The Horicon Experience Read Online Free PDF Page B

they would not lose someone in the maze or miss any hidden doorways or rooms.
    Upon entering one large chamber, the explorers were stunned to find themselves facing what could only be an inert computer. Its massiveness filled the chamber, and the team members noted various lengths of cabling leading off to other rooms and equipment. Its location suggested that it had once played an important function in the city, so everyone hoped that its discovery would help shed a ray of light on the mystery of the ancient Horicons.
    Experts from the Mica Computer Institute tried to power up the inert machine. After a week, their efforts proved in vain and the discouraged explorers concluded that they now had a rather large artifact that was only good for viewing. A decision was made to remove it to the Computer Museum on Mica where it would be cleaned and displayed as a simple curiosity.
    ∞∞∞
    The morning was cold but clear when Agnes and Robert Hassel flew Delmar and Stan to Jasper Station. Robert rented a flitter from the agency in Keeler, the same agency he had rented a flitter from over a year ago when he and Delmar had gone on a field trip to Jasper Station. A light coat of frost sparkled on the fields and only gave way where the sunlight had fallen on it for a while.
    Delmar pointed out his old farm to Stan when they flew over and seemed pleased by what he saw. The Sabetis had done well during their six months of ownership and had a right to be proud. Agnes knew it had been difficult for Delmar to sell the property but it had been the right decision.
    All too soon, they arrived at Jasper Station. Robert landed the flitter in the visitor zone and the boys unloaded their bags and equipment from the storage compartment. After checking in for their flight, they all met at the coffee shop.
    Robert mused that it seemed like only yesterday that he, Agnes, and Delmar had met at another coffee shop in Keeler after Delmar received his secondary graduation certificate. The changes in Delmar were almost phenomenal. The boy had both matured and filled out in the last several months.
    Basic training was responsible for some of the physical changes but it was the emotional and mental changes Robert noticed the most. Life had already seasoned the boy, and his experiences under fire during his last training flight added much to the process. That Delmar had proven himself during the crisis was both a credit to his training and to the caliber of man that he was becoming. This boy will go far , Robert thought.
    “Robert!” Agnes’ voice cut through his musings. “I said do you want to order anything?” Robert blinked and came back to the present. Not only were Agnes, Delmar, and Stan staring at him, but the waiter was there as well.
    “Uh, I’ll just have coffee,” Robert said.
    “Don’t you want some pie or something?” Agnes asked. Robert sensed a trap.
    “Well, it could never measure up to yours, but it might help hold this coffee down,” he said diplomatically.
    “Give him a large slice of apple, and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side,” Agnes relayed to the waiter. The young man wrote it down with the rest of their order then poured Robert a cup of black coffee.
    As he turned to go, the waiter looked hard and long at Delmar, his eyes expressing a sad and distant longing. Delmar recognized the waiter as one of the young men who had stepped out of line at the trooper induction ceremony those many months ago. Delmar wondered what he might be doing now himself if he had not accepted the challenge of the service.
    “So what are you two going to be doing after we’re out of your hair?” Delmar asked his in an attempt to make small talk when the young man walked away toward the kitchen.
    “Oh, the usual,” Robert answered quietly. He noticed that Delmar seemed preoccupied with the young waiter.
    “Did you get much of a chance to talk with Daren and RoseMary the other night?” Agnes asked.
    “Not as much as I would