Unforgettable journey to other planets. Venera Harrison

to help you. The lake to help anyone who wants.”

      He looked around at everyone with a smile.

      “Ear,” looked at David, and said Bhrigu. “Fear,” he looked at Yulia. “Powerless,” he smiled at Jean-Pierre. “Your leg,” he said to Debby. “Not understanding,” Bhrigu said quietly to the doctor.

      The doctor rounded his eyes and was about to say something, but Jean-Pierre beat him to it. He grabbed the hermit by the robe with a sharp movement and pulled him closer.

      “You are saying that it was you who arranged all this madness.”

      The hermit closed his eyes and smiled. Dr Capri rushed over to Jean-Pierre.

      “Are you crazy, let him go!” shouted the doctor.

      “But he…” Jean-Pierre didn’t have time to finish.

      “He just wanted to say…” the doctor didn’t finish his sentence either, David interrupted him.

      “But how does he know about my ear?”

      Debby slowly walked over to the old man and looked at Jean-Pierre. He let go of the hermit. Everyone froze.

      “Thank you, Bhrigu, for helping me. Tell me, how did the lake heal my leg?”

      Bhrigu bowed again, first to Jean-Pierre and then to Debby.

      “How?” he wondered. “I can show you,” he held his right hand up, as if holding an apple in it. “Strong need if exists, lake slake it,” he made a movement as if putting an object with his left hand into his right hand.

      David stepped closer to the hermit and asked quietly:

      “Are you talking about wish fulfillment?” he was breathing heavily with excitement.

      Bhrigu smiled and looked at David with a smile, the way fathers look at their sons.

      “Hey, damn you all! What’s going on here? What wishes, what lakes, what signals from Voyagers?” shaking his head, Jean-Pierre said loudly. “Have you all lost your minds? We need to get out of here immediately and look for heli.”

      Jean-Pierre walked briskly toward the exit, David was still staring at Bhrigu expectantly.

      “Jean-Pierre!” Debby shouted in his wake. But he didn’t answer.

      Everyone looked at Bhrigu. And he smiled calmly and looked back at everyone.

      Jean-Pierre entered the other hall of the cave and clenched his fists with tension and incomprehension.

      “That’s it, I’ve had enough,” he said quietly to himself in French, “we have to get out of here. What are they up to?!”

      He stared at the smoldering fire, exhaled loudly, and began to move toward the bundle of wood lying near the wall. He wanted to see what the weather conditions were now, and if they could find the remains of an airplane fuselage or maybe a military helicopter, but…

      “What?” Jean-Pierre whispered, and his eyes darted around.

      Part 2 – Chapter 27

      “How’s that?” looking around, Jean-Pierre whispered near the blank wall of the cave. “Where is the exit?”

      He looked around, but found no other passage than the one that led to the hall with the lake. He took a step back from the wall, then walked toward it again and began to move parallel to the wall by touch. He touched it with his hand to make sure of what he saw. The space was quite dim. He took a few more steps and went back to the logs. He picked up some dry twigs and threw them into the fire in the center of the hall. The fire quickly grew brighter. All the walls became clearly visible. Jean-Pierre looked them over carefully once more. The confusion was quickly replaced by anger. He walked in a circle, tapping his hand on the wall. When he reached the makeshift shelves, he kicked them off. The solid monolithic rock was all over the place.

      “How could it be?” mimicking a grimace of incomprehension, Jean-Pierre thought.

      “How could it be?” he said quietly, remembering the circumstances of last night.

      “How could it be?” he shouted, rushing toward the lake.

      He ran into the hall in a rage and wanted to do something terrible to the hermit, but the doctor stepped forward quickly and diverted his attention to himself.

      “What happened, Jean-Pierre?” Dr Capri said loudly.

      “Where is the exit? I’m asking you, Aborigine!” Jean-Pierre kept shouting behind the doctor’s back.

      “What are you talking about?” David asked incomprehensibly.

      Jean-Pierre turned away from all the people and exhaled. He pressed his lips together and inhaled through his nose with such an effort that his chest almost doubled in size.

      “I want to ask our new and caring friend where the exit from the cave is.”

      “It…,” David wanted to answer, but Jean-Pierre’s own answer overtook him.

      “It was near the pile of firewood, but it’s not there now. Not!” repeated Jean-Pierre louder and extended his hand toward the other room, inviting everyone to check his observations.

      Everyone moved into the other room. Only Jean-Pierre, Bhrigu, and Debby remained in their places, motionless.

      Debby lowered her eyes to the floor, standing next to Bhrigu. And he just stared at Jean-Pierre’s emotions, which were very simple – resentment.

      “What have you done to us?” Jean-Pierre asked quietly and angrily in French.

      Tulu-Manchi, Yulia, and David entered the hall in quick strides and looked alarmed.

      “Bhrigu!” Dr Capri began to speak in a loud and anxious voice. “Bhrigu,” he switched to Nepali. “Please tell us what is happening. We cannot find the exit from the cave.”

      The hermit hesitated and said:

      “Interesting. Very interesting,” Bhrigu replied in English. “Place this is not usual. Sacred place. To understand its motion very difficult. But I can help to understand you. Seems to me, you are connected and have to find important something.”

      “Where… is… the… exit?” Jean-Pierre repeated, pausing between words.

      “Exit?” the hermit thought again. “You need exit?”

      “Yes,” the Frenchman answered, looking at him sternly.

      “I show you the exit. It is on the other side,” and Bhrigu pointed to the dark part of the hall on the other side of the lake.

      “What?” blurted out Jean-Pierre and all the others.

      “But that’s impossible,” David concluded.

      “Yes?” answered Bhrigu with a smile.

      Jean-Pierre turned to Debby and said to himself:

      “How do we get there?” he shook his head. “What am I talking about? The gateway is gone. We went in there yesterday. How is that possible?”

      “Wait, Jean-Pierre. Stop,” Dr Capri said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Bhrigu, how is it possible? Is it you? Do you know anything about the signals from Voyager?”

      Bhrigu raised his eyebrows in surprise as a sign that he did not know what the doctor was talking about. He thought for a moment and turned in the direction he had just pointed to the travelers.

      “Boat is there,” Bhrigu said, pointing to the right.

      Jean-Pierre went in the direction indicated.

      “Yes, here it is!” he called out from the darkness.

      “I don’t understand,” Yulia said to Dr Capri.

      “I can’t understand it either,” David added. “I woke up near the entrance, and I could feel the cold air coming in from outside.”

      “That’s right,” Dr Capri said without taking his eyes off the hermit.

      “Bhrigu,”