Ascension Discovery

  Everyone followed Barla as she turned around and moved purposely toward the dining room. The men sat at the table as Barla and Amanda went into the kitchen and brought out plates, glasses, and silverware to set up in front of each person’s seat. Barla pulled each entrée out of the bags and set them up buffet style in the center of the table. She returned to the kitchen and retrieved serving utensils. With everything finally set up, the women sat at the table as Ahn said the blessing.

  As the food was being consumed with relish, Ahn said, “So whose news do you want to share first?”

  “Oh, definitely yours first! There will be way too many questions with my news. Plus mine is a way more cheerful way to end the evening,” Barla reasoned.

  “Okay. My news will actually be quite short as there’s not much to share. We followed up on today’s lead regarding a sighting of Petre. As it turned out, it was a false report. People have begun to hear there’s a reward for any news of his whereabouts and anyone who is looking to make a quick shill is coming out of the woodwork. So, that’s it, really. We are no closer to finding Petre, but we do know he will have to come ashore at some point to restock. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer before we have some solid information.

  “So, since I’m done, why don’t you share the news which is fairly buzzing from you, Barla?”

  “Okay! While Amanda was away, she actually met with my sister!”

  Ahn immediately looked toward Amanda at this newest revelation. He comprehended it meant Amanda had been back to Earth and then returned to Tuala somehow. Now he was really intrigued to hear how this had come about. More importantly, he wanted to know how Barla was going to handle this conversation with Bryon in the room. They had never shared Barla’s true heritage with Bryon, but they knew they could trust him as an old soul sympathizer. He looked back at Barla and then purposely back to Bryon.

  Barla understood the look and nodded her confirmation to her husband. “Before I go any further,” she turned to address Bryon, “I must ask that anything we discuss tonight is kept in the strictest confidentiality. I hope this doesn’t offend you, Bryon. I know you have always been someone we could trust intimately. It’s just this is the most important part of my life, and you would be holding my future in your hands.”

  Bryon was both uncomfortable and honored that Barla wanted to include him in this private conversation. Just because he had arrived with Amanda on the visit did not mean he needed to be included in the discussion so he offered, “If you would rather I go back into town so you can speak privately with Amanda, I would completely understand. I won’t be offended in any way, I promise!”

  Barla waved her hand in a dismissive manner and said, “No, don’t be silly. You have a stake in this as well, what with Amanda and Juila living in your house. Besides, there might be something you can do to help us once all of the facts are known.”

  “Okay. Only if you’re certain.” He was intrigued at where this conversation was going, and he really did want to be included but not at the expense of his friendship with Ahn and Barla. Bryon watched Barla intently to make sure she was not just placating him, but she really did want him to know her private family secrets. “I will keep whatever I learn here completely private. I won’t do anything to betray your trust.”

  Barla nodded in agreement and then continued with her original story. “Amanda and I are both from Earth.” She watched as Bryon swallowed purposely as he digested this amazing piece of news.

  While he had visited Earth when he was a teenager, and he had heard of people from Earth in Tuala, he did not know he had actually lived with an old soul. Upon first meeting Amanda, he had wondered about her true identity, yet she had learned their ways so rapidly he doubted his original ideas concerning her. Bryon simply nodded as though this were an ordinary fact to let Barla know to continue.

  “As it turns out, Amanda is actually the daughter of my sister.” Barla turned to Ahn and said, “Which would explain why I felt such a deep connection with her from the start. Initially, I just believed it was because she was a swimmer and displaced as I had been. However, now I know it was more than that. It also explains why Juila looks so much like our Rasa, Ahn. They are cousins!”

  Ahn seemed less astounded by the news than Barla had been. He sat quietly and contemplated the meaning of these new revelations. He wondered if they ought to have Amanda and Juila come and live with them. It only seemed right since they were family. He was sure Barla would want to get to know her nieces and be able to catch up on family news.

  As if reading his thoughts, Barla said, “I would love to have the two of them come live here, I just don’t know how safe it would be until Petre has been located.”

  Amanda looked hastily at Bryon to see what he thought of Barla’s idea about her moving. More than once she had felt as though she had outstayed her welcome at Bryon’s house. Never had she intended to be living with him and his family for two years.

  Bryon answered Amanda’s unspoken question when he rapidly voiced his opinion, “I’m sure it would be better for her to stay with us. As Ahn said, it can’t be too much longer before Petre comes ashore. Besides, teleportation is a quick means of travel. Amanda can come see you as often as you’d like.”

  Amanda did not know if she should be glad or disappointed Bryon wanted her to continue to live with them. She really did want to get to know her long-lost aunt, but she also had to consider the safety of Juila while Jena was still missing. It appeared Petre did not know of Juila’s existence and they would all like to keep him ignorant of that fact.

  “I’m sure we can make those arrangements,” Barla agreed. She had a contented smile on her lips as she looked from Juila to Amanda and then to her husband. Her life felt complete because she finally had a link to her past. She had thought she was okay with her decision to never try to return to Earth, yet now she regretted missing out on her family’s life events. This would be her opportunity to get some of the histories back.

  “I don’t want to bore you with my story, Bryon, but you may not know how I came to Tuala. A few months, mesans as they’re called here, after my eighteenth birthday, my friends and I went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, known here as the Gulf of Thulen, between Cuba and Cancun, or Reesun and Cresdon. Wow, it’s a mouthful when you have to use two different names for everything!

  “Anyway, we had been out sailing when we decided to go for a swim. The ocean was refreshing but still warm. I swam out farther than my friends when suddenly all of these bubbles rose from beneath me. In an instant, I was unable to stay afloat, and I sank. Almost as soon as it began, the bubbles vanished, and I was able to return to the surface. I remember gasping for air as I came up out of the water, relieved to have survived the bizarre incident.

  “I turned to go back to the sailboat only to discover I was quite alone in the water. I’m not quite sure how long I tread and stared in disbelief at the emptiness around me, but I knew I would have to start swimming in order to make landfall. Not long after, Ahn came sailing along in his water craft and picked me up out of the sea. I say it was love at first sight; however, I was also very relieved to be rescued.”

  Ahn reached over and patted Barla’s hand. He vividly remembered rescuing Barla. She was the first swimmer he had ever picked up when he was still manning his own shipping vessel before becoming the Harbor Master and retiring from active service. Oftentimes, he missed those days of freedom on the seas, yet he enjoyed his married life much more than he ever dreamed possible.

  “You’ve had an incredible journey, Barla. I had no idea how you two had met. One of these days, we will have to sit down and talk about Earth. I went there once as a young boy. It was one of my rights of passage,” Bryon said while wanting to let her know he shared her interest in Earth since he had been there as well, and knew it was a normal place and not the dangerous habitation some of the Elders taught people here in Tuala.

  “I had wondered about that,” Barla admitted. “It seems most of the old soul s
ympathizers have had some interaction with Earth, even though I never felt comfortable asking directly. I thought it might seem odd or inappropriate somehow.”

  “I wish you would have since it would have been nice to have someone to talk to about it. There have been several times I started to tell my wife about it, but it seemed we were always interrupted. She seemed eager to hear about it, but it’s never been a subject we have finished.”

  “Speaking of finished,” Barla brought the conversation back to Amanda and her news, “Amanda will need help to get herself and Juila back to Earth. She was telling me about a Tualan who lives on Earth, working on behalf of Elder Vargen, who helped her return to Tuala after the unfortunate hiking incident.” Barla looked sadly over toward Bryon who had felt responsible for killing Amanda and orphaning her twin daughters. Since Amanda was back, he no longer had to carry the guilt, but his new responsibility was to find Jena and reunite Amanda’s small family.

  Bryon looked amazed at the revelation any of the Elders would send Tualan representatives to Earth after all of the negative things he had heard about their opinion on the matter. He wondered about Elder Vargen being a sympathizer, but then he remembered he was, in fact, one of the founders of the Old Soul Engineering Facility where the people from Earth were detained for questioning. Somehow he doubted Elder Vargen had a good reason for sending someone to Earth permanently. Because his curiosity was piqued, he promised himself when he got back home he would look into the matter to see if he could determine how long Elder Vargen had held an interest in Earth.

  “We would love for Amanda to be able to get a message back to her parents letting them know she was doing okay, but we don’t know how to do it without bringing unwanted attention to ourselves or to the woman who helped her. Does anyone have any ideas on how we might get in touch with my sister and her husband?”

  Everyone sat in silence as they tried to figure out a method where nobody would get implicated in the illicit activity. Bryon began to remember his teenage rights of passage. Each boy would create a verifiable incident on Earth and then return to show it to the other boys. There never seemed to be any risk of discovery, but then they were trying to stay away from the people on Earth. Barla was suggesting actual contact be made.

  Barla could see Bryon was concentrating very hard and decided she should ask him his idea before he tried to talk himself out of addressing the thought. “What has your wheels turning so intently, Bryon?”

  He blinked and smiled in embarrassment as though he had been caught out and replied offhandedly, “I was just recalling the pranks us young boys pulled when we went to Earth to prove how grown up we were.”

  “Bryon, you might be on to something. How did everybody get to and from Earth without being seen?”

  “Some of us used the special places in the caves outside of town, and some of the richer kids used their parents’ telepods. It usually depended upon opportunity more than actual planning.”

  “I’ve seen those caves,” Barla interrupted with excitement. “It always felt like there was something special about them, but nothing ever happened when I was there. Are all of the caves the same or is there something which needs to be done to have them work properly?”

  Bryon had not expected a direct question about how the caves were supposed to be activated. As a young boy, he had been sworn to secrecy about how to trigger the Gates. He was warned the secret must be kept from people from Earth or else Tuala would soon be overrun by the dangerous foreigners. Unquestionably he had agreed to keep the secret, who was ever going to ask him about it? Now, here were two people from Earth who were wanting to know the very thing which was supposed to be kept from them.

  Amanda could see the indecision on Bryon’s face and took pity on him, “It’s okay, Bryon, I already know how they are activated. Don’t share anything which might put you in a precarious position.”

  Bryon looked both relieved and appalled that the decision was taken from him. Now he had to wonder how many others knew the secret.

  Amanda continued her explanation, “The very activation of the Gate is specifically designed to allow Tualans to come and go from Earth, but it also limits us who live on Earth. Even though we can use the Gate, it is designed to hide our memories from ourselves. As you have said, Bryon, you went through the Gate as a teenager but didn’t suffer any memory loss on either side. If we,” she gestured to herself and Barla before continuing, “want to go through in either direction, we have to be sure to write down everything we want to re-remember when we get to the other side. Even with the notes, it is difficult for us to accept as true what has happened since it really goes against all of our beliefs about reality.”

  “So that was the note you wrote to yourself when we first saw you back at our house? How come I’ve never heard about those aspects of the Gates?” Bryon asked as he started to gather Amanda was talking about how she had come back after being missing for mesans.

  “I don’t think it’s common knowledge. The Gates are all supposed to be monitored by the Elders. The most powerful ones actually are watched, but the caves outside of town are very old and not as powerful, so they are left untended.”

  Barla interrupted with an abrupt question as she asked, “Amanda, do you have the ability to go back anytime you want?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” she replied hesitantly. “I was told it might be dangerous for my daughters based on the color of birth crystals they received. Since Juila’s is dark red and Jena’s is black, they indicate very dangerous lives. It’s not known if the danger is posed by me trying to take them through the Gate or if it’s because of their lives if they remained living here.

  “I’m not really liking either decision, although I’m not going anywhere until we can find and question Petre. If everyone is correct in the idea he can’t stay gone too much longer, then hopefully we’ll have Jena back soon, and then I can decide what will be best for all of us.”

  “I would really love the opportunity to get to know the three of you better, Amanda,” Barla said with a sense of urgency because she knew Amanda could potentially leave any day.

  “Me, too. You are one of the reasons I have for staying in Tuala. I’d also like to see how Juila’s power manifests.”

  Barla looked at Amanda with a confused expression and then she spoke hesitantly, “What makes you think the girls will have any powers?”

  “Because I’ve seen Juila demonstrate them for me just today,” Amanda answered with a little smugness in her voice.

  “I’m confused. Isn’t their father, your fiancé, from Earth?”

  “Yes. What’s that got to do with their potential powers?”

  “It’s just if both parents are from Earth, then the children wouldn’t have any powers. It’s not the land which imbues the power in the person, it’s the parents. Unless either you or Nealand is really from Tuala, then neither of your children would inherit any elemental power.”

  “You must be mistaken, Barla. You know where my family comes from, we are Earthlings to the core. Nealand comes from an affluent family in Florida which can trace its heritage back forever. And yet I saw Juila manifest a glass of pika juice for me right before we teleported over here.” She looked over to Bryon for affirmation. “You heard what Alena said about wanting to teach Juila since she’s shown an interest, right?”

  “I did,” Bryon began and then started to wonder if what Barla was saying had any merit. Since Amanda’s crystal ceremony he had finally believed Amanda was from Tuala so it would make sense for her children to use their power. But assuming Barla’s interpretation on the matter, then maybe Nealand was not the children’s father as Amanda had thought. He drew in a sharp breath as he grasped the worst news possible, Petre MacVeen was their father!

  Amanda had been watching Bryon and recognized he had thought of something rather important. “What is it, Bryon?”

  “I just realized Petre MacVeen might have a valid claim to Jena. Since the children clearly have power, it
stands to reason while Petre held you captive on his water craft, he probably took advantage of you while you were recovering from your head injury. I think Petre might be Juila and Jena’s real father.”

  Dead silence permeated the room. Amanda’s stricken expression said everything to each adult in the room. She reviewed every thought and deed she could recall from the time she was held against her will by Petre so long ago.

  She remembered being appalled at seeing how her inner thighs and breasts were massively bruised the first time she was allowed to go to the bathroom alone from Petre’s overprotective presence. Also, every time he gave her the foxl broth, which must have contained the drug epeny, she would fall into a deep sleep so he could have his way with her. In horror, she recalled asking Petre for his special broth so she could sleep and have more dreams which helped her to recover her identity. Amanda had thought her head injury had caused her memory loss, but now she knew it was the transfer into Tuala which erased her memories.

  The more she thought about what Petre most likely had done to her, the more ill she began to feel. Petre could not be her children’s father. Nealand was their father, yet he had adamantly insisted they had never slept together and repeatedly insisted Amanda was mistaken. Could she have been wrong? Or had she convinced herself otherwise since she just did not want to believe her beautiful little girls could be fathered by such a monster as Petre?

  Did Petre really have a claim to her daughters? Would she have to share custody of them with him? Was this why the girls each had such dark birth crystals because they were going to interact with Petre for their entire lives?

  Amanda suddenly looked at Ahn desperately and implored, “If Petre is their father, am I going to have to share the children with him?”