Diane the Seeker

Diane looked quizzically at the milky white covers of the book she'd found in the park. The cover had no words, only a black-bordered rhombus divided into a white and black half by an S-shaped terminator. She turned the book to the side, and on the spine, there was only a date: 2/22/2022.

"Yesterday," she observed. She was very observant, indeed, and very curious.

Most children her age would've thrown the book out after a brief glance at its contents: endless tables, graphs and analysis of some experiment. Most people who could read would be at least deterred by the book's leading disclaimer, on the back of the front cover: "If found, leave alone, do not take."

Diane took it with her, though. She hid it in her pocket, so that as few people saw her taking the forbidden book as possible. She wondered if someone was watching, to see her disobey the disclaimer. At home, something about the book's design prompted her to put off her homework and video games to flip back and forth through the data in the book. Despite its formality and organizable, the vocabulary wasn't too advanced for her middle-school brain.

Finally, she found a paper that didn't seem to be part of the book at all: it was stuck between the book's pages like money in a Christmas card. This wasn't a dollar, though. It was a map. It showed all of the city's major landmarks, including the big cathedral on Canal Boulevard, the high school Diane's older sister and cousins all went to, the park, the public library, the museum where the public library used to be, and the bayou that ran through the middle of town. There were X's over many places, including the spot at the park where she'd found this book. Was her finding of it planned? Calculated even?

The need surged through Diane, to find out exactly what her curiosity had gotten her into. The place to start was the spot marked on the map, with the same symbol that showed on the book. It was just outside the property line of the school Diane went to. It wouldn't be hard for her to sneak out that way during recess. No, the hard part came after. This was just the beginning.

Without the peaking of her curiosity by that book about two years ago, she would not be, at age fourteen, standing inside a supply closet at the British Parliament building, while the top military brass discussed national security. She made sure to come in after they searched the place for spies, as is standard procedure, especially now that the Celtic rebellion is starting to get serious.

Now that they were sure that Scottish and Welsh spies were not around, they spoke in hushed voices about their strategy. The room's acoustics aren't the best for discussing sensitive information. Their voices spread throughout it like Islam spread in the Medieval Middle East. The soundproof board room that absorbed sound better, was already booked for the Duke of York to meet with his 10,000 men, so this one had to do.

Fortunately for them, the only secret ear in on that conversation wasn't going to sell information to the Celts, nor the French, nor even her home country of the United States. To put it simply, she was just curious. She wrote down every word of what they said, as well as the limited details she could see through the door hole. The book she wrote in was slightly different from the old one: the rhombus symbol was reserved for scientific information. This political intrigue went into a magenta journal with a white, cursive "S", the top loop being colored in red and the bottom being colored in blue.

Unfortunately for Diane, one of the military experts involved in this meeting was Colonel "Butter Smell" Korn. He has a talent and reputation for sniffing out spies and impostors, saying their stench is as strong as that of the smell of the butter flavoring in a movie theater. It's not scientific to say that a spy smells any different than a normal person, so perhaps he is merely very lucky at guessing. In this moment, though, his reputation is upheld.

King Charles asks a simple question, "How many do we need to send to the hills, and how many along the coast?"

Korn pauses, takes a deep inhale through his nose, and shows his famous expression that shows even before he states, "We are being watched."

"That's impossible, we checked the room before coming in. Nobody could get in except through that door."

"Nothing's impossible, sir. This place is hundreds old, lots of secret tunnels, ventilation like any other building. I don't need to know how they got in here to know they're here."

Diane knows of this person. She's been studying his life personally for over a month. She knows he's onto her. She sticks the book into her jacket pocket and tries to climb back up the rope she'd lowered from the missing ceiling panel. Her grip slips, though, and she hits her funny bone against a broom, which falls and alerts the dignitaries while she suppresses her voice to avoid yelling in pain. The door flies open and Korn pulls her out. Diane is thrown to the floor.

"See? What did I tell you? Smelled her from a mile away! Celtic spy!"

"Woah, hold on, this one's just a child," the king says.

"A teenager at most, and she doesn't even look Celtic at all," declared a third person.

Korn defends his victory, "You don't have to look like a Celt to support them. You think people without qualms about fucking sheep couldn't figure out that a child is easier to sneak into a place than an adult?"

He takes her by the armpit and stood her up, before pinning her against the wall.

"We don't take it easy on spies, no matter how old you are. I'll give you a chance for the easy way, though. Who do you work for?"

Diane is scared. She looks for a sympathetic face, but most of the room seemed as afraid of Korn as she was. She's about to give the agreed-upon response, but catches herself before she speaks. Her accent might convince them she was an American spy, and put accusations of spying on the United States. Affecting politics would compromise the integrity of her mission. She practiced a London accent before coming here, though, so she switched to it and she said, "I don't work for anybody. I'm just curious."

The colonel laughs.

"Curious, ay? Just a curious little kid snuck into the most secure building in all of England to listen in on an important war meeting? Whose kid are you?"

"Nobody's. I mean.. I'm an orphan. My boarding school class was touring here for a field trip and I got separated hours ago."

Thoughts of her parents, who she'd abandoned back in Louisiana to be on this journey, flash through her mind. The Colonel didn't believe Diane's story. Korn calls the guards to escort her out and have her locked up. She struggles like a child normally does when restrained, but her motions knock loose the device mounted up her sleeve, which slips discretely into her hand. This taser isn't strong enough to cause the soldier pain and give her away, but is calibrated to relax his hand muscles through the nervous system, loosening his grip so she can yank her arm away and look for the next nearest escape route.

It takes a lot of ducking and dodging, but Diane's training pays off and she loses the guards. She takes the book out of her pocket, pulled the map out of it, and it shows two of the cursive S symbols: one at the closet she was previously in, and one in the parliament chamber itself. Parliament isn't in session. That's perfect. She opens the secret door in the parliament chamber's central desk, and dives under just before the guards come in looking for her.

Diane catches her breath inside the chamber before climbing down into the tunnel. She gets to the bottom, boards the transport vehicle, and finishes her record of the experience while riding. She arrives at the underground library shivering with sweat. Her superior, known only to Diane as Seeker Broad Meadow, observed this while greeting her.

"Had a rough day, Seeker Red Truck?"

"Yeah, let's just say that's the second scariest time I came out of the closet. I got as much information as I could, though."

"That looks fine. Turn in what you've got and get back to your family. If any future Seekers are curious like you were, they can find it in this library instead of going through what you did. Good work on your first solo mission."