Journey Through the Mirrors (54 page)

“That mosaic has always looked like a broken wooden wheel to me,” Logan said.

“I think it looks like a half-eaten doughnut,” Valerie said, “or a pizza with a hole at the center.”

“My mother mentioned it in one of her recordings,” Logan said, trying to recall exactly what he had heard. “She said her inspiration came from what Deya had taught her about Reflecting and used the term
anamorphic nature of Reflecting
.”

“That conforms with what your father wrote in this journal entry,” Valerie said.

“There is a lesson in the
Chronicles
that is very similar to that statement,” a familiar voice said. Logan turned and saw Giovanni Rast standing in the doorway. “Pardon my interruption. Did you retrieve your children?”

“No,” Logan said. “We were tricked.”

“I do know how that goes,” Giovanni said. “And the books?”

“Simon has them,” Logan said.

Valerie was not as cordial with Giovanni, remembering only his appearance at the commemoration. “Is Randolph Fenquist still with you?”

Logan was also interested in Fenquist’s whereabouts after what Simon had told them.

“No,” Giovanni replied. “He never returned after he left earlier today. He has a peculiar way of coming and going.”

Logan turned his attention back to the mosaic. “Simon said that my mother’s mosaic points to where he is holding my children captive.”

“And this passage from Camden’s journal holds the key to solving the mystery,” Mr. Perrot added, handing the journal page to Giovanni, who took a moment to read it.

“You said there was something in the
Chronicles
similar to what my mother said in one of her recordings?” Logan asked.

“While I don’t recall the exact use of the word
anamorphic
, there is a lesson that speaks to the pliable nature of our reality. The lesson states that if you learn to see things from a variety of perspectives, the world around you will suddenly bend to meet that point of view. Perhaps your mother was suggesting that people look at this painting from another vantage point. If I remember correctly from my days as a schoolteacher, the word
anamorphic
means ‘intentional distortion.’ I believe that it is derived from the Latin word
anamorphosis
.”

“Which is an art form,” Logan said, a gleam of hope entering his eyes.

“That is correct,” Giovanni said, walking over to Cassandra’s mosaic.

“What is anamorphosis?” Valerie asked.

“Anamorphic art involves a drawing or painting that requires the observer to look at it from a distinct perspective.” Logan took out his PCD and began searching. Within a few moments, he projected the image of a painting. “This is a famous painting titled
The Ambassadors
that was done by the German artist Hans Holbein.” The projection showed a depiction of two aristocratic-looking men standing next to a double shelf. Among the items on the shelves were a globe of the world, an open music book, and a quadrant. Logan pointed to the lower middle part of the painting. “Do you see this strange distorted shape at the bottom here?”

“Yes,” Mr. Perrot said, taking a closer look. “It looks like a large ragged cloth lying on the floor.”

“Now, don’t move,” Logan said, as he rotated the image so that Mr. Perrot was now looking at the painting from the side. “Can you make out what it is now?”

“Unbelievable,” Mr. Perrot said, astonished.

Valerie took a look for herself. “From this vantage point, it is a perfect image of a human skull.”

“That is anamorphic art,” Logan said.

“Camden said that Cassandra’s inspiration came after she learned a thing or two about Reflecting, and Camden also wrote that Deya was a master of reflective surfaces,” Mr. Perrot said. “That would lead me to believe that the answer to this lies somewhere—”

“In a mirror,” Logan said, finishing Mr. Perrot’s statement. “Of course.” Logan quickly brought up another projection.

“That looks similar to the half-circle in your mother’s mosaic,” Valerie said. “And just as abstract.”

“This is another form of art called cylindrical mirror anamorphosis. Notice how this image seems nonsensical. Now, watch what happens when a reflective cylinder is placed at the center of this image.” Logan brought up another image of a tube that had a mirrored surface. “Look at what is reflected on the surface of the cylinder.”

“It’s the face of a man,” Giovanni said. “What a wonderful way to hide a message.”

Logan nodded. “Could I see my father’s journal entry again, please?”
Giovanni handed it to Logan, who used his PCD to take a picture of the drawing his father had doodled on it. Logan then used his PCD to search for an image of the mirrored cylinder. After a few moments of manipulation, he projected an image.

“Look at the reflection,” Mr. Perrot said.

“There’s the triad your father said he drew,” Valerie said.

“What if my mother’s mosaic is also anamorphic in nature?” Logan suggested.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Mr. Perrot said.

Logan repeated the same process with his mother’s mosaic. Within minutes, he projected a new image.

“It looks like the tower of a castle,” Valerie said.

“I’ve see this place recently,” Giovanni said. “I believe I walked by it only yesterday. It’s the tower of the Smithsonian Museum.”

Valerie placed a call on her PCD.

66

A master never forgives. Such an idea would presuppose that a judgment existed in the first place.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

NEW CHICAGO, 1:30 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 28, 2070

“How long are we going to have to stay with Mom?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah, how long?” Jamie asked.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Logan said. “It could be a while. I don’t know how long, but I have to make sure it’s safe for the two of you to come back home.”

He was speaking to his children via HoloPad from the art studio. Valerie and Mr. Perrot stood in the doorway.

Jordan, Jamie, and Ms. Sally had indeed been held captive in the tower of the Smithsonian Castle. After solving the puzzle of Cassandra’s abstract mosaic, Logan, Valerie, and Mr. Perrot had rushed over to the museum. A team of WCF agents had already arrived and started searching the turret. It didn’t take long for the agents to find them locked in a room on the west side of the tower, dehydrated and hungry. They were immediately taken to a WCF medical facility, where their neuro implants were removed. The children and Ms. Sally were not able
to provide significant new information about their kidnapping. They all gave the same account of the events leading to their being locked away in the Smithsonian tower. A day after Logan and Valerie had left them at Valerie’s apartment, guarded by WCF agents, they had heard a struggle in the hallway outside the apartment. The door had burst open, and two men had entered. The agents assigned to stand guard had been overtaken and lay unconscious in the hallway. One of the intruders had placed the neuro devices on their heads, while the other had bound their hands. The three of them had been forcibly led from the apartment, shoved into a black SUV, and taken to the Smithsonian tower, where they had been locked in a room. The two men had checked on them every hour for the next two days; after that, they hadn’t come back.

After hearing their account, Logan decided that it was not safe to bring Jordan and Jamie back home with him to New Chicago, and he’d sent the two of them to Nevada to stay with their mother. Logan knew what he needed to do, and he was not going to risk the safety of his children while he did it. Logan had tried to persuade Ms. Sally to visit her sister in Cleveland, but she had refused and returned to New Chicago, where she had insisted on continuing to carry out her daily housekeeping duties for Logan.

“Are you going to catch the men who took us?” Jamie asked.

“If he doesn’t, Valerie will,” Jordan told his sister. Valerie smiled at Jordan’s expression of confidence in her.

“Yes, I promise,” Logan said. “We will get them.” Logan heard his ex-wife’s voice calling the children in the background. “You two have to go now. I love you, and I’ll talk to you soon.”

When the call ended, Valerie walked over to Logan and sat down in a chair beside him. “I’m not sure you should have made that promise to Jamie. We have no idea where Simon is or if he’ll ever resurface.”

“He’ll come crawling out soon enough,” Mr. Perrot said. “I’m certain of it.”

“I don’t think so,” Valerie said. “He would be an idiot to show his
face again. After what he pulled with NovaCon Island and the destruction he caused, Simon is on every wanted list around the world. He won’t show. He has all four books now. Why would he take the risk?”

“It’s
because
he has all the books that he will emerge,” Logan said. “There is nothing standing between him and the veiled symbols now. You and I both heard what he alluded to on the island, that the power of the hidden symbols had somehow protected him from the flames of the pyre.”

“And you believe that story?” Valerie asked. “There were thousands of other people there that day; we don’t know exactly what happened as Simon fell into the pit. He might have grabbed onto somebody or caught the ledge and crawled away somehow. We don’t know.”

“I’m telling you,” Logan said, “there’s a power that surrounds those books and those symbols. I don’t even want to think about what Simon will do if he begins to attain the powers promised by them.”

“No, my dear, I have to agree with Logan,” Mr. Perrot said. “Very few who attain great power keep it to themselves. They want to bare it to the world so that they can witness firsthand the effects of their power. Simon will be no different. If he is truly beginning to unlock the hidden symbols, he is going to want to see what he can do with them. This is far from over.”

“Any news of Fenquist?” Logan asked Valerie.

“Not yet,” she replied. “The good news is that with some of the evidence we found at Château Dugan, the WCF is considering reopening your mother and father’s murder case.”

Logan unzipped his backpack and took out the plastic box containing Deya’s mirror, the Manas Mantr candle, and his mother’s recordings. “There still may be more to learn about Fenquist and the others.”

Mr. Perrot nodded.

“Has Sylvia figured out anything more about the standing wave she detected?” Logan asked.

“No,” Valerie said. “She knows nothing more than that it started somewhere in southern England. Whoever or whatever it was, we need
to be thankful. It gave us the opportunity we needed to shut down NovaCon.”

Logan nodded, wondering if Mr. Quinn had anything to do with it. There was a long silence.

“Have you heard from Madu?” Valerie asked her father.

“Not a word,” Mr. Perrot said. “It’s been two days now.”

“I wonder what happened to Nadine, too,” Logan said. “What a tragic story.”

Jasper suddenly entered Logan’s office. “Hey, I think I figured out why your PCD’s been making that strange noise.” He walked over and showed Logan something displayed on his PCD’s screen. “You got hijacked.”

“What does that mean?” Logan asked. Valerie’s interest was piqued, too.