Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians Read Online Free PDF Page A

what a car is in the first place, since you’re used to much larger vehicles. (It’s kind of a like a silimatic crawler with wheels instead of legs, though people treat them more like horses. Only, unlike horses, they aren’t alive – and when they poop, environmentalists get mad.)
    “So,” I asked, “where are we going?”
    “There’s only one place the Librarians would have taken an artifact as powerful as the Sands of Rashid,” Grand Smedry said. “Their local base of operations.”
    “That would be… the library”
    “Where else? The downtown library, to be exact. We’ll have to be very careful infiltrating that place.”
    I cocked my head. “I’ve been there before. Last I checked, it wasn’t too hard to get in.”
    “We don’t have to just get in,” Grand Smedry said. “We have to infiltrate. ”
    “And the difference is…?”
    “One requires far more sneaking.” Grandpa Smedry seemed quite delighted by the prospect.
    “Ah,” I said. “Right, then. Are we going to need any… I don’t know, special equipment for this? Or, perhaps, some more help?”
    “Ah. A very wise idea, lad,” Grandpa Smedry said.
    And the car suddenly jerked, turning onto a larger street. Cars passed on either side, whizzing off to their separate destinations, Grandpa Smedry’s little black automobile puttering along happily in the center lan e . Grandpa gave the wheel a few good twists , and we rode in silence.
    I kept glancing at the steering wheel, trying to sort out exactly what mechanism was controlling the vehicle. In my world, vehicles don’t drive themselves, and men like Grandpa Smedry are generally kept in small padded rooms with lots of crayons.
    Eventually (partially to keep myself from going mad from frustration) I decided to try conversation again. “So,” I said, “why do you think that man tried to kill me?”
    “Because the Librarians got what they wanted from you, lad,” Grandpa Smedry said. “They have the sands, which we all knew would make their way to you eventually. Now that they have your inheritance, you’re no longer an asset to them. In fact, you’re a threat! They were right to be afraid of your Talent.”
    “My Talent?”
    “Breaking things. All Smedrys have a Talent, my boy. It’s part of our lineage.”
    “So… you have one of these Talent things?” I asked.
    “Of course I do, lad!” Grandpa Smedry said. “I’m a Smedry, after all.”
    “What is it ? ”
    Grandpa smiled modestly. “Well, I don’t like to brag, but it’s quite a powerful Talent indeed.”
    I raised a skeptical eyebrow.
    “You see,” Grandpa Smedry said, “I have the ability to arrive late to things.”
    “Ah,” I said. “Of course.”
    “I know, I know. I don’t deserve such power, but I try to make good use of it.”
    “You are completely nuts, you know.” It’s always best to be blunt with people.
    “Thank you!” Grandpa Smedry said as the car began to slow. The vehicle pulled up to the pumps at a small gas station. I didn’t recognize the brand – the sign hanging above the ridiculously high prices simply depicted the image of an upside-down teddy bear.
    Our doors swung open on their own. Grandpa hopped out of his seat and rushed over to meet the station attendant, who was approaching to fill up the tank.
    I frowned, still sitting in the car. The attendant was dressed in a pair of dirty overalls and no shirt. He was chewing on the end of a piece of straw, as one might see a farmer doing in old Hushlander movies, and he had on a large straw hat.
    Grandpa Smedry approached the man with an exaggerated look of nonchalance. “ H ello, good sir,” Grandpa Smedry said, glancing around. “I’d like a Philip, please.”
    “Of course, good sir,” the attendant said, tipping his hat and accepting a couple of bills from Grandpa Smedry. The attendant approached the car, nodding to me, then took out one of the gasoline hoses and held it up against the side of the car, whistling pleasantly