Cotton Bear's Castle - Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

They made good time in that old truck and in the next couple of hours arrived in the big city and home to the Library of Knowledge. Thankfully the library was still open, due to the diligent library support staff, and they made their way into the large lobby. Cotton Bear stood for a moment gazing at its wonder.

“Where do we start Ben? Should we find a library technician to help us?”

“No those people are useless. Never find anything you want” replied Ben. “Let’s go find the card file and use the Dewey decimal system.”

It had been a long time since Ben had been to the library and he couldn’t find the card files. He asked one of the workers behind the desk who told him that they hadn’t used card files for years and that everything was now on computers. The very nice Library technician offered to help them with their quest for knowledge and immediately took them to a computer terminal.

Cotton and the Library technician went to many different databases and slowly began to gather the information that Cotton was after. They went to a historical archive of articles that went back to 1665. The Library technician was very good at finding things and before long he had found Cotton a mention of an ancient metal helmet that was rumoured to have great power.

Cotton turned and beamed at Ben. “I think we’ve found it! This talks about a helmet that sounds exactly like the one Voltran has. It was encountered by the Etruscans over 2000 years ago. That’s the first mention of it but no one seems to know much more about it.”

“That makes sense.” Ben added “The Etruscans were very smart people and one of the only people at that time keeping written records.”

Cotton continued, “I don’t know where Voltran got the helmet but I suspect he’s had it for a number of years, working on it in secret until he could harness its power.”

Ben nodded. “But then why did he come to your castle? What did he need?”
Cotton thought for a moment. “Hmmm, I’m not sure.”

They sat there in silence until the Library technician piped up. “I’ve found something more about the helmet, it looks like it was broken at some point in the past century and then disappeared soon afterwards.”

“Does it say anything more?” Cotton asked.

“No” said the technician, “But I cross referenced some names and words with our own database and I’ve found a book that might have more information.”
Ben and Cotton both perked up at this good news.

“But…” continued the technician “There is a small problem”

The technician turned and looked at them.

“The book is secured in our special collections, and it’s closed for the evening.”
Ben took a step forward. “Listen, it’s very important that we get that book and solve this mystery. The fate of the world is at stake.”

The technician looked long at Cotton and Ben. He knew they were serious. He rose from his chair. “Follow me.” He said.

The Library technician led them to the elevators where they went up a few floors and then exited onto a darkened floor. The technician led them through a maze of book stacks and reading areas until they stopped at a set of large doors marked “Special Collections”.

The technician swiped his pass card and the door clicked. They entered and he led them through the room. Large bookshelves filled with leather bound sets of books wrapped around the walls. The technician kept moving past all the books until he came to a door, a very solid looking door. The sign on the door said: No admittance without proper authorization. He looked back over his shoulder at Ben and Cotton.

“The fate of the world, right? Worth getting into trouble for, right?” he asked.
Ben and Cotton nodded. The technician swiped his pass card and punched in some numbers on the nearby keypad and the door clicked open. They stepped through the door and into a smaller room. Ben could hear a hum and looked for the source.

The technician turned on a light, revealing a number of glass shelves and storage units that looked like high tech computers. “These are the special, special books. That hum you hear is the climate control system. It makes sure that it doesn’t get too hot, too cold, too damp, or too dry. Some of these books are even kept in locked drawers where they never even get exposed to light.”
The technician began putting on some white cotton gloves and handed pairs to both Ben and Cotton.

“Here, put these on. And, if possible…” he looked Ben and Cotton up and down. Both were still very dirty, dusty, wet and messy from their adventures. “…try not to touch anything.”

Before long they had found the book they were looking for. It was a large old book, written many years ago so they took great care with it. Cotton and Ben soon found the chapter on the helmet. It even had a picture of the helmet that looked exactly like the helmet Voltran had. They read over the pages and their eyes widened.

“The helmet has a name. It’s called the Hipnotiktrans!” Cotton exclaimed. “The helmet is made of an unknown metal and has the power to control men’s minds. Voltran was calling it the Brainmaster 2000.”

“No doubt because of his own vanity.” Ben replied. “It says here that men fought over possession of the helmet for hundreds of years. And that it was damaged in a battle during the First World War. The face shield was broken from the helmet, and recovered by Canadian troops. It was given to a brilliant scientist for further study. The scientist was named Thaddeus Bear.”

“My great grandfather!” Cotton exclaimed.

Ben continued reading. “The helmet was thought to be taken away and hidden by a very wealthy German family. The last time it was seen it was in the possession of Victor Von Voltranbergstein, an unpopular royal figure known for his evil ways. The family castle located deep in the Black Forest was searched by authorities but there was no sign of the helmet.”

Ben and Cotton sat back and looked at each other. They both knew where Voltran had gone with the helmet.

Ben spoke first. “We have to get to the Black Forest.”

They both stood up to go but the technician reached past them and pointed at the bottom line of the page. Ben and Cotton hadn’t noticed the very small print. They moved closer and read the words. It said “See also: Hipnotiktrans dagger”.

They quickly (but carefully) turned the pages until they found the chapter on the dagger. There was a picture. Cotton pulled the dagger from his bag and held it up. It glowed with its soft blue colour. The technician was amazed. They compared it to the picture in the book. It was a match, right down to the blue glow. Ben continued reading the entry on the dagger.

“It says that the dagger was made to go with the helmet and that it is the only thing that can stop its power. Some believe that the power lies within the dagger itself.”

They looked at each other and smiled. They knew they now had a chance to stop the evil Voltran. They just hoped they could find him and stop him in time, before he enslaved the entire human race.

“We have to go.” Ben said and turned to the technician. “Thanks for your help, you library technicians are good. Real good.”

“The best.” Replied the technician. “Go get Voltran”.

With a nod, Cotton and Ben turned and left and made their way out of the library. They had to get to the Black Forest.

end of chapter ten