The Summoning Stars

Chapter 2 - The Glimpse

After his immersion in the biogel pod, Cal's trip home passed in a blur of pain and loss. The supersonic transport seamlessly disengaged his spherical travel pod at the right moment and after ascending his Tower to his apartment, Cal stared bleakly into the darkness outside the pod's window.

"Help Me."

The message still blinked on the screen of the watch. The only indicator of time's passage—the failing battery on the old screen. He tucked the watch with its bitter message back under his sleeve and stepped from the pod into his apartment.

- Welcome home, Cal.

Cal ignored the voice of the Mind. He sat on the edge of his bed as his cortex connected to his home net, the apartment anticipating his needs. The wall opposite shimmered, and the screen appeared depicting its familiar star field backdrop.

"I can feel the stars, Cal. I can feel them calling to me. There's so much more to the universe than what we know in the City. We need to see the stars. Cal..."

Helena's words whispered through his brain and he stood, shaking his head trying to dispel the memory.

Shower, he commanded and the small bathroom morphed from the apartment floor as he stripped off his paper overalls. He threw them into the recycling chute, put his watch on its charging cradle, and stepped into the steamy stall.

A house bot had hung freshly made coveralls outside the shower and once the driers had finished, Cal stepped into them, fastening them as he moved. At the dispenser, he gave a mental command. A few seconds later, he sat at the table that had silently exuded from the floor, a mug of juice and a light snack in front of him.

The message was still waiting for him.

"Help Me." The words sat accusing on the screen. He pushed the half eaten and tasteless snack away from him and slumped in his chair.

"What do I do now Helena?" he whispered despairingly. "Nothing makes any sense anymore. What would you do?" He paused and smiled sadly. "Probably something crazy, but then I've never been that good at crazy, have I? I tend to calculate the risk, rather than take it."

He glanced at a picture on the wall, one of the few he had in his personal space. It showed a man of indeterminate age and background, his main distinguishing feature the shock of white hair that stood like a halo around his head: his old mentor, and friend. "I'm talking to myself Professor Kelna. Is that the first sign of madness?"

Cal mimicked the old man's voice and posture, crabbing across the room towards his bed with old knees, the scratchy tone of his friend done perfectly. "Ah my boy, before you can find an answer, you must first understand the question. Relax, let your mind free, and stop worrying. Everything will be alright in the end: if it's not alright, then it's not the end."

Cal sighed and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed. He closed his eyes and began the regular series of mental exercises he used to clear his mind. He pictured an idea his old tutor had shared with him as a child. It was a private space on the net, accessed via the Mind, but only fully accessible by him or someone he allowed in: only Helena and Kelna had ever been granted that privilege.

The dark Mindscape with its green contours brought him calm and had even flicked into his head when he'd tried the biogel immersion tanks. In his mind's eye, he stood at the centre of the vista, the ground beneath his feet a series of interconnecting hexagons, and lines of memory and thought. An endless plateau in dark green and black, bordered with contoured green hills, and a featureless sky. His heartbeat slowed, and he felt the familiar trance-like state of deep meditation fill his being.