With that, Bob sat down, leaned back and said with a smile, “I will see you next year.”
“Happy trails, old buddy,” Harry said, with a wave of his hand.
There was no movement from the chair. No straps pushed out to restrain him nor did a helmet swing up to cover his head. In seconds a blue glow surrounded the entire apparatus and Bob closed his eyes.”
Bebe was the first to comment, “Five thousand years and still it seems to function properly—amazing.”
“Hey, Joe,” M1 said, “are you monitoring his physical state?”
“Of course I am,” Joe replied. “Everything is normal. He is asleep, but I detect unusual brain activity from areas that are seldom used.”
“James, are you timing this?” Alice asked.
“Yessum,” I replied, “my almost Rolex, but faithful Ralex commando knockoff watch is on duty.”
After that exchange, we stood silently and watched. I gave the gang the time every thirty seconds and after the four minute mark I counted down from sixty.
“I guess,” M2 said, “this means he wasn’t able to leave early.”
When I reached nineteen, the blue haze evaporated and Bob woke up. There was no recovery time. His eyes opened and he sat up. He got to his feet with an odd look on his face and a very intent look in his eyes. I noted that he turned directly to Alice.
“Will you please hug me again?” he said.
She said nothing, but went and held him tight. He buried his head on her shoulder and began to tremble so hard they both shook, but Alice did not let go. This went on for a while, but eventually the tremors subsided.
At last he raised his head. “Thank you.”
Alice released him by placing both hands on his shoulders and stepping back to hold him at arm’s length. I couldn’t see her face, but I knew those big dark eyes demanded his total attention.
“Can you tell us about it now?” she asked. “It’s all right if you don’t want to just yet.”
“I really am fine now,” he replied. “I required a moment to regain control. The journey was wonderful, more wonderful than I could have imagined. I think the machine based it on my life before I met you all because for the entire time I was alone and that was the problem. I didn’t realize how much being with you has changed me. From the beginning I knew something was wrong. No matter how exquisite I found the land I traveled through, the loneliness I once sought was almost too much to bear. When I saw something amazing the first thing I wanted to do was say ‘Hey, guys, look at that!’ But you were not there. I no longer desired to be alone. After about two months I tried to wish myself back here, but to no avail. I am glad I did this for you, but I will not go willingly alone again.”
Harry, in an uncommon show of tenderness, put his arm around him. “You did great Roberto.”
The wistful smile returned and our Bob was back. We went outside to sit on the grass. Jesus, apparently forgetting he was supposed to be sulking, slowly climbed up Alice’s back and resumed his post on her shoulder. We pretended we didn’t notice and questioned Bob about his great journey. One interesting fact was that at no time did his travels take him to the Golden City. Some of the landscape he described made me envious of his experience. When he finished answering our questions, the discussion turned to the immediate future.
“We still don’t know about Jesus and Blue,” M1 began, “but it seems safe enough for us to go on a group sample trip. The question is do we try it now or later? Keep in mind our time limits.”
“I vote for later,” Shan said, with finality.
“I second that,” Harry added.
“I third it,” M2 put in.
“Do we need any more discussion?” Alice asked.
We all shook our heads and that settled that. The Band would remain together and go as a group, but not now. We did openly talk about keeping an eye on Bob for a while in case there were any after-effects. He did react to this by seeming to shrink, as though to hide from us.
“Bob, what’s wrong?” Alice asked.
“Oh nothing,” Alice, “I am just still not sure what is real. Is my mind still in the machine, dreaming all this, or am I really out? I had so many different dreams, once or twice I even thought I was back with you, but I wasn’t. I was still trapped inside. Please just give me a little time to adjust. I will be fine.”
“I’d like to come here,” I said, “when I run out of other things to do in the real world.”
It was quiet for a time, then Alice spoke up. “But there’s that island down there and that plaque on the rim. Add Nora to Nazi and I think maybe we should take a chance.”
We all agreed and moments later we were back to the railing.
“Okay,” M1 said, “Here we are at the alternate entry. My sense is that it’s not dangerous, but who knows? I still think our only option is to give it a try. I invite any last-minute comments.”
We looked at each other and after a few moments, Bebe said, “The Dance Band is here to explore. If we do not do this, we may as well return to Earth.”
Alice gave her a high five.
“Very good,” M1 said. “M2 and I will test this thing. The rest of you step back and observe whatever may happen.”
No one moved. We stood there silently.
M1 looked at us with raised eyebrows. “Do I have a mutiny on my hands?”
“We go as a group or not at all,” Harry spoke for the rest of us. “Fran’s drone is watching.”
“So be it,” M1 said. “Grab a railing while I touch the magic circle.”
We did as we were told and M1 placed his hand on the ring—nothing happened.
“Your turn, Bebe,” he said.
She stepped next to him, did as requested and the ring came to life as did the ground we were standing on, which proved to be a platform that began to slowly descend, straight down a groove in the vertical wall of the crater. Our speed increased to that of a freight elevator, which made for a leisurely trip to a point just above the surface of the turbulent shoreline. There were cascading drifts of falling water on either side, but we were far enough away to avoid the billowing mist.
The device that carried us functioned so smoothly we hardly noticed when it slowed to a stop and detached itself from the cliff face to drift out over the crystal clear water. I looked over the side and saw about three inches of air between the bottom of our platform and the surface of the incredibly clear liquid. We were more or less adrift over a shallow area. The lakebed was a jumble of clean rocks and boulders, looking more like they belonged in a mountain stream than a lake bottom.
Bebe was the first to speak. “We do not seem to be going anywhere. Perhaps we should have brought paddles.”
“C’mere Bebe,” M1 said. “The control circle now has three glowing dots, like the points of a compass, except there’s no south.” Bebe moved to his side as he continued. “The top dot might move us forward while the dots on either side could turn us left or right. Go ahead and touch one of the turn dots.”
As soon as she pressed the right hand dot, the platform slowly began to swivel clockwise. She then pressed the left dot and our craft responded as directed, as did the forward dot until she removed her fingers.
“This sure isn’t a speedboat,” Alice said, “but it works well for inexperienced sightseers.”
We soon discovered that although the platform could head toward the island or the shore, we were forced to proceed counterclockwise around the lake. Bebe first took us toward a waterfall, but an invisible barrier kept us well away from the spray. She then headed straight for the island, but we were again stopped a bit past the halfway point.
“It’s the same bubble that stopped the camera,” M2 said. “It goes right down to the water line.”
M1 reached out to gingerly touch the barrier. “I feel a resistance, but there’s no shock or anything.”
He dropped to lay flat on the front edge of our craft and reached down under the water line.
“The barrier is sti
ll there so we can’t swim under. I guess we’ll just have Bebe take us around the island while we play tourist.”
It was quite a trip. The island was intricate and varied with an incredible variety of buildings, pathways, bridges and greenery, but it was as static as a 3D photograph. Nothing moved. Not a leaf fluttered. Not one bird flew through the fairy arches.
“Beautiful, but deader than a zombie,” Shan said.
“I feel sad when I look at it,” Bob said. “I now have no urge to go there, but I know we must.”
“Even if no one is there now,” M1 said, “the island might hold a clue that can help us.”
Bebe was having fun captaining our craft, but when we reached the back of the island where everything was dominated by the huge cavern, she navigated close to the bubble barrier.
“I will not take us close to that dark place,” she said.
There were no objections as we drifted past. Most of the protrusions from the island held striking and monumental structures. Amy observed that most of them were things one might expect to see in or near a great harbor. “I wonder,” she said, “If some of these were dredged up from Atlantis.” The most unusual, but extremely interesting of these was a huge, crudely built tower that leaned slightly off center.
Amy was talking to Harry. “There has to be one incredible story to be told about the history of that ancient monument. It may have been built and destroyed, long before any human record was made of its existence.”
Eventually we completed the circuit of the island and our platform returned to automatic mode. The dots vanished from the control circle and we backed into the groove in the cliff. The ride to the top was at the same leisurely pace.
“Damn,” M2 said, “it was a swell tour, but we’re no closer to getting inside that place.”
“We’re all a bit frustrated,” Alice added, “but we’ll just keep at it.”
“Welcome back you guys,” Fran said, by way of our ear buds, “That was quite a boat ride. I have a video of the whole thing.”
M1 asked her if she had noticed anything else, any activity on the island.
“Nothing I’m afraid,” she said. “Either that place is ignoring us or there’s no one there.”
“Thanks Fran,” M1 said. “We’ll have a little powwow here and then we'll probably head back to Manheim.”
Harry was very unhappy and frustrated. He felt certain that the island held at minimum a clue as to Nora’s whereabouts.
So, Amy,” Alice said, “now that you’ve seen the place, do we call it the Golden City or what?”
“When I first saw it on Fran’s map,” Amy replied, “a name did come to mind, but it didn’t compute. In fact, for some reason it made me uneasy so I didn’t mention it, but I still feel the same.”
She stopped talking and Alice reached to tap her shoulder. “You can’t leave it at that, sweetie,” she said. “We’re all curious now.”
Amy hesitated, and then said, “Pinocchio. The name that came to mind was Pinocchio.”
I could think of no response, but as I thought about it I realized the name also made me uneasy, but why?
Bebe was the first with a comment. “I know of Pinocchio, but I don’t see a connection.”
“What is this Pinocchio?” Bob asked.
“It’s a fictional story about a puppet that could tell no lies without his nose growing longer,” Amy said, and then told a much-condensed version of the tale.
“You must have been thinking of the carnival sequence in the movie,” Alice said. “I remember it fairly well. It was colorful, but at the same time dark and ominous. It was where little boys went to drink beer, smoke and gamble. If they stayed long enough they would turn into donkeys that had to pull carts in a mine. I think maybe it was a coal mine, but I don’t really recall except it was dark and scary.”
“Wow!” M1 exclaimed. “Could it be the Golden City is really the City of Lies and Deceit?”
“I don’t want it to be,” Amy said. “That’s why I didn’t mention it at the time.”
“That’s it then,” M1 said. “Pinocchio it is. I think we’re finished here for now—agreed?”
We gathered at the precipice for our last frustrated look, then climbed aboard our taxi and were on our way. The new route paralleled the same river, but on the opposite bank and did not include any of the sideshows. My guess was that after one had finished with the Golden City, one didn’t need any more thrills. Eventually, we came to a switch I hadn’t noticed before which brought us back to the main tube. We left many questions in our ever-expanding wake across the galaxy. During the ride, Amy informed us she had thought of a name for the glen at the Omaha portal.
“Can you tell us that one as we pass by?” Alice asked.
“No, silly person that you are. I have to be standing on the balcony railing.”
“Okay, how about a name for our trolley?”
She thought for a moment, and then her face lit up. “I got it. I make known that this vehicle is forevermore the Phoebe Snow.”
M2 turned and raised his eyebrows. “Phoebe Snow? She’s a singer. How does that relate?”
Amy asked me to explain. I think she was testing my memory, but old James was right there with the answer.
“The Phoebe Snow was a famous passenger train on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in New York State, but it was well before your time.”
“Well, whoop dee doo,” Alice said, “the historians among us strike again, but I will begrudgingly admit it’s a very cool name.”
All the while Bebe was watching the passing scenery, but she was listening intently. “Is Amy responsible for naming other places like Omaha and Shenandoah?” she asked.
“Yes indeedy,” Alice replied. “She also named Paradise, Rust, Dust, Kudzu, Shan and Bob and Moses and Lamont and Abraham and Blue and the morses, the dorks, the snewels and snirls and flounders. I probably forgot some, but one day I’ll make a list.”
“You people are remarkable,” Bebe said, then suddenly burst into laughter. “My God, everything is remarkable and utterly fantastic. I just wish Carl was here to see it with us.”
CHAPTER 14
We went directly to IHOO and were busy eating when Shan said, “Where is Bob?”
We looked around.
“Maybe he’s in the can,” Harry said. “We should keep a closer eye on him. He hasn’t been right since that infernal dream maker machine. Funny thing—as a group we’re so tight that we notice things like that. I think it’s a good thing.”
Five minutes later Alice stood up. “Harry, how about you check the latrines. It isn’t like Bob to leave the group like this.”
Harry returned with a negative report. “Now you got me worried. I asked around HQ and no one has seen him.”
“Oh no, not again, Alice said. “We’ve already lost Carl! Not Bob too!”
We were now on our feet.
“What do we do?” Shan asked. “And what is this HQ Harry talked about?”
“HQ is short for headquarters,” Alice told her. “It’s the big building that has the portals to Nexus and Peru.”
“Shan,” M1 said, “It’s time to put Blue to work. Should we get his sleeping bag for Blue to sniff?”
“No, I can make him understand.” She called Blue to her and took his head in her hands. She murmured several words into his ear and then turned him loose. “All we do is follow.”
M1 called Fran over and asked her to join the search with a drone.
“I’ll have it start here,” she said and made ever wider circles. I’ll spot him unless he’s in a building.”
Shan told Blue to start and he trotted away to the west with the entire Band close behind. He kept moving from one side to the other for a closer sniff near the buildings along the way. There was a high garden wall between the seventh and eighth buildings on the right. It had an open arched gateway, sunk about eight feet into what appeared to be a small, but empty enclosed plaza or courtyard between the buildings. I saw some benches, a
small central fountain and some dwarf trees. The surrounding buildings had a thick covering of vines. Blue, with his nose close to the ground, approached the arch then stopped and sniffed from side to side. We could see no reason for his hesitation, but after smelling the ground for a minute or two he sat down and looked back at us. “Something,” he said.
We all gathered near for a closer look, but all I could see was a stone arch. If there were anything there, it was completely invisible.
“Hey, Joe,” Alice said, “any ideas?”
“Very strange,” he replied. “There is something there, but I can detect it only because Jesus noticed that any dust motes that move toward the surface encompassed by the arch, disappear on contact. In that respect it behaves like a portal, but obviously it is something different. The cat does not like this place. It was a good idea to include Jesus and Blue as members of our group.”
As soon as Blue heard his name, he raised one paw and poked his fingers at the gate opening. His entire paw disappeared and he quickly drew back with no visible damage.
“Something,” he repeated.
“Damn,” Harry said. “Ain’t that dog just the cutest, most loyal thing. Pity there aren’t more of his type around here.”
If I didn’t know better I would swear the man glared at my cat as he said that last part. From his pocket, M1 retrieved the coin he had skipped over the mysterious water and tossed it at the opening where it promptly and silently vanished. Quickly, he poked a finger through and jerked it back with no visible harm. “Didn’t feel a thing,” he said. “I’ll just stick my head through and take a peek.”
“Before you do that,” M2 said, “let me stick my camera through and take a quick picture.”
It took him less than a second to perform the operation and we all crowded around to see the image.
“It’s Bob!” Alice exclaimed. “He's standing right in front of us about six feet away and look at his face—he’s terrified and he’s shouting at us.”
“The background looks the same,” Alice said. “What the hell. Why doesn’t he just walk back through?”
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: BOOK THREE - ENIGMA Page 11