Seeking Sirius

by Laure Reminick

  Nevertheless, she recognized nothing.

  A mental image flashed of Mac, long legs crossed at the ankles and feet on the edge of his messy desk. She smiled amidst the tug of sleep and stretched, her muscles a little sore.

  Then the previous night’s events burst into her mind and her instinct shrieked, Go to the plane! Of course, reality also dawned. Need to locate a propeller and find someone to install it, unless these folks insist on a quarantine for a hunk of metal, too.

  Belatedly it occurred to her, “They probably have a land line somewhere. Why didn’t I think of that last night?” With nothing else to do Alexa lay for a moment, hoping for some inspiration. “Basics first. I’m starving.” In the kitchen, she began poking around the cabinets of rustic wood, swept her hand on stone counters, and nervously eyed the high-tech stove.

  As she filled water into a pot, Donny pushed open the kitchen door. “I heard Rachel moan. Loud.” Stepping from side to side, he said, “Through the wall. She didn’t respond when I knocked. And the door is locked.”

  When Alexa reached Rachel’s door, heavy groans could be heard from the other side.

  Donny brushed his hands on his trousers. “I feel kind of off. Funny stomach, achy muscles. Do you think she does, too?”

  Alexa knocked on the door. No response. She pounded on it. Nothing. She was about to yell for Rachel’s attention when the front door banged open. People in shiny Hazmat suits rushed through and headed straight for Rachel’s door, where Alexa and Donny allowed themselves to be jostled aside.

  One of the people held a little metal cylinder to the door, after which it opened, allowing them to all rush into the room. They conversed quietly in a language Alexa couldn’t identify. After a bit they barreled out, guiding a stretcher with Rachel on it. Sweat plastered her hair and she tossed her head to one side then the other, to the point the oxygen mask barely stayed on.

  As they guided Rachel’s cot out the front door, a man said, in a heavy accent, “We will return tonight. Stay out of that room.” He jerked his head at the firmly closed door.

  Gone. The hallway dropped into a well of silence.

  Alexa tried to recall more precisely what she’d seen. There were no wheels on the stretcher, nothing under it.

  * * *

  On the temple steps Iain Newcastle paused, hardly believing his eyes. He smoothed errant wrinkles from his linen suit, while studying the aircraft that stood at parade rest on the lawn below. It was here, exactly as the family legend predicted. He realized he’d doubted the whole thing all along. Until now.

  His sister walked over to join him. Her blonde hair the perfect setting for a flower the hue of her coral silk outfit. “Is that it?” She peered more closely. “Ah, guarded.” She studied it for a moment, before commenting, “I thought it had trouble landing last night.”

  Newcastle nodded. “Something is missing on the front. They must have towed it to this position.” They gazed at the silver and red myth, bright under the sun. “I haven’t seen any of the people.”

  “I may have,” replied Penelope. “They took a stretcher with someone on it from that guesthouse,” she pointed at a building, “to a side door of the temple.”

  “Woman or man?”

  “Woman, I think,” she said. “Dark hair, not red.”

  Newcastle brushed back his own fine blond hair. He didn’t understand why he would be relieved with the last bit of information. If truth were told, it would be hard to know if this turn of events helped or hindered his assignment.

  Chapter 4

  Standing in the central hallway, the two of them stared at the front door after it closed. Donny broke the quiet, “Do you think Rachel will be okay?”

  In shock from how bad Rachel looked, Alexa replied, “I hope so.” Since she’d seen her friend in much worse situations, however, she added, “Rachel usually bounces right back.” Alexa searched Donny’s face. “You said you feel bad, too.”

  “Not enough to call those suits here again,” Donny said quickly. He stretched his shoulders. “But I’m going back to bed. Call me if something happens.”

  After Donny disappeared, Alexa picked at her white robe. “I need to clean up.”

  Her bathroom resembled the inside of a geode. Every item, crafted from stone. A basin of rose perched on white marble. The rose tub rested on a honey-colored stone floor. While she was soaking, a sunbeam slanted in and lit up the rose stone around her. “Beautiful,” she murmured. “Must have cost a fortune to ship this stuff.” To dry off, she located the same white linen sheets as in the testing room.

  Afterward she nibbled on coconut, and decided to meditate. Take advantage of the silence that comes your way, girl.

  She must have dozed through the afternoon because at almost dark she awoke again, feeling ravenous. Delicious smells were detectable, seeping into her room from within the house.

  In the kitchen a tall, thin man with a shock of white hair and bushy eyebrows stood, banging pans and lids. He wore a threadbare uniform that could have been in a World War II movie. Wonder if he’s involved in those battle reenactments.

  “Hello, sir,” Alexa said, as she entered the kitchen. The spices were rich and savory. “This smells terrific. Can I help?”

  He glanced up and a smile spread big. “Eh, Lass, aye. Would you mind moving those plates a wee bit closer to me here?”

  As Alexa complied, she asked, “How is Rachel? When they took her away, she looked pretty sick.”

  “Rachel, aye.” He stopped, his face taking on a serious mien. Alexa’s heart skipped a beat. “She is all right,” he said. “Stable. But we will have to coddle her for a bit.”

  Alexa felt almost weak with relief. “What’s wrong with her? Nobody said anything, other than we could all be mutually contagious.”

  “Rachel has a virus,” said the man. “One that can be nasty, if the person doesn’t receive the correct attention right away. Therefore, we were on the lookout for it and caught it in time. And since the two of ye have not come down with the symptoms, it seems ye won’t suffer from it.”

  “Both of us felt achy.”

  “That is all right,” he replied. “It’s your immune system fighting it off.”

  Alexa arranged and rearranged small items on the counter. “Are you the father of the young man? He said you would tell us what’s going on. Since the cell phones don’t work here, is a land line available anywhere?”

  He smiled at her. “I am Murdoch Callaghan. Ye may consider me your host.”

  “Where are we? The Everglades?”

  “Ye are on Adalans, at the healing temple. Not Florida.” He turned toward the door. “Are ye hungry?”

  Her stomach growled. “Yes!” Not Florida?

  “Good, let’s call your friend and take our plates to the dining room.”

  On their way to Donny’s room, Alexa asked, “Adalans? Is this some kind of military installation, on Cuba or something?”

  Before answering, Callaghan rapped twice and said, “Mister Donald, are ye hungry? Come to supper.” Next, he stepped across to the middle room beside the kitchen, reached in, moved his arm a bit, and the space lit up.

  As he left, Alexa stuck her head in and scanned for a fixture, since she’d not yet figured out how to turn on a light in her room. No specific point, simply the walls seeming to glow. “That’s fascinating.”

  Callaghan headed to the kitchen and she tagged along. “So, what kind of place is this?” Her voice was becoming more insistent. Donny came up behind her, as she demanded, “Where are we?”

  Callaghan stopped and turned, his eyes switching from Alexa to Donny and back. He glanced at the window, which by that time showed nothing but blackness, and nodded as if answering his own question. “Are either of ye familiar with the star constellations?”

  “For navigating at night I learned the stars fairly well,” said Alexa.

  Callaghan must have made a decision because he headed for the front door. “All right, it’s dark. Let’s look a
t the sky.”

  When the two stepped out the door, in concert the response was, “Wow.” Several huge circles of gaseous light, each with a twinkling star in the middle, filled much of the sky. A few other stars appeared four or five times bigger than usual. The illumination was as if from a full moon, though no such orb showed its face.

  “Are we at a high elevation?” asked Donny. “No that would be difficult, with the ocean nearby.”

  Alexa scanned the sky. “I can’t identify any of the constellations that should be there.” Were we somehow transported to South America? “I’m not as familiar with the stars in the Southern Hemisphere.”

  Callaghan shook his head, and said, “It is.” He stopped, and pursed his lips. After a moment, he said, “This is all because.” But he interrupted the flow again.

  Alexa stifled a scream.

  “It is because we are looking at the stars from a different point of view.” After rushing out with that statement, he drew in a deep breath, threw his head back and studied the sky. “The stars are this bright because we are standing on a planet in a solar system close to the Orion Nebulae.” He pulled his gaze to them and said slowly, “In other words, we are far, far away from Earth.”

  Alexa heard his words. They made no sense. Donny’s Adams apple moved as he swallowed hard and blinked twice. She looked up into the night. All I want is a quiet life in a little house with Mac. “Please,” she said to Callaghan, hearing the hurt in her voice, “tell me you’re joking.”

  Callaghan watched them intently. “I spent a long time wishing it was a joke, a dream.”

  “Where are you from?” asked Donny.

  “Scotland. I had been in the Bahamas for a year.”

  “How do we go back?” asked Alexa.

  Callaghan’s face showed discomfort. “As far as I can tell, there is no method for returning.”

  “No,” stated Alexa. “That is unacceptable.”

  Donny interrupted. “How did you get here?”

  “In much the same manner as ye, I believe,” said Callaghan. “However, I could not find a place for my plane. I crashed in the ocean the smoothest I was able and swam to shore. Later, in case others came through in an aircraft, I arranged for the lawn to be cleared.” He looked Alexa in the eye. “My apologies that it became a wee rough in the meantime. Its repair began today. Your plane is safe.”

  Alexa stared at him. The man was apparently trying to soften a blow of some kind. His statements, however, were impossible.

  “When did you arrive?” asked Donny

  “The Japanese had recently bombed Pearl Harbor. I was in the Bahamas, collecting intelligence for Great Britain.”

  “That’s around seventy years ago,” said Donny. “Were you two years old?”

  Callaghan chuckled. “Nay, I had been in the Royal Air Force for some time.”

  Gazing at the sky Alexa tried to make sense of it all. None of this is really happening. She turned to Callaghan. “Is this transport a common occurrence? I need to go back.” Mac. Must get to Mac.

  He shook his head, and while opening the door to the house, he said, “It is not common. Come inside and I will explain more.”

  People strolled along the path in front of the house. Alexa saw them and did not care.

  Inside at the table they tried Callaghan’s food: a golden mashed potato-type concoction with spicy vegetables and sparks of mango. After two bites to take off the hunger edge, Alexa asked, “To return, can we make the strange light happen and fly into it?” In her mind, she began figuring out how to make a strong-enough wooden propeller.

  “Or, how far are we from Earth?” put in Donny.

  Callaghan’s expression became speculative. “Adalans is about 950 light years from Earth. If ye were to look from Earth in the direction of the Dog Star, or Sirius, we are beyond that.”

  Donny perked up. “Cool! In researching Atlantis, I remember that Sirius is considered to be the Dog Star in many cultures. The Egyptians noticed it appeared right before the Nile did its flooding thing each year. It also was connected to Shiva, as a companion. And both the Cherokee and Pawnee American Indian tribes? They regarded it as an end point for, like, a path for souls or something.” He stopped when he noticed the look Alexa was giving him.

  “I don’t suppose you remember something actually useful,” Alexa said, in a tone that could blister paint.

  “In fact there is a path,” said Callaghan, “in a manner of speaking.”

  Alexa felt her face screw up. The man must be pulling their chains, all around. “Okay. You’re fooling us. All this is a sick joke, right? I admit, you had me going. Point for you. Nevertheless I really need to let my fiancé know I’m okay, and Rachel really needs to contact her son.”

  Callaghan appeared disconcerted. “I wish it was a jest. Nevertheless, ye are very far from Earth. And since ye traveled about 950 light years—”

  “In seconds?” interrupted Alexa, incredulous.

  “Aye. It also seemed no time when I made the trip.” Callaghan took a deep breath and rushed on, “Lass, somehow against all known laws of physics, ye are also about 950 years into your future. This is the year 2962, in standard Earth time.”

  * * *

  Newcastle and Penelope strolled, out for an evening’s perambulation. He aimed this way and that, all the while keeping his younger sister engaged with gossip about family and friends of family.

  Gradually, slowly, he brought them down the path from the temple, to walk past a certain guesthouse. His pulse pounded. The gravel crunched under his shoes and the breeze boded well. He asked Penny, “Why did you leave school early?” He had to distract her, because she would not be able to keep her emotions off the point of this visit.

  “Oh, that again.” She took the bait. “I thought you would be the last to pester me about leaving school.” Penelope’s brilliance in math and science also made her quick to become bored with the institutions their family insisted she attend. “I know perfectly well how to dress and dance. And I can converse in four languages. I do not understand why I must attend stupid schools that cater to mindless children.”

  “When you’re home,” said Newcastle, “you are almost always at the stables, exercising the horses.”

  “I have found being out of sight is helpful in sidestepping the idiot boys our dear bossy brother always tries to foist on me.” Penelope tossed her head. “I plan to marry Captain Pearson, and that is that.”

  There. Newcastle almost crowed. They were past the guesthouse without Penny noticing. And with her obsessing about the captain, he could probably turn them around to make another pass. He doubted Pearson was aware of his imminent fate-according-to-Penelope. But thank the stars, the situation would not be his problem.

  Newcastle surreptitiously studied Callaghan and the woman on the building’s portico. He bet old Callaghan was breaking the news. It certainly sounded like it.

  The man with them, probably the one to contact. Perhaps this might all turn out all right.

  But Corky also passed by at the same time. What was he doing on a walk, at this moment, near this house?

  Chapter 5

  Early the next morning, Callaghan strolled into the guesthouse after a quick knock. “Good morning to ye both,” he boomed. “Good news, ye are cleared to move about.”

  Alexa strode out of her room. She had hardly slept, instead trying to figure out a solution. “I need to make sure. Is there any method, any possible way at all we can go back to Earth?”

  A kindly look came into Callaghan’s eyes as he turned to her. “Ye can go to Earth, aye. But it will be Earth in the year 2962, or whenever ye arrive.”

  “Hold on,” said Donny. “It’s possible to get to Earth? There’s interstellar travel?”

  Callaghan nodded. “Aye.” He held up one hand while fishing in his pocket with the other. “Here, the doctors asked me to ask the two of ye to take these.” He reached and placed in their hands three pills each. “They will help protect ye from all the beast
ies around today.”

  Alexa leaned forward and accepted the pills. “Can we communicate to our time?”

  Callaghan’s gaze was sympathetic. “Not that I know of.”

  She wouldn’t simply lie down and go passive. “Surely the light thing is good for something. Does it go both directions?”

  “I understand that wherever ye go through it, it is always forward in years, which would not help ye. It’s not the same as wormholes used for travel. Wormhole. Strange name, eh?”

  A couple of knocks at the open door showed two small men. After Callaghan gestured for them to enter, they placed Alexa’s luggage, Rachel’s backpack and Donny’s duffel in the central hallway. “Here are your belongings,” said Callaghan. As Alexa righted her larger roll-on, then the smaller one, and placed her purse on the big one, Callaghan said, “May I suggest a tour of the Temple?”

  She asked, “Can we see Rachel?”

  “Aye ye can, through glass. She is still feeling punky, though I think a brief visit is safe.”

  All her ideas kept coming up against a brick wall. Alexa blew out her breath. “Just a sec, please.” She extracted her computer from the side pouch on the small roll-on, opened and turned it on. “Want to see if my computer works.” Photos of Mac and me, please be there. The screen lit up. Her photos were safe. “There’s no such thing as an Internet? It’s not picking up any kind of signal.”

  “If you mean the Dataflow, yes, there is.”

  “Ah. Documents in the cloud will be safe. Right.” Alexa closed the computer and returned it into the pouch. Then she reached into her handbag for lip-gloss, where she found it in the appropriate place.

  But the package, the one in gold cloth entrusted to her, was absent. In a split second, all those old, and not so old, self-doubts hit. She hadn’t done enough to keep everything, everyone safe. Alexa frantically emptied her purse. “Something is missing.” When Callaghan didn’t appear surprised, she pressed, “Do your people steal?”