Fire - Betrayal (29 page)

At once, the Terreans began working on installing the portal frame.  Their plan was to
work with speed and precision, install the frame and then seal it up well, not disturbing any of the land around the portal.

While the partisans worked with shoveling and digging, Ben got out his solar-energy computer laptop and recorded data on absolutely everything that was being done, how and why, and tracked the area on GPS, marking i
t on his world map, and inserting a GPS tracking device into the frame of the portal.

Finally, when the portal frame was in place, the Terreans
were ready to re-enter the portal back to their world.  This was a test of the unknown.  They had made calculations with the placement of the frames with the opal seeds, but had not had the opportunity to test it between the two worlds.  They had worked so hard, but could not be completely sure that the theory behind the control of the opening and closing of the portal would actually work.  This was the test of fire.

Again, they lined up together, connected, with Julia in the centre.  She looked to Ben for his signal to proceed.  He nodded.

Julia slowly raised her hand with the heptagonal opal slither, and placed it about centre of the portal, and then the sucking force was felt with the mist oozing out from the portal.

They
disappeared and landed, back on the other side, victorious.  The theory, the design, the calculations, the precision with which they cut the opal seeds into thirds, and placed the portal frames had all fallen together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle.

Elated, they hugged and congratulated each other, and then
analysed each and every aspect that had occurred. They didn’t want to leave anything to chance, and they didn’t want to become overconfident and then start making mistakes.  They had to remain focused and level headed.  Nothing less than perfect would do.

Together they walked back to the red vortex and into the dome room.  They reenergized with some food and drink and then discussed the plan for the next portal – the orange vortex.

Entering the vortexes was easy now.  They had done it numerous times, and were confident of the outcome each time.

The tunnel of the orange vortex was an exact image of the red vortex, and ended abruptly at the portal.  The Terrean portal frame was already in place. Again they lined up with the
Earth frame and in order in a line with Julia in the middle with the heptagonal polygon opal slither.  Predictably, a strong, loud, gush of wind started pulling them through the portal, and mist swirled all around them. Then at once, they found themselves on the ground on the Earth.

In a panic, Ben gathered the Terreans and shielded them.  They were in a camping ground.  Tents were visible, but not too close.  But they could not risk being seen.  The portal was horizontal, between a very large boulder and a
ponderosa pine.  Any person could accidently fall into this portal if it opened of its own free will, as it had been doing in the past.

Jack, Josiah and Jordan worked vigorously while the girls kept watch for people coming their way.  Ben quickly recorded data of this part of the mission, marking its GPS position on the map and placing the tracking device into the frame of the portal.

The men completed the frame into the ground around the portal with haste, and they were all able to re-enter back through the portal and back to the orange vortex.  They had all felt the panic this time.  The camping ground was too close for comfort.  Ben read the data that he had recorded and looked at the GPS information and discovered that they had been in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, America.  They were all feeling uneasy after their experience in amongst the campers.

After a circle conference together, they decided that two portals were enough for one day.  Although it was exhilarating that their months of planning and testing was proving successful, the portals of the
Earth side were risky and dangerous, and it was highly stressful.

Tomorrow they would enter the yellow vortex and walk to the portal.  So far they had been in Mexico and the US, where would they be tomorrow?

Mission Completed

Ben returned to his pod
, exhausted, relieved but worried.  His mind kept retracing over every part where Julia would hold up the heptagon to open the portals.  What if she dropped it?  What if it couldn’t be found?  There had to be a better way to be sure that the portal would open, and to be certain that they could not lose the quintessential heptagon.

“As if by magic” kept repeating itself in his head.  Magic
… What was magic?  It was trickery, quick hands tricking the eye and mind.  It wasn’t magic at all.  It was something that was tangible.  Ben kept seeing the disappearing object trick and the hand outstretched showing that the object was gone.

Thrusting his eyes open, Ben sat bolt upright in bed.  Like a microchip, the heptagon could be inserted under the skin on the hand.  It would never be lost.  There were like a million of the heptagons that appeared that day when he accidently dropped The Magnificent Tree opal seed.  There was plenty for every Terrean, and heaps left over for when the population increased.

Then he settled into a short but deep sleep. Sleep that his body so desperately needed.

He woke at the rising of the sun, as always, although it was not like the rising sun on the
Earth.  Under the water in the pod, the rising sun was muffled, and its rays splintered into a zillion specks, filtered by the teal colour of the ocean.  It was an amazing sight to awaken to.

But, immediately his thoughts turned to
Cate, as they did every morning.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember her beautiful face.  He tried to remember the electric jolt he would get when he touched her.  He tried to remember the smell of her scent, the feel of her full soft lips on his. 
He tried so hard to remember.

Then he put his hands to his chest to hold the pain in his heart
. Being apart from her was unbearable, and it ripped into him.

Breathing deeply, Ben arose and left his pod.  He went via the
Café de Déjuener  and got food supplies for the day.  Then he went and woke Julia.

He handed her food as they walked, and she listened to Ben explain his plan with the heptagons.  Julia was a very deep and intelligent woman.  She considered his theory for some time, going over it in her head and visualizing the process.

She looked up at Ben and nodded her agreement, and mind communicated to him that she would be the one to trial the experiment.

Before the others had arrived at the hanger, Ben had inserted the heptagon under the skin of
Julia’s hand.  It was hardly noticeable, except for the small cut.  Ben closed his eyes, and lightly ran his fingers over the cut, instantly healing it.  Julia pocketed another heptagon to take on their journey today, in the case that the plan did not work.

As soon as the Warrior’s team appeared, they were off.  Ben wanted to complete the mission quickly, and be released from Une Autre Terre to return to
Cate.

They walked quickly through the dense rainforest to the powerful cascading waterfall, and then followed their path next to the stream to the fallen wide tree trunk over the deep ravine, and into the cave hidden by the waterfall.  At once they were in the dome, looking at the seven vortexes that led to the seven portals.

They did not hesitate as they entered the yellow vortex first, following the tunnel to the portal at the end.

They knew the routine well, grabbed the opal seed
Earth portal frame, and lined up with Julia in the middle. Today would be more significant than yesterday, with the testing of the heptagon inserted under Julia’s skin.

Julia looked at Ben, and waited for him to signal to enter the portal.  Nervously, he nodded.  Nervous because of two things – one, where would the portal be on the
Earth, and two, would the new plan with the heptagon work?

Slowly, Julia held her arm out stiffly, and pushed it into the ce
ntre of the Terrean portal.  The rush of wind came from behind, and the mist expanded and swirled around them, and then they were sucked through the portal.  Joy entered Ben’s heart, his plan conceived at the thought of a magic trick worked, perfectly.

They were thrust out into freezing cold temperature and a bare rocky ground.  Behind them was an immense, colossal mountain, covered with snow and clouds that effortlessly floated way below the peak of the mountain.

The Terreans immediately looked around for humans, and to their relief found none.  They busily got started on fitting the portal frame around the portal, while Ben frantically worked on the information and the GPS land marking for the portal and the computer.  They were at the base of Mount Everest.

In a rush, they gathered their belongings, and then lined up again to transport back to Une Autre Terre.  Julia raised her hand again, and in an instant they found themselves on their own side of their world.

Returning to the dome, Julia and Ben mind communicated about the success of the heptagon chip in her hand, smiling and nodding at each other, and laughing that the others hadn’t caught on, or even noticed that Julia didn’t hold up the heptagon.  They wondered how long it would take for them to notice.

Without delay, they all entered the green vortex, stopping at the portal to go again.  It was all so much easier now, and their confidence had grown abundantly. Everyone knew exactly what their roll was, and in what order to perform their task.  They worked perfectly as a team together.

Propelling forward from the portal, they discovered that they were facing a super massive waterfall.  The Terreans stood in awe.  They felt so insignificant.  The watched as sheer volumes of water cascaded from above, mesmerizing them, and then their eyes were led to a perfect rainbow that arose from the spray of the water that plummeted to the chasm below.

Ben extracted his attention away from the waterfall to look for humans, and found that they were in a very secluded spot opposite the wondrous sight.  He pulled his team together and guided their attention back to the portal work, while he again located where they were on GPS and entered all of the data into the computer.  Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe lit up on his world map. It was also known as
Mosi-oa-Tunya
(the Mist that Thunders)
to the indigenous people, and was located in southern
Africa
on the
Zambezi River
between the countries of
Zambia
and
Zimbabwe
.

Ben was seeing a pattern occurring with each of the portals.  They had been transported to four of the seven natural wonders of the earth so far, so he predicted that the remaining three portals would lead them to the three remaining natural wonders of the world.  It made sense.  Une Autre Terre was a world rich in vegetation with amazing landforms, and that was where the portals were located on earth, near the amazing landforms that were beyond words.

They gathered together and returned to their world.

Collectively they sat in the dome, to have a round table conference about the events of the day.  Again, no-one had noticed the fact that Julia did not hold up the heptagon.  Ben decided not to bring it to their attention yet.  He wanted to test it further.  He wanted to insert one under his skin, and then be the person in control of opening the portals instead of Julia.

As soon as they returned to the village, Julia accompanied Ben to the hanger, where they carried out the same procedure with another heptagon on him.

Summoning his team together early the next day, Ben led them through the blue vortex, to the end of the tunnel to the portal.

Lining up, Ben stood in the centre of the line, and raised his right hand and placed it in the centre of the Terrean portal.  The mist swirled and the wind rushed from behind them pushing them through instantly.

They landed with a splash!

Laughing
, and standing in ankle deep water, the Terreans were totally surprised by where they found themselves this time.  But at once they got to work with the portal frame.

The
Great Barrier Reef in Australia was the GPS location on the global tracking device. It was one of the seven wonders of the natural world, larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on Earth visible from space.

Regrouping after working, they assembled around the portal while Ben placed his hand central to the portal above the water.

Nothing happened.

Panicking, Ben looked at Julia, who retrieved the heptagon from her pocket.  He took this and held it central to the portal above the water.

Again, nothing.

Their minds worked furiously, retrac
ing every single step that they had made here on this little island in the Great Barrier Reef.  Everything went smoothly to plan.  They had done exactly as they had done with every other portal so far.

Perhaps Ben’s hand was too far away from the portal to activate it.  He ordered his team to assemble again.  This time, Ben placed his hand in the water close to the portal.  At once they fell into the island and landed on the other side wet, with water dripping into the tunnel. 
This portal to the Earth was so vastly different to the others that they decided to give it a name - the Portail d'Aventure
– the
Adventure Portal!