Seymore's Interlude

by Franci Neale

  Chapter 36

  A Call to Celebrate

  Seymore decided to go down to the Beach House. He hadn’t really looked at it since he formed it. He could see Mesa still sitting by the pond and called out the back door, “Let’s go make the force field.” She raised her arm without turning to look, wiped the tears from her cheeks with her other hands and yelled back, “I’ll meet you at the shore.” Seymore waved and closed the door and left to go out through the library. He first looked in the atrium but it was empty except for The Watcher’s table and he a quickly moved on to leave the cottage and stroll down the lane.

  Mesa went to the turret room to pull herself together and return to her normal self as the young winged woman. Jesmond was sitting in the turret window looking at Seymore walking down the lane. She turned to Mesa and said, “He’s getting ready to leave, isn’t he?” Mesa nodded that he was and said she was just on her way to meet him to make the force field. She turned and left by the double doors in the library and waved to Jesmond as she went by the window.

  She thought about flying down to the beach house, but decided to walk so she could make an effort to do some serious thinking. Nothing came in the way of constructive thoughts so she decided to fly the rest of the way. It was refreshing and she made a longer trip of it than was necessary by flying all the way to the beach, along the water illusion and landing at the Beach House by the double doors on the beach side. She felt clearer and Seymore was sitting with Geralty near his new desk. She moved a small wicker chair with a soft set of cushions to join them.

  Geralty said, “Seymore was just saying that it’s time for another celebration.ES360 is finished and he promised Valentino that he would have a party for the occasion. I think we should also invite Celic, Lyric and Nolan as they have ongoing roles to play in the success of this station. And we are discussing whether we should invite The Former Meddlers. What do you think?” Mesa laughed and said they certainly had put their nose to the grindstone at Middle Mind and worked hard for Valentino. “This station is the beneficiary of all their sorting and clearing of the image logs so I say, yes, invite them. They want to start on a new path, don’t they? This could be a good start for that. We all are going to be changing our paths it looks like.”

  Seymore was aware that she was not necessarily a willing participant in the change that was coming, but he appreciated her genuine effort at enthusiasm. So he said, “Good, then they go on the list. Who else?”

  Mesa thought for a moment and said, “How about the great Psyche and Mercury. Both of them were mainstays in providing us with support. The whole thing was initiated by Psyche and Mercury provided three-quarters of your staff, Seymore.”

  Seymore looked at her and smiled, then asked, “Would they come? I wouldn’t even know how to extend an invitation to either of them. Mesa smiled, “Well, since I’m going to manage this place eventually, let me handle that.” She instantly realized that she said more than she should have. Geralty didn’t know about their earlier conversation. She hoped that Geralty would not pick up on the intimation in her phrasing and it appeared that he didn’t. She quickly went on.

  “I can easily get a message with an invitation to Mercury and I’ll bet our Jesmond knows exactly how to get in touch with Psyche. So you have no excuse for not inviting them, but do you want to?” Seymore said that he did and added that he also wanted to be sure that Jesmond made The Watcher aware of the coming celebration and possibly they should create a way for him to participate.

  “So we have Valentino, Celic, Lyric, Nolan, Albert, Sigmund, Gandhi, Mercury, Psyche, Seymore, Mesa, Jesmond and the Watcher. It’s a shame we can’t find a way to invite Sarah, but we can expand her hologram.” He thought for a moment and then said, “Maybe not, as that might take more explaining than is actually possible.” Seymore smiled and said they could think about the hologram; Sarah did need to have a part in the celebration in some way.

  Mesa said, “I agree, we need to find a way to include Sarah and acknowledge her contribution. In fact, I think that should be the purpose of the celebration. A series of tributes for the contributions of everyone has made and expressing gratitude for the parts that each played. I think we should have a big tent up by the pergola so that the great eye can see everything that’s happening. I also think that we should each take a guest or group of guests on a tour.”

  Geralty was getting excited and he added “I could take the team from Middle Mind and Mesa you could take Mercury and Jesmond could take Psyche. That leaves Seymore with the Former Meddlers, or not. Maybe there’s a better way.” He smiled to cover his uncertainty but both Mesa and Seymore just laughed. Mesa said that making the tour all together might be best and would mean that there would be good supervision and more information available to all the visitors. She concluded, “We can cross that bridge later.” As she talked she watched Geralty and noticed that he was now a confident young man who was in charge of one of the vital functions at an important support station. He had come a long ways and did it very well.

  Seymore said to Geralty, “Why don’t you and Jesmond come up with a plan and go over it with Mesa. After the force field is installed I’m going to review and finish my full write up for supporting the next light traveler. When I’m finished and there’s a plan in place for the celebration we can send the invitations. How does that sound?” Mesa and Geralty smiled at each other and said it sounded fine.

  Mesa and Seymore went outside through the double doors on the beach side of the Beach House and walked down the beach and a ways into the alder woods. Mesa stabilized a beginning point for the field and Seymore cast it down to the nearest side of the house. They did the same thing on the other side and went back into the Beach House.

  Geralty was still there fiddling with the hologram equipment. Seymore told him, “You can run a test now with Celic to make sure the field doesn’t interfere with your transfers. If it does, let me know and we’ll look for a solution. Mesa and I are going back to the cottage and tell Jesmond about the party. It will be interesting to see how she is going to invite The Watcher.” He was also curious how she would invite Psyche but didn’t say so. They left by the door on the meadow side and waved to Geralty from the walkway that lead to the lane.

  Suddenly Mesa felt very light hearted, happy and she decided to fly. She leaped into the air and brushed the edges of the overhanging branches and then took a big turn around the meadow and momentarily disappeared in the alder woods. She flew high over the cottage and then out over the pond. She flew over the dome and when she looked down she almost faltered. The Watcher’s big eye was in the very top of the dome looking out. Was that’s where he went when he wasn’t in the table or hidden in the dome. He was at the top of the dome…watching. Was he watching for the lights? Now Mesa was really excited.

  She quickly flew back to land in front of Seymore who was just arriving at the picnic table. She pulled him over to the table and they both sat down. She told him what she had seen. Her eyes clearly displayed her wonder at seeing the big eye peering out from the top of the dome. Seymore was not as excited about this revelation, and he wasn’t convinced that the watcher was doing anything but watching her. Her aerodynamic display was a real treat. Mesa strongly disagreed. She was convinced that the eye was watching for lights. And, she added, “We’ll know when the first light arrives. I’ll bet the Watcher tells us it’s coming. You watch!” They both laughed. And Seymore said, “I will!”

  They stood and went on to the cottage to find Jesmond and tell her about the party. She was in her room at her desk writing in the beautiful journal Geralty had created. She quickly ran to meet them when they called her name. The three sat down at the magic table in the turret room just as Geralty passed the window on his way back from the Beach House. Jesmond waved for him to come in.

  When he was seated at the table, Seymore asked, “If you think about The Watcher, will he come here to this table?” J
esmond didn’t reply right away. Then she said, “Let me think about him and see if he shows up.” Instantly he did. The big soft eye, about half the size of what they had come to think of as normal, was clearly visible among the colors of the table. Jesmond said, “May I request that no one put anything on the table, especially not hands. I don’t want the Watcher to be confused about where he belongs and where we communicate. As I said I think he is young and easily influenced.” Everyone indicated their understanding and simply sat and marveled at what they saw.

  Seymore, still looking with astonishment at the eye in the table, said, “Jesmond, we are going to have a party to celebrate the completion of ES360.We want you to contact Psyche and ask her to attend. And we are going to put a festive tent on the Weedy Field near enough to the dome that the Watcher will be able to see all that’s going on .Is there a way for you to tell the Watcher and invite him to be there? He will, I’m pretty sure, be the center of attention.”

  Jesmond smiled and said she would do that, from the other table though, not at Mesa’s magic desk. “I think he might show himself, but even if no one actually sees him there, he will know what’s going on. He is highly telepathic and he knows or senses all the activity near the dome.”

  Seymore said he had work to do and he would leave it to Mesa and Geralty to finalize all the arrangements for the celebration. As he left he instructed them to be sure to make an especially good invitation and that a copy of it could be put in the Memory Trove. Mesa watched as he left and then turned to her two, actually three, companions and said. “I think we should have a group tour of all of Seymore Place that includes all of the grounds, the Beach House, the cottage and especially the pond. And I think each of us can take individual to tour our specific area; your team from Middle Mind, Geralty, will want to inspect the band and hologram installations and you, Jesmond, will probably want to show Mercury your incredible skills in talking to The Watcher. Psyche will want some private time with Seymore and so will Valentino. I‘ll make sure that the Former Meddlers have lots to keep them both busy and together.” She laughed lightly and then continued. “I think that we should each create tributes for everyone involved and when we’re finished we should ask our guests if they want to make any remarks.” She looked around the table and said, “Does anyone have any suggestions to add? Have I gone too far? What do you think?”

  Geralty asked, “Should we have some token for the event that we send home with our guests as they leave? I can’t think of anything right now, but that would bring the celebration to a close in a very pleasant way.” Thoughtfully, Mesa suggested, “I could materialize a small coin with the eye on one side and crest that’s on the top of the Memory Trove on the other. How does that sound? I think I’d like to have one of my own and we could put one in the chest with a copy of the invitation.” Everyone agreed on the coin and the preservation of mementos. Jesmond said she’d like one of her own as well and Geralty added, “Me too.” Mesa laughed and said she make enough so that everyone, including Seymore, would have a token

  Then she said, “Geralty, what should the invitation say? And how are we going to send them out. Middle Mind is easy but getting a message to Mercury and Psyche are most complicated. We can cast Mercury messengers but I don’t have a destination for Psyche. Do you, Jesmond?” She said she did and would be glad to send the invitation. Mesa said “Good!” and Geralty offered what he thought the invitation should say. Mesa did note that Jesmond didn’t share any details about inviting Psyche.

  Geralty composed an invitation and cast it for everyone to see.

  The Management and Staff of

  Experimental Station 360,

  Seymore Place

  Invite you to celebrate with them

  On the occasion of the completion

  Of their design and implementation

  Of a new Support Station

  In service to the

  Great Lights and their Travelers

  And for the benefit of the Support System

  In which we all serve.

  Festivities will begin when the last guest has arrives.

  Your response is requested.

  Jesmond said she thought that was clean and straight forward. She added, “How are guests going to respond?” Geralty grinned and said, “Good question! If we use Mercury messengers they have a return function that can bring the response back. That will work for everyone by Psyche. Do you have a solution for the invitation to the great one?” Jesmond giggled and said not to worry, she had a way of getting a quick reply.

  Mesa looked at her and realized that she knew how Jesmond would contact Psyche. She knew her telepathic channel from when she was assigned at Psyche Place, so there was a way to contact Psyche. Mesa rose and said, “I have had enough of everything for a while and I’m going to go find something entertaining to relax my busy mind .I suggest the two of you do the same. Jesmond, you might guide The Watcher back to his usual table as you go.” Jesmond said she would and Geralty headed for his room to tune into the Mercury stream for the news. But first he was going to find Fred. The cat seemed to have vanished.

  Seymore had found it very easy to put all of his thoughts, conclusions and the processes for the effective functioning of ES360 into a coherent document that would be easy to follow to produce the desired result. After all the trial and error, experiments and unusual experiences, the final version only took two pieces of paper and was not particularly complicated. He was pleased and looked forward to showing off the station at the celebration.

  He looked up and saw Mesa again sitting on the park bench looking out at the pond. He left his study to join her. He hoped she was feeling better about the changes and her new role at Seymore Place. He sat next to her on the bench and asked, “Well, how are the party plans?” She easily replied, “All done. Want to hear them?” He said he did and she gave him all the details and ended by telling him that the invitations were ready to be sent. The invitations would go by Mercury messengers except for Psyche and that one would go by telepathy. Seymore chuckled at that last bit of news and said the messages could be sent any time.

  They got up together and joined arms to return to the cottage to tell Geralty to send the invitations on their way. Geralty had learned to cast Mercury Messengers so he was left to complete the task. They stopped by Jesmond’s room to say she could send the one to Psyche using her special skills and private methods.

  With the invitations on their way, they went to the Weedy Field and put up a beautiful white tent made of brass rods and old fashioned parachute silk that gently undulated in a soft breeze. Mesa added beautiful silk streamers from the corners and center point and put up a pole next to the swing-end of the pergola and suspended a flag; it featured the beautiful crest that was on the top of the Memory Trove and two deep blue bands outlined in gold all on a field of white. She produced some beautiful wicker couches and chairs with big soft cushions and lovely throws over the backs. There were foot stools in front of the chairs and small tables at each end of the couches with fresh flowers in vases that also had the crest on two sides. Everything was placed so that The Watcher could view the event from the dome’s edge and each presenter would have a good place to stand to make their acknowledgments.

  Geralty left the cottage with Jesmond and walked over the Weedy Field to admire the new additions for the celebration. Geralty said, “Everyone has responded and it will be a great party as everyone said they wouldn’t miss it.” He added that they were going down to the shore where everyone would arrive over the water illusions and enter Seymore Place through the Beach House. Valentino was the only exception as he had sent a marker ahead of time. They left in high spirits and Mesa and Seymore sat down on one of the big overstuffed wicker couches to await their guests.