by Stan Mason
‘What do you want to go all the way to Hong Kong for?’ asked her friend and work colleague, Sylvia, as they had lunch together in the canteen that day, ‘It takes about thirteen boring hours by plane and you know they’ve discovered that new disease... the one where you can get a heart attack if you sit on a plane in the same position for hours on end.’
‘You’re just jealous,’ laughed Gina easily, teasing the woman. ‘If I offered you the ticket for free, you’d be off there like a shot. Go on, admit it!’
‘And now the colony’s in the hands of the Chinese, who know what might happen to a woman on her own out there?’ continued her friend. ‘It could be dangerous. You’ll need to be careful. I mean it’s not British any more and there’s millions of people around... some of them ugly criminals.’
‘Really! You think I’m putting myself in danger,’ said Gina, holding back her laughter as she stared at the frown which appeared on her friend’s face.
‘Well with all those people there’s bound to be a criminal element. They make take you as a hostage and hold you for ransom.’
‘But no one will pay anything for me because they have no money.’
‘That’s just it. They’d do away with you,’ went on Sylvia unashamedly. ‘They’re Chinese. With millions of people, the unemployment situation must be horrendous. You know how people react when they’re out of work and broke. They turn to criminal activities. I advise you to carry a can of aerosol in your bag at all times to protect yourself and be ready to use it at all times. Spray it in their eyes!’
‘Don’t worry about me, Sylvia,’ retorted Gina with amusement. ‘I can take care of myself.’
‘With millions of people on one small island, I don’t fancy your chances. You have no idea what you’re going to find there. Take my word for it!’
Undeterred by the adverse comments of her friend, Gina returned to her work counting the hours before the flight departed from the airport. The day arrived eventually, and she found herself at the start of her holiday at Heathrow Airport as she boarded the plane for the long flight. Her dream vacation was just about to begin and the adrenalin pumped through her veins with urgent excitement. As her friend had warned, the flight was exceedingly long, but she couldn’t help enjoying every moment in anticipation, listening to the radio with the earphones given to her by the airline and watching the films on the television screen in front of her. There was a break in the flight of one hour as the aircraft landed at Bahrain to refuel for the rest of the journey. Before she knew it, having read numerous magazines and sixty pages of the book she had brought with her, the Hong Kong airport on Kowloon came into sight. On reflection, thirteen hours of her life had simply vanished from her life in an instant.
After the aircraft landed, the transfer coach took her to her destination and she soon found herself standing at the reception desk in a large elegant hotel in a respectable part of the island.
‘Room three-twelve,’ stated the desk clerk without an expression on his face as he handed her the key to the room. ‘You are a tourist here on holiday?’ he asked pleasantly.
‘Yes, I’m a tourist,’ she replied, staring at his bland yellow face.
‘Then why you come this time of year? Why you
come in the rainy season?’
‘I didn’t realise it was the rainy season,’ she told him. ‘No one told me about it.’
‘We have typhoons which sweep Hong Kong. They are big winds blowing right through the island causing much damage sometimes. We maybe have to go to the shelter when it comes.’
‘Really!’ she returned, hoping against hope that the weather would remain clement during her stay.
‘We offer full service for the guests at this hotel,’ he went on, trying to be helpful. ‘You want man in your room to keep you company tonight?’
‘No!’ she retorted with surprise showing on her face. ‘I don’t want a man for tonight!’
‘Then maybe you want a woman!’
She roared with laughter at the thought. ‘No thank you!’ she told him firmly. ‘Not tonight!
It was quite clear that the hotel gave a full comprehensive service for all the guests far beyond the bounds of normality. However that was the fun of strange cultures that she so desired to experience. She took the elevator and went ot her room still amused by the desk clerk’s suggestions before unpacking her suitcase and going to the restaurant for a meal.
The next morning, she opened the curtains to horrid grey skies. It was indeed the rainy season because it was pouring with rain. Worse than that, it torrented down! Within four hours, over six inches of rain had fallen which flowed in a steady stream through the almost deserted streets. The few people who dared to venture out in such conditions ended up soaked to the skin.
‘How long is this rain going to last?’ asked Gina to the desk clerk when she came downstairs.
‘About three or four days,’ came the reply. ‘Then the sun will come out and everyone will be happy.’
She returned to her room miserably to watch the television, staring out of the window every half hour to check if the weather had changed but the rain was persistent, still falling in torrents. The desk clerk was perfectly correct because it remained that way for three whole day. Then the clouds parted and the rain stopped. As predicted, the sun emerged into a clear blue sky and everyone seemed cheerful again.
Despite the poor start to her holiday, Gina left the hotel and began to take an interest into everything she could lay her eyes on. It was all so fascinating to her. She was on an oriental island where strange customs and cultures existed... far different to most of those in the Western world. Large illuminated signs hung from every edifice, advertising the names of products that were made. The shops were full of a multitude of exotic goods, mostly orientated by Chinese designs which were set out in eye-catching displays. Trams ran continually down the centre of the main street while the transport system was supported by small buses, large buses and taxis. There was also an extremely fast underground system and, at the entrance of the beginning of the line, there were a handful of rickshaws waiting for hire. Even the food in the local restaurants was strange, serving cat, dog, rat, snakes and frogs for those diners with, or without, discerning tastes. However abover everything else, was the extraordinary number of people moving to and fro at all times. There seemed to be millions of them wherever one travelled. In fact they were so close to each other , it was as though they had come out to walk in formation, one way and the other, throughout the island.
Gina gazed up at the peak of Mount Victoria, the highest mountain, her eyes taking in the beautiful houses which had been built there. It was a well-known fact that the richer the person, the higher up the house they lived in on the mountain. And then there was the Tiger Balm factory overlooking the racecourse at Happy Valley, Repulse Bay, where the Chinese fought the British in the late eighteenth century and, in the distance, the Star Ferry, which carried passengers to and from Hong Kong island and Kowloon on the mainland.
She was in her element and being alone meant that she was uninhibited ... able to go wherever she pleased at any time of the day or night. She toured the island and the mainland at leisure, paying her respects to a number of monasteries where the monks had dedicated themselves, visiting renowned sites and wandering through the various stalls in the local markets. After that, she became employed in window shopping, trying to decide which Chinese artefacts she should buy with the limited amount of money in her possession. The biggest problem was the carriage back home. She had brought with her only one suitcase and that was pretty full of her clothes.
On the twelfth day, she began to tire of shopping, having already bought a number of small items to take home and she was about to return to her hotel when she came across a quaint little antique emporium in one of the outlying districts on the island. At first she debated on whether to clos
e the book on the day and simply go back to the hotel to rest her aching feet but, on second thoughts, she decided to have one final look at the items displayed. She entered the shop and began to browse the artefacts, many of which hung from the ceiling, lay on the shelves or were positioned on the floor. After looking around for a while, she came across the lantern. It hung innocuously by a piece of string from one of the rafters... a small lantern about one foot high and nine inches across. Triangular in shape, coloured in canary yellow, it illuminated the area around it very brightly, lighting up a particularly dull area of the emporium. At first, Gina glanced at it without a great deal of interest but it continued to glow and eventuall attracted her attention, enough for her to take a closer look. There was nothing unusual in the lantern’s appearance but she was unable to see any cord connecting it to the electricity supply. Suddenly, the item became extremely interesting. How did the light shine so brightly without a power source? How could it do that? She had never seen anything quite like it before. Turning to the owner of the emporium, an old Chinese man with a wizened face and a small beard, whose eyes watched her every movement as she walked around looking at his wares, she moved towards the counter and put the question to him bluntly.
‘This lantern,’ she called out, pretending to be only mildly interested in case the man bumped up the selling price. ‘It seems to be working without electricity. Where’s the electric cable?’
‘Cable!’ screeched a gaily-coloured parrot in a shrill voice emulating the word. ‘Cable! Cable!’
The Chinaman stared at her enigmatically. He spoke no English and was therefore unable to communicate or offer any kind of explanation to his customer.
‘Can you bring it down’ she asked, gesticulating with her hands until he understood what she meant. He nodded, obeyed her wish, and unhooked it from the rafter, placing it delicately on the counter. ‘Hm,’ she muttered to herself, ‘it shines the same on all three sides.’ She looked up at the man, her lips moving slowly as though he was able to read them. ‘How does it work without electricity?’ she asked politely, hoping to get a satisfactory answer. ‘It emanates illumination but it doesn’t seem to have a power source.’
The Chinaman stared at her with a bland expression, his eyes remaining on her face but his lips did not move. She took her purse out of her handbag and placed some money on the counter. He looked at them and then took the money he wanted for the purchase of the item. She was delighted to observe that the sum taken was far less than she was prepared to pay for it. It had been a real bargain! Holding the lantern tightly, she returned to the hotel and placed it gently on the dressing-table. It was wonderful... bright... light...
shining like a beacon... but ther was no connection to any source of energy supply. She examined every inch of it carefully without finding any joints or markings and her face puckered into a frown with frustration. How did it continue to emanate light? Lifting it up, she shook it gently but there was no noise or rattling from anything inside. Her mind dwelt on the possibility that the paint used on the outside was luminous, giving off a continuous glow, but it shone even brighter later that night when twilight fell and the curtains were closed in the bedroom. She decided that she would have to take it to Darren Broadhurst, one of the scientists at the base when she returned home and have him examine it for her. He was extremely intelligent and would almost certainly be able to provide a satisfactory answer.
She then concentrated on enjoying herself for the remainder of the holiday and it went by so quickly that she could hardly catch her breath. Suddenly, to her regret, she found herself sititng in a seat on an aircraft waiting to take her back to Britain. It had been a wonderful, marvellous, stupendous experience that would remain with her for the rest of her life.
On the following Monday, she returned to work, clutching the lantern tightly, and took it directly to Darren Broadhurst for his opinion.
‘I have a real problem for you, Darren,’ she began, placing the lantern on his desk in front of him. ‘What do you make of this?’
He stared at it closely for a few moments, observing its illumination, and then look up at her. ‘Where did you get this?’
‘In a small emporium in Hong Kong,’ she told him. ‘I can’t determine where it gets its power from. It’s been out of the sun for three days yet it still shines brightly. It’s been like that ever since I bought it... and almost certainly a long time before that.’
‘I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life,’ he admitted candidly. He picked up the lantern and examined it carefully. ‘What engineering!’ he exclaimed. ‘There isn’t a joint to be seen anywhere. And it doesn’t seem to have a power source. I wonder what’s inside. Do you mind if I open it?’
‘I’m not sure,’ returned Gina apprehensively. ‘I mean it might not work if I let you do that. Perhaps it’s filled with gas which will escape once the outside is breached.’
I don’t know of any gas that will retain its lumenence for such a long time,’ related the scientist, hoping for her agreement to allow him to proceed further.
‘Well it only cost me the equivalent of two pounds in English money, You may as well open it up.’
The scientist opened the drawer of his desk to reach for screwdriver. He made an attempt to drive the sharp end into the side of the lantern but failed to make any impression on it at all. He rose and went to his bench to return with a pair of wire-cutters which he used to try to open the lantern but it was to no avail. The tools were totally inadequate and didn’t even make scratch marks on the surface.
‘Hey!’ he muttered, his interest growing by the second. ‘This is really tough stuff. I’ll have to use a hammer to crack it open. ‘ He went back to his bench again and came back with a large hammer which he raised to shoulder height before bringing it down firmly on one side of the lantern. Nothing happened! It didn’t crack, breach or break, remaining exactly as it had before the onsluaght. The scientist was determined not to be outdone however, and he raised the hammer once more above his head bringing it down with a mighty blow but all his efforts proved to be in vain. The lantern stayed unbroken, untouched, undented and unharmed... and it still glowed brightly! ‘I don’t get it,’ he exclaimed with frustration. ‘Nothing seems to make an impression.’ He turned to Gina with an enigmatic expression on his face. ‘Where did you say you bought it?’
‘In a tiny little emporium on the outskirst of Hong Kong,’ she repeated slowly.
‘Do you think they might have more of these?’
‘I don’t think so. It was the only one I saw there. Why do you ask?’
‘Why?’ he sputtered. ‘If you could get more of these you’d be a very wealthy woman. Rich as Croesus! I don’t know who could have made such a fantastic thing.’
‘Well it has to have been manufactured somewhere but I’ve never seen it advertised,’ she returned solemnly.
Broadhurst’s eyes never left the lantern and he was clearly not intending to be defeated. ‘It looks to me as though it’s made of plastic but it might be some kind of metal. I’m going to take it to the lab to use an electric drill on it. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll use an electric saw. One of them’s bound to have some effect. You go back to work. I’ll give you a ring on my findings later on.’
She shrugged her shoulders and left the office thoughtfully for there was nothing that she could do to help him resolve the problem. On her way back to her own office, she bumped into her friend.
‘Well, well!’ greeted Sylvia amiably. ‘If it isn’t my honourable Chinese associate returned safe and sound. What did you think of the place and the people? And what fantastic exotic gifts did you bring back with you?’
Gine heaved a sigh before explaining about the magic lantern. ‘It glows for ever,’ she told her friend, ‘without any power source. Darren Broadhurst is trying to take it apart right now to find out how it works without electricity.’
‘If I brought back something like that,’ rattled Sylvia frankly, ‘I wouldn’t let anyone else fiddle around with it. I’d count my blessings and keep it intact.’
‘Well you’re not as curious as I am,’ countered Gina. ‘I feel have to know what makes it work. I can’t help it.’
She went ot her office to examine the latest charts on the animals and a short while later the telephone rang with the result.
‘Darren here,’ he told her.
Gena knew the result even before he spoke because of the low tone of his voice.
‘No go, I’m afraid. I can’t even scratch the surface. I’ve no idea what the thing’s made of let alone finding its source of power. You’d better come and collect it as soon as you can. Hold on, I’ve had another thought. You might want to take it to Brad Clarke in metallurgy to try to define the metal which was used to make it.’
‘That’s a good idea!’ she echoed, thanking him for his efforts and she left immediately to collect the lantern to take to the metallurgy department. When she found Brad Clarke, she explained the situation and he promised to test the lantern within the next few hours to define the type of metal used in its manufacture.
On the following day however, he rang Gina with disbelief in his voice. ‘I don’t get it,’ he uttered defeatedly. ‘I can’t find any metal on it that came from this planet. I’ve tried to configure it with each base metal and every combination I can think of but all I can say is that it doesn’t seem to have been made from any substance found on Earth.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’ she countered. ‘It must have been made from something... some kind of metal!’
‘Not one found on Earth,’ he repeated tiredly. ‘I don’t understand it.’
‘Are you absolutely positive about this?’ she asked sternly.
‘More than I’ve ever been about anything,’ he replied uneasily.