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A week later we had finished the translations. Now the nature of the project changed. We knew what had to be done, we now had to collect the materials and train ourselves for the task.
Night after night we pored over the translations we had produced. We fabricated ancient costumes, and even arranged to obtain a supply of sacrificial animals from the University Medical Research Department by calling in some old favors. We gained access to sheep that were originally destined for use in artifical organ projects, but that failed inspection, and were now destined for student autopsy.
You see, it had become clear from our research that the summoning would draw its power from analogy. We were attempting to summon a multi-dimensional being. To do so we would have to put ourselves into an analogous state with the creature we were to summon, on multiple levels of our human condition. The proper ritual to do so would take a precisely coordinated, multi-faceted effort. Dance, song, costumage, mental state, and setting would all be important.
It took us weeks to acquire the proper equipment, and for us to learn the proper rituals. Occasionally we would pull the parts we had assembled together and videotape a dress rehearsal in the nearby foothills. This helped us refine our technique and answer questions of rhythm and procedure that could only be answered with on-the-spot time-and-motion studies.
These rehearsals became more and more frequent as we approached the final day. We had gone just about as far as we could with computer simulation. With the help of choreographers and graphics analysis, we knew all the essential body motions required for the ritual. It was just a matter of practicing with our real bodies until we could duplicate the precise steps the computer simulations had outlined as the most probable for success.
As the final days approached we also became more and more nervous that we would be uncovered before we could finish. This lead to a vicious circle. The more haggard and furtive we became, the more attention we drew; and the faster we had to work, which made us even more haggard and furtive.
Ned was patient, but after the "two weeks" we promised turned into two months, he was after us again. But this time it was more important than ever to keep him away. Before we'd just been playing scientists working with complex equipment he couldn't hope to understand. We could throw him into fits of yawning by just spewing thirty seconds of jargon about the equipment we were using. Now we were working with costumes and sheep. One look at us while we were studying now, and he'd have the university, the police and the hospital asking us for "a few minutes of our time."
God he was getting to be a pain! At first we avoided him. Bergen and I started eating at the cafeteria so he couldn't find us at home. Then he found us there. Finally, just five days before the finish, I exploded and told him, "Bugger off, Ned! Get out of our life! We don't want to see any more of you!"
"What about your families?"
"Ned, they're our families. We'll take care of them."
"Does that include me. I'm part family too."
"That includes you. The work we are doing doesn't include you. You are a son-in-law, not a son, leave us alone!"
Ned was finally showing some thinner skin. His face was reddening. "You know I'm doing this because I love you."
"We love you too, Ned. And we love our work. We are trying to finish that so we can see our families and they can be proud of us. If you keep coming around to bug us it won't get finished. We'll never see our families and it'll all be your fault."
"Don't you see. They're already proud of you..."
"We see and understand. But we can't be proud of ourselves if we don't finish this. If we can't be proud of ourselves, how can they be proud of us?
"Ned. Trust us. This won't take much longer. Please let us work in peace."
Ned gave up and left. We gobbled our food and headed for the storage rooms where we were keeping the equipment. The corridors were deserted as usual which was fortunate because it let me hear Ned following us. As we passed the storage rooms, I discreetly motioned to Bergen to keep walking. We went on to the workshop were we had studied the talismans earlier and started calibrating one of the instruments. Five minutes later, yawning, Ned gave up on his detectiving.
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