“The portal is starting to shimmer again and now the symbols are lighting up. I can only assume you are doing something to them.”
“Which ones?” Bruin asked.
Ronin described just where on the portal the lit symbols were. They were an exact match of the ones I had touched so far. I quickly touched the next two. “It’s important you touch them in the order they appear on the portal you are trying to get to from left to right. I believe the symbol in the bottom left is the symbol for this portal with each portal having a unique identifier. The exact address to the next portal is the sum total of all eight symbols pressed in the correct order.”
I climbed on the stepstool to get to the last two symbols, making very sure I wasn’t in the portal’s frame at all. Pressing on the last two symbols, I quickly got down and watched. The space between the lintels began to shimmer and shine, almost looking glassy in appearance. I broke out in a big grin. I could see the Earth away station. “We did it! Maleka, throw the ball!” I cried.
“I see something through the portal. It’s all skewed, like Atlantis and the away station are when we’re standing just on one side of the portal. Hey, what’s this?” A few seconds passed. “It’s a ball and it says Pick me up…what’s that all about?”
Pandemonium broke out in the council room. I jumped for joy and clutched Maleka tightly to me. “It worked, it worked.”
The gavel worked overtime as Councilwoman Mantech brought it down again and again. “We will have order.”
I glanced up and smiled broadly at Jonas and Bruin, mouthing the words, thank you. Finally, the room came to order once again and I waited for a response from the council.
“Ms. Lanigan, I take it you can reopen the door between our worlds.”
“Yes, ma’am. I just have to step through this one and touch the symbols for Atlantis again on the Earth door. As long as the symbols aren’t touched again, their connection will be reestablished. I also think that the connection that is touched last is the portal that remains open. Or at least I believe that’s what happened. I’ll need to study this more.”
“Thank goodness. This would have been a horrible demonstration if you couldn’t undo what you just did.” She glared at me. “I expect you to have a report on this demonstration and a proposal on my desk in a month. Maleka, instruct her on what I expect.” She began to get up, then stopped. “I would definitely like to know what it uses for power. Do you need a physicist?”
“I did minor in math and physics, but someone who understands astronomical physics would be great. I just think that this was originally meant for long distance space travel.” I could see she was going to ask the obvious. “I know that Atlantis and Earth are a fair distance apart, but we are practically neighbors in the vastness of space.”
She nodded. “I do believe that is Jonas’s specialty. Bruin will be your mathematician, while Maleka can study the impact on humanoids. This will be a great project for a family unit. Let me know if you need anything else. We’ll try to get you anything you want.” She turned to leave.
“Councilwoman Mantech, can I know who brought up this question?” Maleka stepped forward.
She turned and looked down at us. “You should talk to Jonas.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She glared up at Jonas.
I reached for her hand. “Don’t worry, this gave everyone something to look forward to. I need to go through the portal, then get home. Want to come?”
She nodded. “I better, because if I go up there, I will smack him.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her through the portal. The news had spread fast and there were people waiting to offer us congratulations. We got through everything as quickly as we could. It took just a few minutes and help from Ronin to get to all the symbols, but once they were touched, Atlantis came back in view. Quickly, we raced home to meet Bruin and Jonas.
Walking in, the house had the subtle glow once again from candles spread throughout the living and dining rooms. The table was set with what looked like the best china and the aromas coming from the kitchen were sumptuous. I turned and smiled at Maleka. “Now don’t get mad. It all worked out for the best.”
“He should have discussed it with me.” She stamped her foot in obvious frustration.
“He discussed it with me.” Bruin walked in, hands holding two serving platters, which he sat on the table.
“Was I the only one not told? Again?”
Jonas followed him in with a salad bowl and what looked to be another vegetable bowl. “Maleka, you’ve been resistant from the moment I said I might have found our fourth member on Earth.”
She frowned and looked at the ground, sighing deeply. “I hate it when you do this to me.”
Bruin walked up to her. “What are you talking about it? You love it. You hate the details.”
She looked up at him. “Maybe I do.”
“Whoa…wait a minute…you two mean you planned this all out?”
“Not really.” Jonas came to put his arms around me.
I pushed against his chest. “Define not really please.”
“We would only put the plan in motion if you were put in the position you were.” He put his arms around me. “I kept telling Bruin you would never resist, no matter what I said, the lure of Atlantis. I knew you’d try to find it. And you did.”
“I for one am thankful you did. Not only are we a complete unit now, we have something to make our life’s work. It’s made more special by the fact it will be the family’s work…our family.” Bruin smiled and pulled us all in his giant hug.
Hugging them all back, I felt safe and secured and loved. Atlantis would forever be my home now. While I knew I would miss things about Earth, this was where I belonged, exploring things with those I loved and with who I would spend the rest of my life.
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