One of the things I learned reading up about EMP's was there ain't any way to stop 'em. Once they hit, your stuff is fried. If yer smart ya get backups. From a book I was readin' it said, "EMP recovery suggestions include keeping parts in a shielded metal room, and wrap individual items in tin foil." Tin foil? It made me think of crazy folks who wear tin foil hats to protect their brains from aliens. I had ta laugh. It seemed ridiculous, but what if'n they was right all along?

I asked Gee about it. He said, "There is a lot we do not understand about magnetic and other forces. Who knows, they may be right, but I would feel very silly walking around in a foil hat." The mental picture of Gee wearing any kinda hat on his bulbous head, let alone a foil one the size of an open umbrella, cracked me up.

Freck entered the room, "Whatcha two laughin' 'bout?" I projected my mental picture of Gee tryin' ta keep a tin foil hat balanced on his bulgin' noggin. That was all it took before the laughin' fit express left the station and we were all 'board for the trip. Anyone seeing us would'a worried about our mental stability. But, ya know, silliness is like a pressure valve. Sometimes ya just gotta open it full up or wait until it detonates your skull.

Still, we had to think up sumpin' ta block those EMP's or our nightmares would come true. Freck raised one eyebrow at me and signaled with a nod of her head. That was her way of saying, "let's go down to our Cigam places." So we did.

When we were first practicing meditation, we didn't understand what Gee meant by a Cigam place. Now we know there really is a spot deep inside ever'one where perfect peace, and crystal clarity exists. It's where real magic is born. Keepers don't call it magic though. They call it Cigam. Cigam, ya know, is magic spelled backwards. Cigam is an actual force. Magic is just make-believe. If a magician says he's gonna disappear and show up somewheres else, and he does it right in front of ya, it may look like that's what happened, but it's just a trick. He didn't really disappear and materialize elsewhere. Ya just got fooled.

In our cigam places Freck and me can clearly think, meticulously plan, and use our imaginations. It's a place of power. When we are there we ain't just kids no more. We ain't grownups either. Actually age don't matter at all. Connection to the essence is what matters. From here we see the world as it really is. To tell the god's honest truth, Earth is more grand, and more terrible at the same time than we can possibly experience with just our five ordinary senses. Cigam expands the senses. How? I don't rightly know. It just does.

There's millions of identical earth's existin' almost on top of each other. The Keepers call 'em in-worlds. This is possible because of the great spaces inside an atom. If you enlarged the center of an atom (comprised mostly of electrons and protons) to the approximate size of earth, the electrons would reach way, way beyond Pluto. How many in-worlds could fit in all that space? Like I said—millions.

Earth's scientists don't know 'bout in-worlds. This is why they have different theories about what's in the center of the planet. Some say the earth's core is solid and some say it's molten lava. It's difficult to be certain about all your calculations and figurin' if cain't take inta account the influence all the in-worlds have on each other.

I once asked Gee 'bout it. "Gee why are there so many in-worlds? Ain't one enough?"

He answered, "You might as well ask why we have so many grains of sand, or stars in the sky. Only the Gardner (the keeper's name for God) knows. If you asked me to guess, I would say, it is because life requires it. It is the nature of life to expand. Have you ever seen a plant push its way through a tiny crack in cement? Life can never be denied. It can be hampered, but not contained.

"Topside (Earth) is positioned perfectly in the solar system to provide for an abundance of life forms. The other in-worlds evolved along different paths. Their inhabitants are sometimes familiar, and other times you would find some extremely strange, but always more varied than you can imagine. The lairbeast monster that tried to attack Burns was not invented on the spot. Lairbeasts must have visited a world where those creatures actually exist. Trips to other in-world's are filled with equal parts of  wonder, excitement, and unknown dangers."

Wide-eyed, Freck jumped in, "Will we ever get to see them!?"

"Are you certain that you want to Freck? Just a few days ago you had a meltdown over constant danger, remember?"

She sheepishly said, "Of course I remember. I ain't feeble minded ya know. Just because I was upset don't mean I's quittin'. People do this. We rebound. If we fall we get up again. You'll know if I ever get to that point; nothin' in heaven or on earth will get me to do another adventure. I ain't there yet—no way!"

"I am pleased to hear that. The three of us were brought together by destiny. Where it will take us is anybody's guess.

I was so excited my heart was kickin' like a jumpin' bullfrog, "When can we go explore them other planets?"

"From time-to-time we will have the occasion to visit some of them. If we had thousands of lifetimes we would never see them all, but for now let us focus on this adventure. I am thrilled to know that I will be standing beside you. You and Freck will be amazed to see what seeds the Gardner has sown."

Imagine that the three of us stepping inta another world; an alien world so close we could reach out and touch it. We'd be someplace mankind don't even know exists. I wonder what kinda creatures we'd discover.  Just 'cuz evolution on earth produced the millions of kinds of life we have here, it coulda taken other paths.

In science classes I learned 'bout other dimensions. I guess Einstein thought it up, but even he would be surprised ta find out what they actually are.

◽️◽️◽️

Freck and I had made a more or less permanent mind bridge ta connect our thoughts when we was in Cigam. "You was gone for a minute. What happened ta ya?" Freck asked.

"Oh, I got sidetracked thinkin' 'bout what Gee said 'bout visitin' in-worlds. Sorry."

"That's okay. I've been thinkin' 'bout them too. Is it possible that somebody in some other in-world has already solved the problem of EMP's? What if we could find them and ask them how they did it?"

"Where would we start? The only in-world we actually know is the Kingdom of the Keepers . . .

"Hey," I continued, "I just had a crazy notion. Keepers call earth Topside, maybe we should call the Kingdom—Bottomside. What do ya think Freck?"

"I think ya think too much. Bottomside sounds like your sit-downer. The Keepers might take offense if we called the Kingdom's—Bottomside."

"Oh yeah, there's that. I wouldn't like it much if someone called Burns a rear end, a fanny, or a tush. Although when the breeze is just right, and swamp gas bubbles up outta the marsh, it smells like a real stinky fart." Freck friend-slugged me in the arm, then tight-smiled like she was tryin' to hold back a giggle. She got it under control, but I could see her teeth grittin' and her eyes bulgin' out a bit. Keepin' it inside musta hurt some.

◽️◽️◽️

I don't know where Gee got himself off to. I couldn't tune inta his thoughts. The only time that happens is when he is in mind-mesh with the High Keepers. They could be discussin' our current challenge or other in-world problems. Sometimes their meetings can go on for days. I was hopin' this warn't one of them.

We lost contact with Gee once before when we tried to go through cave tunnels to find Shamballah. We got swept away in a rock slide. I mentally yelled out ta him, but he didn't answer. I didn't know about mind-meshes then,like I do now. It was a shock to lose our connection. He was always there b'fore. It was a comfort knowin' it. I felt like a little kid reaching up for his momma's hand to cross a busy street. I reached up, but his hand, for the first time, warn't there.

It was so black in that cave that a firefly's light would burn yer eyes, like if ya looked directly inta the sun. I felt scared, abandoned, and all alone. I wasn't actually all by myself, Freck and Uncle Ren were both there, but when it is so black ya cain't even see your own hand in front of yer face you're terribly alone. A hundred people nearby wouldn't make it any easier.

While we was waitin' for Gee, we stayed in Cigam. Feck wondered, "If tin foil hats block alien rays, what would wrappin' the nose cone of Ol' Grizz do? Would it protect the plane's instruments?"

"That's a good question. Why don't we find the captain and talk ta him about it?" So we came up from Cigam and went ta look for him.

The captain and crew were in the rec room. They looked bored ta tears. Waitin' out a storm is okay at first, but when it drags on for days it wears a body down. Captain Bobcat was playin' a lackluster game of checkers with Sandy, our navigator. She had her elbow on the table and her head leanin' on her hand as she moved the next piece. Bobcat was lookin' 'round the room with droopy eyes. He was lookin', but it didn't appear he was seein' nuthin'. He didn't even notice Sandy's jump over his black piece until after she yawned, and slowly mumbled, "king me."

Neither one of them saw us when we approached their table. I cleared my throat so as not to startle them before speakin'. "Captain?"

He seemed to jump a little even though I was being cautious. "Wha...?" His eyes blinked like he was just wakin' up. "Oh, Wishes and Freck, what can I do for you today."

"Well," I said, "I've been reading up on EMP's and such. One of the things I learned is that you might be able to shield electronics with tin foil."

He smiled like he thought I was goofy in the head. "You aren't suggesting that we wrap the plane up in foil are you?"

I wasn't surprised that he didn't take me seriously. "No, sir, I wasn't thinkin' of wrappin' up Ol' Grizz, but I was thinkin' 'bout puttin' foil inside the nose cone and also wrappin' the wires to protect the instruments. I don't know if it will work. What do ya think?"

"Hummm . . . it sounds far fetched, but it would give us something to do other than sitting around twiddling our thumbs. I'm darned sure it would take more foil than they have in the galley. Do you think the Keepers could supply us?"

Freck spoke up, "I'm sure they will give us anythin' we need ta successfully complete our mission."

◽️◽️◽️

What Sandy and the captain didn't know was that we could contact the Keepers without even leavin' the room. Gee taught us to be careful 'bout exposin' our abilities ta regular folks. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, so we left the rec room ta make our call private like.

Grand Keeper Frank told us to contact Dash if we needed anythin', so we did. Freck mentally called out while I listened in. "Dash." There was no answer to the call. She tried again a few seconds later. "Callin' Dash, come in Dash." When she puts on that radio voice it cracks me up.

"Dash here," he responded, "how may I assist you?"

I took over, "We came up with an idea to protect the plane's instrumentation from EMP's. If the cockpit wirin' was all wrapped with tin foil, it might solve the problem."

"Yeah," Freck added, "our immediate problem is we ain't got enough foil ta do the job. Do ya think ya can scrounge up some tin foil for us ta use?"

"Of course we can supply you, but the obstacle is getting it to you. When do you require it?"

"Right away," Freck told him.

"That is the the difficulty we face. Since we occupy the same place on our planet as you do on yours, we have the same weather. The storm is too strong for the floaters to fly. We will have to find another way to transport to the portal."

Gee musta finished the mind-mesh 'cuz he joined the discussion. "I can help. I know a way to solve it."