The Navel of the World

by P. J. Hoover

  “We need to get some offerings to bring to the temple.”

  “Offerings? Like what?” Andy said. “Human sacrifice?”

  Iva glared at him. “Of course not. Shaneeswara likes iron nails and oil.”

  “Gee, I happened to pack a bunch of nails when I came here,” Andy replied. “And we can get the oil from Leena’s blubber storage cabinet.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Iva said.

  “So where do we get the offerings?” Benjamin asked. “Magic Pan could probably get us what we need.” After all, Magic had gotten them the infrared deflector.

  “Are you kidding?” Heidi said. “Did you forget he’s working for the enemy?”

  “We don’t know that,” Benjamin said. “And anyway we wouldn’t have to tell him what it’s for.”

  But Heidi shook her head. “No. Way.”

  “Morpheus could help us out,” Iva said. “After all, it’s not like nails and oil are illegal.”

  After lunch, they headed out into the city. It’d been weeks since they’d talked to Morpheus Midas, and Benjamin was dying to ask if he knew how the chess set had come to be at The Silver Touch in the first place.

  “Just try not to be obvious,” Andy said as they walked down Mu Way. “We don’t want Morpheus to know we traveled back in time.”

  “Duh, Andy. We’re not stupid,” Heidi said. “Anyway, maybe I can pick something from his mind.”

  “Well don’t probe too far,” Andy said. “I don’t want him to feel anything if he has some mind blocks in place.”

  Heidi stopped and stared at him. “Are you telling me how to do telepathy?”

  Andy shrugged.

  “What if Walker’s in the shop?” Gary asked. “Isn’t today the day they play chess?”

  “That’s okay,” Andy replied. “In fact, that’s better. We’ll have two chances for success. Let’s split up if he’s there. Gary, you and Heidi stay with Walker, and Iva, you and I can cover Morpheus. Just get him to help you find the nails or whatever.”

  “What about me?” Benjamin asked.

  “Just look around,” Andy said. “Act like you’re looking for something.”

  “What?” Benjamin asked.

  “Who cares,” Andy said.

  When Benjamin walked into The Silver Touch, he saw Morpheus just sitting back down to the Ammolite chess board, across from Walker Pan.

  “Hello.” Morpheus stood back up. “I’ve been wondering when I would see you again.”

  “Hi, Morpheus,” Benjamin said. “Long time, huh?”

  Morpheus nodded. “I was wondering if you’d ever come back.”

  “We’ve been busy.” Andy moved away from the chess board, toward the other side of the store. Iva and Morpheus followed him.

  “Busy?” Walker turned to Gary, Heidi, and Benjamin. “What could five teenagers be busy with? Certainly not school.”

  “Oh, you know, there’s lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Digs on Sundays.” Heidi listed the days off on her fingers.

  “Ah, yes, youth. It takes so long to realize there is always more than enough time,” Walker said.

  Benjamin exchanged a quick glance with Heidi. What did Walker mean by that? But if Heidi detected anything, she certainly wasn’t giving it away.

  Benjamin decided to hang around a bit longer with Gary and Heidi. He didn’t trust Walker any farther than the chess table, but he did control his suspicions way better than Gary.

  Gary leaned over the board. “So, have you been cheating at any chess lately?”

  Walker sighed. “Will you ever let me live down the Bangkok Chess Open last year?”

  “I doubt it,” Gary said. “I don’t have much use for cheaters.”

  “I’m actually a decent chess player,” Walker said. “I had to resist the urge to go back again this year and play.”

  “I guess it would get boring if you always knew who was going to win,” Gary replied.

  Walker crossed his arms. “I don’t always know who’s going to win. Even if there is a high probability of victory.”

  Gary flicked his eyes upward. “Sounds pretty challenging.”

  “You act like you’re pretty good,” Walker said.

  “That’s because I am pretty good.” Gary held his ground, not giving Walker an inch. “And I don’t cheat.”

  Walker raised an eyebrow. “I’m willing to bet you’re not as good as me.”

  Gary leaned forward. “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”

  “Is that a challenge?”

  “You can call it what you like,” Gary said.

  “Be here tomorrow at four,” Walker said. “We’ll see who’s better.”

  “What’s the use?” Gary said. “You’ll just cheat.”

  “Morpheus has some telejammers in the back we can use,” Walker said. “That way, neither of us can cheat.”

  Benjamin walked away. It looked like Gary had it under control. Keep Walker occupied with bickering—good strategy. He decided to make a play on asking Morpheus about the history of the store. Walking over, he pulled out his Geodine. “Hey, Morpheus, how old is this Geodine?”

  Morpheus took it and squinted. “Oh, this particular one is only about a hundred years old. But some of them in here go back for centuries.”

  “Really?” Benjamin asked. “When were they invented?”

  “Funny you should ask.” Morpheus handed it back. “It was actually one of my own ancestors who came up with the idea for a Geodine inside a small globe about a thousand years ago.”

  Benjamin glanced over to Gary and Heidi who still seemed occupied by Walker. “You don’t say.”

  “I do.” Morpheus nodded. “His name was Minnolo Midas, and he worked in this very same shop.”

  Benjamin tossed the Geodine up and caught it. “So, he just came up with the idea one day?”

  “That’s right,” Morpheus said. “The story goes that he was working late one night trying to transmute a golf ball into silver when, out of nowhere, it occurred to him—what if a Geodine was the size of a golf ball? And looked like a globe. It would be perfect, compact, portable.”

  “Your ancestor must have been very smart,” Andy said.

  Morpheus smiled. “Yes, very smart indeed. It runs in the family.”

  “So this was the same shop a thousand years ago?” Benjamin asked. Like he didn’t know the answer.

  Morpheus nodded. “It’s been in the family for ages.”

  “What do you still have from back then?” Andy asked.

  Morpheus went behind the counter. “I keep some of my favorites back here.” He proudly held up a silver object. “This is the very golf ball Minnolo Midas transmuted into silver.”

  They oohed and ahhed appropriately, and Morpheus returned the golf ball to its resting spot. He walked back around the counter and over to another display case. “This is the oldest object in the shop. It’s over two thousand years old.” He proudly held up a long purple item.

  “What is it?” Iva asked.

  Morpheus looked at the object like it was the first time he’d really seen it. He scratched his head. “Well, actually, I don’t know.” He replaced the purple thing into the display case.

  “What about the chess set?” Benjamin motioned across the room. “How long have you had that?”

  “Oh, my, how could I forget?” Morpheus replied. “We’ve had that over a millennia, too. It’s older than the golf ball. That’s why I was so upset when Walker bought it last year. I would have done almost anything to keep it, but business is business. Now I have it again, even if it’s not mine. I’m still working on a way to buy it back from him.”

  “You could play him in chess and make a bet,” Andy said.

  “What if he won?” Morpheus lowered his voice. “Walker is very cunning.”

  Benjamin tried to keep his mouth from hanging open. “Isn’t Walker your friend?”

  “Of course. But that doesn’t mean he’d just hand over a priceless Ammolite chess set.�
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  “Gary could play him in chess for it,” Benjamin said. “Tomorrow.”

  Morpheus’s eyes flickered with hope. “Not a bad suggestion.” He leaned close. “Do you think Gary could win?”

  “If you have a couple telejammers, I’d bet my credit account on it,” Benjamin said.

  Morpheus looked toward his illegal basement stash. What else was down there anyway?

  “Telejammers? I’ll see what I can do.” Morpheus cleared his throat. “I may have some connections.”

  “So who are your connections?” Andy asked.

  “Friends and acquaintances,” Morpheus answered. “When you’re a salesman of oddities for a living, you deal with many interesting telegens.”

  They left the Silver Touch with plans to return the following day. Gary had the chess challenge against Walker Pan, and they had to return anyway to pick up the nails. Heidi and Iva were sure they could get oil from Leena Teasag. Benjamin figured she must take baths in it. And luckily to pass the time, they had Arch Digs in some top secret place the next day before the match.

  “Where are we?” Andy looked around. He’d teleported himself and Iva to the provided coordinates.

  Benjamin pushed Andy and his teleportation from his mind. Andy had been able to teleport for a week now and wanted to do it everywhere. Not that it bothered Benjamin.

  Okay, it did kind of bother him. A lot. Was Andy destined to be better than him at everything?

  Gary studied their surroundings. “Given the present location of the sun and the stars, I’d say we’re in Northern Africa.”

  Heidi squinted up at the sky. “How can you see the stars?”

  Good question. It was broad daylight on Sunday afternoon in the middle of a desert.

  “I can always see the stars,” Gary said. “They’re up there all the time, even when they aren’t very bright.”

  “You’re right about the location.” Jack materialized in front of their eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” Benjamin reached out to swat at the Nogical who ducked and moved out of the way.

  “I’m joining you guys for Digs, of course,” Jack said. “I love Egypt.”

  They walked over to join Sci Omega and the rest of the students who had already arrived.

  “Benjamin, where are you?”

  Benjamin jumped as the voice and image came from his heads-up display. It was Nathan Nyx.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Where are you? Your father was looking for you, and we scanned Lemuria but couldn’t find you,” Nathan said.

  “I’m in Egypt,” Benjamin said.

  “You’re not supposed to leave Lemuria,” Nathan said. “You know that. Your father is not going to be happy when I tell him this.”

  Benjamin felt his blood start to boil. “For your information, I’m here for a class, with a teacher.”

  “What teacher?”

  “What does it matter?” Benjamin asked. Jack who was sitting on Benjamin’s shoulder must have been able to see or hear part of the conversation somehow and now listened with his small head cocked to one side.

  “You shouldn’t be leaving Lemuria, even with a teacher,” Nathan said. “What if something happened to you?”

  “What if?” Benjamin said.

  But Nathan never got the chance to reply. Instead his image vanished, and the conversation abruptly ended.

  “Did you hear that?” Benjamin asked Jack.

  “Yup.”

  “What just happened?” Benjamin asked.

  “I telejammed the signal,” Jack replied.

  “Why?”

  “Because that guy’s annoying,” Jack said. “I don’t like how he always gives you advice. That’s weird.”

  “But he works for my dad,” Benjamin said. “He’s just doing what he’s told.”

  “Maybe,” Jack said, but didn’t look convinced.

  “Won’t he just try to call back?” Benjamin asked.

  “He’ll try,” Jack said. “But the signal’s jammed. No more calls from Nathan on this line.”

  Egypt lived up to Benjamin’s expectations, but keeping his mind focused proved to be a bit of a challenge. Exiting the secret city underneath the Sphinx, they teleported back to Lemuria. The day was far from over, so they headed for The Silver Touch. Though Gary sucked up every bit of knowledge he could from Egypt, Benjamin could tell his friend was preoccupied and knew it was because of the upcoming chess match. Walker had agreed to the challenge. If Gary won, Morpheus got the chess set back. If Gary lost, Walker got…well, anything he wanted from The Silver Touch.

  They decided to wait for Gary outside on a bench. It had been a long day—a long summer—so far, and Benjamin just wanted to relax. Plus no need to add any distractions.

  “Well, I’m going back in to watch,” Jack declared, blinking out of existence. Benjamin saw him reappear inside the shop.

  “Couldn’t he have just levitated or walked or something?” Andy asked. “Why does he always teleport everywhere?”

  “Why do you always teleport now that you can?” Benjamin snapped, and then hoped Andy didn’t realize it. Apparently Andy didn’t.

  “You know, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jack walk,” Heidi said.

  “Maybe he can’t,” Iva said.

  “I most certainly can walk,” Jack replied in their minds.

  “I thought you were watching the chess game,” Andy said.

  “That doesn’t mean you should start talking about me,” Jack said.

  “So why do you teleport everywhere?” Andy asked.

  “Because I can,” Jack said.

  “Sounds like a good reason to me,” Andy said.

  They waited forever. Benjamin even had time to take a nap. Sure, he’d woken himself up after having some horrible nightmare that involved Heidi and Josh, and, well, not him. Not that he cared. He’d just slept enough. Still he prayed his mind block would hold. The last thing he wanted was Heidi thinking he was having dreams about her.

  “So how’s the match?” Benjamin asked Heidi.

  Heidi sat still for a moment before answering. “Gary and Walker are on their third game. The first two ended in stalemate.”

  “Calm down, Morpheus,” she added telepathically. And then they decided to go in and watch the rest.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gary sweat before,” Heidi said as they walked up to the chess board.

  “So who’s winning?” Andy asked.

  Walker, playing black, had a bishop and his king on the board. Gary, playing the white, had a knight and his king.

  Gary picked up his knight and moved it. “That’s checkmate,” he announced. Standing up, he unclipped something invisible from his right ear lobe and placed it on the table where it became visible.

  Walker stared at the board. Without standing, he unclipped an identical device from his ear and set it down next to Gary’s.

  “Good game,” Gary said to Walker, extending his hand.

  Not that Walker shook it. His face had turned red, and it looked like smoke might curl out of his ears at any time. “Good game for you. I bet you think you’re pretty clever pulling off that checkmate.”

  Gary tried to suppress a smile. “I’ve been playing that checkmate in my head for years. But I’ve never had the chance to use it. At least not until today.”

  Walker stood up, still not smiling. “Well I’m glad I could be of service.” Benjamin thought Walker might try to vaporize Gary right there on the spot, but he finally shook Gary’s hand.

  “I’ll be putting these away now.” Morpheus scooped the two telejammers up off the table. “I wouldn’t want anyone to find them.”

  “Yes, take them off your chess board,” Walker said.

  Benjamin noticed Morpheus didn’t look Walker in the eye. “You’re always welcome to come play on it.”

  Walker said nothing, just ran his hand over the black king that still sat in checkmate.

  “So do you have our stuff?” A
ndy asked.

  “Ah, yes. Nails.” Morpheus pulled them out from under the counter. “As requested.”

  “That’s a strange request.” Walker set the king down and walked over to the counter. “What do five teenagers need with nails in Lemuria?”

  “It’s for a project at school,” Benjamin said.

  “Actually a project at our school back in Virginia,” Andy said. “We’re supposed to build something, and we were trying to get it done ahead of time.”

  “That’s very proactive of you.” Walker looked to Morpheus. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to make our game next Saturday. Something unexpected has come up.”

  Morpheus inclined his head. “Perhaps we can reschedule?”

  “Perhaps, but if I don’t show up for a couple weeks, don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Gary—I wish I could say it was a pleasure. Maybe some time in the future I’ll have the opportunity for revenge.”

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Gary said. And he smiled.

  CHAPTER 24

  Iva Gets in a Cat Fight

  Just when Benjamin was convinced time really was moving backwards, Saturday finally rolled around. It had been settled with pretty much no debate. Benjamin would travel with Andy, Heidi, and Iva.

  The Deimos Diner wasn’t crowded, and Aurora met them early for breakfast sporting bright yellow hair. “How soon until you leave?” she asked, tapping her matching yellow fingernails on the table.

  “Half an hour,” Benjamin said, but he found he couldn’t eat—his jittery nerves kept stomping on his empty stomach.

  “So what are you planning on doing?” Aurora asked Gary.

  Gary didn’t hesitate. “I’m heading to one of the Ruling Hall libraries.”

  “Which one?”

  “The science library. I hear they have some great information on genetic engineering locked away.”

  “Do you want some company?” she asked.

  Gary’s eyes opened wide, and he dropped his menu. Not that Benjamin could blame him. No one ever volunteered to go to the library with Gary.

  Aurora continued. “It’s just that I don’t have any plans for today, so we might as well wait around together.”

  “I’ll be busy doing research,” Gary said.