A voice spoke. “Oh, stop it.”
The voice was the smallest and squeakiest Lenora could imagine, but for some reason, TREE(3) returned immediately to its immense, remote silence.
“Hello,” said the voice. “Down here.”
Everyone looked down. Sitting at the base of the enormous tree was a much smaller tree, something that looked to Lenora like a bonsai-sized version of TREE(3), which you could put in your backpack.
“Thank you,” said Lenora with immense relief. “May I ask who you are?”
“I am TREE(2). It’s very nice to meet you.”
This TREE was certainly nicer than the other, and Lenora felt that they ought to shake hands or something, but of course they had no way of doing that. So she simply asked, politely, “Are you a large number as well?”
TREE(2) laughed. (Lenora was not exactly sure where its voice was coming from.) “No, not at all. You see, TREEs grow quickly. TREE(1), for example, is only equal to one. And I, TREE(2), am only equal to three. TREE(3), on the other hand, is a number so incomprehensibly vast that it defies any description I could give you. There is no written notation that can express it. TREE(3) makes Graham’s number (I believe you’ve met) look like nothing in comparison.”
“So it’s the largest number, then?” asked Lenora hopefully.
“Oh, no,” said TREE(2). “Of course, they thought that for a while. But then someone found one larger. Every so often, a new one is discovered. It’s all quite exciting, at least to us.”
“Well, thank you,” said Lenora. She did not want to seem ungrateful, but how on earth would she give that boy his answer? Then again, the idea that one could keep discovering ever-larger numbers was rather thrilling. But given what she had seen from TREE(3), Lenora wasn’t so sure she wanted to meet any more of them.
Nevertheless, she turned to Milton. “I suppose we should keep going.”
A voice spoke from behind them. “No. You shouldn’t.”
Lenora whirled around. “Malachi! How did you get here?”
Malachi looked down at the three of them, and Lucy gaped up at the astonishing sight of the ten-foot-tall Assistant Answerer. (Though Lenora wondered why she still seemed ten feet tall when all of them were larger than the observable universe at the moment.)
Lucy looked down at her own platform shoes, then up at Malachi. “How did you get to be so tall?” she demanded.
“A stretching machine,” replied Malachi gravely. “I use it every day.”
“Really?” asked Lucy.
“No,” said Malachi, and turned to Lenora. “Lenora, I must be brief. You should know that I am being watched at all times. There are few places in the Library I can speak freely, and this is one of them. As you know, the Forces fear this place, and they cannot spy on us here.”
“But why haven’t they just fired you?” asked Lenora, hard as it was to imagine anyone throwing Malachi out of the Library.
Malachi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Only the Director can give orders such as firing a librarian—”
“Daddy would never do that!” Lucy interrupted.
“—and so I made the decision, and I hope it was the correct one, to give the appearance of cooperation with him. I wish to fight from within, though I am still not fully trusted. But we have no further time to discuss this. The Director has been informed of your presence and that you are with his daughter, and he ordered the Forces to find you immediately. They are on their way here despite their fears, and so you must go.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Lenora. “I still don’t have an answer for my patron.”
“Are you certain of that? Perhaps you have an answer, though not the one you were seeking.”
Lenora knew better than to ask Malachi what that answer was. She expected to be told it would be best to figure it out for herself, of course. And so she would. In the meantime …
“Where can we go?” asked Lenora. “If we can’t hide from the Director here, then where can we?”
“We’re not hiding from Daddy, are we?” ventured Lucy plaintively. “Just those creepy Forces people, right?”
Malachi was frowning. “Hide?” she said. “Hiding is hardly in your nature, Lenora. Now, where would the Director be least likely to expect you?”
Lenora thought of her oath. Think on my feet and rely on my wits and valor …
She turned to the others. “I know where we’re going. We’re going to the Director.”
“Yay!” cheered Lucy.
“What?” cried Milton, aghast.
“Correct,” replied Malachi. “Now go to him before the Forces catch up. I have every confidence in you.” She looked at Milton. “Show them the way immediately. I must go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Milton. And then Malachi was gone.
In an instant they were shrinking, shrinking at an impossibly fast rate as the universe and galaxies and stars all rushed by, this time getting larger instead of smaller.
And then they were standing in front of the sign again, Lenora fuming all the while. How had she gotten an answer for her patron? She didn’t see it. But this was not the time to figure it out, and so she asked Milton, “How can we get out of here if the Forces are coming?” For there had not seemed to be a way back up that slide, even if the room beyond the dark wall were not already filled with enemies.
As she pondered this, the glimmering idea returned. Lenora snapped her fingers. “Milton, if the Forces are afraid to come here, could librarians use this as sort of a hideout, like a … a…”
“A rebel base!” said Lucy. “Cool.”
“Exactly,” replied Lenora with a smile.
“Certainly,” said Milton. “We do have plenty of room, after all. But in the meantime, you should go.” He waved his hand. Instantly, a single tube capsule appeared, seemingly suspended in the darkness. “This is my personal capsule. You can take it straight to the Director. And … good luck.” He did not look especially confident.
Lenora did not blame him. She herself was, frankly, quite alarmed. Lucy, however, was simply giddy. “Yes, let’s go see Daddy! I can’t wait for him to meet you, Lenora! I’m sure he will get those Forces creeps straightened out.”
And so the girls climbed in, and Lenora saw something new—a large, brilliantly glowing label, twice the size of any other, that said in bright letters: DIRECTOR.
Steeling herself, Lenora inserted her key, and they were off.
After a speedy journey, the tube slowed and stopped. The door popped open.
Lenora got out, followed by Lucy. In front of them was a short set of stairs that seemed to be made of, or at least coated in, pure platinum, a silvery sort of extremely valuable metal that Lenora had learned all about in Metallurgy: From Aluminum to Zirconium and Back Again. At the top of the steps were some rather over-decorated doors, and above that the words THE DIRECTOR, also in platinum, and above that a gigantic portrait of the Director, which made him look quite a lot younger and even handsomer than he was. That was framed in platinum, too. Lenora rather thought you could overdo it with the platinum, but then the doors burst open and everything changed.
Several members of the Forces, disguised, of course, as librarians, came rushing down the steps. But the expressions on their faces were unlike anything Lenora had seen from them before. They were unsure, rather pale, surprised, and they were saying things to one another like:
“—what did she—?”
“—why? Where did they—?”
“—where is—but how—?”
Lenora couldn’t make it all out because they were babbling over one another. But this was exactly what Lenora had been hoping for. The Forces had expected her to run or hide, but instead she had come straight at them, taking them completely by surprise, and they had no idea what she was doing or why, and perhaps—just perhaps—were a little afraid that she might have some kind of plan.
She did not, of course, have a plan. But she did realize, for this moment at least, that she had an advantage and must make use of it immediately. So she grabbed Lucy’s hand and said, “Let’s go see your daddy!” in the brightest and most confident voice she could possibly muster.
“Yes!” said Lucy, enthused, and up the stairs they dashed, right past all the Forces. A couple of them moved as though to block them, then hesitated, and before any decision could be made Lenora and Lucy were through the door.
And there was the Director.