Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  Willian jumped with surprise when his mother touched his shoulder. He looked up at her with a startled expression and then smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I gathered as much. You were deep in concentration, which is good. Where have you decided to land?”

  Willian pointed to his primary spot and looked up as he said, “I’d thought to touch down here.” He moved his finger to another spot and said, “I’ve chosen these other spots as alternates. Have you been to Manzanit before?”

  “I have. I like the choices you’ve made. Have you memorized the coordinates?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Keep the paperwork with you and review it before you take off, okay?” She lifted the small basket of food and said, “Here’s your lunch. I guess you’re set to go then.” She tried to keep her voice light-hearted so he would not be distracted by her worry for his safety.

  “Would you mind if we ate together? I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone and I’d like to visit with you before I go.” He did not want to mention how nervous he suddenly felt. He mostly did not want to admit to himself that he was scared to go by himself.

  Chelesa felt herself relax with relief to know she would have a little more time with her only child before he took this big step toward adulthood. She was certain he would be much-changed by this journey. Setting the basket down on the table, she pulled a chair up beside him and gestured for him to serve the meal.

  It was a simple fare of shredded foxl sandwiches, mixed fruit, and his favorite dessert of sweetened, fried krumpli. Willian grinned at his mother over his sandwich at the kitchen staff’s knowledge of his favorite meal. There was more than enough food for both of them to be full before they finished.

  Chapter Sixteen

  SOFIA HAD PLENTY of time to think – nothing but time actually. Her mother insisted she stay in bed even though she felt pretty good considering what could have happened. She felt incredibly lucky to have escaped nearly unscathed from such an ordeal.

  She reclined on the couch and stared at the television without seeing. Over and over she replayed the accident in her mind. Each and every time she recalled distinctly feeling her bones breaking as the car impacted her body. She remembered, as she flew through the air, thinking how much it would damage her broken body when it hit the asphalt.

  When the doctors looked at the various x-rays and told her nothing was broken, she had initially believed they had gotten the films mixed with someone else. She had asked to see them herself and clearly saw her name printed on the side in black and white. Something was not right with what she remembered and what the doctors were telling her.

  The stitches in the back of her head were pulling the skin tight making her head throb. Sofia carefully reached over to the table to grab the water and bottle of pain pills the doctor had prescribed. The extension of her arm pulled the stitches on her side, reminding her of yet another injury.

  She pulled up her shirt to look at the damage. A large blue and purple bruise had formed all around the stitched area. It looked spectacularly terrible. She touched it gently and winced at how tender the whole area remained. Hoping the medication would take the wicked edge pain off, she completed her aborted task of retrieving it from the table.

  Sofia unscrewed the lid from the bottle and shook out one pill into her other hand. The night before she had taken two and they had completely knocked her out. She hoped just one would alleviate the pain and allow her to remain awake. She swallowed the pill with several gulps of water and set the glass back down on the table. The last thing she wanted was to spill the water all over herself and the couch if she were to fall asleep.

  As she waited for the pain medication to take effect, she thought about how Juila and Jena had been so attentive to her while she had been lying on the ground. She had been immensely comforted by their presence. Then it dawned on her what had been bothering her; the girls had not spoken with her at all. They had remained silent, almost intent, and their eyes were closed. Sofia knew the girls were religious, yet it did not add up in her mind.

  There had been the matter of her loss of consciousness. Maybe the girls had spoken while she had been knocked out. Somehow she did not think this was the case. Jon had said plenty in the time he had been by her side.

  The idea of staying mostly immobile for the next several days did not excite her. She wished she could talk to the twins and ask them what their impression of the accident had been. It was strange that they had not come to her bedside in the hospital to check on her since she knew they had been in the waiting area. The next best thing was the knowledge of Jon calling her in a few more hours. She would ask him what he recalled of the twins’ behavior while they had tended to her.

  All of this thinking was not helping her headache and she closed her eyes to calm the throbbing. A nap was sounding better and better and it would help pass the time quicker. When she was better she would think about this whole bizarre matter in more detail. She was nothing if not tenacious when she wanted to get answers.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Vinia fretted over her last conversation with Amanda. She wished she could have said goodbye and verified Amanda would arrange a meeting with her lost children. As she rocked Danika and looked down on her sleeping face, she wondered what her three other children would look like.

  It was almost impossible to imagine in less than one anon they had aged eight. To think of them at sixteen anons old almost brought her to tears. She thought back to the day she had sent them away. If she had known then what she knew now, would she have sent them anyway? Finally she came to the realization she had done what was best for them.

  Amanda had confirmed her children were well-adjusted, happy, and kind. She assumed then that they had been raised by loving parents which was nothing more than she could have wished for her children. Also, it was a blessing to know Jon had received medical attention and no longer seemed frail and so close to death. His illnesses had been a constant worry and she feared each anon would be his last.

  She rocked Danika gently and imagined what she would say to her other children when she finally got to see them again. Words would probably fail when her emotions would take over. She was certain she would spend many precious moments either crying, hugging them, or just merely staring at how much they surely had changed.

  Vinia hoped her children remembered something of her from their past. She held onto the hope they would believe they had sent them away for their safety and not because she did not want them. Just thinking they may believe they had been unwanted caused her heart to skip a beat and made her breath catch. She wondered if they would want to come back home or if they would want to remain on Earth. There were so many unanswered questions and no way of knowing the answers until Amanda could talk to them and get back to her.

  A noise from down the hall interrupted her musings. She settled Danika down on her blanket and went to investigate. Following the sound of voices led her to the kitchen where Barla and Corva were putting away the groceries. Just thinking about the marketplace made her shudder at the idea of leaving the house again. With Petre once again looking for her she felt trapped and afraid and she hated him even more for it.

  “Do you need any help putting stuff away?” Vinia asked.

  “No, dear. We’re almost done anyway,” Barla replied with a smile.

  Vinia sat down at the island stool and experienced a disorienting sense of déjà vu. Her life had come full-circle. She was once again using Barla’s home as a safe haven from Petre and now Elder Vargen. Danika slept in the same bedroom her other three kids had used when she had lived here so many anons before. Her fears of uncertainty of the future were once again overwhelming.

  She was angry with herself for getting in the same situation all over again. Surely she should have learned how to take care of herself during it all. Once she reunited with her children again, she was going to do something about finding her own way in the world.

  Vinia watched
Corva as she finished putting away the groceries. She realized Corva, at fourteen, was only two anons younger than her own children were now. Corva was so confident in herself and in her abilities because Barla and Ahn had adopted her and given her a second chance at a family. Would her children even need her anymore? They were almost grown up and on the verge of starting their own lives.

  “Have you heard from Amanda?” Vinia asked once Barla was done.

  “No, not yet. She said it would be at least a couple of days before she would even be able to talk to the kids. I know you’re anxious, but I think you’re borrowing trouble where there is none.”

  “I’ve never been good with waiting. I hope you’re right.”

  “I know I am. Now, what would you like for dinner tonight?” Barla firmly believed food was a curative for every ailment, including worry. She enjoyed preparing meals even more since she had received her own birth crystal which allowed her to use elemy to create the dishes. No longer did she have the laborious task of prepping and cleaning up for their meals.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Riccan wanted to believe Ela Nena’s deplorable behavior would have blown over given enough time. He never realized she would be biding her time to make another strike against him. When he received the call to go up to her office, he honestly believed it would be for her to apologize to him.

  “Hi, Ela Nena. I got the message that you wanted to see me. What can I do for you?” Riccan stood in the doorway, not wanting to assume she would have him sit down and talk.

  “Riccan, come in and sit down. Shut the door behind you.” She did not bother to look at him as she typed away on her patil.

  Crossing the room, Riccan sat down across from Ela Nena and let his gaze wander around the office as he waited. He noted the shelves of excellence awards she had received in the past and hoped she would recall how she had earned them. Several minutes went by and Riccan began to wonder if he should come back another time when it was more convenient. He was about to make the suggestion when Ela Nena suddenly turned to him.

  She laced her fingers together and let her index fingers point toward him as she composed her thoughts. “Are you happy here, Riccan?”

  Caught off guard, Riccan stuttered before answering, “Yes. You know I love it here.”

  “I’ve been informed you were gone most of yesterday. If you love your job so much, what makes you think it’s okay to not be here when the rest of your team is hard at work?”

  “I’m sorry you think about it that way, Ela Nena. I was under the impression that as a part of the management team I was not obligated to maintain an eight to five schedule. There have been plenty of times where I’ve stayed quite late and very few times where I’ve taken time off. My team always knows how to get in touch with me if they need me. What is this really all about?” Riccan could hardly believe he was even having this conversation. He could recall numerous occasions where Ela Nena had gone missing and nobody knew how to reach her, including her own husband.

  “I have been very tolerant of your lax behavior for many mesans now. Do not mistake my generosity for weakness, Riccan. During business hours, you will be on site. At your level in this company, it’s hard to believe I would even have to tell you this. If you feel unable to comply with this part of your job then I expect you would be happier with another company. Unless you have anything further to say, that is all. Please close the door on your way out.” She returned her attention to the patil and pulled the keyboard closer to her and resumed typing.

  Riccan stared at her for several moments before her words sank in completely. More than anything, he wanted to tell her exactly what he thought of her in that moment. Instead, he simply nodded, stood up, and walked out the door. Even though he wanted to slam the door behind him in his growing rage, he calmly closed the door and continued through the executive staff’s office until he reached the stairs. He used the physical exertion of taking the steps two at a time down from the thirteenth floor to the second floor.

  Once he reached his office, he closed the door and put his face in his hands in frustration. He had no idea where Ela Nena got off talking to him in such a manner. He had given his life to this job and he was great at building his team. Together they were more productive than any other department and yet none of that seemed to matter to Ela Nena. He wished he knew who had complained to Ela Nena if only to ask them not to in the future.

  That woman had the audacity to tell him she had been tolerant of his behavior? What in Tuala was she talking about? He had been using his earned vacation time for his time off. He tried to think of any other time where he had been away or off on his own errands where she could even call him out on it. Nothing! He had done nothing wrong! As far as he was concerned, Ela Nena had overstepped her authority with him once again.

  Maybe he should seriously consider quitting. He had no real reason for keeping this job except for his joy of flying and desire to create telepods. Technically he was on retirement until his father decided to step down and he took over as Elder of the Pantano District. Besides, his wife would appreciate him being home and available to help in the search for the remaining samaras. Just as he had made his decision to quit, a knock sounded on the office door.

  “Come in.”

  Gilora poked her head around the door and said in an excited voice, “There’s been a catastrophic failure in the latest test model. Do you have time to check it out?”

  His mind immediately went into overdrive trying to evaluate what could have gone wrong. In that moment, he realized he could not simply leave the company. There was too much at stake with the projects currently in progress for him to abandon them now. He would have to tolerate Ela Nena so he could pursue his passion. As he walked out of his office with Gilora he decided to avoid Ela Nena as much as possible and play it day-by-day.

  Chapter Seventeen

  IT WAS LATE before Amanda heard Riccan come home. She wondered what could have kept him away so long and went to investigate. Amanda was shocked to see how worn and tired he appeared. Something bad must have happened at work and she hoped he would confide in her.

  She smiled, rushed toward him, and threw her arms around his waist. “Hi baby, I really missed you today!” She kissed him on the cheek and hoped it would help lighten his mood.

  “Sorry to be so late without letting you know. We had one of our experimental crafts fail and we were scrambling to find the source. The deadline is looming and we were already behind in the timeline. I should have sent you a message. I’m sorry.” He returned her hug with his own and once again thanked Jehoban for bringing her into his life. The amount of peace and serenity he felt when they were together was almost overwhelming. His problems at work seemed to melt away when she was in his arms.

  “Did you get it figured out?” Amanda pulled back from him and looked him in the eyes.

  “Yeah, it was a faulty bracket on the crystal drive. We had checked over every other possibility before someone picked up the piece and looked at it closely. It had hairline fractures all over it. When we looked at the rest of the bracket shipment we had received from Beewa, they were faulty as well. You can rest assured Kenen will be hearing from me tomorrow. That type of shoddy craftsmanship can kill people and it’s completely unacceptable. Kenen should know better than to foist such crap off on me.”

  “I’m sorry, honey. Have you eaten yet?” She knew he was always grumpier when he was hungry, they joked about it being called ‘hangry’.

  “No, I haven’t had time for anything except to come home to you. I’ll get something in a few minutes.” He moved them through the kitchen and into the living room.

  “I’d like to practice my creating skills. What would you like to eat?”

  Riccan raised his eyebrows at her proclamation. She seldom used her skills even though she were capable. It pleased him she was willing to try and he smiled to encourage her as he considered what he wanted her to make. “I’d like a foxl steak with cream sauce. What do you think?” />
  “No problem,” she replied with more confidence than she felt. The steak would be easy, but the sauce could be problematic. She knew he liked it spiced in a specific way and she hoped she could remember the proper ingredients. “Why don’t you go up and get changed or take a shower. When you come back down, I’ll have your dinner ready. Do you want any sides to go with that steak?”

  “How about a baked krumpli with butter and sour cream?”

  “I think you picked something simple because you’re afraid I won’t be able to get it right,” she teased.

  He smiled as he turned to go upstairs.

  Amanda realized he had not refuted her statement and scoffed at his retreating form. She returned to the kitchen and sat at the island stool to help her concentration. More than anything she wanted to get this right for him, if only to prove to him she could get it right. She closed her eyes and began visualizing in her mind the pathway for creating food.

  Wishing the girls were home to help her, she wondered when they would get home. Would it be too much to ask for them to arrive before Riccan got out of the shower? The chances were not good considering they were over at Behn and Valentina’s house studying. She considered calling over to their house to ask the question, but she realized it could be construed as cheating if Riccan were to find out. Then he would not let her live it down, so she gave up on that line of thinking.

  Almost as if her thoughts had created her children, the front door opened and the girls walked in with their study partners. Her concentration was broken and she was curious to find out why they had all come over instead of staying at the Wilson house.