Indramia stepped forward.
"Ochrani has made a perfume oil to match the scent she detected on Cezanne's umbilical cord, which Rinzal gave her. Do you want to smell it first before we diffuse the vapour from it?"
Tiegal let out a squeak, unable to stop herself from stamping her foot with impatience.
"Yes, now!" she demanded.
Ochrani, her face serious, almost deadpan, gestured for her to follow her over to the rectangular steel table which dominated the circular room.
Tiegal gasped when she saw the umbilical cord lying in a plastic case on the table, surrounded by hundreds of flacons all filled with liquids of different colours.
"Don't even think about touching that! I know it used to be attached to you, but we cannot risk contamination from anyone!" Ochrani instructed.
Tiegal didn't respond, but as her heart pounded inside her she had an urge to call out for Rinzal. She needed to feel his reassuring touch on her arms. But it was far more important that he and Zeno kept watch above ground, as they had promised.
Indramia pulled open a drawer on the other side of the table, paused to consider the contents inside it, and then lifted out a silver handkerchief. It was similar to the one she had handed Tiegal before. Ochrani took it from her without uttering a word, unfolded it and then picked up the flacon nearest to her.
"Now, pinch your nose together. I am going to take the stopper off first, to release the alcohol. Keep your nose closed whilst I do that. You don't want to override your smell sense with it," Ochrani ordered.
Tiegal did as instructed, also holding her breath to stop herself from asking any more questions. Rinzal had explained that Ochrani liked to work in relative silence in the Iris. She watched as Ochrani released the stopper from the top of the flacon, sprinkled a few drops of the light tea-coloured liquid onto a handkerchief, and then waved it in the air. Then, without warning, she thrust the material under Tiegal's nose.
"Smell it now!" Ochrani commanded.
Tiegal released her hold on her nose and breathed in the scent in one deep inhale. It took only seconds for Cezanne's face to appear in front of her. The many different visions of her daughter that she had seen in her dreams: first, as a baby, all chubby faced, white blonde hair, giggling as her daddy blowed bubbles on her soft, fleshy, tummy. Then, a bit older, sitting in front of a birthday cake dressed with just one candle, mesmerised by the flickering flame in front of her. This image was swiftly followed by one more vision of Cezanne, rolling around in the grass by the river bank, before stopping to stand up and point at something she could see ahead, that made her beam a toddler, toothy grin.
"I saw her!" Tiegal cried. " I saw my baby girl. And she saw me!" she added, before her legs finally gave way and then she fainted on the hard, cold floor of the Iris.
32. Vapour
"Tiegal! Wake up!"
She could hear Rinzals' voice. He sounded terrified. But she couldn’t bear the thought of opening her eyes for him. For in her mind, she was hovering across the river. She was close to her family again. It was a pull that was too strong to resist, even if it was just a sensation.
"Shouldn't the smelling salts be working by now? She isn't coming around!"
Rinzal’s anxiety was almost tangible.
Ochrani's commanding voice boomed out, "She will come around soon. It's probably good she can't see the vapour release anyway. We don't want her to distract Indramia when she is trying to locate the baby."
That was all Tiegal needed to hear to rouse her from her daydream.
"Locate her? Yes! Please! I need to get to her now!"
She tried to stand but her head whirled. Rinzal's hands were under her head to catch her before she banged it again.
"You need to stay lying down Tiegal! What did you see to make you react like that?" he urged.
She was about to explain the vision of Cezanne and what looked like her baby's first year, or maybe even two years. How happy and healthy she looked. But the sight of a pink and silver vapour mist swirling in front of Indramia stunned her into silence. From where she was lying on the floor, she could watch the swirls above her.
"Is that her again?" she whispered.
Neither sister answered her, nor did Rinzal. They all stared at the dance of perfumed vapour mist that filled the room with an ethereal silvery pink light above them.
"What a scent!" Rinzal breathed.
It was an intoxicating smell, deep, intense and mysterious. It was also somehow light, deliciously floral and harmonious. The scent evoked a feeling of peace and purity, of unbridled child-like happiness.
And then it was gone, lost amongst the abyss of the Iris's previously released odours. Tiegal's arms lurched into the air towards the dome like ceiling above her, reaching out for the pinky silver mist of her daughter's memory. Just as she was about to cry out again Indramia's voice alarmed them all.
"I know the location now! It's called the Orange River. And it’s near a place called Hopetown? A town situated… in the northern territory of a country called South Africa!" she declared.
Tiegal frowned, a waterfall of disappointment cascading over her as she absorbed Indramia's words. She had expected something more compelling than this. Something new!
Boosted by the energy from her daughter’s scent she managed to find the strength in her arms to pull herself into a sitting position first and then make the final reach upwards by grabbing the side of the metal table. She leaned so that she was positioned directly opposite Indramia.
"Is that it? You released my daughter's scent to tell me what I already know?" she trembled.
Tiegal's angry accusation seemed to bounce off Indramia.
"I confirmed what you suspected and hoped. Cezanne was alive and well in the same area you left her. But what you didn't know, and what I do know, is the timeline. I can now tell you exactly when you can connect back to her, and Johannes," she delivered.
Rinzal shifted. Ochrani started moving the flacons around aimlessly and Indramia yawned. Everyone besides Tiegal seemed unalarmed by this information.
"What do you mean by the timeline? I want to get back to when she was born. When I was taken away from her!" Her voice strained by the effort it took to restrain herself from screaming. Indramia yawned again, clearly exhausted by the energy she had expended in using her ability to read the vapour scent.
"That would have been ideal, of course, but it is not possible. You will have to wait for all the conditions to be in place," Indramia stated.
"Wait? For how long?"
"Don't worry sister Tiegal. It's not too long into your daughter's life journey. I placed it as 1869."
Just hearing the date, the wrongness of it, released a taste of metallic blood in her mouth.
"But...that's two years since I gave birth to her. She will be two by then. I would miss her first years. And Johannes! He won't know where I have gone. No. I need to get back to 1867, to the time when I vanished!" she insisted, struggling to hold back her tears.
Rinzal planted his hands on her shoulders. Ochrani stopped moving the glass perfume bottles, and Indramia finally stopped yawning. No one seemed to want to respond.
"Why can't I go back to then?" she tried again.
Indramia leaned forward to rest her upper body across the table so she could place her hands over Tiegal's.
"Because you need to wait for the next diamond to be found there," she answered.
Tiegal climbed up the winding stairs that led out of the Iris and pushed the door with such force she nearly sent Zeno crashing to the ground.
"Hey there! Steady on Tiegal. What's wrong?" Zeno cried out as she grabbed the side of the door to reclaim her balance.
"Sorry, Zeno. I forgot you were waiting out here for us."
"I was keeping guard, like we agreed! I thought the idea was to keep our mission on the stealth side of things. I wasn't expecting you to burst out like that. You looked like you were trying to escape a monster or something equally terrifying. Not exactly a
n inconspicuous departure Tiegal,” Zeno complained.
Tiegal slumped, instantly digging her fingers into the soft ground and then grabbing handfuls of grass at either side of her. Filled with rage, she threw two big muddy clumps out in front of her and then unleashed a deep roar. The noise she made sent Zeno crashing down next to her and clamping her hands over her mouth.
"Shush! Keep it down Tiegal. We don't want to draw attention. What are you trying to do?"
Zeno kept her hands firmly over Tiegal's until she was happy that her friend’s breathing had returned to a safer pace.
"Now...tell me what happened in there," she whispered.
"I was trying to escape from monsters. The ones in there who now say I can't get back to my family until 1869! When my baby will be two years old!" she cried.
Rinzal joined them first.
“How did you get up those stairs so quickly?” he panted, plonking himself down next to Tiegal and only narrowly missing a spray of mud debris from hitting his face.
“Taking out your frustration on the grass is not a good idea Tiegal! You know Atla hates his gardens looking anything but perfect,” he warned
“And I prefer to keep the Iris hidden too! Atla only let me have this space for mixing scents to emulate energies. I’m not supposed to let anyone know about it,” Ochrani hissed from the doorway where she now stood, with Indramia just behind her.
Tiegal looked at them all, one by one: her friends on Tandro, her allies. They were risking everything for her, and this was how she was repaying them, by throwing a tantrum. It was inexcusable behaviour. They were her family too. Not in the same way Johannes and Cezanne were, but she was connected to them. She hung her head in shame.
“I’m sorry. You’re trying to help me and I’m just throwing it back in your faces. I’m the worst example of a Tandroan there ever was. I’m an energy vampire. I make Atla look like an angel!”
Zeno laughed first, then Rinzal, closely followed by her beautiful, and she now realised truly gifted sisters. Indramia knelt in front of her and offered her hand.
“You have given us new energy Tiegal,” she said. “My abilities have enhanced since you returned. I never dreamed I could connect with the past or future of another world. I feel abundant with energy whenever I’m near you!”
Ochrani knelt down next to Indramia. She wore her infectious grin again. The wide, sparkling toothy smile. It always helped to exude her extreme happiness.
“I’m the same Tiegal. The first time we met I could just feel something change inside me when I was near you. And then you returned and what I was capable of became clear. What I was made for!”
Tiegal could hardly breathe. She couldn’t believe what they were telling her.
“Are you saying you become more powerful when you are near me?” she asked.
As her sisters nodded at her, a rush of warmth and love flooded through her. Johannes had been right about his theory. She may not have been born from the love of two people, but she was connected by her creation journey to others like her. Ones who also had advanced powers.
“Connected!” she whispered. The word resounded, pounding its three-syllable rhythm as a high shrill in her ears, taunting her into recognizing its significance.
“Jovil!” she hissed, turning away from her crowd of sisters and friends to steady herself. Memories of her pre-release day flooded her mind. The secret cave, the shimmering lagoon filled with glowing diamonds, and the smell of coconut, orange and bonfire that had seeped out of the skin of the lagoon master. The one she had thought of as her creator, her father figure. Slowing her breathing she counted her heart beats carefully, determined to assess these confusing thoughts, without the intrusion of the others nearby.
“If we are more powerful together then...why are we not including Parador in this mission? Maybe she is the missing piece? The extra source of power to get me back to the right time, in 1867?”
Even as she said the words, she knew she sounded self-absorbed in her fixation on getting back to her Earth family. She only hoped they could somehow understand the pull of love that drew her to her child, that they would feel the tug on her heart, how it was driving her selfish purpose. Indramia knelt down in front of her and took both her hands in hers.
“We have never experienced a life growing inside us as you have Tiegal. Nor have we felt a bond towards another the way you do to Johannes, but we can feel your pain, and this pull towards your other family when we are near you. It’s like gravity. It makes you – and us – more powerful,” she explained, whilst pointing to her forehead to indicate that she was accessing her thoughts.
“But Parador cannot join us,” Ochrani added. “Her ability to manipulate minds is extremely powerful. And it is also dangerous. You would probably only magnify it by being near her, and that is the last thing you want to do.”
Tiegal nodded, but then shook her head. There was too much at stake.
“Okay, I can understand your argument. But surely Parador’s power could help us? Perhaps she could anticipate and manipulate what Atla will do next?”
Ochrani and Indramia looked at each other before answering her question.
“Because she does not want you here!” they whispered.
Tiegal frowned at them, clenching her fingers into the material of her coral coloured jumpsuit to keep her frustration in check.
“Please understand that I do not mean any unkindness when I say this, but I do not want to be here! Isn’t that the whole point? If Parador wants me gone from Tandro, then why can’t we let her help me to be gone!” she finally responded.
It was Rinzal who stepped forward with the answer.
“Because that kind of power is too unpredictable. There is no way of telling if she would help or hinder you. I think Parador is jealous of you and your powers. In fact, she is probably jealous of all three of you sisters. Of how Jovil protected and watched over you all and not her. Can you not see the problem this could present Tiegal?”
Her first reaction was to shrug her shoulders at him.
“Well, I’m not sure what she has to be so jealous about. Where is Jovil now then? Why is he not here protecting and helping us?”
Rinzal groaned.
“I told you already, Tiegal. Jovil is doing his bit by staying close to Atla to ensure he does not see what we are doing. And, by making sure Parador stays well away too.” He paused to rub his eyes. His hands were shaking. “Look, we need to get ourselves away from here. If anyone from the team saw us talking in this way, it would be obvious that we’re breaking the rules. We look far too close to each other and Atla doesn’t know about Ochrani and Indramia’s enhanced abilities. We need to keep it that way.”
Rizal shoved his hands in his pockets as he surveyed the area around them, before bending down to whisper, “Look, I know you don’t want to communicate in silence Tiegal. Even though it would be safer if you did, and useful, since you can access the hidden thoughts too. But I hear your reasoning.
“However, you do need to work on controlling your own thoughts, like I taught you before. We could all hear your deeper thoughts just then. You absolutely must work on your thought barrier. It’s the only way we are going to make the plan work.”
Tiegal reached out to grab his arms. Her hands seemed to have a need to reach out to anything around her at the moment.
“Is there a plan? I mean, even if I have to go back two years ahead. If it means I do get back, then I’ll do anything you ask me to. Whatever you say, all of you,” she promised, forcing herself to smile at them all. The idea of missing Cezanne’s first two years, and leaving Johannes’ for so long still ached, burned even, but it was nothing compared to the pain of never seeing them at all.
Rinzal took a deep breath and in a barely audible voice, one that required them all to enable their lip-reading skills, explained what they had to do next.
“The next stage of the Jarm Match will take place on Saturday. It is an ideal one for us because it is the animal energy
section. And, this quarter, they have decided to hold an elephant painting competition. It is something one of the elders remembers from the older age. I don’t know all the details yet, but from what I can gather they are looking to see who can generate the most creative energy from their elephant.
“Now, as we all know, one of your gifts Tiegal is your ability to connect with animals. You certainly shared a strong connection with your elephant, Namnum. In fact, all animals seem drawn to you. They always have.”
Tiegal shook her head, letting her memories of Elna’s cat come to the forefront of her mind. Rinzal squinted his eyes at her, closely monitoring her expression.
“Ah, so you did connect with another animal on this Earth place? A feline creature you say? Well…you never fail to astound me Tiegal!” Rinzal nodded in approval.
“They call them cats there. I think we used to have similar kinds before the destruction of the older world,” she clarified. Rinzal waved his hand back and forth in front of her, as though brushing these inconsequential words away.
“Okay, well, if you still maintained that ability over there, then you will surely still possess it now. And the good news is…” he paused for effect.
Zeno gave him a light punch on his arm, a clear reminder that he should temper his natural tendency to add drama to any announcement.
“Get on with it!” Zeno hissed, looking behind her to check for any unwanted observers.
Rinzal grunted an apology, lowering his tone as he explained the significance of his news.
“Namnum has been selected to take part in the competition. And, even better, I happen to know that Atla is planning on testing how Tiegal, and her energy, reacts to being with Namnum again.
Release Page 32