The Seventh Mountain

by Gene Curtis

  Chapter 10

   

  Orientation Ends

   

  On any path there are many stones.

   

   

  After lunch, the group walked to the doorway that led to the stables. It wasn’t long after they had reached the doorway that Mrs. Shadowitz walked out of the stable area to meet them. She was holding a large red book that wasn’t very thick.

  “Well, I see that you have found the stables. I hope you didn’t have any trouble.”

  Mark was eager to see the map book that she was holding. “No, ma’am. Tim told us where the doorway was. Is that the map?”

  “Yes, it is. Why don’t you four follow me? We can sit in the office while you look at the map and see where you want to go.”

  They walked through the doorway and a bright green vista opened before them. There was pastureland as far as the eye could see. Off to the right were twelve large barns behind a single-story log cabin. Mark thought that the barns must be the stables and the log cabin the office. They approached the cabin and he could see where a small stream ran behind the stables and off into the distance. An arched bridge crossed to the other side giving easy access to the apple orchard, which was so thick that it was more like a short forest. It looked so inviting; it almost beckoned from the far side of the stream.

  Mrs. Shadowitz walked into the cabin, sat down at a large, oval, wooden table, put the map book on the table and slid it toward Mark.

  “The map book is divided into sections. Each section is devoted to a particular area of the school. Each area is subdivided according to its purpose. Now, while you look at the map book, I’ll go and get a pitcher of lemonade. I’m sure that you are all thirsty after your walk over here.”

  Mark opened the book to the first page. There was a map showing the school in the middle and the surrounding areas outside of the wall. The other three leaned in and looked at the map. There were twelve areas divided into roughly equal sectors. They were labeled: Stables/Farming, Wasteland, Airfield, Firearms Range, Firearms Combat, Naval Combat, Vehicle Training, Power and Engineering, Urban, Forest, Farming and Game Preserve/Farming. They were surrounded by an area simply labeled, City.

  Mark gave a whispered “Wow.”

  Chenoa pointed to the area of the stables on the map. “This looks the most interesting to me. My vote is that we check out this area.”

  Jamal voiced his opinion. “I like the game preserve. I’d like to see what kind of animals they have here.”

  Nick chimed in, “Power generation and engineering is what I want to see.”

  Mark didn’t say anything. He turned the page. The next map was of the underground waterways. It showed a maze of subterranean interconnected waterways. Blue identified the underground streams. Green marked flooded channels. Most of the waterways were green. Mark noticed that one of the green waterways connected with the moat around the Island.

  The next page was a legend. It showed all of the symbols and colors that meant different things on the maps. The scale showed that one-half inch represented one mile. Mark realized that the outside grounds must encompass an awful lot of area.

  Mark looked up and said, “I want to see it all.”

  “And so you shall.” Mrs. Shadowitz had returned. She was carrying a tray with five glasses and a large pitcher of lemonade. “I’ve been wanting to get out and ride more. Now I have an excuse to do just that. Shall we say, Saturday afternoons at two?” She was smiling when she sat the tray down on the table. She looked up and pointed to the window.

  “It looks like your friends are ready to go.”

  They all looked at the picture window where she was pointing. Five horses were looking in. The General, a Jasper Tribe horse and three Emerald Tribe horses were saddled and ready to go.

  Chenoa was elated. Mrs. Shadowitz said that starting with the stable area seemed the natural thing to do. They would get to explore the other areas in due course.

  Mark enjoyed the ride. He had no idea that there were so many horses there. There had to be more than two thousand of them. They had ridden out one side of the pasture and back on the other side. A high wall separated the field and orchard areas from the game preserve and the wasteland area. In between was the greenest, rolling, grazing land that he had ever seen. Horses were everywhere in the lush fields. There were more birds there than he cared to speculate on, mostly starlings, cowbirds and black birds.

   * * * 

  At dinner it was obvious who had enjoyed the ride the most. It was Chenoa. That was all that she wanted to talk about.

  “I’m glad we got to do that. I love horses.” Chenoa’s eyes were bright and excited.

  Nick said, “I hope we get to see the engineering section next. Can you imagine what it takes to power this place?”

  “They don’t need much power in the stables. Horses live off the land.” Chenoa was obviously daydreaming.

  “So do the other animals. I would like to see the game preserve next.” Jamal added his voice.

  “We are going to see it all. Why don’t we just let Mrs. Shadowitz decide what she wants to show us next?” Mark shrugged while he said this.

  “It doesn’t matter to me what we see next. I’ve already seen what I wanted to see.” Chenoa was still smiling.

  Jamal said, “I agree with Mark. We should let Mrs. Shadowitz decide.”

  Nick agreed with Jamal. “I think that letting Mrs. Shadowitz decide is the right thing to do.”

   * * *

  The next day, day four of orientation week, was supposed to be an all day event. It was the Day of Choosing. Normally, all 288 new students were to walk, one at a time, into the corral containing the captains of the twelve equestrian tribes. One of the twelve horses would choose a student by walking up to them. That would determine which tribe the student would be assigned to. Today, there would be four less students chosen.

  Tim explained the process to them. “The horses are excellent judges of a person’s motivation and the underlying reasons that a person thinks, acts, and responds, in general. You see, each tribe represents one of the twelve basic motivations. The students in a particular tribe share the same basic motivation. In theory, they should get along pretty well. In practice, that is not always the case. It has been traditional, down through the ages, to represent each tribe by a gemstone or color. That is supposed to eliminate any preconceptions about a tribe’s worth or abilities.”

  “Later, you will find out what your basic method is. So you have motive and method. Methods are assigned colors as well. You will be assigned a second color to wear. That represents your preferred method of doing things. Your primary color represents motive. Your second color represents method.”

  They had decided to watch only part of The Choosing Ceremony. They were interested in seeing some of the students who would be joining the Emerald Tribe. One of the girls who were chosen for the Emerald Tribe looked entirely out of place at the school. She was dressed in a black tank top and black knit slacks. Her milky white complexion was a harsh contrast to her clothes. Her hair was a mass of black and white spikes. The Emerald captain met her before she had even entered the corral gate. Someone called out, “LeOmi Jones, Emerald Tribe.”

   * * * 

  Day five of orientation week was designed for socializing and getting to know other students. The entire day was spent either inside The Oasis or in the dormitory common room. Students wore their tribe colors. They sat at their tribe tables. Assembly was to begin at 5 p.m., sharp.

  The day started with all kinds of games in the common room. There was air hockey, billiards, foosball, shuffle board, darts, board games, and just about any game that you could think of that was one on one competition. Mark enjoyed playing dueling pinball. It was essentially two pinball machines back to back with no top portion. Points were scored when the ball was on your opponent’s side.

  Five o’clock found the students seated at their tables in The Oasis. People dressed in gray
work tunics filled most of the booths. A low rumble of chatter filled the place. The people on the stage were dressed in black tunics with silver trim. Mark recognized some of them. Mrs. Shadowitz, Mr. Diefenderfer, Ms. Vanmie and Mr. Thorpe were seated at the center table. Tim and Gerod were seated at one of the counselor’s tables, off to the side.

  Mrs. Shadowitz stood up. Her voice was amplified. “Ah-hem.” Silence settled over the assembly. Everyone turned to look at her.

  “Thank you for your attention. First, I’m going to introduce to you, for the sake of the freshmen, the Council of Elders…”

  She faced to the right. “Commander of Emerald Tribe, Head of the Communications Department, AlHufus Diefenderfer.” Mr. Diefenderfer stood and Emerald Tribe stood and applauded.

  She turned to the right and pointed at a lady. “Commander of Ruby Tribe, Head of the Language Department, Julia Diefenbuacher.” A thin, short lady with black hair stood up at the center table. Students at the Ruby Tribe’s table stood and gave applause.

  Mark was too excited to pay close attention to the introductions. He looked around at the people there. The Oasis was jam-packed and he noticed that not too many of the upper classmen were paying that much attention to the introductions. After all, they probably already knew all of the people, anyway.

  Mrs. Shadowitz turned to her left and continued with the introductions. It seemed like a lot of time was being given to what most people were not interested in, in the first place. Second, he knew that he would get to know who was who by association much more so than by just mere introduction.

  “Commander of Diamond Tribe, Head of the Combat Training Department, Joramina Vanmie.” Applause from all of the tables followed.

  Mark leaned toward Nick. “I wouldn’t mind being in her tribe if we weren’t already in Emerald Tribe.”

  “Me neither. She’s pretty cool.”

  Mrs. Shadowitz introduced a few more of the Council of Elders before coming to Mr. Thorpe. Mark remembered his encounter with him in the bookstore and on the balcony. There was something about this man that was very odd and he thought that he probably wouldn’t like him.

  “Commander of the Onyx Tribe, Head of the Math Department, Harmonious Thorpe.” Applause, from the onyx table, just a little louder than had been the case with the others.

  “And finally… The Commander of Jasper Tribe and Head of The Seventh Mountain, me… Theresa Shadowitz.” Everyone stood and applauded. Mark thought that it was because she was done.

  “Now, if you would like.” She turned to look at one of the side tables. “I will introduce to you, all of the teachers, counselors, and instructors…” Moans and groans followed.

  “As you can see, contrary to what is widely believed, I do have a sense of humor. Now you understand why I keep it locked in my desk drawer, most of the time.” A few chuckles passed through the assembly.

  “I want to remind you that the method of tuition payment that you intend to use; is to be made known to your counselor prior to September the twenty-eighth. The tuition is the same as it has always been, one hundred ounces of gold or two years of service to the school or any combination thereof, for every year of study.”

  She paused for a moment. “School catalogues are available in the bookstore. I mention this because all school rules are listed in an appendix. I encourage all students to get one.”

  She scanned the student body. “As for tribe standing, the tribe that accumulates the most points has their tuition for the current year waived. As an added bonus, the students in that tribe have the option to not take the final exams and let their points stand where they are.”

  “The labyrinth, though generally inaccessible, is strictly off limits to all.”

  She looked down at a piece of paper. “School grounds, at night, are off limits to all students that have not yet developed Rooack Mareh or are not accompanied by an instructor or school staff.”

  “Do not feed the leviathans in the moat or anywhere else that you might find them.” A low rumble of mutters followed this announcement. She paused before continuing.

  “As of now, practical jokes are not allowed on teachers. Is that clear Miss Dover?”

  One of the Onyx Tribe students stood and faced Mrs. Shadowitz. “Yes ma’am. It’s very clear.” She sat back down.

  “Most of you are wondering what that was all about. Well… Miss Dover had the audacity to play a practical joke on me. I’ll spare you the details. You’ll be glad to know that it was clever and forthright. She was awarded ten points.

  “Also, in the practical joke area, one worthy of note is, Mark Young and Nikola Poparov have been awarded ten points each. They were able to convince Ralph Lawrence, Ricky Barns and Keith Richards that if they could touch Ms. Vanmie, when she tested their reflexive defense, that she would give them a sword.”

  A roar of laughter broke over the crowd.

  “The results were as you might imagine them. The last note worthy event is that Mark Young, Chenoa Day, Jamal Terfa and Nikola Poparov were pre-chosen by an equestrious. Mark Young was pre-chosen by The General himself.”

  Low murmurs rustled through the crowd. Everyone turned to look at the group. Everyone knew of Mark Young now, the boy with the staff.

  “No oracle has ever sung of it, no prophet has ever foretold it, nor has any dream ever shown it. We are at a loss to understand it. There have only been three Magi ever pre-chosen throughout all known history before now, and then never by a horse. We are still consulting on the meaning of this event. Hopefully, we will be able to expound on this matter in the next assembly. That assembly will be on the first Saturday in October at 5 p.m. If someone has an announcement that they would like to make, now is the time.”

  She looked over to the teachers and around at the staff. No one indicated that they had anything to say. “Well then… this assembly is over. Counselors, you may hand out the class schedules.”

  Tim found the group and handed them their class schedules. “Oh, yeah. There is something that I forgot to tell you. I played a joke on Gerod when he first came here. I was younger then, not as wise as I am now.” He gave them a toothy grin and winked.

  “That is how we got to be friends. I made some changes in his algebra book. It was really funny when he answered Harmonious Thorpe by saying that the Pythagorean Theorem was good for calculating how many biscuits should be made for dinner depending on the number of guests that you expected. You can imagine Mr. Thorpe’s face when he heard Gerod say that. Neither Gerod nor Mr. Thorpe thought that it was funny. I got five points for that one. Anyway, my point is that you should get together and compare your books, word for word, before you go to class, just to play it safe.”

  “Okay, thanks. We’ll be sure to check our books.” Mark looked around at the crowd. “What is Rooack Mareh?”

  “You will learn that next year. It is like being able to see with your mind. You do not use your eyes.”

  “It looks like all of the booths are taken. Who are all these people in the work tunics?”

  “Most of them are alumni who are working off their tuition. Did you ever wonder what it takes to keep this place going? This whole thing is like a city. It takes a lot of workers to keep it running. The ones who are not alumni are just regular folk, like Albert over there. You have already met him.”

  Mark looked to where Tim was pointing. It was the guy that he had met when the lioness led him to the opening in the wall. He was all cleaned up, hair combed and wearing clean clothes, hardly the same person that Mark remembered meeting. He sat alone.

  “Albert is a special case. He might be a little slow in other areas but nobody is better than he is with animals. He has a rare gift. That is why he is in charge of all the wild animals here. I am surprised that he even talked to you. He does not like people at all.”

  Jamal broke into the conversation. “What kind of animals do you have here?”

  “There are a whole lot of them. The most common ones are lions, tigers, bears and such. Mo
stly they come from rescues from fires, floods and stuff like that.”

  Mark resumed the conversation while giving Jamal a reproachful look. “Are there really leviathans in the moat or is that just a joke?”

  “It is not a joke.”

  “What are leviathans anyway?”

  “Well, there are all different kinds. The most common one that we have here is the sail-back ornathoptus. Occasionally, at night, they can be seen floating on top of the moat. Their large back fins make them look like a sailboat. In the wild, they have been known to leap out of the water and glide for more than a thousand yards. We also have some trigibbereras. They have a long neck and three humps on their back. They look like they might be stepping-stones when they sleep and float up to the surface. Do not ever try to use them as stepping stones or you will get a surprise.”

  It looked strange to Mark to see Tim chuckle. His whole body shook.

  “Oh, yeah. A word of warning; some of the teachers will shut the door when class starts and dock you a point per minute. If that happens then just wait for the break and go in then. They are supposed to give a break every hour, but they do not have to. They can save the breaks and dismiss class early. It is up to them. I think that is all I wanted to say. Have a good weekend. I will see you tomorrow.”

   

  Saturday morning marked the first day of actually being officially enrolled in school at The Seventh Mountain. Orientation week was considered a part of summer vacation, even though it was mandatory for students to attend. The distinction was made because there were no official school functions during Orientation Week. It had become customary to have orientation to make it easier on the students to get what they needed before classes started. The first official function at the school was tryouts for flags matches. That was always on the first Saturday before classes started.

  At breakfast, Tim handed out the mail. Mark opened his envelope. It had three letters in it, one each from his father, mother, and brother. They wrote:

   

  Hi Son,

  I guess that I have to trust Tim, for now, on how you are doing. Your mother told you about the dream that we had. That is the only information that we have had about you since he kidnapped you. I understand that this is supposed to be your destiny, but he could have given us a little more warning. I guess we have to trust Tim; he told us that you are all right.

  I am really looking forward to seeing you and the school. I won’t miss the first flags match for anything.

  I’ll see you then.

  Love, Dad

   

  Dear Mark,

  We are so worried about you. We are pretty well in the dark about where you are and how you are doing. Your dad wouldn’t let me call the police. He said that we should wait and see.

  Honey, I wish that I could be there with you and make sure that things are all right. It’s strange that we all had the same dream about you.

  It’s so different here without you. It’s like I have a hole in the way I think. I can’t explain it, but without you here is like having a piece of me missing. I’m so anxious to see you. Tell Tim that we do want to come to the first flags match. Your dad has switched his duty schedule so that he can come, too.

  Honey, I miss you.

  All my love, Mom

   

  Hi Mark,

  That is some strange looking school that I dreamed about. Do you like it there? Do you need anything? What’s it like? How are you doing?

  I’ll see you at the flags match.

  James

   

  After breakfast the group had just enough time to make it back to the dorm and write return letters. Mark wrote:

   

  Hi Mom, Dad and James,

  Don’t be worried about me here at the school. Everything is great. Don’t be too hard on Tim either. I’m not the only one that he is in charge of. He didn’t have much time for getting his students to orientation on time. He’s a counselor here at the school. He’s really okay.

  I found out that I have some special abilities. I can talk to animals and people can read my thoughts. Tim says that I need to control that and I’m working on it. Mr. Diefenderfer, a teacher here, has given me some exercises to do, to help control it.

  I was also pre-chosen, by The General himself, to be in the tribe that I’m in. Well, actually, since The General chose me, I got to choose what tribe that I wanted to be in. I chose the tribe that my new friends were chosen to be in. They were pre-chosen too, only, not by The General. They were chosen by the Emerald Tribe horses.

  I have to go now. I’m going to try out for the Emerald Tribe’s flags match team. If I don’t hurry, I’ll be late.

  See you at the first flags match.

  Love, Mark

   * * * 

  The group walked out onto the schoolyard. Each tribe had staked out a section for their own particular tryouts. Each tribe had their own criteria for selecting new members for their team. Krisa, the team captain, explained the process to the new Emerald Tribe wannabes.

  “The elimination process is quite simple. Each wannabe is given a flag and a horse. The object is to get past those twenty-four guys down there.” She pointed to a skirmish line of horsemen fifty yards away. “They are going to do whatever they can to prevent you from making it past them. Okay… grab a flag and mount up. You’ll have ten minutes to get past them. Wait for the whistle.”

  More than two-dozen students had shown up to try out for Emerald Tribe. Only five were freshmen: Mark, Jamal, Nick, Chenoa and the girl with the spiked hair that they had seen at The Choosing Event.

  Mark motioned his friends together. “Listen up. Nick and Jamal, hold back, wait for the pack to engage the group. Then head right, full out. Go around the fray, if you can. Chenoa you come with me to the left. Whoever makes it to the other side; stand by to catch the other’s flag. After you throw your flag, head around or through the pack. These guys are trained to only check a flag carrier. They will get all worked up. They will automatically ignore anyone without a flag. Get your flag back when you make it through.”

  “Roger, roger… sounds like a plan.” Nick mounted his steed.

  “Let’s do it.” Jamal was already up.

  “I’m with you. Let’s go.” Chenoa slapped Mark on the back and headed for her horse.

  Mark let their horses see in his mind what they were planning.

  The whistle sounded. Mark and Chenoa followed the pack toward the melee and broke left just before they entered it. Nick and Jamal had already broken right. Two horses and riders broke from the defending pack to head them off. Mark and Chenoa made it around to the back with no opposition. Nick and Jamal broke left before the four defenders caught up to them. They made like they were going to go around the other side. Jamal caught sight of Chenoa. He hoisted his flag and threw it like a javelin. Nick saw Jamal throw his flag and followed suit. Chenoa and Mark recovered the flags. Nick and Jamal galloped around the end, unchallenged. Mark and Chenoa met them and returned their flags.

  Two others made it through the fracas before the whistle blew. The girl with the spiked hair trotted out. An older boy that they didn’t recognize crawled out unhorsed, dragging the flag by the fabric behind him.

  Krisa galloped up to the successful wannabes. “I’m impressed. Five freshmen. Freshmen almost never make it. And Cap’n Ben, I’m glad to see you finally made it. Welcome to the team.”

  Joel stood up. He was dirty and bruised. “Third time’s a charm.” He grinned and thrust the green fabric in his fist into the air.

  Krisa rode across the front of the other new team members and said their name as she passed each. “Mark… Chenoa… Jamal… Nikola… LeOmi… welcome to The Emerald Tribe Team.”

  Mark rode up to LeOmi. “Hi. I’m Mark.”

  “I know who you are.” She turned her mount and trotted after Krisa.

  Mark turned to the group and shrugged. He brought his mount around and started back to the start point. Jamal,
Nick and Chenoa joined him. Joel had regained his mount and joined them as they rode back.

  “Hi. I’m Joel, Joel Benjamin O’Ham. Most folks call me Cap’n Ben.”

  Now that Joel was close enough, they could see that his close-cropped hair was bright red, under the dust. He had bright green eyes and a trickle of blood was coming from his nose.

  Mark cocked his head. “Why Cap’n Ben?”

  “I was named after me great, great, great, grand pappy, I was. He was an Irishmen. Some say he had a potato for a heart and shamrocks for eyes. I reckon that means that he loved being Irish. I don’t mind the wee touch of Irish blood in me veins either.”

  Mark couldn’t help but grin at Cap’n Ben. “So your grand pappy was a captain?”

  “Merchant Marine. Had his own boat and all. Wooden sailing ship.”

  Mark pointed at LeOmi as she dismounted her horse. “Do you know this other girl, LeOmi?”

  “No. She don’t seem too friendly, does she?”

  “Maybe she’s got something bothering her.”

  “Or, maybe she’s just a loner.”

  “Listen up you guys.” Krisa was speaking to the new team members. “Training and practice is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at four thirty. For you freshmen, this takes the place of your riding class.”

   * * * 

  The flags tryout wasn’t too bad. Showers, lunch and off to meet Mrs. Shadowitz.

  She was waiting for them with their horses, by the door to the stables. “I think that you will enjoy seeing the engineering and science section.”

  The ride took them past The Island. The megalithic structure that circled the moat, both inside and outside, was impressive. Stonehenge, on a grand scale. Monolithic slabs spanned the inner and outer circles, forming bridges between the two, in at least seven places. More chunks sloped to The Island, itself.

  “You can use the shadows as a sundial.” Mrs. Shadowitz pointed at the shadows. “When the two shadows from the north pillars line up, that’s solar noon. Mr. Goodfellow will teach you how to use it in other ways.”

  The door to the science and engineering section opened on a vista, sloping to a valley with tall stone buildings. Paved streets interlinked the varied structures. Small vehicles sporadically whizzed between the white buildings. Science and engineering so advanced, long veiled in myth and legend, flourished, even bloomed in the labs below.

  Life Sciences was the first stop on the tour. The four story white stone building presented but one entrance. Windows were non-existent. Inside, a long hall bisected the floor behind a basic counter. A lone, lab coat clad figure emerged from one of the rooms off the hall. He walked up to the counter.

  “Mrs. Shadowitz. This is an unexpected pleasure.”

  “Hello, Rajah. I have brought these students for a tour.”

  “Yes ma’am. Let me guess. Mark Young, Chenoa Day, Jamal Terfa and Nikola Poparov?”

  “That’s right. Can you handle it today?”

  “Sure thing. You guys come on back here.”

  “I’ll be back to collect them in, shall we say, two hours?”

  “A fast tour. Yes ma’am.”

  “You guys, follow me.”

  The first room was a chemistry lab. Cabinets along the wall housed all kinds of glass wear and instruments. The center table was set up with flames heating various beakers. Different colored fluids bubbled and percolated through winding glass tubes.

  “This is where we make oxy-caps.”

  Mark said, “What are oxy-caps?”

  “Our divers use them. They mix with the saliva in your mouth and release oxygen, enough to breath. With one oxy-cap, an average sized diver can stay underwater for forty-five minutes or so. Here, have one.” Rajah passed out an oxy-cap to each one of the four.

  “Follow me.”

  The next room housed row after row of hanging plastic pipes. Water trickled down through the tangle of plants in each pipe.

  “Here, we study symbiotic plant growth. As you know, plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. What very few know is that they also give off other things as well, like micronutrients. Combinations of plants can support each other’s growth. All we have to supply is temperature, carbon dioxide, water and light. No fertilizer, no soil or anything else. Just put the right combination of plants together and they thrive. Follow me.”

  Room after room led to one wow after another. Two hours later, the tour ended. The medical plants section had been the most interesting. It seemed like there was a plant, or combination of plants, to cure just about anything. The most amazing thing was that the expected average life span, for a Magi, was well over two hundred years. The theoretical limit was supposed to be about a thousand years.

  Next, Mrs. Shadowitz took them to the main engineering building. It was a building built in the same style as the life sciences building, white stone, no windows, one door on the front. This building was much larger.

  “What you are about to see in here is a closely guarded secret. We are able to generate enormous amounts of electrical power and heat and fuel at zero cost. If this technology ever escaped Magi control, well it could be perverted into terrible weapons that could easily destroy the entire world. Even if it weren’t used as weapons, it would surely collapse the world’s economy.”

  They walked into the structure. The inside was just like the life sciences building. A single counter separated the lobby from the working area.

  A young lady greeted them. She wore the standard gray work tunic with a leather work belt with tool pouches. Her eyes were a golden green and glowed like small lights in a control console. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

  “Hello, Mrs. Shadowitz. This is a surprise.”

  “Hello, Emily. I’ve brought four students who want to look around.”

  Emily looked at Mark. “Mark Young, I presume.” She looked at the other three. “And you must be Nick, Chenoa and Jamal. Welcome.”

  “I’ll return in about an hour to collect them.” Mrs. Shadowitz turned to Nick. “Enjoy yourselves.”

  “Okay, you guys, follow me.” Emily lifted the countertop and folded it back, allowing the group behind the counter. She replaced the gate, turned and walked down the hall. The hall terminated into a warehouse-sized room containing very large, shiny metal tanks.

  “This is the cold fusion room. The process is a closely guarded secret. I can tell you that the products are heat, hydrogen, oxygen and electricity. The fuel we use is pretty common. That fuel can be found all over the world.”

  Nick said, “Mrs. Shadowitz said that it runs at zero cost.”

  “Well, that’s true. You see, the fusion process takes place in a very hot environment. The fusion process, fuel plus oxygen, turns the fuel into a different substance. When the fuel cools, it gives up four alpha particles per molecule by radioactive decay, the equivalent of one oxygen atom. The fusion process forms several byproducts, gold being the only thing that isn’t used in the fusion process. The excess electrons captured in the heating process provide the electricity. The waste products are ionized water and gold, neither of which is really a waste. Any more questions?”

  Mark said, “I thought it was cold fusion.”

  “That’s what it’s generally called. Normal fusion, like in the sun, occurs at several million degrees. Cold fusion, here, occurs at a couple of thousand degrees, much colder than normal fusion.”

  The group looked around at nothing but big tanks. There was nothing, no motors or humming or hissing or anything that indicated any power generation was taking place at all.

  “Follow me and I’ll show you the gas storage facility and vehicle fueling station.”

  The gas storage facility was another warehouse-sized room with very large, shiny tanks.

  “Oxygen is stored in the tanks to your right. Hydrogen is stored in the tanks to your left.”

  Emily continued straight through the large room and walked out a door on the backside of the building.
/>   “This is where our vehicles are fueled.” She turned and faced the building. “I need a vehicle.” She turned back to the group.

  A small car drove up onto the concrete pad behind her. It was silvery gray with very large windows and no wheels. It just floated in the air about a foot off of the pad.

  “The vehicle is being refueled automatically while it sits there. Care to take it for a spin?”

  Mark said, “Sure.”

  “Well, hop in.”

  The group piled into the car, which was surprisingly spacious inside. It could seat four people in the back and four in the front. They left the front far left seat empty.

  Emily opened the front left door. “Who’s driving?”

  Mark said, “I thought you were.”

  “I’m on duty, I can’t leave here. One of you has to drive. It’s easy. Just tell the car where you want to go, it does the rest. It just needs to know who the driver is so it can listen for commands.”

  “What if I don’t know where I want to go, I just want to ride around?”

  “Then just use the map, just touch the map where you want to go.”

  Mark said, “Map, I don’t see–” an image of a map popped into thin air in front of him.

  An electronic voice said, “Map function is now active.”

  Nick said, “But we don’t have driver’s licenses.”

  “Nick, if you haven’t noticed, you’re not in Kansas anymore.”

  “I thought that The Seventh Mountain was in North America.”

  “Well it is, kind of, but not really. The Seventh Mountain is for Magi from North America. All seven of the mountains are not connected to anywhere in particular, yet they’re connected to everywhere. They exist outside of conventional reality, it’s kind of hard to explain.”

  “So we don’t need driver’s licenses here.”

  Emily chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right, have fun. Mrs. Shadowitz will be back in about twenty minutes.” She shut the door and stepped back from the car.

  The map showed the streets and buildings as if looking down from above at an angle. The objects on the map appeared three-dimensional and in their natural colors.

  Mark said, “What’s this way over here?” He touched the map and ripples of distortion spread out over the map from where his finger touched it.

  The electronic voice said, “That is Magi City.”

  “Can we go there and get back in twenty minutes?”

  “The distance is twenty-two point five miles. Fast cruise speed, round trip, with no stops, will take fourteen point six minutes.”

  “Okay, let’s go there.”

  “Destination set. Please sit back in your seats. You will experience two point seven five gees while I accelerate.”

  They sat back and the car accelerated. Everything whizzed by at a mind-blowing rate.

  Seven minutes passed and the little car started slowing down. The electronic voice said, “Magi City, please sit back in your seats while I turn and accelerate. You will experience two point seven five gees on acceleration.”

  Mark said, “Stop. Can you display a map of Magi City?”

  “Vehicle stopping. Map function active, displaying Magi City.”

  The mid-air display changed, the scale was much smaller. It looked like the overall map that they had seen in the map book. It was hard to see where Magi City was.

  “Can you highlight Magi City?”

  The outer ring became brighter and the rest of the map became dimmer.

  “Magi City highlighted. Five minutes remaining before stated twenty minute return deadline becomes unachievable.”

  “You guys want to see some of Magi City?”

  Nick said, “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Chenoa said, “Not now. We can see it later. I don’t want to take a chance and make Mrs. Shadowitz mad.”

  Jamal said, “She’s right. We should get back.”

  Mark said, “Okay, let’s get back.”

  “Return course resumed. Please sit back in your seats–”

  “Yeah, yeah, we know, two point seven five gees.”