Days of Future Past - Part 2: Present Tense

by John Van Stry

  I just knew I didn't care for his behavior towards her much. I remembered then my thoughts on our relationship yesterday, but this still wasn't the time or the place to bring it up.

  Sarellious joined us for breakfast, but there was no sign of Marjeera.

  Sarah was discussing the spell that Sarellious used to obscure the animals on the grounds at that point.

  "Well, the main purpose is really just to discourage any predators, both animal or otherwise," he was telling Heather, who had asked him why he even bothered.

  Sarellious then turned back to Sarah, "I haven't checked the boundaries of the spell in a while, I have a few minor wards set out there to help define the limits. Would you like to go see them?"

  "Why I would be delighted," Sarah said with a smile.

  I nudged Heather under the table with a foot and she started and spoke up then as well.

  "I'll come along too, just in case Sarah needs my help setting them up some day!"

  I noticed Sarellious give a small frown, but Sarah was smiling at Heather, so she missed it completely.

  "Will you be coming as well, Paul?" Sarellious asked looking up at me across the table.

  I shook my head, "I'm going to spend the day checking over our gear, and fixing anything that needs repairing."

  "Ah, well if you should need anything, just ask."

  I nodded and wondered if he looked relieved, or if it was just my imagination?

  As he and the girls got up and headed out, I left and went out to check on the horses, as well as to go over the gear I'd left in the barn the day before.

  The horses of course needed to be watered and fed, and I had to clean out their stalls as well. I don't know who normally dealt with it, but whoever they were; they obviously weren't taking care of it for me. At least it wasn't that much of a mess after only a day.

  After I took care of that I checked our gear. I wasn't really expecting to find any problems, but both Sarah and Heather had made a point of checking it about once a week, and it was my turn to deal with it.

  There was a fastener on the tent that needed to be sewn up a bit, but that was about it. I was just finishing putting it all back away when Marjeera made an appearance.

  "There you are!" She smiled and came over to where I was just putting everything away. Today she was wearing a dark green belted wrap dress of some sort. The neckline plunged down to the gold belt, and while the wrap fell to her knees on the sides, it displayed a great deal of her legs as she walked. All in all, a lot of very perfect skin was being exposed for my benefit.

  "Yes, I've been here all morning," I told her as I set down the last of it. "I didn't see you at breakfast."

  "Well I'm here now," she smiled rather happily.

  I nodded and headed towards the barn door, "So, when's lunch?"

  "Oh, not for a while yet," she put her hand on my arm, stopping me. "We could wait up in my room, if you want."

  "Why are you so interested in having sex with me?" I asked, rather bluntly as I started walking again.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, falling in step besides me, her hand still on my arm. "You're a handsome man, and I know you find me attractive."

  "I'm already involved with Sarah and Heather."

  "So?"

  "So they wouldn't appreciate my cheating on them."

  "I won't tell," she smiled and moved her hand up my arm.

  "What's the story with that tower?" I asked and nodded towards the tower, changing the subject.

  "What?" she blinked and looked at me, a little confused.

  "The tower," I said and pointed with the arm she was now petting with her hand and pulling away from her grasp. Between the stroking and the view down her dress, my pants were starting to get uncomfortably tight in certain places.

  "I don't know," she said and shrugged, "I don't go in there."

  I looked over the tower; it still looked a bit odd. Something about the rock it was made out of didn't look right.

  "Let's go take a closer look," I said and started up the small hill it sat on top of.

  "Wait, are you sure we should?" she asked, sounding a little unsure of herself.

  "Of course I'm sure," I told her and followed the path up to the tower.

  As I drew close I could see what was wrong with it, it was like one of the fake stone fronts I'd seen put on houses in my neighborhood while growing up. The tower was just covered with large pieces of fake rock that must have been glued on. I tapped on one with a finger and it definitely wasn't stone, but it felt a little heavier than plastic. What I had thought was mortar between the stones was just white paint, now dirty with age. When I tapped on that it was obviously metal.

  "The tower's fake," I mused looking up at it. I could see now that the windows around the top were simply painted on.

  "It looks real to me," Marjeera said, reclaiming my left arm.

  "I mean it's not a stone tower," I tapped on one of the fake rocks again, "it's a metal tower with plastic rocks glued all over it."

  I started to walk around the base, and on the side facing away from the house I found the door, though it was more of a hatch really. I did a double take when I saw what was painted on the top of the door, though it was faded now with age, there was a big 'CT' logo.

  "Caltrans?" I mumbled.

  "You know what that means?" Marjeera asked, surprised.

  "Yeah," I said and undid the metal dogs that were holding the hatch closed and pushed it open. Inside was a small room with a second more normal looking door, that had the lock on it broken. There was a yellow 'emergency' phone on the wall on the right side and above it was a sign: 'High Speed Rail Power Room Four, Tunnel Access Way 4B - Lebec.'

  I stepped inside and pushing the door open I stepped through the doorway and I was inside the heart of the tower. Looking up, there wasn't a ceiling, and I could see all the way to the top. It was a support structure with a ladder than led to a roof hatch, and there were power transmitting antennas like the ones I'd seen back in Havsue arranged around the center. It was fairly dim inside; the only light was coming in from a series of vents about halfway up and around the top. There were also a few dim lights that looked like LED's scattered about.

  As my eyes adjusted I noticed that there was a staircase headed down on the far side, and a console in the middle of the room.

  "We shouldn't be in here," Marjeera said a little nervously as I walked around the console to look at it.

  "Don't worry, I won't tell your dad," I said as I looked it over. It was fairly simple. It had a number of heavy-duty switches, each labeled as 'broadcast towers' twenty-three through twenty-eight. Towers twenty-six and twenty-seven were 'on' the others were 'off'. There was another larger switch marked 'Master Power' and that was also in the 'on' position.

  There were a number of labeled indicator lights, but they were all dark, whether from age or if they just had nothing to show, I had no idea. There were two flat display screens, also dark, and a keyboard built into the console beneath them. There was also a large sealed plug on the end of the console, I guess for some sort of diagnostic or remote equipment.

  "He's not my father," Marjeera mumbled.

  I stopped and looked at her, "He's not?" I suddenly had a bad feeling, "You want to cheat on your husband with me?"

  Marjeera shook her head, "I'm not his wife."

  "Girlfriend?"

  "Not... not exactly."

  I stopped and turned to face her, and I grabbed her arms and looked at her, for the first time I noticed that she was looking sad.

  "What exactly are you then?"

  "I, I don't know anymore. I used to be his helper, a comfort. Now I think I'm just another thing to be used to get what he needs."

  "A thing?" I blinked in surprise and looked at her, she really did look sad now. I pulled her close and hugged her, she was warm and soft and very feminine, but thoughts of sex were no longer on my mind.

  "You're not a thing, Marjeera." I told her.

  "I'm
," she paused a moment, then took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not human, Paul."

  "So you're an elf like Luvon is? I kind of suspected you both were."

  She shook her head, "Yes, Luvon is an elf, but I'm not an elf either."

  "If you're not an elf, what are you?"

  "I'm a djinn."

  "You're a genie?" I chuckled, "Then why do you look like an elf?"

  I felt her start a moment, then she said, "Look at me, Paul."

  I unwrapped my arms and took a step back and looked at her, she looked different now, her skin was dark, her hair was still long and fine, but it was black now, as were her eyes. Her appearance was more Mediterranean as well, and her face, while still incredibly lovely, was also different now.

  "Luvon prefers me looking like an old lover of his, who left him long ago. Where did you hear the word 'genie', I have not heard that word in over a thousand years!"

  I shook my head at her, "I don't trust you enough yet to tell you everything. If you're Luvon's lover,"

  "Toy is more like it," she grumbled, surprising me. Up until this moment I would have only described Marjeera as a happy go lucky sex kitten that wasn't too bright.

  "Why are you trying to sleep with me?"

  "Luvon is rather taken with Sarah. He cannot have a family with a djinn, even if he should wish to, which he doesn't. I am just a possession to him. I hoped maybe if you showed affection for me, he would trade me to you for your Sarah."

  "Sarah is not a slave!" I told her.

  "No, she is one of your wives, you could divorce her with a word and trade her to him," she smiled then and leaned into me, looking up at me, "for me! I would be very nice to you; I would love you like no other ever has."

  That shocked me for a moment, and I remembered my studies from college on Middle Eastern history and religions.

  "Just how long ago were you last out of your bottle?" I asked looking down at her.

  "I do not live in a bottle!" She grumbled.

  "Let's backup a bit," I told her, she was still clinging to me, and to be honest I had an arm around her as well. I sat down on the chair by the console and sat her on my lap.

  "Where did Luvon find you?"

  "He woke me in my lamp when he was going through a warehouse far to the south of here, looking for furnishings for his house."

  I nodded, that fit some of the myths I had heard.

  "And how did you end up in a lamp?"

  "My previous master put me in there. He thought it looked better than a bottle."

  "And that was?"

  "I don't know. It was a very long time ago. He must have lost me or something. Because until Luvon summoned me back, I don't remember anything. I just must have slept there, unknowning."

  "So Luvon has power over you?"

  "Yes," she sighed, "otherwise I would have left here when he became bored with me. For the last sixty years, all I have seen is this one place, and the people who have come and gone from it."

  "Well first of all, I can't trade Sarah, the rules have changed about how you may treat your wives, but even if I could, I would not."

  "What! You would turn down all that I have to offer you!"

  "Shush," I told her.

  "Do not shush me!" she exclaimed and started to rise up off of my lap, and she appeared to be glowing.

  "I did not say I wouldn't free you," I said and pulled her back down, or at least tried to. She was a lot stronger than she looked when she was angry.

  She stopped and looked at me a moment, puzzled.

  "You would free me? Truly?"

  "Of course," I nodded, "Lincoln freed the slaves, besides, having been one once myself, I really don't approve of it."

  Marjeera settled back down into my lap and cuddled against me, turning the charm back on again. "I like the sounds of this Lincoln."

  "I thought you would," I said and slowly stood up, picking her up and setting her on her feet as I did so. "Now, I want to check out that stairway, and you can tell me just how one goes about freeing a genie from her lamp."

  "It is the touch of a man that frees us from our chambers. We're free for a day, unless commanded to return sooner," she shrugged, "there isn't much more to it than that."

  I nodded and started down the stairs; they were dimly lit; only a bare handful of lights lit the way down into the darkness. But I could see that it wasn't a spiraling staircase, but instead went back and forth like one in a building. It was also wide enough for two people walking abreast.

  "You don't think you could conjure up some light or something, could you?"

  "Master Luvon will not be happy if he finds out about this, Paul."

  "Yes, and I'm sure he'll be even less happy if he finds out that I plan to free you," I pointed out.

  "Yes, yes I suppose not," she sighed and raised a hand and the staircase was filled with light. Looking between the back and forth ranks I could see it went down quite a ways.

  "Any idea how far this goes?" I asked.

  "Take my hand," Marjeera said.

  "Why?"

  "Because it will take a half-hour to go all the way down. Longer coming back up."

  I nodded and took her hand. There was a moment's dizziness, and we were at the base of the stairs. There were two doors; one was labeled 'Railway access' the other was 'Control Room.'

  I went into the control room first.

  Everything in here, worked. There were a number of monitors, all of which showed the valley up above, surrounding the mansion. I could even see Luvon, Sarah, and Heather walking back towards the house. Heather had an arm around Sarah, obviously doing her best to block any of Luvon's attempts to make any moves on Sarah.

  There were also views of the tunnel. One of which showed a dimly lit platform, with a futuristic looking train stopped at it. Another was focused on the doorway that said 'Power' and a third on a doorway that said 'Emergency Exit'.

  I suspected that door was the one leading to the long stairway that led up to the tower. However I would not have wanted to climb it.

  "So, any idea what all this is for?" I asked Marjeera.

  She shook her head. "Master Luvon only said that there is a power station from before the war down here. One that used to power the train through the mountains and the community up above."

  I nodded and looked around and found it, a system marked 'Fusion Reactor Status' and the indicator below it read 'nominal.' Next to that was another indicator for the level of the lake up above. I guess that was where they were getting the fuel for the fusion reactor.

  "I guess they built some kind of high-speed train to run under the mountains to LA," I said looking around the room.

  "I believe I heard Master Luvon surmise the same thing," Marjeera agreed.

  "So, is that why he lives up above now? Because of the power?"

  She nodded. "He uses it for his experiments, as well as to defend his home against any raiders."

  "Experiments?"

  "He is more than just a magic user who specializes in illusions. He builds strange weapons and devices as well. About once every twenty years a couple of elves from his home visit and he trades with them."

  "So is he good, or is he evil?"

  She shrugged, "He is no better or no worse than any other man I have served. He is good to those around him if they are his friends or servants, and ignores the rest unless they get in his way."

  I nodded and headed back towards the stairs. "Shall we?" I asked and took her hand. Another brief moment of dizziness and we back at the top.

  "So, just where does he keep your lamp?" I asked.

  "Besides his bed," she sighed. "He will miss it, once you take it."

  "Let me worry about that," I told her as I left the tower, with her on my arm once again. She had changed her appearance back to the elven looking one.

  "What do I tell him when he asks me what we did?" she said, looking worried.

  "Tell him that I got in your pants and was making love to you when I heard him and the oth
ers come back and stopped."

  "I can't lie to him, Paul!"

  I grabbed her and pushed her up against the side of the barn and grabbing her hair I tipped her head back and kissed her, rather passionately as I slipped my hand inside her dress. Reaching down and around I cupped her butt and gave it a squeeze. She wasn't wearing any underwear, as I'd already guessed. I left her have it for about thirty full seconds, then breaking the kiss I came up for air, and pulled my hand out from under her dress and smiled at her. She was panting harder than I was, and her eyes were wide.

  "There, now you're not lying," I grinned.

  "That was mean!" She said, pouting at me.

  "Now you know how I feel," and we went back inside to join the others for lunch.

  - 7 -

  After lunch Sarellious excused himself for a moment and Marjeera went with him. But before I could drag Sarah and Heather off to our room to work out some of the effects that Marjeera had on me, Sarellious came back and invited Sarah to tour his workshop. At which point Heather took full advantage of my condition and dragged me off to our room instead.

  "I really think Luvon has the hots for Sarah," I told Heather, much later as we were cleaning up in the shower.

  "Like you have the hots for his daughter?" Heather laughed.

  "She's not his daughter."

  "Really? Wow. She is kinda cute. I was thinking maybe we could invite her upstairs tonight for some fun before we left. But if she's his girlfriend."

  I looked at Heather, "Where did that idea come from?"

  "Well, you've been playing with her, right? So why not me too?"

  I grabbed her head and looked into her eyes. "I have not played with her, or any of that! How can you say that?"

  "I, saw you, while we were out inspecting Luvon's magical barriers. I was gonna tell Sarah, but I knew she'd be pissed, so I didn't say anything. But I saw you, you were both naked!"

  "You saw an illusion!"

  "You just don't want to share!" Heather said hotly.