DP: M. of the Spirit Gems chp8

Tucker led them to the elevator that would take them to the basement. He punched in a code to open the doors. "When you held the gem, Sam, did you hear a voice speak to you?" he asked as they entered the elevator.

Sam shrugged as the doors closed. "Yeah," she replied. "But it wasn't very loud."

"Do you remember what it said?" Tucker wondered, looking at her once the elevator began to move downward slowly.

"Um, something about putting the Spirit Gem into the portal… and that we had to find the location… and that all four had to be reunited."

Tucker nodded thoughtfully. "That's what he said to me too," he whispered.

Sam frowned in confusion. "He?" she echoed. "What do you mean, he?"

Tucker looked at her. "You mean you didn't recognize the voice?" he asked in surprise.

"Um, should I have?"

Tucker remained silent for a moment. "Considering it's been five years since we last heard it, I shouldn't be surprised if you didn't recognize it on the spot," he said quietly. "I didn't either, frankly."

"Tucker, what are you talking about?"

The black man straightened out. "That voice, Sam…" he began. He placed his hands on Sam's shoulders. "That voice… was Danny's."

Sam stared at him in complete shock. "That was Danny whispering to us?" she said.

Andy was intrigued. "Cool," he said. "I just heard my Daddy's voice!"

The doors to the elevator opened and Tucker walked out of it, entering his basement. "I'm not sure how he was able to contact us that way," he said, "But if he's trying to, it means something's up in the Ghost Zone."

He flicked a few switches and the entire basement was alit, revealing that it was an entire underground laboratory. Andy gasped in wonder at all the gadgets and technological inventions he could see; there were even special speeders and small ships. Most of them resembled things from his grandparents' lab.

But on the far wall stood the one thing that had always caught Andy's fancy: the round entrance to the Ghost Portal.

Andy was thrilled. "Oh, wow, Uncle Tucker! You have a Ghost Portal too?!" he cried out excitedly. He had been at his uncle's house before, but he had never been allowed in the basement.

Tucker looked at him and grinned. "Of course I do," he replied. "You didn't think your Grandpa was the only one who knew how to make one, did you?"

"Not anymore! This is awesome!"

Sam walked over to her best friend. "Not that I'm thrilled to be here, Tuck," she said, "But can we get back to the primary situation? Namely, about this rock?"

Tucker grabbed the jewel from her hand and held it up to examine it in the light. "In my dream, I heard Danny whisper that the four Spirit Gems needed to be united in order for them to function," he said. "He didn't specify what they were supposed to do, or what they were for. He mentioned that they had to be placed into the portal in order to start functioning." He looked at Sam again. "He also mentioned finding the location. But what location, I have no idea."

"How do you know it was Danny telling us this, Tucker?" Sam wondered. "What if it wasn't him?"

Tucker shrugged. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't," he replied. "But what I am sure of, is that whoever gave us this message is trying to give us a clue."

"A clue? A clue to what?"

"I'm not sure about that yet." Tucker grabbed his chair and sat down on it. He turned it around and came face-to-face with his three giant computer screens and began typing something down. "Anyway, I did a research on the so-called Spirit Gems mentioned in the dream and came up with this," he added as Sam and Andy ran over.

Diagrams of all sorts appeared on the screens before them. Images of different shaped gems appeared.

"The Spirit Gems are precious stones that can only be found in the Ghost Zone," Tucker explained as he typed. "They can be used for all sorts of things, though most Ghosts just like to collect them. They are priceless gems to the dwellers of that zone, and because they are incredibly rare and hold secrets untold, many hunters have fought and even destroyed each other over them."

"Okay, so the Spirit Gems are like Blood Diamonds to Ghosts, right?" Sam guessed.

"Exactly."

"So, if they're only found in the Ghost Zone, how did Andy find one at school?"

Tucker turned around and looked at them. "I'm not sure," he said slowly. He looked at Andy. "Where exactly did you find this, Andy?" he asked, holding up the oval stone.

Andy pointed at the floor. "On the grass by a bush," he replied. "It was just sittin' there, so I picked it up."

"And no one just left it there?"

"I don't think so. I didn't see anyone."

Tucker rubbed his chin and looked at the glowing gem again. "What's the deal with these things?" he wondered. "Why are we being told to put these into the portal? And what did he mean by putting them into the portal?"

"And what location do we have to find?" Sam added, rubbing her own chin.

"And if there's four rocks," Andy added with a shrug, "Where's the other three ones?"

Tucker looked at him in silence before suddenly feeling his hand begin to burn. He gasped painfully and dropped the gem, which had begun to glow brightly in his hand. "Yikes!" he exclaimed, shaking his hand about. "Since when to gems burn?"

Andy pointed at the stone. "Mommy, look!" he cried out. "The pretty rock is moving!"

It was; for at that moment, the green gem began to vibrate and immediately sped off across the floor.

Tucker turned around in his chair as all three of them watched the stone travel at incredible speed across the lab floor. It zipped around obstacles and slid beneath chairs, until it came to a halt at the entrance of the Ghost Portal.

"What; does it want to go home now?" Sam asked sarcastically as Tucker stood up.

They walked over to the portal and Tucker leaned down to pick up the gem. He studied it while it continued to glow and then rubbed his chin. "Put it in the portal," he whispered. He looked at Sam. "Do you think that message meant putting the Spirit Gems in the Ghost Portal?"

"Beats me," Sam replied with a shrug while her five-year-old began studying the rim of the portal. "And if it did, did it mean that we need to toss it back into the Ghost Zone? What good is that?"

Andy stood on his tippy toes at the right side of the portal and stared at the strange markings he discovered there. "Mommy, there's something funny carved into Uncle Tucker's portal," he said, catching their attention.

Tucker and Sam rushed over and examined the markings. Tucker placed a finger in all three. "Hm; I've never noticed these on the side of the portal before," he said. "I wonder if they mean anything."

Sam stared at them before looking at the gem she had taken from Tucker. It glowed brightly when she held it up and only seemed to grow brighter when it got closer to the carvings.

She held it up with two fingers and placed it near the carvings. Tucker leaned back while shielding his eyes. "Yo, Sam, if you're gonna hold it there, get me a pair of sunglasses!" he exclaimed.

"What's with this thing?" Sam wondered aloud.

All of a sudden, the gem began to vibrate again and shot out of Sam's hand. It immediately planted itself into the first carving, fitting just perfectly.

Sam, Tucker and Andy stared at it in surprise before the Ghost Portal was magically activated. It hummed loudly and the barred doors over it unlocked and slid into the walls, revealing the green entrance to the zone.

Andy peered into it in wonder. "Oh, cool!" he cried out. "Does this mean we're going to the Ghost Zone, Mommy?"

"How the heck did it open up like that without the password?" Tucker wondered while scratching his head.

The computer screen next to the portal suddenly began to beep, catching their attention. Tucker and Sam turned and looked at it.

"Loading Data. Loading Data," the computer announced. "Sending to main computer now."

"What?" Sam wondered as Tucker turned and ran back to his computers.

The mare jumped into his chair and slid up to the keyboards. He began typing in different commands. "Load Data from portal," he commanded aloud before pressing the enter button.

The computer screens immediately turned a reddish-purple, with the illusion that its background went on forever into cyberspace. The outline of a rectangle appeared on the right side of each screen while a diagram began to take shape digitally to its left. The diagram turned on itself at a moderate speed while information began to type itself down in the box.

"What the heck kind of information is this?" Sam wondered as she, Tucker and Andy stared at the screens.

Tucker peered over his glasses and squinted. "It's… it's giving some kind of combination of numbers and letters," he said, reading what was appearing in the box. "Kind of like… degrees or directions."

"Why would it be giving that kind of info?" Sam pointed out.

Tucker rubbed his chin. "Find the location," he said to himself. "Find… the location…"

The box stopped filling with bits of information and typed out, in bold letters, two different combinations of numbers.

"Those numbers correspond to a certain type of direction," Tucker noted. "Like longitude and latitude."

"But we're not looking for a map, Tucker!" Sam exclaimed impatiently. "What kind of bunk is this?!"

Tucker waved a hand in her face. "Just be quiet, Sam!" he scolded her. "I'm trying to think…" He was silent for a moment. "Maybe it's trying to find a location… on a map."

"But what location is it???"

The computer suddenly beeped, catching their attention. "Location found; location found," the computer announced expressionlessly.

"What are we trying to find?" Andy wondered in confusion.

Tucker leaned towards a microphone near the giant keyboard. "Computer, determine location of what has been found," he asked calmly.

The computer made a few beeps and finally completed the diagram next to the picture. A red line swept over it from bottom to top, giving it colour and a distinct look.

Sam and Tucker watched as the image completed itself. Once it was through, their eyes went wide and they leaned back while gasping.

The diagram was an image of the body of Danny Fenton.

"Oh my gosh!" Sam exclaimed as she covered her mouth. Tears of joy filled her eyes. She looked at Tucker and shared his excited smile. "It's Danny's body, Tucker! It's located Danny's body!"

"That Spirit Gem must have held the combination of longitude and latitude of Danny's location," Tucker said with a grin. He passed a hand over his face. "I can't believe it! We've just found Danny!"

Andy jumped up and down, trying to see better. "I can't see him, Mommy," he complained. "I can't see what Daddy looks like!"

Tucker picked him up around the waist and raised him up. "You see that, Andy?" he said with a smile. "That's your Dad. That's Danny Fenton."

Andy stared at the image in silent wonder. The man looked exactly like him.

"Why are his eyes closed?" Andy noticed, pointing at the image of his father.

Tucker and Sam looked at the image. "I'm not sure," Tucker replied. "It might be because the body's in a state of suspended animation or something."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that he's sleeping," Sam replied. "For a long time. Until we find him."

Andy smiled. "Does this mean that Daddy's finally coming home, and that I'll meet him for the very first time?!" he asked excitedly.

Tucker placed him back on the floor. "It sure as heck does mean that, Squirt!" he said. "I don't know why, but that jewel must have been like some kind of map to finding Danny." He typed in a command. "Let's just bring up the map of the Ghost Zone and pin point his exact location."

The digital map of the Ghost Zone appeared over the computer screens. Another box popped up in the middle and Tucker typed in the longitude and latitude here.

He smiled and looked at Sam. "With this click, Sam," he said, "We'll be one step closer to bringing Danny home for good."

Sam smiled back and looked up at the screen again. "Push it, Tucker," she said.

Tucker held up his finger and looked up at the map. "This treasure hunt is finally—" His finger came to rest on the enter button. "—over!"

The computer began to combine the information given to the map of the Ghost Zone. It took several seconds before the blinking red light appeared.

But to everyone's complete surprise, the red light was registered… at the very center of the map.

Tucker's smile immediately disappeared. "What?" he said in shock.

"Location found," the computer announced. "Location found…"

"Location? Location?!" Tucker exclaimed furiously. "That's not the combination I typed in! That's the middle of the zone! THAT'S NOWHERE!!!" He slammed his fist against the keyboard several times as hard as he could. "NO, NO, NO!!!"

"Tucker, calm down," Sam said as gently as she could.

Tucker looked at her. "Calm down?!" he cried out. "Calm down?! Sam, that gem just gave us the exact location of Danny's body, but it only comes up as the very middle of the entire zone!" He buried his face in his hands. "Stupid, STUPID!!! There are different realms in the zone, different worlds, which means different latitudes and longitudes! Why do we only have one piece of the puzzle? WHY?!"

Sam placed her hands on Tucker's shoulders. "Yelling at a stupid computer won't make the situation any better," she said. "We'll find him, Tucker; we'll find him."

"But when, Sam? It's been five years since we could hang out with him or even look him in the face! Five years! I just can't live like this anymore! The only guy who gave a hoot about who I was is stuck in a zone, looking for a body he just can't find! And the only clue we've got to help him find it is incomplete!"

"If it's just one piece of the puzzle, then there must be more," Sam replied. "This is only the beginning of the mystery, Tucker; we'll figure it out."

Andy listened to them silently, suddenly struck deeply by just how important his father was to his uncle and his mother. He wasn't only a hero or an astronaut; he was their best friend, someone they could never imagine their lives without.

The five year old looked at the Ghost Portal, trying to think of what he could do to help, when he suddenly realized something. He gasped softly and tugged on Tucker's bathrobe, catching the man's attention. "Mommy's right, Uncle Tucker," he said. "It's just the first clue!" He held up four fingers. "Member the message? It said that all four rocks had to be re… re… re—!"

"Reunited," Sam said with a grin, encouraging him to go on.

Andy smiled at her. "Right," he said. He looked at Tucker. "That means that there's four Spirit gems. Not one, and on the Ghost Portal, there were three slots. We only filled one. So that means that two more rocks go there."

"Two more that we don't have," Tucker said heavily. "Which still leaves us at square one."

Sam frowned and swatted him across the head, making Tucker groan painfully and rub his scalp. "He's trying to make you feel better, Birdbrain," she said.

Tucker glared at her before looking at his nephew. He grinned weakly. "You've got a good eye, Champ," he said gently.

Andy smiled proudly.

Sam looked up at the clock and then sighed. "We'll deal with this tomorrow," she said. "It's a Friday, I've got the day off and there's no school for Andy, but it doesn't mean that he can still stay up late." She held out her hand. "Come on, Kiddo; we need to go home now."

Andy moaned. "Can't we sleep over at Uncle Tucker's house?" he asked. "He won't be alone!"

"Nice try, but we're going back."

Tucker sighed and stood up. "Your mom's right, Andy," he said. "Though I would enjoy the company, you should go sleep at home." He rubbed his head again and sent a sarcastic glare at his best friend. "It'll keep me safe, at least," he mumbled. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Andy made a grimace and walked over to his mother. "Okay," he mumbled. "Good night Uncle Tucker."

Sam pointed him in the direction of the elevator before turning and looking at Tucker. Sadness yet hope filled her eyes. "We'll find him, Tucker," she said. "I just know it."

Tucker smiled sadly. "It's funny how you keep reminding me that," he said, "But you keep forgetting to tell that to yourself."

Sam remained silent. She sighed shakily and stared down at her feet.

Tucker waited a moment and then placed a hand on her shoulder. When Sam looked up, tears had filled her eyes as she fought to keep them from spilling out. "I miss him so much," she squeaked. "I don't know if I can last another year without him, Tucker."

"There won't be another year without Danny," Tucker replied softly. "You've done everything to keep my hopes up, now it's my turn to keep up yours." He paused for a moment before continuing. "We'll find him, Sam," he whispered, repeating the words she so often said to him. "I just know it."

Sam smiled back and hugged Tucker tightly. He placed his arms around her.

"It'll be so great to have Danny back," she whispered. "We can finally be a family again."

Tucker smiled while looking at the computer screens. "We sure will be, Sam," he said.

*****