Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [130]
Anton asked her to leave the cats when she left to take Ridek'h out again, and the tawny animals were content to stay with him. "Nothing better than reading with a cat at your side," Anton reminded her. Ildirans didn't seem to understand that.
Vao'sh gave instructions, and the three muscular diggers raised heavy cudgels over their heads, then brought them back down. Crashing blows cracked the translucent bricks that sealed the ancient vault. Anton stepped back to avoid the flying debris. After two more explosive blows, the blocks tumbled inward to expose a chamber.
"Long ago, such apocryphal documents were sealed away here," Vao'sh said. "These writings were never part of the Saga of Seven Suns; thus they had little official historical value to the Hall of Rememberers. Rememberers rarely even refer to their existence, but now we must study them for information the Mage-Imperator needs."
The diggers shoveled away debris, and Vao'sh scrambled into the cramped chamber, carrying a portable light. "Thousands of documents not seen by any Ildiran in millennia! We have our work cut out for us, Rememberer Anton."
Vao'sh picked up a stack of perfectly preserved diamondfilm sheets, looking as if he might cry. He sent the diggers away and handed Anton a stack of sheets. The human scholar carried the documents into the brighter corridor and, tilting the top diamondfilm sheet, squinted at the Ildiran writing on it. The letters were far more ornate and archaic than he was accustomed to reading. "I might need your help deciphering this."
A group of chattering servant kithmen brought more blazers and two desks, courtesy of Designate Ridek'h--Yazra'h's idea, no doubt. Anton wished his mother could be there to enjoy these ancient mysteries. Margaret Colicos would have loved to help her son unravel lost parts of the alien epic. He had still heard no word about his mother. He wondered if she was still alive. . . .
He and Vao'sh delved into obscure passages. The Mage-Imperator had told them to look for answers to questions no one had previously thought to ask. Working closely together, they struggled to find secrets about the ancient war and how the hydrogues might be defeated; Anton worked at Vao'sh's side, intensely fascinated, though not overly hopeful about the relevance of these accounts. From everything he'd learned, the last great conflict had not turned out particularly well for anybody.
Underground, Anton easily lost track of time, though the Isix cats growled to alert him when they became hungry. Yazra'h came down into the archives after a full day of work, her expression stern and scolding. "You are as fixated and as focused as any work crew in the burned croplands. Eat! Sleep! Do you know how long you have been down here?"
"Not a clue," Anton said.
Vao'sh barely looked up. "Please have the servant kithmen bring us food."
Anton scratched the golden fur of the animals' heads. "And maybe you should take the cats up into the open, where they won't be cooped up."
"I should take you out into the open, Rememberer Anton. Exercise you."
"I'm really busy right now." She snorted, but took her pets with her as she departed. Before long, servant kithmen arrived carrying food.
Anton felt they were in a different, isolated world, sheltered from all the work outside. Vao'sh, his fingers covered with dust, his face lobes smeared with powder from the crumbling walls, lifted one sheet after another, reading with remarkable speed. He caught his breath when he scanned one section of records. "Tales of the Lost Times? This history was all supposedly lost!"
"Good thing somebody kept notes." Anton occupied himself with the sheets in front of him, scanning testaments, discovering accounts of previous struggles with the hydrogues, records of the faeros, even tales of the Shana Rei. He wasn't sure how to separate the factual evidence from fiction.
Vao'sh lifted a diamondfilm sheet as if it might burn his fingers. "Secrets within secrets within secrets. Have our plans brought us to this?" He shook his head, and the colors in his