Unburning Alexandria (17 page)

He barely heard either slave. He got on his knees to get a better look at the scrolls on the lower shelves. "Ah! Here it is!" He carefully removed a scroll and lovingly opened it. He ran his fingers over its written lines. "Rhetoric, law, epic, tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, history," he called out some of its major divisions of subject matter. He turned his head up to the high ceiling. "I dedicate myself to saving Your work, or as much of Your work as am I able. Forgive me for taking so long to see this. Hypatia saw this long before I did. The scrolls in this Library are Your work, the fruit of Your humanity, and they deserve better than the flames meted out by your ignorant servants."

* * *

Synesius took the scroll and led the two slaves to a stone bench, several hundred yards from the Library. "It is probably safer for us here than inside," he said. He ran his hand over the bench, pitted and stained with seagull droppings. "Like much else in this once magnificent city," he said sadly.

The slaves sat on the bench and opened the scroll. Synesius paced and kept a watchful eye in all directions. There were no edifices or obstructions in the area, the late afternoon was clear, so it would be easy to see anyone approaching.

"This will not take very long," one of the slaves said. They read much faster than Synesius had ever seen anyone read. "We're not really reading," one of the slaves advised, guessing what Synesius was thinking. "Scanning would be a better word," the other slave said, "like taking a photograph and analyzing – no, you wouldn't understand that, either–"

Synesius held up a hand to indicate that further explanation was not needed. The slaves had their results some 40 minutes later.

"Callimachus's scroll lists 487,811 individual books," one of the slaves reported. "198,176 of which are unknown in our time."

"That includes multiple works by the same author," the other slave advised. "We could tell you the number of authors whose works are not known."

"Not necessary, not now," Synesius said, shaken by the numbers. "That is a grievous loss."

"The Pinakes was compiled more than six centuries ago," one of the slaves said, "so the losses are due to both Caesar's and Theophilus's flames. The list does not provide information to determine when each of the missing books was burned."

"Saving them all is impossible–" Synesius began.

"Not necessarily impossible, with the capacity we have to repeatedly travel back and forth throughout the years," one of the slaves said.

"But we still need to decide which of the scrolls to save first," the other slave said.

"Another reason that we need to see Hypatia, as soon as possible," Synesius said.

* * *

Synesius dispatched one of the slaves to get Josephus, who he believed was still in Alexandria. "We will need all of the loyal help we can get," Synesius said. He turned to discuss strategy with the other slave. "If we assume Hypatia is not here in this time – if she was, we would have seen some sign of her habitation in her quarters. Our question, then, is where, when, is she at this moment?"

The slave furrowed her brow. "The where is related to the when. If Hypatia – Sierra – is in the future, she could be anyplace in the world. If she is in the past, her options are more limited."

"You have no way of contacting her across time?" Synesius thought he knew the answer from many previous conversations he had with this beautiful slave, but he thought it couldn't hurt to ask again, anyway.

"It's an oddity that travel across time is possible, and communication across time – sending information instantly into the past or the future – is not," she replied.

"Perhaps because Heron does not want that?"

"Perhaps," the slave replied. "And since we are obliged to physically traverse time to contact Sierra if she is not in this time, that leads to the question of where – what portal do we use?"

"Augustine sent me to Londinium," Synesius replied, "as you know. As a general principle, I prefer places with which I am already familiar to conduct crucial business. But in this case, I would rather not insert the time of a voyage north into meeting Hypatia."

"The portal across the great sea would cost us far more time to cross," the slave said, "and you have no familiarity at all with that place. That leaves Athens as our only option."

"I spent several good years there," Synesius said almost wistfully, then frowned. "That was a simpler time."

* * *

Synesius pointed out two figures on the horizon.

"That would be Josephus and my twin," the slave said. "We have enhanced vision."

Synesius nodded and walked with his slave to meet her twin and his friend.

The two priests embraced. "I can tell by the creases near your eyes that it has been longer for you than it has been for me," Josephus said.

"The tracks of the cosmos upon my face," Synesius responded.

"You always had a poet's heart," Josephus said. "But to more practical matters: your slave informed me about your situation and your needs. I brought enough coin to book passage anywhere you want to travel." Josephus slapped his robe. The coins made a muffled clanking sound.

"I am thinking of Athens," Synesius said, and squinted at the sky. "But I doubt we could get a ship at this late hour."

Josephus agreed. "Please accept my hospitality for the night."

Synesius started to nod, but was interrupted by one of the slaves, who gestured in the direction from which she and Josephus had just arrived. Synesius couldn't make out who the figures were, but could see they were many.

"Legionaries," the slave said.

"The same in this direction," the other slave said, and called Synesius's attention to another approaching group.

"We will each go forth and meet them," one of the slaves said and the other nodded. "That should give you and Josephus time to return to the Library, and find some place to hide there."

"No," Synesius said sternly, "we need at least one of you alive – you have the knowledge of which scrolls did not survive." The four were lightly armed with knives, and Synesius figured none of them including the slaves would be a match for the number of approaching legionaries, certainly not out here in the open with no element of surprise.

The two slaves looked at each other and reluctantly nodded.

Synesius looked out at both sets of legionaries, still too far away for him to clearly see. He hoped that their vision was not superior to his. "I propose all four us go back to the Library and make our stand there if we cannot evade them."

Josephus agreed.

"We'll accompany you," one of the slaves said.

The four ran full speed to the Library. Synesius could feel the eyes of legionaries on his neck, but dared not slow his pace to turn and look.

They reached the Library and entered. "There is no way to bolt this," Synesius said to the slaves.

"Where is the best place to hide?" Josephus asked.

"Not near Hypatia's quarters," Synesius replied. "That is the first place anyone under Heron's command would look." He thought a split second. "There is no place here to successfully hide. Our only course of action is to exit from a section of the Library which, God help us, the legionaries will not immediately think about. I believe I know such a place." He led the others down a corridor. The two slaves took up the rear, in case any legionaries needed to be engaged.

"How did the legionaries know we were here?" Josephus whispered in Synesius's ear.

"If you did not tell them, it had to be one of the slaves," Synesius replied.

"I assure you, I did not."

"I believe you," Synesius said,

"Then which one?" Josephus asked.

"I do not know," Synesius said. "Both of them saved my life."

* * *

They reached a far side of the Library about 10 minutes later. "There is an underground passage to the left," Synesius said.

"You did not mention that," Josephus said.

"A precaution in case their hearing is acute," Synesius replied.

The slaves ran up to them. "The legionaries are two to three minutes away," one of the slaves said. "The two of you should go." She gestured to the corridor.

"I already told you–" Synesius began.

"You have the Pinakes in your robe," the slaves replied.

Synesius nodded.

"That is the essential element in your quest to save the lost texts," the slave continued. "Many others in the future have our mathematical abilities – discovering which texts have been lost is the easy part, if you have the complete Index."

The sounds of the approaching legionaries were now clear in the corridor and grew louder with every footfall.

"Go!" the slave said.

Synesius considered for an instant. Legionaries became visible in the corridor. The two slaves rushed towards them. Synesius and Josephus entered the tunnel.

* * *

The way below was dimly lit. "Hypatia took me here once," Synesius said. "If I remember correctly, it will take us to another corner of the Library – different from this one and different from the one we first entered. We will find someplace to spend the night, and then board an early morning ship to Athens."

The two walked quickly. "They both rushed the legionaries," Josephus said about the slaves. "We still have no indication of who is the spy."

"Both, neither, impossible to tell at this point."

They reached a fork in the corridor. "I believe the best way is this way," Synesius said, with something less than certainty.

They walked another five minutes. Synesius put a hand on Josephus's shoulder to stop him. "Did you hear that?"

Josephus cupped his ear. "Yes . . . sounds like more than one legionary. But they are walking slowly."

Synesius nodded. "Perhaps we should turn back and try to find another–"

Josephus held up his hand for silence. Fast footsteps could be heard from the part of the corridor they had just passed.

The two turned around several times. The footsteps from both directions got louder.

Both priests produced knives. "You must escape," Josephus said. "You have the Pinakes, and you understand what is happening now to our world much better than do I."

Synesius started to reply, but the footsteps from the area they had just traversed turned from a walk into a run.

A figure came into view. "Synesius," she said.

"Where is the other slave?" Synesius asked. He was glad to see that the one in front of him was his companion from the future.

"Dead," she said. "We need to exit quickly – there are at least two legionaries, not badly wounded, not far behind me."

"I never learned her name," Josephus said, suddenly saddened by the death of a slave he barely knew.

"We have no names," the slave in front of Josephus and Synesius said. "There are too many of us, looking exactly the same, what's the point in having a name? We have numerical identifiers, in several parts of our bodies, for those who know where to find them."

"Synesius?" a voice from the other direction called out. "Is that you?"

Two figures, a man and a woman, came into view from the other direction.

"Hypatia!"

Chapter Ten

[Alexandria, 413 AD]

"The legionaries are moments away," the slave said, sharply, as Sierra and Synesius hugged.

"Follow me," Sierra said, as Max and Synesius exchanged quick nods. "You two know each other," she said, over her shoulder, as she led the five down the hall.

"Yes," Synesius said. "Where are we going?"

"There's a room I didn't know about," Sierra said. "It has a chair."

"Here in Alexandria?" Synesius said.

"Yes – Max discovered it."

The corridor turned. "Here," Sierra said, and opened a door.

The five quickly entered. Sierra pressed the wall and the door bolted shut. "This should keep out legionaries, at least for a few minutes."

The room was well lit. "There is nothing here," Synesius said. "Is the chair in use?"

"No," Sierra said. "It is behind that door, in a second room."

She pressed against a far wall in the small room, and another door opened. There was a single chair inside. The five entered the room.

"It does not look quite the same as the chair in Londinium," Synesius observed.

"No, it does not," Sierra said. "But it seems to work much the same, with a few differences."

Synesius nodded. "You take it," he said to Sierra. "And send it back to us."

"No–"

"Yes," Max spoke for the first time. "And we seem to have not much time to argue."

The legionaries were attacking the outside door with some sort of heavy object.

Sierra relented. "I'll take it back to 150 AD, and set it to come immediately back here. Don't change or even touch any of the controls. Just press this lever." She pointed. "The chair was set to apparently blur the memory of anyone who used it. Max arrived in 150 AD and was not sure where this room was. But I've shut that feature down."

"Clever feature," the slave observed. "Erasing the memory outright would call attention to the victim and how to account for the missing time. Just making the recollection unclear shields the location of the room and makes the person who used it an unreliable witness and guide."

Synesius didn't understand some of what she had said, but he nodded.

"You must leave the room," Sierra said.

Max led the five out of the room and closed the door. The legionary pounding was louder.

"Loud enough to wake the dead," Josephus said.

"As we soon will be, if that chair does not work," Synesius replied.

"They have penetrated part of the wall," the slave said.

A keen whoosh from the inside room managed to cut through the pounding.

"The chair has returned," Max said. "It is safe to enter." He gestured to Synesius, who started to object.

"You are likely more essential to saving some of the texts than I am," Max said. "I'll go after you."

Synesius hesitated for a second, then entered the inter room, and closed the door.