“Okay,” M2 said, “so where is it?”
“I think I know,” I said, “but I’m hoping that Blue can verify my suspicion.”
That statement got me a lot of looks.
“He’s having some fun,” Alice said. “Just go along with it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I noticed that every time Blue went through a portal he would first give it a sniff or two. My guess is a portal has a unique smell that is far too weak for us to detect.” I looked at Shan. “Can you ask Blue to check this room for a portal smell?”
She nodded and talked to him low and fast, the same as she did when she was telling him to use the word poop. I thought he would sniff around bloodhound style, but he trotted directly to the big bookcase in the rear arch—turned and said, “Portal”.
“What the hell,” Harry exclaimed, “you knew it was there before Shan sent the pooch. How’d you know?”
“Look at the arch,” I said, “it’s a continuation of the entrance tunnel. I looked in both of the rooms on either side and there is a good twelve feet of depth unaccounted for behind the books. I’ll bet that just after the disaster, the people in charge here built the bookcase to hide the portal entrance from the gray men. There may be a hidden door or we may have to poke a hole in the woodwork so let’s have at it. M1, this may indeed be how the Nazis took a powder from here.”
Amy found the hidden latch in less than five minutes. We all gathered close behind her and watched as a section of book shelving swung out. It revealed a second metallic wall with a door similar to those used on the domes except that this one had no curve. Moses, looking excited, opened the door and we entered a small chamber, empty except for the portal and its console. He read the wavy lines at the top and confirmed this was the one we needed.
“All of these years,” Abraham said, “I never knew, never suspected, although it is just as well. I would not have known what to do with such a discovery.”
The way was now open to the pleasure planet, but it was late in the day. We all used the straw mattresses and slept until dawn. I was the last up, so I missed the meeting. I grabbed a coffee and sat down next to Alice, “You up to filling me in?” I asked. “I can wait if you’d like to soak up some more caffeine.”
“Nah, I’m good,” she said. “Moses goosed the vacation planet portal with his probe thing. Conditions are normal except that gravity is about eighty-five percent. YDRII will take a peek just before we leave and when we get there, we’ll play it by ear as usual.
“Both Abraham and Lamont will go with us when we leave. On arrival at the dome, Moses will give them English and all of the necessary background. That includes the knowledge of how to operate the instantaneous radio and certain weapons. Abraham will stay with us at least for a while, but Lamont will return here to stand guard. Moses will show him how to access the portal in an emergency.”
“How about our computer friend from Seuss?” I asked.
“So far it’s just been along for the ride, but yes, it’s okay and enjoying our company.”
A few minutes later the entire entourage, including Abraham and Lamont, gathered around the table as M1 called us together.
“James,” he said, “are you up to speed?”
I nodded and gave him thumbs up.
“Well then, shall we Dance?”
“Jeepers creepers,” Harry said. “We’ve been here not much more than one day. It’s like we’re on a trampoline, bouncing from planet to planet.”
We picked up our things and gathered in front of the portal. Moses opened the green curtain after Lamont closed the bookshelf and the inner doors. YDRII poked his head through the gray nothing and reported that all was quiet in the dome at the other end.
Part 4
CHAPTER 37
Soft, blue green light filtered through the windows of the vacation planet dome. Moving shadows spoke of a light breeze passing through dense foliage that limited our view to just a few feet. Right away, Moses began to give language and memories to Abraham and Lamont while the rest of us peered through the glass, like visitors to an aquarium.
“I feel very much lighter,” Shan said. “What is happening to me?”
“This is a smaller planet,” M2 said. “I’ll explain it to you later.”
“Oh, see over here.” Alice exclaimed.
A brilliant yellow creature that looked like an animated silk ribbon wiggled into view from under a big fern and slid up the window to disappear over the roof. Moses had finished the transfer by then. Both men, having had the process explained to them in advance, seemed to be handling the package of new memories quite well. We said farewell to Lamont who stepped back through the portal to assume his new duties as library guard. Moses closed the portal and turned his attention to the outer door. It was the same as other dome doors except that this one had a small metal plaque fixed to the center. We waited while Moses read the wavy lines.
“This sign,” he said, “warns the reader not to leave this dome without a repeller.”
“Sounds like something a mountain climber might use,” Amy said.
“I do not know what it means,” he said, “but there is a pocket tray under the sign that contains a good many small, but identical objects.”
He scooped up a handful and passed them around. It took us about two seconds to discover that they were toys. At least that’s what they would be back on Earth, so we did what every kid would do when given a toy. We used them and the sound of a hundred sharp clicks ricocheted off the smooth interior. When the silliness ended, we explained things to Moses, Abraham and Bob. If they really didn’t understand, they did give us a pass. On close examination, the toys still looked exactly like a regular clicker. Mine was a little piece of spring steel clamped to a metal shell.
I clicked my clicker near Amy’s ear. “Our soldiers used these on the first D-Day, remember?”
“Sure,” she replied, “I have one of the originals back home in a box with my grandpa’s dog tags. He called it a cricket. It looks different, but it sounds the same.”
M1 asked YDRII to analyze the click to see if there was anything hidden in the sound. After sampling a few different clickers, he reported that they each had an identical sharp sound of metal flexing, but nothing out of the ordinary.
“We’ll each take one,” M1 said. “Keep it in a handy pocket. Lord only knows what this is meant to repel.”
“I wonder,” Amy said, “if I could get one that works on horny guys?”
M1 found a bootlace to tie. The guy had no experience, but I had no standing in that department.
“That’s very close to bragging, sweetie,” Alice said. “Anyway, Moses, how about we find out what it’s like outside?”
He nodded to her, manipulated the lever, then pushed the door open. At that point, the usual procedure was for M1 and M2 to check outside with shotguns at the ready, but it didn’t happen. Nothing happened—at least inside the dome, because we all remained in place, experiencing what came through the door.
The fragrance of a field of sweet pea blossoms was in the first puff of outside air. That same puff also carried the sound of distant music. Random notes and chords seemingly played by a cross between a flute and a marimba. Or maybe it was a marimba, played without striking the bars with mallets.
“Whoop-de-doo!” Alice exclaimed. “Looks like we found the other end of the rainbow.”
“And another billion dollar business opportunity,” Harry muttered.
YDRII floated out and up for a quick survey. He was back in a minute to report that all nearby was forest and jungle. There was a low level of electronic activity on the planet, but not in orbit. His estimate was that it was basic robotics and automated machinery. There was what looked like a small city, several miles to the east and a large crater to the west. He detected no human types, but his readings were erratic and not definitive.
“Give us just a sec,” M1 said.
He and M2 went cautiously through the door. They walked a few feet
down an overgrown path, through an overabundance of semi-tropical trees, ferns, vines and other plant life. It was unlike anything we’d ever seen. The two stopped before we lost sight of them, but what they saw was invisible to us. They just stood there.
“Hey amigos, what’s up?” Alice finally called out.
“Remember that metal ball on Nexus that took a shot at us? M2 called back.
“Yeah,” Alice replied. “What about it?”
“There’s one just like it here, except that it’s an inert ball of rust. These things weren’t made to use in an organic environment.”
“You’re sure it’s dead?”
“Come on and take a look.”
Alice’s elbow convinced me that ladies first was still the best policy. There was no doubt that the sad hulk of rust would never move again.
M1 gave the forlorn object a kick. “Although this serves as a marker on the trail we’re following, I don’t entirely trust it. They might be decoys leading us to a dead end. Still, it looks legit. Just keep in mind that the Nazis were very good at deception.”
The boys pushed on through the last of the heavy growth. The rest of us followed on to find ourselves on a large railed balcony of ancient, moss covered stone, overlooking a woodland scene to end all woodland scenes.
From what I could see, we were standing at the base of a steep ravine or a glen with huge trees on both sides. The leaves of the canopy, backlit by the sun, glowed blue green, coloring the air. There was a pool of shimmering water directly in front of us, fed by a busy, but small waterfall. The land that rose behind the pool was sedimentary rock, creating a whole panorama of irregular, flat surfaces, some no bigger than a dinner plate. Others were large enough for a picnic blanket. Here and there the rock had eroded enough to expose several layers and form miniature amphitheaters. Every flat surface had a carpet of thick, Irish-green moss. Lush ferns sprouted along the base of the exposed rock. It reminded me vaguely of pictures I had seen of rice paddies covering the side of a mountain.
Bob had his gaze fixed on the stream. I watched his eyes as he followed it up and up until it vanished over a high ridge.
“I must go there,” he said, while never looking away from the dreamscape.
“But there is no path,” Shan said.
“I see many ways to travel there, Shan,” he said. “It is a wide staircase with hundreds of steps that all lead to a place of mystery somewhere above and beyond the top.”
“Come to think of it, “M1 said, “Bob could be right. Look around. There are no actual paths leading away from where we are and those terraces are very inviting. Anyone arriving here for a vacation would naturally have the urge to follow that stream to see where it goes.”
I saw Harry bending over, feeling the moss that had engulfed most of the top of the stone railing.
“Check this out,” he said. “I see the edge of one of those metal plaques.”
He pulled back the moss carpet to reveal more of the plaque and more of the wavy writing. This one also had the symbols of a control podium, just like the ones at the trolley station on Nexus. I leaned over the edge of the railing and there, just out of sight, about three feet below the railing top, was a blue trolley tube. It passed in front of the balcony just above the water line. The big difference between this tube and the one on Nexus was its covering of forest litter. So much so the debris completely submerged parts of it.
M2’s head appeared next to mine as he looked down. “Looks to be out of service for a very long time.”
“Moses,” Alice said, “does this mean that we have to hack our way through the jungle on foot? I don’t have a machete.”
“Possibly, but not necessarily,” he replied. “Unlike the one on Nexus where things are sterile, a trolley like this in an organic environment will have cleaning units. These are on-demand machines, used only when needed and only on sections that are in use. I will try to call up a trolley car and if the system is working properly, a cleaning machine will pass through, followed by our transport.”
“May the luck of the Dance Band be with you on this,” Amy said.
Moses moved to examine the plaque.
“Look over there,” Amy broke in. “Here comes something new.”
She was pointing to the right where we saw a pink floating disk about the size of a dinner plate. It was thin to the point of transparency. Invisible muscles caused the outer edge to undulate like one of those exotic undersea creatures moving about in the deep ocean. It approached steadily, but slowly, like a tuft of thistledown moving on mild currents of air.
“The object you see,” YDRII said, “is a very rudimentary animal with no brain. It simply reacts to external stimulus.”
“Does it bite?” Alice asked.
“It has no mouth nor does it have a stomach. Perhaps I should have called it a plant, but never having been to this planet, I know nothing about the life we may find here.”
“Could be that it responds to carbon dioxide like a mosquito,” M1 said, “or it might sense body heat.”
While all of this talk was going on, we watched the pink disk approaching us over the water. The first we knew of any other event was when we heard Amy’s startled exclamation. “Oh!” she cried out, but not in pain and there was an expression of ecstasy on her face. She held out her right arm to show us that another pink disk had sneaked in and wrapped itself around her forearm from wrist to elbow. Alarmed, Alice took her hand and reached to remove it.
Amy jerked her arm back. “No. It feels wonderful—better than touching a morse.”
“Amy, be careful,” M1 raised his voice in concern. “YDRII, can you tell what’s happening? Is it dangerous?
“The object is feeding,” he said. “It is similar to cleaner fish on Earth. They devour dead skin cells and parasites without harm to the host. The disk is exuding a chemical that dissolves dead skin tissue to pre-digest the material. On further analysis, I have determined the chemical is also a very strong narcotic, which is the danger it represents. It is addictive in the extreme. I advise removing it from her arm without delay.”
By that time, M2 was busy with his hat, waving away the original disk while Alice tried again to remove disk two from Amy’s arm.
“No!” she screamed, “I’ll die if you take it off.”
M1 held her from behind, trying to restrain her, but she was fighting him off. Suddenly, there was Harry behind the trio, rapidly working his clicker. The disk on her arm unwrapped and recoiled in a desperate attempt to escape. As soon as it was clear of her arm, he batted it away with the back of his hand. By this time, Blue had got the idea that the disk was a bad thing and snapped at it as it sailed up and away.
As soon as he saw Harry’s actions, M2 grabbed his own clicker and gave disk number one a few shots, which caused it to reverse course and wiggle away. I scanned all around for any other rogue disks, but the area was clear. M1 was still holding tight to Amy who was sobbing with outrage at having her arm un-disked.
“Man-oh-man,” M2 said, “that sign really meant business.”
“Everyone back inside the dome,” M1 called out.
The girls took over and hustled Amy back through the foliage, followed closely by the rest of the crew with me in the rear. I gave my clicker a workout until we were all inside and Moses had secured the door. On the way in, Amy started begging for her pink disk, but in minutes she had quieted to a few snuffles and was slumping against Alice and Shan.
Moses bent down to look closely at her face. “I could remove the narcotic memory,” he told her, “but you seem to be recovering.”
“I think I’m all right,” she said, in a shaky voice. “It was exquisite, but horribly exquisite. I can’t really describe it. I have a feeling that if it had been on my arm much longer, I may have never been able to come back. I can only say that it was pleasurable insanity and I want three or four more of those clickers.”
“That’s good news, but you scared us real good,” M1 said, while giving her a quick hug,
which greatly improved her pale color. “But we’ll have YDRII monitor you for a while just to be sure.” To us he said, “I think we should break for lunch right here. It’ll give Amy some recovery time.” Turning back to Amy, he said, “I hope I didn’t hurt you. You were really fighting me.”
She hesitated slightly—searching for the right response. “I’m okay.”
I think she was trying to decide whether to praise or scold him. Perhaps she did the wise thing by staying neutral, but then what do I know? Look at my masterful record with Molly Watson. During lunch, Amy announced that she had a new name to lay on us.
“Since Moses’ race is so ancient,” she said, “I have named them ‘Primes’. Moses, if he agrees, is a Prime and his people are Primes.”
This satisfied Moses, Abraham, Shan, Bob and the rest of us, so Primes it was. By the time we finished lunch the mood had lightened considerably. Harry and I had stepped out for a cigar and to keep an eye on Bob the wanderer, who went straight back to the balcony to gaze longingly at the magic stream. He was a man of his word, but there was a truckload of carrots dangling in front of that particular donkey. Although we saw no more pink disks, we nevertheless exercised our clickers every minute or so. We closed the dome again and the crew assembled on the balcony. Moses brushed the remaining debris off the plaque and read the wavy lines.
“There are call circles for two different locations,” he said. “The one on the left is for those who wish to go to a place called the ‘Area of Significant Entertainment and Adventure’. The one on the right will take us first to a place named the ‘Old City’ and then beyond that to the ‘Dormant Chambers’.”
Alice clapped him on his back. “Moses, you are having a full share of the good luck that has been with us from the first. If it holds, that tube cleaning machine you spoke of will still be operational.”
“One can only hope it is as you say,” he said. “Should I activate the call?”
M1 gave him the all clear and he touched the circle on the right. For the first time, in an unknown number of years, the ring glowed a bright white.
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path Page 26