Golden Gate by James Ponti

Author:James Ponti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2021-03-09T00:00:00+00:00

STEP ONE—ENTER THE LIBRARY THROUGH THE RAD CAM AND THE GLADSTONE LINK

The Radcliffe Camera had nothing to do with photography. The domed circular building was a stunning example of neoclassical architecture and was the iconic image of Oxford. Its name referred to the Latin word “camera,” which means “room,” and among students it was fondly called the Rad Cam, Radders, or simply the Camera.

Although it was a separate building, it was technically a reading room of the Bodleian and was closed to the general public. Ironically, this is why Fletcher wanted the team to use it as the point of entry. Once they’d scanned their reader cards and made it past the first wave of librarians, they’d already breached the library’s security. They were inside. Had they entered through the Old Bodleian building, which was open for public tours, they would’ve needed to navigate additional layers of librarians and security officers.

“Remember we are on the clock,” Monty reminded them as she led them past the computer bay toward the right rear stairwell. Paris and Sydney both had to resist the urge to stop and gawk at the library’s beautiful interior.

They took the stairs down to the Gladstone Link, an underground library that connected the Rad Cam to the Bod. It was modern looking with bright fluorescent lights and orange architectural accents that stretched along the ceiling.

Monty checked her watch and stopped. “Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds until our diversion kicks into gear. Let’s wait here.”

“Got it,” said Paris.

The Gladstone Link closed forty-five minutes before the rest of the library to allow security a chance to make a thorough sweep. It was almost that time, so the students in the area were packing up to go.

“You know, this part of the library is named after Prime Minister William Gladstone,” Monty said, reverting to her tour guide mode.

“Why’s that?” said Paris. “Was he the one that approved the money to build it?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “Believe it or not, he’s the one who came up with the idea for shelves with wheels so that libraries could store more books.”

Sydney laughed. “The things you know, Monty.”

“All right, everyone,” said a security guard standing at the help desk. “It’s closing time. Up and at ’em.”

Monty, Paris, and Sydney were on the move again, trying their best to blend in among the students leaving the Gladstone, although they left the opposite way from where they came and exited through a black-and-white tunnel that looked more like it belonged in a Star Wars movie than a four-hundred-year-old library. It led them to the base of the north stairway in the Old Bodleian building, where they waited until they heard a commotion.

“There’s my boy,” Monty said. “And I guarantee he’s loving every second of it.”

On the ground floor, Fletcher was playing the perfect model of the dotty, absentminded professor when something in his briefcase “accidentally” set off the alarm system at the reading room’s entrance. This drew the attention of the librarians who staffed the

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