by P. J. Hoover
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said, placing it over her head. “It’s hard to tell exactly what colors are in it. It keeps changing,” she said, admiring it.
“Ammolite is said to have special powers too,” Morpheus said. “Have you learned anything about telemagnifiers yet in any of your classes?” he asked.
“Telemagnifiers?” Andy repeated.
“They’re objects which can be used to increase the power of one’s mind. Simply put, when the strength of the mind is not enough, the telemagnifiers amplify the mind’s abilities,” Morpheus said.
“You mean by wearing this pendant, I’ll be able to lift heavier objects?” Iva asked.
“Oh, no, that’s not quite right. You see, different telemagnifiers work with different abilities. In the case of Ammolite, telegnostic powers may be increased,” Morpheus said.
“Telegnosis is my favorite subject,” Iva said. “I feel like I was born for it.”
“And so you may have been,” Morpheus suggested.
“Well either you’re the perfect salesman, or I was meant to find this pendant,” Iva said, “but whichever it is, I’ll take it.”
“Perhaps it’s both,” Morpheus replied to Iva, chuckling, as he stamped her thumb down on a scanner pad to get her DNA credit account information.
The mention of the telemagnifiers gave Benjamin a great idea. Could the keys of the hunter—of Orion, if that really was a valid connection—be telemagnifiers? And if so, would Morpheus know where they could buy them?
“So what other kinds of telemagnifiers do you sell?” Benjamin asked. No need to be too direct.
“What kind are you looking for?” Morpheus asked. “I have big ones, small ones, yellow ones, ones you eat.”
“Any that look like keys?” Benjamin asked. “Maybe that are pretty old?”
“Or that a hunter might use,” Heidi added.
Benjamin wondered if she was reading his mind or had just figured out what he was getting at.
“Telemagnifiers that are keys, used by a hunter.” Morpheus thought for a moment. “Can’t say that I’ve seen any key telemagnifiers. But I have multitudes of other items. I’m sure there’s something to please everyone.”
Okay, so it didn’t sound like Morpheus knew anything about the keys of Orion.
“It was a good idea though.” Benjamin’s head turned when he heard Heidi’s voice in his head. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. It was still just weird getting used to so many people with telepathic skills.
“What do you have that would make a good birthday gift?” Benjamin asked.
“Who’s the present for? Mother? Father? Brother? A young lady?” He winked.
Benjamin felt his face heat up. “Oh, no, it’s for me. Today’s my birthday, and my parents told me I could get myself something.” Benjamin looked around the store. “But to tell you the truth, I really don’t know what most of this stuff is. I’m pretty sure I don’t want any jewelry,” he said looking down at the case where Iva’s pendant had come from.
Morpheus studied Benjamin. “I have the perfect thing.” He walked over to a large display case in the center of the room. From it he pulled a small globe of the Earth, about the size of a golf ball.
“Oh, I don’t need a globe,” Benjamin said, hoping not to hurt the man’s feelings.
“A globe! I hardly think so. This, young man, is a Geodine. Invented by one of my ancestors as a matter of fact.” He held the object out to Benjamin.
“It looks like a globe to me,” Andy agreed with Benjamin. “What’s a Geodine? Does it mean really small globe or something?”
“I’ll dim the lights and show you.” Morpheus said. While he spoke, the lights in the room grew dark, and the door and windows shaded over. Benjamin held the Geodine on his right palm. “Activate it with your mind.” Morpheus said. “It will understand the commands of whoever holds it.”
In his mind, Benjamin willed the object to do something, but what, he had no idea. Regardless, the Geodine began to glow, blue and green, the colors of the earth. It cast out a three dimensional image of the earth, starting from what appeared to be the creation of the planet. The image shifted and swirled while a voice narrated the origin of the earth. Land masses could be seen forming, oceans growing.
“You can make the narration audible or telepathic, or turn if off completely,” Morpheus said.
Benjamin willed off the sound. He found that he could control the speed of the events on Earth, could zoom in to any location he wanted for any time. He could see the creation of plants and animals, could see the Ice Age, could see the sinking of Lemuria. It was an entire history of the earth contained in a globe the size of a golf ball.
And then something really weird happened. Benjamin held the Geodine in his fist and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure why. He just did it. And an image flashed into his brain. Three hearts, intertwined. Yet as soon as the image appeared in his mind, it vanished, and Benjamin was left with a deep feeling of disappointment. Like he wanted to have a connection with whatever had caused the image to come to him, but he didn’t.
Opening his eyes, he turned off the Geodine, looked up at Morpheus Midas. He knew he wasn’t leaving the store without the thing, no matter what it cost. For whatever reason, he was meant to have this Geodine.
“It’s perfect. I’ll take it,” he said. He tossed it up in the air to catch it, but missed, and he felt his heart stop beating—just for a second. The Geodine dropped to the floor, but landed softly, making barely a sound, and rolled a few feet away.
“Did I mention that it is virtually indestructible?” Morpheus said.
Benjamin’s heart started beating again. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said, retrieving the Geodine from under the nearby table. He wrapped his fingers around it again and this time put it in his pocket.
CHAPTER 16
Morpheus’s Secret
As if the weight of saving the world wasn’t enough, school was too busy. In the following week, Benjamin found little to no time to search for more clues about the keys. And what brief time he did have turned up nothing. But he and Heidi continued working on their sheaves when they could, and Gary spent every spare second he had in the library.
So when Saturday morning finally rolled around, everyone was ready for a break. With five differing opinions, trying to agree on something to do was just about impossible. Finally, they just decided to head into the city. Passing The Silver Touch, Heidi suggested they stop in to look at a ring she’d seen the week before.
When he walked into the shop, the first thing Benjamin saw was a chess game in play—with Morpheus Midas and The Panther on opposite sides of the Ammolite chess board.
Morpheus greeted them as they entered. “Hello, my friends. Are you back so soon?” he called.
Benjamin smiled and waved, but Gary didn’t even pause as he walked over to the chess board. “So, how’s the game going?” he asked, studying the board and pieces.
“Well, you got me re-interested in chess, so I called my old teacher, The Panther, here to come play me a few games.” Morpheus winked at the students. “I’m even going to play in the Bangkok Chess Open next weekend. How exciting. How exciting.”
“He’s going to play as long as nobody knows where he’s going,” The Panther replied. “You know you’re not supposed to compete against the humans,” he said. “It’s completely and totally inappropriate, not to mention illegal. But since you insist upon going, I consider it my obligation to go with you.”
Gary’s eyes became wide and unblinking. “Oh, I’d love to go. Can I come along?”
The Panther slammed his fist down on the table, and Morpheus cringed as the chess pieces shook. “Even if you weren’t one of my students, I would have to say no,” The Panther said, “Absolutely not! It would be appalling for a Year One Denarian to leave the city of Mu. That kind of thing would get you kicked out of the school.”
“Are you sure?” Gary asked.
Hadn’t Gary heard The Panther?
Or did he just want to get kicked out of school?
The Panther stared Gary down before scooting his chair out from the table.
“So, what may I help you with today?” Morpheus asked, the shopkeeper in him taking over.
“I saw a ring here last weekend that I think is Moonstone.” Heidi pointed to a gold ring with a spherical orange stone.
“Ah, yes, a beautiful piece,” Morpheus said. “Let’s try it on your finger, shall we?” He placed the large ring on her right hand.
“I’ve heard moonstone helps increase telepathic abilities,” Heidi said. “Is that true?”
“Moonstone is indeed a powerful telemagnifier in the area of telepathy,” Morpheus replied. “The wearer of this ring will see increased range in her telepathic powers.”
“How much more do you want to increase your telepathic powers?” Benjamin asked. “You’re already better than the rest of us put together.”
Heidi giggled. “Oh, that’s not quite true. I mean, I’m probably close, but there’s always room for improvement,” she replied.
“What kind of stone is that?” Iva asked, pointing to a tear-drop shaped green stone. She didn’t have to voice the similarity the glossy green stone had to the Emerald Tablet they’d seen in the Ruling Hall.
“A Moldavite,” Morpheus said. “A strong telemagnifier. That particular one came from a meteor which landed in Australia. The Moldavite is a highly valued stone due to its extraterrestrial origins. It comes to Earth from space.”
“It’s color is unique,” Iva said. “Are there many stones like it?”
Morpheus shook his head and sighed. “No, unfortunately they’re extremely rare, especially here in Lemuria. We can track the meteors landing on Earth, but most of the time humans reach the Moldavites first.”
After Heidi purchased the Moonstone ring, they left the store and headed back out to the city.
They weren’t five steps out of the store when Iva stopped and spun around. “Do you guys remember what Mr. Hermes was talking about last week in the Astronomy lecture?” she asked.
“Sure,” Andy said. “That was the night he was talking about Orion. We already know that.”
“No, not about Orion. Don’t you remember what else he talked about after that?” she said.
“I stopped listening after I figured out the hunter must be Orion,” Benjamin said.
“And I stopped listening way before that,” Andy added.
Iva rolled her eyes. “You guys really should pay better attention.”
“Hey, don’t generalize,” Gary said. “I remember. He started talking about comets and other solar systems.”
“He started talking about famous meteorites that had landed on Earth, many of them coming from some of the closest solar systems,” Iva said.
“And…,” Andy said impatiently. Apparently, even Iva’s good looks couldn’t keep Andy interested in Astronomy.
“And, he said that there was one famous meteorite from the solar system of Betelgeuse which allegedly landed in the hidden city of Shambhala,” Iva said.
“And…,” Andy said.
“Betelgeuse is in the solar system of Orion,” Iva said.
“So you think maybe this has something to do with the keys?” Benjamin asked.
“Well, don’t you think it’s a little bit of a coincidence that the Emerald Tablet is made of the stone of a meteorite and that there was a famous meteorite that came from a solar system in the great hunter?” she said.
“I see what you’re saying,” Benjamin said.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Andy said.
Iva glared at him.
“I mean, I guess it could mean something,” he amended.
“Well, it’s at least worth investigating,” Benjamin said. “We haven’t got anything else.”
They stayed out in the city for the rest of the day, but after dinner it was back to work. In one of the less crowded study rooms, Benjamin pulled out his sheaf, activated it, and began to perform some searches on meteorites and hunters, vocalizing his thoughts so everyone could hear. But it wasn’t long before any hope he had of finding useful information was squashed.
Yes, there was a meteorite that had come from the solar system of Betelgeuse. Yes, Betelgeuse was in the constellation of Orion. Yes, the meteorite had allegedly landed in the mysterious and mythical city of Shambhala. No, the meteorite had never been found. But nothing alluded to keys associated with any of this. Benjamin felt like his head was going to explode from all the useless information they were finding.
“There’s nothing here,” he said, tossing the sheaf onto the table in front of him. “I think we’re heading down a dead end.” He looked at Iva. “It was a good idea though.”
“What about this one?” Gary asked, picking up the sheaf.
“That’s just gibberish,” Andy said.
“No it’s not,” Gary replied. “It’s the same language that was on the Emerald Tablet.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Benjamin grabbed the sheaf from Gary and looked down at it. “I’ve been staring at that the whole time and thought it was nothing. What does it say?”
“If you give it back, I’ll translate it,” Gary replied.
Benjamin handed the sheaf back to Gary who studied it. A smile crept onto his face. “Oh, that’s clever,” he said.
“What’s clever?” Andy asked.
“It’s a poem,” Gary said.
“What’s so clever about a poem?” Andy asked.
“It’s written in the same verse style as the writing on The Emerald Tablet,” Gary replied. “Listen.
“Shambhala is always near
Though hidden beneath our sphere.
The keys will there again appear
And all the world will quake in fear.”
Benjamin leaned forward. “Did that say keys and Shambhala?” he asked.
Heidi grabbed the sheaf from Gary. “Yes,” she said, and she didn’t even notice as her hair turned white blond. “And there’s more.” She scanned the sheaf. “According to this, there was a meteorite that landed in Shambhala years ago. It was called the Stone of Shambhala, or the Chintamani Stone. The meteorite was divided by the leaders of Shambhala into three pieces, which were then referred to as the keys of Shambhala. The keys were placed in secret locations around the world, to be discovered when the Seeker of Justice had the need to enter the kingdom of Shambhala.” She looked at Benjamin. “You must be the Seeker of Justice.”
“But where is Shambhala? Does it really exist?” Andy asked. “How would Benjamin get there anyway?”
“It says here that Shambhala is actually under the protection of Lemuria. Its location is alleged to be somewhere in Tibet, and it’s often referred to as an underground city.” She looked up. “So, I’m guessing that it does exist.”
“But, where would the meteorite, I mean the keys, have gone?” Benjamin asked. “How do we find them?”
“Well, it doesn’t say that,” Heidi answered. “I mean, they wouldn’t be in very good hidden locations if this article said where they were, now would they?”
“No, I guess not, but I just thought maybe there would be a hint or something,” Benjamin said.
Only six weeks left. Benjamin felt like pulling his hair out as he sat up late at night thinking about it. He’d gone to bed the same time as Gary and Andy, but couldn’t sleep; in fact, the only thing he could do was think about the keys. If the keys really were from the Stone of Shambhala, then how would he find them?
Looking for something to do, he took out his Geodine, tossing it up in the air and catching it. He then put it in super fast forward mode. This mode showed the earth being created in the past and then destroyed in the future when the Sun expanded into a red giant. The entire process for the Geodine took about fifteen seconds. He slowed it down, focusing first on the destruction of the Earth, and then concentrating on the creation of the Earth. How could so much information be stored in such a tiny object?
As he
watched the creation of the Earth, and the early years of the planet, he noticed the Earth being pummeled with lots of meteors, large craters being formed by the impact. And then it suddenly occurred to Benjamin. Would he be able to see the Shambhala meteorite hitting the Earth? He rewound the Geodine, focusing on the area of Earth known as Tibet.
Tibet didn’t get nearly the hits that some places did. Only one meteorite had landed there in the last one hundred years. Benjamin focused his search on the period of time many thousands of years ago. Even then, Tibet didn’t appear to be a meteorite hot bed. But finally, one particular meteorite did catch Benjamin’s attention. The stone was green. He watched as it hit the Earth, near a large mountain. And then, it was as if the earth itself swallowed up the stone, hiding if from view. Could this be the meteorite they searched for?
With patience, Benjamin watched the area around where the meteorite had fallen, but no activity occurred there. Then, suddenly, he saw a stir of something. Benjamin zoomed in on the area. He could see a stone, green, and about a third the size of the meteorite, being taken away from Tibet. He watched the path of the stone, looking for its destination. It traveled south, heading by boat down the River Ping into Thailand. It continued traveling, until the river emptied into the Gulf of Thailand. And then the movement of the stone stopped. It was in Bangkok.
CHAPTER 17
They Plan to Break the Rules
Benjamin ran back into the bedroom. “Hey, get up, get up. I know where the first key is,” he said.
Andy rolled over and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?” he asked.
“It’s two in the morning, but that doesn’t matter. I know where the first key is,” Benjamin repeated.
“Well, where?” Andy asked. Both he and Gary were now sitting up.
“It’s in Bangkok,” Benjamin said.