UA7: Brothers in Spirit

Chapter 5 - Elsewhile

"So... what now?" Dylan cautiously asked the group.

"I guess we should probably start exploring this place if we're going to be living here." Donny said uncertainly, then cautiously asked, "Unless anyone else has a better idea?"

"All that stuff Paul was talking about... food, shelter, security... It all sounds pretty important, like exploring is the first step no matter what we want to do next." Obie said frankly.

"Right. I'm going to look for the kitchen to see what kind of food we have, in case we need to worry about that." Paul said decisively as he started walking toward the dining room which was fully visible from the lounge.

"I need to find a bathroom." Ronny said abruptly as he purposely walked toward a hallway that was glassed in on one side, overlooking a pool area.

"I wanna check out the bedrooms. We get to pick which one we want, don't we?" Obie asked even as he started toward the hallway where Ronny had gone.

"Let's just see what we've got here before we start staking claims." Dylan said authoritatively.

"I wanna look anyway." Obie said as he continued on, undeterred.

"There's a door over here, it looks like it could lead somewhere. We're going to check that out to see where it goes." Kole said as he and Ryvan crossed the room.

"It goes outside." Donny cautiously observed.

"Yes and no. It's not really outside; In case you haven't noticed, we're underground. All the lighting is artificial. But I'm guessing that they probably put that door there for a reason, so we're going to see where it goes." Ryvan said as he reached the door.

Donny glanced in that direction then nodded his acknowledgement.

"I'm betting that the other door really does go outside." Arlo said as he motioned toward a similar door at the opposite end of the long hallway.

"What makes you think that?" Donny asked curiously.

"It would make sense from a design perspective for that to be the entryway, and besides that, just look at it, it's an exterior door." Arlo said succinctly.

Donny looked at the door and while there was no indication where it actually led, he had to admit that the assumption that it went outside was probably a valid one.

"Take someone with you. We have no idea where in the world we are and what kind of wildlife might be native here. The only thing Alistair really told us about where we are is where we're not." Donny said seriously.

"Does anyone want to help me explore outside?" Arlo called to those who lingered in the lounge area.

"Yeah. I could do with a breath of fresh air." Dylan said a bit gruffly, giving evidence to the fact that the events of the day were wearing on him.

"Can I go too?" Teddy asked hopefully.

"Sure. We're a team, aren't we?" Dylan asked pleasantly, expertly hiding the dark mood from a moment before.

"Me too?" Jason K asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Dylan told Jason K, then looked to Teddy and continued, "Being on the team means that when it's time to investigate, you get an automatic invite. Unless there's a good reason to do something else, we'll always include you."

"It sounds like fun." Jason K confirmed.

"Johnny wants to make sure that it's okay if he goes with us too." Arlo said hesitantly.

"Of course. Actually, he can be in charge of watching out for anything in the spirit world that we need to know about." Dylan said in a tone which very well might be serious.

"Then what am I here for?" Arlo asked cautiously.

"You started all this. You're our leader." Dylan said seriously.

"But you're a better leader than I am..." Arlo began to say uncertainly.

"The only way to improve is with practice. But I know how intimidating that can be and there's no reason to stress you out like that. I tell you what, how about I be in charge of 'Team Flesh' for you. That way you can tell me what you want done and not have to worry about the small details of it." Dylan finished with an easy smile.

Arlo glanced to Dylan's side, then said, "You're coordinating 'Team Flesh' and Johnny is in charge of 'Team Ghost'. Since I can talk to both of you, I can coordinate things so that we'll all be working toward the same goals. I think we can do this!"

"You're starting to sound like a leader to me." Dylan observed.

Arlo smiled in return before asking, "Is everyone ready?"

* * * * *

Looking around at the dwindling group in the lounge, Donny decided that there was something that needed to be done and it seemed to be the perfect time to do it. Donny discretely guided Jinx off to the side where they could speak privately for a moment.

"It's okay. I really don't mind being called Jinx."

"I just feel like we're making fun of you or putting you down by calling you that all the time." Donny explained.

"I don't want you to feel bad but I promise that it doesn't bother me." Jinx said quietly.

"Would it be okay if I called you by your real name instead, just as a way to show everyone that I don't think you're bad luck?" Donny asked hopefully.

"I guess so, if it's that important to you..." Jinx reluctantly conceded.

"What is your real name?" Donny gently coaxed.

"Melvin." Jinx said as he fought to keep the cringe out of his expression.

"Oh... that's... um, wow. Do you have a middle name?" Donny carefully asked.

"Shelby." Jinx said flatly, not even pretending to be happy about it.

"Oh, well, you know, some people get along just fine using their last names. Sometimes it sounds kinda rugged and cool." Donny said with forced enthusiasm.

"Titford." Jinx said simply, then explained, "My dad used to say that it was pronounced 'tich-ford', but there's no 'ch' in it. That was just the sound of him not dealing with it."

"Melvin Titford?" Donny asked with a pained expression.

"Melvin Shelby Titford, the Third." Jinx confirmed resignedly.

"You know what? As long as you really don't mind it, I think 'Jinx' is a wonderful name." Donny said gently.

"If it bothered me, I wouldn't have told you about it when we first met." Jinx said seriously, then quickly added, "But thanks for trying."

* * * * *

"Donny? Could you come here for a minute?" Ronny asked hopefully from the hallway by the pool.

"Sure. What's up?" Donny asked casually as he glanced at Jinx to see if he had anything else to say.

"Funny you should ask... um, can you just come here? I've got a problem and I don't know who else to talk to about it." Ronny said honestly.

"What kind of problem?" Donny asked as he glanced apologetically at Randolph and Jinx before stepping away..

"Just follow me."

* * * * *

"Where'd everybody go?" Paul asked from the dining room.

Randolph glanced down at Jinx for an instant before answering, "Exploring. As per your suggestion, if I recall correctly."

"Oh, yeah. Well, maybe you guys can help me figure something out." Paul said hesitantly.

"What might that be?" Randolph cautiously responded as he and Jinx crossed the lounge to join Paul in the dining room.

"I wanted to check out the kitchen just to make sure that we had food and stuff before we're all hungry and desperate." Paul explained as he led the pair into the kitchen.

Randolph nodded his understanding of Paul's motivation.

"What I'm trying to figure out is, in a universe that was just created, how can there be leftovers in the fridge?" Paul asked as he stopped at the prep island in the middle of the room.

"What?" Jinx asked with a laugh.

"It's true. It looks like there's some kind of taco casserole thing with a portion missing and there's half a meatloaf in there." Paul said in puzzlement.

"Which begs the question, who ate the other half?" Randolph asked curiously.

"Yeah. Exactly." Paul confirmed, then explained, "I was just wanting to see what kind of food we had in the pantry. I didn't expect to find anything already made."

As Randolph walked more fully into the kitchen, he looked around for a moment before slowly saying, "It certainly is a big kitchen, but where's the icebox?"

"This is set up like a restaurant kitchen. The room behind that door is all one big refrigerator." Paul explained seriously, then thought to add, "The walk-in freezer is the door next to it."

"Do you happen to know if any of us who will be living here knows how to cook?" Randolph asked cautiously.

"I don't even know everyone's name yet." Jinx said simply.

"I know what some of these things are from when I visited my mom at her job. But as far as cooking, I can stir something on the stove to keep it from burning and I can peel potatoes." Paul said seriously, then quickly added, "I'm in the kitchen sometimes when my mom cooks at home and it looks pretty easy. I mean, how hard can it be to open a can of broccoli or something?"

"I know that Arlo has experience helping in the kitchen, but I am not aware to what degree. We never discussed that. As for me, I have cooked for myself, but I would not know how to cook for this number of people. Also, my recipes might be a bit out-of-date for your modern tastes." Randolph finished hesitantly.

"With all of us being from different backgrounds, I bet no one will even notice. We'll all just look at it as being part of your culture." Jinx said honestly.

"Yeah, besides that, if you cook something that not everyone likes, there's still plenty of food so that they can fix themselves something else." Paul said cheerily.

"It is possible that I may have gained some of Arlo's knowledge of cooking, as I did with his knowledge of contemporary language. I won't know how much until I am in a situation which calls for it." Randolph said contemplatively.

"I've noticed that sometimes you don't understand what we're talking about, but then there are other times when you obviously understand things I was sure that you wouldn't get." Paul said thoughtfully.

"While I was with Arlo, if I needed to know something, Arlo's mind would fill in the blanks for me. It's not that I received the sum of his knowledge, but rather, I received simple answers to my unvoiced questions, many times without even realizing that it was happening." Randolph carefully explained.

"Do you have anything special that you'd like to try cooking for us?" Jinx asked curiously.

"I am accustomed to cooking with whatever foodstuffs are available for my use. I would need to see what we have on-hand before concocting any sort of menu." Randolph said reasonably.

"Well, unless you need something weird like squirrel meat, you'll probably be able to find what you need in here somewhere. I'm serious, the pantry is HUGE and they have just about anything you could want." Paul said expressively.

"Remember that Alistair said something about us going into town for supplies. So even if we don't have what you're looking for here, we might still be able to get it." Randolph said helpfully.

"Do you guys want to cook something so that we can all have a good meal for everyone in our new home?" Jinx asked hopefully.

"I don't know how anyone else feels, but I had dinner just a little while ago. I could snack on something, but I'm really not hungry for a sit-down meal." Paul said honestly.

"Yeah. Me neither. Besides, it's kinda late in the day for something big like that." Jinx agreed.

"I feel as though I should be hungry due to the fact that, to my knowledge, this body has never eaten before. However, I feel much as you do, as though I have eaten recently and am not quite hungry yet." Randolph said introspectively.

"Why don't we look around and see if we can find something good to snack on, you know, kind of make it a party to celebrate our first day here." Paul finished with a smile.

"That sounds great!" Jinx said enthusiastically.

"Yes. That sounds agreeable to me as well." Randolph confirmed.

* * * * *

"What's wrong?" Donny asked as he followed Ronny into the bathroom.

"How do you work this thing?" Ronny asked with frustration as he looked down at his erection tenting out his pants.

"Before I answer, just what are you trying to do with it?" Donny asked hesitantly.

"Pee! I need to really bad, but this thing got turned on somehow and I don't know how to turn it off. It's stuck like this!"

"Yeah. That happens." Donny assured him, then explained, "Just relax. If you'll calm down a little bit it should ease up enough to let you go."

"I don't know how to calm it down. If I even touch the stupid thing it nearly gives me a heart attack. I've never felt anything like this before." Ronny said desperately.

"I don't know what to tell you. I've heard that cold showers will help. I've never tried it, myself. Either that or maybe try... um, relieving the pressure; Kind of eliminate the problem at its source." Donny finished uncomfortably.

Ronny glanced around to confirm what he already knew before finally saying, "There's no shower in here."

"Yeah. My guess would be that they either have full bathrooms for the individual bedrooms or they might have communal showers central to all the bedroom areas." Donny said speculatively.

"I can't go into a communal shower with this thing ready to go off at any moment." Ronny said frantically, having achieved a new level of anxiety.

"If there's no one else in there, it's no big deal." Donny stated reasonably.

"But someone could walk in on me when I'm like this!" Ronny said anxiously.

"Yeah. That could happen. But if you think about it, that could happen to any of us." Donny said reasonably.

"I guess so." Ronny reluctantly agreed.

"But let's just wait and see if we're set up with private, shared, or communal shower facilities before we worry too much about that." Donny  said seriously.

"Fine. But what can I do right now? I have to go really bad." Ronny said miserably.

"I've got an idea, but I can't be sure it's going to help. Are you willing to let me try?" Donny asked cautiously.

"Yeah. I guess so. I've got to do something." Ronny said reluctantly.

"Okay, here it goes." Donny said as he was obviously bracing himself to do something unpleasant.

Ronny watched him warily, not knowing what to expect.

When Donny began to pull his T-shirt off over his head, Ronny abruptly asked, "What are you doing?"

"Getting naked." Donny said simply.

"I'm not into guys. I thought I told you that." Ronny rushed to explain.

"Yeah. Well, you have to worry about that when you're looking for someone to love and date and stuff. But this is a totally other thing. What I'm talking about is strictly physical; getting your rocks off." Donny explained reasonably.

"Um, no. Just... don't." Ronny stammered.

Donny had his hands poised to undo the top button on his pants when he stopped all movement.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything but I really don't want this." Ronny fought to explain.

"I'm not going to do anything to you. All I want to do is show you a quick and easy way to release the pressure so you can move on to other things." Donny explained.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather not." Ronny said nervously.

Donny smiled, then quietly said, "I guess there's no point to it now anyway. Your boner's gone. Go ahead and pee. When you're done, I'll be in the lounge working on what we need to do next. I'd appreciate your help."

Ronny suddenly looked down and realized that the tent that had been there a moment before, now was conspicuously absent.

Before he could say anything in response, the bathroom door closed, leaving him on his own.

* * * * *

"Did you happen to notice any flashlights when we were back at the house?" Ryvan asked curiously.

"No. I didn't think to look for any. I guess it'd be good if we started carrying one with us. We seem to be needing them a lot more often than we used to." Kole said frankly.

"It looks pretty dark up ahead. We might have to go back and get one." Ryvan said slowly.

"Hang on. It looks like it could be a light switch on the wall over there.." Kole said cautiously.

Both boys diverted from the main path to examine what looked to be a touchscreen pad affixed to a wide stone-like post.

"I use a lot of technology, but this interface doesn't look familiar to me." Ryvan said slowly.

"It's not Federation, that's for sure." Kole confirmed.

"What's weird is, I don't know what these icons or letters are supposed to mean." Ryvan said as he carefully studied the touch pad.

"They usually use icons to simplify the controls so that people from different backgrounds can use the same controls without speaking the same language. But there should be a way to make the computer identify..."

"Computer: Identify, Kole Clarry. Identify, Ryvan Wyrd." A computerized voice said from above them. As soon as the computer stopped speaking, a large heavy door began to rise.

"Um, okay." Ryvan said as he watched the door continue to open.

"Hey, can you smell that? It smells... moist." Kole stated as he started walking down the tunnel.

"It smells like a lake or a river or something." Ryvan said as he matched Kole's pace.

"Watch your step. We don't know what's up ahead. The floor could drop out from under us."

Before Ryvan could respond, the overhead lights started lighting all around them.

Kole and Ryvan stood speechless as an enormous hangar bay was revealed to them.

"We've got planes." Ryvan finally whispered.

"Those are ultralites, they are to planes what bicycles are to motorcycles." Kole corrected.

"So, do you know how to fly one of those things?" Ryvan asked hesitantly.

"No. I've just seen pictures of them. I've never even seen one in person before." Kole said honestly.

"Do you hear that?" Ryvan asked cautiously.

"You don't know how good it is to have you asking me that." Kole said warmly.

Ryvan rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile at his friend's joy at his recent good fortune. Finally he was able to ask, "As a lifelong hearing person, can you tell me if that's the sound of waves?"

"Yeah. Something like that. It sounds like it's coming from over there, on the right. Wanna check it out?" Kole asked challengingly.

"We've got to be able to report back to the others about what we found. We'd better see it all." Ryvan said seriously.

After a moment to allow that to process, Kole quietly said, "I can see how a person, especially one bathed in spiritual light, could be heard by spiritual hearing. That makes sense to me, it having to do with psychic vibrations or something. But using that logic, how do you think you could hear something like lapping water?"

"When you put it that way, I don't see any way that I could." Ryvan said simply.

"So, do you think that maybe that you can really hear? I mean, like, maybe somehow you got all the ear stuff that you were missing from birth?" Kole asked with difficulty as they walked toward the source of the sound.

"I'd say that that's a ridiculous question, except that at the same time I got my hearing, Dylan had half his face replaced, like it was never damaged, and Randolph got a whole new body." Ryvan said cautiously as he led the way down the stairs.

"Yeah. I totally get that. But what do you think Alistair was talking about with your decision path that would make you deaf again?"

"I think he was talking about me choosing to go back to the camp, to before the lights went out. If I went back there it would have to be as I was, not as how I am now." Ryvan said reasonably.

Before Kole could respond, the pair looked around at the varied watercraft, both large and small, all moored at an expansive boat dock.

* * * * *

"Um, okay, I give up. Where's the doorknob?" Jason K hesitantly asked.

After a moment of examination, Dylan finally said, "It doesn't seem to have one. Maybe this is just supposed to look like a door."

"It's electronic. The computer controls access and even has a defense program in case someone shows up that isn't supposed to be here." Teddy said seriously.

"Do you know how it works?" Dylan asked slowly.

Teddy glanced at Dylan before reluctantly saying, "I know a little, mostly bits and pieces."

"Can you get it to open the door for us?"

"I think so." Teddy muttered, then looked upward and said more firmly, "Computer: Identify."

"Identify, Arlan Cavinaugh. Identify, Dylan Chang. Identify, Theodore Behr. Identify, Jason Klein." The computer said dispassionately. A moment later, the large heavy door slowly slid aside.

"I think Alistair said something about us not having visitors, but if you really really wanted to let someone from outside into the base you'd be able to override the system. If you didn't, the system defenses wouldn't let the door open to them." Teddy said seriously.

"Do you know where the system override is?" Arlo asked cautiously.

"There are computers all over the place. You can sign in on any of them to get into the command system." Teddy said frankly.

"How do you know about all this stuff?" Jason K asked curiously.

"I don't know. Ever since I got hit by that Frisbee I've started remembering things I don't remember learning." Teddy said simply.

"But now you know about computer stuff. I thought you could just see the future." Arlo said frankly.

"I can, but the other stuff is like a future that I dreamed a long time ago and now it's just catching up to me. It's like I've seen this before plus just a little bit more that I can't quite remember yet. If you ask me about some of these things that I've seen before, I might remember something about how things turned out that I didn't know that I knew." Teddy fought to explain. 

"Is it something like deja vous?" Arlo asked curiously.

"I really don't know what that feels like. Maybe." Teddy said honestly.

"Do you have any visions or deja vous about us stepping through this doorway?" Dylan cautiously asked.

"No. I think Alistair is holding back on my visions for a little bit to help me so I don't go crazy with all of it coming at me all at once, all the time." Teddy said seriously.

"So you have to wait for Alistair to send you your visions?" Arlo asked cautiously.

"If Alistair has a vision and decides that it's something that I need to see, then he can send it to me. But when I'm ready to use my visions, to start helping people, I'll be able to pull visions for myself. The only thing is, once I start, I may not be able to stop. I could get lost in it."

"Hold on. Back up." Arlo said firmly, then asked more slowly, "Helping people? What people? From the way Alistair was talking, we may be the only people in this entire universe."

"Alistair said a lot of things. Most of them turned out to be wrong." Teddy said seriously.

"I think Alistair was doing the right thing from what he could see in front of him. But I don't know if we'd be better off if him and his friends hadn't ever done anything to 'help' us." Jason K said frankly.

"If they didn't do anything, we wouldn't be here..." Arlo began to say but was interrupted.

"...we wouldn't be... at all." Jason K said seriously.

After a moment to consider, Arlo slowly nodded his agreement to the assessment.

"So, leader, how do you feel about exploring what's on the other side of the door?" Dylan cautiously asked.

"Teddy, how sure are you that the computer will open the door for us when we get back?" Arlo cautiously asked.

"I haven't seen anything about the computer doing anything except what we ask it to." Teddy said honestly.

"Johnny? Can you see anything in the hallway ahead of us?" Arlo asked cautiously.

After a long moment of intent listening, Arlo finally nodded his acknowledgement.

"What did he say?" Jason K asked curiously.

"He doesn't see anything in the tunnel ahead of us, but he also doesn't see a door. It seems like whatever security is in place here doesn't apply to spiritual beings." Arlo said speculatively.

"Does that help us somehow?" Dylan asked slowly, not understanding the significance Arlo seemed to be placing on the discovery.

"I don't know if it means anything or not. But since we sort of promised that we'd develop our spiritual abilities, there's every likelihood that we might be able to use this knowledge to our advantage one day."

After a long moment, Dylan slowly said, "I'm glad you're on my team."

Arlo smiled in reaction, taking the statement in the spirit it was intended.

* * * * *

"Where did everybody go?" Obie asked as he looked around.

"They're off exploring different things. Since this is where we started, I thought that we could use this lounge as our base of operations." Donny said simply, then thought to ask, "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yeah. A lot." Obie said bluntly.

"Like what?" Donny asked cautiously.

"It looks like all our stuff from the camp is here. It's already in our bedrooms." Obie said seriously.

"So our bedrooms have already been chosen for us?" Donny asked cautiously.

"Not only that, it looks like our roommates were chosen for us, too." Obie said frankly.

"Really? Who's rooming together?" Donny asked curiously.

"I don't know for sure which stuff belongs to which people. All I know is that my stuff was in one side of the bedroom and someone else's stuff was in the other side. The most awesome part of that is that right in between us, there's this big huge fish tank with all kinds of really cool fish in it."

"Did you notice if there was a little tiny fish in there that looked like a foil chewing gum wrapper?" Donny asked cautiously.

"Yeah. That's exactly what it looked like. Is it yours? Are you my roommate?" Obie asked with surprise.

"No, that's Leviathan. He belongs to Paul."

After a long moment of consideration, Obie finally said, "Me and Paul sharing a room sounds like a really good idea."

"I think so too. You two like a lot of the same things. You'll probably have a lot of fun together." Donny said optimistically.

"Yeah. But it's more than that. When we talk, he'll say something that'll make me think of something else and when I tell him, that'll give him a whole new idea... it's not just about fun. I think we might be able to come up with some really good ideas, working together like that." Obie finished seriously.

"Did you happen to notice who I was roomed with?" Donny asked cautiously.

"No. I didn't look too close at other peoples' stuff. It felt too much like I was snooping. I found Kole and Ryvan's room... no surprise that they're rooming together. I found other things in other rooms but I mostly just left them alone. I couldn't tell who they belonged to." Obie finished with a shrug.

"I was wondering, are there bathrooms in each room or are there shower rooms?" Donny asked curiously.

"Both. There's a little bathroom with a toilet and a sink in each bedroom, but there is also a big locker room type bathroom with a sauna, whirlpool, showers and tubs and stuff like that. In the room next to that there's a bunch of gym equipment that I don't even know what all of it does." Obie said energetically.

"That might not be so bad."

"But the weirdest thing was the dark place that I found. It was really creepy."

"Dark place?"

"Yeah. When you walk through the door it's like being back in limbo. It doesn't fade in or anything, when you step through, you're in complete blackness."

"But you were able to come back without a problem?" Donny asked to verify.

"Yeah. I just turned around and stepped back through the doorway." Obie said simply.

"I'm glad you were able to come back. It sounds dangerous." Donny said frankly.

"I think it could be." Obie said seriously, then added, "It also looks like something that we could use someday."

"Once we get settled in, we'll need to take a closer look at it." Donny assured him.

* * * * *

"This doesn't have any instructions or anything." Paul said anxiously.

"What are you working on?" Jinx cautiously asked.

"Nacho cheese." Paul slowly responded.

"Scrape it out into a pan, then slowly heat it." Jinx explained, obviously not understanding what Paul was having difficulty with.

"'Slowly' heat? What number is that?" Paul asked in confusion.

"Only turn it up about half-way and make sure you keep stirring it or it'll scorch on the bottom." Jinx told him seriously.

"Do you know a lot about cooking?" Paul asked as he poured a gallon of a gluey orange substance into a large saucepan.

"I picked up a few things in all the different foster homes I've been in. But I mostly know how to reheat stuff." Jinx said seriously.

"How old are you?" Paul asked curiously as he scraped the goo out of the can, being sure to get it all.

"I'm twelve." Jinx said simply before gently dipping double handfuls of tortilla chips from a box into a large steel bowl, careful not to crush them.

"For some reason, I thought you were younger." Paul said honestly.

"I get that a lot. I'm kinda small for my age." Jinx said simply, then thought to ask, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen." Paul responded happily.

"I thought you were younger than that. Maybe you're small for your age too." Jinx said uncertainly.

"Actually, I'm about average height for my age, but I keep getting told that I need to grow up and that I'm just a big kid... I don't know why everyone's in such a hurry for me to grow up. It doesn't look like very  much fun."

"Did you need others of these vegetables diced?" Randolph asked uncertainly from nearby.

After looking over Randolph's handiwork, Jinx said, "I think that should be good enough. Paul, what do you think?"

"Yeah. That should be enough for everyone, it'll give them a variety of flavors to choose from besides just chips and cheese. But we're still going to need some jalapeños. They're kind of essential for nachos." Paul said earnestly.

"As long as I don't have to eat any, you can do whatever you want. They're too hot for me." Jinx said frankly.

"No. I'm talking about the pickled kind. They're not very hot at all." Paul rushed to explain.

"I fell for that one before. I'm not touching another one of those 'howling penis' things ever again."

"Jalapeños." Paul automatically corrected.

"I know what I said. Remember me? The bad luck guy? Me and jalapeños go way back. We have a history." Jinx said vehemently.

"You won't mind if the rest of us have some, will you?" Paul cautiously asked.

"No. That's fine. Since you're the one who went exploring, do you have any idea where we might find them?" Jinx asked seriously.

"The pantry is through that door. There's shelves of cans and jars, if we have any, it'd probably be there somewhere." Paul said easily.

"It might be easier for you to find them since you know what you're looking for. I can stir the cheese sauce."

"Sure. Okay."

"What would you like for me to do?" Randolph cautiously asked.

"Paul was telling us about a taco casserole. Maybe you could get that from the cooler. It sounds like something that might be good to have as a choice to go with the nachos. Just because I'm not hungry for a meal doesn't mean that no one else is."

"Although I am not significantly hungry, I would be interested in trying it." Randolph said frankly.

"I might try some too. The only thing I think that we're missing is some kind of seasoned meat to put on top of the nachos but it's probably too late to start something like that anyway." Jinx said consideringly.

"To my knowledge, no one is expecting the repast you are preparing, so you should have the freedom to make whatever you would like. If you will but give yourself permission, you can make the meal conform to all of your expectations." Randolph said reasonably.

"Yeah. I guess so." Jinx said uncertainly.

"Once I get the casserole heating, I can attend to the cheese sauce if you would like to gather the ingredients to make the food you envision." Randolph said seriously.

"Yeah. Thanks Randolph. I'll do that." Jinx said earnestly, finishing with a smile.

* * * * *

"Look at this!" Jason K said excitedly from ahead of the group.

"What did you find?" Dylan asked anxiously.

"Bikes!" Jason K said happily.

"I guess this probably means that this tunnel really does lead to the outside." Dylan carefully reasoned.

"It could also mean that the exit is really far away and you have to bike to get there." Arlo said rationally.

"What's with these lights?' I mean, you can barely see anything." Jason K said cautiously.

"I think they're what's called 'sodium' lights. I've stumbled across references to them in my reading, but I don't really know much about them except that they're commonly used in mining as a dependable source of light that is known for being low energy, durable, and relatively long lived."

"What are the chances that the bikes are just here for some kind of underground bicycle track and the path doesn't go outside at all?" Dylan asked seriously.

After a long moment to consider, Arlo finally said, "Not likely."

At the surprised look from Dylan, Arlo explained, "The ground in here, in the cavern, is sandy and loose. While you might be able to ride a bike on it, I would think that it would be far from ideal. If you were intentionally making an indoor bike track, I would think that you'd choose a better surface for it."

"Look over here." Jason K called from ahead of them, past the bikes.

"What did you find, K?" Dylan asked curiously.

"There's another cave over here, but this one doesn't have any lights in it." Jason K said with excitement at his discovery.

"Which might be an indication that we shouldn't go in there." Arlo slowly suggested.

"I think it's probably okay if we go in there to explore, when we've got the right equipment. But having no lights says to me that that cave doesn't lead anywhere that you'd want to go." Dylan said speculatively.

"Right. Stick to the lighted passageways." Arlo said simply.

"For now." Dylan amended, then added, "We might come back to explore later."

"So, what are we doing?" Teddy asked curiously.

When no one else immediately answered, Arlo finally said, "Why don't we take the bikes and see if we can find the entrance?"

"Do you think that will be safe?" Dylan asked curiously.

"If we're correct in our assumption that they only lit up the paths that go somewhere, I think we'll probably be safe enough." Arlo said confidently.

"And if it turns out not to be that way, then we can always double back and go for help." Dylan offered reasonably.

Arlo began to nod, then looked to Dylan's side curiously.

Before Dylan could ask, Arlo quietly said, "Johnny isn't going to be able to keep up with us, and he can't ride a bike."

"I guess we could stay here and wait for you to come back." Dylan said uncertainly.

"While we could do that, I think a better answer might be to allow Johnny to temporarily possess me. I carried Randolph for quite a while and it didn't do any harm." Arlo said seriously.

"Just because it didn't hurt you before doesn't mean that it won't now." Dylan said frankly.

"Do you have a better idea?" Arlo asked curiously.

"How about if I give Johnny a piggy-back ride?"

"I don't know..." Arlo said honestly.

"When we found him, he hugged me and he's got a pretty good grip. If he wants to tag along with us, I wouldn't mind carrying him." Dylan said frankly.

"Do you think you might be able to cast some of your own light while you're riding the bike?" Arlo slowly asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Dylan said uncertainly.

"I think that if you did that, then Johnny might be able to physically touch you. With any luck, it won't be too uncomfortable for either of you." Arlo said speculatively.

"You'd be able to see if he was having trouble or fell off, wouldn't you?" Dylan asked cautiously.

"I think so, as long as you don't get too far ahead of me." Arlo said uncertainly.

"Are you ready to go, J K?" Dylan asked with a playful grin in the dim orange lighting.

"Can we just take any one?" Jason K asked cautiously.

"Just pick whichever one fits you best." Dylan said as he, too, went to the variety of bicycles to choose one for himself.

"Ready, Teddy?" Arlo asked with a smile in his direction.

"I never really cared too much about bike riding, but yeah, I think I am." Teddy said with surprise at the admission.

"Dylan. Hold still for a second so that Johnny can climb on." Arlo said cautiously.

"I'm going to do my best to give him enough light, not only to hold on, but also so that I can feel him." Dylan said as he stood astride the bicycle.

"I'll keep watch, just in case." Arlo assured him.

"Are we ready?" Jason K asked as he pulled up to Arlo's side.

"Teddy?" Arlo asked as he looked over his shoulder.

"Right here, ready to go." Teddy said happily.

"Dylan, with you and Johnny both showing your light while he's holding you, it looks almost like you have a halo." Jason K said with surprise.

"Me with a halo? Yeah, no one back home would ever believe that." Dylan said with a chuckle, then said more loudly, "Let's go!"

To Be Continued...

Editor's Notes:

This is quite a busy chapter. Lots of things showing themselves.

We are learning new things about our guys that we didn't know before.

It looks as though things are starting to move forward, unless we have something turn up to slow things back down.

I don't think that would make much sense.

Darryl The Radio Rancher

Thanks MM for another great chapter