“I think he’d like that, but be soft. Varnack, how badly are you hurt?”
“Nothing deep,” came the reply.
The child gently stroked the powerful animal. Varnack seemed to enjoy it.
Jessica smiled with relief. “He especially likes scratching behind his ears,” she suggested to the boy.
Before long, the other village children came to see their mighty savior. The sound of their laughter seemed to bring life back into the stricken village. Varnack romped away from the fallen enemy and played with the little ones at the side of the green brick building while several women hauled the dead away.
Jessica re-entered the meeting hall. The woman who had earlier held the basin of water and bandages was ascending the stairway. “I’d like to help. What can I do?” Jessica called to her.
She turned and stared in surprise. “You can help my friends prepare an evening meal.”
Jessica grimaced. “You don’t want me near the cooking. Trust me on that one, I’m a lousy cook.”
The woman smirked, but remained silent.
“Let me help with the wounded. My father is a healer and I’ve helped with wounded before.” She was not really lying. Though never having worked in a hospital, she had learned a great deal at the vet clinic during the past year. How different could human medicine be?
“All right, come with me. But I warn you, it’s a terrible sight upstairs.”
Even with the warning, Jessica was unprepared for what she found on the second level. The stench of sweat mingled with coagulating blood and vomit reached her before she traversed half the stairs. Forty-three men lay on large woven rugs, their wounds ranging from severed limbs to deep body lacerations.
“Hot water and more dressings will be here soon. I am Karree.”
Jessica swallowed hard. She felt her cheeks pale and her breathing shallow. Get a grip, girl. Think of this as the veterinary clinic. She’d helped with surgery before. “I’m Jessica. Wh…where do you want me?”
The next several hours were spent disinfecting, stitching, and bandaging sliced flesh. As soon as Jessica began her service to the wounded, she ceased looking at the humanity and focused solely on the injuries. An inner authority took over. She worked automatically, almost instinctively. She understood at a glance how to best treat the mutilations. The intuitive knowledge surprised her, but the urgency of the moment forced her to not dwell on this ability. “We’re missing something,” she muttered. “Karree, where are your healing herbs?”
“We have none. No hoffler understands this type of healing, and no one here has the Salupathic Gift.”
Jessica frowned. “What’s the Salupathic Gift.”
Karree raised her eyebrows in surprise. “It’s the ability to harness the powers in the Expanse of Gonta to restore health.”
“And what’s the Expanse of Gonta?”
Karree stared at Jessica, her eyes wide. “You don’t know what the Expanse of Gonta is?”
“If I knew what it was, I wouldn’t be asking.” Jessica snapped and Karree bristled.
“Where do you come from? Who are you?” The woman’s eyes narrowed.
Jessica shook her head. She felt empathy for Varnack. Unwanted questions irritated her, too.
The next man Jessica came to had lost so much blood his skin was ash white. Unconscious, his breath came in shallow, short pants. His heart raced in his chest. He was among the last to be tended as the other three nurses skirted around him to aid the less severely wounded, though Karree had gone to him several times to pat down his brow and whisper words of comfort. “This guy’s lost a lot of blood,” Jessica observed.
“He’s lost too much and his injury is too severe,” Karree agreed. “I’m surprised he still lives.”
Jessica lifted the temporary bandage covering his middle and winced. His inner organs spilled through the wide opening. “Oh dear!” She tried hard to control her stomach.
Karree glared at her. “Leave him alone,” she hissed. “Let him die in peace.”
“No.” Jessica shook her head. “As long as he’s breathing, there’s a chance.”
Two nurses stopped their work to watch Karree and Jessica. “He is my husband,” Karree’s voice became stern, “and you are a child. A gifted child, I’ll grant you, but unlearned never-the-less. Leave him.”
Jessica drew herself to her full height. “If you’re so certain he can’t make it, then let my try anyway.” She felt her blood pressure rise. Anger spilled into her voice. “If he dies, then…he dies, but maybe, just maybe I can save him. Don’t let him die without a fight. Never will I leave another human being to pass on without at least trying to help!”
Grim faced, Karree remained silent. Taking the silence for disgruntled acquiescence, Jessica washed her hands in the hottest water she could stand, then dipped them in a basin filled with hard liquor. She thought of her father and fervently wished he were there.
She repaired the mutilated organs as best as she could with the finest needle the women had, then carefully poked everything back in and pulled the skin tight. She worked quickly, trying to remember the reality surgical shows she had seen on television. With the last stitch knotted off, Jessica checked the man’s pulse. She could not find it. His breathing came shallower and slower until it ceased altogether.
Karree knelt beside Jessica, tears in her eyes. “You tried. Your courage is greater than mine.”
In despair Jessica shook her head. “No. No!” Her voice was hard and she hissed the words through clenched teeth.
She placed both her hands over the man’s sternum, closed her eyes, and concentrated. Pumping down and up with a CPR rhythm she counted one, two, three… up to thirty, then gave two breaths and pumped again, one, two, three… Over and over she did the chest compressions and breaths. After what seemed an eternity there was still no response. Her arms burned with the effort. She was losing the fight.
Instinctively, she shifted her hands from his sternum and placed them over his heart. She pushed once, with all of her force. “Live”, she commanded. Then she let up and commanded again, “Heal.” Another push. “Live.” Another release of pressure. “Heal.” Rhythmically, though not as quickly as with the CPR compressions, she pushed on his heart. She threw all of her weight behind each downward shove, and breathed out the command, “Live”. With each recoil, she uttered, “Heal.” Slowly, rhythmically, down and up, directly over his heart, she pumped, pulling strength from every tissue in her body. Live. Heal. Live. Heal. Over and over she commanded, at first out loud and then in her mind, focusing her concentration on those two words as her hands pushed on the heart. Her will was intense. Live…live.
After dozens of pushes, a tingling, deep within her consciousness, began. It multiplied exponentially in power with each subsequent thrust. Within seconds an electrical current traveled from the crown of her head, down the nape of her neck and split at her shoulders. The intense heat generated by the energy descended through her arms, then flowed into her hands. It radiated from her palms and fingertips into the lifeless body of Karree’s husband. She felt her hands meld with the flesh above his heart. Much of her consciousness poured into his body through the connection. In her mind’s eye Jessica could ‘see’ every damaged organ. She willed them to regenerate. Her mind traveled along the major arterial lines, repairing and reconnecting. The energy was intense. She destroyed infecting microbes with zaps of electricity. She united severed nerves as if welding together two pieces of delicate wire and forced ripped muscle to knit into shape. Bone fragments realigned, then cemented into place. She activated the delicate aioli of his lungs. Like millions of tiny balloons, they slowly inflated with oxygen. The non-pulsing heart was her final destination. Here, she forced her own life-spirit to spark the atrial, then ventricular chambers. Blood pumped. Again, a spark. Again, the cardiac muscle contracted, sending blood throughout the body. A third spark, and the heart beat on its’ own.
Jessica collapsed into oblivion.
CHAPTER7
Ider Hoffle
“Any idea where we are?” John felt completely lost. He was the stranger now, the extra-terrestrial.
If Gaylee had been homesick for her world, she never let on. He wondered if she would miss Earth now. As for himself, he had the oddest feeling he would never see it again. He pushed the thought away.
“As I remember, moss of this color and texture only grows in the Southern Greenwood, so we’ve landed in the southwestern part of Esparia. To give you a frame of reference, think non-arid, northeastern New Mexico.” Gaylee looked at the forest surrounding the small, moss covered meadow. “Jessica could be anywhere.”
The statement irritated John. He glared at her, but before he could make an obnoxious comment, she cut him off.
“Remember, John, she has Varnack with her. They’re already hours ahead of us and probably on their way to Ramadine, so I suggest we go there too. It lies north, about five hundred miles, or in Esparian units of measure, filons from here.”
“Filons?”
“A filon is a little further than a mile. Now that you’re here, you’ll need to get used to a few different words and their meanings. If Jess isn’t at Ramadine, then my Uncle Larone will be the only one who can help us.”
“If not to your uncle, then where else would Varnack take her?”
“Ramadine’s the only logical place. Just remember, if something happens to Jessica, I will know it, the same as I knew when my son died. I will feel it, but right now I have no such foreboding. I know she’s safe, I promise you. Now that I’m back on Edia, my intuitive powers are going to increase. I draw strength from my planet in a way I could never do on Earth.” She gave a short laugh. “Poor Jessica. She’s going to have a dramatic increase in her gifts too, but she probably won’t understand what’s happening or why. It’s imperative we find her, not only for safety reasons, but to help her come to terms with her unique abilities.”
“Come on Gaylee…gifts, powers, abilities? You make her sound like a witch. I know we’ve come through a portal of some sort, but there must be a scientific explanation for it. I don’t believe in this other stuff, and you know that. Granted, you have remarkable intuition, but I don’t want to hear any more about sorcery.”
Her face remained placid, but her eyes shone brightly.
“All right,” he nodded, “I believe when you say Jess is okay. So, what’s Ramadine?”
She led their way out of the mossy meadow. “Compare it to the larger universities on Earth, with every type of specialty school imaginable: medical, dental, pharmaceutical, veterinary, and law, as well as an agricultural center and performing arts academy. Ramadine is a self-sustaining, independent city. There are many universities throughout Esparia, just as on Earth, but Ramadine is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious. Its origins date back more than ten thousand years. Larone is the Grand Advisor, something like a university president. The word Ramadine is taken from an ancient tongue. The literal meaning is City of Knowledge. ‘Rama’ means knowledge and ‘dine’ means city. In fact, the word dine is used on Edia instead of city.”
“Larone’s the head guy, huh? We have a few things to discuss when I arrive.” At the concerned look on her face, he added, “Don’t worry. I’ll hear him out before I shoot him. I want to know why he chose Jessica. Why he didn’t search you out instead?”
“I told you, Jess is a protector by blood. Anyway, I think Larone knew I would follow her. He also knew you would come with me.”
“Me?” He was shocked. “Why would Larone hope I would come?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “You and Jessica have always made a good team. It’s something to think about anyway.”
“How are you so certain we’re going north?”
“Ragus.” She indicated the large, green and blue pastel globe in the sky. “It’s always to the north.”
“Ahhh, it’s called Ragus. Took my breath away.”
Gaylee smiled. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it looks, just floating up there.”
“Are these berries any good?” John waved his hand toward a clump of red bushes in front of them.
“Dandleberries, yes. You’ll find they taste a great deal like raspberries.” She plucked a few as she passed a loaded bush and popped them into her mouth. He followed her example and was pleasantly surprised at the delicate, sweet flavor. He stopped to pick several more handfuls, then ran to catch up with her.
Leading the way through the slender trees, Gaylee reminisced. “I remember as a child, I traveled to every part of Esparia with my parents. My country is roughly the size of the continental United States, minus Texas. It also stretches between two vast oceans. Three smaller countries border us. Marone is on the north, while Hent and Galland are on the south. When I left, our population was about thirty-five million, perhaps forty million now.”
She talked about the giants who lived in the southern Colossus Mountains and the dwarf tribes that lived on a large island off Esparia’s southwestern coast. She described the Central Mountains where her home had been, as well as the rich, fertile Northern Plains. To the west were the Deserts of Demar, covering a full one fifth of Esparia.
John kept quiet while she spoke, trying to picture in his mind the places she so vividly described. It was when she mentioned the Deserts of Demar that her voice grew sad and her verbal sightseeing tour abruptly stopped. “It’s not hard to tell you’ve hit on a sensitive subject.” John kept his voice soft. “What happened, Gaylee? Why did you go to earth and never come back?”
She stopped and put her hand out to a young pole tree for support. She leaned heavily against the sturdy trunk. Her voice was barely a whisper, but John caught every word. “I had three uncles. Larone, I’ve told you a little about. He’s the oldest. Anton is the youngest. And then there was Segal, the middle son. He hated not being the oldest and he hated not being distinguished as the youngest. My mother was their sister, Segal’s twin. My parents died shortly after I wed. Graesion was the son of the High Protectors. Our families were close, had been for generations, so my marrying him was almost a pre-arranged given. But he was the love of my life.” She sighed, a deep, slow exhale through her parted lips.
“Segal killed Graesion’s parents in an attempt to gain control of the government. Graesion, though young at the time, defeated him and exiled him to the Deserts of Demar. The inhabitants of the deserts are a blood thirsty, savage people,” she explained. “They cannibalize anyone unfortunate enough to wander into their traps, as well as each other. Segal somehow mesmerized them—convinced them to follow him. I’m not sure how he succeeded, but he did. Only hours after Shallenon was born, I received a letter of warning from Segal’s young wife, Naydeen, that Segal would attack. But it came too late. I was too weak to run, and Graesion barely mounted a defense. Larone and Anton were with us. My uncle Anton had been working on an astounding piece of fifth dimensional science, magical science…power found in the Expanse of Gonta. He had in his possession ancient manuscripts containing long lost, for lack of a better word, incantations that govern hyper-travel.”
John bristled. “Magical science? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“I know you don’t believe in this type of thing, but the people of your world once did. Haven’t you heard the phrase, ‘faith can move mountains’? That’s a reminder of the power I’m talking about. It once had a literal meaning.”
“Finish your story,” he said quietly.
“Graesion died trying to buy my uncles enough precious time. Haesom was going to flee with us, but when he heard his father was dead, he stayed. Time ran out, so I kissed my son goodbye, took the baby and jumped. To earth Shallenon and I came.” She pushed off from the thin tree and resumed walking. “There was no way to return, until now. And even if a way had presented itself,” she smiled and looked at him, “I would never have left. Once Shallenon married you, my ties with your world became unbreakable. She would never have left you, and I would never have left her, j
ust as I would never leave Jessica or you.” She laughed. “Who would have guessed we would all end up back here.”
John did not return her smile. He felt irritation at the ironic turn of events. “So, why? Why are we all ‘back here’? What brought all this on?”
She shook her head. “I really don’t know, but from the little information in Jessica’s mist dreams, it seems I have a younger cousin, Segal’s son, Daenon. I can only assume Daenon has become the new Demarian leader, and like his father before him, wants to rule the world.”
As they picked their way through the forest, Gaylee talked all about her life in Esparia. She told of her courtship with Graesion and their wedding. She told of their years together and then finally being blessed with their son. And of many more years before she was finally able to have Shallenon. John listened in silence, too bewildered to make comments. She seemed happy to just talk, to let out memories that had long been kept quiet. Soon the shadows lengthened, and the filtered light dimmed. John checked his watch and to his dismay found it had stopped working.
“We’d better find a place to camp for the night,” he suggested. “Looks like it’ll be dark soon.” He chose shelter within a circlet of cream-barked trees where a small patch of moss grew. They satisfied their hunger on some MRE’s Gaylee had smashed into the pack, then settled into the now dry, comfortably soft moss.
For a woman her age, Gaylee was in excellent shape, but her exhaustion was visible. “Those military meals are pretty good.” She yawned.
“Yeah, MRE’s are a soldier’s food in the field. Lucky for us I keep several boxes in that storage closet for hunting trips.”
Gaylee smiled. “I feel like a foot soldier, tired and dirty. All I need is a rifle to complete the scenario.”
“I could load my gun and you could pretend it’s a rifle.”
“No thanks.”
“So you really are eighty-three years old?” John’s medical mind was fascinated with that fact.
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