The ring, p.22
The Ring, page 22
The page appeared to be a hobby page with generic, low-resolution graphics and an enormous amount of text. The author’s name, which was displayed at the top of the page, was Eugene Roedecker. In reading his mission statement, Eva learned that Eugene was a retired high-school science teacher and that the page was his first ever attempt at publishing something to the Internet. A fact, he humbly admitted, he hoped to improve upon during his retirement.
After perusing the first couple of paragraphs, Eva knew she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
The Golden Ratio, she discovered, was known by many other names: The Golden Mean, The Divine Proportion and The Golden Section, among others, but what truly surprised Eva was how the number 1.618 appeared to be infused into the world around her. Everything from art to architecture to nature to the human body utilized a proportion that, up until two hours ago, she had never heard of.
As Eva read further, she discovered the algebraic equation that defined the ratio.
Dr. Ichimira referenced this formula when answering the reporter’s first question. He asked the man to imagine a simple line divided into two uneven segments labeled a and b, a being the longer of the two, and how the sum total of that line, a + b, was proportionate to a, as a was proportionate to b. This relationship, the result of which equaled 1.618, was denoted with the Greek letter Phi.
The idea behind it was relatively simple; conveying it to a captive audience without visual aids was not. Realizing he was speaking to millions of people, Dr. Ichimira used himself as a physical prop to demonstrate the proportional relationship present in the Golden Ratio.
He held up his index finger. Assigning the second phalange or middle segment, which was the longer one, for a and using the tip of his finger for b, Dr. Ichimira proceeded to demonstrate the very same proportional relationship expressed in the equation, using the index finger and thumb of his other hand as pseudo calipers to indicate the relative lengths.
The reaction from the press was lukewarm at best and prompted, Eva thought, one of the most valid questions during Dr. Ichimira’s time at the podium.
“That’s all very interesting, Dr. Ichimira,” a female reporter asked with a husky voice. “But what does this relationship have to do with the halos?”
The question was pointed and cut right to the heart of the matter. And what Dr. Ichimira said next had fully entranced Eva.
“Everything,” came his reply.
With his response to the reporter ringing in her mind, Eva scrolled along Eugene Roedecker’s website until the very thing Dr. Ichimira cited in his follow-up to that one word answer rolled up from the bottom of the screen. Eva positioned it in the center of the monitor and stared at it.
A Golden Rectangle.
When Dr. Ichimira mentioned the Golden Rectangle, Eva felt he had come perilously close to derailing his explanation and losing his audience in a forest of mathematical and computational gibberish. But he pressed on.
With the semi-established algebraic relationship of Phi, Dr. Ichimira explained the relevancy of the number 1.618 as it related to the Golden Rectangle and the implications this shape had beyond lines on paper.
“If one were to take a rectangle with the proportion of one to 1.618,” he said, “which is by definition a Golden Rectangle, and then place a perfect one-to-one square inside the rectangle off to one side, the remaining area would be another rectangle proportionally accurate to the same ratio. If you then added another perfect square inside that rectangle,” he continued, “you would be left again with another smaller, yet proportionally accurate rectangle. This can and does go on into infinity. Now, the obvious question is, so what?”
Eva couldn’t have said it better herself.
When the Golden Rectangle was plotted on graph paper the way Dr. Ichimira described, a very clear pattern emerged. It was one that resulted in a spiraling line that crept away from the center in an exponentially growing twist.
Still, that question lurked.
Neat… but so what?! What does it have to do with halos?
The relationship that appeared to be intermeshed among Golden Rectangles and the Golden Ratio was remarkable. But it was when Eugene Roedecker juxtaposed the spirals against objects from nature that, for Eva, the mathematical gave way to the magical.
While Dr. Ichimira tried to present a layman’s understanding of what the Golden Ratio was and how it factored into the universal tapestry, he had no graphics to draw upon to illustrate his point. But Mr. Eugene Roedecker did. And the examples were stunning.
Sunflowers. Pinecones. Leaf and branch structures. Flower petals. Nautilus shells. The horns of rams. All seemed to adhere to the proportional constant of Phi. The logarithmic spiraling effect could also be seen in other aspects of nature such as whirlpools, hurricanes and galaxies. But it was the discovery of a quote by the purported godfather of the Golden Ratio resurgence, Adolf Zeising, from his book, Neue Lehre von den Proportionen des menschlichen Körpers…, that Dr. Ichimira’s theory in regard to the halos began to take shape. Zeising wrote of the Golden Ratio:
… a universal law in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art, and which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical;
Universal law.
Universal.
Eva would see this quote often over the next several days as she continued to investigate the Golden Ratio and all that it implied. Zeising, although not the author of the Golden Ratio (a distinction that predated him by centuries), had been the one responsible for reintroducing the number back into society in a way that suggested a wondrous connection to the world around us. Eva wasn’t so sure he was wrong.
She scrolled down the page and discovered even more relationships to Phi: Golden triangles, pyramids, rhombuses and something called a golden rhombic triacontahedron she would be at a loss to pronounce even if she had to. Much of this was accompanied by formulaic scribblings and overlong explanations that delved into areas of mathematics far beyond her level of comprehension. Besides which, she had seen enough.
Closing the lid to her laptop, Eva trotted downstairs and to the front door. The influx of so much new information prompted a break and hot or no, she felt the need to step outside and clear her head.
The warmth of the evening air assailed her as she stepped into the night. The night sky was cloudless and every last star that held a position in that pitch sparkled at her with new meaning. Staring into the blackness she recalled the closing comment Dr. Ichimira made in response to a reporter’s question seeking a reason behind the halos.
“A reason?” he had said, “The possibilities are as numerous as the stars themselves.”
As Eva stood holding herself, she thought about what that meant. While it had no doubt been perceived as an evasive answer by some, Eva felt it was the most accurate answer he could have given. In essence, the halos were simply because they just were. They were a thread in the fabric of an enigmatic universe, yet one more thing to unravel and explore, a new mystery heretofore unseen or experienced by humankind.
They just were.
While blind acceptance didn’t particularly resonate with Eva, there was another, more profound meaning in the subtext of the halos that did. It was something she had learned long ago in a dark basement and never forgotten. And that was this: Life was fleeting and not to be squandered, for you never knew what could happen. She had learned it then. She felt rejuvenated in that mantra now, Rory’s disappearance underscoring the frailty of life.
A puff of midseason monsoonal air washed over Eva, tossing her hair back from her shoulders where it alighted on her back. She closed her eyes and breathed in the desert air.
Crouching to sit on the single step that led to the front door, Eva’s knees protested with single pops from each joint. Lowering herself the rest of the way to the stair with an outstretched hand, she was suddenly taken aback when, rather than palming pavement, her hand met something wholly unexpected. She jerked away from the object, its initial sensation startling. She groped for the object, settling on it almost instantly, and as she did, Eva immediately recognized what it was—her walkie-talkie.
She looked in the direction of Daniel Green’s home as she pulled the radio into her lap. As always, there was a single light illuminating the front windows. She waited for a moment, expecting to see a curtain drift closed as a shadowy face withdrew. But it didn’t happen. One thing was for certain, though.
She now knew who returned her lost pen to her.
CHAPTER 22
Day 26
Eva sat near the window in Le Petite, the latest coffee shop-slash-WiFi hotspot to grace the streets of Old Town Scottsdale. Its whimsical, saloon-like motif fit perfectly with the historical nature of the Old Town facades, several of which employed pseudo frontier town exteriors. But facades were all they were. For once you stepped inside Le Petite, any conjured sense of time and place was immediately forgotten.
The spacious interior was an almost-but-not-quite fusion of shabby chic and Old World charm, solid wood tables, mismatched chairs and trinket-laced bookshelves infusing the café with a distinctive French antique shop vibe.
Eva hunched over an issue of Mademoiselle, nervously flipping through the pages as she sipped an iced mango green tea and nibbled a croque monsieur—a ham and Gruyére cheese sandwich served on a foot long baguette.
She was thinking about the walkie-talkie. Its presence on her doorstep unnerved her and was a clear indication that Daniel was aware she had been at his home. But the greater question she wrestled with was did he know that she had been inside his home? She left the window exactly as she found it and was careful not to disturb a single object save the pallet in the garage. For all she knew, Daniel might only think she had poked around his backyard. The theory was mildly comforting but, in the end, made no difference to her. She knew she would still press on, and, she feared, so did he.
Looking onto the street, Eva watched a polished gray Infinity pull in front of the café. A gleaming door swung open and Priti and Wes climbed from the vehicle, Priti’s mom sitting behind the wheel. Eva waved to her, Mrs. Ganesh flashing an uneasy smile through the open passenger door before Priti slammed it shut then walked with Wes toward the entrance.
It had been three days since the press conference. In that time, Eva thought a lot about Daniel Green, but more importantly, she thought about Rory. That she should be so preoccupied with finding Rory when there was this imminent threat quite literally hovering over all their lives was, admittedly, odd. But she couldn’t shake it. Rory’s abduction ate at her. It roused her from sleep at night, awful dreams of torture and harrowing neglect. She needed to find Rory.
Eva had a new plan. But the only way she could proceed with it was if she once again recruited the help of her friends. What she would be asking, though, would push the limits of their friendship.
Wes and Priti entered the café. The two shuffled over to Eva’s table and plunked down in a pair of Shaker-style chairs, Wes agape at his surroundings.
“How long have you know about this place?” he said.
Eva slurped her tea through a pink straw. “I don’t know. A year maybe?”
“How come I’ve never heard of it? This place is dope.”
“I don’t know. Never figured you for the café type. You guys want anything? I’m buying.”
“No, I’m okay,” Priti said, her eyes narrowed at Eva.
“Yeah, I’m fine, too” Wes said, sitting back, then shooting forward again. “Actually, there is something I want.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“To know what’s so important that you couldn’t just tell us over the phone. Like, why did we have to come all the way down here? What’s the big secret?”
“Yes,” Priti said, cocking her head with mock curiosity, “what is the big secret?”
Eva’s eyes danced between her friends. She inhaled with her entire body then took another swallow of tea, locking eyes with Wes. “I’m going to need your help. And it’s going to be a big one.”
Priti’s head sank. “Please tell me you’re not considering something stupid again.”
“You’re not going to stop until you get yourself into trouble, are you, Morris?” Wes said with a laugh.
Eva shook her head at her friends. “Will you just hear what I have to say?”
Priti crossed her arms in front of her, pursing her lips into straight lines. “Well, let’s hear it then. Tell us what your grand plan is this time,” she said with no small amount of sarcasm.
Eva hesitated. It wasn’t too late to reconsider, she knew, but for her the plan may as well have been etched in stone. She fixed her eyes on her unfinished sandwich and when she finally spoke the words tumbled from her lips as if they had been poured.
“I need to borrow Troy’s car and I need you to help me get it.”
Eva snatched up the sandwich and gnawed off a bite. The reactions were as predicted.
“What?” Wes barked. “Troy’s car? Are you insane? What the hell would you need that for?”
Eva tried, but couldn’t maintain eye contact with her friends. She stared at the table and rotated her plate in a circle.
“I need it so I can follow Daniel.”
Wes coughed a disapproving burst of air as he placed his closed fist over his mouth. Priti’s face sagged as she looked at Eva, and suddenly she appeared sad.
“What are you doing, Eva?”
Eva sat up. “Look, I know how this—how I—must sound right now. But just hear me out. All right? It’ll probably still sound crazy—”
“Gee,” Wes scoffed. “You think?”
“—but it’s nowhere near as dangerous as what I did last time. Promise.”
“Yeah. Maybe not for you. You’re not the one that’s going to get stuffed into a suitcase and mailed to Africa once Troy finds out.”
“If he finds out. Which he won’t.”
Wes recoiled as if he had just smelled something foul. “How can you be so sure of that?”
Eva blinked long and slow. “Look, Wes. I know this is asking a ton. If I were able to use one of my parents’ cars I would, but both will be working tomorrow afternoon and night so that option is gone—”
“Wait,” Wes interrupted. “Tomorrow night? As in Friday night? As in when the next halo is supposed to happen?”
Eva only stared. “Uh…yes?”
Wes collapsed into his chair and thrust splayed fingers through his hair. “Oh, man. This keeps getting better and better.”
“Eva,” Priti said, “what is all this about? You’re actually starting to scare me a little.”
“All right, look,” Eva said, swallowing a third of her tea in one gulp before pushing the glass to the center of the table. “I’m not actually planning on doing anything, okay? That stint into Daniel’s house was enough as far as I’m concerned. But things have changed.”
“What things?” Wes said.
“Daniel’s acting different.”
“Different, how?” Priti demanded.
“I don’t know. It’s like, ever since the press conference, he’s been disappearing way earlier than he used to. I’ve been watching him. Before it was seven, maybe eight o’clock, when he drove off to God knows where. Now I see him leaving the house before five and he’s gone for hours. And he’s always got the bed of his truck loaded with something and tarped over. Something’s not right. The weird crap in his house aside, something is up with that man and I want to find out what it is.”
“You don’t still think he’s going to lead you to Rory, do you?” Priti asked.
Eva opened her mouth to speak, but stopped shy of replying. Priti’s question was valid and until now Eva hadn’t truly evaluated her motives. She knew the likelihood of turning up anything relating to Rory fell in the slim-to-none category, but she also knew that Daniel Green bore into her subconscious the same way an irretrievable splinter dug into the skin.
“Truth be told, Pri,” Eva began, “I don’t know what I expect to find. I just know that I need to do this.”
“So, he’s got a different schedule,” Wes said. “Why does this mean I put my life in jeopardy to steal my brother’s car, which, I might add, he would report missing to the police if he ever discovered it missing? By the way, you understand that would make us felons, right?”
Eva swallowed. She actually hadn’t considered that.
“I hear what you’re saying, but listen. You guys know Jordan Kempfer?”
“Of course,” Wes and Priti said in unison. They looked at one another and smiled, and in their eyes Eva saw the first sparks of a blossoming romance.
“Well, Friday after school, tomorrow, he’s having what he’s calling an ‘end of the world’ party. Supposed to be a whole bunch of people going.”
“Yeah, I heard about that,” Priti said, disgusted. “I also hear they’re betting to see where the next halo will occur. Unbelievable.”
Wes looked from Priti to Eva like he was the last person to get picked for dodge ball.
“I never heard anything about any party. Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure, since your brother asked me to go to it.”
Wes searched the table forlornly.
“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” Eva said, adjusting herself in her chair. “He goes to the party right after school like everyone else. Jordan only lives over on Sequoia five streets away, so we could walk to his house in fifteen minutes. Daniel’s been leaving around five or earlier like I said, but the halo isn’t expected to happen until almost six-thirty. We could borrow Troy’s car, follow Daniel and see what he’s doing, then return the car before Troy even knows it’s gone. He’ll certainly stay at the party until after the halo happens, and I’ll be willing to wager he’ll hang out well beyond that. That buys us a couple of hours at least.”
