 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org You're listening to a section of the LibriVox Nano-Rymo project in which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together In serial form during November 2006 the project is based on the idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 8 written by Susan Denney www.SusanDenney.com Recorded by Susan Denney Do you know what time it is? Tracy's voice hissed into Trevor's cell phone I'd scream but I don't want to wake the baby up. It's too Trevor interrupted her tirade Tase this is the most important phone call you've ever gotten Please listen Trevor knew that using his childhood name for Tracy would get her attention He never called her Tase unless he was saying something very personal He'd thought a lot about this phone call in the last few hours and knew that he had only a few minutes to complete it By the time he and Fulvia had sailed back to shore they had missed the last plane for Prague and had to wait for the morning flight She had put him under the care of an operative named L344 and Trevor hadn't even been to the bathroom without the thugs chaperonage Fulvia had given instructions to L344 that Trevor used no electronics And so he hadn't so much as looked at the television news since she had invited him to Prague But he had had plenty of time to ponder The chinchilla had been awake and active most of the night At the moment he was hunkered down in the last stall of the men's bathroom in the airport at Luca waiting for a world Conflight to the Czech Republic L344 hadn't been able to follow Fulvia and Trevor to the gate so Trevor had seized the first opportunity to call his twin I'm listening Trevor Tracy's voice was calm. I Know you're dying to ask me questions, and I'm afraid I haven't got time to answer any so don't Have to ask you some questions, and then I'm going to ask two favors Promise me that you'll do what I ask This isn't a joke It's no joke Okay, then I promise Trevor could hear the tension in Tracy's voice He hated treating her this way, but he only had a few moments to tell her what he thought would be the safest course for her family First of all, where are you? Trevor knew that the question was odd, but she answered simply I'm at home That's good Trevor had hoped that Fulvia had been bluffing about Tracy's staying with friends of hers It was so unlike Tracy to take the baby, but to leave four-year-old Michael behind Secondly, do you know a woman named Fulvia Rossi? I know someone named Fulvia, but her last name isn't Rossi That's not as good. This means that what I have to ask now is a question of life or death Trevor realized that this sounded melodramatic, but there had to be some circumstances in life that really were that critical Cliche's are based on truth after all First have Steven pack up the most essential of the children's things while you call up a women's shelter Don't have him pack a lot. It would look suspicious Tell them anything about Steven you want, but make it bad enough that they will take you in immediately If Steven could black your eye or give you some bruises, it would be better If you can't manage that talk about mental abuse and make it thick be sure and pack your laptop but No, buts Tracy. It's the safest place for you right now Fulvia has threatened to hurt you and the children Trevor heard an intake of breath, but Tracy didn't reply. She was showing superhuman restraint Steven should check into a hotel with multiple floors He should get off the elevator at different floors each time he goes to his room in case someone is following him You think he's in danger too Yes, but not as much as you That's good Tracy's love for Steven was deep most women wouldn't find anything good in the whole situation Trevor continued Lastly before you leave take a few minutes to post on LibriVox Anything that you can remember about grandpa masseuse Prague and the Knights of Malta Don't be too overt, but give me any details you remember The most trivial piece of information could be critical Posted under the thread for the mystery I've been listening to it Trevor so much of it matches up with what I remember hearing about our grandfather Keep remembering it's vital. I don't have any more time. He paused Tracy I Love you. I Love you too Trevor Before leaving the bathroom Trevor splashed some water on his still throbbing lip Fulvia had administered very competent first aid rather than let him call a doctor He had found this ironic since it was because of her that he had bit through his lip in the first place His body ached in all the places that Fulvia had damaged the day before and in some that she hadn't even touched sympathy pains he guessed Trevor left the bathroom and sat down next to Fulvia She was attracting envious attention from all the women in the waiting area and a completely different kind of attention from most of the men In other circumstances being her companion would have been blissfully exotic At the moment he would have gladly exchanged her for any other woman of his acquaintance Including the toothless crone who imperfectly cleaned his apartment every Friday He still believed that he knew more about Fulvia than she did him and he planned to play the slightly nerdy role. She expected Trevor's thoughts were focused on those missing pages of the manuscript pages 10 through 33 When Fulvia touched his arm Two members of airport security were talking earnestly with the world con agent at the departure gate Trevor saw the female agent protest slightly Then nod Paging passenger Rossi passenger Rossi Fulvia grabbed his elbow and pulled him along with her to answer the summons I'm passenger Rossi Her smile was at its most brilliant and this is my companion Trevor aims It's a privilege to be traveling with your most special customer The world con agent looked at Trevor nervously I'm sorry about this miss Rossi Mr. Ames She nodded in his direction Airport security has a question about a substance in your checked baggage miss Rossi They need to discuss this with you privately I'm sure it's nothing. Mr. Ames can certainly come along with me. I expect Again an urbane and relaxed smile from Fulvia The security policeman spoke up We need to speak with you alone miss Rossi Very well darling. You'll look after my carry-on bag. Won't you? Trevor realized that he was darling and tried to go along with the game He noticed that her smile was becoming fixed like Halloween wax lips You will need to bring all your possessions with you miss Rossi our apologies to your traveling companion The security agents took her arms in theirs It was obviously an arrest but the agents were trying to create as little disturbance as possible Fulvia looked back over her shoulder as the agents escorted her down the concourse Her look was plain. It said I Don't know how you did this, but I'll be back The plane doors had to be reopened to admit a last-minute passenger who took full via seat Hazel Brown sat down beside Trevor and said brightly what luck for me that this seat became available I'm going to Prague on holiday. How about you? Trevor had been surprised so many times in the last few days that he reacted to this new development with only a slight lift of the eyebrow The blue eyes were unmistakable, but the personality was not When he didn't answer she continued. I'm sorry. I know I'm chatty. I just love talking to strangers But some people just can't stand it when their seat make talks the whole time. I hope you'll let me know if my yammering bothers you No, not at all. Trevor mumbled Her behavior was so uncharacteristic of the quiet blonde. He had first met in Egypt He realized that Hazel had some information to impart and that her babble was going to be embedded with some important information. I Find flying tiresome. I'm sure you'll be entertaining The flight from Malta to Prague was fairly long since it included a short layover in Frankfurt So for five hours Hazel and Trevor talked about seemingly inconsequential tourist information She began by recital of her recent holidays, but turned the topic eventually to Prague in The massive information she spewed forth Trevor began to pick up clues and details. He knew she thought were important Starved by a lack of access to the internet and LibriVox Trevor was delighted that Hazel had done all the research. He had been wishing he could do while under full via's watchful eye And my favorite place in Prague is Malta square. It's quiet and it was in the movie Amadeus I'm a Mozart freak and Prague is so Mozart land. I got interested and googled it. I love Google, don't you? It's almost as wonderful as LibriVox She smiled at Trevor under blue masquerade eyelashes Anyway, the Knights of Malta have had a building in a church there since the 12th century. They have an embassy there still It's quaint, you know an embassy without a country At the end of the flight Hazel was still talking. I see we're almost there. It's been great visiting with you Do you have a hotel room? I know a quaint little place not far from Malta square. We could share a taxi Trevor was exhausted by the flow of words, but thanks to her endless details about the city and the Knights He knew exactly where to start searching. I'd like that. He said Instinct told Trevor that he should lose Hazel But common sense told him that he could not and he knew that full via or someone just like her could not be far behind At least by staying in the same hotel as Hazel. He could keep an eye on one potential enemy At this point he trusted no one except Tracy and he was most likely going to have to solve this mystery without her help a Short while later. He and Hazel were crossing the Charles Bridge on the way to Malta square He was frustrated by the crowds of tourists and progurs preventing him from getting where he wanted to go so urgently Hazel tugged on his sleeve Look she said They call it the golden city He turned to face the river Trevor was stunned for an instant at the site of gold-covered domes and the shadows of distant bridges reflected in the flotava Centuries disappeared as the memories of an ancient Empire rose from the blur of water and sky Amid the strange bustle of craftspeople and souvenir hawkers selling to the tunes of a Dixieland band Hazel reached for his hand My life is in your hand, you know, I Know he said end of chapter 8 Recorded on November 9th 2006 by Susan Denny in Denton, Texas This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org You're listening to a section of the LibriVox Nanorimoproject in which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together in serial form during November 2006 the project is based on an idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Written and recorded by Alan Davis Drake Chapter 9 a pair of wrinkled deeply discolored hands Rested on the home keys of the keyboard The page of writing showed boldly blue on the 30 inch flat panel cinema display Glowing in the waning daylight that slid through the ancient distortions in the multi-paneled windows behind it Outside the afternoon lengthened the faded eyes glanced over the left side of the monitor The bases of the trees in the near distance were darkening A pair of falcons swept over the treetops whether looking for a night's roost or a final day's meal the observer could not know Though the typing resumed The room was strangely quiet The dark wooded walls and the hand-hewn ceiling and congruous out of step with the plastic shapes and electronic forms The desk itself was a murky medieval trestle table Built from trees felled more than 700 years before the taming of electricity In contrast the chair was 20th century ergonomic A blue upholstered six-wheeled marvel of chiropractic perfection That also worked well as a conveyance from one end of the room to the other The weasened fingers stopped in mid-sentence As the deep-lined face slowly tipped forward falling into a light sleep The cursor at the bottom of the page continued to pulse At the top the title was bold and clear The mystery inspired by the exploits of t.m. Chapter 4 Sir, are you there? Startled awake the typist reached towards the intercom on the table A weak but authoritative voice projected a thin dry Give me a few minutes if you please The old body leaned back resting itself against the comforting curve of the chair back So much more to say How can I explain the mystery? Who will understand anything but its outer meanings? Who will understand its inner meanings, its inner truths? Why do I bother with the history at all? Who will understand? Who will understand Charles' sickness and death? The regimen we put t.m. through The tests he endured and overcame The challenge of his I must forget him Such a mistake How grateful I am that no one can hear me How muddled my thoughts Vague and of age forms unsuccessful and transparent Returning to the Mac The ancient fingers set in motion a series of saves and double saves Clearing the throat with a series of gentle hums Gaining greater and greater depth The aged voice settled itself And then went on to say in an oceanic rumble You may come in now Rising from the chair the austere figure changed its shape Assumed a noble self-assurance and walked purposefully to the window Imperceptibly shifting the stance Straightening appearing younger even vigorous A middle-aged man walked into the room carrying a cardboard box He closed the door behind him with a self-conscious nudge of his elbow And proceeded to the center of the room Where the large heavy table hovered in aged beauty The monitor screen was black He paused for a moment and then At the acknowledging nod of the older gentleman Put the box down on the table And walked over to sit in one of the two chairs against the wall A small, elaborately carved end-table nestled between them As he sat the chair dipped deeply beneath him Capturing him in an ancient embrace The older one began Thank you for coming to see me so late in the day, Peter Thank you, elder You are most welcome A long moment passed in several deep breaths As if it had been a struggle to speak those polite words of welcome I've asked you to come so that I might thank you for your meticulous good work And to say that you needn't worry I do not doubt your discretion As a lifetime member of this exalted order You have many more years of good service ahead of you I am content I am content The time we have waited so patiently for is nearly here Your part in this, though, is nearly at an end I'm having fun Turning back to the window The older one peered out over the forest in the distance As those very few who were permitted entry into this room more than once Knew he was wont to do Preoccupied, not really part of the conversation Returning from the window and crossing to the second chair against the wall He touched the cardboard box briefly The pace was slow and measured, hiding an obvious weariness Or something I am afraid our association with the public domain literature is nearly come to an end As you say There will be but one or two further readings And of the much smaller kind Primarily little poems The suspicious conceit, the mystery, will be closed down in a day or so I feel certain It holds no water The LibriVox people, effusively gracious, though they may be, will close it down As an unverifiable text You will retire that particular disguise after recording Chapter 6 Yes You are excellent at what you do, Merci You are an American, no? Yes In today's world, a person of a hundred voices is as valuable as a man of a thousand faces was in mine I particularly like the way you were so... So amateurish You decided not to use all of the excellent equipment I gave you Very ingenious I did it all in my kitchen With the refrigerator humming And an excellent impersonation of Grayson His voice is easy Little Spanish, a little French, a little whatever And those annoying little bursts of air, what do you call them? Plosives Plosives This tasteful word And in sound meaning and application A wonderful metaphor I shall remember this And what about the new topic I began last week on Bishop Abbey? The old head shook ever so slightly Everything is in place Still, it may take some time for everything to unfurl As it should Once again, a long pause, as if lost in time And then, nodding with obvious and deep appreciation, He placed the small box on the end table between them Thank you again, Peter Please, ask him to come in Peter Becozzet walked out of the rose-lined room Tucking the titanium box into his pin-striped jacket pocket As he walked through the door, the glimmer of satisfaction in the corners of his eyes Were acknowledged with a smile By the man walking past him into the room Peter? He's all yours, Gerhard The door closed between them Gerhard moved towards the plush chair vacated by Peter Packet under his arm Before he could sit, the old voice pressed him How is Tracy? Jet lagged As you know, she flew back with me Stephen is with the children They are safe in the Hudson Beginning their vacation at the Esopus Libre Docks You have her proofs Gerhard placed the large envelope on the table The proofs she has been collecting at Cornell's College of Human Ecology The same one she recently gave to Trevor What did you tell her? She believes she's here to meet Trevor She brought the second set to secure her argument There is a third set still with her husband Her meeting with Trevor will not be for a few days In the meantime, she and I will finally get to know one another Yes? Gerhard hesitated for a second before adding We do have something important to discuss Appearing to ignore Gerhard Trevor is handling himself just fine As I expected, he doesn't need a babysitter Trevor must do this alone This will not be a success if I help him There will be no change if we do that Do you mean if anyone but Tracy helps him? Gerhard queried a taste of puzzlement in his voice I set it in motion Finally The time has come for the blind and thoughtless to step aside Peacefully, yes The mystery of who they are is becoming clear still And I only know the half of it You know much, much less But I have something more important to this Trust yourself When I can't tell the outer mystery from the inner I can now safely say that until a week ago I had been treated Gerhard The tone was that of a schoolmaster speaking to a young boy Do you remember the story of the five blind yogis and the elephant? You told it enough when I was a child Yes Think about it An inquiring pause Are you pause Now pause Can a man with as much responsibility as you Take time to stop To imagine For everyone's convenience To consider the world as a young man again Do you remember An interminable pause roamed the room It rested on the bookcases, on the furniture On their clothing and hands On their eyelids How many blind yogis have you seen lately? Gerhard hesitated His uncertainty rattled him His head tilted to one side And then the other That is it The elder said encouragingly Count them Only two Gerhard said with full conviction Then my dear friend There are three more out there somewhere And it is your responsibility to be certain that neither you Nor they are confusing ears for sails Trunks for snakes Nor legs for trees But you said sit with it for a while And Gerhard did just that They sat in silence for more than half an hour Until that signature nod And Gerhard got up to leave He had opened the door and was beginning to step out When the old man held him again Remember Do not fall in with the blind Before we were anything What were we? We were and still are Hosts pitalaires Not in posters Not soldiers There is something deeper in all of this Something that speaks green Not red Something that speaks of healing and not of harming It has been a thousand years And we have never taken up arms When alone once again The old one rose from the armchair and walked to the broad window Peering over the wide expanse of forest Losing himself in the changing colors of leaves The soft breeze touching the tall grasses And the branches and the clouds The sky was a deep deep blue Gazing at the box Peter had left behind And then sinking back against the curtains And finally tentatively sitting on the window nook The old one spoke as through the panes of glass Out to the darkening forest How I wish I were free to be myself Not weave in and out of character as Peter does Like those before me I am locked in an endless whirlpool How I wish to shed this disguise To read to record beauty in my own voice My true voice It is such a small wish And such a searching ache To speak to the world in my own voice I would say Zimelenkali words Dear William Yates wrote for those who came before me So many years ago So many years to come Now I come near the end of my time The end of all disguise I yearn to speak to all who came before me And to all who may come after To speak in my true voice The voice of Teresha Misou The song of the old mother By William Butler Yates I rise in the dawn And I kneel and blow till the seed of the fire Flicker and glow And then I must scrub and bake And sweep till stars are beginning to blink And peep but the young lie long And dream in their bed of the matching of ribbons The blue and the red And their day goes over in idleness And they sigh if the wind but lift up a dress While I must work Because I am old And the seed of the fire gets feeble And cold So many people have tried For so many centuries to move the world from destruction So many have tried to defeat us So many relying on the unsuccessful methods Of ages gone by So many believing the only options are to fight Or to run To blindly destroy ourselves with selfishness Or to blindly abandon our world with indifference To have a partner in the struggle To have had a wondrous husband While we were together While we trained TM And he grew and he learned to lead While we shared the vision But we were born to die We come to pass Charles died I passed from my life into his Taking his place Continuing with the inner vows Who else to do it If I had not taken on his mantle his very clothes Whether a son gone before him Who else It has been so lonely I have been so haunted Mysteries Able to hold the reins Unable to solve their passing Their deaths haunted by the mystery of the reins The mystery of loss The mystery of sorrow The mystery of a mother's love The mystery of a father's desire For the embrace of forgiveness The mystery of unrequited longing The mystery of forgetfulness The mystery Tracy Trevor Trevor Tracy My precious, parentless children Dispel a thousand years of madness Dispel the mysteries Ah Work together Break the chains of the past The frail body folded into a deep sleep In the window's cushioned nook As the falcons lifted into the air End of Chapter 9 Recorded on November 10th, 2006 Recorded by Allen Davis-Strake In West End, Long Branch, New Jersey And by Anita Roy Dobbs-Boston For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org That's librivox.org You're listening to a section of the LibriVox Nano-Rymo Project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together in serial form during November 2006 The project is based on the idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 10 Written by me-TBOL3 Recorded by me-TBOL3 Yes, FOVA was delayed at the airport But as Trevor had expected, she did not give up that easily The events that followed were thus After looking at her luggage, FOVA saw a pistol in her luggage A PISTOL! Yes, she had taken weapons on planes before But she never had it so crudely hidden Someone had set her up She tried to tell the person who had stopped her That this wasn't her And someone else had put it in there Fortunately for her With her remarkable beauty Some smooth talking And the forfeiture of the gun She was able to get the God to let her pass But not in time Just as she was past the security center The plane took off She had missed it She asked when another plane would be going to Paraguay There would be another leaving the next day Good, she thought I'll get on the next plane Trevor will not leave Paraguay Not in one day anyway So now she needed to wait But she would not just wait She would figure out how the pistol got in the bag But before she was able to do anything She got a phone call It was from him, the person He told her that the new technology was ready That she needed to use it at Paraguay She was also told to go to a building Where she would pick up the technology So instead of determining clues That would figure out who put the gun in her bag She went to the building And what she saw there was amazing I had to admit that Hazel was much friendlier to be with than Forva Or perhaps I just felt that way because Hazel didn't attack me But anyway, after being in the city We checked into the hotel And found it to be very comfortable Not much happened the rest of the day Or the next But on a third day at Paraguay a flurry of events took place It all started when I was talking with Hazel She was trying to get me to tell her where the piece of the document was I had not yet told her that I had put it on my mp3 player But finally she convinced me to take her there I still didn't trust her But she didn't appear to be hiding anything I guess I would show her part of the document I would show her pages 35 through 40 Which was also with my friend So we set out She tried to get a taxi But I said that the house was in walking distance Really it was an hour walk to the house But I was hoping for more time to find some way out Hazel talked through most of the journey Or what was traversed of it anyway She was talking less and less But then she started talking really fast But right behind me I saw none other than Fulva That woman which I dearly wished I was rid of But I knew I wasn't Then I looked right beside me and Hazel was gone Hazel was gone Where are the pages of the document? She asked Well we were just heading to it I said Okay then take me there How about not She came closer to me and hit me with metal bar It hurt like nuts Will you tell me now? Where is Hazel? Here and there She just abandoned you Now those papers I will never give them to you Very well then You leave me no choice She pressed a button And I was instantly surrounded by huge creatures Tripods and other horrible giants These things look like the creatures from HG Wells World of the Worlds I said Where do you think we got them from? You actually found aliens? Made We made them We only found their DNA on Mars And let me guess If I don't take you to the documents They will fire on me Yes And their weapons are much more powerful than any gun you've seen So what makes them not fire at you? We altered the DNA We have many resources So how about those documents? This was unbelievable How was this possible? I knew I had to stall for time But where had Hazel gone? So you got these fancy new toys Which you plan on doing with them World domination Or maybe you will only go for Europe You know as well as I do These creatures will eventually die So this is all part of the Libri Tours I was making a big mistake But I knew there is no other way out of this mess Yes Not very pleased are you? She commanded one of the Martians to fire its weapon near us It was an amazingly big blast That is its weakest weapon She said Wow Powerful Now you have two options Alright alright you win I will take you to my friend I had lost I had to think of something But what? This was all too strange Where was Hazel? What had happened to my life? At this time I wanted to go back to my computer And record my bit of Robinson Caruso But I still had to do something Then like a bolt of lightning it struck me End of chapter 10 Recorded on November 11th 2006 This has been a TBO3 production This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org You are listening to a section of the LibriVox Nano-Rymo project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together In serial form during November 2006 The project is based on the idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 11 Written and recorded by Maria Morabe Full via Rossi stared out of the window as the plane took off She heard the roar of its engine start to diminish as it shrank out of view So Trevor was not totally hopeless after all She had been wrong to think it would be easy Miss Rossi is it? The man had a high pitched voice that reminded her of children begging for sweets You are thoroughly sorry for this inconvenience Were you on a business trip? Full via a plan on her best I'm better than you But I'm trying to be humble for your sake face Not entirely sir Mr. Ames and I were going to get married in Prague Uh, well The man turned to bright red I'm sorry to have put it on hold then I, he searched for words and ended up not finding any Another man in the uniform of airport security entered the room I leave you now Perfect He was playing right into her plan Her fingers surreptitiously found their way to her handbag And she clutched it as though she were nervous She pulled out a compact and started pattering her face nonchalantly The man just waited for her to finish She put the compact away and looked at him The other man was young perhaps in his late twenties He had close cut blonde hair and stoned cold gray eyes Unconsciously she dropped her gaze His stare made her nervous Well, she asked She folded her arms across her chest What am I accused of since this obviously isn't a social call When the man spoke it was with barely a hint of an Eastern European accent We found this in your luggage He produced a pistol from behind him Would you care to explain it? Certainly, Mr. Tolstoy, like the author Indeed Filvia faked a coughing fit and rummaged in her handbag Excuse me Mr. Tolstoy watched as she drew out a piece of paper from her bag What is that? My papers of diplomatic immunity Not really, but she needed time She handed the papers over with one hand While her other hand found the handle of her handy little rod A look of confusion crossed over the man's face These are not papers of immunity, he said This one is from a store It says you have a penny bill Yes, yes While the man was preoccupied trying to figure out what she'd given him She hit him smartly over the back of his head Slowly, the man collapsed to the floor It was drama worthy of Russian literature Smiling to herself, Filvia walked to the door and glanced out of the room The man with the high voice was nowhere to be seen He'd obviously assumed that a woman was not much of a challenge Ha! Filvia made her way out into the corridor Trying to assimilate the stance of a mere tourist The way out of the airport was simple enough As long as she stayed out of sight of the security cameras And anybody who had already seen her She was in fresh air faster than she expected She made a mental note to tell someone about the terrible airport security But that would be later Now, however, she had to find a way to get back to Trevor The manuscript And an annoying girl she'd seen boarding the plane The Nevea girl No doubt she was off to rendezvous with Mr. Ames And feed him tantalizing bits of information Trevor woke with a jolt What a strange dream he'd had He should definitely not have watched the relatively new War of the Worlds movie Before going to sleep But he'd been unable to sleep so much That he'd actually resorted to watching TV At least it had been a movie based on a novel Rather than the sort of happy-go-lucky drivel his sister would watch Good God, if he slipped and said that in her presence He'd never lived to read another book again Much less see more book adaptations Trevor groaned and sat up in the darkness Parts of him still throbbed from the beating Fulvia had given him Notice off Never hand a woman a stick, be it metal or otherwise Throwing the bed clothes off He stood up and went to the bathroom to tidy himself up a bit Next door, he could hear Hazel doing the same thing A watch beeped and he saw that it was 6.30 in the morning Rise and shine thought processes Today's a new day filled with excitement and intrigue And pain Ow Trevor left backwards, clutching his toe He'd walked straight into something hard Watering to himself, he reached for a lamp Switched it on and found the bathroom Somehow, without doing any more damage to himself After completing his usual illusions He felt more like his normal self He knocked on the door to Hazel's adjoining room There the sounds of movement and then the door opened Morning, Trevor, Hazel said cheerily Trevor managed to mumble and reply I've made some coffee Coffee! Trevor felt himself gladdened at the mere thought Hazel laughed Her laugh sounded like tinkling of chimes in the breeze Sheesh Cliche anyone? He found his voice, finally Thanks, that'd be great Mind if I come in? Why else would I be offering you coffee? She said, of course you can Her hotel room was nicer than his, Trevor noticed There was nothing to stub your toe on at all Maybe it was just that she was more organized than he was Her clothes were neatly put away somewhere Not that he was looking for them And her makeup was neatly set up in front of a mirror He found himself wondering what women did With all that makeup they usually carried Surely they didn't wear it all at once He sat down at a small table where two coffee cups sat She sat down across from him absentmindedly playing with her blonde hair She took a sip of her coffee and looked at him curiously What's on your mind? What? He hadn't realized that he'd been staring into space For some reason, the Martians or whatever they were from his dream Kept invading his thoughts Not to mention the disappearing Hazel scene Oh, dream I see Don't they get in your nerves sometimes? Sometimes Trevor cleared his throat So, do you have any plans for today? Not really, Hazel confessed You? Trevor thought for a moment A long one He told Fulvia the papers were in Prague And they were The problem was that he himself was not sure where in Prague they were All he knew was that he'd sent them to one of Tracy's old professors Professor Andel Prague was fluent in many languages And as a result, many ciphers and codes as well He had been Tracy's linguistics professor While Tracy had been taking a linguistics course Trevor still hadn't figured out And in the duration of the class Trevor had come to admire the old professor Though by no means was Professor Prazak old by most people's reckoning Indeed, at 50 years he was considered something of a prodigy in his field The only problem was that Professor Prazak was often called away to different Universities or institutions within the city And quite possibly to other cities and countries as well Well, one must start somewhere Trevor Hazel tapped him gently A little tired, are you? Trevor's trick has had to clear his thoughts I was planning to go to the National Library if that was okay with you The National Library would be close to Charles University Prazak's last known location Hmm, that's an idea Hazel stood up As your official tour guide, I say we leave at 7.30 It was only 7 o'clock Trevor didn't have the urge to spend another 30 minutes in a hotel Even if he would be spending it in the company of someone rather attractive Why not now? Let's walk the distance Um, okay Are you ready? Quite, Trevor said I've been pocketed all other materials accounted for Something was nagging at the back of his head, but he put it off As they walked, Trevor thought The chill wind woke him up more than a meager cup of coffee could The chinchilla rubbed against him He squinted against the morning sun and tried to force his thoughts into coherent order Beside him, Hazel strode briskly Trevor found his thoughts wandering until they rested on her I love Google, she'd said It's almost as wonderful as LibriVox It could have just been his paranoia But hadn't she known nothing about LibriVox? He could remember her saying what's LibriVox, what seemed like years ago But he knew it was just a few days, at the most weeks Trevor, you're all fully quiet Hmm, am I? Trevor saw the university up ahead He recognized it from Tracy's postcards when she'd gone abroad There's the university The library ought to be around here somewhere Hazel pointed, it's over there Now, why are you so quiet? Trevor ignored her until they were inside the library He pulled her into his secluded alcove By now, the chinchilla was running crazily in circles He could go no longer without answering her For some reason, he found it hard to think she was merely a tour guide Who are you, really? Hazel looked at him, confused What do you mean? You know too much to be just a tour guide Could an I be a smart tour guide? Trevor realed his eyes He said he knew nothing about LibriVox And then he said Google was almost as wonderful as LibriVox How would you know that? Aren't you reading into my words a bit much? That's my job Or as much of a job as I do have Trevor looked at her intently His hand was inches from hers Right, she turned away Trevor was treated with a wonderful profile view But he was much too preoccupied to pay attention You found me out then She turned around Trevor was struck by the change in her appearance She was still beautiful, but it wasn't its evident She's more forgettable Which, no doubt, was the reason he hadn't recognized her All the personality had left her She's a mere puppet now Her eyes are blank Her made-up face set in some semblance of a smile When she spoke, her voice was devoid of natural expression And filled instead with a false chunus So, did you bring your chinchilla with you, Mr. Ames? End of Chapter 11 Recorded on November 12, 2006 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org You're listening to a section of the LibriVox Nano-Rymo project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together in serial form during November 2006 The project is based on the idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 12 Written and recorded by Michael Sirwa Michael.siros.com Trevor was astounded at the transformation he had just witnessed Hazel, just by shifting her bearing, flattening the expression on her face, and adjusting her voice, had become someone else Someone he had already met The woman at the travel agency? How is that possible? Good training, among other things, she said, her voice flattening into a standard Midwestern American accent as she continued to speak You'd be surprised what can happen when you've trained with some of the world's finest acting coaches Now is not the time to explain to him how difficult it was to be working for two agencies that were at cross-purposes to each other One minute you're a travel agent convincing someone to go to Cairo And a few hours later someone else is telling you to go to Cairo and pretend to be a tour guide for a person who will think you're the travel agent who has just booked his tour Practice makes perfect though and Hazel was one of the best agents around at adopting different personalities and making them her own as evidenced by the astonished look on Trevor's face He may have been surprised by Hazel's revelation but he wasn't amused in the slightest I'll ask you again then, he said Who are you, really? She paused and looked at him before answering I've wanted to tell you for quite a while now but I'm not sure you'll be able to accept what I have to say and I'm really worried you won't be able to forgive me Forgive you? For what? For sending me to Cairo? For disappearing in Malta? Or for allowing me to get beat half to death by that full veal woman? No, Trevor I'm sorry about all those things There's so much I want to tell you but I just can't right now I need you to trust me By trust you you mean give you the manuscript? No, we have a copy of the manuscript but time is running out we need to know where to look inside the manuscript Trevor pondered this for a minute and decided he needed to know more before making a commitment Why did you ask me about the chinchilla? He asked Because we need it to solve the mystery He ignored the comment about the mystery knowing that subject would return as quickly as a bad penny You do know that there is no chinchilla, don't you? He said I mean it isn't a real chinchilla or even an animal at all Ah! He screamed in frustration This is a silly conversation It might not be silly, Trevor, if you knew why I mentioned the chinchilla All right I'll bite but prove something to me first She faced him and folded her arms and the hazel he had first met resurfaced in her personality briefly but there was something else there too something familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it Fine, if I can she said resigning herself to a potential interrogation What do you want to know? Well, for starters What do you know about the chinchilla? Hazel pondered the situation How much should she tell him now? Certainly not everything Hopefully just enough and no more If she could convince him that she had some facts wrong that would do for a start All right, she said I know you first developed the chinchilla in Oxford and Cambridge Not Oxford Cambridge Right, sorry Cambridge and it started out as a sort of prank being able to guess answers before the question was fully asked that that type of thing What's so unusual about that, Trevor interjected It was just a parlor trick It was more than that, Hazel said The parlor tricks, as you call them, were really lab tests for a technique you had developed You were one of the early pioneers in artificial intelligence Trying to develop computer programs long before it became popular to do this that would mimic the human brain You did as much work on human intelligence as on machine intelligence and were considered to be one of the foremost young scientists of your day and then you just dropped out of sight for a while He knew he should ask the next question but the mention of that time was too much for Trevor He gazed past Hazel and allowed himself to think about something he had locked away for nearly 20 years Visions of a past era that he had tried desperately to forget were now flooding into his consciousness overwhelming his circuitry There was too much information from the past and it was all mingling with the present information for some reason He would have to sort it out later Using the chinchilla to work through this should be a viable option but he would need a little time Time to retrain a mental mechanism that had lain fallow in fields of deliberate unconsciousness ever since the plane crash that had shattered his world Hazel was waiting for a response and not receiving one right away asked Trevor Are you all right, sweetie? Oh my god, she'd let it slip He was still staring into space Had he noticed? Trevor became aware of his surroundings again I'm sorry, what did you just say? I asked if you were all right You seemed to zone out for a little while Yes, I'm fine Are you sure? Yes, he replied brusquely turning away from her He needed to make some decisions quickly He had originally set the trip to Prague in motion as a delaying tactic Thankfully his ploy at the airport yesterday had worked If there's anything that's difficult to smuggle out of any country these days it's weapons So he knew that Fulvia would be stopped by airport security if he planted something in her suitcase One of the techniques he had developed while he was working on the chinchilla was a form of hypnotism Just as a joke he started calling the technique the sloth because of the effect it had Very few people had been able to use it successfully but Trevor had been one of the best For those skilled in the technique it required minimal misdirection And was very effective at shutting down someone else's thought processes But only for brief periods of time It allowed the user to effectively create small blank spaces in someone's memory And during a time span of a couple of minutes you could accomplish quite a lot The morning that they were going to leave for Prague Fulvia had told her henchmen The one she called L344 to keep her gun while she flew And Trevor had seen him put it in his shoulder bag Guns were easily available at the next destination Top had global agents everywhere and some were specifically assigned to the task of resupplying other agents' weaponry needs when they had to travel commercially When Fulvia had L344 bring Trevor to a room to explain how they were going to leave for Prague And why it would be in Trevor's best interest to be a good boy and behave He used the sloth to put both of them into trances He used it on L344 just outside Fulvia's door Because L344 was slower-witted and would remain under for a little while longer He stepped in front of L344 and put Fulvia under as soon as he entered the room Leaving L344 standing just outside In the 47 seconds that Fulvia remained in the trance and the minute and 26 seconds that L344 was under Trevor had managed without moving L344 from his position to get the gun from his shoulder bag and bury it under some of the clothing in Fulvia's suitcase Just for fun he also wrapped the gun in a red silk negligee, closed the suitcase again, and got back into position in front of Fulvia before she and the henchmen returned to consciousness To them it felt as if there was a brief fog almost like a deja vu moment when your mind goes slack so it can wonder, this feels familiar Fulvia and L344 shook the feeling off and continued as before Not noticing the slight time lapse Trevor could use the sloth any time he was clear-headed and had the attention of the person he wanted to put under He hadn't used the technique for quite a while and hadn't even thought about it for some time Not having any deep-seated need to blank anyone's memory however temporarily So he wasn't prepared to use it when Fulvia first began questioning him And the pain she inflicted on him during the interrogation It it too difficult for him to implement the sloth with any effectiveness then Throughout the night following his beating Trevor lay awake practicing the technique And readying himself for the first good opportunity to use it At first his primary idea was simply to get away But the more he thought about it the more he realized that he needed for this game to play itself out to the end Whatever that might be Whatever happened he certainly didn't want to stay in the clutches of a status like Fulvia Who was obviously an honors graduate of s&m university Anyway, he thought I need to worry about what to do next He wasn't sure whether he could trust anybody at this point Maybe not even his sister Tracy Certainly not Fulvia, but should he trust Hazel? She was standing next to him with such a look of deep concern on her face that he wanted to let her in Wanted to tell her his secrets He felt a strong connection to her even beyond the obvious attraction he felt for her But he wasn't sure if that meant anything or if the events of the past few days had just left him vulnerable to these sorts of emotions Emotions he had successfully avoided since the plane crash that had taken Rebecca from him Emotions he hadn't felt again until his trip to Cairo and meeting Hazel Brown If that actually was her name I'm sorry he said aloud facing Hazel giving her a smile that he hoped wasn't too false The past few days have been a little too much for me And I just need some time to process it all Trevor she said I know this has been hard on you It would be a lot for anyone to take But we really need your help Who is we I can't tell you that Why is this so important I can't tell you that either He gave her a look of frustration which caused her to quickly add Sorry What can you tell me? Not much Give me something to go on. He said his annoyance clearly showing on his face Hazel stepped forward took both his hands and hers and looked him deep in the eyes Sincerely and thoughtfully she said I know this isn't enough And you have no reason to trust me But I'm asking you to believe that there are some very bad people out there who want to misuse your talents And I'm not one of them. I promise you that I will tell you everything you need to know But I just can't right now Trevor said well, you're right. It isn't enough But at least you're not beating me over the head with a metal rod We need to go He headed for the front door to the library tugging her behind him Where are we going? She asked Just across the street for now, but eventually he paused Tell me this Free for the rest of my life ticket my uncle Joffrey gave me Did the people you work for have anything to do with that? No, we're not world-con airlines We're the good guys He sighed He would have to trust somebody eventually It might as well be the woman. He was sure he was falling in love with Come on. He said let's go see professor prezak The linguist he's here Yes Right over there He said pointing to the building behind the statue of the holy roman emperor charles the fourth founder of charles university That's the ola the main building of the university They can tell us where professor prezak's office is he's got the part of the manuscript you want My agency has the whole thing trevor Yes, I know you told me But you have a translation Dr. Prezak has the original And it's not in english What language is it in she asked You'll see As they stepped into the street hazel pondered their situation Still not knowing how much she could or should tell trevor She had a new life now Although not entirely one of her own choosing And she was sure it would cause him pain to know she had been alive all this time and not told him It would have been so much simpler if the agency had never recruited her That was such a long time ago when she was still a first-year student at cambridge Still the young and impressionable rebecca sharp The agency recruited her paid her way through college and trained her in a wide variety of techniques that she convinced herself She would never have to use She was interested in the intrigue of it all the idea of helping to create a better world And being something different than plain becky as her mother used to call her It was in her second year at the university that she met trevor and they fell in love He was so brilliant and just the perfect man for her Before long it was understood that they would marry after college raise a whole flock of children and settle somewhere in the countryside trevor would work on his scientific experiments and she would give up the spy business and never tell trevor about that side of her life There were plenty of other professions. She could enter and with her other skills. She could be very successful at almost anything Life would go on and they would be deliriously happy And then the plane crash happened It wasn't planned of course She was just returning from a short vacation abroad anxious to see trevor again They were flying in horrid weather and the pilot had assured everyone that they would stay above it as much as possible But something must have been wrong with the plane's navigation equipment because the plane descended out of a cloud And found itself 50 yards away from the peak in the Pyrenees The pilot tried to pull the plane up, but it was too late Everyone died but her And she would have perished too if a Basque shepherd hadn't gone up into the mountains to investigate And found her barely alive Other rescuers arrived at the crash site much later and made the obvious assumption that everyone had died The shepherd took care of her the best he could But sent his cousin into town to call the phone number she kept reciting in her fevered sleep It was the agency's phone number, of course and they sent field personnel to transport her quietly back to england Months of physical therapy restored her body to its former self as much as can be achieved in those kinds of serious injuries at any rate The agency having allowed everyone to believe she was dead also saw a golden opportunity And had their best plastic surgeons work on the minor damage that had occurred to rebecca's face But had them create an entirely new look for her also New look new identity new agent Unknown to anyone on the other side Hazel brown was born When she saw what they had done she was furious and refused to work for them But over time they appealed to her sense of duty And convinced her that it was the right thing to do She grieved for trevor Putting him out of her mind had been impossible But she convinced herself it was better for trevor if he weren't connected with the work she would now be doing She remained convinced of that until he walked through the doors of the travel agency She played her part convincingly but ached inside with every word she spoke And now she would have to continue to play the part of hazel until she could tell trevor in a way that wouldn't cause him to hate her The ola's facade was covered with red brick and had steel framed windows across the entire ground floor The name universitas carolina was affixed to the front of the building The courtyard was comprised of sections of concrete into which a steel fencing was installed Giving the exterior a strangely modern appearance Partly because of its opposition to the older plaster walled side buildings which were topped with red tile roofs Inside the ola they found an admissions office and trevor asked Influent check where the professor's office was Not knowing that trevor could speak check hazel was impressed The woman at the desk replied And although hazel couldn't understand what was being said trevor seemed to attach great importance to it He grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly back outside Come on he said we have to get out of here right now What did that woman say? Professor prezak isn't here. He's giving a series of lectures and will be gone for over a week But the manuscript pages could be here. Couldn't they? doubtful Why not hazel asked tired of the lack of information Because he was asked to not let the pages out of his site and I think he would have honored that request But even if he hadn't the pages would probably be gone if these agencies you talk about are as thorough as you say Why is that she asked Because he replied looking at his watch We aren't the first people to ask about the professor today A tall slim dark-haired woman Expensively dressed wearing four-inch diletto heels asked the same questions about an hour ago Do we dare take world-con airlines this time? I think so she replied it would be the fastest way Besides it would give me time to arrange for false identification and credit cards for the two of us We could pick them up at our destination So Where are we going? New york he said Thinking the eight hour or so flight would give him plenty of time to practice the chinchilla And possibly unravel some of the puzzles that were rattling around in his brain New york state or new york city she asked Both he replied The city first and maybe a drive later to ithica in upstate new york What's there cornell university can we go now? end of chapter 12 recorded on november 15 2006 in houston texas This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org You are listening to a section of the LibriVox nano-rimo project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together in serial form during november 2006 The project is based on the idea started by the national novel writing mob chapter 13 Written by Miet E Recorded by Miet E of Miet's bedtime story podcast Cozied up in all 13 plush inches of a third-class seat after an unexpectedly uneventful trip down security lane Trevor looks at the equine face to his right Curious as to her motive A couple books last minute seats to new york Only to find a paucity of conjoining seats available though the ticket gatekeeper both reassuringly and sensibly suggests That they book two seats removed by one passenger That she didn't know the statistics on such matters, but if asked kindly Most passengers would kindly shift over a space for a couple traveling together Even an inheritance would only get him so far The statistics of most were against them evidently are she'd refused to budge Must be a superstitious phobic thing her favorite lucky seat or something Hazel's stone inside long glance had suggested and he'd agreed with a barely discernible lord of head In fact Kindliness was seemingly misplaced for indignation in the closet of this stranger's emotional responses And after the lashing they'd been given at the suggestion of swapping spots from the mouth beneath her extenuated jowl They both sat frozen in their respective seats The occasional ferty of glance the most communicative they'd allow one another Well without a conversation or distractions at least i'll be able to get some work done on the chinchilla he'd thought When he suddenly and unfortunately remembered as he slowly began to sink into sleep But he had been awake in awfully long time now It was classic airplane sleep Half lucid banging carts and artificial food smells and half dreamscape into which the lucid half of him Hoped to unscot himself more deeply in hopes of rabbit hole revelation The dreams themselves fragmented further by the regular interruption of a sneeze cough Obviously the phlegmatic huck of the recently nicotine deprived variety And random expectation of she next to him And further punctuated with a crude elbow brought sharply to his coastal cartilage And while his was a troubled slumber He thought himself alert enough to at least wonder if he couldn't work on the chinchilla at least enough to use it for purposes of immediate vindication Was she really so resentful? All they'd done was ask her to shove over a seat. What kind of a ritual was the middle seat anyhow? But Consciousness consciousness was lost And somewhere in the hinterlands of his own consciousness His only thoughts committed later to recall would be He had been planning to send a letter Or at least he had skirted around a mention of a plan to have a letter sent As the time he'd been shown had been great time And a letter is requisite acknowledgement Of a letter Despite He totally had to recap the gist was squeezed tight It had been a good time and a letter was due But to whom? And would it be worth sending a letter if he was going to new york anyhow? Was he going to new york in this dream? Or was he being temporarily awakened by her tarty elbow again? And did it matter when he grew this weary? Piano sized scale That's grand for those not paying attention Was it needed to measure the weight of the world Lifted listlessly from his axial rotators But the occasional good mole Not great, nowhere even near Would be appreciated Just a cynic docket seizure she'd said While satisfying a mission to indulge in three good meals a week Hence the need for a letter It had later been noted that Unfortunately she'd only been fitting the esophageal Although it should be noted Through no fault of her own A typo will always take the blame when there's no one else at whom to unpry a finger of disgust But she had been speaking in long forgotten dialects This is again why a letter not a phone call or the verbal stripped tease of an actual meeting Didn't she speak the language that is? After all it had been time greatly spent as far as letters go Mightn't he therefore send the fuzzy feltish sort that might be Stitch onto an octrogarment as a proud display of her athleticism Finally A fit Blamed for this recent lapse into unredeemable expatiation But he might instead wonder With everything spelled exactly so Where's the typo to ogle? The temperature may have dropped But the climate is For better or worse Controlled And there she stood Freedom towering over the mailbox while demanding false hopelessness And as she waited for the sky to rain down the other shoe He'd made a sandwich of himself And then started to seize Ungrandly And at last after all he was planning to send a letter And she'd only hoped he'd remember that her favorite letter was I And that he wouldn't forget that despite it all Good morning to her too, there she is This time he finds himself awakened to the tune of what must be a Basketball-sized ball of deeply rooted throat juice Working its way in a vultifashi Up her downward tubes And a fine strand of it finding its way to the knee of his very trouser His head not moving by its own accord but by the weight of weary And his eyes only open enough to see the impressively strewn path Culminating on his right leg Salivarily connecting to what must be her pallets of massacring mush Out of only the more syriptitious side long glance He watched in helpless horror as she shaky hand extended Softly brushed against the cotton over his knee in hopes of cleaning the mess she'd made Her finger disappeared from his limited purview And just as he was about to re-enter the land of organic milk and macrobiotic honey The announcer on the in-flight microphone begged them to prepare for landing He bolted straight up They had arrived End of chapter 13 Recorded on 15th November 2006 By Miet of Miet's Bedterm Story podcast This is a LibriVox recording All the LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org You're listening to a section of the LibriVox Nano Remo Project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers write and record a whole novel together In serial form during November 2006 The project is based on the idea started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 14 Written and Recorded by Chris Govinge JFK had the distinctive smell of an airport washed by recent rain As Trevor and Hazel hailed a taxi and climbed Or in Trevor's case collapsed into the back seat God, I hate travelling He muttered to himself as Hazel spoke to the driver Coming through customs that agreed it was worth trying the New York University Department of Linguistics Where Professor Frazak had delivered a lecture the previous afternoon In case he had stayed overnight before heading to Cornell The next stop on his speaking tour The energy of the city buzzing with morning commuters seemed to mock Trevor's jet-lagged lethargy Wearily he realised he hadn't even turned his cell phone back on after the flight The phone played a depressingly cheerful melody as it powered up Announcing that he had missed three calls during the flight Suddenly Trevor was wide awake, staring at the display He hadn't missed three calls during the flight He'd missed three calls in the last 20 minutes All from the same number A number he knew almost as well as his own What the hell? Before he even had time to complete the thought The phone rang Hi, Tracy? Where the hell are you, Trevor? Tracy's voice was full of not-so-well-suppressed panic Why haven't you been answering your phone? It's OK, Tase I'm just back in the country, just landed at JFK Heading into town now, then probably out to Cornell Cornell? What's this all about, Trevor? What's going on? Tracy? There's not much I can tell you right now I just need you to trust me What I'm doing, it's really important Damn you, Trevor! It's not as important as your family As my kids But Michael and Natalie Trevor, I don't know where my kids are Now there was no attempt to hide the panic in her voice I was going to take them to the shelves But oh hell, I don't know how to explain it This guy, Guffart He knows all about the documents Knew about your plane tickets He seemed to know everything He convinced me you would send him That you needed me That Worldcon would look after Stephen and the kids And you went with him You don't understand, Trevor He knew everything about my work at Cornell About the documents I sent to you You sent? Yes, I sent! How could he know about them if you didn't tell him? But you didn't, did you? And now I'm God knows where In some medieval monastery by the looks of things With an old guy who was some sort of cross between Dan Brown and Yoda Tracy's voice cracked Trevor, I don't know where my kids are Tracy says, I swear, I'll find your kids I'll find Michael and Natalie Where are you? France, I think Trevor could hear his sister fighting to remain calm To think and speak clearly My cell phone says Gonsola It was a long flight And it's early afternoon here now Morning in New York? Eight-ish That makes sense Old buildings, like I say Cold, too, probably at altitude French Alps? OK Why didn't you call me till now? I only got my phone back this morning I must have dropped it while they were ringing me here Anyway, Gerhard returned it to me half an hour ago I've been trying to call you and Stephen ever since Trevor's heart, already working overtime, stopped Oh, shit They gave you your phone back His voice was deathly calm And I told you where I was And where I was going What are you talking about? There was a moment's silence on the other end of the line Then in broken check And a suddenly subdued voice Tracy continued There's something else, Trevor I heard them talking last night Couldn't hear what they were saying But I overheard a name I recognised An old friend of yours From Cambridge? Who was killed in a plane crash? Trevor's check was fluent But he spoke slowly and simply Unsure just how much his sister would be able to follow OK Tracy, listen I'm going to find Stephen and the kids If you get hold of Stephen, call me No, tell him to call me I'll... Something about the silence at the other end Told Trevor the line had gone dead Only as he looked up and met Hazel's eyes Did he realise his own were full of tears And hers of sympathy I only heard some of that But I think I can help Or rather, I think we can help If you tell me all you can I can have people find your sister and her children But you have to trust me We have to keep going Understanding this manuscript is more important than ever Trust you There's one question I need you to answer first If I can, I will What do you know about Rebecca Sharp? End of chapter 14 Recorded on November 15th 2006 In Sydney, Australia This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org You are listening to the section Of the LibriVox Nano-Rymo Project In which a number of LibriVox volunteers Write and record a whole novel together In serial form during November 2006 The project is based on the idea Started by the National Novel Writing Month Chapter 15 The room was stuffed with books and papers Piles of them And it had taken Prazak five full minutes To clear the little table of debris And find the envelope With the manuscript that Trevor had sent him The work, Prazak said, waving his thick hand At the pages with a kind of disgust The work it is untidy You should see the office in Prague He shook his big gray head And stared at Trevor with those dark eyes As if he couldn't bear the thought of the mess in Prague He found the envelope Addressed in Trevor's writing With Egyptian stamps Here, he said, handing the document over It's all there And the computer, Trevor asked, indicating the laptop Prazak had offered him The old man smiled Always with the computers, he said I don't even know how it works Brand new Always these new tools I don't trust them He seemed to have as much disgust for the laptop As he did for his office in Prague Trevor thanked Professor Prazak Told him he would get the computer back as soon as he could Then the professor laughed, taking Trevor's hand Please, he said, keep that thing They are evil He smiled at his joke And then gestured towards the door The lady seems impatient, he said Hazel stood there waiting And indeed she was impatient She was afraid Global's agents would be arriving soon Twenty minutes later In a far off corner of the university library Trevor opened the computer Got out the manuscript And his eye river And got to work He was there two hours later And then three And finally he stood to stretch his legs Hazel appeared Anything, she asked Closer, Trevor said Can you tell me anything more? You won't believe me, she said Just keep plugging away We can talk after you've done Some snooping in the system She left him to work And continued her patrols Searching for Global agents Agents they both knew would be here soon Looking for Trevor Trevor focused on his work He shook his head in disbelief He was a good hacker Maybe a great hacker But he would never have been able to get into the system Without the roadmap provided by the errors in LibriVox Decoded by putting the manuscript And the audio of the mystery together The system was airtight But someone had left a trapdoor in the security A trapdoor that let him in And once in he couldn't believe what he saw Couldn't believe what was behind the security What was emerging from his analysis seemed too big Seemed impossible How much did Hazel know about this, he wondered All of it, none of it He was not completely finished But he was finished for now There were more hours of work to do But he needed to think What do you know about this, he asked Hazel What do you know, she answered It's impossible, I can't believe what this system does And what is it that it does, she asked Trevor didn't know what to say It seemed incredible, outlandish Bigger than anything you could have imagined They recorded everything Everything Every email Every blog entry Forum post Every bookmark Every photo posted Everything done online was recorded Associated with individuals Every online game played Every move Every instant message It was all here The scale of the information was bigger than he thought possible He searched for his own information and erased what little was there He was careful, skilled And a long time hacker And he did what was necessary to keep himself invisible online But even with his skills and caution So much it slipped through Most of the online stuff was gone But not the other traces His bank transactions, interact purchases, visa transactions Cell phone calls They even collected voting records from the divaled machines in the U.S. And there was more, more than this frightening array of digital information There was digitized versions of letters he had written Handwritten letters from his youth A thank you letter to his aunt Ada She'd bought him a baseball glove when he was 15 What was all this for, he wondered His brain was still processing what was there He didn't have enough energy to answer that question yet And if his own database entry in the system was relatively slim Huge as it was, the others, the rest of them The rest of humanity It was more than he could comprehend The database was massive, a scale beyond anything he could have imagined Greater than the climate modeling systems he had worked on Greater probably No, certainly, than any military computers his friends had worked on He could not imagine another system that could track so much information in real time It was so far beyond the biggest processors he'd ever seen Ever heard of, ever even conceived of The Chinchilla was positively gnawing at him He felt light-headed, thought he might faint He was too much And there was more, behind other security that he couldn't crack There seemed to be no trapdoor there Hazel nodded as he explained what he had found They are recording everything he said incredulous That's right, she said Everything he shook his head, it's impossible Except it's not impossible, they're doing it What for, he asked Control, she answered He considered what she said Blackmail? No, it's too big for that Too comprehensive She agreed It's nothing to do with blackmail Marketing data? To know what you'll buy? But bigger, he considered more It wasn't just for marketing, it was for everything Data like this was collected to know what you would think What you would do What's behind the wall? He asked, he thought he knew, but he hoped he was wrong It's a modeling system He wasn't wrong at all, he was right If they could collect all this data If they had the processing power to collect it They could do more with it If they collected and processed every email Every exchange, every transaction If they could process all that information They could make predictive models They could say, if you got such and such a message Under certain circumstances You would react in a certain way They could model the system, the whole system They could model how groups would react They could model individual behavior They could model every decision that you made That anyone made They had almost complete Newtonian map of humanity here Web 2.0, Hazel said Was invented to better collect the data To control everything He closed his eyes So this is a predictive modeling system It's more, she said He waited for her to go on What does a predictive model help you do? She asked Trevor thought You know how people react So you can model reactions based on certain things You can test different scenarios Right? It's used to, to what? To make decisions Right To decide what he asked Her blue eyes were hard and unforgiving Everything Almost Why didn't you tell me this when we met? Because you wouldn't have believed me Without proof And we needed someone from outside the order To break into the system Our organization is filled with spies They're only a handful of us who can be trusted There are hundreds who are not spies But finding those hundreds among the thousands Would be impossible Global has infiltrated the order Just as we have infiltrated global She told him the history of global It started as a small group of highly placed Catholic clergy And European aristocrats Technocrats A number of Sufi scholars Mongol lords The king of the Yoruba peoples A small congress of the most powerful men in the world They met and established global in 1215 AD The year the Magna Carta was written To discuss the future of humanity They could see what was coming The march of history And decided among the group of them That there needed to be an informal But final means of control Beyond the usual systems of diplomacy Politics Warmaking Peacemaking and trade Global continued to be a small group of powerful men And the occasional woman This was a question of control Not politics For a few hundred years Deals were struck hands shaken Often warring parties shook hands And smiled behind the scenes These wars were sometimes necessary For reasons everyone acknowledged But global grew over the years In addition to the main assembly The decision making body They created a sort of control mechanism An advisory committee Tasked with giving direction to global While global continued the day to day decision making The order was born Global's power and control Grew over the course of the next few hundred years They consolidated control of most universities Police forces, military The postal systems, of course Banks and schools They were everywhere But with the railways A new breed of global delicate came The science men, men who realized That control of the world order Was about more than political maneuvering Who realized that true control Newtonian kind of control Would come when they had enough information About the mass of humans Who, since Magna Carta Had exerted more and more influence On the affairs of the world As physics and chemistry was harnessed In the industrial age so too the affairs of humans Would be when the experiments could be performed On a grand scale When the data collected would be sufficient When true classification could be made In the late 19th and early 20th centuries The order stood behind global In their ever ambitious program of control But the grandiosity of global's experiments Made some in the order nervous Chief among them, T. Misou Who saw danger in the proposed system That all this control might mean rigidity Though global argued it was all necessary All for the best in the name of managing Humanity's place on the earth But the order issued a series But the order issued a secret warning If global's research teams looked forward To what they could do with telephones, telegraph Misou saw the end game was Where communication was going Realized that eventually the project would catch everything And he worried about that He issued a secret mandate to the order That in the case of several events in the future The destruction of global and its apparatus must happen All those events had now come to pass And in the meantime global had extended its reach And power to levels unimagined in 1215 And still only surmised in 1923 When Misou issued his edict to the order Trevor was lying on the ground, under the table He did this when he had to think In any other circumstance he would have believed none of this But he had seen inside the system He had seen what they were doing If they could collect the mass of information in one place Anything was possible But why am I here doing this? He asked, why me? Because you can help, she said You can help dismantle it But you aren't alone Hundreds of other hackers have been given similar tools So what exactly is happening now? Trevor asked The order wants you to get into the system To destroy it And, and almost all the other hackers are dead You and a few others are still alive But as far as I know, you're the first one who's been inside End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Written and recorded by Kirsten Ferrari Hazel lays sprawled across the bed Her blonde hair shimmering in the light through the window She had a separate room booked at the hotel to which they finally retired After being unceremoniously thrown out of the library some time around midnight But she had fallen asleep while explaining Global to Trevor for what must have seemed to her like the thousandth time Trevor lay under the table in his sweet sitting-room, scowling at the darkness The whole thing was so complicatedly preposterous it had to be true But his chinchilla was back, scratching at the back of his mind Hazel was keeping something from him He knew it, though he couldn't say how But Global was not interested in him just for his hacking skills There was another connection Something Hazel didn't want him to know For starters, it was just too huge a coincidence that Over eighty years after T. Messure had issued the order to destroy Global His grandson possessed the exact skills to get it done At the exact moment when it needed to be done Trevor rubbed his eyes wearily and slid out from under the table He needed a break He retrieved his USB headset from his laptop bag and plugged it in Hopefully there would be a new chapter of the mystery posted on the LibriVox forums His email program popped up telling him he had some new messages But he clicked past it to LibriVox The going solo forums were highlighted Meaning that someone had posted a chapter to something He opened the folder eagerly The mystery was highlighted and marked as locked The first post had been changed to include a bright red banner message Due to the fact that our moderators have been unable to determine whether this piece is in the public domain We have to temporarily close this thread down until we hear back from Gutenberg So sorry for the inconvenience Trevor scrolled down frantically This couldn't be the end of the mystery After all the lies Hazel told to him He still couldn't shake the feeling that she was holding something back The mystery felt like his only link to his grandfather's true history Oh thank Christ, one last link had been posted The reader had his own server space so none of the chapters had been deleted yet Trevor downloaded the last one put on his headphones and listened The recordings had never been perfect There was background noise Interference The occasional plosive All the hallmarks of an amateur But this one was different The plosives came regularly and were much more pronounced It also seemed like almost every other plosive was longer than usual The longer he listened the more his chinchilla itched Suddenly and for the first time he could remember something came of it and an idea struck him He loaded the last chapter of the mystery into audacity And began to edit the file so that only the plosives remained They fell instantly into a pattern Short, short, long, short, and a pause Morse code Trevor opened notepad and restarted the track Recording dots and dashes then googled Morse code and pulled up a decoder F-I-N Find red And there goes that damn chinchilla again If Trevor's brain felt like it was being tickled by a chinchilla Tracy's felt like hers was being waltzed on by a tyrannosaurus She blinked her eyes open and tried to take in her surroundings Still unsure where she was The walls were solid stone rising for what looked like a hundred feet above her And she could hear the echoes of her breathing resounding off the ceiling She eased herself up off the floor Every muscle in her body hurt and her head was throbbing She leaned over and retched She had barely eaten in days so she didn't vomit But there was a sour taste of acid in the back of her throat Tracy lay back down and began to sob Suddenly she heard footsteps coming toward her She dried her eyes and sat up trying to ignore the pain in her forehead A light flashed overhead and for the first time in a long time Tracy saw exactly where she was It looked almost like the inside of a cathedral A cathedral with no windows and no visible doors The ceiling was vaulted and buttressed And a wooden picnic table stood in the exact middle of the room A woman was laying a meal out on the table and humming gently to herself The tune sounded familiar though Tracy couldn't remember where she had heard it The woman was sweet-faced and plump and no older than 30 She had a long ponytail of curly red hair And was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans The t-shirt had something written on it but Tracy couldn't quite make it out Tracy stood and began to stumble toward the woman Her legs felt unused to walking and she wondered how long she had been asleep And if her headache had anything to do with not remembering her surroundings The woman looked up and smiled As she turned Tracy could read the writing on her shirt I record audiobooks for LibriVox.org Tracy gasped, this was too strange to be true Good morning, the woman said She had a slightly odd accent Yet another detail Tracy felt like she could recognize But couldn't Where am I? The lady hesitated, as if deciding whether to tell her You're in Rome, she said at last Tracy felt tears well up in her eyes again The woman seemed to notice and move toward Tracy sympathetically You must be starving, she said Please have something to eat Tracy knew better than to eat food prepared by a mysterious stranger But she couldn't resist the smell of the hot fresh spaghetti And fresh mozzarella and tomato salad She collapsed into a chair and began to eat hungrily The woman sat down across from her and watched her eat When she had cleared her plate The woman opened the picnic basket again And pulled out a photo album Care to look inside? Tracy felt her stomach sink But she opened the album Inside were photos of a baby girl with the face hidden Tracy began to cry again Is this my daughter? It could be anyone's daughter The woman closed the album and put it back in the picnic basket But I want you not to jump to conclusions Is it my daughter? Tracy demanded again As it happens, it isn't your daughter But it could be your daughter It could be anyone's daughter I don't understand what you mean I mean that we could take your daughter at any moment We could also take your son Or your husband Or your brother They are safe now They have filed a police report and said you are kidnapped But they are safe at home Why are you telling me all this? I want you to trust me I am not keeping any secrets from you And I need your help With what? With convincing your brother to help our cause Tracy could feel her headache returning I don't know where Trevor is right now We can put you in contact with him We need you to tell him that he knows who we are And that we have been trying to get in touch with him For a long time That his life is in danger And he will not be safe unless he is with us Tell him that everyone is not who they seem to be And to trust no one who has contacted him so far And why should he trust you? He has no choice He knows everything is not right with his so-called friends He knows they are liars Tell him that we know that he knows Before I tell him all this, I need to know who you are Tracy's courage was returning to her And he said to me Tracy's courage was returning to her Again it was against all her instincts But she did trust this strange woman The woman chuckled to herself And reached into the picnic basket one last time She handed Tracy a gold medallion It was embossed with a cross And an inscription in Latin What does this say? Translated, it claims the medallion as the property of the sovereign military hospitaler order In John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta You're with the knights of Malta? I am more than with the knights You might say that I am the knights I am the first of my order The first of the color guard The first of the pilgrims And the first daughter of the ancient Latia I am the first and the last of my kind In prim massum, rutila sum I... Tracy bit her lip in confusion I don't speak Latin, I'm sorry The woman smiled again This time with a hint of impatience I am in the first place I am red End of Chapter 16 Recorded on November 18th, 2006