coat. Right now, his face showed a very irritated expression. And Anthony recognised him. His eyes grew slightly wider. The man looked exactly like Councillor Edwards. For a second, the man met his expression. There was a cold cunning there, a quick ruthlessness. And then it was gone, so quickly Anthony wasn’t sure it had been there in the first place, replaced by benevolent geniality. What on earth was he doing here? Did Councillor Edwards get a time travelling device in the future? Was this his great-great-great-grandfather? Or was he…no, he couldn’t be.

He was surrounded by half a dozen open books, and a pile of paper. As Anthony watched, the man slid his eyes from them, and shot back and forth along one of the books, before scribbling frantically on one of the sheets of paper.

‘Well?’ He said, after neither Anthony nor Julia spoke. ‘What have you two come to bother me about?’
‘Well,’ Julia began hesitantly. ‘Mr. Nellion, Anthony here—’
‘Anthony? Who’s Anthony?’ Councillor Edwards—Mr. Nellion—asked sharply.
‘This is Anthony,’ Julia said, gesturing at Anthony. Anthony held his hand out.
‘I’m Anthony Redwatch,’ Anthony said. Mr. Nellion reached his hand out, and gripped Anthony’s in a vice-like grip. Anthony tried not to grimace.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Mr. Nellion said, and let go of Anthony’s hand. Anthony gasped in relief. ‘Looking for a job here? Well—’
‘I’m actually from the future,’ Anthony interrupted, ‘And I’ve brought—’

‘From the future?’ Mr. Nellion said. His eyes narrowed. ‘Jolly ho! Why didn’t you say before? That’s excellent. We have a nice little job for futurists. GUARDS!’
‘Wait, I have a—’ Anthony tried.
‘Shut up,’ Mr. Nellion snarled. His right hand was still moving, writing on the piece of paper. ‘I know your kind, Mr. Andrew Redwatch. Well I won’t let this library fall to any more of you future people.’ A file of guards came marching through the door.
‘But he has the Keystone!’ Julia shouted desperately. ‘Anthony show them!’ Anthony felt another lurch as Julia said those words he’d heard.

Then, Anthony riffled desperately through his backpack, and pulled at the Keystone. He yanked it out, and handed it to the man. Mr. Nellion looked at it, his face inscrutable. Then, he tucked it in his jacket.
‘That is for me to decide,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll have a brilliant time in the dungeons before we decide judgement.’ Anthony struggled, but the guards were upon him in a moment, sending paper flying. Anthony went limp as he realised escape was impossible. He let himself be dragged off.

They escorted him to the lift, and pressed another button on the dashboard. The lift made its slow trundling way down, and Anthony stood in the guard’s grasp. Finally, they reached the level, and the guards took him down a long corridor, to a metal door. One of them opened the door, and the others threw him in. the door slammed behind him. Anthony staggered to his feet, and looked at his surroundings.

He was trapped in a large room, completely made of smooth metal. Right at the top of the 5-meter-roof was a metal grill, most likely for ventilation, but too high to reach. Anthony sighed. Then, he reached into his backpack, and pulled out a stunner bomb. He placed it on the lock, and pressed a button. Nothing happened. It didn’t start ticking. It didn’t shine blue. A smiley face didn’t show up on the black screen at the front and stick its tongue out. And most importantly, it didn’t explode. And then Anthony realised. They were in the past. Stunner bombs didn’t exist yet! Anthony screamed, and banged on the door. He was trapped.

Then he remembered the badge. If he travelled into the future, and then moved to travel back into the past, he’d be out of the room in no time! He searched in his jacket, and then remembered. He’d dropped the badge when he came into this world. So he couldn’t do that. The full enormity of the situation clamped down on him like Mr. Nellion’s hand. He was trapped in the past. He couldn’t change the future. And something was about to happen to the library, that Anthony could only guess at. And then he remembered the cruel cold voice. Anthony had a horrible feeling he knew what happened to the library. But he could do nothing about it. They were doomed.

Chapter 9

Anthony sat against the wall. After prowling around the entire room to make very sure that there was actually no exit available, there was absolutely nothing he could do to make himself useful. And so he sat. And waited. And nothing happened.

After what seemed like an age, Anthony heard footsteps approaching. He had begun to doze, but when he heard those footsteps he shot awake in an instant. He crept to one side of the door, and prepared to spring. The footsteps stopped right in front of the door. Anthony waited tensely. Then the door creaked open. Anthony sprang…and was meet with an vicelike grip of steel wrapped around his throat. Mr. Nellion lifted him into the air. His face was quite pleasant, in fact, it was rather cheerful.

‘I do hope you won’t try that again,’ he said conversationally. He let his grip slacken, and Anthony fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his throat. Mr. Nellion took no notice.
‘You know, I really must thank you,’ Mr. Nellion said. Again, Anthony felt a chill run down his spine as he heard those words. ‘For bringing me the keystone, I mean. Without your most helpful intervention, which I’m sure was supposed to help the rest of the people in the future, our movement would have failed most horribly. I assume our invasion is successful, by the fact that you recognise me. Well, even if we had succeeded, we might never had gotten the keystone. But now we have it, and we’re sure no pesky little creature like you is going to bring one here, our plans can proceed as, well, planned. I’m quite thankful you know. But, alas, we can’t have you going off to the past of the future which is our future, to get the keystone from Zinchovich. So, sadly, I’m going to have to kill you.’ And without warning, he threw himself upon Anthony.

Anthony yelled in surprise. He had just gotten up from the ground, and Mr. Nellion threw him against the wall. Anthony spun to the side just in time to dodge a devastating punch thrown by Mr. Nellion. It smashed clean through the metal. As Mr. Nellion heaved at his hand, Anthony threw himself upon the big man’s back. Wrapping his legs around his chest, He battered at Mr. Nellion’s head and shoulders. Mr. Nellion, finally having freed his hand, spun in circles, and finally threw Anthony off. As Anthony went flying, Mr. Nellion pursued him. And his hand…

Mr. Nellion’s hand was a giant stinger, bigger than Anthony’s head. It looked sharper than the plasma cutters that the underground cities used to cut the huge sheets of metal to shelter from the lava, and was dripping with some sort of acid. As Anthony watched in horror, both hands melted and morphed into deadly looking pincers. A tail grew out from behind his back, and it ended with that giant stinger.

‘Lovely creatures, scorpions,’ Mr. Nellion said slightly breathlessly. His glasses had fallen off when Anthony had landed a blow to his nose, and the nose was streaming blood. ‘Deadly as anything for anything smaller than them. And in this case, you are most certainly smaller than me.’ And the tail whipped forwards to slam down towards Anthony. He dived away, and the tail sunk deep in the metal.

Anthony’s mind was struggling to comprehend what was happening. This Mr. Nellion…was he an Inarin? We’re all of them like this? How had they gotten agents in? The Inarin Invasion had only started 2268. This was impossible. And yet, the man—the creature—the Inarin— was still steadfastly approaching. His face was morphing too. The cuts and bruises were healing up. Anthony groaned in his mind. The Inarin could heal itself. He had so far escaped much injury. A few cuts, multiple bruises, and he was fit. He could dodge most of the Inarin’s blows. But he was tiring, and the creature could tell.

‘It’s too late for you, Redwatch,’ Mr. Nellion grinned. His face stretched unnaturally in that movement. ‘You know it, I know it. Stop fighting. Let me kill you. You’ll have peace.’ And Anthony found himself believing the man. NO! STOP IT! He thought desperately. But you won’t have to worry when you’re dead, said another, small voice, growing slightly louder each time. And in his moment of indecision, the Inarin pounced. He sprung, face stretched in that unnatural smile, and pinned each arm to the ground with those vicious pincers. Anthony screamed as he felt one of his arms splinter and crack under the force.

‘Say goodbye to life, Redwatch,’ the Inarin said. The pincer sped down…and then stopped. The Inarin looked surprised for a moment. He looked down at his chest, where a blade protruded out. Then, he simply collapsed onto the ground, dead. Behind him, stood Julia, a bloody knife shaking in her grip. She held out her hand, face white.

‘I can’t believe it,’ was all Julia seemed to be able to manage. ‘What was that? Mr. Nellion always seemed so nice. This couldn’t be him.’
‘How long was Mr. Nellion here?’ Anthony grunted, taking Julia’s hand, and getting to his feet. His left arm was broken, that was for certain. His right arm was just sprained.
‘He’s been here 20 years at least,’ Julia said. ‘That couldn’t be him.’
‘Well, whoever that was, that was no human,’ Anthony said, eyeing the corpse. ‘My guess is that that’s an Inarin.’
‘You mean…’ Julia couldn’t finish.
‘The invasion starts today,’ Anthony said grimly. And an alarm started blaring.