Ascension Discovery

  Jena’s crying and eating had sufficiently worn her out and her eyelids started to droop. Petre was incredibly relieved when she finally settled into sleep once again.

  Hastily exchanging her dirty towel for a clean one, he settled her back into the laundry basket. He sighed with relief when he finished washing the milk out of the last towel and wrung out the excess water.

  He did not know how he was going to continue to do this alone. Plans still had to be made to dispose of the cargo he had pilfered, and he had rounds to make in his water craft. He had no idea how he was going to do that if Jena required all of his attention all of the time. Wearily, he draped the towel on the back of a chair and then dropped his drained body onto the sleeping platform next to the table. Within seconds, he was asleep.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Frasnia had knocked on Bryon’s front door before the sun was up the next day. She did not even worry about whether or not she was going to wake up the family. She figured they probably did not get much sleep anyway with Jena missing. Thinking Bryon probably wanted an update on what she had found with the telepod beacons she had come prepared.

  Bryon answered the door within a few seconds of her knocking. “Come in, Frasnia. Thanks for coming over so early.” He gestured for her to precede him into the living room. “Sit here while I go get Alena.” He swiftly walked from the living room toward the kitchen.

  Moments later Alena and Bryon entered the living room and sat on the couch across from Frasnia. Alena spoke first, “Frasnia, how good of friends would you say you are with Ninan?”

  That was about the last thing Frasnia expected to be asked. She sat in stunned silence for a moment before she stammered, “I think he’s a really nice man.” She did not know really what they wanted her to say so she asked what she was thinking, “What’s going on? Do you think Ninan had something to do with Jena’s disappearance?”

  “That’s just it,” Bryon spoke up briskly, “we don’t know what to think. We have been wracking our brains trying to figure out if there is a connection between Jena’s disappearance, Petre MacVeen, Ninan, and yourself.”

  “You think I have had something to do with this?” Frasnia asked with incredulity. She was a little more than hurt to believe they could think so unfavorably about her.

  “Not directly,” Alena corrected immediately. “I think you may have passed on some information, completely by accident…mind you…but we can’t figure out any other way it could have happened.”

  Now Frasnia was even more confused and demanded, “How what could have happened? I think you guys need to start explaining things before I get even more upset!”

  “Calm down, Frasnia. Nobody is blaming you for anything. We think you were used just like we were,” Bryon began. He spent the next few minutes going over all the details they had figured out the evening before. When Bryon told Frasnia their theory about Ninan and Petre knowing one another, Frasnia gasped. “What is it?” Bryon asked immediately.

  “I did tell Ninan about you two adopting Jena!” She said with a gasp of shame at her indiscretion. “Oh, and on Jumat when Ninan took that shipment he said he wanted to go early to get lunch at the Port of Cerid. Do you think he met up with Petre? Oh, my goodness, all of this is my fault! If I had kept my big mouth shut about your business, then Jena would still be safe and sound at home with you! Bryon, I’m going to clear my things out of the office as soon as I leave here! I’m so sorry!”

  “Stop, Frasnia! I won’t hear of you doing any such thing,” Bryon yelled impatiently at Frasnia. After taking a calming breath, he continued in a quieter voice, “We all have our part in this unfortunate story, and we can all find ways to blame ourselves for our part in it. However, right now we all need to work together to figure out what happened to all three people who are currently missing. Let’s start with the most obvious lead we have, shall we? What did you learn about the telepod beacons?”

  “I didn’t find anything out yesterday,” she said with some desperation. “The system crashed which tracks the beacons. I contacted a technician, and he worked on it all afternoon. He assured me he would have it functional before the start of business today. If you have your patil on I can probably access the data from here.” She looked desperately from Alena to Bryon. She was willing to do anything to alleviate her sense of guilt over her inadvertent indiscretion in this terrible tragedy.

  Bryon led them to his home office and turned on his patil. He moved from the seat and gestured for Frasnia to sit down and take over. Frasnia typed a few commands and was soon on the main screen which had not been working the previous day. She entered her security codes and then navigated through several screens before she got to the beacon location plot map.

  Usually, she had to have a general idea of which map to pull up to find any given beacon signal. She scanned map after map for any signals which might be of interest. One after another she dismissed them until she got to the map containing the coastline of Ishal. She almost did not believe her eyes and stared at it for a second longer before she cried out, “I’ve got it!”

  Frasnia moved to the side as both Bryon and Alena crowded close to look on the screen. “Let me zoom in so we can have a more accurate location,” she offered as she typed a few more commands. “One more time,” she mumbled to herself and then said, “Okay, here it is. It’s on the coastline of Ishal near the Lookout Tavern.”

  Bryon looked for a second longer and then took over the keyboard of the patil. Frasnia swiftly moved out of the way as the screen filled with the face of a police official.

  “Kirma Authorities, how can I direct your call?”

  “Lead authority for the missing person named Jena Kesh.”

  “One moment please.” The receptionist did not wait for a reply before she switched the screen to a holding pattern. Within a few seconds, the screen blinked once, then twice before the face of an authority Bryon recognized filled the screen.

  “Mr. Kesh, how can I help you today?”

  “We have located the missing freighter telepod. It’s on the coastline of Ishal near the Lookout Tavern. Can you please contact someone near there to investigate right away?”

  “Sure thing, Mr. Kesh. I’ll get right on it. Anything else?”

  “That’s all for now, thank you,” Bryon replied and then terminated the connection.

  Bryon turned to Frasnia and said, “Good job, Frasnia. I’m going to be staying home today. Can you please continue searching for the personal telepod at the office? It doesn’t look as though it’s near the freighter.”

  Frasnia did not take offense that Bryon wanted her to get to work. She was already late as it was and she knew Bryon wanted to be alone with his wife. She nodded her head and said, “Absolutely, Bryon. When I find the other telepod, I’ll let you know immediately. Also, I will think about any and all conversations I’ve had with Ninan to see if I can remember anything else. I really am sorry for getting you into this mess.”

  She stood up and walked around the desk. She wished there was more she could do, but she decided to do the only thing she could and get herself into work. She vowed she would not rest until she found the other telepod.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Amanda found herself rubbing her left arm again and consciously removed her hand. She looked up at Shemalla and smiled in embarrassment. “I still can’t believe my arm is healed. The x-ray technician told us that the break looked as though it had been repaired for quite some time before the doctor came in and told him to keep his opinion to himself.”

  Shemalla just smiled back at her not really knowing what to say. She was not actually thinking about Amanda’s arm right now. She was trying to think of any other complication which might arise when she transported Amanda to the gate in Mexico later that morning. Not knowing what to expect she was trying to anticipate every possible contingency.

  Amanda looked down at her non-descript, Tualan-style carry sack. Shemalla had given her the bag when she first came over. “What is this?” Ama
nda asked as the accepted the bag.

  “It contains some provisions which you might find useful until you can get to Bryon’s house in Kirma.”

  Amanda opened the top of the sack and peered in to see the contents. She could see clothing, simple travel food, and a bottle of water. “Thank you, Shemalla. I have a few things I want to add as well.”

  “Just make sure whatever you take would pass as normal in Tuala. I don’t want you to make any mistakes which might get you in trouble with the Elders,” she cautioned unnecessarily.

  “I’ll be selective. I’m more anxious than anyone to succeed at this journey!”

  “I guess you would be,” she agreed half-heartedly.

  “Is there something wrong, Shemalla, you aren’t acting normal?”

  “I’ve been trying to decide if I should have you try something first,” she responded cryptically.

  “What is it?”

  Shemalla did not answer right away and finally decided something in her mind. Instead of answering, she reached up and removed her birth crystal from around her neck. She held the chain out to Amanda and said, “Hold the diamond in your hand.”

  More than a little confused, Amanda held out her hand and allowed Shemalla to drop the warm diamond into it. She closed her fingers over it automatically. “What are we doing?”

  “I want you to experiment with something before you go,” she paused for a few moments and then continued, “I want to see if you can use my crystal the way I can use it.”

  “Oh,” Amanda said as she realized just how important this experiment could prove to be. “What do I need to do?”

  “Keep your hand closed and concentrate on the warmth you feel coming from the stone. Really focus and try to imagine the source of the heat inside the rock. Keep breathing normally,” Shemalla instructed. She watched Amanda’s face for any sign that something was changing. She thought she saw a subtle change and then instructed, “Now that you feel the core, imagine pushing the elemy outside of the stone and beyond your hand. Keep breathing.”

  Amanda wanted this to work not only for herself but for her guide as well. She imagined she actually could move the energy she was feeling. Suddenly it worked, and Amanda gasped and said, “I felt the power jump from my hand!”

  “Good, Amanda, keep focusing your thoughts on the elemy. I want you to open your eyes and physically move that energy and set it into my outstretched hand,” Shemalla followed her own instructions and put out her hand, palm up about a foot away from Amanda’s hand containing the diamond.

  She waited patiently for the feel of the familiar energy. When it touched her hand finally, she almost cried out herself. “That’s enough, Amanda. You can let go of your focus now.” She reached over to Amanda’s hand and gently retrieved her necklace. She felt relief when she put it back around her neck and sensed its accustomed energy pulse into her chest as it rested against her skin. The crystal seemed the same as usual which also relieved her.

  Amanda sat beside Shemalla with a look of wonder on her face. “That was incredible, Shemalla. Do you think that was normal?”

  “I don’t think anything about you is normal, Amanda!” She replied with a chuckle to take any sting out of her words.

  “But what did that actually prove?”

  “Only that an Earth being is capable of using the elemy that Tualans take for granted. It’s a shame I don’t have another diamond I could send with you as a talisman for the gate,” Shemalla murmured, almost to herself.

  “You mean to say that the birth crystals are a talisman?”

  “Yes, didn’t I say that before?” Shemalla asked with a little confusion.

  “No! That’s kind of an important detail don’t you think?”

  “Sorry, I told you some things are so commonly known that it doesn’t seem necessary to mention.”

  “I’m sorry, Shemalla, that wasn’t fair of me to snap at you like that. You’re doing everything you can to help me,” she felt embarrassed at her outburst. “I must be more nervous about what we’re going to do than I thought! I’m not usually this touchy.”

  “It’s okay, Amanda, I understand,” she patted Amanda’s hand comfortingly.

  They sat in silence for a few moments before Amanda’s expression suddenly brightened, and she asked hurriedly, “Do you think any diamond would work as a talisman?”

  “As long as it’s good quality, any diamond would do the job,” she said. “Why, do you have one?”

  “I have a two-carat diamond engagement ring back in my hotel room,” she answered with a smile. “At least it will be good for something!”

  “I didn’t know you were engaged,” Shemalla said, slightly confused.

  “I’m not engaged anymore. He got another girlfriend when he thought I was dead. Now he just thinks I’m crazy because I told him what happened to me. He even had the audacity to deny that the twins are his!” Amanda could feel her anger rising and decided Nealand was not worth the trouble. She would use his engagement ring to get herself back to their children.

  “Oh,” Shemalla said when Amanda finished her tirade. “Let’s go get your ring and we can experiment with it to see if you can access its elemy. If you can, then this is the last piece of the puzzle which had me concerned about the success of your journey.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  HIS DREAMS WERE filled with screams, and he wished it would stop so he could relax back into his magnificent fantasy. Rolling over, Petre realized the screams were not part of his nightmare, they were coming from Jena on the table. He fell out of the bed, scraping both knees, in his hurry to rush across the room.

  He glanced up from the floor just in time to see Jena leaning against the side of the basket. Watching in horror, he saw almost in slow motion the hamper tip over and Jena tumble out of the carrier, across the table, and over the edge. Petre made a mad leap from his knees to catch Jena before she hit the flooring.

  With supernatural speed, Petre managed to rescue Jena from the fall but at the expense of his jarred back, bruised elbow, and the lump growing on his head when he hit the chair. Jena was not any happier with her sudden fall or rescue.

  She continued to scream at the top of her lungs and was not content to be coddled by Petre. Not knowing what to do with her he set her safely on the floor. Groaning with the effort, he picked himself up from the ground and went to pour a cup of milk for Jena.

  Petre knelt down in front of Jena and set the cup up against her open, screaming mouth. She paused in her cry to find out what was being offered. He took it as an invitation to pour a few drops of milk in her mouth. He was wrong. She used her tongue to push the milk out of her mouth, and she used her arm to swipe the milk cup out of Petre’s hand. He watched in disbelief as the cup flew from his fingers and spilled the milk across the cabinets and onto the floor. He looked back at Jena as she began a fresh set of screams.

  “What do you need?” he cried in exasperation. Of course, he did not receive any reply from Jena so he picked up the cup and returned it to the counter. His eyes fell on the crackers, and he grabbed one. Kneeling again in front of her he said, “Jena, be a good girl and eat this cracker.” He held it out to her and was surprised when she actually took it from his hand.

  He watched as she used both her hands to crumble it into small pieces. One or two crumbs actually made it to her mouth, but most of it fell to the floor. She leaned forward and patted the crumbs on the flooring with the flat of her hand. With pieces stuck to her hand, she started to lift her palm to her mouth. When Petre realized she was going to eat the filthy crumbs he reacted instantly. “NO,” Petre yelled and swiped her hand from her face.

  Startled, Jena began to cry again. Petre felt terrible for overreacting and picked her up and held her in his arms. He spoke to her calmly even though he had to talk louder than normal to be heard over her crying and said, “I’m sorry I startled you, Jena. You can’t eat dirty things off of the ground. Here, let me get you a new cracker, okay?”

  He was
rubbing her back, and his voice did seem to have a calming effect as her cries were lessening to whimpers. He had taken small steps toward the kitchen counter and was able to pick up another cracker. He offered it to her, and she grabbed it from his hand. She immediately threw it on the floor, associating crackers with him yelling at her.

  “That’s not nice, Jena. Don’t throw food on the floor,” he said and looked around for something else for her to eat. “Let me get you a piece of bread, you liked that last night.” One-handed, he wrestled a piece of bread from the bag and brought it to Jena’s mouth. She tried to take it from him, but he held on. He was learning.

  She managed to rip sections off of both sides with each hand, but some of what Petre still held made it into her mouth. She happily gummed the bread into a disgusting mush. She spread it around her face, down her chin, across her chest, and even managed to get some in her hair. Petre was smiling with relief that she was not only eating, but she was also no longer screaming. He sat down in the chair and continued to feed Jena.

  Petre realized he needed to change his original plans. He was going to have to hire someone to take care of Jena while he found buyers for his newest inventory. Suddenly he was glad he had not removed the boxes from the telepod. His ability to pack up and leave immediately was increased immensely. Now he just had to gather up all of the things which Jena had messed up the evening before. While she was happily nibbling on the crust of her bread, he collected the towels and clothing and threw them into the now-upright laundry basket.

  With everything piled high in the laundry basket in one arm and Jena in the other arm, Petre struggled out the front door sideways. Jena started to squirm at being held too tightly. Petre realized he was squeezing her so he relaxed his grasp and continued on toward the telepod beside the shack. He had to set the basket down to free a hand to palm open the telepod door, and some of the contents of the basket spilled out.