“Thank you, Riccan. You always know the right thing to do.”
“Good night, my love.”
“Good night.” Amanda settled down onto her side facing her husband. She did not think she would sleep a wink. The next thing she knew, her alarm was beeping. For several seconds, she could not place why she was getting up at such an early hour. Realization hit her hard and she groaned at how exhausted she was for such an important day. She hit the alarm to make it stop beeping.
“It’s time to get up, Riccan,” she said as she turned over and discovered his side of the bed empty. She touched the sheets and noted they were cold. He had been gone for quite some time. Curiosity got the better of her, and she left the bed to search for Riccan.
After several minutes of searching, Amanda located Riccan in his office. She walked quietly up to where he sat at his patil. With the way he was sitting, she could not tell if he were reading intently with his head resting on his fist, or if he had fallen asleep. She did not want to startle him awake if he were actually sleeping. Instead, she leaned forward to see what Riccan had pulled up.
Riccan turned his head at the small sound behind him and jumped when he discovered Amanda right next to him. He smiled as he realized he had scared her as much as she had him. “Sorry, love,” he said as he touched her outstretched hand.
“What are you reading?”
“I was hoping to have an update from Rasa.”
“And…”
“She sent a message saying some of the Elders have already arrived, yet they are still waiting for Elder Vargen.”
“It’s still early. Maybe he’s on his way.”
“No doubt,” Riccan agreed. “I’ll be happy to hear when he’s out of his district.”
“We need to get showered so when the good news comes we’ll be ready to get going.”
“You’re right, as always,” Riccan said as he turned the monitor off and rose to properly greet his amazing wife. “Have I told you how proud I am of what you’re doing for Neal?”
“No,” Amanda said as she put her arms around Riccan’s waist and let herself melt against his body. “I thought you didn’t approve.”
“I wish it weren’t necessary since the risk is so great, but I understand why you feel the need to get closure for Neal’s family. That’s the reason I love you so much…you always think about others.” He kissed the top of her head and held her close for another several seconds. “Let’s hurry up and get ready. I want to be in the telepod by the time we hear again from Rasa.”
“Good idea,” Amanda replied as she pulled one arm away from him and walked beside him as they went back upstairs to get showered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riccan reluctantly sat in the pilot’s seat of Amanda’s telepod. She had insisted he lead the expedition since he was more experienced than she was. He felt as though he were taking over the mission even though she insisted she did not mind.
He checked all of the gauges to make sure the telepod was operating normally. Now would be a bad time to have something go wrong with the mechanics. After tapping a new sequence on the glass panel, Riccan pulled up the link to his patil to receive any new messages.
Amanda leaned forward and also waited to see if any news had arrived from Rasa. She let out a small squeal of surprise when the program beeped and let them know there was an unread message. “Read it, Riccan!” she exclaimed in excitement. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster as their plan began to fall into place.
“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 w
as 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 useless 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.
Levels of Ascension BoxSet Page 54