Chapter 19

I turned the dial to unlock the padlock holding the steel door closed over the mine entrance. It came loose, and I hooked it over the large handle to pull the door open. I had expected some small shaft just big enough to crawl into, instead, a massive concrete circle of about 20 feet had been enclosed with steel sheets, with a normal sized door attached, along with about 20 ‘keep out’ and ‘danger’ signs.

I pulled the door open to the screech of rusty hinges, and peered into the darkness. The instruction manual lit up, showing the pathway into the mine. I turned on my flashlight, and pulled the door shut behind me.

A blinking blue dot showed my location, a line of dots showed where to go, and a red X showed where I was going. The remainder of the mine system was in soft yellow and red lines, depicting dangers, and paths not to take.

The floor of the mine was smooth, with a heavy dusting of dirt. No mine cart rail tracks here, the wide passage had handled motorized vehicles. “What was mined here?”

‘A small but rich deposit of gold’

“Any left?” I asked

‘not enough to be economically extracted’

I reached the red X and looked around, “I’m here, but I don’t see anything.”

‘this is the most dangerous part of the trip. The Orb is hidden inside a naturally occurring pocket universe. This particular pocket has an extremely slow passage of time, so you should not let the doorway close.’

“How do I find the entrance? I don’t see any dark fuzzy circles.”

‘I will direct you, after you ask me to open the pocket, and keep it open until you are finished’

“Instruction manual, please open, and keep open until I finish, the pocket currently containing the Orb of Reality.”

A series of arrows appeared on the tablet, directing me to move the tablet, point it at one particular spot, and then move it forward slowly. It suddenly felt like I had hit a wall, as the tablet locked into place in mid air.

‘turn clockwise to open doorway, do not remove instruction manual, step around it into the pocket’

I tried to turn the manual clockwise, and it moved as if it was the handle on a house key, solid and steadily in place as it turned. The dark shadow I had previously experienced grew as I turned it, until there was sufficient room to walk around the tablet as it hung steady and unmovable in the air.

I stepped quickly into the space. The bloody stump of an arm sat next to the shiny brass Orb. It looked like a 1960’s depiction of a futuristic exercise dumbbell. I kicked the arm to the side, and pulled a blanket from my backpack. I wrapped it around the Orb, and put it back into the bag. Nothing else was in the room, so I stepped back out the doorway, and turned the manual counter clockwise until the shadow vanished and the tablet came free in my hands.

‘congratulations, you have found the Orb, now to successfully return home with it’

“Thanks, can you guide me back to the entrance?”

The return route displayed, and I double checked it to make sure it looked the same. I followed the route up to the door, when the tablet flashed.

‘a large brown bear will be returning to the area in thirty minutes, I suggest you don’t dawdle’

“I hadn’t planned on it,” I told it, as I stepped out into the bright sunshine.

As my eyes adjusted, I verified the car was still in the same place, and I shut and locked the steel door behind me. I placed the backpack in the back seat footwell, and climbed in. I placed the manual back over the gps and it stuck itself in place again.

Five minutes later I was driving down the road, following the directions given to avoid notice. I looked at the clock, not quite noon, but I was getting hungry.

“I’m getting hungry,” I warned.

‘a suitable turn off where you can sit in the car and eat has been added to the route’

I followed the directions and found myself at a small elk viewing station. I ate my sandwiches, and drank from my water bottle. “I need a bathroom, is it safe to go use the one over there.”

‘in 20 minutes a Mercedes will arrive with a driver who wishes to use the bathroom, you need to be gone before he arrives so you do not appear in his vehicles automatic video recordings’

“I’ll be quick, I just need to pee.”

I was quick, the smell of the pit toilet would have insured it regardless. Once back on the road, it was an easy, if long trip home. I pulled my stuff out of the Prius after parking near the garage, and unloaded it. Then, backpack in hand, I headed into the house via the back door so my own doorbell wouldn’t record my return.

I climbed the stairs to the bedroom, where I dumped the Orb and the instruction manual onto the bed. I tossed the cut padlock into my trash can, and stuck my empty school backpack under my desk. I pulled the blanket off the Orb, and dropped it onto the floor, it would go in the laundry later.

About the size of a basketball, if it was cut in half and the two ends connected by an eight inch thick rod, all in shiny brass.

I looked at the clock, almost 4pm. “What time is my Dad home tonight?”

‘his second shift will end at midnight, he should arrive home about fifteen minutes later’