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 Chapter 6



   That night Kendra told the story and admitted her shame.  She offered to
resign her position and that was refused.  They reminded her who she was,
and why she held that position.  It was not something they could dismiss
her from, or replace her.

   The mood for her was somber and she didn't enjoy what she normally did.
Finally the evening ended, she went home and just crashed onto her bed. 
She was late getting up the next day and looked like she hadn't slept at
all.  As she pushed herself through the day she knew this had to be settled
with John.

   Finally she walked into his office and closed the door behind her.  She
walked to his desk and head bowed, started,"I ask forgiveness, and to be
relieved from my position.  A lazy person can't help you, and I was for
sure lazy.  If you agree, then I'll go to the shrine of the sun and spend
my days in meditation and penitence."

   "I can't release your from what you freely assumed yourself.  You asked
for your job and it was given based on your request.  I didn't give it, so
I can't release you from it.  That would have to come from the person who
gave you the job.  Seeing as they are no longer among the living I see no
way to get released.  You have never trained someone to follow you, so you
will serve until your have completed your task.  Now go take a hot bath and
get some sleep."

   It was what she knew would come.  She already was old.  Her father and
brother had sucked her dry of much of her life force.  Their schemes and
lies were just more than most could have handled.  It had killed her
mother, and that was who she made the request of for the job.  Now over
forty years later she was just tired.  But she knew John was right, and she
had no one to go to and give up her burden.

   John watched Kendra go.  He felt sorry for her, but she had chosen her
own path and she had to walk it.  No one could do it for her.  She had
confirmed five times she wished to travel this path.  Now no one lived who
could take her place.

   He sat on the balcony and looked over the ocean.  The waves were coming
in hard today.  They crashed at the reef and then once more on the shore. A
violent day for the water.  He saw something now on the beach and it looked
like some kind of wreckage.  Going in he got his binoculars and looked
while adjusting them.  There was wood from some kind of boat and one body
as well on the shore.

   Going in to his desk he called Carlton.  "My friend, you have a boat
that crashed and at least one body on the beach my balcony looks out on.  I
think sending a chopper to check it out might be a good idea?"

   "On the way boss, and I'm going as well.  This one interests me greatly
as last night we lost three of our signals from the buoys.  It didn't last
long so we figured it might be an abnormality?  But this changes how we
want to look at that."

   As John watched he saw the two choppers land and men start collecting
wreckage off the beach.  The body was lifted into one chopper and it took
off fast heading toward the hospital.  Another chopper was now over the
water looking for more wreckage or bodies.  Then a large one sat down and
it was quickly loaded with the collected junk from the beach.  That would
go to the hanger for review and identification if possible.

   This entire operation took no more than an hour.  Two men were left
going over the sand with metal detectors to find what they could.  A truck
had been pulled out to the dunes and left on the inland side.  The men kept
walking to a bucket and dropping things into it.  Finally one man walked
back to the truck and got another 5 gallon size bucket.  They kept going
for a good three hours and never slowed down adding whatever it was to the
buckets.  There now were a good dozen on the beach.  When the two men tried
to pick one up they just could not do it.

   John called Carlton and told him the problems his men were having. 
Shortly a chopper landed and Carlton got out.  He pulled his phone out and
called John.  "Boss, I guess trying to lift about a thousand pounds per
bucket made it hard to do.  If they had succeeded the bottoms would have
fallen out.  As it is we have about six tons of one ounce platinum coins
here.  I have enough coin bags to repackage these and then take them to the
bank.  If you wish I will drop a couple by for you and the girls to see."

   "Just put a note in the bag I have about 3,750 credits of the platinum
here at home and bring me three.  I don't want anyone thinking I would take
any of it.  Tomorrow I'll transfer that amount of gold to the islands
account to cover it."

   "Boss, these are strange.  I can't read the writing on them and the
pictures are of nothing I ever saw."

   "Bring them by and let me see them.  Who was the person you sent to the
hospital?"

   "I have no idea, boss, she never was awake and was barely breathing.  Dr
Michaels is working on her, and hopefully he will get us some answers."

   "Tell him that Dana, the girls and I will be stopping by before we come
home tonight.  I don't expect the victim to be able to speak any language
he knows."

   "Your thinking she is from the other dimension?"

   "That is my best guess, Carlton.  Do you know of any government that
used platinum coins in our world?"

   "Guess if I had thought I would not have asked that stupid question.  Oh
well, that is what you get from military people, boss.  I'm on my way with
your three coins."

   John wondered what these were, and where they came from.  And who was
trying to escape with them?

   Carlton walked in and saw John in contemplation.  "I see we have a new
mystery to solve now, right?"

   "No, it is by no means a new mystery, it is a very old one.  I'm sure
people with better minds than mine have tried to solve it.  But it does
fascinate me to no end."

   "That I would take a bet on, no one with half as good a mind has worked
on it before.  Everyone before you has seen this as magic or with a
religious context and that is not how you will see it.  To you it is a
simple science problem that we don't have answers for."

   "You're right about no answers, but simple it is not.  We're talking
about physics we don't understand, or even know all the rules for.  There
are a lot of theories and few answers.  Now I'm in the middle of it and
have no idea what the rules are."

   He handed John the three coins and he had picked very good ones.  This
way every detail could be seen, and if you understood the language, read.
"I see they call their land Pampas for some reason.  But it is written in a
Japanese type script.  I'll need to get these under a magnifier to see it
well enough to read most of it."

   "I'll have the maps and letters we found, at the hospital for you to
pick up when you go there."

   John took digital shots of each coin and saved them on the computer.  He
could enlarge these and read everything on them.  The girls came bounding
into his office and both of the little ladies were on his lap.  Dana just
smiled at the picture.

   "My three ladies, I have a small gift for you.  There are three coins on
my desk, you each get one of them.  Anything you get from them, feelings
wise or picture wise, I need to know.  We had a shipwreck wash onto our
beach and these came from it.  I'm almost sure they came from the other
dimension.  But now I need to prove it."

   "They're so shiny and bright." Riko was pleased with this new item.

   "They're platinum, and are worth 1,250 credits in our money.  That is a
lot of money here."

   Both of the young girls looked shocked now.  "I'll give mine back to you
as soon as I can't feel anything, daddy." Riko was really looking scared.

   "First of all it is yours, dear, and you should keep it, and use it to
remember the day you became mine.  This was found the same day as that
happened.  Matter of fact I saw the wreck and called Carlton to come and
check it out."

   Riko's eyes were huge.  "Really, it is mine?"

   "Little one, if I tell you something then I mean exactly that.  I'll
never change my mind or see it in a different way."

   Kelly looked at Riko and smiled at her.  "You can always believe daddy,
and he never will lie or fail to tell all the truth.  If he says something,
be it good or bad, it will happen.  He never makes any promise he doesn't
keep.  So you can trust every word from him.  If he says you can do
something you're safe doing it.  Now if he says you can't do something, if
you do it he will find out and punish you.  That I learned the hard way."

   Riko laughed at this admission.  "I'll never do what I am told not to.
From as far back as I can remember I was spanked for doing anything wrong."

   "Daddy never spanks you, he just makes you feel bad because you didn't
listen to him.  Not following his instructions is like lying to him.  Now
that I know it, I make sure I always follow instructions he gives me."

   This was a new area for Riko.  "I always got spanked, and it hurt.  But
your being upset with me would hurt even more."

   He hugged his girls and sent them off to clean up and get dressed to go
out.  "What do you think of the coin?"

   Dana had been looking hard at it and saw a few things she was sure John
had seen as well.  "You didn't notice the writing?"

   "Yes, and it made little sense to me."

   "But on the sides of the writing, it seems there is more writing?" She
handed him the coin.

   He placed it under a high magnification and saw what she had picked up.
"The rules are on many coins.  You will just have to look for them."

   He called Carlton and asked him to count, and then bring all the coins
to his office for examination.  He explained what Dana had seen and he was
able to read.

   "It looks like a long job to try to find what the rules are?  But dear,
you will be working with me, as will the girls to find every one we can. 
I'll start Carlton looking at low tide for more coins.  I'm sure we've
missed a lot of them.  It is possible they could be ones with the rules on
them."

   The two headed back to their bedroom to shower and change.  Once done
they met the younger girls talking with Carlton in John's office.  "Of you
want to see something odd, look at this." He showed Carlton the printing on
the side of the raised area of printing.

   "That would have had to be done with a laser to be that small and yet
readable."

   "I have no idea how it was done, but we have to check every coin to find
answers to my questions.  You will need at low tide to start groups with
metal detectors on the beach again.  Have a group in the water to check out
the sand below for any more coins.  Finding all we can could be critical to
us."

   "It will be done, boss, and we'll keep at it until no more turn upl.  We
never got to the bank, so you'll have to live with my people's counts."

   John got the group ready and made sure Jackson had good security around
the entryways.  For sure he wanted no theft of over 180,000,000 credits
from his home.  They had two guards sitting in John's office where the bags
were stored.  The question now was this the property of the young lady in
the hospital or the country?  Either way John decided to learn what he
could from the coins.

   The table was a large one and Jackson, Pam and Rhonda we waiting for
them.  The girls liked Riko and she had been teaching them to speak
Japanese.  So all were well known to each other.  Riko showed her coin to
the girls and Jackson.  Each really looked at it closely.

   "This didn't come from here,, and not from our world, either." Rhonda
was very clear in what she saw.

   Kelly explained the idea of dimension shifts, and two worlds occupying
the same space in two different dimensions.  It was quantum physics and
something we really knew little about.  But it says that matter can go from
one place to another without moving through the intervening space.  Just it
is here now and there later.  How it moved no one knows in this dimension.
But Einstein did his best to disprove it or modify it and failed."

   "That seems very complex, Kelly?" Rhonda was now very interested.

   " Look, here is just a bit of the problems.  Once more the idea is based
on the string theory.  The quantum mechanics of strings implies these
oscillations take on discrete vibrational modes, the spectrum of the
theory. Each string can have one or more worlds that are connected to it
like strings on a musical instrument produce different sounds as hand
placement changes."

   "God, that is complicated, and yet interesting." Rhonda was now
determined to learn more about this idea.

   Dinner that night was a complete success.  The group talked and laughed
a lot at many of the stories.  The way Pam and Rhonda felt about John was
not lost on Riko, either.  She knew he was loved by many, and yet she got a
lot of time with him others didn't.

   Once dinner was over they headed to the hospital.  The policeman
motioned for John to park right out front, "I have things to load in your
car for you, sir." So John handed over his keys.

   He went in and it looked like a parade coming down the hall.  Riko and
John then Kelly and Dana marched to John's pace.  They saw the doctor
looking with a smile towards them.

   "John, you are right on time.  She is talking now, and I'll be damned if
I have any idea what she's saying?  She's in room six, and please don't
stay too long."

   They walked into room six and the girl smiled at them.  She started
speaking at once and every one knew what she was saying.  John looked at
Dana and nodded his head where it could not be noticed.

   Dana started to ask questions and slowly got a few answers.  John just
acted bored and like he understood nothing of what was said.  The girls saw
this and played the same game.  John told Dana he was going to take the
girls to get them something to drink.  This Dana explained to the girl and
she smiled at John.

   Once out of the room he looked at Riko.  "Give me your opinion?"

   "I saw no lies or deceit in her.  What she said, she believed.  But I
don't think she knew that much."

   "OK, Kelly, your opinion?"

   "I agree with Riko.  But she was hiding something, I could see it."

   They walked into the doctor's lounge and got a drink out of the cooler.
As they drank they talked about how to find out what was being hidden. 
Dana would have to keep doing the questioning for now.

   Dr Michaels walked in and sat with them.  "She has broken ribs, one arm
and one leg bone as well.  Her blood work said she was malnourished and has
a low iron count.  I would estimate she is between sixteen and nineteen. 
She will be in here until she can be taken care of someplace where she can
use a wheel chair."

   "You can send her in two days to our home and she can stay with Leigh
Anne for a time.  But you will need to make house calls for her.  I don't
run ambulance service for anyone."

   The doctor laughed.  "I make house calls all the time now.  Really, it
is very effective at stopping the spread of any illness.  With the nine
clinics feeding us here with badly hurt people we stay pretty busy. 
Carlton gets them here fast, and we are always under the one hour window
for treatment.  The furthest clinic is just a twenty eight minute trip from
here by air using a small jet.  There is a chopper right there for any
emergency where the jet is not available, but that takes a lot longer."

   "We built the clinics at the small air fields on each island.  Each
island gets one flight each day to move people as needed.  The clinic had
both a chopper and small jet for emergency flights.

   We also have one ferry each day moving goods and people.  We built a
ship like the old Sea Shadow stealth ship the Navy built.  It has a
drive-in deck for cars and trucks, so it is much larger than the IX 529. 
We did mount a few missiles on it where they can't be seen.  But no real
weapons are used much as you can't shoot at what you can't see.  It runs on
a nuclear power plant and has good speed."

   "It seems you have the islands well covered.  But we do lack enough
people to really use them properly." The doctor was very much into
agriculture and followed it closely.

   "Doc, if we had more people we would have to feed more people.  It would
require more jobs and it would expand the economy.  So right now less is
more.  It's critical we adjust to our current size, then see what we need
to continue to grow.  We're not going to import people just to grow. 
Especially not ones from advanced countries, or ones from the third world
who need a lot of education."

   "What about the natives here?"

   "What about them?  They're getting educated and trained to live a better
life.  The children are in school and most are smart as hell.  I don't know
if you have noticed, being here in town.  But the oldest of that group is
working at my home.  Most out on the islands are under forty, because their
fathers were lost out fishing.  Many mothers killed themselves rather than
live without a husband, as in their religion you marry just one time."

   That did sit the doctor back.  "That seems rather barbaric."

   "You're just like the missionaries that went to Hawaii.  If you don't
understand it then change it.  It just might be your value system is wrong,
doc.  I like the marry once and for life idea, myself.  It sure would cut
down on unwanted children."

   That could not be argued with and he knew it.  "OK, you have my ass on a
pole now.  I didn't think things through, and didn't have enough facts.  It
might be time for me to study their religion, that might help me understand
some of their decisions."

   "When you stop in to see the girl I'll give you a book that will help
you.  But it is very much like the very old Shinto religion of Japan.  Not
what is used today, but what existed twenty five hundred years ago."

   "It's really that old?"

   "As best I can tell it is over ten thousand years old.  I'd have to say
it is the oldest known religion that still exists.  It predates all others
documented in history."

   Now he had a man very interested.  "How do you know so much about it?"

   "If I was going to rule their islands then I needed to be a part of
their culture as well.  For us, we have adopted their religious beliefs and
are learning each day.  A lot of what you see around you does not include
shrines that exist here.  Just to find them you must believe and then go
looking for it.  It is not a church and all are not welcome."

   The interest level was now very high.  "I'll tag along when they bring
her to your home.  That way I can pick the book up.  You have me completely
interested."

   "If you do that I'll show you a lot more.  So feel free to come along."

   They headed back to the room where Dana was sitting on the bed. 
"Husband ,I have a lot of data for you." She said that in the girls
language.

   "Fine, we'll discuss it later tonight." The girls face showed she was
surprised.

   Kelly and Riko both asked her how she was feeling?  Now she was
completely shocked.  "How is it you all speak my language?"

   "It is the language of our native people here.  I am their leader and
share their religion.  The doctor says you need lots of sleep to start
healing, so in two days he will bring you to my home to stay while you
recover.  Just feel free to eat all you want, as your body needs it badly.
I'll send a woman down to handle the communications problem for you.  Most
here don't speak the native language."

   "I am pleased that you are helping me.  There were six others with me
did any of them survive?"

   "You were the only one we found on the beach."

   She shuddered at this comment.  Then the tears started to roll.  Dana
held her and calmed her down until she fell asleep.

   Once home they went to John's office to the conference table.  Both the
girls and John waited for Dana to get her thoughts together.

   "The girl is from the other dimension, she was coming here with money to
buy food for her people.  She said they had over 120,000 coins on their
ship.  But her country needed food badly and the coins were worth nothing
without the food."

   "There are a lot more coins down there, and they'll start to recover
them tomorrow.  But I need to know how much food, and how to get it to her
people?"

   "You're considering sending people into the other dimension?"

   "Yes.  Tthe key word is considering.  I have four aircraft carriers
sitting out there with no place to go.  The storage capacity for food would
be more than we could possible accumulate quickly.  With a good crew,
weapons and aircraft for protection it should be a very safe platform.  But
I have a lot of questions she has to answer before I make that type of
decision."

   "I hope we don't have to do that.  There is no reason I know of for
feeling that way, but I do feel it?" Dana was not one to feel fear or worry
fast.

   "If we do try it then I'll make it as safe as possible.  Putting our
people in high risk situations is not my normal choice.  But we need
answers, and a lot of them.  In the morning we'll start on the coins and
see what we find?"

   The next morning everyone was working setting the table up for checking
out the coins.  This was going to be slow going and the ones with
information were to be photographed in high resolution.  But they needed
lots of light and good magnification to be able to find the writing.

   Carlton came into the office and was pleased at how well John had set
things up.  "I brought two more lighted magnifying glasses for you.  Right
now I have fifty people on the beach and in the water.  They are using six
underwater metal detectors to check the under water areas.  We have placed
grids with numbers, and each is being double searched all the way to the
reef.  Once that is done, we will suction the sand up on the beach and
catch any coins picked up that way.  We have a unit to run down the beach
that will cut a foot off the surface and tumble it through a screen,
returning anything fine enough back on the beach."

   "There is no way we'll get all the coins, Carlton.  It's just not
possible in sand, or sand and water.  Also, we don't know that they're all
on this side of the reef?  It's possible we have coins from several
different shipwrecks.  Only time will answer our questions.  You said last
night you had some other items for me to see?" Carlton pulled out a satchel
and handed it to John.  This was opened quickly and John was surprised to
find a map and some documents.  None had been wet so the case must have
floated into shore?  Looking at the map, he saw the transfer point where
the captain expected to be moved into this dimension.  Or at least he
thought that was what the large area was?

   "This is going to take a lot of study.  Do you have copies of this map?"

   "As it was the only thing in that case that made any sense to me, yes, I
did run a copy on our computer.  I wanted to study the land masses and see
how much different theirs were than ours."

   "Good, look for whether a carrier could navigate those water, and how
best to protect ourselves.  We might one day want to explore that
dimension. It would be nice if we had at least looked at it that way."

   "Boss, you're good at feeding us crap when you don't want to talk.  But
this sounds very serious to me, and if we do it it needs very good
planning. So I want David in on it, and to start a file on ideas."

   John handed two of the coins that had been completely checked to
Carlton. "You and David each need to keep one of those.  We know, so far,
that most of it came from a nation that is short on food.  The girl in the
hospital told Dana a fantastic story last night.  She speaks the old
language so we can communicate with her.  Over time we will learn much
about the people and beliefs in that dimension.  Then we'll make the
decision to go and help?"

   Turning this over in his mind, Carlton liked the way John was
approaching it.  "Count me in, and I know David will also take a piece of
this.  But understand, he is going to want to lead the force going in.  I
happen to agree, one of us needs to do that."

   "I was considering doing that myself, Carlton."

   "No way is that boat going to float, boss.  You can't use any
electronics instruments there to find your location.  The land masses are
not where ours are.  Solving those problems needs someone who is careful
and with good navigation skills.  We don't know that large rocks are not
just below the surface.  So watching to not rip the bottom out of a ship is
needed.  We just don't know what to expect, and will have to change how
things are done often, I would guess?"

   "Those are issues the two of you need to discuss.  I need a list of
major question you two have.  Those will be brought up to the girl,
hopefully to get some answers."

   "Then you're seriously considering this?"

   "That platinum, it seems, was coming here to try to buy food.  What
would you consider in that case, Carlton?  The girl in the hospital seems
pretty human to me."

   That he could not argue against and would not try to.  "OK, boss, you
win, and we'll get your list together." With that Carlton left the office.

   Dana had watched this and listened to it all.  "Why did you tell him you
were thinking of going?"

   "Because I have been considering it.  But you saw how fast he shot that
down and rightfully so.  I just don't have the experience really needed. 
His comments let me know that one ship is just not going to work.  We'll
need good sonar, and the ability to map the oceans as we go.  This is very
much like mapping a new world, but using modern equipment.  But I must keep
in mind the dangers in the oceans there, whatever they are?"

   She could see he was talking and thinking at the same time.  So she just
listened and watched.

   The map looked really different and the paper was a very thin and strong
one.  "I'm not sure what the paper is, but you can't tear it.  I'm not sure
about other ways of destruction like fire, or cutting it up, but it is very
strong."

   Dana had been watching his work with it.  "I hate to say this but it
almost looks like some kind of skin?  We could take a small piece and have
it tested for DNA, and run a scan of materials."

   John looked closely and saw what Dana was seeing.  He took a razor knife
and cut off a small piece and placed it into and envelope for her to take
and have checked.  "Once there is a DNA sample, use the rest for a GC/MS
run.  I think that a run in the Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry
machine will tell us more than the DNA."

   "I'm off, and will take Kendra with me and drop her at the hospital. 
She can sit and talk with the girl, and get more information."

   "Be careful what you tell Kendra.  I don't want her offering the girl
any hope of our doing anything right now.  We need information for the time
being."

   "I have seen some stress between the two of you."

   "Yes, it is called lack of trust, dear.  When I really needed help and
information she failed to provide it.  Of course I found what I needed
myself, but she and I had a discussion over her lack of help.  I also made
sure she knew I had solved that problem without her help."

   Dana could see he was still angry over that.  So she just moved another
direction for right now.  "I'll be sure she asks some of the questions I've
heard here today.  Then we can verify them when I question her.  If the
story is exactly same both times is most likely right.  You will just have
to look for small errors."

   "Sounds good, dear, and I'll leave the test and that to you.  Right now
I have lots to read and hopefully start to understand?"

   He sat at the table while the girls went over the coins.  He started
reading a journal from the case.  It looked like it might be the ships log
book, but he just didn't know, as much that you would expect was not there.
Someways, this was closer to a diary than a log.  Whoever wrote it was
definitely a male, just from the way it was written.

   The man was not well educated, and used some very badly written words.
Often misspelled and not easy to read, this was a work of labor for whoever
wrote this.  It was getting hard to follow his meaning.  John walked out on
the balconywhere he could see the people on the beach, and the ones in the
water.

   Two were working the far side of the reef.  Carlton did one thing really
smart, he had a small barge with a V shaped set of plates off the far side.
As water came at the reef the barge and plates parted it, so divers were
not driven into the reef and possibly hurt.  It would be like a boat
cutting through the water, the way it worked.

   You could see things being pulled up onto the deck of the barge,
unloaded and the container sent back down.  He got his binoculars and
looked at the pile of stuff on the barge.  There was a lot of it, and he
knew each item would have to be checked out.  Part, he was willing to bet,
was from long ago wrecks of the islands own fishing boats.  A little may
have come from this wreck.  But the big prize would be from boats from the
other dimension, that had not made it here intact.  He hoped they would
tell them a lot more about the other world.

   Kelly came out and saw John watching the people.  "I see you're looking
for more information."

   "Yes, and not getting much at the moment.  But that will change in a
couple of days as that stuff gets moved into our storage area.  I want a
group of native ladies to go through each item, and make some decision
about where it came from.  The stuff that belonged to boats from here needs
to be given to them, and be added to a shrine for the lost men.  Things
that came from the other dimension, I want us to go through.  Items that
they don't know, we'll look at them and see if maybe they are from a
culture here, or maybe one that moved long ago?"

   "Sounds like a lot of work.  If you want I'll handle the first sort, and
find the right ladies to help Riko and me.  That way you don't have to get
into it until we are dealing with the known artifacts."

   "That sounds like a good idea to me, sweetheart.  So that little project
is yours and Riko's to handle.  Once you have it down to a manageable
level, I'll work with both of you to sort it out.  Be sure you let Carlton
know what your doing, and he gives you access to the storage location."

   John left and just walked about for a time, needing to think clearly,
and be away from the coins and diary he was reading.  The enormity of the
problem, and the lack of knowledge, was just mind blowing.  He was sure he
knew how people felt, being told they were going to move people to the moon
and they had not yet placed a man in space.  They had a ton of questions
and unknown issues just like he did now.

   To get this under control he needed a decision tree just for this
project.  That would be built off of a question list he would need to
prepare.  So the early questions needed to be thought out, and now.  Each,
he was sure, would bring more question, but just in one direction.  His
mind right now was scattered over a wide area, so he was not seeing things
he needed to.

   Doing this right would require assigning people to areas of the project,
then standing back and letting them handle it.  So picking the right people
would be his job for each area of responsibility.  Then he would problem
solve with each of them, and provide support where needed.  He needed to
not be tied to the work in any one area, and looking over the whole
project. This would allow him some feelings of how things should go.

   Now at least he had a start to the project.  Thinking about it, he
decided to call it project Venture.  It seemed some how appropriate for
this project, here it was nothing ventured, nothing gained.  There was just
so much knowledge that had been lacking for so long that needed to be
found, bits and pieces were just not answers.  That was all ten thousand
years had produced to this point.

   He called Jimmy and Tommy and asked them to come see him.  Next he
called David and asked him to come as well.  Carlton would be here shortly
and the group would sit down and work out the start of the plan.

   Carlton came into the office and sat before the desk.  "Boss, things are
getting really odd.  We have more platinum coins and a lot of gold ones
from the other side of the reef.  No one understands the language on any of
them."

   "I'm not surprised as I figured if this boat came, others had to as
well, in the past."

   "Your saying this is not all from the same boat?"

   "I don't think so, Carlton.  Kelly, Riko and a group of ladies who are
native here, will go through what you find and decide what is from the
islands here.  Those items will go to a shrine for the lost people.  What
is left over Dana, Riko, Kelly, Kendra and I'll go over and see what we
feel is from the other dimension.  All of those items need to be studied
for what can be learned."

   When Jimmy, Tommy and David walked into the office, John took them out
on the balcony where each was given a tablet and pen.  "OK, now I am going
to send some of you into outer space.  I am seriously considering sending a
mission into the other dimension.  That would be 1 aircraft carrier with
some aircraft, 1 submarine and may be 2 Ticonderoga class missile cruisers,
we have ten that have been converted to nuclear power.  From what I have
seen so far, there is no competition for that small fleet in that
dimension. Any questions so far?"

   Jimmy was confused,"What do you need Tommy and me for?"

   "This is going to be a major project.  I need a good decision tree and
several people will need to be filling in their parts of that data.  You
guys will have to build me a tree like the one used to get the islands
started.  The closest I can come to how critical this is, would be the idea
in the 60's to go to the moon.  We had never placed a man in orbit around
this planet or anything out there.  We didn't have a good rocket to lift
anything into space, so going to the moon was just a wild idea.  Kennedy
challenged the scientists, and if they failed, they would be embarrassed."

   "I see where your thinking of going and can see some value in that.  But
how does it compare to the moon landing?" Jimmy had to have data.

   "Tell me all you know about the other dimension Jimmy?"

   "I didn't know there was another dimension until just a few minutes
ago."

   "We know it has existed for at least ten thousand years.  Many of
Japan's people came from that dimension.  The religion of both Japan and
here came from there as well."

   "I see where you're headed, but don't understand why?"

   "In ten thousand years there is no firm history of that dimension.  We
do know many think it is evil.  If you agree with that, then why are so
many of the people who came here peaceful?  Some say there are monsters in
the seas, the same was said of the oceans in our dimension many years ago.
So far, I'm dealing with old tales that have no basis in fact.  So we need
to find out what is, or is not, real.  That is going to be a challenge, and
a big one, as we are stepping out into the completely unknown."

   That statement shocked them all.  How little was known, the lack of any
real facts and the amount of knowledge lacking was big.  David looked at
John and smiled.  "I don't think I would send my family on that cruise. 
Now I see what your concerns are, and the many issues we need to examine.
No one will be forced to do this on my side.  It'll all be volunteers, and
they must know it is possible they could be lost and never come back."

   Dana walked out on the balcony looking pale.  "The map is not on any
paper, it is drawn on human skin.  I ran every test I could and they all
proved that was fact."

   John handed the map to David, who could not believe the difference
between the current islands and what the map showed.  But many of the
islands out from the Shangri-La Islands were not shown at all.  "I need to
have this map compared with current ones."

   "You'll find it in the file called Project Venture.  I got a very good
scan of it and a few other maps found later.  The landmasses on them are
not like the ones in our dimension at all.  It's like the two dimensions
over the years formed quite differently.  We don't match and, are not like
what was projected by current science theories."

   Jimmy now was really shaken up.  "This is unreal, and like nothing I
have ever been involved in.  I'll be happy to run the decision tree for
you, but I want nothing to do with this project outside of that.  Maps on
human skin I just can't handle.  Come on, Tommy, we'll go back and start
the tree for john and his people.  It will be called Project Venture John."
The two young men left and were not feeling well.

   "I'm not so sure some of our own cultures didn't use skin as maps, so I
can't take any stand on that issue.  But the audacity of what your
suggesting is bigger than the moon shot.  We need some professors involved,
and from a military point of view, a working group to start.  If we're
going to step into the unknown, it needs a lot of planning to have any
chance of coming back?  It's possible we could have to live out our lives
there and that must be considered." Carlton was wistful right now and he
saw many pitfalls.

   "I'm going to offer the Emperor the chance to send people with ours. 
This impacts Japan as well as us, and they need to share the burden."

   David could see the logic, and liked the idea.  "That will make it less
stressful for our population.  I'd like to see half of the people from
Japan, but it will have to be our ships, as theirs are not nuclear powered.
Having the needed fuel is critical to any chance to come home.  But with no
assurance of coming back it will need to be a mixed crew."

   Carlton knew the hard part was going to be choosing the leader.  "How do
we select the leader of this show?"

   David looked at them both.  "I am leading it, and my wife is my
navigator.  She is very good at shooting stars and plotting our course when
we sail.  We are going well beyond what this map shows, and will have to
make our own.  With Silvia's background in computer graphics, that'll make
mapping easy.  She can map the ocean floor from sonar scans, as well as the
surface features, or lack of them."

   "Then she needs to serve from day one on your group.  Having a woman's
input may be very helpful, as men may want to be bold when that is not the
best answer." John liked this idea.

   "Silvia is no shrinking violet, and will say what she thinks.  Some of
our friends from Japan may have problems with that."

   "That's my worry, and I'll handle it.  The people who come here for this
project will most likely stay after it is done.  We will take mostly US
trained scientists, and only those who speak good English for the military.
It will be a joint venture under our control."

   "You handle the recruiting, and we will start the planning.  If
decisions are needed, you will be invited to that meeting.  For simple
research and planning we will operate kind of open and free, just well
documented on the tree." David and Carlton left the balcony.

   "I see this is going to fly.  In talking with Kendra, she is scared, and
it shows as she tries to hide it.  There is something there she is not
talking about, John.  But I think you need to find out what it is.  Now as
for the girl, she needs to be in a locked set of rooms without access to
the outside.  Per Kendra, she should not be allowed freedom here right
now."

   "I assume this was not explained to you?"

   "No, she just told me what I told you.  But she seemed completely
freaked out going into that hospital to sit with the girl."

   "I am smelling something here I don't like, I need to find what it is."

   Dana left, and John walked down to the garage area and looked over the
gardens here.  He just could not put a finger on the reason he didn't trust
Kendra any more.  She was an odd duck, compared to the other native people.


   Kelly caught up with him.  "Something is eating you up and I'm willing
to help, if you want?"

   "I would love to know when Kendra came here.  The history of her and her
brother would be of great interest."

   "Your thinking they didn't come from this dimension?"

   God, for her age Kelly could almost read John's mind.  "I am starting to
feel that way.  She has held back far more than she should have, and not
been completely truthful with us.  I won't say she lied, but she evades
telling the truth nicely."

   Thinking back over the many dealings Kelly had with her, she could see
dad's point and it angered her.  "OK, I just never looked that closely
before.  But she has often, when asked a very direct question, avoided me
or just failed to answer it."

   I'm going to place her in a room here for prisoners.  There is nothing
she can use to kill herself, so she will be safe.  A few days of quiet and
meditation should help her make the decision she must make on her own. 
There is water fed into that room, and breakfast will be sent in each day.
She will see and hear no one until I decide to go talk with her." John knew
without knowing why it was the right move?

   "Tomorrow, I'll start tracing her and her family.  How they became
rulers here will be very interesting to me.  We need to know how far back
they go, and where their wealth came from.  I'll need one of Carlton's
pilots for a helicopter to fly me where this leads me.  But I should be
able to give you a lot of data to question her at some point."

   John called Jackson and asked him to come up to the garage area.  When
he got there what John wanted was laid out and made clear to him.  There
was to be a guard on the door at all times.  Any who came walking by were
to be logged, and John advised at once.  Yes there was some paranoia in his
feelings.  But he had never checked out the staff here.

   Once back in his office he had to know.  "Carlton, did anyone ever check
out my staff here before they were hired?"

   "We checked out one woman who was to run your staff, and she was fine.
She hired the rest and they were never checked.  I don't know why, but it
slipped through the cracks."

   "I want everyone here picked up and checked out completely.  They can't
be together, and can't be able to commit suicide where they are held.  Get
someone over to the hospital and be sure the girl is safe from Kendra. 
Have her checked out for any possible problems including poisons.  Get
moving and fast."

   It didn't take five minutes and people were found, and being lead out of
the house by security.  A team of technicians started checking out every
item in the kitchen, and opened bottles in bedrooms.  All food and personal
items were boxed and replaced with good items.

   Carlton came in and sat down in front of John's desk.  "The IV that had
just been started was being injected by Kendra when my woman walked in.  We
stopped the drip and have the syringe she was using.  The lab is checking
it out now for what it contains.  Where did this come from?"

   "Dana was telling me Kendra was scared to death going into the hospital.
That was just not normal for the woman.  She has come close to lying to me
and Kelly as well at different times.  My instincts said she was not from
this dimension and knew we would pick up on it sooner or later.  She saw
far too much in my home, and that was going to force her hand."

   "We have removed every bit of food from the kitchen and replaced it. 
All personal items were also removed if opened and they will all be
checked. I have engineers going over every bit of the water system and
storage area.  If it can be reached we are checking it.  A bomb sniffing
dog is being walked through the whole accommodations area, with one for
drugs going right behind.  We even pulled all the laundry detergents and
softeners to check them for anything outside of normal."

   "How are you checking them?"

   "The same lab Dana used on the skin map.  They will run GC/MS on each
and every item.  That will be compared with the product that is a known
good sample.  If anything is found we will step up our checks.  Our lab
tech is going to take a sample of each family members blood, urine and hair
so it will be checked as well."

   "I get the idea you see the threat as I did?"

   "With what Kendra was doing at the hospital?  Hell yes, she is a threat.
Our lack of doing proper checks on each person working here is just
inexcusable.  That will never happen again, I assure you."

   "What you have are people who can shed much light on the project.  My
gut tells me that other dimension is way behind us in development.  It may
be back five thousand years in our time scale.  We are talking wood ships,
and small ones at that.  They were, I am sure, ships with sails.  My guess
is bows and arrows or spears are used to fight."

   "We found rope and wooden blocks for pulleys, not much metal was used on
any ship.  They will bring you a lot more coins to be checked out later
today.  The rest will be at the port customs warehouse for Kelly and Riko.
I'd say it will all be done in two more days."

   "By the way, how many workers did we have here?  I never knew that."

   "You had seven, and two yard boys who lived with their mothers."

   "We'll need to re-staff and that will take training time."

   "Nope, Shelby and Mrs.  Minch have agreed to return to work for you. 
The cooking is Mrs.  Minch's, and the house staff is Shelby's.  They are
both moving into one of the apartments now and thrilled about this change.
Shelby has missed Kelly and the twins, and Mrs.  Minch misses the company
you guys gave her."

   "Well, that will start things back to normal.  Did you search the
people's rooms?"

   "Sure did, and found some very interesting things.  There were two small
snakes that no one here had ever seen before.  The largest was maybe six
inches long.  The university has them now doing tests for venom and
poisons. Not just it's fangs, but the mouth and body as well.  They are
looking to see if any toxins are produced.  We have several books for you
to look at, and clothing like we have never seen before.  That will all be
at the warehouse for the checking of items.  The books, after being checked
out, will be on the computer for you to read.  Just look in your project
folder.  I don't think you want those skin covered books here?"

   "Good call, Carlton, it kind of weirds me out having the map.  But look
at the covers under ultraviolet light, both inside and out, I picked up
some really interesting things on the map that way.  Those scans are in my
folder also.  Be sure the pages are paper as well and do them under the
light.  I don't know how they read what they wrote, but they did some
writing that can't be seen normally?  One more issue, does the girl have a
guard on her room?"

   "As soon as her tests are done they are bringing her here.  One of our
security people speaks the native language, and she explained to the girl
who saw this coming.  It caused her to cry.  But that woman is staying with
her until she is brought here."

   Jackson walked in and smiled at John.  "This place is shutdown like an
air tight flask and no one will be getting in.  I have sixty scouts now,
and we are running twenty per shift.  Every inch of this place will be
checked out and anything odd checked into.  We, like Carlton suggested, are
looking for any reptiles around here that should not be.  If you or anyone
sees a snake, frog, spider or other odd houseguest call us at once.  We'll
handle it and keep you safe."

   That seemed wise, and John would be sure the family followed that rule.
"Any other things we need to be aware of?  If not, I would like to suggest
that you run DNA samples on each of the people arrested.  It would be
interesting to see how their DNA compares to ours."

   "In all the confusion, we haven't considered that, but it will be done
tonight.  I wonder if a significant difference is possible between them and
us?"

   "The only way to find out is to run the tests.  If it is different, we
can then check every native born here for that difference, as we have his
or her DNA print."

   "They were never compared in any way.  The DNA was just a sure way to
identify."

   "Now I have messed up your day, so you need to go get the million things
done," John laughed.

   Carlton left with Jackson and John looked out to the shore where people
were still working.  This entire move had brought danger, and yet, some
excitement.

   Kelly came out and sat with John.  "Daddy, we are done with the current
platinum coins.  We have ninety coins with additional writing on them.  But
there are only ten messages, and seem pretty cryptic to me?"

   "Dear, everything about this is cryptic to all of us.  These people
place no real value on life, from what I'm seeing so far.  They are way
less educated than we are, and seem almost barbaric in many ways."

   "Then, why do we want to go there?"

   "It might be a good time to show power, and really cause them to fear
us. If they knew we could hurt them badly, they might stop coming here. 
I'm sure many native people have been killed or taken by them."

   They both got up and headed to their baths to shower and get ready for
dinner.