“I took off work for three days,” Martin said. “Rebecca and I just talked to him, trying to explain how we had ended up in this situation. After the three days were over, the Traveler checked into a motel in downtown Houston. Every night, he would come out to the house and we started to invite some of our friends over.”

“I was the contractor who built the new bedroom in the Greenwalds’ house,” Antonio said. “When Martin called me, I thought he wanted me to meet some kind of preacher. I went over there one night and that’s when I met the Traveler. There were a lot of people in the living room and I was hiding in the corner. The Traveler looked at me for about two seconds and it changed my life. It felt like I had finally met someone who truly understood all my problems.”

“We learned about Travelers much later,” Joan said. “Martin contacted other people through the Internet and found out about the secret Web sites. The crucial thing to know is that every Traveler is different. They come from different religions and cultures. Most of them only visit one or two realms. When they return to this world, they have different interpretations of their experiences.”

“Our Traveler had visited the Second Realm of the hungry ghosts,” Martin explained. “What he saw there made him realize why people are desperate to feed the hunger in their souls. They keep looking for new objects and experiences that can only satisfy them for a short time.”

“The Vast Machine keeps us dissatisfied and frightened,” Antonio said. “It’s just another way to make us obedient. I gradually realized that all these things I was buying weren’t making me any happier. My kids were having problems at school. My wife and I were talking about a divorce. Sometimes I would wake up at three o’clock in the morning and just lie there, thinking about what I owed on my credit cards.”

“The Traveler made us feel that we weren’t trapped,” Rebecca said. “He looked at all of us-just a group of ordinary people-and helped us see how to make a better life. He made us realize what we could do on our own.”

Martin nodded slowly. “Our friends talked to their friends and, after about a week, we had a dozen families coming to our house every night. Twenty-three days after he arrived, the Traveler said goodbye and went away.”

“After he left, four families stopped coming to the meetings,” Antonio said. “Without his power, they couldn’t break away from their old habits. Then some other people went on the Internet and found out about Travelers and how dangerous it was to oppose the Vast Machine. Another month went by and we were down to five families. That was the core of people who wanted to change their lives.”

“We didn’t want to live in a sterile world, but we didn’t want to give up three hundred years of technology,” Martin explained. “What was best for our group was a mixture of high tech and low tech. It’s sort of a ‘Third Way.’ So we pooled our money, bought this land, and came out here. The first year was incredibly difficult. It was hard to set up the wind turbines so that we’d have our own independent power source. But Antonio was great. He figured it all out and got the generators working.”

“By that time we were down to four families,” Rebecca said. “Martin talked us into building the community center first. Using satellite phones, we were able to go online. Now we give technical support for the customers of three different companies. That’s the main source of the community income.”

“All the adults at New Harmony have to work six hours a day, five days a week,” Martin explained. “You can work at the community center, help at the school or in the greenhouses. We produce about a third of our food-our eggs and vegetables-and buy the rest. There’s no crime in our community. We don’t have mortgages or credit card debts. And we have the ultimate luxury: a great deal of free time.”

“So what do you do with that time?” Maya asked.

Joan put down her glass. “I go hiking with my daughter. She knows all the trails around here. Some of the teenagers are teaching me how to hang glide.”

“I make furniture,” Antonio said. “It’s like a work of art, only you can sit on it. I made this table for Martin.”

“I’m learning how to play the cello,” Rebecca said. “My teacher is in Barcelona. Using a computer cam, he can watch and listen to me play.”

“I spend my time communicating with other people on the Internet,” Martin said. “Several of these new friends have come to live at New Harmony. We’re now up to twenty-one families.”

“New Harmony helps spread information about the Vast Machine,” Rebecca said. “A couple of years ago, the White House proposed something called the Protective Link ID card. It was voted down in Congress, but we’ve heard that it’s currently being used by the employees of large corporations. In a few years, the government will reintroduce the idea and make it mandatory.”

“But you haven’t really broken away from modern life,” Maya said. “You have computers and electricity.”

“And modern medicine,” Joan said. “I consult with other physicians on the Internet and we have basic group insurance in case of severe illness. I don’t know if it’s exercise, diet, or lack of stress, but people rarely get sick around here.”

“We didn’t want to run away from the world and pretend to be medieval farmers,” Martin said. “Our objective was to gain control of our lives and prove that this Third Way of ours can work. There are other groups like New Harmony-the same mix of high tech and low tech-and we’re all connected by the Internet. A new community just started in Canada about two months ago.”

Gabriel hadn’t spoken for a while, but he kept staring at Martin. “Tell me something,” he said. “What was the name of this Traveler?”

“Matthew.”

“And what was his last name?”

“He never gave us one,” Martin said.

“Do you have a photograph of him?”

“I think we have one in the storage chest.” Rebecca stood up. “Should I…”

“No need for that,” Antonio said. “I’ve got one.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a leather memo book that was stuffed with lists, old receipts, and building plans. Placing the book on the table, he thumbed through the pages, then pulled out a small photograph.

“My wife took this four days before the Traveler left. He ate dinner at my house that night.”

Holding one edge of the photograph like it was a precious relic, Antonio handed it across the table. Gabriel took the photograph and stared at it for a long time.

“And when was this taken?”

“About eight years ago.”

Gabriel looked up at them. His face showed pain, hope, joy. “This is my father. He was supposed to be dead, destroyed in a fire, but here he is-sitting next to you.”

Gabriel sat beneath the night sky and examined the frayed snapshot of his father. More than anything, he wanted Michael to be there with him. The brothers had stood beside the charred remains of the farmhouse in South Dakota. They had driven around the country together, whispering at night when their mother was asleep. Was Father still alive? Was he looking for them?

The Corrigans had searched for their father constantly, expecting to see him sitting at a bus stop or gazing out the window of a café. Sometimes, when they entered a new town, the brothers would glance at each other, feeling tense and excited. Maybe their father was living here. Maybe he was close-very close-just drive two blocks west and turn left. It was only when they reached Los Angeles that Michael announced that the speculation was over. Father was dead or gone forever. Let’s forget about the past and move on.

While the stars glimmered overhead, Gabriel questioned the four members of New Harmony. Antonio and the others were sympathetic, but they couldn’t give him much information. They didn’t know how to find the Traveler. He hadn’t contacted them or left an address.