Scene Written: 9 February 1453
Carey Norman was still not sure why he was invited to come or what his colleague wanted from him. But here he was, boarding the shuttle to go down to the new world. The delta-plane was a sleek vessel, quite possibly the very same one he took to leave Juno Minor two weeks previously. Nonchalantly, he entered and took his seat, fastening himself.
The delta-plane rose slowly at first as it proceeded up the shaft, but then gained speed. The force pushed him down further and harder until finally, they reached the hub of the Main Corridor and readjusted its motion to that of the free space outside. His stomach dropped as zero gravity returned. With precision, the plane floated through the circular port at the other end, where it stopped in the airlock for about 30 seconds and then proceeded out into space.
The thrusters kicked in, and Norman hoped to look out and see Planet Nephina. At first, there was nothing but blackness. But as the plane flipped and aligned itself with the planetary surface below, Norman saw the giant blue orb rise into view and felt planetary gravity return. And then flames sprung up as the spacecraft re-entered and began scraping against the atmosphere. But Carey had no worries, for he knew the heat shields were maintained by impeccable standards. The orange, black, and blue hues eventually morphed into sky blue as the cumulus clouds and the ground below him came took shape. And the aircraft slowed down as it became more of a gyroplane in motion rather than a spacecraft. Here and there it banked to the left or the right, so that Carey could get a view of the ground below. At each opportunity, he took out his small tablet and snapped a few photos; after all, this would probably be the only interglobal trip of his life.
The ground below looked very much like home. The rivers, lakes, and other marks of water erosion, as well as the greens and browns, bore a resemblance. At first glance, one would mistake the landscape of Nephina for the home planet, Juno Minor. But Carey knew better. He knew that on the ground, he would notice that the flora and fauna of Nephina was remarkably different.
That was not what he came for, though.
Finally, long after passing below the cloud line, the delta-plane made its unmistakable motion that it was about to land. It stopped banking and slowed to a hover about 300 feet above the ground. Carey could see down below the wide grid of octagon-shaped landing pads, which gently rose into view. And when they were at ground level, the engines came back down to idle. Carey reached forward, grabbed his carrying bag, and followed the queue of people to disembark.
After he had his bio-bracelet check by the health inspector (Nephinan microbes were generally harmless, but they were still taking precautions.), Carey realized it was summer here after taking his first draught of the sweet, warm air. It was winter back where he lived presently; so this was a pleasant surprise. But his adrenaline began to rise a little. For this was reality setting in regarding whatever matter his colleague summoned him for. Carey proceeded into the terminal, where he had his international custom card scanned and passed the screening to remove any items or articles of clothing resembling national interests in accordance to Nephina Global District standards. He then proceeded onto a gyroplane on the other side of the terminal to transport him to his assigned hostel.
One particularity he noticed was that everything was on metal walkways supported by metal stilts. The establishment here was for the purpose of conducting scientific studies on the new world, so they only permitted authorized personnel to set foot on the actual soil in order to preserve the Nephinan environment. And now Carey noticed the landscape. The greens were mostly sponge-like mosses, while the light-brown rock slabs wove between the mossy patches like veins. This was part of the Nephinan ecosystem. Although Carey forgot the names of the lifeforms here, he knew that these were native to the new world.
After about twenty minutes, the gyroplane touched down on the landing pad at the hostel, which was surprisingly comfortable. Carey had a carpeted room, Room 321, to himself. And this room was complete with a balcony overlooking the Nephinan landscape three floors down. One hundred feet away stood a lake shimmering in the setting Sun.
A gentle series of beeps accompanied the springing to life of the hostel room comm-tablet, which sat on the desk next to the window. Carey looked at the tablet and was surprised to find a message from Lyndsey Moorey, dated "8 March 1419, 6:31pm."
"One minute ago," said Carey to himself in surprise, glancing at his wrist tablet. Just to confirm, he took out his other tablet, the one he used to take pictures with on the plane, and confirmed that it was indeed the correct time. He went back to the hostel tablet and opened the message, which read:
"Carey. Just received notification that you checked into Room 321. That's great! I just sent your next waypoint to your tablet. Just go out to the landing pad tomorrow morning and hail a gyro. Once you land at the facility, just follow the directions through the gran-portal. I'll be expecting you at 9:30AM tomorrow. Have a good night's sleep!"
Carey watched the Sun go down over the lake to reveal the night sky marked with the dazzling stars, the glow of Juno Major, and a bright blue light marking Juno Minor. He knew that it was his last moment to meditate.
* * *
Carey awoke at 7:30AM and prepared himself as quickly as he could. Before long, he was on the landing pad, and then on the gyroplane. And when he arrived at his destination, he was awestruck with what he saw. A large, corporate-like building stood on the metal surface supported by stilts on the small grassy plane. He could not believe this large facility on this other world belonged to the National Institute of Research and Development of the Commonwealth government. But here it was.
After swiping his customs card, Carey passed through the screenings and arrived at a row of what looked like cylindrical elevators. But he knew what they were. They were the portals to the granular dymensional plane to which Lyndsey told him to report.
Carey opened his tablet and typed Lyndsey a text message: "I don't have a character cast yet, though."
Lyndsey replied almost immediately. "Don't worry about it. We're under construction. Just go as yourself."
With a shrug, Carey pressed the switch and stepped into one of the cylinders.
He recognized the landscape of the place to which he arrived. It was modeled after Lyndsey's hometown in Ereautea, but it was bland. The houses lacked the intricate details of the plane in which they used to regularly indulge back in the original version at home. It had a traditionally medieval setting, but the people and creatures were not there. Carey looked and saw that some of the grids were still cordoned off with the light beams and greyed out. So Lyndsey was right when she said that the place was still under construction.
Carey went into the tavern, and that was where he saw Lyndsey, who pulled him into a corner. She handed him a thick envelope bound with a wooden clip.
"Take this," she whispered urgently. "Do not let it EVER show on your way back. Go right back to the airport and take a delta-plane back to Maxima. And hand this to Mr. Tiller."
"Wha-"
But Lyndsey would not let him ask. She shushed him and shook her head. "Just do what I ask. I got room service packing your bags and sending everything back."
"You brought me all the way out here, across millions of miles of void, just to take a letter and turn right around and head back? Why couldn't you just send something via text message?"
"This is not the time and place to explain," replied Lyndsey, looking around fearfully. Carey had never seen her like this before. But before he could ask, Lyndsey continued. "Just take it back. Hide it! And don't open it until you are in Mr. Tiller's living room with Tiller himself. Once you do that, everything will make sense."
* * *
Two weeks had passed. And now he was on the delta-plane back down to Juno Minor, having left the interglobal transport facility 112 miles above the planetary surface. He landed on Juno Minor at the spaceport stationed in the Meredythian Island chain, where he went through the quick screening process to test for foreign diseases. When he passed that, he boarded a gyroplane back to the Commonwealth. And within two hours, he was already touching down in the city of Maxima in the Commonwealth province of Nintel.
Carey could not see or detect anything but he felt that eyes were watching him. He pulled his coat over his face until he got to the gyropod taxi to take him to Professor Tiller's residence. As soon as he arrived at the front door of the place, he rang the doorbell. The door opened to reveal an aging Professor Tiller. Carey had not seen him in over ten years.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Carey began. "But Lyndsey sent me to show you something serious." Carey, himself, still did not know what it was.
And so Carey and Tiller were in the living room. Carey pulled the envelope from his coat pocket and took off the clip. He found that there was an envelope inside the outer one. And inside the inner envelope was a single sheet of paper that had been folded three ways and then in half. He opened this up to reveal the note.
The look on Professor Tiller's face matched what Carey was feeling. It was a damning revelation. Carey had sensed this was the case about his old friend, Morton Knimes, but the note had sealed his confirmation. Just then, the tablet vibrated. Carey looked and saw it was a message from Lyndsey.
"I hope everything went to plan, and that both you and Tiller know. I'll be there at 5."