The shelves closed over the corridor.
Sylphie pulled Kael backward before two rows of black wood collided where he had been standing. The impact produced no sound. Books, boxes, and artifacts passed through one another like overlapping images, forming a solid wall between them and the rest of the group.
Kael could still feel Eleonor, Violet, and Hadriam on the other side, but their voices reached him out of order. Words spoken later appeared before the questions. Footsteps were heard several seconds before they happened.
The Archivist had not merely divided the space.
He had divided the sequence of the corridors.
"Violet," Kael said, touching the communication crystal. "Remove every employee together with the corresponding books. Do not leave any open record without someone watching it."
The commander's answer came before he finished:
"We are trying to reach you."
Kael looked at the crystal.
"She answered something she has not heard yet," Sylphie said.
