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(Jenny looked up from her reading, realizing her eyes were moist. She hadn’t given much thought to the idea that someone had lived in the house on Infinity Loop before Lizzie, or that Tidbit had been a part of the history of the comfortable little house.
It was good to get to know Gaston through Lizzie’s writings, and she was having a hard time coming back to reality.
Lizziebot was standing by her chair.
“You need to eat something, Jenny. Come, bring the journal over to the table, and I will bring you some supper. I baked a nice lasagna, and there is a salad to go with it.”
Jenny hadn’t been paying attention to her growling stomach, but she obediently headed for the dining room table. She wasn’t sure she would even notice what she was eating. She had a strong feeling that things were about to get even more interesting for Lizzie and almost begrudged the time it would take to eat a meal.)
Lizzie never knew a week to pass by so slowly before. Gaston had given her a list of tasks to make sure the lab was clean, organized, and prepared to be unused for an undetermined amount of time. He also had her check to be sure her passport was in good order and that she was up to date on all her immunizations.
He had purchased her a nice set of luggage and had given her a line of credit at a favorite clothing store. He advised her that she wouldn’t need anything very formal, but good solid clothing for “adventuring,” as he called it, would be needed.
Unlike most of her female peers, she generally wore pants rather than skirts, so she already had a fairly good collection of serviceable clothes, but she was female enough to enjoy picking out a few new outfits. He had told her to be prepared for different climates, so she also picked up some Bermuda shorts and a decent sun hat. She already owned a good pair of sunglasses. She kept the colors neutral, staying away from whites and bright colors.
By the end of the week, a couple days before New Year’s Day, she felt like she was pretty well prepared.
She was surprised to discover that the professor expected to take both the cat and Thumble with them in their journeys, whatever those were going to be. Evidently, the carrier he had brought Thumble to the lab in was fine for traveling wherever they would be going, and Tidbit had his own cat carrier as well. Gaston explained that they wouldn’t be carrying that. It had its own wheels.
She made a last inspection of the facility. Gaston would be picking her up in an hour or so. She had double-checked to be sure that all deliveries had been stopped to the lab and she had her newly packed things waiting in the office by the door. Thumble had obediently hopped into his carrier and was now humming cheerfully to himself.
“You’re such a happy little guy,” she remarked to him, as she latched the door to his traveling domicile. “I kind of wish you could talk. You’re good company, and I’d love to know what is going on in your head. Maybe then I could solve the mystery of where you come from. I’ve yet to find anything like you in the zoological records, and I’ve never heard of anything like you in any of the lists of mythological or extinct creatures.”
Thumble didn’t reply, of course. Finally, she heard the purr of the Bel Aire as it pulled up in the parking space outside the door. At last, she would maybe find out what Gaston had put her up to, or so she hoped.
“Passport in your pocket?” Gaston asked, in the way of greeting as he grabbed her suitcase by the door.
“Yep,” she replied, lifting Thumble’s travel cage. “By the way, I was wondering how Thumble and Tidbit are traveling; won’t they question his, um, unusual appearance? Aren’t there rules about traveling with pets?”
“Indeed, which is why Thumble will be doing most of his traveling in Tidbit’s travel crate. Every pet should have a stuffed toy to comfort them on a long journey. It will never occur to them that Thumble is alive if he is snuggled between the feet of a large predator like Tidbit. They would assume, if he were alive, Tidbit would be eating him.” His eyes twinkled.
“Sounds like you’ve done this before. Do you often travel with your cat? I mean couldn’t he just stay home with Nita?”
“I suppose, but, as you may not yet realize, as you don’t know him well, Tidbit is a very special cat.”
“All pet owners think that about their pets, I suppose,” Lizzie agreed. “I don’t guess I have much experience with that. My family don’t seem to go in for owning pets much. I think I have an uncle with a Yorkshire terrier, but he lives out East, so I don’t know a lot about it.”
Gaston only chuckled. “You may be wondering where we are headed.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Are you finally going to tell me, then?”
“Couldn’t keep it a secret much longer since you might notice our destination at the ticket counter. Have you ever been to Switzerland?”
“No! What will we do there?”
“There is a remote observatory in the Alps. Most people don’t know it exists. It’s privately funded, and the research there is very hush-hush. This week a number of the, shall we say, um, stockholders will be gathering, and I would like to introduce you. They are of various disciplines. I have been reporting the results of your projects to them from the beginning of your apprenticeship, and they wish to meet you. They are my associates in many fields of research. I have told them I think you show promise. Much of what we do going forward will depend on how well we all get along.”
“Then, do you work for some hush-hush private corporation?”
“Something like that. Nondisclosure agreements and covenants don’t allow me to discuss it further than that until you’re vetted. This meeting is part of that process.”
“What if they don’t vet me?”
“Not to worry, Lizzie. You will still have several options, all of which are potentially attractive. Or, when our contract is complete when your year is up, you can go your own way, with my recommendations, to any of your future endeavors. Okay?”
“Fair enough. It sounds like it will be interesting. So, if you are able to tell me this much, is Switzerland your company headquarters?”
“No. It was just a central, very private place for all of us to gather. Did you notify your family you would be away for a while?”
“I did. My mother was a bit taken aback that I would be traveling with a man they didn’t know to a mysterious destination with no particular agenda. As to whether or when I would be back, however, I’m not fussed about it. I just told her that I trust you and that you are a respected professor at the university. That calmed her down a bit. I told her it was a part of a special internship, and that part of my test was my ability to keep confidences. I’m sincerely hoping that was an accurate, if not somewhat vague, summary of our venture?”
Gaston nodded, exiting the freeway toward the Los Angeles International Airport. He pulled into the area reserved for long-term space rental, found a spot, and pulled Thumble out of his travel carrier and handed him into Tidbit’s crate where he happily curled up between Tidbit’s protective legs and appeared to promptly go to sleep. Tidbit looked up at Lizzie and Gaston with those amber eyes and curled around the little creature with a rumbling purr.
Gaston then waved over a porter to help stack their luggage on a cart, and off they went to the ticketing gate. Standing in line, Lizzie found that her stomach was agitated. She wasn’t often nervous or anxious, but she did feel a surge of adrenalin at the thought that she was now committed to go into the unknown.
She was used to planning everything in her life, step by careful step. This throwing-caution-to-the-winds situation was completely outside of her comfortable routine and habits. True, she had always longed for adventure and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, but so far, she had lived a fairly mundane and somewhat predictable life.
She showed her passport and identification at the ticketing counter, was handed her boarding passes, and watched as the ticket agent tagged their luggage, including Tidbit’s crate, and placed them all on the conveyor belt that slid it all out of sight.
“Upward and onward!” said Gaston cheerily, pulling her out of her reverie. She shook herself mentally and followed him towards their gate.
She found herself contemplating the other travelers around her, coming and going, and wondered where they were going and what prompted their journey. She was surprised at how many there were. Along the way there were shoeshine stands, with young men working vigorously on the dress shoes of men in suits and ties as they read a newspaper or a book. There were several shops hawking snacks, books, magazines, and other handy things for travelers, and there were several food vendors. There was even a small stall where travel-weary adventurers were receiving neck and shoulder massages.
They got to their gate and presented their boarding passes and once again showed their identification. The gate attendant motioned for them to be seated with assorted other passengers. Lizzie was curious to find that her nervousness was receding as she observed the other travelers, a mixture of obviously bored regulars and excited travelers new to air travel. She also noticed more than one who looked anxious and a trifle sick.
This would be only Lizzie’s second time on an airplane. Her family were somewhat in awe of her for that. Most people traveled on buses and trains, but Lizzie could see that the time would come when more and more people would begin to prefer the speed of air travel to the hassles of other types. Normally, an overseas destination like this would require a train or bus to a cruise ship and then a long ocean voyage followed by more buses or trains to get to your final destination.
Gaston had explained as they sat there waiting to board the plane that there were several stages to their journey. First, they would fly across the United States to an airport in New York. The second stage would be across the Atlantic to Germany, where they would be met at the airport by a member of the company to transport them via car across Germany into a heliport in Switzerland. The man, who was also a pilot, would take them by helicopter to the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps, where the observatory was perched.
When the boarding call came, they proceeded to their assigned seats. Gaston had warned Lizzie that, since the trip would be a long one, she should be prepared with at least one good book and perhaps a few light snacks. Of course, they would be served light meals aboard the plane, but he told her that in his experience it was always good to have a little extra for the in-between times.
She settled in and watched the stewardess bustling from seat to seat, checking that seatbelts were properly fastened, taking drink orders, and the like. The last time she had flown, it had been in what her dad called “the cheap seats,” but Gaston had gotten them seating in the first-class section, with much more leg room and dedicated stewardesses waiting on their every whim.
“It’s not about luxury,” he had told her. “It’s a practical matter when you are traveling as far as we will travel in the next 24 hours. I promise you; you will appreciate the little extras by the time we have been in the air for a while.”
Gaston had given her the window seat, which she appreciated. She had always been slightly claustrophobic and being able to see out the window definitely helped that. Besides which, she really enjoyed the view from a plane in flight.
As they taxied down the runway, she impulsively reached out and grabbed Gaston’s hand, which surprised him, but he didn’t draw away. “Thank you so much for this, Gaston. I have no idea what is about to happen next, but I trust it will be more than worth my time and commitment. I am not sure why I got chosen for this, but I want you to know that despite my sometimes-thorny attitude, I really do appreciate the opportunity you’re offering me here, and I’ll do my best to make you proud. I know you’re taking as much of a chance on me as I’m taking on you.”
Gaston actually blushed! “Why Lizzie, I’m not sure how to reply to that. You are an able and bright student, but I am hoping that in the near future you will also be a colleague and a friend. Upward and onward!” he said as the plane lifted from the ground and the nose of the plane pointed toward the wispy clouds in the east.
Two plane rides later, in the which they had been pampered and waited on, hand and foot, they exited the plane in Germany. The trip had been uneventful. On the trip over the ocean, they had slept peacefully, with only slight turbulence at one point, and Lizzie actually felt rested and ready for the next leg of their journey.
It was very early in the morning in Germany, and dawn hadn’t completely shown itself.
The fellow who met them at the baggage claim area was short and stocky, with sun-darkened skin and curly black hair. Obviously, Gaston knew him well. He rushed up to him and extended his arms in an enthusiastic hug. “Manawa, my friend! So good to see you! Allow me to introduce you to Lizzie Japhet, my apprentice. Lizzie, Manawa is from the outback of Australia.”
“G’day, Lizzie!” Manawa said extending his hand with a flash of white perfect teeth. “Glad ta meetcha!”
Bemused, Lizzie shook his hands and realized that now her adventure had well and truly begun. “Nice to meet you too. I understand you are a pilot?”
“Righto. You’ll be flyin’ in me bird in a few hours. I have a van outside. Let’s get your bags and collect Tidbit, shall we?”
“You know Tidbit?” Lizzie asked, a bit surprised.
“Aye, he’s me big old black furry mate, he is. Always good to have a cat around, isn’t it?”
Lizzie wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she nodded.
They rolled the luggage cart to the parking lot and then up to a large, eight-passenger van, and loaded the luggage into the van. But before Manawa could close the doors, Gaston held up a finger. “Just a minute,” he said, and reached into Tidbit’s crate to lift Thumble out and hand him to Lizzie.
“He could probably use some fresh air and space,” he said, with a wry smile. “It’s been a very long trip to stay put without an opportunity to stretch.... You coming, cat?” he called out. And Tidbit, after a massive stretch like only a cat can make, hopped over the back of the back seat and settled himself in an upright sitting position, apparently waiting patiently for the humans to get their act together.
Lizzie laughed in spite of herself. “He can almost talk, you know,” she remarked. “I think he pays a lot more attention to what’s going on than any of us expect.”
For some reason both Manawa and Gaston found this funnier than the remark seemed to require.
In the van, Lizzie was seated comfortably in the middle seat in the back. It had large windows throughout, potentially the type used to show tourists the sights. Thumble seemed content to perch on the back of the seat behind her, humming happily to himself.
Manawa explained as they drove along that they had about a four-hour drive ahead of them, not counting a stop for breakfast and any necessary stops along the way. His expectation was to lunch at the top of the mountain after about a forty-five-minute flight.
They stopped at a little restaurant a few minutes later, where Gaston ordered for them in German. “It’s good to eat the local traditional food. I seem to remember you don’t have any known food allergies?”
“No, I’m good,” she said, wondering how many languages Gaston spoke. She never remembered having a conversation about languages with him. Lizzie had some very basic French from her high school language courses, but she never got a chance to practice it, so it was very spotty indeed. She found herself wondering if speaking a second or, heaven forbid, a third language was going to be a necessary job qualification.
Their breakfast came soon after, before she had much time to worry herself about it. It looked and smelled marvelous. Dark rye bread, still warm, a few different kinds of cheese, a generous slice of ham, a slice of cooked spiced pear, and a large glass of juice and a cup of hot cocoa completed the meal. “Looks and smells great!” she said.
Pots of marmalade and some kind of berry jam were also set on the table. Lizzie watched to see the proper way to eat these things. Gaston immediately reached for the marmalade, spread some onto his rye bread, added a slice of white cheese and the ham, and ate the sandwich open-faced.
Manawa followed suit and Lizzie did the same, choosing the berry jam instead. It was delicious and very filling. The hot cocoa was creamy and rich-looking, but as Lizzie reached for it, Gaston put a hand on her arm. “Wait a second,” he said, digging into his coat pocket and bringing out a wrapped peppermint stick. “Try stirring your chocolate with this,” he said. “A great way to end a great breakfast.”
Lizzie grinned and unwrapped the peppermint stick. Now the aroma coming up from her hot chocolate was even more heavenly. After tasting it, she vowed to always keep a peppermint stick with her. They walked out of the restaurant with full and happy tummies, Lizzie sucking on the remainder of the peppermint stick.
Gaston had asked the waiter to wrap up the remaining meat and cheese and asked for a piece of the spiced fruit to be included.
Out in the van, he unwrapped the meat and cheese for Tidbit and laid the piece of fruit on a small plate (where had he gotten that?) on the seat beside Lizzie for Thumble, who happily munched on it. “I’ll get you both some water at our first rest stop,” he said to Tidbit, as if the cat would understand. Tidbit simply looked into his eyes solemnly as if in answer to the remark.
The trip that followed was amazing. Lizzie had been up in the mountains that surrounded Los Angeles, of course, and she loved to visit Yosemite, but these mountain ranges were breathtaking. The little villages and towns, as well as some cities that nestled in valleys and nooks as the road wound itself higher and higher, were charming. Although the sun was bright and the sky was as blue as a robin’s egg, it had snowed recently and the houses in the villages they passed were like large gingerbread houses with thick white frosting.
The roads were clear, and in about three hours with only one stop to water “the critters,” as Manawa called Tidbit and Thumble, and allow the humans to take care of their urgent needs, they approached the Swiss border. Lizzie had expected some kind of border stop to check passports and such, but Manawa drove past the border station with a happy wave to some people standing in front of the building there. Evidently, they recognized either him or the van, for they waved back.
The elevation was definitely increasing. As they passed one little town after another, Lizzie noticed how clean everything was and remarked on it.
“The Swiss people put a high priority on cleanliness and order,” Gaston explained. “Each day the Swiss sweep not only the sidewalks, but the street in front of their homes. Traditionally, each family takes responsibility for the appearance of their property and consider it highly disrespectful and even criminal to drop even so much as a gum wrapper on the street.”
Lizzie was impressed. “I wonder what it would take to start that up in Los Angeles?” she mused wistfully. “I can’t imagine making laws about it would work. There are way too many of us for policemen to enforce such laws, especially since they are already understaffed to keep crime under control.”
“It’s all a matter of the attitude of a culture. Different cultures have different priorities, as you will discover as we continue with your apprenticeship,” Gaston explained. “Other than the basic laws that protect people’s rights and property, most governments haven’t been successful in going against cultural norms. Generally speaking, I have noticed that the most effective way to persuade people to change is to show by example the benefits of certain actions and attitudes.”
Lizzie thought about this. She had often heard the term “teaching by example” but hadn’t actually considered what that really meant.
“So, if I started sweeping the street in front of my house in Los Angeles, do you think it would catch on?”
“Like many experiments, it probably wouldn’t hurt to try, but most people would be worried about being hit by a car,” Gaston said with a smile. “However, you could try it on Infinity Loop. Not much traffic there.”
Lizzie laughed in spite of herself. She was never quite sure when Gaston was teasing, but she felt this time he probably was.
Manawa had been mostly quiet during the trip, speaking up only to point out a particular landmark or scene as they drove along. Now he piped up, “In the outback, the human population is pretty sparse, and we don’t use a lot of disposable things, so litter is virtually unknown. We consider ourselves stewards of the resources available to us and seldom throw anything away if it has any potential to be useful.”
Lizzie nodded. “My mom used to tell us, ‘Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without,’ which I think is similar to what you mean.”
“It is certainly one aspect,” Manawa agreed. “Of course, it is also important to create things in such a way to get the best use out of it from the beginning. Things that are well built or carefully crafted of the best materials available means you’re less likely to throw it away. It’s also about the attitude of cherishing the part of the planet you have been given stewardship for.”
He turned off of the main road onto a narrow, paved road without a street sign. The road was surrounded by stately conifers so tall that the sun was mostly blocked from view. In about a mile, the road widened out into a paved area about the size of a football field. There was no sign announcing the purpose of the property, but there were two large hangars, and out on the tarmac was a small helicopter that would hold only four people.
“Welcome to Dragonfly Air,” Manawa announced with a grin over his shoulder at Lizzie. “Hold on while I get the luggage. It’s a bit brisk out here.”
He hopped out of the van and sprinted over to where a metal luggage cart sat waiting. He ran it over to the van and opened the back doors. Lizzie picked up Thumble and sat him on her shoulder. “Coming Tidbit?” she queried. He stretched luxuriously and ignored her outstretched arms, jumping out the van door with feline grace. He sauntered towards the helicopter as if he knew exactly where he was going.
“He’s been this route before,” Gaston explained. “He even has his own spot in the ’copter. Let’s get you situated.”
Now Lizzie began to feel nervous again. She wasn’t worried about the helicopter ride, but more and more this was feeling like a turning point in her life. She knew she wasn’t all that good with people. Most people she met tolerated her, but she knew they thought her a bit odd. Normally, this didn’t bother her all that much. But this was different. This could affect her professional life and was an opportunity she hadn’t expected to have this early on in her studies.
She still wasn’t sure where this was taking her, but she had a gut feeling that a lot of her future depended on the success of this “meet and greet.”
As she strapped into the seat behind Gaston, she noted that Tidbit did indeed have his own space, complete with blanket and pillow. Thumble climbed off of her shoulder and once again settled himself between the curled legs of his cat friend.
The rotor blades began to whirl above them, and Lizzie felt a slight lurch in her middle as the skids of the ’copter lifted from the ground. Over the course of the trip so far, she had felt altitude pressure in her ears change several times, so she knew they were already at quite an altitude, but now once again her ears began to pop.
The doors on either side of her were solid, so she could only look ahead through the bubble-like windshield over the shoulders of Gaston and Manawa. Her stomach and her mind were both churning. The questions that swirled in her brain would be answered eventually, and she didn’t want to have to shout over the roar of the engines and beating whirl of the rotors above her head.
The trip was surprisingly short. In forty-five minutes, she noticed that they were slowing slightly and beginning their descent into a wide meadow. The scene before her took her breath. A huge multistoried building loomed ahead. It looked like it had been built into the granite side of the peak of the mountain. Its domed roof dwarfed any dome on any building she had ever seen.
“Wow! What is this place?” She asked Gaston, when the rotor blades of the copter had stopped.
“Come and see,” he replied, his eyes twinkling, and his head cocked in his typically questioning manner.
