Answering Ascension

by Amy Proebstel

  The laughter died down, and they were silent for a moment with their own thoughts. “Do you think we should ask him for help with our problem?” Juila suddenly asked.

  “I don’t know yet. I don’t want to worry about that right now,” she said as she stood up from the bed and picked up her backpack. She pulled out her Spanish textbook and said, “I need to study this Spanish if I plan on passing the class. I suggest you work on the Biology. We could both use some help on that subject!”

  Juila wrinkled her nose at the thought of the disgusting class. She would be glad when the term was over, and she could take something more tasteful. Juila got up off of the bed and went to her own room. She got the Biology book out of her bag and threw it on her bed.

  Amanda released her hold on Juila’s crystal and reached out to touch Riccan on the arm. She waited for him to refocus his eyes on her own before she asked, “What problem do you think they have?”

  “I don’t know. One thing is for sure; I’m going to have to talk to them about reading people’s thoughts. It’s considered very rude, you know. I wouldn’t have expected it from either of them. From the sounds of it, they make a regular practice of fishing into people’s minds. It’s just not done!” Riccan’s voice was getting louder the longer he talked about it.

  Amanda squeezed his arm and said, “Hush, Riccan. Do you want to let the girls know we were looking in on them? We need to figure out the right time to bring this up. We need to have a plan of our own. Besides, I already told them not to do it at school.” While she did not like the idea of the girls’ rude behavior, she was more concerned that they had a problem they did not feel comfortable sharing with either of them. She would have to work on building trust with them, apparently.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ALENA HAD A hard time concentrating on her patient load now that she had met with Jehoban personally. She could hardly believe she was going to be involved in something so important. When she had helped care for those twins so long ago, she never imagined it would change her own life, let alone the lives of everyone in Tuala.

  She pushed away from the patil where she had been reviewing patient records. It was no use trying to work when her mind was clearly elsewhere. She got up from the desk and went into the kitchen.

  She had not been paying attention to the time and walked into the hallway just as her children came bombarding through the front door. “Oh,” she exclaimed rocking back on her heels to avoid a collision with Justan, her oldest son.

  “Sorry, Mom,” he said as he stopped in front of her. He leaned forward and gave her a quick hug and kiss.

  “It’s okay. You just startled me.” She smiled across at him. He had grown so big this year, and she could now look him in the eyes. She could hardly believe he was in his fifth year of school. He had yet to decide what crystal electives he wanted to take in school. She fervently hoped he would look into healing.

  Just behind Justan was his betrothed, Andera. She was such a lovely girl with her long, wavy, blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked so dainty next to Justan. They were the same age and also about to be choosing her new electives in school. She had already affirmed her intention to go into healing. Maybe her decision would prompt Justan to follow her.

  Alena looked beyond the two youngsters and asked, “Where’s Kyelon?” Her youngest son was usually pretty close to his older brother. He had a more sensitive nature and was easily teased by other kids. He had learned early on that being close to Justan kept the other kids away from him.

  Justan answered, “He stopped off at Tana’s house to see if she needed any help.” The couple linked arms and continued on into the living room to begin their afternoon studies.

  Alena usually liked to watch their progress in the crystal skills, sometimes offering helpful hints for improvement. Today they seemed to want to be alone, so she walked to the kitchen instead. She had to look in the refrigerator to see what they would be having for dinner anyway. She had wanted to make foxl stew, but she could not remember if they had used the last of the vegetables. She might be making a last-minute trip to the market.

  Alena could not believe Bryon had chosen to go into the office after their meeting ended. She would have liked to talk this matter over with him. Of course, she understood his responsibilities at Kirma Shipping and Receiving, but this matter seemed slightly more important.

  Bryon had mentioned the idea of them getting together with Captain Ahn and Barla soon. Maybe he was onto a good idea with his suggestion. If the four of them worked together, then they might be able to figure out a way to be of more assistance to either the twins or their mother.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Captain Ahn and Barla had gone straight to their home after the meeting on Acaim. Even though it was a weekday and Ahn should have gone down to the dock, they needed to digest all of the things which had been revealed to them that day. They had asked Rasa to accompany them home, but she had declined as usual.

  This was one time in particular where he would have wished she had come home. There were so many questions he had about Juila and Jena. His most vivid memories of the girls were when they were so young. He wanted to know what had happened with them in the past nine anons and what they thought about this new prophecy. Rasa had seemed reticent to even talk about the girls she had practically raised.

  “Were you able to get any information about the twins from Rasa?” Ahn could not help but ask.

  “Only that they’ve been reunited with their mom and they’re now living on Earth,” Barla replied.

  “I wonder if Elder Debbon knows about that particular turn of events. If Jena left without his knowledge then there will certainly be a problem,” Ahn declared.

  “You know how I’ve felt about that betrothal since the moment I found out about it. I hope Jena gets to experience whatever she wants while she’s on Earth. Elder Debbon has presumed too much on that girl already. She is way too good for his lousy son,” Barla continued with her diatribe. Another thought struck her, and she asked, “Have you ever seen how Willian looks at Jena? He is obviously jealous of her talent. I think Jena would make a better Elder than Willian, regardless of the fact that Elder Debbon is First.”

  “You shouldn’t talk that way, Barla,” Ahn cautioned. “I know how you feel, but you never know who might be listening in to our conversations.” He had noticed over the anons, on the few occasions when they had the opportunity to see Jena when she was visiting with Elder Debbon’s family, the discord between the two betrothed children.

  “I know, Ahn. I’m sorry. I just am so sick of the Elders thinking they deserve so much more just because of their position in society,” she apologized. “Just think, Ahn, we were included in the same meeting as two of the Elders. We are going to help change the world.”

  “I hope it will be for the better,” Ahn said quietly as he turned away.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chelesa was not excited about the prospect of her first-daughter being involved in this mess. She could not see any way to make this situation better. Her husband had kept his cool during the meeting, but he had seriously lost his cool on their trip home. She had taken over control of their telepod just to make sure they actually made it home.

  It had been hard enough to keep Willian from being jealous of his betrothed; now she feared it would be impossible. She wished Willian put as much effort into his crystal studies as he did in being resentful of Jena’s skills and the fact that she was selected to live on Acaim whereas he was not. Chelesa had never thought the day would come when she would rather have had her son taken away to live with Jehoban than keep him home for herself.

  If the two kids had grown up together on Acaim then maybe Willian could have grown to love Jena. What she found so sad about the whole situation was that Jena truly was in love with Willian even with all of his harsh words and actions toward her. She was such a sweet girl. If there were a way to break the betrothal, she would have done it long ago.

  She could hear h
er husband stomping down the hall toward her private study. Normally she was able to calm him with words of reason, however, this time she was in need of calming herself. This was bound to be a loud meeting. It was a good thing Willian had not yet returned from school to be present for the upcoming tirade.

  The door to her office flung open, and Debbon stormed through the opening just in time to miss being hit by the door swinging shut after it bounced off the wall behind it. “Can you believe this?”

  “No,” Chelesa agreed with him. She was about to tell him to sit down before she realized he would be better off pacing, it would help him burn off some energy.

  “I asked to see Jena before we left. Do you know what I was told?” Debbon planted his fists on her desk and leaned toward his wife. “She’s no longer on Acaim.”

  “What? Where is she?” Chelesa was horrified by this news. How could she be kept safe if she were no longer on Acaim? There had to be some mistake.

  “She’s with her mother on Earth! On Earth, Chelesa! And her sister went with her, too!” He resumed his angry pacing as he tried to figure out what to do next.

  “Her mother? Are you saying she went with Elder Daven’s daughter-in-law?” she asked in confusion.

  “Yes. What are we going to do about it? We have to maintain control over Jena if we are going to keep her interested in our son,” Debbon stated. He had such hopes for Jena being the one with power when his son finally became eligible to be an Elder. He loved his son, but he had to admit Jena would make the better Elder out of the two of them.

  For once, Chelesa felt a ray of hope shining on their family. If Jena were out of reach then maybe Willian would discover his own power instead of feeling the need to compete with Jena. If he had more confidence in his own ability, he would excel in his studies. Chelesa could not think of anything constructive to say so she kept her mouth shut. She felt certain Debbon would come up with his own plan.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Nena pondered her knowledge of the whole situation regarding her new daughter-in-law. She was glad they had been able to perform both the marriage service as well as the adoption ceremony. She felt better knowing both Riccan and Amanda were able to access their children’s crystals to help keep them safe.

  She was sitting in her office with her elbows resting on the desktop. Her head was being supported by her hands as she went over every detail she knew about the prophecy. Now that Jehoban had told them they were to be involved in the fulfillment of it, she felt an added responsibility in doing her part. Her mind was plagued by an elusive thought. There was something important she was missing. The more she tried to push the thought to the forefront of her mind the more her head began to ache.

  “This is ridiculous,” she said out loud, even though she was the only one in the room. She pushed herself up from the desk and decided to go take a walk. Maybe the refreshing air outside would help her to recall the missing piece to the puzzle.

  As she left her office, Nena did not encounter any house staff while walking through the empty halls and grand living room where she opened the glass door to go out to the terrace. The sun shone brightly, which made her squint as she left the dim interior of the house. She continued across the stone terrace and down the stairs to the great lawn. The tops of the trees were blowing wildly in a breeze which could only be felt up high since the air was calm and still where Nena was walking.

  The prophecy had stated the Elders would fall. She had to make sure this part of the future would not affect her husband’s position. He was so good at his job, and the people adored him. It would be nice to discuss this matter with Daven, but he was resolving an issue with some of his constituents.

  If she had to predict which Elder would fall, she would guess Elder Vargen and his supporters. His assault against the people of Earth would surely anger Jehoban. She hated even thinking that way against an Elder, but he had brought it on himself by holding people prisoner. She was certain they did not even know the extent to which he went to extract knowledge from people. Now they had proof the Elder had drugged their own son to take his sperm. How much lower could an Elder get than to do something so dastardly?

  She had to leave that line of thinking, or she would never get anywhere. Nena could feel her blood pressure rising just thinking about how her son had been taken advantage of in the name of progress for Elder Vargen. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She counted slowly to ten as she released the breath out of her nose. Her anger had somewhat simmered, and she opened her eyes and once again appreciated the beauty around her.

  Maybe she should contact the wise-woman, Copa, to see if she knew more about the things Elder Vargen was involved with. If she had helped Amanda escape all of those anons ago, then she might be willing to work against Elder Vargen’s continued research in Earth technology. It was not much, but it was something into which to check.

  She wished she could have spent more time with both Jena and Juila. The extra twelve days they had spent with them had been a blessing; however, the time had slipped by so fast. Because the girls had been students of Jehoban, she knew they had displayed remarkable talent with their crystal skills. She would like to talk to them and find out where their particular strengths lay. If she knew that information, then she might be able to figure out what their possible role in the fulfillment of the prophecy would be.

  Maybe she and Daven should plan a trip to Earth. It had been over a declan since their last visit. If they stayed at Riccan’s house, then they would have ample opportunity to get to know the children and Amanda better. Even as the thought was forming, Nena knew it was a terrible idea. Her son was still on his honeymoon, and he would certainly not appreciate having his parents underfoot while he was amorous with his wife.

  The walk had done the trick of clearing her head of her negative thoughts. She turned around and retraced her steps through the gardens. She would go back to her patil and continue researching any angle for the prophecy. Maybe Riccan was on the right track in trying to locate all of the samaras.

  If she could locate some on her own, then Riccan would have fewer to search out. She smiled as she imagined herself finding the remaining eleven and offering them up to Riccan. Nena had never understood his deep-seated desire to locate them all, but now she wondered if it were his part in the fulfillment of the prophecy. Jehoban had told them to follow their hearts. Riccan’s heart was set on locating all thirteen crystal skulls. The idea definitely had possibilities. Maybe.

  Chapter Seventeen

  SOFIA SAW THE girls walking down the hallway heading toward their fifth-period class. She rushed over to talk to them with a huge smile on her face and said, “Guess what I got?”

  The two stared back at her and wondered what could be happening to get Sofia so excited. Since they had no idea, Jena was the first to ask, “What?”

  Sofia held up a small plastic card with her picture on it and smiled even brighter. “Can you believe it?” she said.

  The girls had no idea what the card signified and merely smiled politely because of their friend’s obvious happiness. “What is it?” Juila asked.

  Sofia’s smiled dimmed slightly at Juila’s question before she declared, “It’s my driver’s license! Isn’t it awesome?”

  Still, the girls were at a loss and shook their heads with confusion.

  Now Sofia’s smile disappeared completely as she demanded, “Don’t they drive in South Africa? It’s not like it’s a different planet! Geez. Here I thought you two would be more excited.”

  Jena and Juila both burst out laughing at Sofia’s statement about it being a different planet, and Juila stated, “You have no idea how different it is!” Juila spent a moment searching Sofia’s mind for the significance of the driver’s license and realized it was a very important thing for a sixteen-year-old to obtain one, so they could drive a vehicle without a parent in the car. She had noticed Sofia’s absence from their Algebra class; she had been down at the DMV getting her license. She then said, �
��That’s really cool, Sofia. Do you have a car to drive?”

  Relief showed on Sofia’s face as the girls finally seemed to understand what she was showing them. She answered, “Yes. My parents bought me a used Chevy Sprint. It’s kind of ugly, but I love it!”

  Jena smiled and said, “You’ll have to show it to us sometime.”

  “How about after school? I can give you a ride home so we won’t have to take the bus.”

  “Okay,” the two girls replied in unison. The warning bell rang for them to get to their classes and they parted ways.

  Without speaking out loud, Jena asked her sister, Did you know about this before?

  If I did, do you think that would have been so awkward? Juila scowled at her sister.

  I wonder if we can get a driver’s license, too.

  It seems the only criteria is that you be sixteen. Since our birthday is in a couple of mesans, we should ask our parents about it when we get home.

  Agreed! Jena was overjoyed at the prospect of exploring Earth without any adult supervision. It seemed an extremely daring and fun thing to do.

  Juila tilted her head and wondered why her sister would suddenly want to feel daring and fun. It was normally Juila’s role to be both.

  I can be, too, Jena defended herself.

  Ha, Juila replied. They wound through the rows of chairs until they reached the back of the room and sat down in their English class.

  Jena’s feelings were hurt, and she turned her body away from her sister as if it would do any good. Their shared minds kept them closer than any sisters ever could be. Jena continued to stew over her sister’s opinion of her stuffy behavior. Before the class was half over, she had to admit there was some merit to Juila’s opinion. She imagined the fact she was betrothed had changed her outlook on life.

  That’s for sure, Juila suddenly piped in.