The Key To the Kingdom (49 page)

“No way,” Hawk lunged from his chair toward the cylinder.

“History tells us that the first cryonic suspension took place about a month after Walt’s death. The man was Dr. James Bedford, a seventy-three-year-old psychologist from Glendale, California. He was suspended January 12, 1967. Now, it is reasonable to think that Walt would have had the technological savvy to be aware of this process, since he was always looking to the future. Beyond that he knew he had more dreams than he could cram into one lifetime and he dreaded the thought of death. He wasn’t afraid of it as much as he just didn’t want to miss out on living. So, the truth is, Dr. Bedford’s was really the second cryonic suspension ever to take place. Walt’s was the very first. With the ongoing development of new forms of technology, in particular nanotechnology, the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules, eventually it may give medical technology the knowledge to build or repair virtually any physical object, including human cells and biological tissue. One of the projected applications is the repair of damage to human tissue created by freezing at liquid nitrogen temperatures, along with the ability to repair and eliminate cellular and organic damage caused by disease and aging. When the day comes that medicine finds a cure for cancer, then perhaps Walt Disney will reemerge from his current cryonic state.”

“I always thought it was just an urban legend.” Hawk circled the silver container. “I’ve heard for years that Walt had his body frozen and was being hidden somewhere under the Pirates of the Caribbean.”

“Now, that’s silly. You’ve seen Pirates of the Caribbean—where would we have hidden Walt there?”

Hawk looked over to read Farren’s facial features. He could see clearly that Rales was delighted with sharing this latest piece of information with his friend.

“We figured there was no better way to keep this a secret than to go ahead and start talking about it. So the urban legend was actually created and repeated originally within the company itself. It didn’t take long and then someone told a friend, who told a friend, who knew someone who worked for Disney that knew for sure. Once it was an urban legend, no one would ever believe it was true.”

“So Walt Disney is really in here?” Hawk respectfully touched the cylinder and leaned in, looking at the dials.

“Yes, he is.” Rales rose from his chair. “This is a self-powered facility. Even if everything else in the park goes down, this area does not. It can run on its own power source for up to six months. Hawk, this is now your command center. No one else knows about this—not the Warriors of the Kingdom, no other Imagineer but myself. I am the last one who knows this secret and now I have shared and given it to you.”

Hawk continued to listen and at the same time studied the container. It was then he noticed the locking mechanism. It was the same elaborate multi-lock he had encountered twice before. There was a place for the key, four distinct slots to contain the metal bars, the keypad, and the flashing lights. He turned back toward Rales.

“Yes, Hawk, you have the key to the lock. Everything you have found to get you this far, you will need to open the cylinder. You might say this is the lock that unlocks the rest of the kingdom . . . and once again, you have the key.”

Hawk turned to face his friend. Sighing deeply, he measured carefully what he was about to say. As Hawk faltered, Farren motioned for him to take a seat. Together they moved back to where they had been before. Heavily dropping into the chair, the preacher looked up toward the Imagineer who was waiting and ready to speak.

“Hawk, you are now the keeper of the key. You have the Key to the Kingdom. Whether you ever open the cylinder is entirely up to you,” Rales stated slower than normal for emphasis. “Another reason you have the key is because I need to know there is someone that will have the wisdom and insight to know when and if the cylinder needs to be opened. Your moral compass, your understanding of what is right and wrong in the eyes of God, is an important part of the decision that has to be made on the day this becomes an option. Walt understood that. It is the way he wanted it.”

“You mean he didn’t want to come back from the dead?”

“Not necessarily.” Farren shook his head side to side. “Walt loved life and he loved what he did. He really believed he made the lives of people better. There was always a need to put a plan in place to protect what he had worked so hard to create. Coming back himself was a last resort. He understood better than anyone that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. It should only be done if there is a real need. Hawk, listen to me.” Farren locked eyes with him. “You know what it is like to lose someone you love. If you had the chance to turn back time, to bring them back, to put things back as they were . . . would you if you could? Should you do it? I know you have wrestled with that and would do the right thing.”

Hawk felt his eyes begin to burn with tears. Farren had done this before; he had brought Hawk to the edge in conversations. He knew the preacher’s past. He knew the secret pain very few were aware of and that Hawk had chosen to share with a select few. Now he realized why Farren had taken their conversations to the brink of this emotional canyon so many times before. He blinked and studied his friend’s face that was now smiling gently. The preacher lowered his head and felt the sting of tears escaping the corners of his eyes. Breathing deeply, he stopped as he felt Farren’s hand on his shoulder.

“Hawk, you will know whether to bring Walt back if you ever can. He wanted that to be an option in case we ever needed him to keep his dreams alive. Life and death is a decision made best by those who know God. You know God intimately and you follow Him passionately. That is your life story. Who better to help Walt Disney tell his!”

E
PILOGUE

Six Months Later

T
HE FIRST WAVE OF PEOPLE
scurried down Main Street USA as the Magic Kingdom opened for another day. Music drifted into his ears as Dr. Grayson Hawkes peeked out the window from his second-floor apartment over the Fire Station on the corner of the Town Square. The apartment was patterned after the one built by Walt for use by his family in Disneyland. Farren had given it to Hawk on that life-changing day six months earlier when he had become the Chief Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering. The pair had entered the apartment on that day using a hidden stairwell that connected directly to the private command center where Walt Disney waited in cryonic suspension. Shortly thereafter Hawk had the apartment remodeled and set up for him to stay in. Now at least three nights a week he stayed in the theme park after the guests were gone. He strolled up and down Main Street, enjoying the music and watching the night shift prepare the park for the following morning. Immediately Hawk had become a favorite of the night crews, often opening up Casey’s Corner and distributing soft drinks to them as they worked. Some evenings he was even known to open up the ice cream shop and scoop ice cream for the cast members to enjoy on their break.

The major remodel he had made to the apartment was his favorite feature. He had a fire pole placed in the apartment so he could slide down the pole from his apartment, land in the gift shop below, and then walk out into Town Square. The idea had come from Walt Disney himself. In the original design of the family apartment at Disneyland, Walt had used the fire pole to leave his apartment and enter the park. One day a curious guest climbed the pole, pushed against the trap door, and poked his head into the Disney apartment. Later that day Walt had the door sealed to prevent any pranksters from breaking in. Hawk had heard the story and decided his apartment had to have a fire pole exit. If he chose to use this route when the park was open, as he did this particular morning, it always amazed and startled the guests who had dropped in the station to shop. The cast members working in the Fire Station had grown accustomed to his unexpected descents and had taken to calling him the Hawk.

“Morning, Hawk!” a cast member gleefully greeting him.

“Good morning!” The Imagineer Preacher walked out of the Fire Station.

The crowds moved past him, eager to begin a day of adventure. Hawk thought back over the journey he had been on the last six months. Since he had become the one with the Key to the Kingdom, his life had been a whirlwind of activity. Farren had given him a crash course in Imagineering and the Disney Corporation. Hawk had been in meetings with all the top-ranking officers in the company, and although confused about the sudden emergence of this new member of the Disney family, most had been receptive to him. As one board member had said when trying to understand who Hawk was, “Just another day at Disney!”

After Hawk had honestly confessed to Farren that he knew just enough to be confused, the old Imagineer decided Hawk knew enough to get started. He left Orlando and was spending the next year working with the Imagineers at the Disney theme park in Paris. Farren had suggested that Hawk decide who he was going to surround himself with as new Warriors of the Kingdom. For Hawk it had been an easy decision. He climbed the stairs of the Main Street Station where a couple of them were seated on the balcony overlooking Main Street.

“Morning, boss,” Shep waved as Hawk crested the stairs.

Hawk smiled, greeting both Shep and Jonathan, who were there waiting.

“Hi. Juliette coming?”

“She called this morning,” Jonathan informed him. “Was hoping it would be okay if she and Tim spent the day playing with the kids in the park.”

Hawk laughed, thinking about the changes in their lives over the past few months. His staff members were his new Warriors of the Kingdom. He trusted them and they were family. Although he still preached each Sunday, the day-to-day operations of the church were now being handled by the staff. They had also all moved on to the payroll of the Disney Corporation, which freed up valuable financial resources at the church. Their full-time occupations were as ministers; they paid the bills for their occupation with the funding from their new vocations working for the Disney Company. As they looked over Main Street, the three saw Reginald Cambridge standing below them, wearing dark glasses, and looking up toward them.

“Uncle Reggie!” Shep yelled, recalling for Hawk the first unexpected meeting Cambridge had ever had with the student minister.

“Everything okay?” Reginald directed the question toward Hawk.

“Good.” He leaned over the rail to answer. “You good?”

“Indeed, thanks for asking. Need anything today?”

“No, got a development meeting later, anxious about seeing some of the new stuff!”

“If you need me before then, call.”

Reginald waved at the three and moved off down Main Street. Hawk had also made Cambridge a Warrior of the Kingdom. He now worked as the Chief Security Officer for the entire corporation. He was assigned to be in the same general location as Hawk at any given time. As Reginald walked past the statue of Roy Disney and Minnie Mouse, the preacher smiled. He took a moment and followed Roy’s gaze back to where the old classic Walt Disney Story attraction had been. It was just another day at Disney World, and Roy was still watching out for Walt.

“Hawk, I’ve got something to tell you.” Shep interrupted Hawk’s thoughts.

“What’s up?”

“I was watching the
Old Yeller
DVD. I listened again to Walt’s message to you and was just goofing around.”

“And?” Jonathan leaned toward Shep curiously.

“Well, I found an Easter egg,” Shep informed them.

“An Easter Egg?” Hawk slowly straightened and leaned forward.

“A hidden surprise, an unmarked bonus feature. Usually you have to figure out some combination of pushing arrows and hitting buttons, then all of the sudden, boom, you find the Easter egg.”

“And you found something?” Hawk was now intrigued.

“Yes, it was a riddle, I guess. It was a picture of something, not sure what . . . had a riddle written over it on the screen.”