LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path

by Maurice Barkley

  What looked like the entire farmstead of small people stood grouped around a cot at the far end of the building. There must have been close to forty adults and all of their eyes were looking at us—eyes filled with sadness, curiosity and some with hope.

  The blacksmith approached a man of perhaps fifty Earth years who stood near the head of the cot. Beside him was a woman—hair shot with gray and eyes rimmed red.

  “These are the ones who say they can help your daughter,” the blacksmith said.

  The leader’s entire appearance was despair, desperation and indecision. This poor soul was in agony, contemplating the amputation of his daughter’s leg. One slack hand was holding a metal saw, which clattered to the floor as he looked at Moses who stood a full head above him.

  “You can save my child?” he asked, in a quavering voice.

  “I believe that I can,” Moses said, his hand on the man’s shoulder.

  “If you do, I will forever…” the man began, but he virtually collapsed with relief.

  Those nearby eased him down on a plank bench and Moses turned his attention to the girl who lay moaning on the cot. Her face was gaunt, flushed and sunken. She was painfully thin—her bare arms showing little muscle, but her left leg drew the eye. Horribly swollen, it was a ghastly sight. Her foot was so puffy that the toes were all, but invisible. The worst things were the swollen veins that shot up her leg like angry purple ropes.

  “Blood poisoning and infection,” Alice murmured to Moses. “She’ll need about ten pounds of antibiotic.”

  “No time for standard medication,” Moses said. He removed his backpack and extracted one of the yellow and blue pills from YDRII’s middle section. “This will cure her present condition,” he said to Alice, “but she will also reap the other benefits that you now enjoy. Now, please hold her head up while I administer the pill.”

  Moses asked for and quickly received a cup of water. He and Alice fed the pill to the child with only a little coughing on her part.

  Moses turned to the leader and his wife. “Your child will recover before the sun leaves the sky. With your permission, we will wait here with you. I will give her a potion so she may be comfortable while the medicine does its job.”

  The man was speechless and his wife broke down in tears. The efficient blacksmith had some benches and a table moved near the cot. We settled down to wait.

  “Probably about six hours,” Moses said. “There should be definite signs of recovery within the hour.”

  Food and drink appeared at our table. Harry and I took our wine-like drink and went outside for a quick cigar. There was a low bench just beside the door. We sat there and mulled over the idea that we were just a couple of guys having a smoke, a drink and a sit down. A very normal activity except that it was occurring many light years from home and under a fabulous sky.

  After a while, the dog-like creature approached us to sniff our boots. Its wagging was highly unusual. First its tail moved up and down, then in a circle and then side to side like normal.

  “Looks to be ambidextrous with its tail,” I said.

  “Nah,” Harry replied, “that’s for hands. It’s tail-bidextrous.”

  I came back with, “How about it’s bi-tailual.”

  “Too much of a stretch, my friend,” Harry said. “Any more of this and you’ll pull a muscle in your tongue.”

  Looking vaguely like a hound, the animal had smooth gray fur with a blue cast and rather long, thin legs. Its most unusual feature was its paws. The toes were quite long and looked more like stubby fingers.

  Just over half an hour later, we heard some raised voices from within so we left the bench and joined our party. Everyone, Band members and farm folk were pressing around the cot. The change in the girl’s appearance was profound. The sheen of perspiration and the gaunt look had vanished from her face. I saw a very pretty girl sleeping in comfort. The swelling in her leg had reduced considerably and there was just a shadow of angry veins. I felt sure that she was on the mend, as did everyone else. Her mother was clinging to Moses’ arm trying, between tears, to express her gratitude. The village leader was trying with little success, to detach her from Moses, who was tolerating the display very well. After a while, he managed to extricate himself from the couple and motioned us to one side for a mini conference.

  “I am certain,” he said, “we can request anything from them. What we want is information, but they all are physically and emotionally exhausted, so we should stay with the young girl for the night. In the morning, her recovery should be complete and the village leader rested. After a session with him, we can then decide what to do next.”

  That settled, Moses made arrangements with the village leader who eagerly agreed and gave rapid instructions to several people. Soon six of the men scurried out, only to return loaded with cots and a table. The carriers placed them near the sleeping girl. As soon as the table was set in place, a line of women brought in a complete banquet. They included ale that we treated with reservations until we tasted it.

  After dinner M1, Harry, and I took our drinks and went back outside to our smoking bench. The dog-like creature was there waiting for us and I gave it the last of my sweet cake. It gulped the morsel in one tail bounce, parked itself at my feet and looked at me with doggy-like appeal in its eyes.

  Before we had a chance to fire up, a very old man approached and offered each of us a large, rough surfaced, hand rolled cigar. M1 took his inside to get clearance from Moses. He was back in seconds with the stogie in his mouth, M2 at his side and two thumbs pointing skyward. The old man was also carrying a small metal pot on a chain. Its contents were several glowing chunks of charcoal that soon ignited all four cigars.

  An expectant look was on the old man’s face as we took our first puffs. His reward was several oohs and ahhhs of appreciation. He left us with a beaming smile and several more cigars.

  “Gadzooks!” Harry exclaimed, “This is better than sex.” He then amended his statement. “Well, better than some sex I’ve had.”

  “If the seeds for this get back to Earth,” M1 added, “it could put Cuba out of business. I’m smoking a stick of sweet butter. I think my taste buds are swooning.”

  M2 was silent, eyes closed, just sucking on his smoke with obvious rapture.

  “We’ll give one of these to YDRII,” I said.

  The conversation tapered off as we sat and puffed in a contemplative manner until the butts were so short that we were burning our fingers. All the while, my loyal guard dog sat and gave me the sad eye.

  When we finished we went back inside. I grabbed another hunk of sweet cake and took it out to Old Blue who demolished it in one gulp and resumed with the sad eyes. I knew that it was just an act, but I’m a sucker for animals.

  On my return, my group gathered around the lunch table that now held only cups of ale and candles.

  “Since we have several hours before bedtime,” Moses said, “there are some things I must tell you. Perhaps it would have been better to tell you earlier, but you had much to learn as it is. Since some of what I am about to tell you is personal, I was naturally reluctant.”

  I thought that if it were me talking, by now Alice would have told me to get on with it, but I was naturally reluctant to voice my thoughts. I glanced at Alice, M1 and M2. They were on high alert.

  “So far, you have been kind enough not to question my motives for becoming a voyager, leaving home, family and friends permanently. It was not a choice that I made willingly or out of some sense of duty or obligation. In fact, I had only a moderate interest in spreading intelligent life throughout the Galaxy.

  “I must give you some background.” He leaned closer over the table. “On my home world people are born into rigid class structures. Your Victorian England presents me with an excellent example. Life was full of leisure for the upper classes, but grim drudgery for those on the bottom.

  “I don’t know conditions now, but when I left; my civilization had five distinct classes. The upper clas
s were the wealthy, the very few and nominally the rulers. I was a member of the second class. We were the technicians, scientists, educators, planners and managers. Our numbers were not that great in comparison with the general population. As the classes step down, the work performed is more and more physical and menial. I think you get the idea.

  “I must add that the lowest classes are or were on average a head shorter that those above them. It was not totally overt selective breeding, but incentives were given to the shortest of that population to have larger families.

  “My story follows a classical theme. Boy meets girl from upper class, they fall in love, but society forbid the union and conditions are such that they cannot run off. I know that for you, love is a powerful motivator and it is for me as well. I left my home because of the woman I love. She has a name that, like my own real name, you could not pronounce, but since you chose a Biblical name for me, allow me to name her Mary. She is the reason that I am here and she is the primary reason I will return. Our one chance was to have me travel to Earth and open a new planet. When I left, she chose to become dormant until my homecoming. On my return, I would join the upper class and we could pick up our lives from that point on. I know where she is, but I do not know how to get there. The only routes I know of are from my own planet and the exact portal locations are unknown to me. The small planet where we will find her has a large complex devoted to the maintenance of dormant cells. It is also a pleasure planet for the very wealthy, or it was when I left. I can only hope that the cells are still functioning, but we won’t know until we get there.

  “While everything I have told you about why you are helping me is true, I am now asking you to join me in my search for Mary.” He paused to look at each of us. “Before I resume, do any of you have any comments?”

  Amy leaped to her feet and gave Moses a big hug. “This is incredible. Our most interesting adventure has just become a glorious quest. I never thought it could get better, but it just did. All in favor say ‘Camelot’.”

  She received a reserved affirmation, but I understood.

  “I don’t think this is a fundamental change in our mission,” Alice said, as Moses finished. “To locate Mary, we have to learn the history of past events which is what we set out to do anyway.”

  “I think it’s great,” M2 said. “It’s like living a movie.”

  M1 said nothing. His face remained FBI-blank.

  “I’m happy that you feel as you do,” Moses said. “One dark spot is the probability that the upper classes abandoned this planet we are on now and left the lower class occupants to their own devices. The farm leader has no memory of any upper classes. They either left long ago or ruled from a remote location.”

  “However,” I said, “it seems that the current occupants have survived quite well.”

  This was good news. It was to his credit, but he did withhold information and there was still the fragments of red cloth that needed to be explained.

  “Thank you all,” Moses said. “Now I would like you to tell me of the artifacts you discovered in the Hollow Mountain. It was upsetting to hear Amy mention the yellow and blue and it could be very important. Who of you wants to speak of this?”

  “First, Moses,” Alice said, “I would like to know why you couldn’t just pluck this information from Amy’s memories. You have it all, don’t you?”

  “I only have her language and her memories of Earth history,” Moses replied. “This process is a major intrusion and I use it only as a last resort.”

  Alice nodded. “We first discovered the plans for a flying saucer. We later discovered a prototype that looked ready to fly, but there seemed to be no power and we couldn’t make sense of what we saw.” Moses said that he could make no determination about the craft without more information, so Alice continued: “We found a room full of gyroscopic devices. One, apparently a small demonstration model set up on small rails, had two heavy flywheels. They were set back-to-back on a rod capable of spinning.”

  “This is a surprise,” Moses said. “I terminated my contact with the Germans toward the end of World War II. At that point I didn’t think they had enough information to develop what you saw, but obviously I was wrong.”

  “Just what is it? Alice asked.

  “A pulse engine for a space craft. They are low power and used mostly for cargo, but they are very efficient.”

  “Would we understand the theory?” M1 asked.

  “I think so. The engines, used in identical pairs to counteract torque, can be any size. The idea is to spin up two heavy flywheels mounted back to back on a shaft, then start the shaft spinning. This is what causes the pulse. Next stop the spinning wheels, then stop the shaft. This cycle, repeated over and over, provides the power to move the craft.”

  “A reactionless engine,” M1 said. “WOW! I’ll buy stock in that company.

  “That process is worth many trillions of bucks,” Harry said. “If it’s okay with the rest of you, I’ll put all of my cash there.”

  “Hey!” Amy said, while giving Harry a whack on his arm. “Didn’t you just tell me that our money worries were over forever?”

  “True,” he replied, “the worries are over, but the lust for it remains.”

  By now, Alice was drumming her fingers on the tabletop so Amy made the zip-lip motion and said no more.

  “The next thing we found was a very odd radio device. James said that the internal workings were standard except the tuning capacitor that had only two blades. A wire connected the blades to a square of copper with a movable needle suspended in front. Finally the tip of the antenna had a small light bulb attached to it.”

  As Alice spoke, a look of alarm grew on Moses’ face.

  “Did you try to turn it on?” he asked.

  “No,” Alice replied, “There was no power and at that point our policy was look, but don’t touch.”

  “Good,” Moses said, with a sigh of relief, “I do not know how they developed it from the information I provided. If built properly, it is an instantaneous communication device. I had one on the starship, but it is useless—damaged beyond my ability to repair. There are small units designed to fit companions like YDRII, but at the time I did not think he would need one. I only hope that in our travels we can find another. I also hope that Carl does not experiment with the one in the Hollow Mountain, but since it is underground there is not much danger.”

  “Expand on that, please,” I said. “I gave Carl Manheim the okay to tinker with it. I didn’t think there was the slightest chance that he could get it working.”

  “Even if he does make it operable, Moses said, “it will not work underground.”

  “Why would you need such a thing if you have portals?” I asked.

  “Portals are expensive and difficult to manufacture,” he said. “The radio units cost little and can communicate with any other unit in the galaxy. A portal goes only to its mate. My concern is that if someone uses that unit, any other listening unit tuned the same will pick up the signal. I just do not know who, out there, might be listening. It is simple to triangulate the source signal, which could be dangerous.”

  I told him that I’d sure like to know the theory behind the device.

  “I can only give you second-hand information,” he replied. “I don’t have the technical background to describe it in detail, but perhaps it might make sense to you. The radio only works where there is natural light. You understand that as I speak, light from distant stars is falling on this hut and some of it penetrates the window to shine, however faint, on this table. Light rays from countless sources are constantly bombarding every square inch of this planet. They reflect and bounce around all over the place. Light rays occupy the same space at the same time—most with no change. The radio antenna spreads its own light out to the universe and grabs on to the whole by way of a slight, but high frequency vibration.

  “Imagine that two people are standing twenty feet apart, holding between them a slack rope. If one person starts
to move his end of the rope side-to-side rapidly, a series of waves will travel up the rope towards the second person. This is like light waves traveling through space at a fixed speed. Now, if the first person jerks back as he waves the rope, he may be able to jerk the rope out of the other person’s hand. Meanwhile the wave he just made barely started to travel up the rope. That is the extent of my knowledge.”

  “Man-o-man,” Harry said, “this is dynamite mixed with TNT spread with plutonium. Who the hell can we trust with this stuff—back on Earth, I mean.”

  “We must have that talk before we return to Earth,” Moses said, “but not just yet. We need more information.”

  She went on to tell him of the room with the beaker of blue and yellow liquid. When she finished he asked her if there were any solid yellow or blue objects in the room with the liquid and she said there was not.

  “That tells me they were developing the technology,” Moses said. “It is a very good thing they ran out of time. This is a very handy material though it has but one useful property and that is the one, whether in liquid or solid form, repels the other. The repulsion increases dramatically as the two draw near. It is not possible to make them actually touch. This is why the trolley on Nexus floats above the blue rail.”

  Alice then spoke of the rooms of Nazi loot, but that information was irrelevant to Moses’ concerns. He showed the greatest alarm when she talked about the big metal bell and the mobius magnets.

  “I must ask you,” he said, “what was unusual about the bell?”

  “Just that it had a blue glow deep inside. My Geiger counter detected nothing, but I backed off anyway.”

  Could you see the edges of the metal bars used to form the magnets?”

  “I examined one rather closely,” M1 said, “and I clearly saw each edge.”

  “Very good,” Moses said. “That means that they had not solved the boundary problem, but you must destroy these objects. It is safe to crush them. They won’t be useful anyway.”

  “What is their purpose?” Alice asked.