The door opened to a reception and waiting area with a few desks, a big console and padded benches. A replicator sat off to one side. There were no walls anywhere to interfere with a glowing white ceiling. From the front to the back ran row upon row of dormant chambers. Above them, I saw an intricate overhead grid of rails and at the head of each row, a rail car with grapples hung suspended. Between every tenth chamber a slender column rose to support the roof. Whoever designed the place left an open aisle that ran both ways from the reception area along the front wall of the building. They each had the look of a straight highway on the prairie, dwindling to a point in the distance.
“Looks like the galaxy’s biggest laundromat,” Harry said.
He was right. Each chamber resembled an industrial-sized front loader with a big, round door close to the floor and a small control panel above. Every panel in sight had a glowing blue dot, which I thought was a good sign.
Moses busied himself at the main console. Very soon we heard a click and a whine, followed by the motion of a railcar hung in the air about four hundred yards to our left. It gathered speed and grew smaller as it moved down one of the long rows toward the distant back wall of the building.
“Looks to be working just fine,” Harry said. “I bet it’s a good two miles to the back wall.”
“Amazing,” M1 said. “After all this time…”
It finally stopped and the grapple dropped down out of sight. Less than a minute later, it raised its new load and headed back. Poor Moses was rigid with anticipation as he watched the car reach the end of the row where it curved around an overhead corner and headed our way. Amy, standing at his side, was shaking with excitement as she awaited the climax of this glorious quest. I must admit I shared the excitement.
A tribute to its makers, the car slowed to a smooth and silent stop and the grapple lowered the chamber to the floor. The blue light was still glowing, but next to it, a similar dot glowed yellow.
“If ever we see a rainbow here or on Omaha,” M2 said, “it will be blue, yellow and green.”
Moses moved to stand next to the chamber. He placed one hand on the chamber wall then bowed his head and closed his eyes. After some time he dropped his hand, stepped back and took a deep breath. “The awakening process takes about one of your hours. The entire process occurs within the chamber. I think we can use the time to see if we can find a way to awaken those others without knowing their codes.
Just as we got busy manipulating the replicator, our earplug radios came to life.
“Abraham… Abraham, can you hear me?”
It was Lamont’s urgent voice and Abraham, having never used his radio before, fumbled for the talk button. Seeing this, M2 reached up, gave it a tap, then told him to speak.
“I hear you Lamont,” he said. “What is it?”
“The gray men have entered the place of books. They broke through the barricade at the main entrance. I had time only to run to the bookcase and close the door. I waited until I heard them enter the room, then I went through the portal. I closed it after I arrived here.”
Abraham signaled M2 to take over the conversation.
“Where are you standing right now?”
“I am just outside the dome.”
“Go back inside and take a small clicker from the pocket on the door. No, take all of the clickers, then go out and close the door. Click one of them every five heartbeats and keep clicking until we get to you. If any gray men should appear, stop clicking and hide in the bushes. We are on the way right now.”
As he said okay, we could hear the sound of his clicker at work.
“Alice,” M1 said, “you’re in charge here. M2, James and Abraham are with me. The rest will stay here with the door closed. Abraham, can you operate the trolley?”
The old man said that he had seen Moses manipulate the trolley controls and would have no problems.
“Leave your packs here,” M1 said, “but take a gun and your canteen.”
We hustled out to the trolley and in seconds were on our way. The return trip was a bit frustrating because we were no longer tourists and though we didn’t stop at the Old City terminal, the thing still obeyed the speed limit.
On the way, we listened in as M1 talked to Lamont, although we didn’t learn much more. At the dome station we piled out, snapped our clickers and pushed our way through the foliage where a much calmer Lamont greeted us. We all went inside and closed the door.
“We have to go through and assess the situation,” M1 said. “Lamont, go ahead and open the barrier.”
As soon as the green curtain parted, M1 popped his head and his flashlight through for half a second. “All clear,” he said. “Let’s go.”
We stepped through to the dark chamber, opened the door and gathered quietly next to the back of the bookcase. We heard voices, but the words were meaningless to us. Moses had given English to the primes in our group, but he didn’t give the Terrans his language. Perhaps this was an oversight because without the presence of YDRII and his interpreting function, we were helpless. M1 asked Abraham, in a whisper, if he could understand what the gray men were saying and he nodded. We stayed frozen there for about ten minutes then the voices faded as the gray men left the conference room.
“I’ve heard enough,” Abraham whispered.
In silence, we went back through the portal, closed the barrier and sealed the door. Abraham reported to us and the other group by radio. “The gray men know only that the building they thought was vacant has some unknown occupants. They do not know by whom or to what purpose. One of them said it all happened because last night someone in a nearby building happened to see some light coming from the cupola of the library. Other than that, their conversations were about food and the search for female companionship.”
We clicked our way to the trolley and made the return trip. On the way, we told Lamont about the necessity for clickers and little by little, his concern turned to curiosity.
CHAPTER 40
On the ride back to the dormant chamber, I began to think about meeting Mary. “Say, guys,” I said to M1 and M2, “we’ve seen a picture of Mary, but that’s all we know about her. I wondered if, like meeting Alice, it might be an unusual experience.”
“Could be,” M1 said, “but if so, I hope it’s more pleasant.”
“No problem there,” M2 said. “Anything good or bad will fall on Moses’ head.”
We met Mary. Her stunning beauty was secondary only to the personality that radiated from her eyes. I felt like an adolescent nerd confronted by the High School Prom Queen, but like a benevolent empress, she put me at ease. Moses simply stood by her side, beaming while she conquered the remaining males in our party. All the while, Amy stood just behind M1 while giving Mary the blank, but full of meaning, stare. Thanks to Moses and the mind transfer thing, she was well up to speed on the happenings of the last few months. The only time I saw a flash of anger in her eyes was when we talked about the gray men. She showed little dismay when we spoke of the great amount of time that had passed while she was dormant. It became understandable when we learned that several members of her family, including her mother were here in the building, awaiting their awakening.
It became obvious that Mary and Moses had eyes only for each other, so after the introductions, our gathering became more of a cocktail party without cocktails. Alice worked her way around and parked herself directly in front of me. “I really stepped in it, didn’t I?”
“Stepped in what?” I asked.
“The flashlight, James, the friggin flashlight.”
“But it was me and my flashlight,” I said. “Don’t you remember?”
“Thank you, James. That’s gallant of you, but the pussycat has departed from the sack. I already fessed up.”
“Still,” I said, “things are under control so far. I think we skated on that episode. They didn’t find the portal.”
“Sure,” she replied, “but the road back to Omaha has now become more complicated if our i
ntent is to sneak through the city. I know that, for example, YDRII might render any gray men unconscious while we tip toe through the building, but that would make them even more suspicious. Also, I don’t know that he could handle a large group of hostiles. Right now they probably think that it’s just some local squatters who really don’t represent much of a threat. I only hope that they don’t start destroying the books.”
“Another concern is the possible third secret path,” I said. “The one used by the Nazis. We need to follow their trail, but we can’t delay our return to Earth. It’s too important.”
“Good thinking James,” said M1, who had overheard our conversation, “but the travel problem remains. The other problem is how to awaken the other dormant people. It’s not critical that we figure it out right now, but I’d sure like to have an answer before we leave.”
By that time, the others had gathered around and the cocktail party had become a staff meeting. Moses then spoke to the problem we faced regarding the revival process. “Each dormant chamber requires a unique code to initiate revival. The master computer is not functioning and everything here is operating on automatic instructions. This would be all that we need if we had the codes. If there were an override capability, that function would reside within the program of the master computer. I do not have the knowledge or the skills to fix it.”
This time Harry came to the rescue. “How about we take the house computer from the place Amy named Seuss and plug it in here?”
“All right, Harry!” M1 said. “If we can do it we can use James’s trick to learn all the codes. It will be tedious and time consuming, but it will get the job done. Moses, can we swap out the computers?”
“Possibly,” Moses said. “Although not self-aware, computers with this degree of sophistication were of a standard design, differing only in their programming. It will be one computer talking to another.
“Where is its physical location?” Alice asked.
Moses said he didn’t know.
“Why not,” Amy asked, “have YDRII question the house computer? If I remember right, he has been feeding it video and audio signals all along.”
YDRII’s internal conversation with the house computer was so fast there was no delay in his response. “The house computer has indicated there may be a possibility. I will now allow it to respond directly to you.”
With that, the house computer began to speak with its familiar high-pitched voice. “There may be a maintenance service jack on the console. Look for a small blue dot, probably on one side or the other.”
Shan found the dot right away. It wasn’t much bigger than a pea, but there was no attempt at concealment.
“Remove me from YDRII and hold me against the dot. I will attach and connect if possible.”
Moses plucked a small golden ball from a box he took from YDRII’s middle. He did as instructed then withdrew his hand and the ball stayed glued to the console.
After thirty seconds, YDRII said to Moses, “You may remove the house computer and return it to me. It does not want us to leave it here.”
“And, and,” Alice said.
“And,” YDRII said, “all the release codes are now in my memory.”
M1 asked Moses if he wanted to revive any more primes right then.
“Not now,” Moses said. “There would be nothing for them to do. These are the same people that exploited the underclasses to the point that they revolted. They may not leave this planet until the home worlds are secure. There is much planning to be done and it must occur back on Earth.”
My confidence in Moses grew. He knew that the future management tasks would be phenomenally difficult and he was thinking like a general. I think he also had in mind that these were the upper class that had kept him from his true love.
CHAPTER 41
“Okay folks,” M1 said. “As of this moment it’s our mission to return to Earth as quickly as possible. We have to do this without alerting the gray men on Omaha. Remember Abraham’s words. Although unlikely, they may still have an allegiance to and maybe some way to contact the Nazis. The rusty Luger raises another question about their capabilities. That’s the problem to solve and it’s a biggie. I invite your suggestions.”
“It’s late in the day,” Harry said, “so how’s about we have a happy hour. I always think better with a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other.”
The Dance Band loved happy hour. As Harry got busy with his cups, I pulled out my much-diminished sack of Shenandoah cigars. I gave one to Lamont and told him he was in for a real treat. When he fired up, his eyebrows raised and his eyes glazed over. I left him to his personal rapture.
We all claimed a seat on the couches and settled down to consider our problem.
“I think,” Alice began, “there must be other portals somewhere on this planet. They probably connect with other cities on Omaha and maybe to other home worlds.”
“We may have to go that route,” M1 said, “but the difficulty is that we only know of one portal that will take us back to Shenandoah on Paradise. I wish we could figure out some way to sneak back through the library.”
It was quiet for a while then Alice asked me if I had any ideas.
“This is a relatively small planet, but I shudder to think of what it would take in time and effort for our small troop to search for a new portal.”
“New portal,” said Shan.
We all looked at Shan, but she was looking at Blue.
“New portal,” he repeated.
I asked Shan to ask him if he knew of a new portal here. She took his head in her hands and we listened as she talked to him.
“Is there a portal here?”
“No portal,” he replied.
“Where is the new portal,” she asked.
Instead of words, his reply was a perfect imitation of the buzzing sounds of the snewels in flight.
“It’s back in the Old City,” Alice said. “He smelled a portal somewhere near the terminal.”
“Drink up compadres,” M1 said. We’re off to the Old City, but before we leave please give Blue his own Spam sandwich.”
It was twilight as we exited the dormant chamber building and piled aboard the now crowded trolley. Our head count was now up to twelve, thirteen if you counted Blue, fifteen if you counted YDRII and the house computer.
By the time we reached the Old City terminal it was near to dark and the snewels were lighting up.
“Must be a nightly affair,” Alice commented.
“Affair is the right word for it,” M2 said.
As soon as the trolley came to a stop and opened, Blue jumped out and scooted out of the terminal door with the rest of us in hot pursuit. He went around to the back of the terminal and trotted in the door of the building where we had spent the previous night. We followed as he bounced up the grand staircase, but on this night we used our flashlights. At the top, instead of turning to the right for the hallway, he kept going straight to the back wall. There we found, cloaked in deep shadows until our torches illuminated it, a door identical to the one in the library in Duula. Moses quickly opened it and there was our portal. Once inside with the door closed, we all focused our lights on the top so Moses could read the wavy lines. He looked at it then turned to us with a wide smile on his face.
“What!” Alice shouted. “What does it say?”
“Nexus,” he replied.
“Gloryoski,” she exclaimed, “but is the other end still in business?”
Moses closed the outer door, then did his thing with his probe and then touched the console ring and the green curtain parted. We breathed a big sigh of relief when we saw there were no fracture lines.
“So far, so swell,” M1 said, as he drew his pistol. “M2 and I will check it out.”
The two M’s then went through, but were back in just a few seconds.
“We were in deep clover,” M2 said. “We don’t know exactly where, but we were under an orange sky.”
“Halleluiah, “Alice said, �
�We’ll be home for supper.”
As she said this, I suddenly and unexpectedly realized that a part of me did not want this to end, but I set the thought aside for future consideration.
“I have a request,” Harry said. “What say we first go to the roof to show Mary and Lamont what the snewels are up to?”
“All in favor say ‘sex’,” Amy called out.
There on the roof we again witnessed the show of shows. Lamont was first in line for a cigar. Our mood was festive and although we were anxious to move on, we lingered there to savor the moment.
As I was looking at the snewels, gathering overhead to begin their mass exodus, I felt someone take my arm. Before I looked, I knew it was Alice and that was something more to consider. I had that old feeling again that too much was happening too fast. I willed the galaxy to spin slower, but it ignored me.
“James,” she said, “I can’t go back to that desk job in Washington. I can’t go back to any of my old life after this.”
“None of us can, Alice,” I said. “If I was forced to settle down, I think I would choose Paradise. Anyway, as well as exploring Enigma, we have a new secret path to follow. Its importance is still a big question. They may be dead and gone, but we have to know.”
“We may have to sneak out of town when the time comes,” she said. “I don’t look forward to dealing with the bureaucrats. Even the Director might not be able to get us back into the Hollow Mountain. They may have different ideas about who gets to hunt for the Nazis. Plus, there’s several millions of planets to explore. Just think of that my friend.”
She wanted to say more, but we both knew that YDRII was listening. Our trust was not complete. I saw Mary and Lamont standing mesmerized as the last of the snewels flashed and winked out. I did notice that when the snewels formed their big circle, the center seemed to be just a few city blocks away. This was not the heart of the city, but quite close. I wanted to go there, but…
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path Page 28