Chapter 10: Revolving Doors

We made it to the Meditation Chamber right on schedule, and our session that morning was less an exploration and more of a reinforcement of our connection. We joined, briefly, merging into that many-minds-as-one feeling we had grown to recognize during its fleeting appearances.

I always felt sharper and more alive after one of these kind of meditation sessions, but this morning I could tell that everyone was feeling the same way, perhaps even more than normal.

Con had not joined us, which surprised me at first, but then I decided he just didn't want to risk revealing his surprise prematurely while we were connected. He was waiting for us at the Hall of Gifts, and once again had that 'my-tail-would-be-wagging-if-I-had-one' look.

"Good morning Con!" I said cheerily as we spotted him. "How was your day alone?"

"Very good, Dave!" He enthused. "Very good indeed!"

"Do you then have a surprise for us, as promised?" I asked.

"Oh yes, and I am working on more surprises for another day. Not today though, just the one today."

The way he was rattling on, I knew he was bursting to get started, so I turned him loose.

"Recently," He began, slipping into his 'Spock' persona a little. "Dave asked me to look at the possibility of piggybacking Earth cell phone technology on top of some of the seeker technology, in essence using the Light as a wrapper to conduct cell phone transmissions across the facets. This was achieved, and you have all seen the result of that."

Everyone echoed their agreement, and complimented Con on his efforts.

"When Dave received his replacement cell phone, he asked me about its power requirements, and that seemingly simple question led to this!"

He opened a cabinet door above the workbench he had brought us to. Hung on neat little pegs were a new set of bracelets.

"Please, one at a time, remove your bracelet and give it to me." He asked.

As each person handed over their bracelet, Con handed one back to them until everyone had swapped their bracelet for a new one.

"These bracelets, like the old ones, are hard wired to return you to Meadow, using the procedure previously shown. However these bracelets, Unlike your old ones, do not require a manual recharge from Davey between uses."

The entire Legion, to a person stood stunned in their tracks.

"You mean I can go to Meadow anytime I want, from anywhere I want?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, absolutely. You will no longer need Dave to give you a ride to work."

They actually applauded! I asked Con to take a bow.

"Please, do not be too appreciative yet." Con said. "This is really only an intermediate solution, which I hope to make obsolete itself once I've gotten a bit more progress on certain aspects of Light signature storage. I will probably need your help for that part Davey." He said.

"This is sort of a patchwork solution to a single problem, and will do while I work on more of a 'whole cloth' solution to several problems."

"Anything about the new bracelets we need to know?" Chet asked.

"Yes, the bracelets require about 5 seconds to recharge after each use. I hope to improve or eliminate that in the future though." Con said.

The entire group of us were chatting merrily, congratulating Con on his good work, when my new and improved cell phone rang.

"Dave McKesson." I said.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"That will be fine. See you there." I hung up and turned to the group.

"I've got to run home quick and pick up a delivery at Mom and Dad's. Once I've got that cleared up I'll meet you all back at the house afterwards."

"Good!" Con said, "We will meet you on Meadow!"

Everyone stood waiting, and only after they started looking at me questioningly did I remind them.

"Well, go ahead! You don't need me for this anymore!" I said, grinning like a banshee.

The group of them all reached for their bracelets with smiles firmly in place and one by one they disappeared.

I jumped into my room at home and very quickly switched into some clothes I had left there, an old Penguin Computing t-shirt and a pair of ratty jeans a bit too old and worn for anything but puttering around the house in. I threw on an old pair of canvas deck shoes, which I always seemed to have old generations of laying on the floor in the closet.

"Hey Mom!" I yelled into the house.

"In here Davey!" Mom yelled from the laundry room.

"Somebody has a delivery for me, so I'm here to wait for it."

"Okay sweetie!" She yelled back.

I only had to wait a couple minutes before the doorbell rang. I opened the door and saw a guy about my age, with glasses and a scraggly beard that just barely outdid my initial foray into unshaven status.

"Good morning. Are you David Alan McKesson?" He asked.

"Yes I am." I answered.

"May I see some ID please? I'm not supposed to release these" He said, indicating the box under his arm. "without proof of identity."

"Sure! I said, and while I reached behind me like I was pulling something out of my back pocket, I jumped my wallet from the top of the dresser back on Meadow where I'd left it this morning.

I showed him my driver's license and my government-issued private pilot's license, which also had a photo, a newer one than the one on my driver's license.

Happy, he handed me the box and asked me to sign a delivery completed form.

"You must have some connections man, these are not ordinary phones, these are what we call company specials. Already pre-assigned and no billing. Say! He said suddenly. Our company just get bought out by McKesson Telecom. Any relation?"

"Yup." I said.

"Wicked!" He said.

I thanked him, and once the door was closed, ripped the box open. Inside were eighteen cell phones, each wrapped in a sheet of paper with a name on it. Excellent! Grandpa had come through as promised!

I went upstairs and changed back into my gear, grabbed the box again and walked out to the top of the stairs.

"Bye Mom!" I yelled down the stairs, before jumping myself back to Meadow.

When I blinked into existence in the living room, I was surprised to see everyone sitting around, apparently waiting for me.

"Uh oh! Beware of geeks bearing gifts!" Mike said when he saw the package in my arms.

"Gifts indeed!" I answered back. "Con, do we need to go to your converter, or can I bring it here?"

"You can bring it here." He answered, so I reached out to the Hall and moved it from the workbench where we'd left it to an end table next to the couch where Chet was sitting.

I had left Con's sitting on top of the pile in the box, intending for him to go first, so I grabbed it and tossed it to him, calling out his name.

"Constantine Dedomena Fylakas!" Con grabbed the phone out of the air, and pulled the paper wrapped a round it off with a snap of the rubber band that had been holding it.

"Watch this process." I said to the room. "You'll all be doing the same thing in a minute."

Con fed the cell phone into the slot on the top of the box, the lower recess lit up and he reached in with his bracelet hand and picked up the new version that appeared there. As had happened with me, both the bracelet and the phone flashed in unison as soon as he did. I grabbed the next phone in the box.

"Fred Sabarte" I called out next, flipping the phone to him as I called his name. I slowly went through the pile, pushing the non-Legion phones over to the side as I encountered them. I grabbed the last of them and tossed it to Eru.

Each one of them went through the process as I tossed them their phone, until everyone stood in the living room, new, enhanced phone in hand.

"I've got more phones in the box for Ginny's parents, my parents, Fred's dad and Grandma and Grandpa Carson." I said. "There's even one in there for Grandpa A.J."

That consideration, that there were all these people who we wanted to have access to Meadow, and to us and our new home that set the course for the rest of our day, and the rest of the week. I had brought up the subject of a visit with Ginny's parents, and Mary had suggested a Sunday picnic or something similar. That seemed like an even better idea now. Everyone thought it was a a good idea, and with a consensus, I suggested we concentrate on getting things back to order here, get our groceries restocked, invitations extended, and since it was going to require so much Earth time, attention to whatever personal details everyone had that needed it.

Once everyone had gotten changed back into their regular clothes, I Ginny, Eru, Felicia and Cyrus volunteered to head up the shopping expedition. The Poole family van was deemed perfectly suited to hauling groceries, so I jumped the four of them to Cyrus and Felicia's house.

I jumped Fred back to his house, and with Mike, Arden, Chet and Alicia and Con left behind, I sat down to talk to them.

"Guys, I've kinda saved you till last on purpose," I said. "It bothers me that so many of us have family members who we have trusted with our secret, but I have never really followed up on how you felt about telling your parents. Arden, I've probably known you longer than anyone in Angel's Camp, outside of my parents, so let me start with you."

"Dave, I think if you had asked me this a few years ago, I"d have said no way. Not because they would betray your secret... our secret, but because we wold not have been able to give them the kind of concrete evidence that we can today. They would never have been able to stop worrying and wondering about what we were doing, or what might happen to me."

"The choice is yours to make then." I offered.

"I would like to tell my parents, and let them see the evidence with their own eyes. Thank you for being concerned about this."

"Alicia, how about your parents?"

"My parents, as all of you know, are kind, loving, and caring people. They want nothing but the best for me. They were and are terribly fond of Arden, and our engagement has made them as happy as I've ever seen them."