Alden climbed the final man-made steps to the small dome perched, like the hooded nest of a giant flying beast, around the rim of a crater. The backlighting of Earth’s illumination gave it the look of a shrine, forgotten though it may be by all but one. Gazing back at his footprints across the rocky plain to the lighted towers of Luna-5, Alden remembered that one day thirty years ago; the bane and blessing of his life.
With a cursory glance, the scientists of Luna-5 had taken the discovery of the century and stuffed it into that darkened closet where all unexplained and feared phenomena die the death of "inconclusive data." The mystery of the dome had lived for twenty years in active folklore, as the curiosity of science was superseded by the common man’s superstition. Now, as much a part of the landscape as regolith powder, the dome was ignored.
The trek across the bouldered plain had taken just over eight hours; but, freed from Earth’s gravity, he felt exhilarated, as if he had lost at least ten of his sixty years. With his hand on the outer latch to the airlock he realized he had no idea what conditions awaited inside.
The officer at the Ministry of Outland Facilities had been reluctantly helpful, "No one’s been out to check the dome for over a decade; not since the pilgrimages ended. On last inspection," the officer had assured him, "all equipment within the dome was functioning properly." He shoved a compupad across the desk and, with the impatience given to those who waste their time and effort, brusquely informed him, "You’ll need to fill out these documents and state your purpose for going off-base."
Alden had complied and stated his purpose as ‘religious pilgrimage’, which was not entirely false. The files from the investigation had been destroyed or they would know who he was. The man at the desk didn’t know that access to the dome was once forbidden.
He had endured a lifetime of trying to forget what he had learned here. He had returned to Earth, pursued a normal, if somewhat idiosyncratic, career and married an exciting woman who shared his vocation. It had been a satisfying life, even with its inherent difficulties, none of which he could remember now.
Those were thirty years with no regrets except one: he could not hide from her his longing to return to this place. She had always known, though he seldom spoke of it. The memories were always there, nagging at him, undermining every joy he might have felt with each new accomplishment, but they never became unbearable until she died. Then there was no reason to stay; he could finish what he had left undone that long lifetime ago.
He released the latch and entered the airlock, closing it behind him; the swooshing sound of air was reassuring. Soft lights wavered on as he opened the inner lock. A brief check before removing his suit revealed what he had hoped to be true; the air was good, the pressure Earth-standard. Scanning the immediate area, he laughed. He had expected things to remain unchanged, untouched by time. The etchings of memory would have to be revised with paths overgrown by unmanaged vegetation, strange fish peering up with startled eyes from ponds that had evolved where none had been, vines of cross-pollinated flowers climbing to the tops of arching walls. It was disorienting at first, but, focusing upon his inner map, he moved forward along extinct paths to the membrane.
The 'membrane' - the three of them, Chan, Kalise, and he, had named it, simply the membrane. The only properties they could assign to it were that it seemed to hold something within and perhaps it could be penetrated. Sometimes it seemed to move, almost to have shape; sometimes it was invisible. Its boundaries were impossible to mark; but you knew when you were near it. The uncertainty was whether it was a doorway or a new species.
Thirty years before, the shuttle flight to Luna-5 seemed as excruciatingly slow as a glide into eternity, but it gave Alden time to finish his notes on the project that had been interrupted, abruptly and without explanation. His anger subsided only when he detected the uneasiness in the facial quirks and dissonant motions of the tall and rather lanky man who had come to summon him. Alden, who had chosen against the grumbling protests of his father to follow his grandfather’s career path as a morphokinetic linguist, studied the staff commander’s movements and voice modulations.
He knows nothing but fear of the unknown. Ah, something they don’t understand - a new species they can’t communicate with.
His specialty was development of communications linkage with species previously considered nonverbal, through observation of body and acoustic forms and motions. On two occasions he had participated in contacts with new species. Assignments like this were, for him, what validated the career choice he had made.
Not until the shuttle shifted into descent did he allow himself the luxury of querying the uneasy commander again, still to no avail. Not until the shuttle landed and he stepped upon the landing deck to find Kalise and Chan waiting for him did he feel any true excitement. Most new species contacts were relatively benign occurrences, but the presence of these two signaled that true mystery awaited.
Observing the nuances of unified motion between them as they drew near, he noted, with some disappointment, that they had obviously become more than the two friends he had last seen at the communications conference on Luna-3 last year. He had maintained vague hopes that once his project on Earth was completed . . . but in one motion Chan grasped his hand, Kalise threw her slender arm around his neck, and in one voice, crowded by two enormous smiles, dashed those hopes with the melodic unity of their greeting.
"Alden, old friend, this is the big one! The one we all wait and pray for." Although of small stature, Chan was a man of exuberant emotional force.
"It’s you! Couldn’t be better; we’ll make a such a fine team." Kalise’s hair brushed against his face, and he let go of his hopes with a sigh of resignation.
Indeed, with Chan, one of the last practicing Archaic Dreamwalkers developing communication within a dream field, and Kalise, a Formative Visualist projecting temporary visual forms based upon her psychic perceptions, they were quite a formidable mix for any obscure life form. Certainly with such an odd team assembled an unusual species awaited their arrival.
Three days passed with only the vague mutterings of a few local officials about waiting for completion of the new dome so they could conduct their observations in relative comfort, without environment suits. No one attempted a briefing; local scientists only stated their reluctance to bias any of the team. All that could be gleaned from anyone who had been in contact with the new species was the same fearful uneasiness displayed by the staff commander.
Seven days later they entered the dome and, realizing the distance from Luna-5 and the enormous support team effort the undertaking would have required without the dome, they were encouraged by the foresight of local officials. The dome encompassed the entire circular area of a small crater from ridge to ridge. The undergirding and stairstepped landscaping of its base within the concave portion of the crater must have been an enormous task. The interior had been environmentally fashioned after the self-supporting styles of all lunar bases; esthetically pleasing as well as functional.
Several local scientists had accompanied them, but the remainder of the entourage returned to Luna-5 after unloading the supplies. The locals set up a base of operations and summarily directed them to a large blue-gray boulder located near the opposite ridge, reiterating their desire not to bias the team by being present at first contact.
After the days of waiting, the walk across the carefully layered expanse of the crater was physically enjoyable, but, with no substantive plan for their first contact, a new sense of uneasiness entered their silence.
Kalise spotted the boulder first, "There, to your left, just past the pond." She moved quickly toward it, while Chan urged her to hold back.
Kalise touched the boulder. "Don’t you hear it?"
Alden focused and heard nothing, but he noted the withdrawn shadow that passed across her face and stopped a short distance from her. A moment later a shimmering movement caught his eye as Chan whispered, "She’s making it visual for us. No wonder they’re all afraid; it can’t be seen."
The shimmer grew in size until it expanded to the height of the dome and disappeared into the foliage to the right and left. For one brief moment Alden felt he was in danger of being engulfed, but then he heard it. A sound not quite music, not quite sound. Almost as quickly, he saw a long thin crystal bar of molten silver extending beyond his range of sight; its slightest vibrations in response to the movement of air created the most sublime sound he had ever heard.
He turned to Chan, "My God, man, it’s enormous, it’s alive, and it’s intelligent; nothing this exquisite could exist without being..."
Chan stood immobile, eyes closed, exploring the dream field of this expansive being. Alden was momentarily jealous of their unique access, but then he applied himself to the task of interpreting what he could see and hear.
He followed the contours of the shimmer; it had no real color or texture. Its movements were somewhat like waves or breathing, inundating but without regularity. Yet, he couldn’t say it was sporadic movement. There was something quite familiar and soothing in its unpredictability. The sound cut so deeply into his emotional center that he couldn’t follow his own responses, much less calculate and fathom the meaning or content of his perceptions objectively.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. Kalise leaned backward against the boulder, arching her back. Alden noted the blue-gray color of the boulder seemed especially brilliant. Chan opened his eyes and said only, "Not dreams."
Kalise straightened and leaned forward. Alden could feel her struggling to regain balance. "I don’t know about you two, but I’m not predisposed to give a full report to those stonewallers back at base camp; they’d only take the information and panic."
Chan agreed. "It’s obvious why they called us in, but how did they know it existed in the first place?"
Alden gazed into the foliage, nodding stunned agreement. "We’ll have to give them a partial report. We need information before we go any further with this. I felt almost overwhelmed at times, as if it would absorb me."
Chan and Kalise agreed; they knew that the ecstasy of the experience they had all shared could also be a trap.
Alden felt unable to shake off a sense of unreality. "I have no idea what we are dealing with. We can tell them we sense something here and we need to set up a base in closer proximity and observe twenty-four hours a day. Judging from their reactions so far, I’d guess they’ll keep their distance and let us take all the risks. We can set telecom link and report daily."
"Sounds good: let’s get it done so we can debrief without interference." Kalise seemed tense and unnerved. "I have the sense we need to keep them under control and at a safe distance or their fear will create too much static."
Alden laughed. "Want to bet they still have their environ suits on when we get back? Didn’t you notice how the base camp hugs the airlock?"
Six hours later, they returned from base camp and set their supplies down on the edge of the clearing, in sight of the boulder. No argument had been offered. Several of the men were visibly appalled that they had even sensed a presence. It was obvious they had all hoped otherwise. Alden did succeed in discovering the impetus for their fear. There had been numerous disappearances in the vicinity of the boulder; the last reported by a young man on a geological gathering with his grandfather. Apparently the old man, standing near the boulder, said, "Don’t you hear it?" and vanished.
Alden turned to Chan first. "What did you mean, ‘not dreams’?"
"There were images, but they weren’t dreams exactly. It’s difficult to explain, but the images didn’t have the characteristics of dreams; they were solid and substantial, had rational sequencing. It was like walking through a doorway into another world and observing the landscape, quite different from ours, but real. My desire to observe seemed to propel me rapidly from one locale to another. I met an old man, possibly the grandfather, who told me not to worry, I’d have my bearings as soon as I let go of my concepts of time and direction and entered with my whole self. He knew I was only a projection. At that moment I was ejected by whatever powers that be, tossed out and returned to my body."
"Kalise, I assume the shimmer we saw was your projection?"
"Yes, but, like Chan, I perceived a whole and realistic other world. It wasn’t a unitary mind or even an alliance of minds, although I felt many presences. The unusual thing for me was the clarity and consistency of the images I perceived. They had substance. The entities seemed non-threatening and were offering to allow us to observe them . . . or join them."
Alden felt his contribution was slight in comparison but described what he had seen and heard. They were puzzled by the sporadic component of his sense of movement. The three of them concurred it must be a doorway rather than a species; this would account for Alden’s sense of inconsistency of form and motion. He stood on the outside, while they, if only mentally, had entered. They all agreed only one action could be taken; they must enter the doorway to continue their observations.
After a brief sleep period, during which Alden fitfully wrestled with the difficulty of entering an invisible doorway, Kalise brought him a thermos of water and a nutritab. Chan stood nearby, looking at him with unrestrained consternation. He felt like a loved but injured pet whose future was tenuous.
"Don’t worry, I’ll create a doorway for us. I know once you’re inside we’ll all be on equal footing; you’ll see what we see." He was not at all comforted by the fact that she knew he did not feel as if his talents had equal validity in this task.
Chan seemed to waive any concerns he had been mulling over and agreed, "I’m telling you, Alden, it was real; they weren’t dreams."
They stood together next to the boulder, and almost as soon as Chan closed his eyes and Kalise retreated into herself he saw the doorway. It shimmered and wavered for a moment and then became very solid as the sound vibrated within him. Chan and Kalise stepped forward together and, before he could move to follow, vanished and with them, the doorway.
He implored the locals to allow him to continue his vigil. The lunar night was upon them, supplies were short, and they insisted upon returning to Luna-5. They assured him he would be allowed to return with fresh supplies at the end of the two week night. Three days later their thinking abruptly shifted and he was ordered back to Earth. The Council had decided not to pursue the matter beyond sending a scout team occasionally to check for Chan and Kalise.
He returned to Earth without argument, certain they would fulfill their promise to look for his companions but equally convinced they would not find them. He now believed the three of them had been wrong: the phenomenon they had experienced was not an entrance into another world but only an illusion created by the being who had entrapped and absorbed his two friends. A doorway opens both ways. Regretfully, he also knew they would bury all data from the observation, deny access to the dome, and consider the matter over; they had the problem contained.
As he cleared the dense undergrowth of the last line of trees, he realized what had been bothering him for the past ten minutes; the silence. Other than the continuous dripping of moisture from the trees, it was absolutely silent. Even the insects were still. He hesitated for a moment, observing the boulder, listening for the sound that would signal the entity was still there. He heard nothing and stepped into the open.
"Hello, Alden, I’ve been waiting for you. They told me you’d be here soon, but with all the time distortion I could have died an old man waiting on you. One more lunar day and I’d have been gone." An old man peered around the boulder at him.
Alden was as startled at the old man’s face as at his unexpected voice. It was the geologist, the grandfather; he had seen teleprints of him. Was it really he, or a projection? His face must have taken on some distortion of its own, for the old man hurried to reassure him. "I didn’t mean to frighten you; guess I’m just a little impatient to get home."
"Who sent you here?" Alden stepped back a few feet.
"Kalise; she knew you were coming. And Chan caught one of your dreams floating around not too far back; he said your wife had died and you’d be returning. They sent me; I’ve been in and out the doorway many times."
It was then that Alden realized why the silence had worried him. He was afraid it was too late, that the doorway was closed to him forever. And then he heard the sound and asked, "Are you projecting that sound?"
"No son, it’s your own response. It’s your own evolution calling. You just weren’t ready before. I’m in a bit of a hurry. I don’t relish this side of reality anymore; makes me tired. If you will listen and follow your own hearing we’ll be home in a second."
It no longer mattered to Alden what awaited him. As he listened, he knew something within him had always vigilantly awaited his return, hoping the doorway would open for him. He saw the crystal bar of molten silver spread out before him like a pathway, beckoning. He didn’t even notice when he stepped through. Home, for him, had always been a base, that place of safety from which one ventures forth. Alden knew he was home.