Solomon's Private File #80
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 16 in this story, in the Fall of 2042.
Solomon's Private File #80 "Rangnorik"
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George said to me, "Problem. A rescue won't come. Older than usual.
Doesn't believe me. Wants you." He said, "Honest need?" He said, "Part.
He knows I'm telling the truth, but maintains negative." I said,
"Trap?" He said, "I don't think so. I know. Too bad." We grinned. I
said, "Point." He did. I said, "We're in trouble!" That got his alert
up. I said, "Checked DNA. Aint human. Lesson?" He said, "Right. I blew
it. Anything out of the ordinary we check out as much as we can. Fault,
arrogance." I said, "If he's a plant, he sure doesn't have much
foliage." He laughed. He said, "I can't believe you used that on me,
and it actually worked! Boss you ARE." We hugged and kissed.
I said, "He's not detecting 4th viewpoints, but he's got an active PK
field." He said, "I felt that, but thought it natural for a 3/4
psionic." I said, "Sometimes is, but I think his is under too much
control. Got some practice, maybe training. Point is, he knows he has
it, and he has to know you have it, too. Two sources for arrival.
Galactic, or dimensional." He said, "Could be interesting second." I
said, "Absolutely! I think I should risk something I've been putting
off. Time research." He said, "No! You can't be risked! Let me
instead." I said, "No, I'm the best, whether we like it or not, so I
have the best chance of success. This could be critical for our
survival. And he's asking for me. For SOME reason." He said, "My precog
is poking me. He wants you to go with him somewhere." I said, "I have
that, too, but from logic. First hug, and we're gone. He's a front man.
Those behind him will pull us both in. He was bait for us to find." He
said, "You're brain is working overtime! We're being tested first!" I
said, "Ha! You're not so dumb yourself." He was really not unhappy with
that.
I said, "Closer problem. We've been shielded for this talk. Should we
tell?" He said, "They're adults. Mission first for them, too." I said,
"If I go dimensional, some of my active processes will be cut off." He
said, "Got a holding partition ready for push." I nodded and pushed. He
said, "Been busy!" We grinned. I said, "Time experiment first. If it
works, I can read his mind so he can't feel it." He said, "Oh! I didn't
think of that reason. Go for it." I said, "I'll try for your immediate
past here. Dad said local was easy. Guard?" He nodded. I ran through
the time equations, and set in a mind partition the necessary
functions. Then I went for it. I woke up and looked around. George
said, "You were out 3 seconds. I see no damage." I said, "Same here,
but no time sense yet. Second try." I did that, and my perceptions
blurred. I said, "Got some ghosts. Again." I did it, and I got full
images, and could follow different timelines. Then I tested all that
Dad said he could do, but not multiple processes. I said, "Got it! Not
going to try multiple yet. Almost ruined him when he did it first time.
Issue. I don't think he ever had a rider when he was doing it.
Researching the rescue has utmost priority, so please don't follow. We
can do that for the next one to test that." He said, "Right."
I said, "Putting a viewpoint near him, and going to start the time
dive." I did that, and followed him back a week. He was doing ordinary
things, not using any special abilities. Then another week. I saw it.
He appeared. It didn't look like our porting. I read his mind then. I
stopped the process. I said, "Ready for push?" He nodded, and I gave it
to him. He said, "Wow!" I said, "We have to report." He nodded. I
called a meeting. George told them the beginning and what we had
theorized. He didn't tell them where the boy was. Nigel noticed that,
which he said. I said, "I followed him back through time. Only way I
could read his mind without being noticed." Mom said, "You can do the
time exploration your father could do? And you didn't tell me?" I said,
"I don't know if I can do all he did with that, and I AM telling you.
Right after my first time, with er, time diving. Took three tries. Had
to. I thought the risk was serious enough to do. And I was right. They
want me to help them with a problem. They've been watching us. The boy
doesn't know much more than that, except his own life, and that is VERY
interesting. Push?" They nodded. They added more wows to the list.
Ichi said, "Brave kid. He's cut off." Hawk said, "Alternate universe
or different dimension?" I said, "He doesn't know. I can't tell,
either. Problem is if I go, can I ever come back, and when I'm there,
if I survive the trip relatively intact, will I still have all my
abilities? First issue is, should I?" They thought. I could see there
was no firm decision. Chad said, "What is your already made decision?
Hey, people, I grew up with his father. I know!" I gave him a big grin.
I said, "It's NEW!" Mom sighed, and said, "Best bait they could offer
to a born researcher." I said, "We can't pass up this opportunity to
learn something this fantastic! And we really shouldn't, for our own
safety. They've done this once. That means they can do it again. We
NEED to be prepared for that. We've got a dangerously open backdoor. We
need to know how to manage that." Mom said, "I don't want to say this.
I REALLY don't! But you're right. You have to go." I wiped her tears.
I dressed in my new working clothes, and ported to Algeria. He was in
a large market, helping a scarf vender. They were just closing for the
day. When they were finished, I approached him, and said to him in his
own language, "Rangnorik, I hear you are looking for me." He looked
REALLY surprised. I successfully tried not to grin. I said, "The others
here can't see or hear us, and they will avoid us physically." He said
in wonder, "How?" I said, "Very well, I think." He returned my smile. I
said, "Why me, and not George?" He said, "I was told to ask only for
you." I said, "I'm not sure I like the people who sent you here without
telling you why. It might have been dangerous for you, too." He said,
"I have abilities." I said, "So do others. In this city, I can sense
six who are at about your level in what you do, if not as well trained.
There is another here who is more like I am in other arts, but he
wouldn't have harmed you. So you want me for something. You couldn't
just ask? You wasted a lot of time before we noticed you." He said, "I
know, but I had to do what I was told. They said it was important. How
do you know my language?" I said, "One of the reasons you were told to
do it the way you did, was to test my people and me. And they didn't
tell you anything they didn't want me to know." He said, "Oh! That
sounds right. But I didn't feel you read my mind." I said, "I don't
know if you would have felt it or not, if I had done that here and
want to surprise me. Well, I want to do that to them, too."
He grinned and said, "I didn't know I would like you, but I do." I
said, "Er, thanks. So, how does it happen? When we touch?" He said,
"Yes. Best we do it where people aren't watching." I said, "They aren't
watching now, but I don't know what will happen, so I have to agree
with you. Just so it's not inside a building. I don't want to risk
damaging anything." He said, "I agree." We moved to an empty courtyard.
I said, "I have to tell you something. Some of my abilities might
conflict with what will happen. I, or both of us, might die." His eyes
went wide, and he said, "I didn't think of that! But still you agree to
come with me. You must be very brave." I said, "You are here. YOU are
very brave." He was embarrassed. I said, "After we touch, how long will
it take before it begins?" He said, "I don't know anything about it." I
said, "Alright. For the touch, a hug?" He said, "That should do it." I
said, "Fine. I might act a little strange, but for people who know me,
well, they expect that." He grinned. I reached out. We hugged. In that
same instant, I severely slowed down my time presence. I wanted to
watch what was going to happen VERY carefully. It began. There was a
slight shift in perceptions, then in physical dimensions. Colors
changed a little. Then there was a twist, slowly and then a little
faster, and then my perceptions cleared. We were in what looked like a
fancy physics laboratory, which I fully examined, including the
computer. Still in my special time, I copied all the minds in the room
into mine. Because of my time difference then, I thought it could be
risked. It happened to them so fast, they probably wouldn't sense it if
they could have normally.
I brought my time back to normal. I felt they weren't aware of what I
did. Their instruments did catch some of that, but I thought they would
think it was something involved with transporting the mostly unknown
me. I said in their language, letting go of Rangnorik, "Alright, now
you've got me, what are you going to DO with me?" They just stared at
me in astonishment. I said, "I see your surprised expressions. They
work. What else have you got?" Rangnorik tried not to laugh. I said to
him, "I hope all your people aren't like these here. Would be very
boring." He had to laugh. The woman obviously in charge said, "You are
Solomon?" I said, "That's my name, yes." She said, "Will you please
come with us?" I said nicely, "No." They looked confused. I said to
Rangnorik, "REALLY boring. Not so nice, too. They didn't even thank you
for what you did for them." He nodded. I said, "If they don't start
acting civilized, I'm going home. I don't even know if I'm a guest or a
prisoner!" She said, "A guest! I apologize. We aren't used to this kind
of thing." I said, "That's not an acceptable excuse. You've had a long
time to prepare for my visit that you're not used to. You could have
found somebody to help you act like you have at least a little feeling
of and for other people. You didn't bother. Are you so used to USING
people like experimental machines, you have forgotten they are actually
people? People who have feelings, and who want to be treated that way?
You obviously want me for something. But do I want YOU? You sure
haven't given me a reason to do anything you want. Going to try?"
All that time, I had been testing my abilities, surreptitiously. They
worked fine. That was good, because one of the men was getting angry,
and tried to shoot me with a weapon, a neural suppressant. A stun gun.
He dropped to the floor. I said, "Interesting weapon. He tried to shoot
me with it. I reflected the energy back on him. Is this how you treat
guests? You must have VERY few friends. I'll give you thirty seconds to
tell me why I should want to help you, and if I'm not satisfied, I will
remove this lab from your existence, and remove your knowledge of how
it works, and I'll go home. Time starting now!" She said, "You can do
all that?" I said, "Stupid question. I can or I can't. Find out soon.
Waste more time in stupid questions?" She said, "We need your help!" I
said, "More stupidity. I told you I know that. Can't do much if your
man wants me to help while I'm unconscious." She said, "He shouldn't
have done that. We are being attacked in ways we don't understand, by
people we don't know." I said, "I already guessed that. You still
haven't told me why I should WANT to help YOU, or THOSE people. Maybe
they will treat me better. Bound to be smarter! I've never met people
who were supposed to be smart enough to build this, who so obviously
aren't. And you abuse CHILDREN! That deserves punishment!" She said,
"We are desperate! We will all die if we don't do something to stop the
attacks." I said, "Have you thought of stopping what you are doing
that's causing the attacks?" They just stared at me.
I said to Rangnorik, "Are all your adults this stupid?" He said, "I
don't know, but I know what you mean. I think much better and faster
than they do. I don't know why." I said to the leader, "Why did you
choose him to get me?" She said, "We knew you were looking for children
of intelligence and mind talents. Rangnorik scored well in that." I
said, "Why didn't it occur to you to use his ability to think, HERE?"
She looked surprised, and said, "But he's a child!" I said, "So am I."
Their feelings went tumbling around. I said to Rangnorik, "What do you
think is the reason why they are being attacked?" He said, "I have a
guess. They have discovered inter-dimensional travel. They said they
smile, "Continue!" He said, "Something in this lab is accidentally
attacking THEM in THEIR dimension, and they are hunting for the source,
trying to stop it. I can actually feel some of that. Oh, that means you
can feel it, too, and much more!" I said, "You are correct in all ways.
The problem remains, though. They won't believe or accept that, and so
they will allow their world and its people to be destroyed, rather than
give up this research."
The leader said, "I don't believe you. I can't. We need the power
this can give us!" I said, "The dead don't need much power. Their dead,
or yours. It's good that you brought me here. They detected what you
did, and that enabled them to more precisely locate this lab. Their
next attack will destroy this, and so end their problems. And yours. In
twelve minutes. You have a choice to make. You can shut all this down
before they attack, and they will stop. Or they will destroy this and
you. You lose this both ways, but with the first, you live." She said,
"No." I said, "You're not thinking again. Shutting it down doesn't have
to be forever. What would it hurt to see if that stops the attack?" One
of her assistants said, "That is logical. Please." Another one said,
"With his power, he could do it himself, I'm sure, but he isn't. WE are
being tested!" The leader said to me, "How do you know they will stop?"
I said, "BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TALKING TO THEM! How else would I know? I
got you those minutes extension, or you would already be dead."
She turned around and said to the others, "Shut it all down. Hurry!"
They did. One even tripped and fell in his haste. When it was all off,
I said, "They have agreed to stop the attack. There are more things you
should know. I wasn't just talking to them, I was showing them an image
of what was happening here, with translations. They appreciate my odd
humor much more than you do." Rangnorik laughed. We hugged. I said,
"They know you can and probably will do more of this soon. They offer
to make a deal with you. They will show you how to do this in such a
way that it doesn't harm anything in any dimension, if you will agree
to let them operate the equipment." She said, "But how can they come
here if it's not operating?" I said, "I don't need it to travel between
dimensions. They have their own ways, too." She said, "I didn't know
you knew how to do that. We didn't see it when we studied your people."
I said, "We didn't know then. Didn't think to try. I can now, and
without using a machine. You were using so much power, you were ripping
their dimension apart. But for this, you don't need much power at all,
to see and visit them." She said, "Wow!" I said, "I hear that a lot.
Want proof of what I said? George?" He appeared right next to me. We
hugged, and he and Rangnorik hugged, too.
I said, "Here is a device which you can use to communicate with the
others. They have one just like it, and they translate, too. I suggest
you find somebody intelligent to use it. I see you are getting angry.
Try to think a little! How intelligent have you been with this whole
situation? Aren't you supposed to be research scientists? Try applying
those principles to yourselves. Yes, to you as people. You might learn
something very important. Like, how not to destroy your planet? Like
how to be civilized to other people?" George said to Rangnorik, "Our
school. With what and who you can become there, you can really help
your people." He said, "Yes!" They hugged some more. I said to the
scientists, "I can see you from wherever I am, in any dimension. If you
use this equipment without the approval and assistance of the others, I
will destroy it, and remove from your memories how it all works. Do you
understand me?" She tried not to be angry. She said, "I understand.
They will destroy us if we don't agree. You, at least won't kill us. We
know that about you. But how do you know so much about us? We would
have felt if you had read our minds." I said, "I can't even try to tell
you. I have abilities that are beyond your comprehension. Some, even
beyond mine. And I communicate with He Who knows all." George nodded.
They looked at me in awe. She said, "You know how all this works, and
how their technology works, in such a short time?" I said, "That short
time was about a tenth of a second. And then I gave all that knowledge
to George in my home dimension, in case I died here, and he gave it to
others." She said, "You allowed yourself to be brought here, knowing
you could die, or never go back?" I said, "Yes. It was necessary that
we understand the situation and possible danger you represented." She
was very impressed, and in awe again.
I said, "I should be getting back to my own group. I don't know if
they are able to die of curiosity, but they could be coming close." She
chuckled. I said, "Oh, one more thing. Don't attempt to look at or
contact our dimension again. If you do, we will make sure you can't do
it again." She said, "But what if we need to?" I said, "Then you can
ask the others to do it. Until you have one we train, living here." She
looked at Rangnorik, and nodded. I said, "Farewell. Try to be nice to
people. I said something like this two thousand years ago, that could
guide you in that; do not do to others what you do not want them to do
to you. Treat people as you want to be treated. Keep that in your
minds, and you might actually make some very useful friends." George
and I bowed, and we did the twisting port to get home. George took
Rangnorik to our foster home to get settled in, and I ported to the
meeting. They mobbed me, and hugged and kissed me all over. I didn't
really complain much.
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Grant
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