John Hawks - The Traveler

“New Harmony helps spread information about the Vast Machine,” Rebecca said. “A couple of years ago, the White House proposed something called the Protective Link ID card. It was voted down in Congress, but we’ve heard that it’s currently being used by the employees of large corporations. In a few years, the government will reintroduce the idea and make it mandatory.”

“But you haven’t really broken away from modern life,” Maya said. “You have computers and electricity.”

“And modern medicine,” Joan said. “I consult with other physicians on the Internet and we have basic group insurance in case of severe illness. I don’t know if it’s exercise, diet, or lack of stress, but people rarely get sick around here.”

“We didn’t want to run away from the world and pretend to be medieval farmers,” Martin said. “Our objective was to gain control of our lives and prove that this Third Way of ours can work. There are other groups like New Harmony-the same mix of high tech and low tech-and we’re all connected by the Internet. A new community just started in Canada about two months ago.”

Gabriel hadn’t spoken for a while, but he kept staring at Martin. “Tell me something,” he said. “What was the name of this Traveler?”

“Matthew.”

“And what was his last name?”

“He never gave us one,” Martin said.

“Do you have a photograph of him?”

“I think we have one in the storage chest.” Rebecca stood up. “Should I…”

“No need for that,” Antonio said. “I’ve got one.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a leather memo book that was stuffed with lists, old receipts, and building plans. Placing the book on the table, he thumbed through the pages, then pulled out a small photograph.

“My wife took this four days before the Traveler left. He ate dinner at my house that night.”

Holding one edge of the photograph like it was a precious relic, Antonio handed it across the table. Gabriel took the photograph and stared at it for a long time.

“And when was this taken?”

“About eight years ago.”

Gabriel looked up at them. His face showed pain, hope, joy. “This is my father. He was supposed to be dead, destroyed in a fire, but here he is-sitting next to you.”

Gabriel sat beneath the night sky and examined the frayed snapshot of his father. More than anything, he wanted Michael to be there with him. The brothers had stood beside the charred remains of the farmhouse in South Dakota. They had driven around the country together, whispering at night when their mother was asleep. Was Father still alive? Was he looking for them?

The Corrigans had searched for their father constantly, expecting to see him sitting at a bus stop or gazing out the window of a café. Sometimes, when they entered a new town, the brothers would glance at each other, feeling tense and excited. Maybe their father was living here. Maybe he was close-very close-just drive two blocks west and turn left. It was only when they reached Los Angeles that Michael announced that the speculation was over. Father was dead or gone forever. Let’s forget about the past and move on.

While the stars glimmered overhead, Gabriel questioned the four members of New Harmony. Antonio and the others were sympathetic, but they couldn’t give him much information. They didn’t know how to find the Traveler. He hadn’t contacted them or left an address.

“Did he ever mention that he had a family? A wife? Two sons?”

Rebecca placed her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “No. He never said anything.”

“What did he tell you when he said goodbye?”

“He embraced each of us and then he stood in the doorway.” Martin’s voice was strained, filled with emotion. “He said that powerful men would try to make us frightened and filled with hate. They would try to control our lives and distract us…”

“… with glittering illusions,” Joan said.

“Yes. With glittering illusions. But we should never forget that the Light was in our hearts.”

The photograph-and Gabriel’s reaction to it-did solve one problem. Antonio no longer believed that he and Maya were Tabula spies. As they finished the wine, Antonio explained that the community was protecting a Pathfinder and this person lived in an isolated location about thirty miles north. If they still wanted to go, he would take them there tomorrow morning.

MAYA WAS SILENT walking back to the Blue House. When they reached the front door, she stepped in front of Michael and entered the house first. There was a feeling of aggressiveness about this act-as if each new location was a place where they might be attacked. The Harlequin didn’t switch on the lights. She seemed to have memorized the position of each piece of furniture. She quickly inspected the house and then they faced each other in the living room.

“It’s okay, Maya. We’re safe here.”

The Harlequin shook her head as if he had said something very foolish. Safety was a false word for her. Another illusion.

“I’ve never met your father and I don’t know where he is,” Maya said. “But I just wanted to say that-maybe he did this to protect you. Your house was destroyed. Your family went underground. According to our spy, the Tabula thought you were dead. You would have been safe if Michael hadn’t gone back on the Grid.”

“That might have been the reason. But I still…”

“You want to see him.”

Gabriel nodded.

“Maybe you’ll find him one day. If you have the power to become a Traveler, you might meet him in another realm.”

GABRIEL CLIMBED THE ladder to the loft bed. He tried to sleep, but it was impossible. As a cold wind came down the canyon and rattled the window frame, Gabriel sat on the bed and tried to become a Traveler. None of this was real. His body wasn’t real. And he could leave it. Just. Like. That.

For an hour or so, he argued with himself. Assuming that I have the power, then all I have to do is accept that fact. A plus B equals C. When logic didn’t work, he closed his eyes and was swept away by his own emotions. He could find his father and talk to him if he could break away from this cage of flesh. Within his mind, Gabriel tried to walk from darkness into light, but when he opened his eyes he was still sitting on the bed. Feeling angry and frustrated, he pounded his fist on the mattress.

Eventually, he fell asleep and woke up at dawn with the rough wool blanket wrapped around his body. When the shadows disappeared from the corners of the loft, Gabriel pulled on his clothes and climbed down the ladder. No one was in the bathroom and the bedroom was also empty. He went down the hallway to the kitchen and peered through a crack in the door. Maya sat with her sword case on her lap and her left hand flat on the table, staring at a patch of sunlight on the red tile floor. The sword and the intense expression on her face made him feel as if the Harlequin was cut off from any real human contact. He doubted if there could be a more solitary life: always hunted, always prepared to fight and die.

Maya turned slightly when Gabriel entered the kitchen. “Did they leave us anything for breakfast?” he asked.

“There’s tea and instant coffee in the cupboard. Milk, butter, and a loaf of bread in the refrigerator.”

“That’s enough for me.” Gabriel filled a kettle and placed it on a burner of the electric stove. “Why didn’t you make something?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Do you know anything about this Pathfinder?” Gabriel asked. “Is he young or old? What’s his nationality? They didn’t give us any information last night.”

“The Pathfinder is their secret. Hiding him is their act of resistance against the Vast Machine. Antonio was right about one thing: this community could get in a lot of trouble if the Tabula knew we were here.”