Play@YSDC

Lionel finds the Tome of Ibn'Kha in the conveniently unlocked glass cabinet of the Rare Books Collection of the Benford Library. The cover appears to have been cut from the skin of a scaled reptile and the interior pages are loose leaf and hand-written. There is something nerve-wracking about touching the cover in order to take it out of the book case. It is obviously quite important yet ... there is something about this whole library that is wrong. The glass cabinet is obviously alarmed, yet left unlocked. Other than two other people briefly met, no one is in the library, and no one is paying them any attention.

Lionel examines the alarm system to see what era it belongs in. "You don't see too many of these in this day and age," he says. "Seems awfully modern. It doesn't seem to be active at any rate. Perhaps it's only on your end and not on mine, which would explain why I was able to remove this." He shows Louie the book and holds it out to him. "I believe this is the tome you're looking for. I wonder if you can take it now. Well, now that we've found it we can discuss what you lot have experienced and what the next step is." He looks around for a quiet alcove.

Louie finds that the book crosses easily into his hands. The alarm system is most certainly far removed from the historical technology of World War II. There is a window seat on the balcony that has a nice, long couch and two arm chairs facing it.

-Now that he has the book, can he resolve whateaver is the problem?

As Louie looks at the book a memory leaps into his mind. His face turns pale white as he turns to the Doctor. You need to get out of the library now!! This book, and the thief who took it, were destroyed during the robbery in an air raid during World War II. The building you are in is about to be destroyed. Turning to the others of his time Louie shoos them out. There is no telling what will happen here....we need to leave as well. As he is leaving he yells back to the Doctor. If there is anything in here that can help I'll contact you. I have the means.

"Contact Sarah too if you can," calls Lionel as Louie walks away. "Tell her everything I've told you and let her know that I'm all right." He looks around for the nearest exit. "Quickly, Agnes, we must go! It's still daytime, and I thought daylight air raids were done with by now, but he must know what he's talking about. Something's going to happen here. I'm just not sure exactly what."

-Why don't we meet in a public place like a church or something? Let's go now.

[I don't think we're splitting up yet. All of us are heading for the nearest exit, so we might as well stick together and talk some more along the way.]



"Considering all the damage the Germans are causing, we can't be sure if any particular building will still be there," says Lionel as he quickly follows Louie and the others to the exit. "Except for Mercy Cross, of course. Perhaps we should head there next. Let's stay together as long as we can. Is there anything else any of you can tell us while we can still talk?"

Louie gets a distant look in his eyes as he thinks about all that has happened. He shakes his head slightly to clear it and answers the Doctor. Well most you know from talking to Ronald, and Brianna. Only from my perspective I was saving their lives, not betraying them. If I had betrayed them maybe things would be back to normal by now. Betraying Brianna, and sacraficing her to the lake was supposed to....Louie stops and thinks of the best wording to use...appease the spirits below. I was the betrayer....that was my job, but I wasn't strong enough. I loved Brianna like she was my own child. Her parents died in the crash that burned her, and she was chosen because of that. I was to lull her into loving me, and then betray her by sacrificing her to the lake. But I loved her more than I thought I could, and I couldn't do it. It was the only thing I could do...he trails off for a moments as he wipes a tear from his eye. He thinks about Brianna, and his heart breaks that she thinks he could ever hurt her.

Just when you think he wasn't going to talk again he picks his story back up. I put on my black robe and wandered the halls of the hospital looking for people who might need help. I helped save some people...who are all dead now....I think. That's around the time that I ran into Sarah. She to was trying to help people....you would have been proud. We parted ways and I left the hospital.

I was driving around in the ash for what seemed forever. It's kind of like the Gunslinger in those Steven King novels. Time just didn't seem to function properly...The world seemed to have moved on is what they said in the books...or something like that. by what you said you've done much more than me since this has all started. I think that might explain it. It's like in those books we keep jumping from reality to reality, and time to time, only we don't have doors, and don't control it ourselves.

Louie looks at the Doctor and shrugs. Anyways...I fazed out of that realty, and had a head on collision with Jill and him....Louie points at Charlie with a look of disgust. And now we are here. He finishes his story, and hangs his head as he thinks more about Brianna.

"You did the right thing," says Lionel. "I also love Brianna like she was my own daughter, and it broke my heart when she was taken away from us. Appeasing those spirits you speak of would not have helped anyway. They would only want more, and more, and more. This war is a perfect illustration of the dangers of appeasement. Evil must be confronted and defeated, or it will only grow stronger. I thank you again for rescuing Sarah, and I am extremely proud of her. I told her as much the last time I spoke to her. She told me about the things that happened in the hospital when she called me, and you can rest assured you've saved at least one person - three if you count Brianna and Ronald as well. Sarah and Brianna are so much alike. I think it would really help both of them if they could meet each other."

-Well if we managed to save the future, at least one future, since it's all so confusing, maybe it happens. I'm curious of knowing your daughter. What age is she... was... when you leaved her, since none of you is still born in my time...

"Sarah is thirty years old, considerably older than you are," says Lionel, eager to talk about his daughter. "In spite of the age difference, I'm certain you two would get on famously. I do hope you get to meet her one day. Sarah is a nurse like her mother, as I said, but she could have been a doctor. She has the reflexes and hands of a surgeon. She didn't want the extra responsibility, though. Whenever anything bad happens, she always blames herself, even though she always tries her best. She is truly a wonderful person, and I've never known anyone more compassionate than her. You're right, the fact that there's a future where the world is saved does give me hope, but we haven't actually saved the future yet. We still have work to do. I think after we leave here we should try the public library after all. Maybe that is where Daniel and Annie wanted us to meet them."

"No, she's not married," says Lionel. "She's never had much luck with relationships, and they usually end badly for her, but there's still hope she'll find the right man. In our day it's rather normal for people not to marry until they're in their thirties. It's also very commonplace for married women to work. In fact, it's downright essential if one wants to raise a family. Due to the effects of inflation it's become impossible for most couples to raise a family with only one income. The only reason I was able to raise Sarah in comfort after Beatrice passed on is that a doctor's salary is still generous."

"People are living better," says Lionel, "but machines can never truly do all the work. They aren't intelligent, so human input is still required. They can save a lot of labour, and the work week for most people is now only 40 hours - though as a doctor I tend to work 60 hours a week or more. The problem is with the way the economy works. Due to inflation and a huge increase in debt, people have to work in order to afford the basics: education, health care, a home, cars. Women will have more rights in the future, but also more responsibilities, and one day they'll do many of the jobs on a full-time basis that they're doing for the duration of the war. There will be women constables and firefighters, as well as far more professional women as doctors, scientists, business executives, and politicians. Our first female Prime Minister will be Margaret Thatcher, elected in 1979 - and a fine job she'll do, too. There will also be women serving in the military not merely in supporting roles, but also in combat positions - including fighter pilots."

"Oh, being old isn't so bad," says Lionel. "Having people you love around you makes getting older quite enjoyable. Besides, people will live longer in the future too. With all the advances in medicine and increases in knowledge, we know much better how to take care of ourselves. For instance, smoking tobacco causes cancer of the lung and other life-threatening ailments. Unfortunately, a lot of people still smoke even though they know this. The nicotine in tobacco is highly addictive, which makes it very difficult for someone who has already started smoking to quit, too. The average life expectancy in my day is about eighty years, and you can live longer than the average by maintaining your health. My parents lived into their eighties. Of course, it helped that my father became a doctor too, after the war."