Time perceived—as in a long drawn out sigh, the blue in her eyes dissolves into the velvet black of space. She has gone. The dark city, illuminated only by starlight, is dead.
CHAPTER 1
A curiosity. From the start the Dance Band’s specialty is following uncertain trails. At the beginning there was me, James Cagney, retired Army Ranger, recruited by agents of the FBI, Don Clark (M1), Mike Gunner (M2), and Alice Dance, the agents supervisor. My estranged wife, Jean was the last to join the original set.
Later, Jean went her own way, but the diminutive Amy Bassett took her place. Our Pilot, Harry Bismarck is a valuable and entertaining addition. Eventually Carl Manheim, the original villain, joined us, along with the aliens, Moses (with his robotic extension YDRII), Shan, Bob and Blue, a dog-like creature. Then there was Bebe Ricardo from Panama (words fail me) and Jesus, my cat (again, words fail me). Finally there is Lonesome Joe, my personal semi-integrated computer/companion. We are still in the getting acquainted phase.
A curiosity. Apparently the Dance Band is unable to follow any trail without unknowingly following another path harboring a deeper mystery. In due course, the Band discovers this hidden path and takes up the new hunt while resolving the first. But low and behold, this second path conceals yet another and more ominous mystery. Is there an end? We hope not.
Amy named the planet Enigma. Enigma is a strange name for a planet, but in many instances, fitting, even though its potential was still unknown. My memory holds it as a strange, mysterious, intriguing and exquisite place. We had to leave with more questions than answers, but now the Dance Band was returning—returning to an enigma. But first we had to visit Paradise.
When the band left Nexus, a world girdling transfer station, I told Bebe I was taking her to Paradise. While true, the Paradise waiting for us was the beautiful satellite of a gas giant planet. The sky of Paradise was spectacular. Among its many wonders was a place our Amy named, Shenandoah—an idyllic area devoted to small farms. This was where we met Shan. When we left there, she came with us and has been a member of our band ever since.
Our visit to Shan’s home was deemed necessary by our FBI boss, Director Monroe. Soon after our visit, a company of Special Forces would arrive to set up an initial staging area—another transfer station through which many more troops would pass. Our purpose was to assure the farm residents that our soldiers were the good guys. The good guys would have people with them that would explain what was about to happen.
The happening was a massive but minimally violent takeover of the five home worlds of Moses’ race. Very little resistance was anticipated. Managing any of this was out of our hands, so once we had our say at the farm, we were free to continue on to Enigma.
No one was there to greet us as Bebe and I stepped from the portal at Shenandoah. Alice, Amy, M1, M2. Harry, Carl and Bob had gone on ahead—shutting the outer dome door. I stopped in the middle, so that Bebe could look out at the landscape without seeing the sky.
“It is simply lovely,” she said. “The landscape looks like an old master’s painting—the few building remnants look tragic but beautiful.”
“Brace yourself,” I said, as I opened the outer door and invited her out.
She looked up and gasped. “Ave Maria.”
I was right there to steady her while she absorbed the bigger than life image of the gas giant, Ket Gai. At the moment, it was high overhead, in a cloud-free sky and in a gibbous phase. Two of its lesser satellites were crossing its face.
“So this is Paradise,” she said to herself. Then to me, “I now expect a legion of angels to descend and sing to us. How can this be, James? Is something this glorious real?”
“Very real,” I replied, “but it’s something you’ll never get used to.”
We all stood there, under the spell of the sky-filling orb, until M1 brought us back to the task at hand. “Before we get neck cramps, we should get moving. The sky’s the same down at the farm. Besides, Bebe needs to see a morse.”
Blue had gone ahead, so Shan’s call to Arnold was redundant. It was no surprise to see a lineup of people laden morses waiting for us as we exited the pine-like forest. Shan was immediately engulfed by her family and friends. I held Bebe’s hand while looking for my morse, Donna. As we approached the line of big beauties, all of their heads swung toward us and they moved to form a solid circle with Bebe and me in the center. Donna was there. She moved her head between the two of us.
“James,” Bebe said, in a shaky voice, “What is happening? What should we do?”
“There’s no danger,” I said, even though I was totally in the dark. “Just stand still.”
Donna lowered both ears. I was in another place. Bebe was there along with Donna. There were no dimensions. There were only the three minds, slowly circling—coming ever closer. This was different. The concepts of Donna’s world were not there. It was something much bigger and beyond my comprehension. Our minds touched and from the smallest spark there bloomed a galaxy. Words are inadequate to the experience, but for the briefest of moments, we were one. We shared something, but it was elusive—a faint shadow, hiding on the fringe of memory.
The ears lifted. I could not see Bebe, but I saw her arms wrapped around that monumental snout. Her hands were flat against that fabulous hair as were mine. The circle dissolved, but Donna stood still, allowing her humans the pleasure of touch.
Alice tapped me on my shoulder. “So, what was that all about?” I had no answer. “Hey, Lonesome,” she said, “Give us a virtual hand here. What just happened?”
“I am sorry Alice,” came the voice from my second button. “When this began, I was overwhelmed and had to almost shut down momentarily. I have a sense that in some manner, a vast amount of information was transferred, but I was not involved. Perhaps it was a report rather that a mutual transfer. I can only guess. Do not act on what I have said.”
“No problem there,” she said. “I see nothing to act on.”
No one had anything to add and soon we were enjoying the hospitality of Shan’s people. Bebe’s reaction to the male morses was unexpected. “Beautifully ugly, James,” she said on approach. “Look deep in their eyes. They have a great need for companionship and affection. I can tell they are very happy here.”
We stayed with the big boys until the call to dinner. The spread was lavish and we all took advantage of it. At her parents insistence Shan took a raised seat at the head table. Alice’s prediction that she soon would become legend was well on its way.
After the feast, we had a short meeting with Arnold, the blacksmith and the other leaders of the farmstead. They welcomed the news that people from Earth would soon be among them. Next, the Dance Band had a meeting. “Okay gang,” Alice said, “as nice as this is, we have no reason to stay. Enigma calls and I want to answer. How about it?”
Even Shan was ready. Less than an hour later we were back on Nexus and heading toward the Enigma portal that would take us to the headquarters building in the city of Tiberius.
CHAPTER 2
It was a beautiful building on the outside, but the interior was completely empty. There was little to impress the girl from Colón as I walked her out and closed the door to the portal.
“The air smells like the interior of a flower shop,” she said.
“It’s like this everywhere on Enigma, “I replied. “At least everywhere we’ve been so far and I know a place where there will be music in the air.”
We began to descend the staircase. “Except for the lower gravity I feel right at home, James.”
“So far,” I said, “Nexus is the most alien place we have visited.”
It was early morning on Enigma and the rest of the Band was waiting for us on the outer steps.
‘This is almost too beautiful,” Bebe said, a catch in her voice, “but tragic that some beings abandoned a place such as this. It gives me a strange feeling to look down that avenue. My heart swells at the sight. It could be a painting of an artist’s fantasy. The buil
dings of carved stone are lovely beyond any dream I have ever had.”
Carl added that he felt much the same when he first entered the Hollow Mountain. “But this is much better because I am here with friends.”
Bob said, with a wistful smile, “I agree with Carl.”
“I hope,” Harry said, “we can stick to the schedule we agreed on. I’m anxious to see whatever is at the other end of the trolley line.”
“Tiz fine by me,” Alice said, “as long as we’re back here by dark. I have a special treat for you all. Assuming it’s a nightly affair, I brought along some music to go with the snewel show.”
We walked around to the front of the ornate station and M1 called up the trolley for a trip to the Area of Entertainment and Adventure. I had to lead Bebe by the hand because she was trying to see everything at once and paying no attention to where we were walking.
“It’s funny,” our leader said, while pressing the circles, “I can’t manipulate the Earth to Ganymede portal, but this console works. Maybe it’s a local thing.”
“Did you try again after YDRII patterned you?” Amy asked.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t, so maybe I can. I’ll give it a try next time we pass through.”
This time the silver bullet arrived from its mysterious parking place in less than three minutes. It took us another three to load our expanded luggage and settle in for the ride. Once again M1 did the pressing, this time on the interior console. Our packs were full to capacity and then some thanks to fritz’s gift of a case of superb German beer. We had opened the case on the spot and stuffed individual cans into every corner not already bulging.
M1 manipulated the trolley console and our vehicle moved smoothly off toward the amusement park. M1 had the trolley stop at the portal to Omaha to let Bebe and Carl look at the magic glen and hear the music.
“Have you climbed up there yet?” Bebe asked.
“Not yet,” I replied, “but we all want to, especially Bob.”
“Well. I should think so,” she said. “There is a mystery here and we should explore it.”
“I promise we’ll get to it soon, Bebe,” Alice said. “We’re pulled in many directions and we don’t want to split up.”
“Oh, I understand,” she said, “but it’s just so lovely.”
Our conductor, M1, pressed the circles and we were on our way to a place none of us had seen. At first the jungle here was much the same as that which we saw on the way to the Old City. It wasn’t long before we reached and ran along the banks of a large, slow moving river. Gradually the land became more rugged and soon sheer cliffs rose up on either side. We rode on through the flat bottom of a wide canyon that reminded me slightly of the canyon in Egypt except for the water and vegetation. The cliffs rose higher, but the jungle did not relent. Bebe was up front with the rest of the girls, but the interior acoustics were such that we could all hear each other without raising our voices. We didn’t need our ear radios.
“I want to say something,” Bebe said, “but I am afraid my vocabulary might not be up to the task. Here I sit, a member of the Dance Band, riding in an amazing machine through this alien wonderland on a distant planet and everything is so normal. This is like taking a scenic tour of the upper Amazon. I have passed through no less than three portals and have traveled many light years and all within a single day. Where are we? Do any of you know?”
Harry responded for all of us. “All we know is we’re a far piece from home in distance, but thanks to the portals we’re just hours away in time.”
Bebe kept talking. “Did you ever speculate on the possibility that, like a transporter, a trip through a portal might result in one’s annihilation as one entered. Then the being that arrived at the other end is an exact copy of the original with memories intact? Did you? I might have died twice today and this person speaking to you is just a duplicate of the original. I hope you have a good answer for me because these thoughts are making me nervous.”
“Relax, Bebe,” M1 said. “A portal is nothing like a transporter that has to dissolve you into atoms at one end and reassemble them at the other. Each portal has only one twin and they each share a single surface. You could stop halfway through a portal and stand there for as long as you like. Though half of your body is light years away, you are still one piece.”
“Thank you M1,” Bebe said, “and now I think I will be quiet and enjoy this wonderful trip.”
We were rounding a bend in the river as Bebe finished talking. This gave us an unobstructed view of the blue rail for five, or six hundred yards before it followed another bend in the river and disappeared. As soon as we acquired that view, the word wonderful disappeared from the description of our present journey. In the distance, standing astride the blue rail, was a woolly mammoth-sized nightmare of a monster. My first thought was dinosaur, but nothing that evolved on earth was ever that ugly or brutish.
It was noisy in our vehicle for a second then Alice yelled, “Boys, get out your shotguns and stop our bus. Better yet, put it in reverse.”
Both guns were already out, but M1 made no move toward the console.
“There is no stop, button or reverse switch—it’s all automatic. I can’t even roll down a window to get a shot.”
By that time the beast was more like three hundred yards away. All eyes were on the monster, but the crew remained quiet. Later, I complemented them on their behavior under stress, but Amy just said she couldn’t scream because she was busy crapping her pants.
“No big plans, gang,” M1 said. “All we can do is wait to see what it will do.”
At about one hundred yards the thing dropped its lower jaw, the size of a cargo ship ramp only with shark teeth. Still straddling the blue rail, it began to move ever faster in our direction. We could hear the stomping of its feet and see the foamy slobber dripping from its jaws in anticipation of its lunch.
“If I survive this,” Alice shouted, “I’ll never tell anyone to bite me again. I promise.”
We all cringed down in our seats as the ghastly monster thundered down on us. Just as that phenomenal mouth was about to engulf the entire trolley, the apparition disintegrated into thousands of small, twirling fragments that faded like exhausted fireworks as they spun away.
Our trolley simply continued down the rail as though nothing at all had happened. We were breathless with relief and looking wide-eyed at each other. I looked at Bebe with raised eyebrows and she flashed me a thumbs up while mouthing an all’s well that ends well.
“What the fudgesicle was that all about?” M2 exclaimed.
“Maybe,” Amy speculated, “it was this planet’s ‘Man behind the Curtain’ telling us to get out of Oz.”
“Better yet,” Alice chimed in, “it was P. T. Barnum giving the suckers a good scare on their way into the Big Top.”
“You know,” Harry added, “I bet you just nailed it. What we just saw was part of the entertainment. We best prepare ourselves for more heart stoppers.”
“Hey! Wait just a freaking minute,” Amy squawked. “James, isn’t Lonesome Joe supposed to come to our defense in situations like this?”
“That’s right,” I said to her. Then to the second button on my shirt I said aloud, “Hey, Sparky. What’s the deal? You didn’t do a thing on our behalf.”
“I knew it was a harmless illusion,” said the voice behind the button. “You should have known too. Did you not notice both Blue and Jesus ignored the whole event? They may have wondered about all fuss inside this vehicle, but they knew nothing was happening, monster wise.”
“You could have told us,” Alice growled. “I made the bite me pledge for nothing,”
“I am sure,” he said, “your companions will not protest if you rescind that hasty vow. I remind you, we are going to the Area of Entertainment and adventure and I am sure this is part of the program. I did not want to be what you call, a spoil sport.”
Harry speculated that our intelligent computer must have a sense of humor and a devilish streak.<
br />
“I will admit,” Lonesome Joe said, “your reactions were most interesting and informative. However, if you wish, in the future I will alert you to similar situations.”
“Please do so,” Alice told him, “and while you’re at it, tell us if that ocean I see ahead is real and will we follow the blue tube as it dives right in?”
When Alice asked this last question, all eyes joined hers in looking forward. If what we saw were real we would momentarily plunge into a very large body of water that extended beyond the horizon.
“I think we are safe,” Joe replied, “But the blue rail does trend downward and the illusion matrix is very different and complex.”
“You’re sure it’s just an elaborate illusion?” Alice asked.
“I think so,” he said, “but the structure is complex and beyond my ability to analyze. I suggest you closely observe the behavior of Blue and Jesus as we enter the water which will happen in two seconds.”
With no reduction in speed our taxi sped into the surf like a torpedo launched from a PT boat. We heard the rush of water as the rounded nose of our vehicle kicked up a large bow wave. There was some minor lurching as the craft slowed, but in all the transition from trolley to submarine took just a few seconds. Blue and Jesus ignored everything.
“Is it real water, Joe?” Alice asked.
“I am not sure,” he replied.
“Bite me,” she shot back.
A microsecond later, Alice squealed and rose out of her seat. “Something just bit me in the ass.”
“That would be me,” Joe said, from behind my button.
“Holy cow!” M2 exclaimed. “The house computer does have a sense of humor. He has to be a lot more than just a machine.”
Bebe applauded and said with a laugh, “I am so happy to be here. You all are the best of companions.”
Alice looked at me in a very threatening manner. “Unless of course my pal James has been giving him instructions. How about it Mr. Cagney, is this your work?”
“I swear I had no involvement,” I said. “It’s a surprise to me and I’m thinking we should find out just what this device is capable of.”
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path Page 35
