Chapter 13

Using the transport platform in stealth mode, we descended to the top deck of the Omni's parking garage without having attracted the attention of anyone. Once everyone was off of the platform I sent instructions to TT2 that caused it to return to the larger craft TT1. I turned the cell phone I'd been carrying back on and used it, for what I imagined might be one of the last times, to contact Gil. Gil unlocked the hotel entrance that connected to the garage and let us in.

I had expected to be met with a barrage of questions when I returned home from the Wizard's meeting, but I soon learned that yet another pleasant side effect of bringing back Moon Blossom and my new group of animal friends was that I was largely left out of the many conversations and allowed to just relax and think a bit. Everything that I had seen and done during the day had been just fantastic, yet there was something about being in the presence of my mates that brought me a sense of peace and well being that was more incredible to me than any of the wonders I'd seen during my absence. I'd lost Sarah, then Sally and Rob, and then Pops, not to mention all of the friends lost to the plague; but love had returned to my life along with the bonds of friendship and I felt incredibly fortunate.

Now sitting and relaxing among my mates and the members of my growing community, I thought back to that moment when my brother-in-law Rob, my special friend, had saved me from throwing my life away. He told me that others needed me and that someday the pain would ease and life would be worth living again and as I basked in the warmth of the love and friendship I now enjoyed - I realized that I was satisfied with life once again. Rob's words had proven to be more than true!

I found my mind flitting from one thought to another, not out of agitation, but out of excitement! There were just so many interesting things the future held for us! I thought back to some words the Wizard had spoken in the morning: "We meet here in this place and time to determine the course of humanity both now and for the foreseeable future. What kind of brush strokes will we use to paint our children's future and the future of humanity?"

I recognized the process my mind had begun to go through, the same logical steps and planning phases that it had gone through so many times in the past. As software designer, military specialist, and criminal investigator I had trained my mind to break large tasks into small building blocks; you move the mountain one rock at a time. I could see the steps necessary to move forward with the tasks the Wizard had given me thus far and with the objectives in focus the process of breaking things down into small achievable steps was almost automatic.

Though I recognized the planning mode my mind had seemed to enter almost of its own accord, there was something uniquely different from past experiences. In the past with this many details to keep track of I would be sitting at my computer to record all of them. Now it seemed that my mind was able to catalog them without the slightest difficulty and I realized that if I were to use a computer to record them, it would be more for the purpose of leaving written instructions for others to refer to than for my personal reference.

Ezra was giving Eve a private tour of the Omni and the rest of us left them to enjoy some time alone. The two spider monkeys, Danny and Darla, seemed to be enjoying the more open space the atrium style lobby provided them. While we'd become somewhat accustomed to Ezra's mix of physical power, intelligence, and feline grace, interacting with other talking creatures allowed us to see different blends of characteristics. For instance, the monkeys seemed to be small dynamos of energy. They would frequently leap into motion and expend energy in fantastic acrobatic moves and leaps. At the same time, they still exhibited an incredible amount of intelligence and while somewhat chattier than Ezra, they didn't constantly make noise. When I spoke with the owl named Samba it reminded me of conversing with my favorite university professor - don't ask if you really weren't interested because once they start talking about a subject you're likely to learn more about it than you ever dreamed anyone could know! Yet the owls were incredibly friendly and I could see how they would be able to help us in many ways.

Dawn, Patty, Becky, Maureen, and most of the other women in my growing harem had taken Moon Blossom up to my suite and when I later found them there they were talking about clothes! It seemed that Moon Blossom's outfit was quite a hit with them and she liked several of the things they were showing her as well. I was happy to see that she was fitting in with the rest of my lovelies so I let them be for the time being.

Somebody had been thoughtful and had left a platter of sandwiches out and I helped myself to a couple of them to stave off my growing hunger. With everyone seeming safe and content, I decided to make use of some of the Wizard's gifts. I hadn't been able to think of a more secure place to store the Wizard's chest and its precious contents than the wondrous craft he'd given me; but before I had left the craft I had remembered to take a small pouch of the Mirror Transport Beads with me.

The whole idea of Mirror Transport intrigued me, yet I doubted I would ever really understand it except at a functional level. Ezra had been kind enough to give me the short explanation and I was really leery about asking either of the owls about it. Ezra said it would be best to think of mirror transport as requiring less direct involvement from the Wizard or his more powerful servants. I gathered that the Wizard had cast some powerful spell to create the network and then enchanted the beads to mark new mirrors and join them to the network. As long as I could use it, that was good enough for me.

Walking away from the happy banter of my mates I headed into the entrance hall of the large suite. There was a section of mirrored wall that I planned on making use of. I took out one of the small red metal beads and looked at it for a moment, not really understanding how to use it just yet. Knowing that Ezra and Eve probably needed some private time, I decided I'd probably get a faster answer from one of the spider monkeys than I would from one of the owls.

"Darla, can tell me how to use one of the Mirror Transport Beads?"

"Yes Master Telford, just place it near an upper corner of the mirror. If you hold it in contact with the glass for just a moment it will be absorbed into the glass," Darla informed me.

"Thank you Darla."

I picked a spot in the upper right corner of the mirror and held the bead against the glass. Just as Darla had said, the bead seamed to almost melt into the glass. When I looked closely I could see a red tint to the section of the mirror where the bead had been absorbed.

I remembered something Moon Blossom had said earlier during the day and decided to try it by myself. Envisioning the large transport mirror on TT1 in my mind I faced the mirror in my suite and stepped into it. "Yes!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I looked around at my new surroundings. I was back on TT1's top deck.

The navigation system used by the craft could translate place names into physical coordinates for almost any referenced location on the planet. I decided to take a very short jump and directed TT1 to transport to Ashville. If I'd driven it by car it probably would take two to three hours to get to Ashville from Charlotte. Using TT1 it happened in the blink of an eye. I used TT2 to descend until I was hovering about two thousand feet above street level. Zooming over the modest sized town that had once been home to about seventy thousand, I guided TT2 to the famous Biltmore Estate.

Call me paranoid, but I still had a Glock in a cross draw holster and another in a thigh holster. I probably should have taken the time to learn to use the weapon the Wizard had provided, but at least I was very competent with the ones I had.

Once we were floating directly over the large building known as "America's Largest Home" I directed TT1 to move into position above us. TT1 was equipped with some sort of scanners and sensing equipment that I might never understand the science behind, but Ezra had explained some of what it could do for me. For now I just wanted to get an idea of how many heat signatures were in the building and where they were located. What I got back from my query just blew my mind! I had expected to be given some sort of information via mind speak but I anticipated it would come in a narrative form, instead I received this visual 3d illustration that seemed to materialize out of thin air right in front of me! It took me a while to figure out how to interpret what I was seeing as well as how to manipulate the image.

Okay, there were three heat signatures that TT1 informed me might be human all concentrated on the highest floor of the mansion and seventeen that might be dogs moving about on the first floor. "Well maybe this isn't the walk in the park I'd hoped for," I muttered to myself. I decided to be as careful as possible while still accomplishing at least one goal - activating a transport mirror within the Biltmore Mansion.

With unknown people on the third floor and dogs on the first, I had TT2 hover next to a second story window as far away as possible from the end of the house where the heat signatures appeared to be most concentrated. With a bit of effort I was able to break the window lock and open the window. Stepping cautiously into the room, I took a good look around. Seeing I was alone and quite safe I shut the window, left the room, and began to search the second floor. This house hadn't been lived in for more than half a century but it was built well and had been kept in exquisite shape as a museum for the public.

The only mirrors I saw at first were the kind mounted on some type of floor stand. They were probably too small for what I had in mind. You might be able to get through, but not very comfortably. After ten minutes of looking around at this end of the second floor, I did find what I was looking for though. In a bathroom that had been altered for museum guests I spotted a floor to ceiling mirror that was more than adequate for the time being. I held one of the mirror beads up to the glass and watched as it was absorbed into the mirror. Envisioning the mirror on TT2 I walked into the one in front of me.

I rode TT2 back to TT1 while deciding on my next several bead placements: my 'cabin', somewhere on the university campus, and somewhere at Fort Bragg. I also wanted to get some big mirrors that I could place in other locations that probably wouldn't already have them; places like warehouses filled with food and other supplies we might need. Most of the time we'd just use TT2 to handle this stuff, but sometimes it might be more convenient to use the mirror especially if you only needed one or two things. I was certain we'd come up with many more places to add before too long.