The Summoning Stars

Chapter 8 - The Summoning Stars

"Only I can get us out?" Cal sank back into his seat. "No pressure then, Professor."

"None at all," said the Professor, and Cal laughed mirthlessly. "Where did you last see her, lad? We're in this world, and although it's not real we still have to play by the rules of this universe. Here, the Mind is not on our side. What other options do we have? We have to work out where Helena links into it."

Cal sat up, his eyes shining. "Professor, do you remember that version of the Mindscape you introduced me to as a child, the one with the dark green contours and hexagons to represent memories on the plains between the hills?"

"Yes."

"That was where I last spoke to her." Cal quickly filled the Professor in on the transfer of Helena's nanobytes, and his trip into memory. "You and Helena are the only ones I've ever shared that version of the Mindscape with, that's got to be the link. Where we go from there I've no idea."

The ground around them shook violently, and one wall of the transit module in which they sat pixelated, momentarily turning green and black.

"What was that?"

"I suspect I should be wearing a sandwich board while uttering this line, but 'the end is nigh', Cal. This world of yours is falling apart."

"But why?"

"What happens when you no longer believe in something? You know this place isn't real, so your attention, and insistence it should sustain you is wavering. We need to move quickly."

Cal held out his hand, and the Professor enclosed it in his parchment and bone grip.

Hang on, Professor, and don't let go.

The two closed their eyes, both dropping into a meditative state through long years of conditioning. The ground beneath their feet became a series of interconnecting hexagons, and myriad lines of memory and thought. They stood at the centre of the vista still holding hands, an endless plateau in dark green and black, bordered with contoured green hills, and a featureless sky.

A hexagon glowed nearby, and with a thought, Cal and Kelna floated over to it. As they watched, the hexagon became a view to a moment in the past.

There was a room. The walls were covered in blackboards, a simple table and chairs stood in the centre of the room, and lying on the table looking up at him was Helena. She looked happy and Cal realized she was looking at the starry ceiling of the room where they'd worked on the Jaken paradox together just before they'd taken their ill-fated trip into the biogel pods. The same pods where they all now lay.

This is where Helena and I used to work together.

Kelna smiled. She looks at peace. Just remember, Cal, this isn't quite Helena yet, this is the avatar of Helena in this world. The real Helena is in there somewhere, but may not remember anything other than the memory in which she resides.

Ready, Professor?

Cal looked at Kelna who nodded, and the two of them stepped into a memory.

~~~

Helena was scribbling at a blackboard as they walked into the room.

"I was wondering when you were going to arrive," she grumbled.

Unable to help himself, Cal took a few quick steps across the room and swept his friend into a hug.

Helena disengaged, her look of surprise changing to concern as she noticed the tears on Cal's face. "Cal, what's going on?" She looked over Cal's shoulder and saw Kelna reading through one of the mathematical proofs on the blackboard. Walking over to him, she hugged the old man and looked back at Cal.