Chapter 8

"Gran was seen many times after she returned from the dead... As she faded from sight, she said "I will always be with you." --The Story of Gran Ch. 28 Line 1, Ch. 30 Line 14

Dahra drew a long sigh, closed her eyes, and rested her chin in her hands. The day was only half over and she was already exhausted.

She had arrived at classroom one, just before nine, and discovered that the other five members of the team waiting for her. Krinan was the only one from the original group. The other four, Gusva Vaggirklinkas, Satsin Kemetirklinkas, Rik Ishtahreglas and Felin Vaggireglas, Dahra only knew by their resumes.

The two engineers each had at least two years experience in the field. They both knew of each other, but had never actually worked together.

Rik was about Dahra's age, had greying curly brown hair, cut short, a heart-shaped face, and blue eyes. She wore a light blue frock with a bare midriff made of a silky mater- ial that shimmered as she moved. Her navel had a matching blue gem or crystal in it. She was the dean of research at the University, but had recently become restless and interested in taking on a new challenge.

Felin was half a year younger than Dahra, but had been the dean of the whole engineering college on Wapdun until recently. She had acquired a pleasure house addiction, spending whole days in the place, missing meetings and ignoring responsibilities. She had spent the last month in treatment, and was looking for a new start in her career. Before her addiction problems Felin had been a brilliant electrical engineer, and was considered one of the best in the field. She had thinning white hair (a classic sign of the addiction) an oval face, sparkling blue eyes and a small, thin-lipped mouth.

The two computer scientists were both ipse students, but neither of them were studying in Fahrlot. They were both from Fald, a small town on Woxil, an island in the Cradevan archipelago. Fald had a small college that only covers computer science, but had the reputation of being the best college in that field. Though the two were stark contrasts to each other, they were said to work together well as a team

Gusva had wavy dark blonde hair, the same shade as Dahra's, cut conservatively short. She wore wire-rimmed glasses, and wore the standard emoter's uniform, with little decoration or individuality added to it. She had a small mouth and close set eyes, that gave the impression of constant seriousness.

Satsin, on the other hand, had straight flaming red hair, a wide mouth and large lavender eyes. Her hair was cut in the style currently circulating around the campuses, shaved on both sides, with the hair in the middle grown long, and pulled forward, over her face. Dahra was sure that Satsin thought she was the most modern, hippest person around, but Dahra thought it just made her look old. She remembered her grandmother wearing the exact same style when she was just a young child. Her tan outfit was a loose sleeveless top with a "V" neckline and short shorts. The edges of them were jagged, giving the impression that the clothing was torn out, instead of being cut. Dahra had never seen anything like it.

What was it about movers that made them such nonconformists? she wondered. She knew it was a stereotype, but stereotypes came into being because sometimes they were true. Almost all emoters she knew were humorless, healers had a tendency to worry, and many minders were secretive. And although she didn't think of herself as being nosy, Dahra had to admit that many portalers she knew were.

Dahra and Krinan had just introduced themselves and were getting to know the young computer scientists when Lissa burst into the room, gasping for breath. Her long hair flew behind her in an unbraided mess.

"Mom," panted Lissa. "Thank God I caught you before you left!"

"Lissa, what is it?"

"The secret is out. I just read on the computer net about the find. Within an hour the press from all over the world will be after you for more information. I'm surprised they aren't here already."

Dahra sighed, "I figured that they would find out sooner or later. This is sooner than I had expected. Fortunately, we portalers are hard to track down.

"Lissa, I need your help."

"Anything."

"Get all the people I showed the building to the first time, and have them meet me in this room, three hours from now. And tell any press you find camped outside my office, or around my home the same thing. Let's get this press conference over with as soon as possible."

Dahra and Krinan took their four new teammates on a quick tour through the building, with special emphasis on the electronic gadgets and the computer. Most of their speculations about the technology were way beyond Dahra's range of knowledge.

They returned back to classroom one just as the three hours had expired. The press and the members of her first team were waiting for them. The room was only half filled with the press, which disappointed Dahra. She was expecting a much larger group for such a major discovery.

She started the press conference by first introducing herself and her colleagues, and then briefed the assembled group about the buried building and the technology within. She had brought with her one of the miniature maintenance vehicles, but found that it ceased to function when it left the building. That didn't stop the reporters from taking numerous pictures of it, though.

After they finished taking photographs, Dahra then started fielding questions from her audience.

She answered the first question, no, she wasn't going to tell anyone where the building was, and, yes, in a few days she would be willing to give select members of the press a guided tour of the find.

The second question, though, threw her for a loop. A healer from a Fecsacleru newspaper asked, "Dahra as an expert in archaeology, what is your opinion on the astonishing incident this morning at center number five?"

Dahra hadn't heard anything about this, and was about to stammer out something, when Wednu rescued her. "Dahra has been very busy this morning and hasn't heard about it yet," said the young museum curator. "I think it is fair to say that what happened this morning was unprecedented. Much physiological research and interviewing is needed before the whole event can be confirmed."

While Wednu was talking to the press, Lissa quickly whispered that at insemination center number five this morning, a young male opened his eyes and looked at the novice healer who was checking out the life support system. To say that the girl was surprised was an understatement. She let out a shriek and called for her supervisor. The supervisor arrived just in time to see the male close his eyes.

Well, that explains the small turnout, thought Dahra. I was upstaged by an even bigger story.

After Wednu had answered the question, she turned the podium back over to Dahra. The remainder of the questions were predictable. Dahra answered most of the questions herself, but turned some of them over to the appropriate expert. She found the whole experience grueling, especially since she didn't know how to stop the press conference. Therefore, she kept answering until they ran out of questions. This left her drained.

Dahra sat on one of the seats on the front row of the auditorium. She was slouched over, clutching the sides her head, nursing the combined headache and fatigue that the news conference had generated. She glanced up and saw the other five members of her group waiting for her like she had told them to, after the press conference. She didn't know how long they had been waiting on her. Behind them she was surprised to see Plek, her former mentor, waiting. Everyone else from the original group was gone. "Plek. What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you," she said. She then scratched the back of her head, indicating that this conversation was intended for portaler's ears only, and went out into the hallway.

"Certainly. If you would all excuse me." Dahra left the classroom and found Plek waiting for her.

As usual Plek was succinct. "Dahra, you need advice."

"About what?"

"This whole find thing. Now I'm not the most knowledgeable person on the subject, but now that the press knows about it, they're going to do everything they can to get an exclusive on the finds location."

"But I have a secur--"

"Don't get me wrong, that security field of yours is the best that the public can buy, but there are portalers out there who could force their way through it. And I'm sure you know that scientists have been working on ways to amplify a portaler's ability."

"Yes, but--"

Plek glanced up and down the hall. "Now this is just between you and me. I have some friends who are working on it, and with this amplifier the weakest portaler could cut though your field like a hot knife through butter."

"But it is classified."

"For all the good that does," the old portaler sniffed. "The security in the science companies are not the greatest, and I don't doubt that a less than ethical reporter could get her hands on one. If you don't want the location to become public knowledge you've got to learn to cover your trail."

Dahra paused to think. "What do you suggest I do?"

"First, from now on never directly portal from your home, office, or classroom to the find. Portal to two random locations, first. This will make it very difficult for anyone to track you."

"But that--"

"I know that trackers are only supposed to be used by the police, but that technology has been around for years, and it's even less secure than amplifiers.

"Secondly, I want you to take this." Plek reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device.

"Tha-that's not a gun, is it?" stammered Dahra.

"Don't be ridiculous. This just shoots tranquilizer darts. Perfectly legal. It holds two darts at a time, and I'll give you a supply of six. They take affect in seconds, and should last two hours on an average-sized woman."

"Lastly, from now until the time you want to make the location known to the public, never leave the find empty. Either have yourself or someone you trust there, to protect it from looters. Those whikyahr tiles alone are enough incentive for a burglary, not to mention all the new technology."

"I hadn't thought of that. You're right, of course. Thank you Plek, for every- thing," said Dahra, as she gave her a hug.

"Don't mention it, kid. Anything for a sister portaler."

Dahra went back into the classroom, with the tranq pistol in her pocket. Her team was still waiting for her.

"What was that all about?" asked Krinan.

"Oh, Plek just had some good ideas on how to protect the site. I'll be implement- ing them immediately.

"But what I need to do right now is show you something. Only Lissa and I have seen it; but since you are all part of the permanent team, you need to see it too."

Dahra portaled the team to the top of Farhep. After she closed that portal, she then opened a portal over to the Sandy Wastes. And from there, she finally portaled them to the great room of the find.

"Let me guess," said Satsin, "some of Plek's precautions."

"Right. It's supposed to make it harder for anyone to track the location of this place."

"Makes sense," said Felin.

"I thought so too," said Dahra.

"Now," she continued, "what I'm about to show you is potentially disturbing to the populace at large. So I want each of you to swear that you will not tell a soul about what you are about to see. Not even your mother or best friend."

After the five, in turn, took an oath, Dahra walked across the great room to the lounge area, where the three sofas, along with the fireplace, made a loose square, to the black cylindrical "coffee table" in the middle.

"During our initial survey of the building, I stumbled across this."

Dahra reached down and pushed a black button that was about an inch down the side from the top, and flush with the side of the cylinder. The button would not have been obvious in a casual inspection.

The top of cylinder glowed softly with a dirty white light, and a translucent three dimensional projection, about a meter high, appeared on the top. It was a picture of a young male, between three and four years old. He had shoulder-length red hair, violet eyes, and a perfect smile. The only thing he was wearing was a short red and black striped skirt, with a navy and gold sash tied around his waist. He was bare-chested, and seemed to be very proud of his broad muscular build. The projection slowly turned around in a counter-clockwise direction, thus showing his physique from all angles.

"Is... is that a male?!"

"Wow! That sure doesn't look like the poor shriveled up creatures we have back at the center. And look at the size of..."

"Look at this, Rik. It's not solid! You can reach right through it. It's just light."

"How did they do that? No screen, no..."

"Ladies, please!" shouted Dahra. "As you can see, though it is amazing to see a picture of a live, conscious male, in three dimensions, no less, it wouldn't be considered controversial by most people. The next picture, though, is."

"Next one?!" chorused several colleagues at once.

"Yes, after approximately five minutes, the picture changes to a new one. It should happen any second now. Brace yourself. The next one is a real shocker."

As she was saying that, the picture of the young man disappeared. After a few seconds, a new one took it's place. It was one of the same male, with two women.

The male was several years older than the first picture of him. His red hair now had streaks of grey running through it. His still bare chest was no longer muscular, and he had a slight pot belly. This time, his skirt was dark green with a broad gold stripe running horizontally across it, about halfway down the skirt. His smile and teeth were still perfect.