Lehal Library

Axel woke me later. Fasten your seat belt, were going to land in a few moments." I glanced out the windows. It was dark outside, and there were no lights anywhere. But shortly we bumped along a runway without the aid of ANY lights. "No lights?" T commented. "It's a very high-tech plane," Axel commented. "It just LOOKS like a standard Lear." Once landed, we descended from the jet into not just cool but icy air, rich with the smell of pines. Our only lights were flashlights the twins were carrying. Nearby was a van of some kind, painted with camouflage colors. Nearby I could make out a small building, but it was empty, or at least had no lights in it. Inside the van: "Here is a jumpsuit," Axel said. "It is thermalized, yet light. You have to remove everything, and you can have no metals on you. "I know you have teeth fillings, but there is nothing we can do about that. All the fasteners on the jumpsuit and its hood and attached gloves are made of wood and leather," So shortly I was geared up, finding there were pockets large enough to hold a cigar supply. While I was changing, the twins had started up the van and we were on our way to wherever we were going. The drive lasted about two hours. He climbed up some mountains, and negotiated some steep hair-pin curves. No one talked at all. Against the dark sky I could see tall pines whose own darkness blotted out the amazingly beautiful spectacle of billions of stars. We were in the far north, I concluded. At a certain point, the sound of the van's motor ceased. Yet the van kept moving. I had, and still don't have, no idea of how a van can move without its engine going. Finally, the van parked beneath some pines. We disembarked. "We have to walk about forty minutes, now," Axel whispered, "It's extremely important that we be as quiet as possible. Do exactly as we do, make no noise, and DO NOT talk! And DO NOT light a cigar!" So we walked in what amounted to almost pure blackness, but at a good pace. At certain points, one of the twins would take my arm to help me, for instance, across a small creek or around an unseen rock, They had some kind of goggles over their eyes, which I