Seymore's Interlude

by Franci Neale

  Chapter 19

  Communication Improvements

  Seymore certainly knew more than he did but he didn’t know exactly what to do with what he knew. Looking at Mesa he was sure she was in the same quandary. So he started by saying, “I think we need to go over where we are now. I’ll state the obvious and you tell me what you think. ”He waited for Mesa’s nod of agreement then continued, “The eye is friendly and is trying to find Sarah. It will probably stay in the dome as long as her silver ring is on the foundation ledge. The light was attracted to your table – actually you – because of the nature of Mercury skills and was probably using the colors and motion as a means of communicating. ”Seymore stopped and looked questioningly at Mesa. She said she agreed so far.

  Seymore continued thinking out loud, “We need a reliable means of communicating with the incoming travelers. The light in the dome is essentially stuck there because there is no Sarah to come back and ride it home. ”His voice trailed off and he was quiet for a long time. Then he picked up again with some questions, “Could the stranded light be a means of helping the greeters when they reach the dome? Can holograms operate successfully in the dome? How do we utilize the light’s attraction to the magic table? Would a new magic table that’s not you also attract the light? See any answers, Mesa? ”He again fell silent and Mesa didn’t have any answers right away.

  Then, after thinking through Seymore’s questions, she said, “I can arrange for another table. I’m going to make a trip to Mercury Place soon to redirect my personal band for communications with Middle Mind. While I’m there I can request the services of another Mercury pattern to assist us. It would be an honor for a small pattern to have such a position and I think we can make good use of bright new help around here. If the second desk doesn’t work out we’ll still have talented assistance for other things and there’s going to be plenty to do when the light travelers start arriving, especially if we aren’t any better prepared than we are right now”

  Seymore snorted, “Well, that’s certainly true. Good idea and adding staff will be a help at our experimental station. ”He turned and smiled at Mesa and added, “It seems like that’s all we do. And we’re not done yet. I wonder if we ever will be.

  “While you’re at Mercury Place I’m going to make a detailed plan for the accommodations down at the shore for the transfer of the holograms. I’ll also bring Geralty up to date and arrange for him to make a trip on his own to Middle Mind to make the installation for the Mercury Band. ”He stood up and looked around and then announced, “I’m going to go sit in my big chair in my study and contemplate conditions and potentials.” He left smiling.

  Seymore was experiencing an abundance of befuddlement and uncertainty as he looked for a clear workable idea to provide greeters for future light travelers. He wondered if the stranded light was going to interfere in any way with new arrivals. He didn’t think so as it had co-existed with Sarah’s light while it was in the dome. He was not sure though why it had separated from Sarah’s light. Sarah had actually arrived twice and the smaller light could have arrived in between. Then he thought, no, that doesn’t make sense because the stranded light had lost its rider and was undoubtedly looking for Sarah since she is the only one who arrived aboard the great light.

  He stopped and gave himself instructions to just relax and think about something else for a while. He turned his thoughts to the new addition for the holograms and let his mind wander down to the shore and began to mentally plan a beach house and how best to utilize the water illusion. Creating the new force field to protect the area, while still making it accessible to transfers from Middle Mind, needed to be thought out as well. He felt himself relax and then he fell asleep and again he dreamed.

  While Seymore indulged in contemplation and drifted off, Mesa sat at the game table for quite a while, looking at the lovely view and made her own plans for her trip to Mercury Place to help Geralty create a communication system. When she had it worked out she went to find him.

  She went down the hall outside the library to his room, but he wasn’t there. She left the cottage by the back door and went around to see if he was still out by the pond. He, with Fred along side, was stretched out on the soft grass near the pond staring into space. She almost hated to disturb him, but they had things that needed to be done and she called out his name. He instantly sat up but Fred didn’t move. As she grew closer, she said, “Seymore has added to our duties and we need to get busy. Bring that lazy cat and let’s go to your room and figure out what we’re doing. You’ll need to know how best to take advantage of your trip to Middle Mind.” Geralty’s eyes lit up and he scooped up the cat and joined Mesa.

  In his room they huddled together to make a plan or at least part of one because some things were not yet clear. She explained to Geralty what happened with the eye in the desk and added, “I’m going to go to Mercury Place and come back with the connection for the band as well as another Mercury pattern. ”She gave Geralty instructions on what would be needed in order to accommodate the new band and that she trusted him to take care of every detail. While Geralty was disappointed to learn that the band station would be in the office on the other side of the cottage, Mesa said she would arrange for him to have a separate link to the Mercury stream that he could keep in his room.

  Geralty was so delighted he couldn’t speak. He knew for sure he was extremely fortunate. He threw his arms around Mesa and thanked her over and over.

  She was grateful for the demonstrations of affection and said so. She suggested that thanking Seymore was also a good idea. Then she asked Geralty, “Will you make a special effort to help the new pattern because Seymore and I won’t have time to bring the new member of our team up to speed. You have lots to offer to the newcomer and you can make everything much easier for everyone. Things will start to move quickly from now on, I’m sure, and that you’ll need to be sharp and pay attention. ”He said he would. And he did.

  Mesa thanked Geralty, stood to leave and on second thought she reached down and gave the young Mercury pattern a gentle hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. He smiled warmly and Mesa left to look in on Seymore.

  Surprisingly, what she found was Seymore sleeping soundly in his big chair and Psyche sitting in the office chair. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. What was Psyche doing sitting and watching Seymore sleep. It was irresistible; she slipped into the room, closed the pocket doors behind her and quietly sat on the day bed with a questioning look on her face. She shifted to mental communication as Psyche didn’t use sound unless she had to and asked with just a hint of sarcasm, “To what do we owe this honor?”

  Psyche smiled at the clever Mercury fragment that she had selected to assist Seymore. She said, “I had a message from Middle Mind that Seymore might be in a muddle and decided to come and have a look. I hadn’t expected to stay as long as I have. However, when I found Seymore sleeping I became worried that he was becoming disconnected from the project. ”To Psyche sleeping was a serious sign of lost focus and apparently something to be avoided as she added, “I never sleep.”

  She looked at Mesa to see if she had an opinion. She did. Mesa told her, “Just the opposite is true. Seymore has made tremendous strides and we are about the business of communication enhancement and making plans to expand to accommodate a whole new program with Middle Mind besides everything you can see.”

  Mesa hoped she sounded positive and confident. But she was concerned that someone would intimate that Seymore was slipping in his responsibility. She knew that Valentino wouldn’t say that, so who did? Then she remembered that when the meddlers left they had gone to Middle Mind.

  She looked at Psyche and asked, “Who would suggest that Seymore was muddled? ”She smiled disarmingly. She just knew it was The Meddlers and she wondered if Psyche would tell her.

  Psyche chuckled and her eyes glittered as she said, “I think Seymore refers to them as The Meddlers; a perfect name a
nd commentary on the famous threesome. I really just wanted to see the progress here and I’m impressed. It seems very stable and is clean and bright, seems to be in excellent order and is quite beautiful besides. I can see the dramatic dome through the doors and it is spectacular. But I’m still not quite sure how Seymore managed to capture a light so quickly and send it back to The Rim without incident. That is quite an accomplishment.”

  Psyche paused and waited for Mesa to fill her in, but Mesa said nothing. She finally just asked outright how the great light was attracted and returned and Mesa said she didn’t know; which was the truth. But she didn’t add that Seymore didn’t know either. She just let her small answer hang in the air.

  Psyche didn’t press for more information and grudgingly observed, “I see that everything is good here and that all loyalties are correct and that I have nothing to be concerned about. I’m quite sure Seymore already knows, but please tell him that the light knows exactly what to do.”

  And then Psyche instantly vanished. Mesa was again caught off guard and had to pause and reflect to be sure that what had just happened had, in fact, happened. She decided that she had to let Seymore know. She walked over and gently touched one of his feet that were propped on the ottoman and he quickly opened his eyes. He looked at Mesa and asked, “Am I awake?” She said he was and that she had something important to tell him but before she could continue, Seymore said, “I was dreaming. At first the dream was about the big fuzzy eye and then it was about Valentino and then I was talking to the Great Psyche. I don’t remember much of what she said, but I do remember that she said that the light knows what its doing. I wish I knew what that meant.” Mesa looked at Seymore and softly said, “Me too.” but not for the same reason.

  Seymore moved his feet off the ottoman and patted it for Mesa to sit down. Neither talked and each seemed lost in their own thoughts, which were about the same thing, but not in the same way. Mesa now wondered if she had talked to the real Psyche or had Seymore projected Psyche from his dream? She felt like she was reaching a point where everything was blurred just when she yearned for everything to be clearer. Things seemed confusing ever since The Meddlers passed through Seymore Place.

  “Seymore, I’m feeling very confused and I think I need to make my way to Mercury Place to take care of the band and find a new pattern. I need a sense that something is getting done. I don’t understand the great light but I do know that we need to put some things in place that will at least point us in the right direction.” She stopped and stood up and patted Seymore on the shoulder and then said, “I’m going to go now. Geralty is well occupied in his own room and Fred has made himself at home there too. I suggest you go out and enjoy the lovely pond you created. I’ll be back.” And she was gone.

  Seymore took her advice and went out his back door, strolled up the walkway and sat on one of the benches on the bank of the pretty pond. He didn’t really relax, but he did realize that she was right about taking steps toward where he wanted to go even if he was feeling uncertain. He took a few minutes to think about what he wanted to do first and decided that he wanted to prepare the plans for the Beach House. He stood, walked back to the cottage, through his office and down the hall by the atrium to the library. He cast a large sheet of paper on the oak table and sat down to put his plans in order. When Mesa was back he’d take her with him to put up the building and she could help him to establish the force field. He probably should send a message off to Valentino about Geralty’s visit, the new band and sending the holograms. He could get that composed as well and have it ready to go when Mesa returned.

  As he worked, Psyche’s dream message tickled the edges of his concentration and he kept wondering about what it meant that the light knew what it was doing. He kept pushing the question aside, but it always found a way to creep into what he was working on so he decided to compose the message for Valentino.

  He moved to the game table to write out what he wanted to say and looked out the bay window and down the meadow. On the lane he saw Mesa and a young girl walking toward the cottage. He was surprised to see that Mesa’s pattern selection was a girl; for some unknown reason he had just assumed that patterns were all male.

  He got up and opened the double doors as they reached the path from the top of the lane and went down to meet them. Geralty must have seen them on the lane as well as he was right behind Seymore and looking very excited. It was contagious and Seymore felt his spirits lift to match Geralty’s. Mesa gave Geralty a hug and introduced them both to the new Mercury pattern, Jesmond.

  She was small with bright eyes, a round sweet face and seemed gentle and shy. She appeared much younger than Geralty who eagerly said. “I’m really glad you’re here and I have lots to share with you, including a beautiful black and white cat and a pretty pond. ”Mesa signaled to Jesmond that it was fine if she wanted to go with Geralty. But she kept a firm grip on Mesa’s hand and just smiled and shook her head

  Seymore then realized that both he and Geralty had made a lot of assumptions about young Jesmond. She didn’t know what a cat was, ponds were unknown to her as well and that Mesa had brought her in over the water illusions so that she would have a change to see more of Seymore Place before she reached the cottage and met her new companions.

  Seymore looked at Mesa and then turned to Geralty and said, “Why don’t you go get Fred and join us at the picnic table. I’ll bet Jesmond would like a chance to look over everything a little bit at a time.” Geralty turned and went to get Fred who was last seen sitting on the wide window ledge in his room. Seymore led Mesa and Jesmond to the picnic table, raised the wide market umbrella and they all sat down to get acquainted. It was a good beginning, thought Mesa.