Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in Unpacking More Than Books -

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Unpacking More Than Books -

(snip)

It took another two hours to get the books shelved and the displays active, but when they were mostly finished Karilan said “Ok, the rest of these here will go in the nook. Are you ready to see it?”

“Absolutely!” she said with a gleam in her eyes.

They led her to the doorway and said “Recessed fingerprint reader here and here. Grab the doorframe like this-” and they took Eela’s hand and set it on the door. As they did, the floor opened like an iris. A set of brass-railed stairs spiraled down about eight feet to small circular space. There was a comfortable chair, a small table, and old-fashioned reading-styled lamp. The walls were recessed shelves for books.. There was also a replicator and a comm terminal. “Ok, so I may have over-engineered this just a little.” and they grinned. “Follow me.” and they led her down the stairs.

“I am not complaining,” Eela said, chuckling as she carefully moved down the stairs, mindful to give her body a tiny bit more time to spatially align itself. “It’s rather magical, all told. I love it.”

With two people in the space, it was almost too much, but doable. “So you have the replicator and comms. Nonuse for the space if you have to trapse up and down for every little thing. No bathroom, there just wasn’t room.” and the chuckled. “Everything is pretty standard except for two things. First: the stairs. I know you have back problems, and I didn’t want something bad to happen down here and you getting stuck. So if you need to get out and can’t walk, stand or sit on the step and press here.” They pressed a singular brass stud…

Despite knowing something would happen, it still startled her and Eela had to take a calming breath.

And the stairs began to move. “They work like an escalator. It will get you up to the floor level. The second thing is this and they pointed to a small picture of a beach. “Tilt it and-” and they did and the iros above them snapped shut a dark gray metal plate slid under it, sealing the space off. Emergency lighting came on and a voice came from the comms. “Ma’am, this is Agent Crane. Your safe room has been activated. Do you need help?” Karilan’s eyes went wide and they said “Oh! I forgot I did that!” and they laughed silently.

Karilan

Eela slapped a hand over her mouth for a moment before composing herself. “Everything is fine. Just testing the new system with Mx. Massat to make sure I know how it works. Thank you for your diligence, Agent,” she said.

When the comms closed Karilan laughed. They triggered the stud again and the room opened up and they said “Oh I should probably buy the agent a cup of coffee for that one.”

“Always keep the agents on your good side,” Eela said with a grin.

“It’s a good safety feature. Not going to lie, when you first mentioned it I wasn’t sure I’d ever need it.” She raised her brows. “Now I’m thinking the extra precautions are wise.”

~Eela

“Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.” Karilan said as they went up the stairs and started bringing down books. “And the only people that know about it are you, me, my assistant, and your security team. I even kept it off the permits.” and they waved their hand. “No no, nothing nefarious. One of the CCDA brass made it go through under a ‘colonial security matter’. Nice man. Beautiful hair.” They started shelving books.

Karilan

She smiled.”Major General Charles Tenkiller. He’s become a dear friend also. And yes, he does have the most gorgeous hair. I’m kind of envious, though I’ve accepted that the women in my family go prematurely grey,” she said, lifting a lock that she knew had the silver streaks. “Though I am grateful it’s more silver. It looks quite nice later, actually.”

“You know, you have Tenkiller to blame for us meeting, right? He’s the one who told me about your coffee and suggested I make it a priority to drop by,” Eela said with a smile. “I probably would have come across the store in my explorations as well, but I’m so glad I found it sooner rather than later.”

~Eela