Ebert and the Mysterious Encounters and Finds

[GodlyD&D]

With a little thought, Dan saw brilliance in that. They could say Mr. Entemoor had been lying to cover up Raul's disappearance. He said then, "But it seems he is not coming. But we can wait for seeing if he came after me and saw me come this way a little longer."

Dan talked a little longer with Lenny and Terry about the possibility of departing bodily from this reality, and the comparative likelihood of being taken by otherworldly aliens. At length, he said to them, "I am quite sure now that Mr. Entemoor will not still come here. The time of the training session is almost over, and he would not be able to follow me here after that. But I do want to know, and you can tell me, where did Ebert really go?"

"Ebert of course had another set of clothes, that is what he kept wearing when he left these here," Lenny told him. "Ebert left with Roger and they went to talk with that undercover investigator that they met with, at his workplace. They want to know what he charges, so that if our methods don't work, we might consider hiring him for this still."

"I guess we won't know until we hear from Rodston," Dan considered. "They had this way another place to be if Mr. Entemoor had come here. If he had, Rodston would have had a chance to look in that hidden place that Raul Weckland could have fled to. But we don't know that he did look, now, and we might need the undercover investigator if this didn't work."

"Right," Terry said, "we all have that to be concerned about now."

Finally, Ebert and Roger returned and entered the suite. Dan explained to them that he had run from the place of Supernatural Promotions as had been planned, with one item from there which he held, but it seemed that Mr. Entemoor never went after him. He showed them the item he took, looking like a plaque, but could be opened to show pages like in a book.

Ebert took the item from Dan so that he could give it a closer look. He turned the pages in it, and as he looked, he said, "This is like a book of revelation. It explains things of our world, showing familiar examples we know about, with causes that are supernatural and with powerful entities involved. There was a powerful being to start with in this world, before people were here. Great items of controlling things were around then, but they are hidden now that we don't find them, yet they still affect things in our world." There were a couple of images, shown on separate pages. Ebert showed this to the others.

"So there could be otherworldly aliens," Dan said. But right then he got a call. It was Rodston calling him.

[GodlyD&D]

"Hello Rodston," Dan said, letting others there hear him, "did you have opportunity to see what was hidden past the trapdoor?"

He heard Rodston answer, "I thought I would. Mr. Entemoor hurried to the door of the building after you took off. He just stepped outside. I stood, ready to go to that trapdoor. But I saw him still near the door, just outside. I waited for him to move. Then after a moment he came in again. He saw me standing, and he said, 'That was your friend. He held an item from here when he ran out. I expect he would bring it back. But if I don't see him again it is your responsibility, as he is your friend who you were introducing to this, to bring it back to us, and you can get it back from him to bring here, he will know what it is.' "

"He came back to where I was, and said, 'Have a seat again, and we will continue, your friend won't make it back to catch the rest of this today. But this part will be important. With practice of this, you could be ready soon to initiate separating for the supernatural promotion apart from this reality, maybe at our next session.' "

"He was going on with that instruction, and it was near the end of the session, when Mr. Entemoor got a call on his device. He excused himself, and he went around that counter, and I saw him go down, where the trapdoor was. He came up again a second or so later, and he told me, 'That is all we are going to manage today. But practice what you have been learning, we should be ready to go all the way even at the next session.' So I stood up, and then walked toward the door, and opened it to go out. Yet I looked back, and Mr. Entemoor had already started going down in that passage. So I stepped back, and let the door close, having it sound like I had left."

"I went back stepping softly toward the counter, and leaned over, seeing the trapdoor open and the steps leading down to a lit area below. I heard a voice speaking, and I listened carefully. I could have believed I heard Ebert's voice. But he wouldn't have been there. This voice I heard had been talking, and I caught this said, '... might yet find the other work being done here.' "

"Mr. Entemoor's voice then said, 'That is not likely with the precautions I took. I should not have been called at this time, for that. You can come up tomorrow, when no one is coming around, and see for yourself. Now don't try reaching me again yet. It is still business hours and I still need to be up there.' I understood that Mr. Entemoor was about to come up the stairs again, and I stepped softly but quickly to the door again, opening it quietly, and closed it quietly behind me, and hurried on then."

"And he never saw you when you left then?" Dan asked.

"I ran through the lot and turned onto the street, then I stopped running, and went on walking. As Mr. Entemoor had the steps to go up, I don't think he would have been at the door where he would have still seen me. But we have knowledge now that someone who sounded like Ebert was down there in the passage below, and it seems like the guy we sought who looked like Ebert could sound like him."

"Then we can go to the authorities and report that Raul Weckland is hiding down there."

"I think we need something more definite than one of us heard him, to report to them. You never had any pictures taken, remember? You had to hurry out quickly. The wanted sign shows his face, the one with his face has to be identified, not one identified with a voice. So we have to have a plan to get him, and have authorities then come get him."

Dan asked, doubtfully, "Can we just come with a bigger number and forcefully go into that lower passage and bring him up?"

"No, we need some other way, we don't know what we are dealing with. Mr. Entemoor could fight to resist us, he may be armed though I didn't see it, and he may have any number of others involved that we don't know about. We need to plan further."

"Why then don't you come back to this hotel where we are staying, and we might work something out for it here still?"

[GodlyD&D]

As they waited, with Roger downstairs by the entrance expecting Rodston to come soon, Ebert, Lenny, Terry, and Dan still looked at the pages that were like in a book, that had been hidden in the plaque. Ebert said, "See? It was all due to the underground Gebb, who had revealed the starholders and the great orbs, and hid them again finally, at the climax of the archeodragon uprising. There were items opening portals to other realms, and ones that were over different sorts of weather, and ones over health and mortality. Many of them are still active, responding to changes of stress in the earth to be triggered, while they remain hidden, and hard to find. Maybe one of those realms mentioned here is where Raul Weckland was claimed to have gone."

Roger then came in through the door with Rodston led in. Rodston said, "Dan, you might come back, and bring the item you carried out. But have something to say about why you ran out."

"Our friend was abducted. I hurried out in a panic when I heard that, hoping he could be saved."

"Mr. Entemoor will ask if you went to authorities about that, and he can check. What would you say?"

Ebert said, "He can say we went to Sherwood Stephanwick. We just need to go let him know this is what is happening with our investigation."

"Who was that?" Rodston asked.

"You remember, the undercover investigator."

"And you think the undercover investigator would cover for Dan?" Rodston asked.

"As he thought we would still appoint him for helping us with the investigation, since I went to talk with him more, I think he would. He wouldn't want to complicate it with more suspicions."

"And you might have to hire him for it after all. We have possibly reached an endpoint, where we cannot go any further to have the felon you were after apprehended. Are you prepared to do so?"

"If we have to," Ebert said, "we can put money together between us to pay for it. But you should still try to find a way to get in that passage and if Raul Weckland is down there, get a picture of him. And call us, that we can have the authorities go get him then."

Rodston said then, "I can go again with Dan, who is expected back. Dan, bring back that item you took, and be prepared to get pictures. We will look for an opportune time to see into that lower passage beyond the trapdoor."

[GodlyD&D]

"We will then need to think of a way for having such opportunity, as they are not going to provide that for us. We might need that undercover investigator still. The item I can bring back is this. It has pages like a book, see? It shows supernatural things in this world."

Rodston came and looked at this item that opened up and had pages like in a book showing. He turned a few of the pages, and said, "It shows images of what must be alien beings, and there is claim that the beings are here in this world." He looked more, and said, ""There is no explanation where any of these things shown in here are."

"I am still writing down the names and descriptions of those items, and will keep that information when you give this back to Mr. Entemoor," Ebert said.

"But you do think that underground Gebb and the archeodragons are meaningful then?" Rodston asked.

"I don't know that at all," Ebert answered. "But the things on these pages are not from Mr. Entemoor, or anyone he is involved with. I don't know what his connection is to those things in sight in the Supernatural Promotions building. But there could be something to those hidden items, and I would like to be learning anything more about those."

Rodston said, "It would be a curiosity if those items really exist. You might find yourself on a search for such. But we should plan on returning to Mr. Entemoor with a strategy for finding that felon is hiding there, with a way to get a picture of that. So we need to bring this item from there back, just to return. And we probably should talk more with that private investigator, who we may need to have involved with this."

"But we can't have that investigator there," Dan said, "when we are using his name to have as the investigator we went to about our friend's disappearance. We will tell him about it, but we have to go back by ourselves. Anything more he does will have to be on his own after that."

Rodston said, "Then let us call this investigator, and he may help us have an effective way to go back there and find information we need to have authorities come to get the felon there."

Ebert tried then to reach Sherwood Stephanwick, but he was not accessible then.

"We will have to continue the effort to find Raul Weckland then without his help, for tomorrow," Ebert decided, "I can still try finding the undercover investigator tomorrow, for further help with this, while you don't throw away what opportunity you have to learn more about what is hidden under that building, and any pictures showing it to be the hideout we think it is will be desirable and surely useful to us."

"Go early then to see him," Rodston said. "Dan and I will go back there, but we don't need to do so until the afternoon."

[GodlyD&D]

They talked a little more about the approach Rodston and Dan would have there, and a little bit about the item with pages that Dan would need to bring back. Then Rodston finally stood up to go, and said, "I will come to the front of this hotel at the same time tomorrow as when we met to go there yesterday, to meet you, Dan. Be sure to have this item ready with you to take back."

As Rodston left, Ebert said, "We should still learn from this item, including anything in it revealing who put this item with information on pages in it, and find how Mr. Entemoor would have this, along with other things."

Ebert went to the table holding that item like a plaque which would open to show it had pages like in a book. Dan walked there with him, and sat down next to Ebert at the table, to look at the item with him. Lenny, Roger, and Terry went toward the table too. Lenny sat down there on the other side of Ebert, and Roger and Terry stood near enough to look at the pages as Ebert opened up the item.

Ebert first went to the first page with the title, Everbeyond, and the cover sheet, and past that was information in small print.

"It is from Supernatural Printing Press," Ebert said aloud. "The company is located in Shiny Shelves. That makes it sound like it has connection to this place Dan would go back to for lessons. What if we contacted that printing press and ask about this place and what connection they have, and maybe ask if they know about this Mr. Entemoor?"

Roger answered, "If the undercover investigator you spoke with knew of this item and where it came from, that is something he would do."

"But there is no contact number here, for us to reach them. We would have to make a trip to Shiny Shelves and go to that printing press, to ask anything."

"That would take all day to go there and come back," Terry said.

"It could be done, still," Lenny said. "I will willingly make the trip tomorrow, and meet you here when I return."

"It would be late in the day," Terry answered, "we would be leaving late, after that for a trip in the night back to where we work the next day."

"It is worth it, to not wait another week," Ebert said. "Let us do it this way."

[GodlyD&D]

That night after their simple dinner of soups and sandwiches, the went to bed early in agreement, so that they would get up early, for Lenny and Terry to go as soon as he would on the trip to Shiny Shelves. But Ebert at least was restless, as the felon they were after had to get caught, and now so many things were riding on that. Lenny and Terry would go to that printing press there and hopefully find out things they needed to know about Mr. Entemoor. Ebert himself would go to Stephanwick the undercover investigator to learn what effective ways could be used to find out what his friends needed to know when going to that Supernatural Promotions building, which they would do that next day, before they needed to leave to where they worked again.

In the morning, Lenny and Terry were alert and ready to go. Ebert though was not refreshed. After a quick breakfast, Lenny and Terry were off going on that trip, and Ebert felt sluggish like he needed a nap before going to see the undercover investigator.

"Come on, Ebert," Dan said urgently, "you can't keep napping. I am going with Rodston in a few hours, and we need whatever tips the undercover investigator that you meet with will have, so that we can identify that Raul Weckland is hiding there."

"Alright. I will go, just give me a few minutes and I will be ready."

Dan watched with concern as Ebert finally left the suite. Only Roger would be staying here the whole time, and Ebert would hopefully be back before Dan left with Rodston to that Supernatural Promotions building. Otherwise they would go back with little hope to find a way to verify Raul Weckland was in hiding in that building.

"Be sure to bring your device still. We can't use another pretext to draw that Instructor away from the building, so I won't call you. But it may be of use to verify that felon is there."

"I certainly won't try any such thing again. I am bringing back this item I ran off with, to show it was a mistake. He will still be told that there was the emergency with our friend abducted, which distracted me when I went off with it, and that we have this undercover investigator to work on what happened to him. So I won't have that strategy, and still need a way to verify the man we are after is there."

"Then we need that undercover investigator's help," Roger said.

Ebert had finally come to the office of Sherwood Stephanwick, the undercover investigator he had met previously and then contacted more recently.

"Come in, it is a slow day here, but you have a worn look. I know there is a story behind that."

Ebert answered when he had entered the office, "It is nothing but sleeplessness, as I worried last night about my friends' investigation they are doing today of a company in Shiny Shelves that does business with Supernatural Promotions, and the two other friends who had gone the other day to the training at that building of Supernatural Promotions are returning there for more of that, trying to find a way to identify Raul Weckland is there hiding in a basement area. They don't have a plan how to do so this time."

"I see. You were sure before you could manage this with your friends, and told me would just come back if you needed my help. I will help you with a strategy for a small fee, as you need an encouragement for getting the help you need."

"But there is more," Ebert went on. "One friend dashed off from there the last time he was there, after he had a call, taking an item he was already holding, to draw that instructor away from the building so that the other friend I have would go with the opportunity to find Raul Weckland below. It didn't work, but when he goes back and returns the item, he needs a pretext why he ran off. They are claiming there was an abduction of one friend, they want to claim they went to an investigator to find what happened to their friend, and we just have you in mind for claiming you are hired for finding what happened to that friend and where he is now."

"Alright, we can work with that."

"You can?" Ebert exclaimed gladly.

"Here is a fee for a startup investigation I am willing to do," Sherwood Stephanwick said as he showed Ebert a small paper.

Ebert considered. It was small enough for a professional investigation, he would rather not pay it himself, but he was willing to do his part of the payment if it was divided evenly with his friends. "Sure, that is acceptable."

"I will need to be shown where this building is, right away."

"My friends are going there soon. It is better that I avoid going as the felon they need to find is almost a lookalike to me. They can show you the place before they would go in there."

"Alright, let us go meet your friends so that I can do this." Sherwood Stephanwick grabbed a sort of briefcase, and went to the door of his office with Ebert.

[GodlyD&D]

Ebert walked Sherwood Stephanwick into the hotel where he and his friends stayed for their weekend in this town of Washing Walls. Dan was still there with Roger, waiting for Rodston who would be coming shortly, and Ebert told him that this undercover investigator would join them to see the Supernatural Promotions building. "Excuse us, Mr. Stephanwick, as I talk with Dan and Roger for a couple of minutes."

Ebert walked over with Dan and Roger to the food preparation space there, and Dan said, "Thank you for having him involved. We will need some help to break through what keeps us from finding that felon Raul Weckland there."

"It will cost us, which was why I was not enthusiastic about getting his help before. We are each already investing ourselves a great deal for this. Here is what he would charge for just this. I won't want to pay this myself, but if you agree each of the five of us can pay for it together."

"We all are willingly working to catch that guy so that you will be clear of all suspicion at work. This is the way left for us to do so. I agree," Dan said.

"I agree and I believe our other two friends will agree," Roger said.

Ebert, Roger, and Dan came out and approached Sherwood Stephanwick. Ebert said, "We are agreeing to the arrangement you require for being hired for this. You will then go with Dan and Rodston when he gets here, which should be any moment now. Do you really know how you will handle this?"

"Of course, I said I could work with this. I need to see my reflection just now."

"Oh! There is a place right over here for that," Ebert said showing the way. Sherwood walked over there with the sort of briefcase that he brought with him.

Ebert went back to where Roger and Dan were sitting, and sat down with them as they waited for Sherwood to return to sit and speak with them. Just then there was a knock on the door. "It's Rodston!" Dan said.

Ebert answered opening the door, and Rodston entered. He said, "I am ready to go l, if you are, Dan, it is close to the time for us to go to Supernatural Promotions. I don't know what we will be doing this time, though, without any plan for it."

"I don't know either," Dan answered, "but now I think we have a secret weapon."

Sherwood came out a few moments later. The others all looked at him I'm surprise. He looked like a different person from who they had seen previously. He had a dark thin mustache, his hair was slick and combed back. An apparent cut marked high up on a cheek. Even the shade of his skin was slightly darker. A tan scarf was around his neck.

"Sherwood Stephanwick?" Ebert asked.

"Sure, but you will call me Roy Albers, this will be my identity on the way to the Supernatural Promotions building."

"That is impressive," Dan said, "I would never guess that was really you except for it being known to us that you were here already."

"That is the idea of this disguise. Remember now while I wear all this, I am Roy Albers. Are you ready?"

"Be sure you bring what you took back, Dan!" Rodston said quickly.

"Of course, I already have it here to take with me."

"Bring your devises with you too," Sherwood told them.

Rodston went to the door of the suite and exited , as Dan, with the item with printed material in it in his hand, and Sherwood followed him out.

"Good luck," Ebert said as he and Roger watched them leave, but none responded.

[GodlyD&D]

When the three others were gone, Ebert went to a stand where he had left a small notebook. He opened the notebook, and said to Roger who was watching him then, "The information from the pages of that item, which I wanted, is still here in notes I wrote from that. There were a lot of other things, but this would be enough to know for researching."

"You should go hide yourself soon," Roger said. "If for any reason that Mr. Entemoor comes back with Dan and Rodston, and the undercover investigator, he should not find the double of Raul Weckland, who was pursuing him before, is here involved with them."

"I know that. I am letting you know, since I won't have this notebook with me, it will be under the bed here. I don't want anything to happen to that, and Mr. Entemoor should never know the notes from that are here."

Roger said, "He won't learn it from me."

Ebert left very shortly after that, and he went in a completely different direction, looking into stores in that town of Washing Walls. Dan and Rodston came along the street around the corner the other way to the place of the Supernatural Promotions building with the undercover investigator, now going by the name Roy Albers. That Mr. Entemoor saw them as they came to the building entrance.

[GodlyD&D]

"This is my friend Roy Albers," Dan said. "He says he has interest in the instruction that you have been showing me."

"I see," said Mr. Entemoor, "and you must have been practicing things I have shown you. Did you bring back what you ran off with?"

"Yes, it is right here. I am sorry, there was an emergency and I forgot I was holding this."

"I understand it was an emergency. You can tell me about it. I would want to know, and I might see how it could impact your training."

"Mr. Entemoor, there was an abduction. A friend is gone, and we have an investigator looking to find him."

"Really? Was there a note?"

"No, but there is an eyewitness."

"You don't know if there will be leads adequate to find an abducted friend, and the strange case of there not being a note won't help for finding him."

Dan said, "But the investigator tells us he is sure that we will get a call, with some demand."

"You should have gone to authorities about this, that your friend will be noted as a missing person."

"I will talk with the investigator, and if there are not leads already found to find him, then that is what is needed and I will go tell the authorities. I can still focus, I am sure, if we can get to the training now."

"Sure," Mr. Entemoor answered, "I will start, yet I think you should let me know who is investigating. I will want to talk with him."

"Sure, I can remember to give you the name before we go, after the training."

[GodlyD&D]

Mr. Entemoor was quiet for a moment. Then he turned to the new one attending, introduced to him as Roy Albers, and said, "So you were interested in this course of instructions generously offered. What have you heard, that has you interested?"

"That there are techniques we can use to be more separate for reaching another reality is fascinating. A higher reality than this should be sought. Dan spoke of this and I don't want to miss the opportunity to learn the ways for this."

"This is the only place you can learn such information," Mr. Entemoor told him. He said then to Dan, "You have practiced the breathing technique you were learning here more by now, I am sure. You show your friend now what you have learned here."

Dan considered quickly how he had been doing it previously once Mr. Entemoor had previously said he was doing well with that. He then showed the new attendant with him the carefully controlled breathing. This Roy Albers then tried to mimic that way.

"I see this will need more practice," Mr. Entemoor said, "and this is a necessary step, but only the first part, as there are a number of disciplines to master, to reach that access to the further reality beyond this."

This Roy Albers looked at Dan. Dan said, "It will have to be our instructor who shows us all of that."

Mr. Entemoor said, "We will get to what we can today, but it will be mostly still this focus on the breathing technique."

"But can you tell us anything further about the reality beyond this one?" Roy asked him.

Mr. Entemoor looked like he was hesitating. Then he looked at this Roy Albers, and said, "Those of us instructing of this way have not seen it ourselves, but have a testimony from the Great Master of Antiquity, Sharalden, who spoke with Gebb the Great of the underground knowledge in his presence many times. With Gebb's power he was taken to the reality beyond this one, to see for himself how it is there, and to speak of it to others. There are others from here who go there, but then they stay there. Sheralden returned to share of this with those he would train. Besides those going there, there is a great wide land that moves with life in it. Great beings are there, many of which fly, and others which shine. Some are much more like other creatures, but have some great resemblance one way or another with human people as us. They are all helpful to the new ones arriving there, and there are great treats given to them from then on, and the new ones grow more and more in knowledge that is too great for any who are here in this reality where we are now."