Paragon- Ghost Hunters

by Freddy Milton

  Elmer handed out a small metal box.

  ”No thanks.”

  ”I’ll take one. I have a craving.”

  He stuck a piece of candy in his mouth and turned it a few times.

  ”Where did we come from?”

  ”The Dimensional Elevator.”

  ”It's true, yes. Now let's see.”

  The stationmaster went over to the desk and began pulling out drawers. After he had looked in all six drawers, he wrinkled his eyebrows.

  ”When was the last time I had the key?”

  The track worker wanted to be helpful.

  ”Wasn’t it when you were summoned due to the rise in the additional allocation from the licensing board?”

  ”You're right. And I had my parade uniform on.”

  ”Yes, you wore it. I remember it clearly. It impressed me that you are still able to fit into it.”

  ”Yeah, I was, too. One moment, please.”

  It took a moment, that seemed to Anders and Dagmar, to be endless. Finally, Elmer returned. He held out the key.

  ”Of course. It was in the pocket. I should have sent the uniform to the cleaners, but luckily, I forgot.”

  He went off.

  ”Follow me.”

  They went out into the arrival hall where the next door to the ticket office was a door that said ‘Lavatories. Reserved for staff’. Elmer put the key in the lock and twisted it. It creaked a little. The lock needed oiling, but then it worked. Elmer opened the door.

  ”Here you go.”

  Anders looked inside.

  ”A toilet?”

  ”Yes, but earlier it was stated as a lavatory.”

  Anders sounded a bit ratty.

  ”It's not what we need.”

  ”Of course not, but just turn on that switch there.”

  The label said 'Severance to the hereafter'.

  Elmer pushed the red button.

  ”It means the Seventh Sky.”

  ”Does it work?”

  ”It did last time, but then, at that time, they had not yet started the rebuilding. However, if changes had been introduced in working procedures there would probably have been a note in a copy of 'Notices to serving staff'.”

  ”What if it doesn’t work?”

  ”Then you just lift the ledge and come out again. Then we’ll need to reconsider what to do.”

  ”I see. Come on Dagmar.”

  ”The manual is hanging right there, and I think it’s set on the Seventh Sky. You'd better check, so you don’t end up in Hell.”

  “Will do.”

  ”Well then, have a nice trip. I hope they’ll regard your request as appropriate up there.”

  ”Goodbye.”

  ”Goodbye.”

  Chapter 12

  ARRIVAL

  Paragon was removing the dimensional elevator control panel when it suddenly happened. The elevator was apparently in operation. He was about to unscrew the cables, when he felt a jolt in the construction. How could that happen?

  Everything indicated that the device should have been de-activated before Paragon was assigned the task of dismantling the elevator. But, that had not happened. Anyone would have expected that the usually thorough, Paragon, would have verified that procedure before he did anything. In that case, there should have been an order to take care of that part of the job as well.

  They had probably thought it not necessary, with this unit almost never used. If the general staff still took the elevator, it would be by prior agreement, and then you would know what to expect.

  Paragon was not even sure that someone had been considering this at all, a detail overlooked. As so often happened before, they counted on Paragon predicting that others had not done what they should. He often had foreseen such problems, and nipped them in the bud. But in this case, he had not.

  The worst thing about it was that the passengers in the elevator could not hang there in nothingness for long. Soon their state would be subject to degradation, and it would result in souls being injured from being picked out of this zero-dimension too late to remain intact.

  Who were they? There was no official reason to take this somewhat old-fashioned transport. So maybe this was an urgent matter handled through an emergency decision?

  Paragon put some of the wires back into the manifold block, hoping he had placed them correctly. He was uncertain, however, because, frankly he had not counted on this socket to be used again. The new apparatus had a different location among the components, and it was hard to screw things back in place. Some of the plugs bent, because the cables had corroded around the mouthpiece, and the notches in some screws were partly destroyed, so he had trouble getting the connection restored.

  When he finally reached as far as he could with his measuring equipment, he detected that the capsule had been sent under way from a station in Limbo. That didn’t surprise him. Limbo was a place with serious defects, leading to problems in control and servicing.

  The staff might not have received the required upgraded training, and there was little status from doing service in that sector. In several internal reports he had pointed out the deplorable conditions prevailing in Limbo. Something had to be changed. With the new additional appropriation funds, some of the allocations were set aside to upgrade conditions for the souls who languished there, awaiting an upgrade to a higher level. Paragon hoped for a snappy rectification of this shameful neglect.

  If there were only a small number of souls in Limbo, one might ignore the situation, but the number of misguided souls had increased considerably in recent decades with the ever worsening conditions on Earth.

  More and more souls had failed in their latest incarnations because of the increased moral and ethical requirements of their potential, and it had led to many tragic destinies.

  In a way, due to developments, the Soul Administration had been too optimistic about the soul incarnation level and the ability to meet the challenges of modern society. Already there was constant pressure from the various groups of soul associations for members to be reincarnated at as high a level as possible in the hierarchy, and that pressure was widely accepted. It was always a matter of judgment to arrive at a proper balance.

  Paragon finally succeeded in reconnecting the old junction box, but he had to control the oscillation frequencies with a measuring instrument before he initiated implementing the arrival procedures. If the measurements were not at a sufficiently low level, you could risk the fragile soul material divided hither and thither by the high frequencies. And, if that were to occur, it was virtually impossible to reset the components back into operating order. With the injured souls then transferred to acute care in a frequency tank, it became a cumbersome, questionable and costly affair.

  Paragon rushed as fast as he could over to Dreamscape, and and rummaged through the bags of electronic spare parts. Just then, Pollux came back from a break, where he had been having a drink over at Gourmet Gerda.

  ”Now what, Paragon, old fart?”

  What was that? Had Pollux difficulty keeping his balance or had he simply been affected by some dubious cocktail from the canteen also having an alcohol license?

  ”I think you’re walking a little uncertain, Pollux. You may not be entirely sober.”

  ”Whatever you mean, sober? I know very well what sober is - so there!”

  ”It seems to me you're a little drunk.”

  ”Drunk?”

  ”Yes, you seem to be tipsy.”

  ”Tipsy?”

  ”Let’s hope you don’t get a hangover.”

  ”Hangover?”

  ”Yes, I’m just teasing you, old bean. This all means that you seem to be pickled.”

  ”Pickled?”

  ”That's something you say when you have consumed too much alcohol. That your BAC is too high.”

  ”That be probably true. Gourmet Gerda offer new cocktail from Ganymede. Free tasting. Hope for new sales in the store, and now come invasion from Mirkos. Some work teams of Hysfobides take ov
er from Svumpukkels on holiday back to their home planet Vankmoor.”

  ”Yes, but they should only be here a month.”

  ”It looks to be true, champ, and they packed with blutoks. They just complete a link station far away, so they thrash about with hard currency, and Gourmet Gerda hope score a good deal of it.”

  ”She surely does, but I have no time to stand here and chit-chat. I should locate the small black frequency meter, you know, and it should be in the bag with hybrid cables.”

  ”I think I know where little black frequency meter lies.”

  ”Do you?”

  ”Yes, you use it as modulator wreath converge with oscillation module in transition block day before yesterday.”

  ”You're right, Pollux. You’re really something.”

  ”I hope so! Positive?”

  ”You can bet your tail on it. You might save some poor vulnerable souls. I believe the indicator showed that there were two of them in the wrecked dimensional elevator.”

  ”I be completely without clue. So there, boss.”

  ”Whatever. We must hurry.”

  The two tailed creatures walked hastily over to the unstable modulator wreath in the transition block.

  ”You're right, Pollux! There it is! Why didn't I put that meter in place?”

  ”You suddenly remember something else you forget, and then you forget new thing instead. This happen all over, from the moons of Astrakan and on to here.”

  ”I bet you’re right. Now I must hurry over to the Dimension Elevator. The two souls' fate hangs by a thread right now.”

  ”I better tag along if more you forget.”

  ”Yes, but your legs are wobbly after that Ganymede cocktail.”

  ”Don’t worry, master. I manage cargo ship from Montrasyl to Glamundikar and the hangover not get into any pickle on the whole trip.”

  ”Fine, Pollux. Now we must hurry.”

  It didn’t take long for Paragon to measure the frequency in the junction box. It was unfortunately too high. He turned on the modulator and brought it down to a permissible level. It was high time. The old setting had lasted so long it could have become irreparable.

  Now it was a matter of getting the last part of the journey going. With some hesitation, Paragon switched on the main supply. One could catch a glimpse of the hazy, blurred elevator a bit down the elevator shaft. It was set happily in motion, and approached the surface.

  Although the wall covering was removed, the stringers were still there, and the module arrived at its destination. Unfortunately, that was after an excessively long stay in the zero dimension.

  One of the passengers staggered out and the other remained on the floor of the module.

  ”Pollux, get the stretcher in the storage space. It may still be there.”

  ”Stretcher or storage room, master?”

  ”Both, hopefully.”

  Pollux returned quickly. The two tailed creatures got the wounded soul onto the stretcher, and quickly they went over to the camp hospital, where Paragon knew they had a frequency tank for treatment of vibrational disturbances.

  ”Stay here awhile. We'll be right back.”

  The other soul was sitting on a pile of fiber panels to recuperate.

  Fortunately, there was a serving guard at the hospital, and he quickly rigged the frequency module, launching the down regulation. The compensation procedure would take a few hours. On the way back Pollux wondered.

  ”Why only one soul hit so hard?”

  ”It has something to do with age. By all accounts, the woman stayed for a longer time in Limbo and has undergone a weakening process, so she didn’t have much resistance to vibration.”

  ”Souls not improve from clarification process?”

  ”They do, too, but they are also more fragile during transition. It’s also quite irregular that souls are using a dimensional elevator. The staff in Limbo should have warned against that. The employees may think they know what is necessary due to being overworked with training and upgrading courses. Some of the posted personnel even hail the old-fashioned environmental imagery, which are still used in the outskirts areas.”

  When they came back to the old Dimension Elevator, the surviving soul still contemplated the emotional scars, but they could see he was better. It was a boy, who was not quite as colorless and pale as the female. He had probably not stayed so long in Limbo. Paragon had many critical comments ready, but he waited with them.

  ”Welcome to the hereafter...”

  The boy looked up.

  ”Thank you.”

  ”This is Pollux and I am Paragon. We work in the service department.”

  Pollux nodded. The boy introduced himself.

  ”My name is Anders, the woman is named Dagmar. Will she get back to normal?”

  ”It’s hard to say, but I think so. They are quite capable over in the restoration department. There will be no reposition, before they are sure she has recovered completely, with no disabled souls allowed leaving the department here. How are you yourself, Anders?”

  ”Fairly well. It's better now. We were stuck between two floors.”

  ”I know. It was I, who got you free. On the other hand, it was also my disassembly job that made you get stuck in zero dimension. That can be dangerous.”

  ”But why this... disassembly?”

  ”The Dimensional Elevator must be moved to a new location. I thought the stations were informed about the move. But maybe someone forgot, with the elevator used so rarely. On behalf of the service unit, I regret of course, no matter where neglect has occurred. Been a long time in Limbo?”

  ”No, only briefly.”

  ”So you've quickly sorted out your trouble in the earthly level?”

  ”Absolutely not, I would have preferred to stay there.”

  ”It was also my assessment. Your period completed there, you would have come here in a better and safer and more intuitive way. But why the disorderly transport?”

  Anders sounded very determined.

  ”I have come to warn you.”

  ”Warn us?”

  ”Yes, or inform you about something unsettling, they may not have thought of here, and which you probably ought to know.”

  ”Not much from Limbo can surprise me. There is very little oversight with that part of creation.”

  ”Souls disappears from there. Many souls, I've heard. Apparently mostly children.”

  Paragon was shocked.

  ”You did actually manage to surprise me.”

  Paragon didn’t say anything more while he digested the message.

  ”I thought it best to notify you. If it’s a mistake, it might bother you and maybe you’d try to do something about it?”

  Paragon had now recovered from thinking about the message.

  ”You are quite right. Thanks for the information. It’s indeed disturbing. If souls disappear it’s absolutely not controlled from here and we should definitely try to handle the matter.”

  ”But why make souls disappear? My sister was among those who were carried away.”

  ”Souls can’t just disappear. They can, however, be moved to another location. And you say it has happened against their will?”

  ”Absolutely. I was even about to become a victim myself during a raid.”

  ”Raid?”

  ”Yes, some hard creatures came in groups with big nets and captured the souls of children in a playground. It was only with difficulty that I got away with a handful of others who had not been in Limbo so long and managed to escape. I was told that also on other occasions souls had disappeared from Limbo.”

  ”It sounds bad.”

  ”I wonder why you don’t know anything about it?”

  ”Limbo is an intermediate layer, where matters are largely allowed to happen in an unorganized way. It serves mostly as a transitional center, where unsafe or stressed souls have the opportunity to think about things before they go on to a new life. The system has recognized that it is best if souls are allowed to
take the time for that which they now think necessary. Then they are better prepared to meet the challenges of their new existence. But, of course, they should stay there until then, and not be abducted.”

  ”You do have, however, personnel there.”

  ”Only a few stations along the Heavenly Express' route, and they don’t usually interfere in what is going on further within the maze. The souls are also quite self-absorbed, so it’s no wonder if they put up with what is happening and don’t report anything.”

  ”Now I have at least done what I could.”

  ”That’s fine, Anders, and many thanks for that. You'd better come with us when we carry the message further. There may be some details, the management would like to know. In any case it will be a major concern.”

  ”So something will be done? I would really like to see my sister again. We didn’t talk things through. It would help both her and me to talk some more.”

  ”I don’t know what can be done. To my knowledge, there haven’t been any such cases reported previously. although I must admit that mysterious events have happened in this place recently.”

  ”Of course I’d like to help if I can.”

  ”Thank you, Anders. Now let’s proceed with the matter at hand. As for you, Pollux, I don’t think you need to accompany us. You still smell from alcohol, and that doesn’t promote our credibility when we come to report that something strange has happened.”

  ”I understand, boss. I fully aware keep me nicely in the background, so there, with tipsy hangovers. No problems.”

  Chapter 13

  OFFICE HOURS

  Paragon and Anders went over to the complex of barracks housing the administration until the new headquarters was in place. On the way, Paragon noticed that the new work team of Hysfobides had taken over where the Svumpukkels had left.

  There were differences in building traditions around the universe, depending on what usable building materials existed. And, in some places, things were shipped in from outside. In the Seventh Sky, they had wisely enough chosen to have an environment reminiscent of that on Earth, so that the souls did not experience the transition as difficult and unnatural. After all, most of the beings involved in the reincarnation routines on this planet, were souls from the Earth.