‘I'm sorry my friends, it was the only way. To delay his entry would have been cruel. It is not easy to enter the Pool of Minds. I have known just one other person who has ever done so. And that is in all my many centuries. I only wanted to spare Danny the fear of waiting. To put your mind at rest I will show you how he is doing. Do not worry.’
Mountain-Spirit took the test-tube out from his white gown pocket. He held it between his hands and went into a deep meditation. An intense blue light immediately surrounded him and the small glass vial. He then dipped it once more into the pool and held it up for the group to see. A small but incredibly clear picture was apparent.
Mountain-Spirit appeared to summon something with a motion of his eyes. A rainbow- coloured flash of light shot forward from nowhere. It circled near to the test tube in an impatient figure of eight. Within the flash of light a child-like wide face could be seen. Her face was framed with golden blonde hair. She had oval green eyes that seemed just a little too large for a human. The rest of her body was a mermaid-shaped blur within the light. A laser emerged from within Valentina's light-form and struck the test-tube. The picture in the test-tube was enlarged until it formed a 3D hologram. The images appeared at chest height in front of the group and were in black and white.
Within the images, Danny was swimming downwards. He had a dolphin at either side. He was breathing from a bubble of lighter liquid that surrounded him. Sensing the presence of the watchers Danny looked to one side and smiled faintly. The dolphins flipped an ever so slight turn in acknowledgement. The picture faded.
‘So,’ said Mountain-Spirit to the group, ‘we should not worry. It looked worse than it actually was. I would never want to harm your Danny. I've been preparing for the success of your visit for thousands of your Earth years. The Sapient Ones, the eternal intelligences of the trees, have told me we must go and find Ben's Life-Book. There is something in Ben's past that is essential to the future. His book is also on this floor.’
The group followed Mountain-Spirit. Some of their fears gently dissolved. The echoes of their footsteps drifted away into the library’s peaceful, cool darkness.
Jodie noticed a book as she passed another tall marble bookcase. It was by someone named Johann Olive. ‘The Mounting Importance of Nutrition for Children’ was the title. Most of this area seemed to be filled with books related to planet Earth. Mixed in with them occasionally, were books on civilisations and worlds far removed from the Earth. Jodie noted that there seemed to be no order to the location of the books. There wasn’t even an alphabetical placing of authors or titles. Politics nestled next to Childcare. Architecture sat with Zoology.
‘You may find Jodie that there is rhyme and reason to each book’s location,' said Mountain Spirit. 'They are organised by life-state, in other words, by their spirit. Johann Olive's childhood nutrition books share a depth of vision with the political insight of Zebedieh Groatsmith. That is why those books are together. The filing system takes a little time to master. A few centuries and most get the hang of it. Here we are now.’
The group followed Mountain-Spirit to one of the filing-card cases. Jodie still found it disquieting that her thoughts could be read so easily.
Mountain-Spirit looked at Ben. He indicated for him to sit down. Ben positioned himself in the sumptuous leather office-chair by the desk.
‘Yes, let me see. Mhhm. I'm getting a definite late-1990's vibe for your birth. Am I right?’
Ben nodded yes to the question.
Mountain-Spirit brought over one of the large wooden steps. He climbed nearly to the top and retrieved a small wooden drawer. It contained a couple of hundred small and yellowed cards. He passed the drawer to Ben. Ben nearly attempted to take a card out but then an intuition stopped him. Instead he placed the drawer on the leather surface of the oak desk and placed his left hand over the cards and opened his mind instead.
Ben shut his eyes and drifted off. He could feel hundreds of tiny electrical jolts hitting his palm. His hand seemed to pulse and grow in size. Ben opened his eyes just as the cards flew up into the air. They circled furiously around his head. Just as suddenly they all dropped to the desk as though someone had cut the power supply. One card however remained stock still in front of him. Ben reached out, took the card and handed it to Mountain-Spirit.
Mountain-Spirit examined the card intently. On it was constantly changing shapes. Absent-mindedly he swept his other hand over the loose cards on the desk - they flew back into their drawer. The symbols on Ben’s card appeared to repeat as if they were silently following a musical score. Mountain-Spirit held the card between thumb and second finger and deftly rotated it in a full circle. Before the movement ended a streak of multi-coloured light zoomed in, took the card and disappeared.
‘Well I did want to introduce you a little further to Valentina but she is a little quick on her feet. Maybe on her return perhaps,’ said Mountain-Spirit cheerfully.
A few minutes later the streak of light was back. Within the light was a golden, leather-bound book that was glowing brightly. As the rainbow of light slowed the form of a slender woman, looking about 16 years-old, could be seen within. Her clothes were scruffy and patched together but she was very beautiful with long blonde wispy hair. Valentina, the light-woman placed the book on the desk, smiled, and shot off again.
‘She's a little shy I'm afraid. Very good librarian though, especially for one so young.’
Ben just watched the book for a short while. It was the size of a large hardback. It had impressive leather covers with metal clasps. The volume was some 8 or 9 inches thick. The title script was a hybrid of Western and Oriental text. It kept subtly changing shape.
‘That’s your original name Ben: the one that you always have lifetime after lifetime. It is written in an ancient galactic language. The name “Bendhu” is just a temporary interpretation of your true name,’ added Mountain-Spirit, reading Ben's thoughts. ‘Look within my friend. What you are about to see is very rare. This is where the human-like soul records each bodily adventure. This book is the physical house of your soul.’
Ben leafed through the book. It was like nothing he had seen before. At the beginning was an earthy substance. At some indeterminate point the pages began. Some pages were clay-like, some almost dust. Others were like moist earth with vague patterns discernible. The middle portion of the book was made of thousands of wafer-thin slices of a leather material. It was a strange sort of paper. Instinctively, he knew that it would not tear or burn. What was more, each page was extraordinarily thin. Despite this, the pages were matte in that they allowed no light to pass. The last third of the book was composed of pure light, but a light with differing degrees of substance.
Ben turned to one of the light-crafted pages.
‘Joseph Carrigon, Forty One-years-old, New Light City, Central Earth Plain, Era of the Diamond, Year 4012.
It is a great celebration today. And she is just so beautiful. The smell of her skin, the way she holds herself. She mesmerises. But wait, here come the children…’
Ben read on. He was a farmer in a small community of about 500 people. Their village was surrounded by a thousand-mile wide, old growth forest. He tilled the land by hand. Every few years he went away for some time in the community's space ship. His brother would do his farming jobs then. His brother's name was unclear but it reminded him of the word Danny in some way.
'Well that's just amazing,' thought Ben. He felt comforted. And glad that his friendship with Danny would follow him to future lifetimes.
Ben went way back to an early portion of the book. He turned to a yellowing leaf of a page. It consisted of a luxurious leather material.
’Jambud, 9 years old, Kingdom of Ashoka, The Age of The Four Wheel Turning Kings, Lesser Period of Ascendancy, Year of the Ox.
All day, my friend and I have been making fantastic mud-pie. Very tasty, messy much. Laughter and sunshine! So much fun having we. Dhrimitti thinks best cooking ever this is. Our mammas and aunties will be so proud.’
Ben read how all day long they had been making mud pies and pretending to be at feasts. Then they saw a beggar passing by. But he was no ordinary beggar. He was the wisest person in all Ashoka. Jambud and Dhrimitti offered him their best mud-pie.
‘Truly fascinating Ben. But there is a serious side to all this. Well it is all serious and amazing stuff I know, but right now we need to know something vital for our mission so to speak. We need to look just a little way into the future. I’ve been reliably informed we need to find myself talking to you back on planet Earth. That, along with what Danny will be given, is why we have come here, I think,’ stated Mountain-Spirit solemnly.
It took Ben a good deal of time. He kept getting side-tracked into various past-life adventures. Eventually he found what he was looking for. The story read that he was at home, sat cross-legged on his bed looking out over the gardens. However, in the story he was feeling frightened. There was a sense of foreboding, a sense of being surrounded. There was an approaching, all-powerful threat. It was daytime yet it was dark. He could see night sky and clouds, then he realised why - the ceiling was missing and bits of plaster boarding hung in trails. Something was very wrong. Perhaps they should have been dead. Yet they had something, something that could change everything. Out in the back-garden of the house, near the rockery and the fire-exit from the dining room, stood Mountain Spirit. He was standing tall on the newly laid turf where the old holly tree used to be. He began to sing.
Ben felt himself drifting into a dream-state at this stage, the book lying open on his lap. He could hear the actual sounds Mountain-Spirit spoke. They etched themselves into his mind. He couldn't make sense of them and he didn’t try to do so. It was almost as if the words were bypassing his mind, going straight into his soul.
In the library the others were all transfixed on them. Mountain-Spirit smiled at Ben. They had got the message they were looking for. Instinctively, Ben knew that the content of the message was not important at the moment. The information was where it needed to be. Ben had only to retrieve at the right time. For now it needed to be secret. Ben gradually came round and then wandered off through the nearest bookshelves in the great library. He just wanted to be alone for a while. Jodie started to read through Ben’s Life-Book with Golf.