He indicated the scuffed up bag lying on the sand behind where Talaric had fallen. I reached for it and carried it along, even as I tried to steady Talaric’s head, as Titus moved quickly toward the plane.
I was knotted up inside with fear for him, “He’ll be alright Miss Eva. He’s got something to live for. He’s got you.”
Two days passed by and Eleanor came to her senses so to speak. She was in a lot of pain and sharp tongued as ever, strange enough it was Catherine who took over caring for her. Eleanor took to calling her Katie and the new name stuck.
No one seemed concerned about Talaric’s prolonged rest. Sparky had hooked an IV up to him and for all general purposes he appeared to simply be resting and recharging from a harrowing experience, if anything Eleanor was blabbering about was true.
Only this morning Sparky had reassured me yet again, “He’s fine! He’s like a big healthy animal. He’s just soaking up all the attention your giving him like a spoiled pet.”
I didn’t care what they thought; I wouldn’t relax, until I saw the crystalline blue of his eyes again. I was squatting down beside his bed on the floor with my back to him, as I refolded a shirt of his for what must’ve been the one hundredth time, when I sensed something different.
I peered back over one shoulder at Talaric behind me to see that he was awake and very appreciably entranced by my rear. I pivoted slightly on my feet not wanting to take his enjoyable view away completely, but wanting to let him know that I saw that he was awake. He wasn’t his usual guarded and controlled self, which I took complete advantage of.
“Good morning handsome!”
His eyes flickered up to mine and then back to my rear before they guiltily settled back on my face, as if it was taking an act of will to keep them there.
I smiled sensually, soaking in the complement of his double gaze. I had always been told that my best asset went by the same name. His face was tinged with red that wasn’t from the harsh sun burn he had suffered. I swiveled fully around and slid forward onto my knees before him, as I leaned over him and down slightly.
He swallowed, as his gaze came to rest on what was visible of my chest at the top of the blouse I wore. Perhaps I was overdoing it some, but my single most regret at this moment was that we weren’t wearing matching rings and that there wasn’t a door to lock the prying world outside.
My man was back and I longed to show him how much I had missed him, but not yet, not until it was right to. That was a promise I had made God and I was going to keep it.
Talaric’s gaze rose up to my eyes and I gave him a cheeky grin, “Feeling better?”
He gave a firm nod, but his face remained serious. He started to talk, his voice rusty from un-use and probably some sand, but his words were clear enough, “I’d gladly walk through a desert for three days again, if I got to see you at the end of the journey. It doesn’t matter which, you and water are both life-sustaining.”
What a nice thing to say!
It was either cry or kiss them. So I kissed him. One kiss led to another.
“Hmmm it would appear that the use of an oxygen tank will soon be in order.” Came Sparky’s droll commentary from somewhere.
As his words registered I reared back from Talaric, my face beet red over being caught kissing.
“Well your blood pressure and your ability to pump blood appear to be in perfect condition. I pronounce you well.” Spark said, his voice tinged with dry humor.
Ducking my head in embarrassment I started to get up not able to look at either man.
Talaric practically growled at Sparky, “Get lost Sparky! Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt a man when he’s drinking?”
A big hand came up and grasped me by the front of my shirt and yanked me back down, even as both hands then rose to imprison my head, as his open mouthed kiss emptied my lungs of all breathable air. I didn’t mind though, because he was alive and I could keep on dreaming of a future spent with him. I heard Sparky chuckle and wonder off, leaving us alone.
Later we walked hand-in-hand around the outside perimeter of the camp. He sighed heavily and I looked up at his face to see if he was okay.
“What’s wrong?” I asked concerned by the look of oppressive tension on his face.
He was silent for a moment and then he spoke, “I don’t want to have to deal with all of what’s going on! I just want to leave with you and Rafael and enjoy life! I hate this pressure to perform and somehow save a world at the possible loss of what else matters to me.”
I really didn’t understand what the bigger picture was, but I did know that he would never be happy if he left what he saw was his responsibility to accomplish and I told him as much. He nodded silently in agreement.
“Well, there’s Sparky, no doubt chomping at the bit to tell me of some discovery he has made that I hope doesn’t end up getting us all killed.” Talaric intoned sourly, as he headed in Sparky’s direction.
“Can I come to?” I asked uncertain if I was welcome in what was surely to be a somewhat confidential disclosure.
He looked back at me with a quizzical expression, “Of course you can come! You’re one of us now!”
I smiled, even as I was warmed from within to be included in something so important.
Sparky’s normally controlled mask of a face was completely gone and he looked as ecstatic, as a little boy in a candy shop. He ushered us inside the plane and I saw that everyone else was already gathered for Sparky’s exposition.
Several crates had been situated to form a table and the box that Talaric had brought back from the desert sat on them, while its contents lay spread out on the surface of the crates.
Sparky was barely able to contain himself, “Okay where to start? Ahhh, you ladies will appreciate this!”
He picked up an object that was the size of a coconut and wrapped in a cloth. He pulled the rag away and all of us collectively gasped. Sparky held the largest diamond I had ever seen in the palm of his hand. It sparkled like it was alive.
“I’m almost positive that it is of a carbon origin, but I believe it’s man-made. Engineered for a purpose so to speak. Would you mind holding this for me Eva?”
Sparky extended it out to me and I grabbed a hold of the spectacular treasure gingerly.
“Don’t worry my dear if you drop it. You would break long before it ever would.”
It was very heavy. It was curiously faceted as well. It was oblong and extremely narrow in the middle, while thick around either end kind of like a dumbbell.
Sparky picked up two more objects and unwrapped them from their covering cloths. They were two perfectly cylindrical orange crystals the same length as the faceted diamond. Eleanor reached for one and Sparky gave it to her to hold and she reacted in surprise almost instantly.
“It’s warm! I mean really warm!”
“Yes, I know curious isn’t it?” Sparky said.
“What could these gems be for? There too big for any kind of ornamentation.” I asked marveling over the complexity of the huge curiously cut diamond in my hands.
“I have a theory, but it’s only that. For years and years scientists have been experimenting with crystals. They have unique properties and molecular densities to be of use in the most sensitive and powerful of technological devices. Far outdistancing any other elements, in terms of the potential they represent, for achieving unlimited speed in terms of data processing and the list goes on and on. I think we’re looking at that concept in spades before us right now. I think that what we’re holding here could be the key components of a quantum computer or engine far beyond anything imaginable by today’s limited technology.”
Sparky wasn’t done though. “I thought I had found the jackpot, but I was wrong! The only other items in the box were these five scrolls. There dry and brittle, but unusually thick. I can’t make out anything written on them other than it appears to be complete gibberish. I looked at them a little closer and I determined that they were much too thick for typical scrolls.”
Sparky began dismantling the binding of one of the scrolls and then unbelievably he pulled a white sheet out that had been sandwiched in between the two layers of parchment. He repeated the process with the five other scrolls until they were five white sheets spread out on the table.
“It is not paper. It appears to have magnetic properties. So I thought I would try a magnet and see what I could find out. I dropped a magnet accidentally and this is what happened.”
Sparky took a magnet from his hip pocket and threw it up into the air over the five white sheets. The sheets whipped up off the table and up into the air where they formed a glowing white globe in the shape of a soccer ball around the magnet that was held in mid air. The globe was rotating slightly as we watched in amazement.
“This is all I have discovered. I don’t know for what purpose… ..” Sparky’s voice trailed off, as he watched Talaric reach out and press a finger against the globe.
The globe gave a spurt of color and began to darken. It was like watching an artist at work painting a picture, only the artist wasn’t there and the picture was painting itself.
Titus rumbled slightly, “Well I’ll be, it’s a map!”
“Au contraire my friend, it’s a globe of the world.” Sparky intoned, as he squinted through his glasses at the vivid detail that was forming before us.
The globe seemed to be completed in its rendering and it gently spun on an angle before us.
“Where is this place or world?” Eleanor asked wonderingly.
“Not where Eleanor, here. It’s the Earth before the land was split apart and the continents shifted.” Talaric said softly in answer to Eleanor’s question.
Talaric then loudly said, “bar-Seth.” He spoke, as if he was addressing the spinning globe.
A red dot appeared and sporadically flashed. What good did that do for us, if the land looked so different now, I thought to myself.
“Time. Passage of time” Talaric said.
A little box appeared with nothing in it and it blinked repeatedly. Talaric and Sparky looked at each other as if comparing mental notes.
“Four thousand eight hundred and fifty years.” Sparky said aloud, but nothing happened. Talaric said the same number and the numbers filled into the blank box. The globe began to spin incredibly fast for several minutes before it began to slow back down to its former slow rotational speed.
The Earth looked remarkably similar to what appeared as the surface of the globe today, with some minor exceptions.
The little red dot was still flashing. It was in Africa squarely in the middle of the Sahara desert.
“How many miles away do you think Sparky?” Talaric asked.
“Give me a little while with my computers. Once I find out what scale this map is using I should be able to give you an exact location.”
Talaric turned to Eleanor and she glanced up at him and saluted with her good arm, “Ready for takeoff Sir! Won’t be the first time that I’ve taken off with shoddy landing gear. I’d say it won’t be the last time either.”
Talaric nodded, as she headed with the aid of her crutch and Katie’s supporting arm around her toward the front of the plane. Talaric looked rather puzzled, as he stared after Katie’s retreating back.
He glanced then to Titus, who just shook his head and grinned as he pointed at me.
“What did you do to Cat?” Talaric asked with genuine puzzlement across his face.
I smiled a little and shrugged, “You mean Katie. I guess you could say that we’ve reached an understanding of sorts.”
Titus laughed out loud and then slapped his knee hard. Poor Talaric looked even more confused and I just smiled mysteriously and walked on by to find out where Rafael had gotten himself to.
Talaric turned to Titus, “What happened?”
Titus reached up and scratched behind one ear, “What happened, Cat I mean, Miss Katie got herself taken to the woodshed and then she be washed in the waters of redemption! Hallelujah! That be what happened. Don’t ask me for the particular’s Captain because I don’t know them. Miss Katie is trying to be a new girl and I’ze respect her for it and so should you.”
Titus laughed again, “Dat girl of yours, Miss Eva, she got some real spunk to her! I can hardly wait to see her pound away with that old pump gun and those little brass chatters!”
Titus started walking away, but Talaric stopped him with a hand to his arm, “You didn’t!”
Talaric exclaimed hoping that this was just one more of Titus’s jokes.
Titus laughed harder, “Oh yes I did! I surely did! You can thank me later when she pulls your butt out of the fire. Yes Sir, I gonna pull up a chair and bring out the popcorn when that time comes.”
An hour later they were in the air flying low over the desert. Several hours later we landed near the spot that Sparky thought correlated with the spot on the globe.
Talaric thought it would be best to investigate the place in the morning and preparations were made accordingly.
Chapter Eleven
Packing Hot
Talaric stood in wide-eyed shock across from me shaking his head over and over, as he continued to look up and down me. I thought I cut a pretty cool picture myself.
My feet were encased in black leather military fatigue boots that my tan camo pants were tucked into. The handle of a long boot knife stuck prominently out of the top of my right boot. One of the machine pistols was strapped to my left hip, even as the right side of the belt was packed with extra clips of ammo.
My camo over shirt hung open revealing the heavy leather cartridge belt that was slung from my right shoulder across the front of my black T-shirt to where it rested against my left side. The belt was studded full of three and a half inch magnum shotgun shells for the pump shotgun that I held in my left hand with the barrel of the shotgun resting back against my shoulder.
My right hand rested on top of the other machine pistol that was held level to my right side by a sling overtop my shoulder. A purple and orange silk scarf was around my neck giving a hint of femininity to the outfit.
My long hair was swept back in a ponytail that was fed through the back of a camo baseball cap that Katie had given me. On both cheeks under my eyes was a black streak of paint to help deflect the brightness of the sun from my eyes.
I was packing heavy and I felt pretty good about it myself, but Talaric was trying to be a spoilsport and not let me go along with him and the others. I was giving him my most bewitching smile, even as the others campaigned on my behalf in order for me to accompany them on the mission.
“You did say that I was one of your crew now didn’t you Talaric?” I said soothingly.
Talaric swallowed and I knew I had won.
Katie, who was fairly encased in weapons herself, had a huge grin on her face as she elbowed Talaric in the stomach, “Come on big boy admit it, your babe’s hot, packing all that heat ain’t she!”
Talaric raised his arm, as if to cuff Katie for her impudence, but she had danced back out of the way giggling.
Talaric shook his head again and turned towards the door and said disgustedly, “Let’s get on with it, but so help me I’m holding you all responsible if anything happens to her!”
I turned to follow and saw Rafael give me a big thumbs up. I pulled him to me and squeezed him hard for a long moment.
I knelt down before him and gave him a serious mom look, “Promise me you’ll do everything that Eleanor says!” “Promise!”
I looked at him a little longer, suddenly unsure if I should go on the mission after all.
“Oh he’ll be fine! You go ahead and go have some fun, while me and Raffi man the fort.” Eleanor said.
I gave them both one last look, “Thank you Eleanor.”
“Not a problem, now you better run along before they leave you completely behind.” Eleanor said and I turned away.
I had to run for a while before I caught up with the group trekking out over the sand dunes. One good thing about being an exotic da
ncer was what great shape it kept you in. I was very grateful for that aspect of my former career right now.
Landing close to the target turned out to be more than a two-hour walk in the early morning heat of the Sahara. Katie looked like she was second-guessing about bringing so many weapons along.
We came to an exhausted stop on top of a tall sand dune. Sparky, dressed in casual gray with only a 9mm strapped to his hip, checked his calculations for the hundredth time. Shaking his head, as if not understanding he said.
“This is the place. We’re standing on the exact spot.”
“I don’t see any remnants of a city! I certainly don’t see a weapon Sparky!” Talaric commented in bad humor.
Sparky affronted to the implication that he had gotten something wrong shot back, “There was a flood don’t you know! Not to mention several thousand years have gone by. Those kind of changes tend to change things a bit!”
“Or maybe you were off in your calculations or perhaps the scale of the globe was wrong.” Talaric responded testily.
Equally testy Sparky shot back, “The scale was perfect and so were my calculations! I checked them twice!”
“While you two boy scouts stand there arguing, I’m going to sit down and take a load off my feet!” Katie said, as she stumbled away a few feet and plopped down onto her butt in the sand. Her face was flushed and she looked miserable from a combination of the heat and the heavy load she was carrying.
Titus and I screamed at the same moment, as we both saw the disappearing sand behind Katie.
“Katie!”
But it was too late; she was already falling over backwards into the abyss behind her, her scream trailing out in the wake of her fast descent into the unknown. All of us dove to the rim of the hole and peered down into the dark depths below, but it was an impossible to see anything with the brightness of the day behind us.
There was eerie silence, except for the sound of trickling stand.
Katie’s voice broke the silence suddenly, “Hey guys, you’re gonna want to come down and take a look at this. It’s pretty cool! I think you can slide down on the sand mound in here safely enough.”
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