The quantum curators and.., p.28
The Quantum Curators and the Missing Codex, page 28
She pursed her lips in disagreement. ‘Well, there’s plenty of food and water down here. When that weird grey pyramid appeared over my head, I knew there was trouble afoot and so I dashed down here. I know people probably view me as being cowardly.’
‘Hardly,’ I spluttered. ‘You know, I see through you Minju Chen.’
Her eyes blinked in alarm, but she said nothing.
‘You hide down here and worry what people will think of you. Well, let me tell you. I think you have the soul of a warrior. You knew your skill wasn’t in fighting gods or thieves. You knew that the best way to deploy your talents was in protecting the mouseion.’
She appeared to relax. It had been really remarkable. She had been hidden down here for weeks, scurrying along the corridors, keeping them locked down and safe from the thieves, the insurrectionists, and the gods. She had only been discovered three days after the final battle where, according to rumour, the indomitable Minju Chen had burst into tears of relief that we had won.
‘And these gods,’ said Minju, ‘this Anansi, spider creature. He really existed? It wasn’t a quantum malfunction?’
‘Absolutely real. According to what Jack learnt from Firenze, they are some sort of quantum creature. They exist in the quantum field itself.’
‘How is that even possible?’
‘No idea, but you can bet the engineers are on it.’
We sipped our drinks in the quiet hum of Minju’s office.
‘And this Anansi, you said he could alter memories and do magic?’ I think she must have thought I was pulling her legs; she was watching me so intently.
‘No it’s true, they could all do incredible stuff.’
At that moment, a swallow flew through the room, and Minju recoiled in alarm, her tail swaying wildly.
‘It’s nothing. Just a bird.’
I knew I would never look at a swallow again in the same way and I was surprised at Minju’s alarm, but then she hadn’t witnessed the incredible power of Firenze.
‘It’s not that. It’s just these corridors are hermetically sealed for the protection of the exhibits. How did a bird get in here?’
We watched as the bird disappeared into an air vent.
‘You’d better fix that. Looks like you might be compromised,’ I said and again she gave me an odd look. ‘Tell you what. I need to catch up with Rami and the others. I’ll leave you to sort out the air ducts.’
She looked relieved, but I decided to double-check.
‘I can stay with you if you want?’
She raised an eyebrow, and I was reminded that while I might view her as a lovely lady, the majority of curators viewed her as a terrifying guardian of the archives.
‘Very well, I shall see you next week.’
With that, I headed upstairs and out into the sunshine.
All the debris had been removed now, but the scars were still visible. Some buildings were still unsafe to enter, others were riddled with blast holes. A team of workers were replanting some of the flowerbeds, and I gave them a wave as I passed.
‘Looking great.’
‘We change!’ said one of the women, smiling, although she didn’t start digging again until I started to walk on. She was quoting the motto of the newly formed Department of Adaptation. Asha had put out an instant broadcast to the citizens of Alexandria to not commit suicide, but instead, to help her rebuild the city. She gave them a focus and began to hold daily group and solo sessions. People could talk about the recent changes and discoveries they had endured as a society. The classes were swamped. Asha increased the classes, and soon nearly everyone had attended at least one session. This was a whole population desperate for guidance, and she was trying to lead the way.
I entered Pygs and waved to a few people sitting around. I headed out onto the veranda and joined the others.
A flock of swallows chittered overhead as they swept across the beach. I wondered if I would ever look at them again without thinking of Firenze.
Rami was already at the table, chatting with Jack and Luisa. He had been shot in the shoulder and suffered some facial scarring as shrapnel hit his cheek. He’d decided to keep the scar. As he said, he was never going to fill Sam’s boots. He was hoping a scar might make him look convincingly scary. I thought he was going to be excellent, with or without the scar.
He also said it made him more attractive down at the bar, but I suspected that wasn’t the real reason either. We were all carrying scars. Some were more visible than others.
‘What is Luisa saying no to this time?’ I asked.
She turned and laughed at me. ‘Jack here was suggesting Julia Cleeve for pharaoh.’
I didn’t know the woman, but Luisa clearly had strong reservations.
‘She says yes to anything. She’ll be rubbish.’
‘Well, we need someone. Giovanetti has threatened to go on holiday if a working structure isn’t quickly imposed. This morning I heard her say she was going to make it Cairo’s problem.’
The three of them shuddered.
‘What about Chen?’
I could see them all considering my proposal as I sat down.
‘Not an insane idea, Blue,’ said Luisa. ‘But nothing could persuade her to leave the archives.’
‘Her sense of duty might,’ suggested Rami, and we all nodded.
Jack clinked his bottle with Rami’s, and we all sat watching the swallows.
Since his return, Jack had re-joined the engineers but now was known simply as Jack, or Just Jack as he was fond of saying. Every now and then, he would stop mid-sentence and start scribbling equations, but Sabrina would just nudge him and remind him it was his round. She was late, and I looked around, wondering where she had got to. In the past few weeks, I had found her company easier to tolerate. She seemed less keen to trip me up or show she was better than me, and it made her more relaxed.
I heard my name being called out and saw her threading her way through the tables towards us. She looked anything but relaxed right now, and Rami and I looked at each other in surprise. Sabrina was a nice girl, but she wasn’t the sort to wave her arms in the air. She reached our table panting and Jack offered her his bottle, which she waved away in disgust before taking in a big breath and exhaling with an even bigger smile.
‘She’s opened her eyes. Neith is awake.’
Coming Next
Book Four
The Quantum Curators and the Untitled Manuscript
Available for pre-order now
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Author’s Note
Writing about the gods has been great fun. Anansi has always been a favourite of mine and it’s been a pleasure to work with him. I have also loved spending time with Arthur. Rather than base him on his original stories, I wanted him to be a reflection of modern interpretations. If gods and myths are created in our image then they need to move along with us.
Most of the gods and mythological creatures in this book exist in our cultures but I threw in a few of my own.
With Thanks
As ever, this is a team effort and I have had some great conversations with friends. Who would win in a fight between a god and a genius? How many Earths can exist at the same time? If you stand on a butterfly, do you really spark a hurricane? And so on. Many bottles of wine and cardamom coffees were consumed in the pursuit of truth. Or wild speculation. One or the other.
In particular, I need to thank Alexandra for reading through my first draft and not laughing too loudly at all the wrong bits. The manuscript was further knocked into shape through various rounds of edits, and I’d like to thank my editors, Mark Stay, Melanie Underwood and Anna Gow. Finally, my excellent ARC team went over it like the most diligent archivists on this side of the two Earths.
I also want to say thank you to my family. It’s fair to say that this has been a mad year. Again. And I have so much to be grateful for, they have put up with many crises of faith. I owe them.
And finally, thank you. You have followed Neith and Julius for three books and I hope you will continue to do so. I plan to throw in a few curve balls over the next few books.
Eva St. John, The Quantum Curators and the Missing Codex
