“What you have just seen,” Moses said, “is not magic. It is one of the technologies that our people possessed long ago when I left here on my mission.”
“Our ancestors made that device?” Lantern Man asked.
“Yes,” Moses replied, “that and much more, but something happened in the distant past. We have come here to discover what and why.”
“And perhaps to fix what went wrong?”
“Perhaps,” Moses said, “but first, with your help, my companions and I must learn the history of this world and its current condition.”
Lantern Man raised a finger. “Before I respond to what you have just said, will you tell me who made the portals?”
“Our ancestors made all of them.” Moses answered.
“I knew it!” he exclaimed, as he gave the tabletop a glancing blow with the palm of his hand. “I knew those gray-faced mud crawlers could never make such things. They came to this planet and conquered it—did they not? They must have come at night. It must have been a trick. Was that it, a trick?” He stopped suddenly—his face very flushed and took several deep breaths. “You must excuse me. I have lived my life under their boots, but at this moment, I see some hope. I will hold these questions for now. I know the answers will come.”
“You said gray-faced,” Moses said. “We have heard of men who are all gray. Could they be the same?”
“Yes,” Lantern Man said, “they must be the same. Never have I heard of other gray beings.” He poured himself another cup of liquid from Harry’s flask, took an appreciative sip and continued: “Now, regarding your request for my assistance in your search for information. I would help, but what can I do? I am just a survivor here, hiding always in the shadows, stealing what little I need and avoiding the work gangs. The gray men hunt for me, but I usually avoid them easily. They considered me more a pest than a menace.”
“It is good that you survive here,” Moses said. “Perhaps we could stay with you until we learn more.”
Lantern Man drained his cup and looked at each of us in turn. “I freely chose the life I lead. At times it is dangerous—at times exciting and quite often lonely, but I am more free than most of my race. I will die before I bow to the gray beasts. To the best of my ability, I am now in your service.”
“Excellent.” Moses said. “First I need to know where we are. What city is this?”
“I do not understand your question, “he said. “This is the city, it has no other name.”
“There were many cities on this world when I left,” Moses said. “Each had a name of its own. Did you not learn this in school?”
He paused for a moment. “What is school?”
Moses glanced at us. “How did you learn all the things you know? When you were young did you go to a place where there were people whose job it was to tell of your history— to teach numbers and letters?”
“There was not and I have never heard of such a place.”
Moses turned to us. “This is how the race of gray people maintains control. They have destroyed the records of our history and they deny the population the benefits of even a basic education. Over many generations their lies seem to have been effective.”
Lantern Man’s eyes darted around as he processed these revelations with a mind sharpened by existing, as he put it, in the shadows.
“But having lived it, you know the truth and you know our history.”
Moses just nodded and said nothing, giving our host the time he needed to think.
“Did our people build this city?” he asked.
“All of it and more,” Moses replied.
“I know there is at least one other place that you would call a city. Some time ago I went to it, but at great risk because to do so is forbidden. I do not know how many there are or what names they possess, but you say our ancestors built the cities as well as the domes by the shore?”
Moses nodded again. “Are there any new buildings—any new roads or bridges?”
This seemed to be a new concept to Lantern Man as he shook his head. “That has never happened,” he finally said. “Everything you see here is as it has always been. You speak of things I have never considered. I have so very much to learn.”
Moses scratched his head thoughtfully. “Do your people have one particular place to go to for food, clothing, medicine and other items used in daily life?”
“Yes,” he replied, “there are several large buildings in different locations around the city, but each person must appear on schedule with his or her work crew leader. The leaders are the tall ones, like you.” he indicated Moses. “A gray face is at the door and will pass out the requested items unless work quotas fall short. If you do not work, you do not eat unless you are clever like me.” He smiled at his little joke.
“Have you ever seen the inside of the building?” Moses asked.
“No. I have tried, but no. Only the gray men have access.”
A picture of this place was forming, but it looked very bleak. The questions and answers continued both ways for quite a while. At one point, Lantern Man produced a tray of bland looking cake from the drawer under the table. Instead, the girls laid out a sandwich lunch for all of us.
“I feel my world changing this day,” said Lantern Man, who by this time had two bulging cheeks full of peanut butter on whole wheat, “and changing for the better I think.”
After our impromptu lunch, our host reached into the same table drawer, this time to extract a fistful of crooked black sticks, which proved to be the local cigars. They were rather strong, but good and we all had a sample. Shan, being used to the Shenandoah smokes, wrinkled her nose and pretended to like them. I think Bob felt the same. It pleased Lantern Man that he was able to offer us something that we enjoyed. In return, I gave him one of my regular cigars, which he consumed down to the last quarter-inch. I didn’t want to give him a Shenandoah special because the comparison would be crushing. We were piling a lot of stuff on the poor guy as it was.
During the after lunch conversation, Alice asked Amy if she had any thoughts about a name for our newest acquaintance. “Yes, I have,” she said, “but first I have to ask Moses if YDRII is doing his universal translating thing. Did you give our new friend English or is he speaking and hearing us in his own language?”
“The latter,” Moses said. “All I can do is translate. He is hearing you and speaking in his own tongue. I am unable to give him your language on this planet.”
“Why does his mouth seem to be shaping his words in proper English?”
“It is a projected illusion,” he said. “YDRII is able to bend the local rules just a bit. If it should become necessary to give him English, we will have to take him to Paradise where the restrictions do not exist.”
“Works for me,” she said. “Anyway, when I give him a name will YDRII automatically translate it to his proper name when he hears it?”
“Yes, that is how it works,” Moses said, “but I will explain the process to him in due time.”
“All right, Amy,” Alice said, “how about his new name?”
“Lamont,” Amy said, while looking at me with an expectant smile.
“Another winner,” I said. “Very appropriate.”
“I agree,” Harry said. “I should have thought of that myself.”
“Okay, smart asses,” Alice exclaimed, from behind a thick cloud of cigar smoke, “enlighten us regular folk.”
Amy looked at Shan and Bob. “This isn’t fair to these guys, but I think they understand that they have a lot to learn about Earth’s history. Anyway, when James and Harry’s parents were young there was a fictional radio program called ‘The Shadow’. It was a mystery show and Lamont Cranston was the lead character. The public also knew him as The Shadow, for he could move unseen among his fellow beings by casting a hypnotic spell. Now, our new friend has told us that he lives among the shadows. So there you have it.”
All the other Terrans gave her a polite round of applause. We resolved to move on as s
oon as possible when we learned to our dismay that working sewers and piped in water were unknown—at least in the parts of the city frequented by Lamont.
M1 called another meeting to order, this time to plan our next move. “I think Lamont has given us about all of the information that he has to offer. Based on what he has said about his fellow citizens, I doubt that it would help us to contact another local. So, any suggestions?”
“The main library, if there is one.” Alice said. “I think it’s our best bet to pinpoint our location and hopefully to find out more about what the hell happened here.”
“I agree,” Moses said. “If there are any remaining intellectuals, the library may well be a gathering place for them.”
“Lamont, my friend,” M1 said, “does this city have a library?”
“What is a library?” he asked.
M1 explained that a library would be a building devoted to the storage of information that should be available to anyone who inquires. Much of it would be in the form of books.
As soon as M1 mentioned books, Lamont’s face lit up with recognition. “You ask about the place of books,” he said, excitedly. “It is a very big building in the center of the city, but it is one of the forbidden places. The gray men have sealed it. One man does live there in secrecy. We call him the Keeper of the Books, He is a tall man like Moses, but he is very old and very wise.”
“Is there any way that we can get into the building?” M1 asked.
Lamont hesitated as though he was making an agonizing decision. “You must understand that although I have pledged myself to you, I should not speak for others who I may put at risk by revealing too much. All you have told me has the sound of truth and this is too important. I have talked to the old man and I have promised him my silence, but I think he will forgive me when he meets you.”
“Will it be difficult for you to take us there?” M1 asked.
“No,” he replied. “That will be the easy part. The gray men are fools.”
“Is this a good time to go?” M1 asked.
“As good as any,” Lamont said, positively. “It is morning and the old one should be up and about.”
CHAPTER 34
Alice was on her feet and loading up so we all followed suit, including our ponchos as the rain continued to fall. Out on the narrow street Lamont lined us up with Moses in the lead and our rakes and shovels on full display. Lady Luck was marching with us and for the entire ten-minute walk we were alone in the city. Here and there along the way we saw crudely painted swastikas on walls and doors.
“Whoever drew that mess,” Amy said, “has zero talent for graffiti. It must have been the gray men. The Nazis were never that crude or sloppy.”
Lamont called a halt in front of a small, innocent looking building. He had a key and once inside, with the door relocked, we helped him lift a large sewer grate in the center of the floor. Once below ground, we slid the grate back in place while Lamont opened the flap on his squeaky lamp. It produced an ample amount of light as we moved down what was obviously a service tunnel as opposed to a sewer. It had flat walking surfaces, handrails and a non-working light every few feet. Blue had no problem traveling underground.
“There must be natural drainage here,” M2 said, “otherwise this place would be full of ground water.”
“Shades of the FBI building service tunnels,” Amy said. “James, this is becoming a habit with us.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but last time you knew where we were going,”
“Harry,” she said, abruptly changing the topic, “I’m still lonely for home. How long would it take us to go back if we left right now?”
“Let’s see,” he said, “we’d have to backtrack to Shan’s farm unless we could use the dome in Sequoia. Then it’s a quick trip on Nexus to the Ganymede portal. In all, I’d say less than two weeks back to Earth.”
Shan was walking next to Amy. “When you do go to your Earth, will you take me with you?
“Of course we will,” Harry said. “Bob comes with us too.”
Bob joined the conversation. “Just hearing you speak of your home makes me lonely for a place I have yet to see. There is a thing that I do not understand though. Lamont speaks of forbidden places where we may not go. In my forest, there are no forbidden places. The only place I may not go is another person’s cubicle in a replicator building.”
“Good grief,” Alice exclaimed, “Roberto has no concept of private real estate. I think that Sequoia should be off limits for any development whatever.”
“Just stick with us pal,” Harry said. “We’ll protect you from the hounds.”
We had been speaking with subdued voices as we trudged along our underground highway. When we reached an intersection that took us off to the right, Lamont told us to be as quiet as possible because we were now below the library. Minutes later, we reached a large, circular chamber that had four other tunnels that led off to parts unknown. In the center of that big space, I saw a metal spiral staircase winding up through a dark shaft in the ceiling and there Lamont waved us to a halt.
“I must ask you to wait here while I go to request permission to bring you all in. You will be entering places long hidden from the gray men. Do you have your own lamps? I would leave mine, but I need it to work the lock at the top of the staircase.”
“We all have our own lamps,” Moses told him, “but to offer proof of whom you bring, take this flameless light with you.”
Moses handed him a small flashlight and showed him how to use the switch.
“This seems to be magic.” Lamont said, while playing the beam around the chamber.
“Not magic—technology,” Moses said. “Do the gray men have anything similar?”
“No,” Lamont said, “any portable light that you see here will use something that burns.”
He set his own lamp on the floor then swiftly and silently climbed the stairs. The wiggling light stopped about ten feet above the ceiling. We heard some muffled scraping noises followed by the groan of a dry hinge. The light moved off to one side and we were alone with our thoughts.
I was keeping track of the time so I knew that Lamont reappeared in just over four minutes. We saw his hand in the flashlight beam motioning for us to come up. We negotiated the metal steps on tiptoes. At the top, the lantern showed us that we were in a plain basement room with lots of overhead piping. After closing the grill, he led us through a doorway and up a lengthy stairwell that lead us through another doorway opening to the central lobby.
There were windows high on the walls that allowed us to see that even now, after generations of neglect, it was an impressive sight. It looked Roman to me, what with pillars and wide staircases on either side rising to a large balcony with rows of bookshelves going back out of sight. There was a striking main entrance with a fancy arch and massive double doors, but I could see heavy timbers holding them shut.
“These guys sure liked white,” M2 said.
He was correct. Every object, including the remaining furniture was the solid white of the forever-material. In the absence of the many shadows to define shapes, we would have been as good as blind.
“We no longer need to be quiet,” Lamont said, as we walked through the large, vault-like space. Our footsteps magnified and multiplied as the flat, bare surfaces threw them back. There were no signs of life, of activity or of occupation. Apparently, there were those who wanted the place to look deserted.
Our route took us straight toward an arched hallway that plunged through the back wall. The balcony extended out several feet, creating a low ceiling and more shadows to break the monotony of the space. Before it became necessary to use the lamp once again, a door at the far end swung open.
CHAPTER 35
At first, all we could see was a silhouette in sharp relief against the light from the room. As we drew close, he stepped aside, extending an unspoken invitation for us to enter.
Wooden chairs were waiting for us around a large wooden table. What a contrast. T
his new room was a large box with the usual white walls, but cluttered with an excess of furniture, wall hangings, paintings and bric a brac. The most dominant feature was a king-sized wooden bookcase recessed into an arch on the back wall. It was the same size and shape as the one through which we had entered. There was a small door on either side of it. The one on the right opened to the toilet. I saw no others.
The old man was tall. I thought that this is what Moses would look like in a hundred years. The flowing robe he wore added to his dignity whether the garment was deliberate or not.
“Be welcome to this place,” our new host said. “May we sit for our conversation? At my age, standing too long can bring discomfort. Take any seat. There is water in the cups you see at each place.”
He may have been ancient, but his voice was steady and his eyes were as clear and sharp as Shan’s. M1 made sure that Moses sat next to the old man. The rest of us just took the next available and got comfortable. None of us had said a word so far. We were waiting for our host to give the ball a nudge.
After a few moments he spoke. “I have been here, hiding from the rulers, in this building, guarding the remaining books for most of my life. In all of that time, I have never been able to do more than maintain a small organization whose mission is to preserve some of the truth of our history. Today I sense the possibility of change.” He looked at Moses. “You are the first to return.” He reached to touch YDRII. “I know you are authentic because this is your extension and I can say with confidence that you are unique among any of us on the home worlds. I learned long ago that the gray men destroyed all extensions soon after the Fall. This may or may not be true, but before I continue I must ask you a question.” He made a sweeping glance that took in the entire table. “Why have you come here?”
We all looked at Moses. “I think,” he said, “I should simply tell the story of my travels and the many things that have happened in the distant and more recent past.”
I kept track of the time with my Ralex so I can report that Moses spoke for one hour and twelve minutes. There were no questions at the end.
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path Page 24