The Bicyclist's Guide to the Galaxy by Elly Blue

Author:Elly Blue
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Microcosm Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-09-15T18:56:58+00:00

The Princess Book

[ Avery Vanderlyle ]

Kitty huffed as she pedaled furiously up the graded mountain road. The electric assist was doing all it could, but the route was steep and she wasn’t used to this amount of exertion. Runs on the treadmill in her spaceship’s exercise room didn’t keep her as fit as she thought, apparently. Even for a small mountain.

She could have taken a jeep. It was right there; it would have been more convenient for her supplies, too. But the Portmaster of Fable’s Shore had been sizing her up, and she’d passed others on the road out of town who’d looked at her appraisingly. One of her mission goals as an employee of the Cultural Authority was winning their trust, and that meant taking the bicycle and trailer.

This was her last stop on Sia V. In a couple of days she’d be traveling to the Interstellar Council’s biennial meeting on Anov III where she was assisting the Archivists with their VR capture of the events. Fable’s Shore wasn’t the largest town, but the nearby mountains were a source of valuable minerals, and its port served native cities as well as other planets. She’d already assisted each household and institution in the town whose books needed repair or upgrading. She’d saved this trip—up the mountain to the prestigious Diamond View Academy—for the end.

Finally, the grade evened out, and she caught her breath. She could see the school’s campus ahead of her: stone walls speckled with purplish moss and the angles of slate roofs beyond that. The school had a library, with books that needed repair and no appropriate way to bring the most delicate ones down to the spaceport. So she’d come to them.

She switched off the assist and let herself enjoy the last few minutes of her ride. The bike was old but sleek and finely tuned. Even the scattered dents added character, telling stories of long rides beneath the double suns, slippery winter paths, and dares along narrow tracks. Despite the trailer, the riding was easy. Kitty didn’t spend much time outside. She’d missed the feel of fresh air rushing past her and the snatches of insect rumbling and bird whistling that she caught as she rode.

The gate to the school was open, and she rolled right into a huge courtyard. The short turquoise grass that passed for a lawn here added a bit of a bounce as she headed for the lone figure standing by the largest of the squat stone buildings.

The woman who stood waiting for her looked like a figure out of a book herself. She wore long gray robes flecked with silver. A black scarf covered her hair and wrapped around her face. A pair of flint gray eyes, bright against ochre skin, and a hint of a long straight nose peeked from under the cloth.

She bowed as Kitty approached. “Welcome, Bookbinder. I’m Dean Prima. We don’t get many guests, but your arrival is especially fortuitous.” She took a few steps forward, bending toward Kitty to whisper.

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