Some of the older women muttered in discord while the younger ones seemed excited about the idea. Nobody was willing to commit an answer at the moment. They had never thought about leading themselves, and it was an intoxicating idea.
“We’ll give you some privacy to talk it over among yourselves,” Rasa proposed as she tilted her head at Amanda to indicate they should go outside to give them time to discuss the matter.
They walked through the garden paths, and Amanda asked, “What do you think they’ll do?”
“I think they’ll opt to go home. It’s easier to go where you already know, and they might find it easier without Grobin leading them.”
“Which Elder is in charge of the Roanoke Colony?”
Rasa smiled over at Amanda as she declared, “Elder Daven. I thought you already knew that!”
“I didn’t, but that’s great. He already knows about them, and he’ll do everything he can to help them thrive.”
“Only if they’ll trust him. Grobin has instilled a great fear of outsiders to the group so they’ll have to learn to trust them before any changes will take place.”
Amanda nodded her head and kept walking as she pondered the problem. Suddenly an idea struck her which she thought would be the perfect solution, “What if we asked Vinia to go back to lead them? She’s familiar with both worlds, she has her own birth crystal—which I noticed most of them do not—and she has already lived among them before.”
Rasa raised her eyebrows in consideration and said, “You might be onto something. It would certainly help Vinia with a sense of self-worth. Do you want to talk to her about it, or do you want me to do it?”
“I think we should propose the idea to the people in the house first. If they are adamantly opposed to the idea, then I don’t even want to get Vinia’s hopes up.”
“True, good thinking. Let’s go back inside and see what the group has decided.” Rasa turned around and began working her way through the pathways. She opened the patio door, and the buzz of conversation abruptly ended. Amanda followed her across the room until they were both standing in front of the fireplace with the group seated in front of them.
“Have you decided?” Rasa asked.
One of the middle-aged women nodded and said, “We have agreed we do not belong here. We also would like to go back to our homes.”
“And what have you decided about a leader?” Rasa pushed.
“We could not agree on who it should be.”
“Could I offer you a suggestion then?” Rasa asked. So far the conversation had gone exactly where she had hoped.
The older woman looked around her and received nods from nearly everyone. She turned back to Rasa and said, “We’d like to hear what you have in mind.”
“I know of a woman who used to live in your community. She has lived outside the Colony for a while and has learned a great deal about what happens in other Elder’s districts. She has also been here to Earth, so she knows what you have experienced. Her name is Vinia.”
There was a commotion among the group as they heard her name. They had always been told by Grobin that she was an outsider and not to be trusted. It soon became obvious they did not know what to believe or how to answer.
“Let me ask you something,” Amanda spoke up for the first time. “Did Grobin always have your best interest in mind when he led your community? Was he the one responsible for you being held captive on Viceroy Blair’s spaceship? Did you know the captain planned to make all of you slaves on his home world? He never had any intention of bringing you to Earth. As we speak, Grobin is en route to Heliok where he will be enslaved for his misguided notions of leading you. I think it’s safe to say Grobin was misguided himself and you should consider Rasa’s proposal for Vinia to be the spokesperson for your community.”
“We don’t even know where she is,” another woman complained.
“If that is your only objection, then we can ask her if she will come back to her old house. If she accepts the position, then we will arrange for her to meet with Elder Daven to discuss the needs of your group. We will also contact wise-woman Copa to come into your village to help with any health problems you may be experiencing.” Rasa took a deep breath and added, “Will you accept Vinia as your leader in return for us taking you back home?”
After a short discussion, the refugees agreed, some reluctantly Rasa noted, to the terms of her proposal. There was an air of anticipation within the group which had been of desperation only a short while before. She was pleased to have found a solution to the group’s problem and hoped they would learn something from this experience.
Amanda was already making plans for visiting with Vinia. She hoped Vinia would agree to the new arrangement. Maybe she would have a greater sense of self-worth if the community wanted and needed her. “Do you want to come with me to talk to Vinia? We can discuss the matter with her when we take your mom home.”
Rasa nodded and wondered when they would be able to go. Her mother could take a while visiting with her sister here on earth. She did not want to leave these people alone here on Earth. There was no telling what they could manage to get into if they were left to their own devices.
The front door opened and Diane and Barla came inside the house laughing at some joke between the two of them. They only had a couple of bags from their shopping trip since they had spent more time catching up on their histories rather than actual shopping. As soon as they entered the living room, they noticed the tense silence and wondered what had happened.
Thinking they were going to have to leave the people alone with Diane, Rasa sighed in relief as Riccan and Ozias entered the house discussing their recent flight. Rasa tapped Amanda on the arm and said, “I think Riccan and your mom can handle being here while we go and make arrangements for Vinia’s new life. What do you think?”
Amanda smiled in agreement and said, “I’ll go let him know.” She went up to him and asked, “Can I talk to you privately for a minute?”
“Sure, honey,” he replied and turned to Ozias and said, “Excuse us.” He waited for Amanda to lead him in the direction she wanted to go.
She led him back to the garage and waited for him to shut the door before she began. Still, she could not get past the feeling of unease around Ozias. “Are you going to need to use my telepod this evening?”
“No. I just took mine for a spin, and it works great. What’s going on? Are you going somewhere?”
“Rasa and I are going to see if Vinia wants to be the leader of the Roanoke Colony. They have agreed to let her do it if she agrees.”
“Seriously? That’s amazing, Amanda. I was wondering if they were all planning on staying here on Earth and then we were going to have to find places for them to live and figure out how they could earn a living. This is the best possible option!” He hugged her in his enthusiasm, truly thankful for the situation to have a great resolution. “What made them decide to go back?”
“I think it was the shopping trip. They realized nothing is the same here on Earth as it is on Tuala. They decided it was better to go with what they know rather than the dream of living here where they no longer fit in.”
“That makes sense,” Riccan agreed. “When were you going to leave?”
“We’d like to go now, but we didn’t want to leave the people alone here at the house.”
“Wise decision. So you need me to babysit everyone, is that what you’re saying?”
“Pretty much,” Amanda smiled up at him brightly. “Hopefully Mom will want to keep you company.”
“Okay, well hurry back home, will you?”
“As fast as we can,” she agreed and gave her husband a hug in relief. “I love you, Riccan.”
“I love you too. Don’t you dare try to time your return either, just in case you were starting to get the idea.”
“You know me too well,” she grinned.
They returned to the living room where Amanda nodded her head at Rasa and Barla to indicate their plans were set. Inst
ead of going out to the garage, they opted to go into the back yard to pretend to go for a walk. They turned to the right and followed the path closest to the house until they were parallel to the garage. They cut across the yard and entered the garage through the man door on the back side.
Chapter Thirty-Two
AMANDA MADE QUICK work of getting them landed at the Port of Cresdon landing field. She noted the time and the winds as she powered down the telepod. They left the telepod and walked the short distance to Rasa’s childhood home.
Rasa was feeling unaccountably nervous as they turned into the yard of the house. The gravel crunched loudly under their feet until they reached the steps leading to the front door. “I hope Vinia’s home,” Rasa said.
“She should be,” Barla said as she looked around them still feeling as though she were being watched. “After all, Petre is still hanging around town trying to locate her. She doesn’t venture out much anymore.”
Barla opened the door, and they entered the foyer, hearing Danika giggling from the other side of the house. “That’s a good sign,” she said in an aside to Amanda and Rasa. They followed the joyful noise until they reached the living room and discovered everyone sitting and enjoying tea and each other’s company.
Vinia looked up when she saw movement in the doorway and jumped up from her chair with a squeal of delight. She raced across the room and about knocked Amanda over with her exuberant embrace. “Why didn’t you say you were coming over? I would have planned a dinner or something. How long can you stay?”
“Hi, Vinia. We actually came to discuss something rather important with you,” she answered hastily before she could make any other plans for their time.
“Oh,” Vinia replied and looked down at Danika playing on the floor. “Is it about Nealan?” she asked excitedly. “Does he remember me?”
Amanda answered, “No, I’m sorry this visit has nothing to do with Neal.”
“Oh,” Vinia said sadly.
Rasa sat down on the floor next to Danika and asked Vinia, “Have you considered returning to your home in the Roanoke Colony?”
“No, there’s nobody there anyway. I don’t want to live so far out all alone. Why?”
“We have found the residents, and they wish to return to living there. They have all agreed they’d like you to be the spokesperson for the community. Would you consider doing it?”
“I’ll never go back as long as Grobin and his sidekick, Mosan, are there.” She looked down on her daughter and continued, “Danika needs to grow up in a safe environment. As long as those men are there, they would undermine anything I said.”
“That’s the thing, Vinia. There are only women, children, and a couple of teenagers who will be returning to the community,” Rasa explained.
“I don’t understand, where is everybody else?” She shifted her gaze from Rasa beside her to Amanda above her. “What happened?”
“The community tried to arrange transportation back to Earth where they believe they once originated from. Unfortunately, they made a bargain with a crooked captain, and they were going to be taken as slaves onto a different world.
“Juila took Jon and Valentina to their old home and as they were returning their telepod malfunctioned, and they ended up drifting in space.”
“Oh, no!” Vinia gasped. “Please tell me they made it home safely.”
“Yes, they were only gone overnight. They were taken captive by the same captain as the Colony. Their space ship was in dire straits with their ship inoperative, and Juila managed to repair enough functionality to get them home, at a much slower pace, however.
“To make a very long story short, one of the crew members agreed to assist Juila in getting Jon, Valentina, and any of the colony members back to the telepod in thanks for her help. Only nine people decided to return, and now they want you to lead them. Will you agree to try it out?”
“I don’t know,” Vinia began as she looked over at Barla to see what she thought of the offer.
Rasa saw the look and added, “We told the people you would have assistance from Elder Daven and from wise-woman Copa. The community would no longer function as a closed society, and you would be the bridge between until they could feel comfortable.”
“Would they really want to help?” Vinia asked as she could start to see how their plan could actually work.
“Absolutely,” Rasa guaranteed. “They have often worried about what to do for your people even when they refused any help.”
“We didn’t have a choice! Grobin refused to let any outsiders come into the village. He taught everyone to be afraid of outsiders. He said they would taint our people and try to lure them away to do the evil bidding of Jehoban.”
“You know better, right?” Rasa asked gently. “You have your own birth crystal which is a gift from Jehoban, and you use the elemy to make your life easier. Do you think you could teach the other women and children the benefits of it?”
“I could certainly try,” she agreed with a sense of purpose. In a matter of minutes, her life had changed from complete dependence on Barla’s hospitality to the idea of leading the community she had grown up in. She could hardly believe what had led her to be chosen, yet she was thankful all the same. “I will do it!”
“Do you want to take more time to think about it? We really need you to be certain,” Rasa asked promptly.
“There’s nothing to think about really. For once in my life, my community needs me! I’m going to step up and be the best leader they’ve ever known!” Vinia’s voice rose with each sentence until she was almost shouting which caused Danika to begin to whimper with concern. Vinia hurriedly picked up her daughter and lifted her into the air and laughed, “We are going home, Danika! Our people need us, and we’re going home!” She brought her down and hugged her tightly until Danika’s squirming caused her to put her back down onto the floor to play.
Barla frowned slightly and asked, “How soon will this happen? Certainly, it’ll take time to arrange for Vinia to meet with Elder Daven and Copa, right?”
“Well, right now all of the people are staying at my house, and I think they’d be much happier back in their own homes. I think it would be best if we got everyone back home tonight. The meetings can be arranged sometime this week,” Amanda answered.
“I think we should plan on having a patil installed in Vinia’s home. She needs to have access to other people easier than walking for several hours to get to Desio,” Rasa added.
“Good idea,” Barla agreed. “If she needs anything, I’m only a message away.”
“The same would go for Elder Daven, Copa, or myself for that matter,” Amanda put in.
“Why don’t you gather your things and we can take you home before we bring everyone else back?” Rasa suggested.
Vinia nodded happily and asked, “Barla would you mind watching Danika one last time while I run upstairs?”
“You don’t even have to ask. I’m going to have to soak up as much of your daughter as I can get since I’m not sure how long it’ll be before I get to play with her again.”
Vinia grimaced a little even though she was terribly excited for her new adventure. Barla had been so wonderful to help her out, it almost seemed rude to be so eager to leave. It was even worse that they had no advance warning in which to plan for a better departure. She left the room hurriedly even as she regretted the necessity of leaving the house at all.
“Do you think this will work?” Barla asked quietly.
“You just don’t want to see her take the baby away,” Ahn teased as he reached for his wife’s hand to comfort her.
“Of course I don’t want either of them to leave,” Barla replied with mock severity. She knew her husband was teasing, yet there was a note of truth in his statement. She looked back to her daughter for an answer to her question.
“I think it’ll give Vinia a sense of purpose in Tuala. She has been rather forlorn since she had to send her kids away and then Neal was taken as well. This will hel
p restore some of what she lost because of Grobin’s warped ways. Also, she’ll have a home for her kids to come back to if they choose to return to Tuala in a couple of anons.”
“Barla knows she’ll thrive in this new role, she’s just going to miss the company,” Ahn said as he continued to pat his wife’s hand. “We can go visit her if you want, Barla.”
Barla glanced gratefully over at her husband and smiled at his explanation. She knew they were too busy to make many house calls, yet they would probably make time to go just because he had suggested it. The solution helped ease her mind at the two of them leaving so abruptly.
A short while later, they could hear Vinia coming down the stairs. Barla scooped up Danika and rushed out of the room to see if she could offer assistance. Rasa, Amanda, and Ahn followed a little slower as they wanted to give Barla a moment alone with Vinia.
As soon as it could be arranged, Amanda and Rasa were both carrying sacks containing most of Vinia’s belongings while Vinia held Danika and another small bag. Barla and Vinia had a tearful farewell in the foyer before Ahn pulled his wife away and put his arm around her to offer comfort.
“We’ll walk down to the landing field with you,” Ahn declared.
“Oh, can I carry Danika then?” Barla asked. She had assumed they would stay at home while they left and was glad to get one last opportunity to hold the child.
Vinia eagerly passed the heavy child over to Barla’s eager embrace. She would have more than enough time to hold her daughter once they were back in the community. She felt a thrill of fear pass through her in anticipation of her new role. Never had she expected to receive such an honor from the town where they had always made her feel like an outcast. This almost felt as if she were being reborn into the village; everything would be different now.
The group strolled along the sidewalk back to the landing field. Barla spent quite a bit of time securing Danika into the back seat before she tearfully returned to Ahn’s side. She held onto her husband for support as she wiped the moisture from her eyes.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 19