Mr Greer went downstairs for a refreshing morning walk on the plain, only to discover a stranger unconsciously buried under a pile of hardcover history books. “Poor intruder,” he thought to himself. “they always underestimate the terrifying powers of the ghosts.”

However, the stranger jumped upright all of a sudden, giving Mr Greer quite a fright and nearly inducing a severe heart attack.

“Oh, hello!” the young man showed a sunny smile. “You are not...Elara, the Earth girl from last night? Sorry, I'm not sure how Earthling's bodies work.”

“No, I'm not,” Mr Greer responded with dignity. “I'm the curator of this library. Did Miss Nova allow you to stay here? Miss Nova!!!”

Elara's voice emerged from beneath another pile of books. “Good morning, Mr. Greer!”

Elara had barely finished recounting the events of the previous night when Mr Greer, shouting and waving his hands, evicted Kairos out of the gate. He then whispered to Elara, “Phone the nearby madhouse and have them collect their fugitive.”

“Liston, Mr Greer, something serious is going to happen, something really horrible!” Kairos squeezed himself between panels. “What my sensor detected yesterday was no ordinary electromagnetic fluctuations! It originated from underneath the castle! They are episodic radial bursts! Caused usually by--”

“By what?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The door flew open, causing Kairos knock into Elara, and both of them crushed on the ground.

“By collisions of two different dimensions,” Kairos helped Elara to her feet, an then produced an old book from his coat. “And Mr Greer, I’d appreciated it if you could explain something in this book of yours.”

Mr Greer was quite astonished at the sight of the book. He asked sternly, “Where did you get that?! It’s a secret heirloom of my--How dare you...”

“If it is as secret as you claim,” Kairos continued. “you'd better not keep it in a wooden box in the display cabinet in the middle of the hall with a sign saying ‘Secret Heirloom of the Curator. Do Not Open.’”

Elara interjected while browsing the book, “Next time, try ‘Secret Heirloom of the Curator. Thieves will meet their demise.’”

“Ah, the power of a curse. Good one.” Kairos commented.

“Stop joking! Stop high-fiving each other!” Mr Greer exclaimed. “What do these radial bursts have to do with my book?”

The book was actually a parchment manuscript consisting of about 20 pages. The content was mainly drawings with small figures, animals and weird buildings of various shapes. Simple words and runes were scattered among the illustrations, separated by big blanks. When Kairos flashed certain pages with ultraviolet light, more symbols appeared to fill the gaps.

“These are written in a general Universal language,” Kairos explained. “Does it depict the ritual of a sacrifice in the altar, Mr Greer?”

“Er...maybe...It's a long time ago, you see, since my tribe...”

“You are the descendant of the ancient secret tribe? It did exist?” Elara couldn't believe her ears.

“Yes, I'm afraid so. This book has been passed on in my family. But I'm not quite sure what it means.”

“It means,” Kairos grinned. “whatever your tribe was involved in, it had connections to one of the space authorities! The devil might be a devil, but the Gods were not real Gods. See this sign?”

Elara leaned closer and asked, “The scribbles on the huge semi-open eggshell?”

“It's not a huge semi-open eggshell. It's a starship belonging to the Universal Time Planning Bureau.”