by Brandt Legg
“Look, Spencer, I need to do what’s best for this dimension –”
“No, Monte,” Spencer said sharply. “It’s the Jadeo. You need to do what’s best for the Jadeo.”
“With all due respect, Spencer, I’ve got my Jadeo. I’ve fulfilled my oath.”
“Monte, you can’t isolate yourself in this perfect little dimension. You know it’s all connected. You don’t only exist here. The Jadeo is more than a gold box you’ve hidden somewhere. It’s a part of every dimension; you should know that.” Spencer slapped his hand down on the desk next to Dad.
It startled me. This was all stranger than an Outview, so immediate and intimate. Seeing my dad, as I remembered him but from my older perspective, left me in a fog.
“Then why did you come here?” Dad asked.
“Tell him,” Linh nudged me.
“Dad, it was me that lost it.”
He sighed.
“In our world,” I told him, “you were killed when I was twelve and I’ve been running from the people who did it for more than two years.”
“Oh my God, Nate. I’m sorry,” Dad palmed my forehead like he used to. “What is this about, Spencer?”
“Our dimension is different. Greed and fear dominate. But we didn’t come for your advice,” Spencer said, “although we welcome it. We came because Dunaway came.”
“The man who stole the Jadeo is here?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I’m not sure but in our world, he’s from San Francisco. That’s where we’re heading next. It’s the only lead we have.”
“I hope this trip works out better than the last time I was in San Francisco,” I muttered to myself. I introduced Linh to my dad. He didn’t recognize her and didn’t know Kyle or Amber. There’d be no reason he would have without me around.
We soon found out online that Amber attended USC-Berkeley studying alternate realities, Linh was two years older in this dimension and was attending the University of Florida, majoring in polybio, or the study of simultaneous multiple incarnations within the same time period. Kyle was studying advanced quantum physics, specializing in wormholes, at MIT, which made both Linh and I smile. There were entire colleges that studied meditation and many around the world devoted to Outviews. Interplanetary contact was a popular major. We were fortunate that they were all home on break. But Spencer said we didn’t have time to see them while Dunaway still had the Jadeo.
On the way to his house, Dad explained that several people from this dimension had found access points or portals to other dimensions but few had made it back. Lee Duncan was actually a Portalogist there.
“Nate, your mother and I argued for almost a year. I wanted to look for you in another dimension but she was afraid to lose me, said it wouldn’t be the same son we’d known, and then with Dusty’s problems . . . I just gave up on the idea, but I never stopped thinking about it. I talked to several colleagues about time travel, to see if we could go back and change something about that day, but no one has ever been successful,” his voice trailed off.
“Dad, it was just our destiny in this dimension to wind up this way.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, our souls are never far from each other.”
12
Dad had called to tell my mother he was going to San Francisco and told her about our visit. She insisted we stop by. He said she was nervous. Me too. Spencer wasn’t happy but Dad assured him we’d be quick. Dad was a leading expert on dimensions so Spencer needed his help.
She stood and stared.
I spoke first and couldn’t help myself, “Mom, I’m sorry I let you die in my world.”
Her eyes closed, a tear escaped down her cheek. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry I let you die in this one.”
I ran into her arms.
“The universe can be beautiful,” Dad said.
Ten minutes later we were pulling out of the driveway. It wasn’t the same place where I’d grown up; it was a smaller house six blocks away. I wanted to stop to see Dustin but Spencer won that debate. Nothing mattered but recovering the Jadeo. I didn’t need much convincing.
Linh and I fell asleep in the backseat while Spencer and Dad were discussing dimensional theory. Linh’s head was in my lap when I woke. Absently, my hand stroked her soft hair. She’d changed so much since the whole odyssey began. Her silent resolve had brought me through many times when my own strength had faltered. There hadn’t been enough time to pursue our feelings but somewhere we both realized that our life as Nate and Linh was less important than what our souls knew together.
According to Dad, most schools had soulmate programs, which had developed into a complex science. If we got back to Ashland, I wanted to use Vising to read all the books in his library. It was good to see that, as advanced as this dimension was, physical books still existed, although they were printed on hemp paper, and ebooks were more popular.
In those first moments of awakening, I wondered if I was in a dream. For years after Dad died, I dreamt of us doing stuff together. But this wasn’t a dream; he was really driving us to San Francisco. Still, I knew that as soon as we got the Jadeo back, we’d return to our dimension and Dad would be dead again. And if we didn’t get the Jadeo back, we could all be dead. For the past few years my life had seemed like one long dream, or really more like a nightmare. But as Wandus would say, “Life is a dream, created by the illusion of who you think you are.”
“Nate, good you’re awake,” Spencer said. “We have a plan of sorts. You and Dunaway have several bonds. You are both members of your generation’s seven, both displaced from the same dimension, have each held the Jadeo, are members of the same Movement and practiced many of the same soul powers, some known only to the two of you.”
“We can use all that to locate him?” I asked, while Linh sleepily rubbed her eyes and sat up.
“Right.”
“Spencer,” Dad began, “is it possible Dunaway doesn’t know what he’s got in the Jadeo?”
“It is possible. The only way he would know is if he read Nate, and reading a mystic is extremely difficult as well as dangerous.”
Spencer may have thought that through but it hadn’t occurred to me. At least there was hope.
“There’s always hope,” Linh said.
I smiled. She’s been able to read more of my passing thoughts lately. I could block her but that took energy and effort. Now that she knew what the Jadeo was, I had no real secrets from Linh.
“Nate, we need you to concentrate on the Jadeo. You can lead us to Dunaway if you home in on it.”
It was no longer difficult for me to put myself into a trance-like state. I meditated several times a day, could induce Outviews and wield awesome soul powers. Within seconds I was back at the beginning of the Jadeo. It was forged by artisans during an age of wonder and mystics. Influence and trade from the stars could still be seen in civilizations unequaled in their advanced knowledge. But there were those who saw trouble ahead. People’s desire for comfort began to overtake their pursuits of creativity and spiritual understanding. It’s said that input for the Jadeo’s design came from many dimensions and times. Then it sat ready, yet incomplete, for many centuries; no one is sure exactly how many. During all that time, life became a paradox, civilizations were said to be advancing as material wealth and conquests grew, while at the same time the advanced ancient ways were forgotten. At the last possible moment the Jadeo was completed and nine people were entrusted by an oath of their souls to hide and protect it.
“I can see the building where he is. I’ll go there on the astral and find the address. It’s on Baker Street.”
We were fifteen minutes away. Now that I had the Jadeo within my energy, its pull was strong. We arrived at the three-story white stucco building. Spencer and I jumped out of the car and were about to Gogen the door when I realized Dunaway was no longer inside.
“We just missed him. He must have known we were coming,” I said.
“Where is he now
?”
I could see his blurry energy trail. He’d run down Baker Street minutes before. “This way,” I said.
Dad and Linh turned the car around and followed. Spencer and I jogged down the street as I traced Dunaway’s path. We rounded the corner almost knocking into a woman walking two dogs. Suddenly before us was an ancient ruin and, for an instant, I believed we might have slipped into an Outview.
“There he is!” Spencer shouted. “On top of the Palace of Fine Arts.”
We launched into Skyclimbs and were over the lagoon when Dunaway leapt into a portal above the domed building.
“Damn it,” Spencer said, as we landed on the roof.
“Let’s go! We can catch him,” I said, leaping into the air.
“No, Nate, come back. He could be anywhere, look at the edges, it’s a Crossing-portal.” I’d learned there were many kinds of portals and a Crossing-portal meant it had numerous exit points, possibly tens of thousands. If it had been a Line-portal, with only one exit, we would have followed. I dropped back down next to Spencer.
“He’s from San Francisco,” Spencer said, squinting in the sun. “I’m sure he’s used this portal many times. It’s no accident they built the Palace of Fine Arts under it. Somebody found this one a long time ago and was trying to protect it.” The building had been constructed to appear as ruins based on Greek and Roman architecture for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. It was built to last only through the Expo but was saved by conservationists. Then in the mid-sixties it had to be completely rebuilt. Spencer believed that whoever chose the original location knew of the portal’s existence and that the person in charge of rebuilding it must also have been aware of the portal.
“Then let’s get back to our own dimension. That’s where he is most likely going,” I said.
“I agree, but not from here, we could get lost in there. Let’s go to Crater Lake.”
We spotted Linh and Dad parked on Lyon Street. I told Linh over the astral where we were. It seemed no one had spotted our flight although it wouldn’t be shocking to people in this dimension where soul powers were studied in universities. Still we didn’t want any attention and were careful about our route to the ground. Walking briskly through the columns, I tripped over a homeless guy in the shadows. I hit the hard ground but rolled up quickly, fearing an attack.
“Got you this time, didn’t I, Nate?” the grungy man stood laughing.
“Crowd?”
“You look good, Nate.”
“So do you considering you’re dead!” I hugged him. He smelled like some small rodent had recently died in his thick, tangled beard.
“No, alive and well, in this dimension anyway, but I guess now that you’re here that could change quickly.”
“Sorry, Crowd.”
“Forget it, Little Ryder. Hey, have you seen Dusty yet? I know he’d love a visit.”
“No, we’re in kind of a hurry.”
“You only think you are. It’ll be days before Dunaway reaches your dimension.”
“What? How do you know Dunaway?” Spencer asked.
“And how do you recognize me from another dimension when my own dad didn’t?”
“I’ve traveled a bit. Dimensions are a kind of hobby.”
“What about Dunaway?” Spencer asked again.
“I’m one of his mystics, and his guide . . . in this dimension.”
“Where is Dunaway?”
“He’s out there too,” Crowd waved up toward the portal.
“Doing what?”
“Same as you, trying to advance the awakening.”
“This dimension seems pretty awake,” I said.
“You’d be surprised,” Crowd said with a laugh.
“Never mind. Dunaway has something that belongs to us,” Spencer said.
Crowd raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Hmmm. Well, he did suggest a barter. Thought he might be willing to give you what you want if you give him what he wants.”
“What does he want?”
“He’d like Nate to leave the Movement to him. By either entering another dimension permanently or dying, it makes no difference to him.”
“As if we’re going to let that happen,” Spencer said.
“Where are we supposed to meet him?” I asked.
“Two days from now, at midnight, at Kilauea.”
“The volcano?”
Crowd winked and nodded. “It’s a stunning sight at night.”
“Okay, we’ll be there,” I said, momentarily silencing any objections from Spencer with my tone. “Crowd, I have to ask, whose side are you on?”
“There’s only one side, my brother, and we’re all on it.” He looked at me, smiling. “Don’t worry so much, Nate. You’ve got to drive the car whatever way you think is right and Dunaway’s got to drive it his way. In the end, the only thing that matters . . . is what does.”
13
Once we were back in the car with Linh and Dad, Spencer asked what the plan was. “I don’t know yet but we have to get to the Jadeo and the meeting seems the easiest way. Unless you want to chase him across the universe through every wormhole and portal he knows about.”
Spencer remained noncommittal but filled the others in on the meeting with Crowd. “I just don’t know why guides can’t give a straight answer or clear message,” I said.
Ever since Linh had the wrong dream about Rose’s death, she had studied guides, so I wasn’t surprised at her answer.
“Nate, you should know intuition, signs, dreams, and other messages from guides are perfectly clear. We’re the ones who muddle them up when they push all that pure information into our human filters. We get confused by the enormity of the data.”
“I do know, but thanks for the reminder. It’s frustrating being human.”
Linh laughed. “Beautifully frustrating.”
“Crowd told me that in the end the only thing that matters is what does. Sounds to me like he was endorsing Dunaway’s the ends justify the means.”
“Not necessarily,” Linh said. “You said Crowd said that he travels around many dimensions. He’s likely seen the scenario play out so many ways that his statement is true.”
“At least to him,” Dad said.
Just outside Mt. Shasta, Spencer suggested that, because there was time before we had to meet Dunaway and this dimension was as good a place to hide as any, he’d like to show my dad Outin. “It’s not exactly a sightseeing venture. If I show it to him, he can show it to the me from this dimension.”
“Can I come?” Linh asked me.
I looked at her, surprised.
“I think it’s better if you see Dustin alone.”
“Okay, I guess,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” Dad said. “No one is after you in this dimension. We’ll meet you back at Dustin’s place.”
“Practically before you get there,” Spencer said. “Reverse time, remember?”
I left them at the trailhead closest to Outin’s main entrance and followed Dad’s directions to Dustin’s cabin. It was probably no coincidence that he lived less than two miles from the entrance.
I knocked tentatively on the door; no answer. I was about to check the car for something to write a note on but then thought, what would I write? “Sorry I missed you, signed, your dead brother.” There was time to wait.
A few minutes later, I heard his voice. “Can I help you?”
When I turned around, he dropped the firewood he was carrying, then tripped over it as he grabbed me in a bear hug. “Are you real, brother, are you real?”
“If you don’t suffocate me.”
He let me go and looked at me again. “I’ve known for a long time we would meet again in this life.”
“So, it doesn’t surprise you?”
“Hell yes, it shocks me, but I knew, you know? I knew it.”
I nodded. A lump filled my throat, as I stared into my brother’s strained, tear-filled eyes.
“How did you get here? Where are you from?”
“Another dimension.”
“Did you come through Outin?”
“You know about Outin?”
“Yeah, whadaya think I’m doing here?”
“Have you been there?”
“Only in my dreams, I have incredible dreams . . . but I look for it every day.”
“Want me to show you?”
He stared at me with desperate, disbelieving eyes. “Nate, I . . . if you could do that, you’d save me. And I know you don’t owe me nothing, I mean, I should be trying to make it up to you for taking your life. You were so young, and I just . . .” His words turned to tears. I put my arm around him.
“Dustin, it’s okay, man. Stop torturing yourself. You did what you were supposed to do. There was an agreement. That’s how these things work.”
He looked up at me as if I’d just read the ingredients from a candy bar to him in French. “No, Nate. You don’t understand . . . on some tripped-out soul level that may be true, but we’re just people here and you died when I ran you over and I had to go on living . . . I had to go on living with it. Do you know how everyone looks at me? Do you know what Mom and Dad think of me? I killed their baby.” He choked on more words.
“Come on, Dustin. Let’s go to Outin. You’ll see things differently.”
“Give me a minute. Is that okay? Can we wait just a minute?” He sat on the wooden step and lit a cigarette. I was surprised a dimension like this even had cigarettes and considered suggesting he put it out. Instead, I waited in silence until he finished.
“Okay, I think I’m ready. Sorry about falling apart there.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He nodded once. “Hey, have you seen Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah.”
“Geez, what was that like?”
“Emotional.”
14
The entrance was harder to find than I expected. I was beginning to notice slight variations between my dimension and this one. But Outin was exactly the same. Our roles were reversed since my first visit there. It was some time before Dustin could speak and when he did, I wasn’t surprised by his words. “I’m never leaving this place.”
