Chapter Five
MAGGIE STRUCK THE SMALL SILVER GONG. As the tinkling of the chimes faded away into the warm evening air, the murmuring started to die down.
She gazed out over the crowd. They had decided to hold the meeting in the park concert area because it was large enough to accommodate everyone who had expressed an interest in coming. All seven members of the ruling council were there.
A large number of Humans were in attendance as were some of the Cats and Dogs and several Elvwist, including Hawk, the Leader of the 2nd Elvwist enclave, Sparrow's home.
The announcement for the meeting had been made over paralink which everyone had access to, and the response from people wanting to be present had been tremendous - too many to fit comfortably in the regular central Meeting Hall - thus the park location. They were also broadcasting the meeting via holo, to the entire population. Everyone had a right to know about this.
Maggie was surprised at the number of folk attending in person. All the Leaders from the other one hundred and seventeen villages and towns who could make it were there - at least a third of them. Some of them would be staying overnight in the village, so all the inns and the two hotels were filled to capacity. Others were staying with family or friends - Maggie was hosting one of the council members from another village and also Sparrow since she had extra high ceilings and kept a spare room set up to accommodate the Elvwist.
The other three members were staying with Rachel and her vow-mate, James. By now, a week since the meeting announcement, everyone had heard rumors; the air was thick with speculation.
She struck the gong again and the noise died away altogether. All eyes turned towards the concert stage where the council members were seated.
From her seat, Maggie pressed the communicator on her wrist.
“Can everyone hear me?” she asked. There were assents from several of the listeners. “I won’t keep you in suspense. Some of you know Jade. For those who don’t, she is my daughter. She has something important to relate to you.”
Maggie sat back and nodded to Jade, who was standing at the dais.
Nervously, she recounted what she and Tally had found, then sat down beside the council table. There was total silence. She looked at Tally who’d settled himself beside her chair.
she sent.
He shrugged slightly. he sent back, .
Everyone started to talk at once: “What…Where…Are you sure?!!!”
Maggie hit the gong, effectively quieting the crowd.
“Please, we must have order. Everyone cannot speak at once. Raise your hand to be recognized and we will answer your questions one at a time.” She looked out over the crowd as just about every hand went waving in the air.
And the public meeting was off and running.
Shirley Tang, a resident of Twelve, wanted to know how the information had been verified. Maggie explained about the psyscan that had been performed on Jade and Tally. She nodded at that. Most folk who lived in the village knew those two.
She had heard Jade’s mental scream and had been one of the people who called Healer Chen concerned about her. If Jade was willing to subject herself to such an ordeal knowing what pain it would cause, she reasoned, then she had to be taken seriously.
Rachel gave the report of the crew who had gone out to the cottage - no doubt the source of all the rumors - verifying the stationary Dim Spot and the potential door. She also had Jade broadcast her mental images of her find. That went over big; the people loved it.
Sparrow explained to John Gaines from Three, who wanted to know what the Elvwists thought, that they had studied it, and in their opinion, the phenomenon in the Dome wall was, in fact, a door to the outside.
One man, Gavin Weams, a farm animal keeper/cloner from Eight, asked, “Does anyone know why a Spot that we can get through has suddenly appeared? And so close to an apparent door?”
Lloyd Montgomery, the council member from One Eighteen, answered.
“We have never known why the Dome is here in the first place. We’ve always reasoned that since a Spot appeared every time we tried to get close to the Dome wall, they must be there to keep us away from it, to help keep us contained. We don’t believe it’s an accident this one has opened, allowing access to a door. We don’t know why this time and place has been chosen for this to happen.”
Thoughtfully, Gavin said, “Perhaps it means that our time of confinement is finally coming to an end.” He sat down.
The crowd was quiet for a moment, digesting that idea. Then dozens of hands shot up. Maggie nodded at a woman.
“We recognize Sharon Keeper.”
Sharon said, with a smile, “If you don’t mind, I will continue to sit,” a request that everyone understood and smiled at as Sharon was - hugely - awaiting the birth of her third child due in two weeks.
“Jade, did you by any chance try to open the door?”
Jade’s heart jumped - no one had asked her that question, and Maggie must not have seen it in her mind during the scan.
She hesitated for a split second, then said with a nod, “Yes, Ma’am, I did, but it wouldn’t budge. I tried several different ways but couldn’t get the thing to open.” A perplexed look flitted across her face.
“There was no door knob or handle, only some kind of indentation. I tried pushing, pulling and sliding but nothing worked. It kind of made me wonder if it actually was a door.” she finished, not realizing she sounded peeved.
She didn’t feel the need to share the rock throwing incident with them.
Sharon nodded. “That must have been very frustrating; however, I’m relieved you weren’t able to get it open. I think it should be opened only with a lot of caution and not alone.”
Jade shot a thoughtful look at Sharon. “You’re absolutely right,” she agreed, “and Tally pointed that out to me. I was just so excited at seeing it there that it didn’t occur to me that I shouldn’t open it.”
She smiled, with a little guilt. “I thought maybe I could get a quick look outside before I made a report.”
She cast a fast glance over at Maggie who looked back at her with exasperation. She received a private message:
To which she replied,
Maggie nodded slightly but she knew Jade and she hadn’t heard any real contrition in that answer, had even detected a hint of sarcasm. She thought back to when she was Jade’s age and smiled to herself. She probably would have tried to get the thing open, too.
The meeting dragged on into the evening. The matter of the mouse without a bar code arose. Maggie explained she had seen and scanned him but didn’t get much information.
Communicating with non-aware creatures could be difficult. Mostly, it was done by determining their world view, which usually was pretty narrowly focused. The small rodent was mainly terrified that he was going to be eaten, even though he had been assured that would not happen.
He had lived in the woods behind the little cottage as long as he could remember, along with others of his kind, and really had no idea what the gigantic being wanted to know. He had trouble with the fact that Maggie was even communicating with him. He had never seen Humans before, and couldn’t understand what they were.
Maggie saw in his mind he had been hiding from some type of predator - she couldn’t quite make out what kind - when Jade and Tally came across him.
She explained the mouse was being further examined by the Elvwists. Maybe they would get more from him.
It gradually became clear it wasn’t so much a question of if an expedition was going to be dispatched to try to open the door and go outside as it was of when, how many would go, and who would be going.
The ruling council had declared the cottage and the surrounding area the property of the government, so anyone going through would have to be approved by them, or the department they would set up for that.
Jade, of course, desperately wanted to go but was certain she wouldn’t be allowed even though she had made th
e discovery. She was sure Maggie would be dead set against it. She was glad when a break was called.
She was getting weary - and grumpy - from all of the questions and the following debate. She wanted time to marshal her thoughts and prepare her arguments for going on the mission.
As she left the meeting, she was bumped by a tall, medium built older man going in. She hadn’t been paying attention so she thought she’d bumped him and mumbled an apology but he didn’t even turn around.
She shrugged and went on out, idly thinking that, with that pale white skin, the guy sure needed some sun.
She had forgotten him by the time she’d gone three more steps.