Ascension Seekers

by Amy Proebstel

  “He’s in Manzanit!” Riccan called out.

  “Let’s go!”

  “I’m going to send a quick message to Bryon so he’ll know to meet us there,” Riccan announced as he tapped out a quick sequence and hit the send button. “Okay, is your seatbelt fastened? I’m ready when you say ‘Go’!”

  “Go already!” She was so thankful for Riccan being with her. There was too much at stake for anything to go wrong.

  The garage disappeared into blackness.

  Chapter Thirty

  AMANDA NOTICED THE landing pad beneath them almost at the same instant she saw Bryon’s telepod pop into view right next to them. Once again, she was glad to know the telepods were unable to collide with one another in Tuala because of their built-in proximity sensors. There were only a few feet separating the two telepods as they landed in the next few heartbeats.

  After fumbling with the latch on her seatbelt, she looked over at Riccan and smiled sheepishly. She was encouraged to see him grin confidently back at her.

  “We’ll soon be back on our way to Earth,” Riccan encouraged.

  “I hope so…that’s the plan at least. Do you think we thought of everything?”

  “Everything we can control. The rest is up to Vinia and Neal.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Amanda whispered to herself even as she stood up to go out the side door to greet Bryon.

  Riccan palmed the control to open the door and immediately followed his wife’s lead.

  Both Riccan and Amanda were surprised to see not only Bryon, but Barla as well on the landing field.

  “Barla!” Amanda called as she left her telepod behind and rushed forward to give her aunt a hug.

  Barla smiled broadly and met her halfway and eagerly embraced her niece. “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along. I thought you might like a little assistance.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to get you into trouble with Elder Vargen,” Amanda whispered into Barla’s ear while she still hugged her.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Barla reassured Amanda.

  “We should get going,” Bryon suggested.

  “Right,” Amanda agreed as she let go of her aunt and gestured for Bryon to lead the way. He had been the only one to actually visit the house where they were going to be picking up Neal.

  Bryon led them down several short streets, turned left twice, and then half-way down another row of houses before he came to a stop in front of an unremarkable dwelling. He waited a second for everyone to get to the doorway before he knocked. He hoped Vinia had set everything into motion.

  Several seconds ticked by before the door slowly opened. Vinia had a baby on her hip as she moved away from the opening to allow the group of people to enter her house. Her sad expression lightened momentarily as she saw Barla enter her house last.

  Barla remained beside Vinia as the rest of the group moved into the living room to peer down at Neal who was passed out on the couch. “How are you doing, Vinia?” Barla asked as she touched the younger woman’s arm gently.

  “I don’t know, Barla. What’s going to happen to me now?” She could feel the tears quivering on the rims of her eyes as she looked up at Barla.

  “You and your baby are going to come and stay with me for a bit, okay?”

  “Really? You’d do that for me again?”

  “Absolutely! Now tell me this precious little girl’s name?” Barla asked as she leaned forward to look into the baby’s face and smile.

  “Her name’s Danika,” she answered even as she watched Bryon and the other man pick up Nealan from the couch and support him between them. The tears spilled over and rushed down her cheeks. One tear landed in Danika’s hair.

  “Do you have your things packed?” Barla asked gently.

  “I do. It’s all in the bedroom still.”

  “Let’s go get it, shall we?”

  “I don’t have much,” she said as she moved away from the front door toward the bedroom.

  “It’s just as well,” Barla said as she followed the distraught woman. “We don’t want people to really take much notice of us leaving anyway. Where are your other children, Vinia? They should come with us as well.”

  Another sob escaped Vinia’s lips as she rushed forward to the sanctuary of the bedroom.

  Barla began to worry about the woman’s emotional state and followed her through the doorway. She looked around and only found evidence of the single bed. A quick look into the room across the hallway told her there was only the crib in the other bedroom. Only the infant was living in the house with them. Barla began to worry where the other children could have ended up. She did not have a good feeling about it, yet decided not to press for answers until they were safely away from Elder Vargen’s district. The very last thing they needed was to create a scene where they could be identified by many people who would report the incident back to the Elder.

  Barla could see Vinia was struggling to keep her hold on the baby while gathering up her belongings. She stepped forward and began picking up the several bags and putting the straps on her arm to be able to hold as much as possible. “Are the baby’s things included in what you have here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is there anything of Nealan’s you’d like to bring along as well? I’m afraid Elder Vargen’s people will confiscate anything we leave behind.”

  “Good point.” Vinia suddenly turned and left the room.

  Barla looked around and noted the meager furnishings. It did not appear as though Nealan was a person who kept many things. She poked her head into the bathroom and saw all of the counters were already cleared of anything personal. She made her way back to the hall and noticed Vinia digging through a desk drawer one-handed in the living room.

  Vinia whirled around as though she were doing something wrong. She held her hand behind her back as she declared, “I’m ready to go now!”

  Barla could not be happier to know they were getting out of there. She knew they would have taken Nealan back to the telepods by now. Her only hope was they would be gone before Barla and Vinia got to the landing so they could avoid any type of scene. Barla led the way out of the house and waited while Vinia carefully closed the front door for the last time.

  As it was still early, most people were enjoying their breakfast so the streets were relatively empty. Even so, Barla kept her head down and her steps brisk as they retraced the path back to the landing field. When she turned the last corner and could see the field, she breathed a sigh of relief to find only Bryon’s telepod remained in the clearing.

  She stepped up onto the ramp and put Vinia’s possessions on the floor behind the second row of seats. When she turned to help Vinia into the telepod she noticed the woman’s look of shock and betrayal. “What’s wrong, Vinia?”

  “Where’s Nealan?”

  “He’s already gone. Come inside quickly so we can get going as well.” She gestured for Vinia to move along when she saw her continue to hesitate.

  “Did you know he wouldn’t be here when we got here?”

  “I’d hoped it would be the case. Please hurry, Vinia.”

  Finally registering Barla’s distress, she stepped up the platform and into the telepod. She gave an involuntary squeak of surprise when the door shut immediately behind her.

  Barla reached forward and took Danika from her mother’s arms. She put her down in the passenger seat and buckled her in. “Get yourself fastened up, Vinia. We’ll leave as soon as we are all secure.” Barla took her own advice, turned, and stepped over to the co-pilot’s chair where she sat down and put on her own safety harness. She looked over her left shoulder and confirmed Vinia’s readiness before turning to Bryon and saying, “We’re all set. Let’s get back to the Port of Cresdon!”

  “I hear and obey,” Bryon teased even as he activated the telepod to begin the transfer.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As Amanda walked behind the three men, she wondered if she had needed to come at all. She felt pretty us
eless as the men did all of the hard work. The fact of her not having anything to do actually gave her time to look around and then start questioning several things.

  First, Vinia looked remarkably like herself. She wondered if it were a coincidence or if there were something which needed more investigation. Hopefully, there would be time in the near future to find out more about the woman.

  Second, she was stunned to see the physical changes in Neal’s appearance. It had not dawned on her that they had both been transported back in time. She had been moved forward in time by wise-woman Copa, but Neal had remained in the past. He had aged through all of the years while being addicted to the resh, which had also aged him more.

  Neal looked so different from what she remembered she began to worry about taking him back to his parents. What would they say about how much he’d changed? How would she explain it to them? He was so much thinner than he had been. His eyes had wrinkles around them and they seemed almost sunken into his skull. Surely some of his appearance was due to the addiction. Merely passing through the veil would alleviate one complication, but how much more time would be needed before he would recover his appearance?

  They had reclined the rear seats of the telepod so Neal could be in a supine position for the trip to Earth. The men settled him onto the chair and fastened him in securely. Bryon stepped out of the telepod and Riccan moved forward to sit in the pilot’s chair in preparation of leaving.

  Amanda came forward and pulled the blindfold she had brought out of her pocket and leaned forward to place it over Neal’s eyes. Since she was so close to him now, she could really see how much his experience in Tuala had aged him. With more than a little sadness for his loss, she gently placed the blindfold over his eyes and loosely tied it around his head. The very last thing they would need would be for Neal to wake up and see the telepod in their garage. If they wanted to keep their story low-key, he must remain as ignorant of his history as possible.

  Amanda took her seat up front and fastened her own safety harness. “Let’s get home, Riccan. I want this over with!”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Everything has gone so smoothly it’s making me jumpy.” Riccan palmed the door closed and began the telepod startup procedures. It was slightly different operating Amanda’s more simplistic equipment rather than his own, yet he managed to get everything set to go in short order. “Here we go,” Riccan announced as he issued the final command to take them home to Earth.

  Seconds later they arrived inside their garage in Florida. No sooner than were they landed, they started to hear moaning from Neal behind them. Riccan and Amanda looked at one another in alarm and speedily unfastened their harnesses and bumped into one another to reach Neal before he managed to get his blindfold off.

  Amanda laughed nervously and moved ahead of Riccan. She unfastened Neal’s seatbelt and spoke softly, “Just one moment, Neal. Let me help you sit up.” She nodded to Riccan as he held his hand over the button to open the side door of the telepod. “No, Neal, leave your eyes covered for a few more moments, okay?” She pulled his reaching hand away from his face.

  Riccan appeared at her side and helped Neal to stand by grabbing his elbow and lifting. He wanted to get Neal out of the telepod, into their car, and off of their property as soon as possible. The less Neal saw of his surroundings, the better he would feel about it all. They had planned ahead and had already parked the 4-Runner in the empty bay next to where Amanda’s telepod usually parked. Normally it would be vacant, but they had anticipated this part of the mission.

  Amanda guided Neal on one side while Riccan helped on the other. Together they maneuvered Neal down the ramp, across the concrete and into the truck with very little resistance. Amanda was going to sit up front with Riccan until she could see Neal was not planning on leaving the blindfold in place if he were left alone. While Riccan moved around the truck to get into the driver’s seat, Amanda got into the back seat and made sure Neal’s seatbelt was fastened.

  Without any further delay, Riccan started the truck at the same time as opening the garage door. He drove away from his house faster than he normally would. Once they made it to the main road, he felt it would be safe for Neal to remove the cloth.

  “Amanda? Is that you?” Neal asked uncertainly.

  “Yes, Neal. It’s me.”

  “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

  “You’ve been missing for many years, Neal. We just rescued you and now we’re going to take you back home to your parents.” Amanda tried to sound as calm and reasonable as possible.

  Neal wanted to see Amanda for himself. He grabbed the cloth and pulled it down his face until it was hanging around his neck rakishly. “Amanda! It really is you. It seems like forever since I’ve seen you! What do you mean by saying I’ve been missing for years?”

  “It’s a long and complicated story,” Amanda began. She hastily glanced toward her husband and caught his eyes looking back at her in the rear-view mirror. “We’ve been working on a plan for getting you back home for many months now. Today you get to go home, Neal.”

  “Why am I so tired?”

  “You’ve had a really long journey. It’s understandable if you want to sleep a lot. It’s okay. Your body is going to need rest to allow you to recuperate.” She put her hand on his forearm to let him know he was among friends now. Even though everything she was telling him was true, she felt like she was lying through her teeth and she hated every minute of it.

  The hum of the engine and the lull of the road caused Neal to fall asleep in short order. Amanda was so relieved she sighed. She leaned forward and whispered to Riccan, “Can you please hurry? I’d like to get Neal home without having to answer any more of his questions.”

  “I’ll do my best, honey. You’re doing fine, though.” Riccan patted her hand as it rested on his shoulder. He could appreciate the angst she was enduring on this last journey. If he could do anything to alleviate her pain, he would try to make it happen. He pressed the gas pedal down a touch more and used a small amount of elemy to clear a path for their driving. There were some times when using his power could be justified; nobody would get hurt with this unorthodox use.

  Amanda had plenty of time to think about the life they had just forced Neal to leave. She had seen the look of utter despair on Vinia’s face. She felt somehow responsible for the pain she had inflicted on the other woman. There would have to be some way for her to make it up to her.

  Amanda was relieved to know her Aunt Barla had been there to look after Vinia. She would have had more reservations had it just been Bryon alone trying to console the distraught woman. The infant the woman had been holding had also been a shock. She had never imagined Neal would have started a family while he was in Tuala. He had always been so adamantly opposed to having children when they were engaged. She felt somehow betrayed with this new discovery.

  She looked carefully at Neal’s sleeping face. Here she was…in a car with the two men who had managed to capture her heart. They were nothing like one another and now she could not imagine spending even another hour with Neal. So much time had passed to where they really had nothing but their past in common.

  She hoped he would feel the same or this rescue mission could turn her life into a major complication. Who am I kidding? This whole ordeal will create a lot of trouble. Neal will definitely have questions once he’s well rested. His parents will surely have a barrage of questions themselves. She had just opened Pandora’s Box and yet it felt like she had done the right thing where Neal was concerned.

  The forty-five minute drive was decreased by fifteen minutes with Riccan’s subtle use of power. They turned into the Taivas family driveway and pulled up in front of the entrance. Riccan shut off the engine and twisted around to face his wife. “Are you ready?”

  “No! Let’s just get this over with,” Amanda replied. She turned to face Neal and once again wondered what his mother would say about his appearance. There was no other way to find out other than to just
wake him up and take him inside.

  She gently shook Neal’s shoulder and said, “Neal, it’s time to wake up. We’ve brought you home. Neal?”

  It took several moments for Neal to wake up enough to open his eyes. Everything remained blurry and his thoughts seemed very disjointed. He had no idea how he had ended up being in a vehicle, let alone why Amanda and this stranger were with him. He felt as though something important had been forgotten, yet he could not dredge up the truth of it. Neal shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his hands.

  When he finished, he simply stared at his hand as though he did not know whose they were. His fingers were thinner than he remembered and his fingernails were jagged. He looked down and did not recognize the clothes he was wearing. “What’s going on, Amanda?”

  “Like I said before, Neal, we’ve brought you home. I’m sure your parents are anxious to see you.” Amanda’s nerves were beginning to fray. They needed to get Neal inside the house so they could leave and go on with their lives. She knew it would never be so simple, yet she continued to delude herself into the hope.

  Amanda opened the rear door and stepped out of the vehicle at the same time Riccan did as well. Together they walked around the rear of the truck and Riccan opened Neal’s door for him. They watched as Neal fumbled with his seat belt. Riccan stood alert to make sure Neal would be stable on his feet. They had no way of knowing how the transfer across the veil and the relief from the resh would affect his balance.

  Neal seemed able to remain standing so they took their posts on either side of them as they slowly approached the front door. Amanda had a feeling of déjà vu as they stood outside of the door while Riccan knocked. This felt so eerily the same as her homecoming dream while she was in her coma, she could only wish it would have as happy an ending.

  A few moments passed before they could hear footsteps approaching from the other side. Amanda could hear Jessica calling out to someone else in the house that she was answering the door. Amanda’s palms were sweating and her heart was racing as she watched the door slowly swing open.