Seymore's Interlude

by Franci Neale

  Chapter 34

  Loose Change

  Seymore and Jesmond walked up to the dock and Seymore moved the bench by the bank a good distance away from the pond. He asked Jesmond to sit on it with him and he would create the new pond. She sat very still but inside she was very alert and excited. She was going to watch a terraformer at work.

  Seymore first moved the reeds to other side of the pond which he made more than twice as long as it was and extended behind the dome towards the far alder woods. Behind the boat house he installed a stand of pale green bamboo. It was tall and supple and softly chattered in the breeze. At the far end of the pond he put a sandy beach and several large boulders a ways out in the shallow water. He cleaned up the trail that circled the dome and widened it with wooly thyme along the edges. He turned the rest of the weeds and stubble into a meadow like the one in the front of the cottage. He put cobbles in the shallows near where the reeds used to be and planted tall iris with lacy blue flowers in sturdy clumps along the edge. He left the little beach near the small dock and added a few more beautiful water lilies on the side under the willow tree. He left the willow but surrounded it with huge old walnuts in the background out past the boat house before the alder woods. He was happy with his effort and as a last addition at the dock he put a deep blue canoe with beautiful wood paddles and a polished wood interior.

  He sat for a while admiring the new pond and then turned to his young companion. She was very still and star struck. Seymore was the most powerful personality she had ever known. She told him, “This new pond was perfect!” And then ran over to the small dock to have a better look at the canoe. Seymore followed her and asked, “Do you want to go for a ride.” Of course she did! Seymore gave her a short lesson in the art of canoeing, helped her into the bow of the boat and he sat in the best spot for paddling. He released the rope that held them to the dock and pushed away. Jesmond giggled in high delight and Seymore was very happy. He loved canoes.

  As the boaters glided over the surface of the new pond they made an inspection of all the changes.

  In their own ways and for their own reasons both Mesa and Geralty were concerned about all the changes that were coming as well. Soon the holograms would start arriving over the water illusion and be brought to the cottage in support of the light travelers. Though they had no idea when the lights would arrive, each arrival was bound to be exciting.

  What they had not yet considered was that when the station was finished there would be less room for creativity and innovation. Once the lights began to arrive and the traveler’s needs were being met the work of ES360 was going to fall into a necessary routine. The elements of excitement that were part of its creation and the newness would fall away. Potentially, life at Seymore Place could become dull.

  Geralty said, “Seymore asked me to import two holograms to be used for a test to see what the response of the Watcher would be. I need to pass that information along so I’m going to go down to the Beach House and put a call in to Celic. Want to come?”

  Mesa put her hand on top of the pages that Seymore had written about the completion of the station and declined, “I’m going to read up on what needs to be done to complete ES360.”Geralty left through the library’s big double doors and Mesa saw him fly down the meadow toward the shore. She was glad to see him exercise some of his powers and wondered if he would stay at Seymore Place.

  Mesa opened the folder and began to read. As she did, it became evident that Seymore Place was much closer to completion than she realized. Moreover, her role in the completion appeared to be making sure Jesmond was comfortable and doing well. The plans made certain that Geralty would be important to the completion because of his knowledge and growing skill with holograms. Jesmond’s role was guaranteed because of her special talent for understanding The Watcher. Seymore, being the only one with any experience at The Rim, was vital to the vision. Sadly, she saw no real challenge or opportunity for herself.

  Jesmond came into the turret room looking extra bright and looked at her through eyes that glittered with excitement. She said, “Seymore has reformed the pond. Come with me and I’ll show it to you. It is even better.” Mesa was taken with how easily and eagerly Jesmond adapted to change and wondered if she was missing something. She got up and went with Jesmond through the library and down the hall to leave by the back door near Geralty’s room. As they left the cottage the first thing she noticed was the huge spreading walnut trees. As they neared the pond the changes were quite dramatic and she guessed that the blue boat was Seymore’s canoe. The pond was still lovely, just a bigger lovely and while it had lost some of its protected intimacy the willow tree was still in place as was the dock and the water lilies and there were more of those. All in all, she agreed it was an improvement and she said so. Jesmond said she loved it and that Seymore said that he might be able to teach her to swim.

  Mesa had no idea what a swim might be and she was pretty sure Jesmond didn’t either; she was simply charmed by an offer from the terraformer. It must be one of Seymore’s Rim memories. He seemed to be having more of those lately. She was pretty sure it was because the light in the dome was from The Rim and he was involved in understanding the role of Rim stuff in serving the lights; but, maybe not. Nothing of late seemed perfectly clear.

  They sat on the bench for a long time. Jesmond recounted her adventure in the canoe with Seymore and then said how much she liked watching him make the changes. She rambled on about the celebration and her wonderful journal. Mesa took pleasure in listening to her, but her mind wandered back to the completion of Seymore Place. She could see Seymore through the study window sitting at his desk. She decided that she needed to talk to him about the plan for completing ES360; and a few other things.

  Jesmond asked, “Where’s Geralty.” Mesa told her that he had gone to the beach house to do some work with the hologram system. Then she added, “I’m sure he’d be glad to have your company. You could take Fred too.” The cat had arrived uninvited and was sitting at Jesmond’s feet. She reached down and picked him up and told “I’m going to take you down to see what Geralty’s up to.” They stood and Jesmond and the cat made their way around the cottage by the alder woods and headed for the Beach House. Mesa went to the back door at Seymore’s study and knocked. Seymore immediately came to the door and invited her in.

  “Did you have a chance to read my write up on finishing Seymore Place?” he ventured. Mesa said she did. There was an awkward pause and then Seymore said, “Well, what did you think?” Mesa looked tentatively at Seymore and said, .“I think your understanding and utilization of the natural process is brilliant and it will not be long before the station is totally functional. Everything is much closer to completion than I imagined.” Seymore asked, “And you’re worried about that? What’s troubling you, Mesa?”

  “I don’t know exactly.” She wasn’t sure how to continue, so just plunged in, “I don’t see a place for me or my skills in the completed Seymore Place. The creation plan is complete and oversight for Jesmond seems to be my only avenue to continue in a useful role here.” Seymore was stunned.

  “Mesa, you are an integral part of this station and we can’t do anything without you. I haven’t really defined any roles for after the completion, but my intention is to create roles for all of us. I’m sorry you worried about this. Do you think Geralty is having the same thoughts?” Mesa said she didn’t think so since his abilities with the management of the holograms is essential to the services for light riders. And she added, “Jesmond is vital to the communication with the lights. I’m grateful to know that I will have a place at the completed station. I have to say that I’m curious what it will be though.”

  Seymore said, “After Geralty and I have had a chance to experiment with the holograms’ introduction to The Watcher, I’m going to make a point of making plans to handle all the duties after the station is complete. I’m glad you told me how you feel. I
have always counted on you and hope I always will be allowed to do that.” He gave Mesa a generous embrace and she excused herself. Seymore returned to his desk. She would be very surprised at what her role would be.

  From the turret room she could see Geralty and Jesmond leaving the Beach House with Fred leading the way. They both looked very happy as they walked over to the lane headed for the cottage. They seemed to have a close and warm friendship that was easy and reliable. She was glad that she had a part in that by selecting them to serve here. They were a pair of her accomplishments.

  As they walked along toward the cottage they were talking about the coming changes at Seymore Place. Jesmond offered a tour of the new pond to Geralty and then said, “You haven’t put a message in my new journal. Will you do that please?” Geralty replied, “Yes I did; you just didn’t find it. Inside the front cover at the bottom edge there is a small code. If you run your finger over it you’ll hear my inscription. That’s another little trick I learned from Celic. Try it when we get to the cottage. ”Jesmond squeezed his hand and said, “You are amazing. Thank you, I’ll listen right away.”

  When they entered the cottage through the double doors Geralty went to find Seymore and Jesmond went to find her new journal. Geralty had the hologram cards and was ready for the experiment. He wasn’t at all sure how this was going to work but relied on Seymore’s talent to make the test meaningful. He guessed that Jesmond would have a role as well. He looked around the pocket door into the study. Seymore had moved his big chair so he would see out the door into the atrium. He motioned Geralty to come in.

  “I was just thinking about you. Did you bring the holograms?” Geralty said he did. “I think I know what to do,” Seymore continued, “but it may take two tests to get it right. Do you know where Jesmond is? We’ll need her to communicate with The Watcher.” Geralty said she came back with him from the Beach House and was probably in her room.

  Seymore quickly got up and said, “Let’s leave one of the holograms here and go find Jesmond.” They went into the atrium and Jesmond was sitting at her desk. Geralty went over and tapped on the window. When she looked up, he waved for her to join them. She immediately stood and came into the room, walked over to the table and touched it gently with the palm of her hand. The great eye opened in the top of the table which was now shaped to be an exact fit for the Watcher.

  Jesmond turned to Geralty and said, “I felt your message!” and giggled. She turned to Seymore and said, “How can I help with your experiment?” Looking quite serious he replied, “I want to simply unfold the hologram to full size and see what The Watcher does. “ He intended to take it one little step at a time and accommodate the Watcher in every way possible. He asked Jesmond, “Can you tell The Watcher that we are going to unfold a hologram?”

  Jesmond said, “I don’t know. It’s very hard to know what The Watcher understands. As I said, he seems very young. But he is very intelligent, so let me try. She moved to sit in the only chair at the table and put her hands, palm down, close to one corner of the great eye. She sat very still with her eyes closed and was relaxed and focused. She remained in her near-trance for some time and then gradually opened her eyes, looked down and moved her hand across the eye in a gesture of kindness. She turned to Seymore and said. “What I told The Watcher is that we are going to be here in his room together long enough to provide him with a new and interesting way to communicate and he can then tell us if he likes it or not. It’s the best I can do.” Seymore said that was fine and he took the hologram and set it on the floor. He tapped the small black dot on the corner of the card and the hologram unfolded; he kept tapping the dot until the hologram was full size. Then he motioned for everyone to step back against the doors to see what happened.

  For a long time nothing did. The hologram was of an adolescent boy with blond hair wearing a basketball uniform. There was nothing at all threatening about him but the great eye didn’t respond. Seymore wasn’t sure if he should remove the hologram and replace it with the other one. Then he saw a thin stream of light move up from the table top like a slender arm. Seymore bent down and carefully moved the hologram closer to the table and the arm vanished. Then it appeared again and sent out a small stream of misty light that moved toward the hologram. The Watcher seemed curious and brave.

  They all watched as more light trails emerged from the table top and wrapped around the hologram at the chest. It didn’t seem to be interested in any other part of the hologram just the area from the shoulders to the waist. It was mesmerizing to watch, but Seymore also wondered how it was going to end. He decided the only thing was to simply leave the hologram with The Watcher to see what would happen. He motioned to Jesmond and Geralty to follow him and they all quietly slipped out through Jesmond’s entrance and into her room to watch through the window over her desk. Mesa had been watching from the hallway and joined them.

  Seymore studied the situation and then guessed that it was difficult for The Watcher to move much of the light through the table. In order to embrace the holograms there might need to be a doorway again to the dome like before. Or maybe they didn’t need large holograms. He’d have to wait until the Watcher was finished with the hologram and it was hard to say when that would be. He turned to Jesmond and said, “What do you see?” She said, “I see that the Watcher knows what he’s going and we don’t.”

  Chapter 35