Chapter 36

After the tsunami cleanup, after the prescribed period of national mourning, after the investigation into the confiscation of the Flintkote boat absolved him from any violation of Maritime law, Chief petty officer Mahiro Sato was finally at peace to look into the directions for building his portal.

The boat was refurbished at National Expense and returned to the Flintkote family along with the thanks of a grateful nation. The Flintkotes were unstinting with neither labor nor finances.

The directions that Hero Caretaker Ellen gave Mahiro Sato for building the portal:

On a doorframe of glass of sufficient size to step through, the builder is to place thin films of various metals electronically isolated from each other. The layers are to be of gold, aluminum, tin, platinum, copper, and zinc in that order with a final layer to be made of electrum. Passing through the frame with a blue sapphire of sufficient size will send a signal through the ether to the machinery of a distant planet. The machinery will cause the immediate transferal of the individual passing through the frame to the distant planet. (Crossroads Rules. A Story in the Damsels In Distress Universe by Lazlo Zalezac. Copyright© 2005 by Lazlo Zalezac) Directions edited by OMWP to remove ambiguities.)

In the Orient, metal foil is a staple with several art crafts, so Mahiro-san had it easy finding the materials. Insulating the metals? Not so much. The foils must not contact each other. Paper alone won’t do it. In the final analysis, Kapton Tape - 1 Mil thick and stuck to both sides of the paper with silicon adhesive did the trick. To keep out moisture the tape sealed the edges of the perimeter of both inner and outer edges.

The glass cutter commissioned to cut the man sized square in the middle of the single pane of glass might have wondered at the job but careful work produced a a single piece of glass with the required panel.

Assembled and fitted with a fine wood frame was then hung on the back of his bath door. The panel shimmered and Sato could see his reflection as in a mirror. A mirror of high quality but a mirror that gave no idea that it wasn’t solid.

“What ever worked for the ancients? I don’t know but this should work for me.”

Now, the key. A blue sapphire of sufficient size. What is sufficient? he asked the mirror. There was no answer.

Sleep on it. Sato wasn’t sure if He thought it or some outside something influenced the thought but it sounded like good advice. Tomorrow might show the way. Besides, he was tired. The hustle and bustle of the past three weeks building the panel ... and his job ... had exhausted his reserves.

“Tired people make mistakes,” was his last thought. He slept. Not just the night but Sato slept for 26 hours.

The only thing that got him out of bed was a protesting bladder ... emergency mode. While he was standing, the thought struck him that sitting might be a good idea too. While he was at it, he might as well refresh. He looked longingly at his brass fitted ofuro. Teak, a meter and a half wide by two meters long and 66 cm deep ... big enough to float two people ... and they didn’t have to be particularly friendly. He’d paid almost 2 million yen, a piece of a windfall percentage awarded for intercepting almost 22, 220,000,000 street price worth of heroin four years ago, for tub and installation. It was a purchase he never regretted.

“Fuck it, I’m going to soak.” He shut off his phone, filled the ofuro, set the water temperature at 43C, stripped, showered and soaked.

“By the gods, this is heaven.”

In long enough to prune, he stepped out. He put the cover on to keep the heat in, fluffed dry and stepped to the mirror. In doing so, he stepped on a blue sapphire.

“OW!” Bouncing around on one foot, his thought was, “That big. I’d better get that stone set in a ring.”

He turned on his phone, saw 22 URGENT messages to call work and called the most recent.

“I’ve been soaking,” he told the phone.

“I’ll be right in.” He hung up. Dressing took no time at all. The sapphire went in his pocket. His car was ready. Off to work. Busy day. Miscreants everywhere. He forgot about the stone.