Page 32 of A World Enough

Camber shook her head.

“It’s like a story that plays out in front of you,” Brogan said.

“Oh…reality recreation rooms, or RRs. You choose which story you would like to play out, and programmable matter creates the adventure or relaxation scene.”

“That sounds much better than a movie,” Brogan said.

“They are fun. I don’t have much time to have fun, though.”

“It must be exhausting, doing this your whole life.”

Camber took a sip of water and shrugged. “It’s all I know. I’ve got good friends in the resistance, and I do have a great purpose. To protect the portals.”

Brogan’s wolf was antsy. She hadn’t shifted since she fell into this strange world. She had to keep talking to help cope with the urge to shift.

“How do these portals work—and I’m just interested, I’m not trying to get secret intelligence,” Brogan promised.

Camber tapped her fingers on the console.

“The Abnobians know this anyway. In the beginning, long before any of the races in this part of space had come to be, a race we call the First Ones lived all around this area. These people reached out far and wide, trying to find some intelligent life.”

Brogan listened with fascination.

“They knew that worlds and races had lived and gone out with a whimper around them. So they collected DNA from those worlds, in the hope of seeding other planets.”

“They must have been around for millions of years if they found nothing. Life seems to be abundant around here,” Brogan said.

Camber nodded. “It was said that they were lonely. They seeded planets, giving them the DNA they needed, and evolution took its course.”

“And the portals?” Brogan asked.

“It was their way of travelling. The leader of the First Ones was the Goddess Danu.”

Brogan smiled and thought of her friend, the warrior Bhal. Her people worshipped Danu. “She was worshipped at one time on Earth. Some of my friends told me about her.”

“The Tuatha De Danann worship her on Danus, where her temple is,” Camber said. “They had to keep me in hiding. Danu created this map bag, and it has passed down to me from other Map Keepers.”

Brogan’s throat and chest were tightening by the second. She stood up and started to pace.

“What’s wrong?”

“My wolf is feeling claustrophobic. I’ve been cooped up too long. Keep talking. Tell me how the portals work.”

“I can’t tell you everything, but let me think of how to explain what I can…What kind of transport does your world have?” Camber asked.

“We’ve been to the moon on rockets, but that’s just for science. Regular people use planes and cars.”

“Planes?” Camber asked.

“For travel in the air. Cars are ground transport.”

Camber clapped her hands together. “Perfect. I’ve been to worlds with ground transport. You have roads for them, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, there are main roads that take you from city to city. They are like the main portals. They go from world to world. Then there are smaller roads within each city, a little less known, but I keep them on the map. Then there are the secret turn-offs that take you quickly to places off the beaten track.”

“Just like this one?” Brogan asked.