Chapter Seven: True Blue Worlds — Part 2

“I guess we can bring him along.” Bamboo said, checking his prematurely full power meters.

Chen let his chin drop in a slight feign of a bow. “The old man lives in the temple directly up the road. Now, as leader of a planet, I have important matters of state to attend — namely my lunch. Try not to stay more than a couple of hours, if you can avoid it. The planet gets boring to outsiders after precisely two hours. Great science has gone into proving the exactness of this two-hour window, and as you are both creatures of science, like myself, I am certain you can trust prior research on the matter, and refrain from testing the seeming supposition. Boredom is a horrible disease, and is rather hard to cure.”

Chen departed, walking along an alley and back into a massive structure, leaving the twins to wonder at his eccentric behavior. Orchid put a hand on Bamboo’s elbow, a way of letting him know she was going to talk.

“Rather abrupt individual.” Orchid said. “So we’re supposed to pick this geezer up and take him to Earth?”

“If he’s Jun’s father, I reckon it would be the best.” Bamboo said.

“Best way to get Jun in the sack, you mean.” Orchid said under her breath.

If Bamboo heard her comment, he ignored it. Following a cobblestone road between smaller houses and buildings, and traveling through a guarded portcullis into a walled castle garden, they soon found themselves with a quiet escort, a boy no older than twelve, who motioned them to follow him. Within a matter of moments, they were led into a room. In this room a graying man who looked to be somewhere in his late fifties studied a board with pieces arranged in an end strategy. He seemed to be playing out the final moves of a game very much like chess, only with entirely different pieces. It also seemed to involve the rolling of dice and location. The old man put the pieces away with one final consideration, and smiled, rising to stand from what seemed a highly calculative meditation. The old man put a hand on Bamboo’s shoulder.

“You must be the escort Chen arranged. So let’s go now, take me to Earth. Get me to my daughter. When do we leave?” Alon grabbed a small bag and put it over his shoulder.

“Our first leg of the trip is now.” Orchid said. “Do you have everything you need? We’re not coming back.”

“Yes,” Alon said, then paused to consider, and added, “of course. I’ve ben here too long already, waiting for this old body to mend.”

“Good. Now put an arm through both of ours.” Orchid put out an arm, as did Bamboo, And and Alon got between them.

Unlike his daughter, Master Alon stayed conscious for the duration of the trip. The first leg brought them out directly between Earth and the Moon, and by coincidence it brought them on the night side of the planet, during a new moon. From there Orchid scanned the surface of the planet, trying to synchronize her mother’s map with the surface of the planet. Though she didn’t know it, and wouldn’t have cared, more than one telescope on Earth had captured the threesome in their lens, and their presence, between planet and moon, on a dark night, was causing quite a stir in the world of amateur astronomy. The enormity of Earth, as well as its population, on the other hand, was proving significantly more massive than Orchid had expected.

“This is not Earth as I imagined it.” Orchid said. “I have no idea how you are going to find your daughter, given the size of the planet and the density of its population.”

“I should be able to find Jun if I can just get something out of my pack.” Alon said.

Orchid tilted her head curiously, and Bamboo let him go so he could work one-handed with his pack, force it open, and pull from it a rolled up piece of silk sewn to a metal frame that sprung out violently with a loud snap of cloth. Alon stared into the image painted in silver on the silk, concentrating for several moments before he felt the resonant pulse from an identical image somewhere down below, On on Earth. The Glyph began to shift and open like a window, and Alon could see into a dimply lit room, could hear around him much as if he were in the room he was looking into. He could even sense Jun, somewhere nearby, staring back at him. He felt a twanging pain for a moment, seeing the decoration, until Jun rushed forward and took down a mirror. Within a moment, he broke contact, a little upset but also satisfied.

Alon smiled. “I knew she’d make a zero point transmitter once she was settled in on Earth. I found her, but her transmitter is made of poor conductors. A mirror distorted the signal. I think she took the mirror down, but then I lost the signal. I don’t think I can find it again without a more powerful antenna.”

“Can we help boost reception?” Bamboo asked.

Alon considered it. “Touch here, and here.” He said.

The two places were dots that were drawn in the same golden ink that the entire mandala was made from. The dots, about the size of fingertips, were attached with lines to various connection points at the edge of the mandala. Alon first put Orchid’s hand on one side of the circuitry, and then placed Bamboo’s on the opposite, and then explained the next step.