Alternia Comics

   Kevin looked all around Jack's chair at the council table until he was sure he had looked everywhere. He pushed the chair back in frustration, its wheels squeaking with the age, and sat on the floor. He stared into space, not focusing on anything, letting his eyes drift around the room as he thought of where he might search next.
   He decided to check Colin's chair next when his eyes set upon a small depression under the table where Jack sat. He reached a tentative finger to it and pressed.

   Kevin sat in the second of the nine high-backed chairs arrayed behind the long, curved table. From his vantage point in the vent, Kevin thought the table was straight, but sitting behind it now he could see there was a definite, if slight, curve to it, with the first and ninth chairs a foot forward from the fifth chair, and angled toward the center of the room. "Was this your chair, Jack?" he asked aloud, leaning back and imagining some of the discussions that must have gone on in this room.

   Jen opened the first file and read aloud. "Minutes for 14 March 2021. Officers Present: Colin Leff, Gerald Stein, Lisa Kossman, Laurinda Selmeyer, Kathleen Corvidae, Nelson MacKenna, Barbara Matheson, Thomas Mason." She paused before reading the last name in the list. "And Jack Marten. Proof, Paul! This is it!" She skimmed ahead a bit as Paul gathered more of the boxes.

   Jen traced her finger along the spines of the books, scanning slowly across one three foot shelf before moving to the next shelf down and tracing back the other direction. Paul watched her do this three times, then decided to try it himself. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, presumably something written on the spine, and hoped he'd know it when he saw it.

   The hallway was well lit and seemed well kept, unlike the room he had left. He passed a dozen gleaming metal doors, six on each side, bearing cryptic inscriptions on small plates mounted on the wall next to each door. Office C17, next door to Office C19, across from Office C18. Kevin had come out of Office C16. Every door he tried was as unpowered as C14. SAL chimed in his ear as Kevin neared Office C22 and a heavy door sealing the end of the hallway.
   "I estimate you are nearing Corridor Charlie 2."

   "A library? We skipped school, went wandering through broken and disused sections of the colony, risked life and limb for a LIBRARY?! We can get to the colony library database from our home terminals, you know. Or school. Or the library in corridor Bravo-4. Or for that matter our wristcomps!" Paul held up his wristcomp for Jen to see.

   8 April 2031
   Colony Beta, Nevada, USA

   If you're hiding from Colin and his goons like I am, the air shafts will be your best bet for moving around. They're cramped and dark and slow to move through, but they do have one major advantage: they're out of Colin's sight. No cameras. No guards.
   The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with the layout of the ventilation system.

   "Where are we?" Paul couldn't stand the silence anymore. Jen had led him out of school in the middle of the day to go chasing a ghost. If only he hadn't mentioned his father's stories, Jen wouldn't have the second clue that made her hungry for the third.

   "And so, thanks to the CGC, the traitorous governors of the colony were banished and peace was restored, ending the violent conflict instigated by a few who thought they knew better than the CGC." The speaker, standing at the front of a classroom full of students, delivered his speech with the dry boredom of one who has said the same words day after day for years, written and approved once, then memorized and repeated ad infinitum. "Are there any questions?"
   "Where were the governors banished to?"

   7 April 2031
   Colony Beta, Nevada, USA

   Ten years.