Chapter 12
The next morning, John isolated one of the donkeys for taming. He handed me the lead. “You’re up, cowboy.” I looked at him suspiciously.
“I don’t know how,” I said.
“You get on, and don’t fall off,” John said.
This is not the montage you want to see. I can’t tell you how many times I fell off. There were cats lined up on the fence. I am pretty sure they were laughing. John would advise me, things like ‘face forwards,’ ‘hands down,’ ‘be calm,’ and ‘relax.’ And I would inevitably get tossed.
“I can’t do it,” I said.
“Get up,” John said. “Brush yourself off.”
“It’s just a stupid ass. Why do I have to do this?”
“Eston,” John said. “I am going to give the greatest advice I ever got, from one of the wisest, coolest persons I ever met. Laugh it off. Keep on keeping on.”
I laughed. I got back on the ass. I did it again, and again, and eventually, I guess that stupid ass got tired. Technically, it’s an ass, so it’s okay to say that. I wonder if John saw the same hearts. He helped me down. He held me in a hug before setting me on my feet.
“Good work,” John said. “You tamed it, you name it.”
“Shatner,” I said.
“Interesting,” John said.
We had a pleasant, quiet day of planting melons, carrots, potatoes, and beets. I fed the animals.
Our home was super cool and safe. We had the inner space, the immediate gate that went around the Hobbit Home. This contained our animal pens. We had the run, which went around the inner space. We had four fenced paths ways going out, north, east, south, and west. Sometimes, when we had extra stones, we extended these areas and lit them. The monsters were kept so far abbey, it was easy to sleep at nights. We boxed in each of the corners for our expanded gardens. We made a bigger cow and horse area. Oh, and John built a swimming pool out of polished diorite. We swam regularly. He also made the top of the hill an observatory. He was tinkering with tool boxes, determined to make a telescope. Some projects just never seem to get completed. Beach home was just a shack. We had a tunnel from the beach shack to bedrock, and straight back to our mines. John preferred the underground passages.
The next day we saddled up Tex, Rusty, and Shatner. In addition to a saddle, Shatner also carried a chest. Our adventuring took us North. We took a more leisure path than the drive west. The scenery here is as good as Heartland. I enjoy being out in nature, especially when accompanied by John. Shatner fell in a hole. John spent time trying to get him out. I said just leave him.
“We never leave people behind,” John said. “He’s difficult,” I said.
“Yeah. What I said, hard rule, regardless of difficulty level,” John said.
We came across a ravine and while John built a bridge, I built the campsite and then started knocking out leaves for seedlings. This was a tree that wasn’t in our orchard. I collected wood, too, to see what I unlocked. I collected sun flowers because John said we could eat the seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are a healthy snack. We each had a ton of pumpkin seeds in our inventory. We snacked as we rode.
“There sure are a lot of ravines,” I said. “Yeah, there are,” John said.
Once the bridge was completed, we fenced in both sides, and built a shack on both sides of the ravine. From the bridge, we saw exposed iron and coal, and John went to collect it. I tried fishing from the bridge, but the water was too far down. John returned with the ore and we decided to just camp here for the night. It’s best to adventure in the mornings. We collected wood, and on this side of the bridge, we made a mini tower. From up high, we could see the terrain. John spied an artifact north of us. He again wished for a telescope.
“We can make it there and back,” I said. “In the morning,” John said.
From the top of the tower, we watched nightfall. The mobsters came just as they always did. John and I practiced archery from the safety of the tower. I was getting really good at shooting from a distance. In the morning, we collected all the tech drops. Bones, gun powder, zombie meat, and the one that came out of the water dropped a trident.
“This is so cool!” I said, tossing it. “Just like Ariel’s dad.”
“Be careful with it,” John said.
“I know weapons,” I said.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if it shot power like in the movie?”
“That would be really cool,” John said.
I jabbed it towards a tree. No lightening. No power.
We mounted up and headed north, towards the artifact. We came upon a square of gates. If it was arranged in a circle, I might I have called it Stonehenge. Three gates were standing. One was in pristine condition. There was evidence that there might have been more, scattered across the landscape. John got off Tex and handed me the lead. I tied it to Rusty’s saddle. There were iconic pillars. There was a temple in ruins.
“Why do people like building arches,” I said. “Because they love you,” John said.
“Seriously,” I said.
“Why questions are hard,” John said. “Seriously?” I asked.
John looked at me. He took a post out of his inventory and planted it in the ground. He summoned me off Rusty and I tied his lead to the post. John accompanied me to the pristine gate.
“What I tell you next is classified,” John said.
“Consider yourself a Space Force Cadet. You can’t tell anyone.”
“What about mom?” I said.
John sighed. “Don’t keep secrets from your mom.”
“Then how can I keep a secret?” I asked.
“I don’t know how to teach you this,” John said. He thought about it for a moment. “You know how at Christmas you can know about a gift but you can’t tell a person, no matter how excited you are?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“It’s kind of like that. It’s not a secret forever, but there is a delay in telling,” John said.
“So, it’s a surprise?” I asked.
“Kind of,” John said.
“How do I know when to surprise her?” I asked.
“That’s the tricky part,” John said.
“It’s called discernment.”
“You don’t like surprises,” I said.
“I do not,” John said.
“You don’t like Chistmas,” I said.
“Not really,” John agreed.
“You don’t like birthdays,” I said.
“I do not,” John agreed.
“You don’t like anything,” I said.
“That doesn’t track,” John said.
“So, why are we keeping this a secret?”
“Because anyone with granite and obsidian can make a portal to another world,” John said. “Any arch can become a portal, under the right conditions.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Did I ever read you ‘the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’?” John asked.
“No, but I saw the movie,” I said.
“That’s a portal,” John said. “Star Gate movie, portal. SG1, portal. HG Well’s Time Machine, portal. The Phantom Tollbooth, portal. The Purple Crayon, a portal. The Indian in the Cupboard, portal. Alice in Wonderland, portal. The Door in the Living Room, portal. Monsters INC, portals. The Cairn Tunnel, portal. Jumanji, portal. The Doors of Durin, portals. Zathura, portal. The Lives of Christopher Chant, His Dark Material, They Do Things Differently
There…”
“Okay! I see the trend,” I interrupted. “But that’s all fiction. There is a difference between fiction and nonfiction. Every first grader knows that.”
“Yeah, well, there’s some gray area here that kind of fall into an exception box,” John said.
“You’re just saying that to scare me,” I said.
“Are you scared?” John asked.
“I am excited,” I said.
“Me, too,” John said. Sizing up the gate. “There are portals all over earth. Natural ones.
Manmade ones. Alien ones. There are even portals of energy in the earth’s magnetic field connecting it to the sun. They call them ‘X’ points. Some of these can bounce a spaceship to another solar system.”
“So any arch can take you somewhere?” I asked.
“Under the right conditions. Granite infused with quarts makes for a great portal. Don’t ask me…”
“Why?” I asked.
“I think because they produce energy naturally,” John said. “Applying pressure can make electrical current. That’s why crystal radios work without a battery.”
“You know everything,” I said.
“No. My dad did. Between us, we know a lot,” John said.
“You don’t talk about him much,” I said.
“Yeah. He served in the Navy 22 years,” John said.
“The real navy or the secret space force navy?”
“He was really good at keeping secrets,” John said.
“So was my crazy uncle.”
“What crazy uncle?” I asked.
John tossed a stone through the pristine gate. It fell through the other side. Only then did he risk putting his hand on the stone. He went through and came out the other side and came around.
“This reminds me of the Gateway of the Sun,” John said.
“That’s a portal in Tiahuanaco. It is said that the Tiwanaku people escaped the Spanish through the gate and sealed the other side. It holds 48 keys. 49, if you count the prime in the middle.”
“Too bad it’s not 42,” I said. “Right?” John agreed.
“Do you suppose this could get us home?” I asked.
John looked at me. “Maybe.” He said. “Ideally, we need to build the gateway on our initial spawn point. It would need to be perfectly aligned. We would need a power source.”
“I thought you said they hold power,” I said.
“We don’t want to go anywhere locally,” John said.
“What’s locally?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Every world has associated worlds. Everything in the universe is connected. What happens here can affect something elsewhere, instantaneously,” John said.
“Like astrology? Mom says astrology is bunk,” I said.
“Not like astrology. Bigger than astrology,” John said. “It’s called entanglement. Two particles created together and separated are entangled. What you do to one, affects the other. Turn one left, the other goes right.”
“That’s weird,” I said.
“Einstein agrees with you. He called it spooky action at a distance,” John said.
“Yeah, but how does that translate into everything being connected?”
“Ever heard of the Big Bang?” John asked. “Mom loves that show,” I said.
“Yeah, sing the theme song,” John said.
I sang the theme song. It’s fun song. Very fast. Lots of words. Complicated fun.
“As far we know, that’s our origin point,” John said.
“We’re all entangled. We are one. Also, everything that exists is in a field. We’re connected.”
“So, why the secret?”
“If I told you anyone can make a gateway, a portal, using materials in their garage, do you know how many people would try to make one?” I asked.
“No,” I said. “Lots,” John said. “So?” I asked.
“Portals work both ways. Maybe you go somewhere. Maybe you let something in,” John said.
“Like Stranger Things?” I asked.
“Seriously? You know about that?” John asked.
“It’s got kids in it,” I said.
“That doesn’t mean it’s for kids,” John said.
“Stranger Things is real? That’s why you keep portals a secret?” I asked.
“You told me monsters aren’t real!”
“Aliens, not monsters,” John said. “Some aliens are monsters,” I said.
“Only in Japan,” John said. “Seriously, don’t open a door in Japan. But monsters aren’t the worst problem.”
“What else kind of problem is there?” I asked.
“Portals can go forwards and backwards through time. If you go back to a previous time on Earth, you could accidentally wipe out humanity. COVID 19 before humans are ready for COVID 19, not a good idea. Paradoxes, not a good idea.”
“Like Outlander?” I asked.
“OMG, they’re still trying to clean up that mess,” John said. He stopped.
“You watched that?”
“Clyde watches that,” I said. “I am not watching it. I am just attentive. I did like Back to the Future. Did you ever see that?”
“Did you miss my 1.21 gigawatts earlier?” John asked. “Yeah, I laughed,” I said.
“Let me see your diamond pickaxe,” John said. “It’s mine, use your own,” I said.
“Yours has Silk Touch,” John said. “So?” I said.
“I want to collect these gates, take them home, repair them, and see if we can make it home,” John said.
“Okay,” I said. “But only if Chester comes with us.”
“Okay,” John said.
“And Rusty,” I said.
“Okay,” John said, more reluctantly. “And Tex,” I said.
“I don’t have room for horses,” John said.
“We just can’t leave the animals here,” I said.
“We can release them back to the wild. They’ll be alright,” John said. He ate a pumpkin seed.
“No they won’t. There are wolves and zombies and parrots…”
“Parrots?” John asked.
I pointed to the parrot sitting on the gate.
“I think he is interested in your pumpkin seeds,” I said.
Out of curiosity, John tossed a pumpkin seed in the air. The parrot took flight and snagged it. I laughed. John did it again. The parrot performed the same aerobatic trick. It then landed on John’s shoulders. John tried to brush it off but it kept settling on his shoulder.
“That’s so funny!” I said. “No it’s not,” John said.
“You tamed it you name it,” I said. “We’re not keeping it,” John said.
“You look like a pirate,” I said. “Argh,” John said, doing a pirate face.
“Not with that stupid hat,” I said.
“I like this hat. I am taking it back to Texas,” John said.
“And Paradox,” I said.
“Paradox?” John asked. “Your pet parrot,” I said.
“Damn it! Why did you go and name it?” John asked.
“Because I love you,” I said.
I loaned John my diamond pickaxe with the tech upgrade of Silk Touch. We left the pristine gate remaining, but took all the other gates. We explored the temple. There was a statue of a woman.
“Zoey, of Fortnite,” I said.
“You’re not playing Fortnite, are you?” John asked.
“Is it okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, if you’re training for Space Force,” John said.
“I want to be like you,” I said.
“I want you to be like you. The greatest Hockey Player the world has ever known,” John said.
“And the best craftsman in all of Minecraft,” I said.
“Remind me to introduce you to the movie, the Last Starfighter, when we get back,” John said.
“Is it like Flight of the Navigator?” I asked.
“You remember that?’ John asked.
“I like the alien,” I said. “And the dogs catching Frisbees.”
We gathered our drops, loaded them into Shatner, and headed home.