Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set

by Amy Proebstel

  Agetha simply stared at Vinia in disbelief. Finally finding her voice, she scoffed, “Who are you to tell me no?”

  “I’m the one you all appointed as your leader. Go home to Romen and let me get back to work.” Vinia began to shut the door when the woman’s hand struck out and held the wooden plank open.

  “You haven’t heard the last of this, Vinia, I promise!” She turned on her heel and stomped along the path back to her own cottage. Her indignation was apparent by the stiff way she carried her shoulders and head.

  Vinia shook her head in dismay and wondered what type of trouble Agetha could cause for her. She knew this day would happen sooner or later; she had only hoped it would be later. “I better send a message to Elder Daven and let him know what’s brewing.” She murmured to herself as she shut the door and leaned back against it for support.

  After writing and re-writing the perfect message to the Elder, Vinia hit enter and then sat staring at the blank patil screen. Her role as the village leader was both harder and easier than she had hoped, yet she still felt unfulfilled. She wanted to have her children back, and she knew the villagers looked down on her because they failed to come home with her.

  Vinia shook her head at how paranoid she was becoming. She realized the people around her did not even know where her children were, only that they had gone away. Maybe she should try to get them to come and visit with her. Then there was the problem that her kids were no longer children, they were almost adults, after only having been gone for one anon. This was getting more complicated by the minute. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

  With a sigh of resignation, she pushed away from the table and stood up. She smoothed her tunic and prepared for another battle with Agetha. She was certain the woman was coming back to make another go at getting something special brought into the village. She shifted her expression into one of determined resignation and flung the door open.

  Her expression changed immediately as the person on the other side of the opening was none other than Ozias. “What are you doing here?”

  “I…” he looked away as if he were suddenly uncomfortable. He saw several women watching him surreptitiously. “Do you mind if I come inside to talk? It seems as though those people are rather interested in me.”

  Vinia looked over his shoulder and instantly understood. “Yes, come inside. I’m afraid the women around here are rather anxious to see a man in their midst.”

  “Thanks,” he said as he moved across the threshold and entered the small cabin.

  As she shut the door, Vinia tried to figure out why Ozias would be at her house. “I thought Elder Daven was going to find a place for you to stay. Did that not work out?”

  “I never gave him the chance. I left his telepod when he brought you and the other villagers back here. I’ve been wandering along the coast ever since.”

  “That was four days ago! What have you been eating? You must be starving!” Vinia began to plan something for him to eat even before he answered.

  “I don’t want to be any bother,” he began and cut off any further statement as a plate of food suddenly appeared on the table in front of him. He shifted his gaze in amazement from the meal back to Vinia. Never in his life had he seen anything so amazing as what she had just done. “How did you do that?”

  “It’s something anyone can do.” She realized he probably never would have seen such a display since he was from another planet. His only experience with people had first been with Juila and her family on Earth, and then the wilderness of Tuala when he walked away from Elder Daven’s telepod when he brought him back with him. She indicated the chair in front of the table and said, “Please sit and eat.”

  Without any hesitation, Ozias sat down and pulled the plate closer. He picked up the sandwich and took his first bite of shredded foxl. The flavors were perfect, and the meat was still warm. He had no idea how Vinia had accomplished the task, yet he was grateful to have something to eat so soon. He had been feeling lightheaded and slightly delirious, which was what had actually driven him to make contact with Vinia again. Initially, he had thought to make a life for himself on Tuala, but he soon realized he lacked any ability to survive on his own.

  “What have you been doing these last few days?”

  Not wanting to appear rude by not answering, he spoke around the bite in his mouth. “I’ve been trying to find a place to settle down and live.”

  “My guess is you didn’t have much luck?”

  “Very accurate guess,” he said with a rueful shake of his head. “There’s nothing around here! How did your people survive all this time?”

  “There’s plenty around when you know what to look for. Do you want me to contact Elder Daven? He said he had a plan in mind for you.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “So what do you plan on doing?”

  “I’d like to stay here and help out your people. I feel partially responsible for the lack of men because of my association with Viceroy Blair. Do you think I might be able to stay?”

  Vinia sat back in the chair she had taken across from him. She had been wondering what they were going to do without the men to do the harder chores. The women of the community resisted most usage of elemy and tended to do every task manually. Ozias’ offer might be just the change they needed.

  “We might be able to make some arrangements, but I’d need to discuss the matter with the villagers first. I’m sure you understand.” Vinia could not help but wonder if Ozias might have some ulterior motive for coming back to the colony. She hated having to be suspicious; however, she had to keep the best interest of the people in mind rather than her own beliefs and opinions.

  “Absolutely.” He looked back down at his food to escape Vinia’s penetrating stare. This plan was going to have to work because he did not have any other options at this point.

  Vinia stood up after making her decision. “I’ll go have a word with the people while you eat. Hopefully, I’ll have an answer for you in a couple of minutes. It shouldn’t be too hard to gather everyone since it seems they all noticed you coming here in the first place.” She smiled at the recollection as she opened the front door and stepped outside.

  Just as she suspected, the women rushed forward and bombarded her with questions. The overwhelming demand was to know what he was doing in her house and what he was doing back. Vinia held up her hands for silence and spoke to the restless crowd. “Ozias has asked to stay on in our community to help out. Does anyone have any objection to his request?”

  As if on cue, Agetha pushed her way through the crowd and planted her feet aggressively right in front of Vinia. With hands on her hips and a hard expression, she asked, “Why would he want to stay here? Who’s going to take care of him? And where do you propose he would live? With you, I suppose!”

  Taken aback by Agetha’s vicious attack, Vinia tried to maintain her composure of leadership as she answered calmly, “He knows about our situation and has offered to help out with chores which would be too strenuous for the women. Since it was his former leader who took away all of the men, he feels some measure of responsibility for our welfare. I would suggest he would live at Grobin’s old home unless there are any other ideas. As for who would take care of him, I think we could all share in that duty.”

  Agetha could not find any faults with Vinia’s proposal and ungracefully stepped away from Vinia. While she did not like the idea of another man assuming he might have any say in their lives, she had to agree they were going to need help through the winter mesans. After all, they could always send him away if he became a burden. “I don’t have any objections,” she sneered.

  Vinia held back a sigh of relief since Agetha had been her biggest worry. She would do well to keep her eye on the discontented woman to make sure she did not create any mischief. With a nod of satisfaction at Agetha’s statement, she looked around the rest of the crowd to see nods of approval. Although some of the women seemed reluctant, nobody else c
ame forward with any objections.

  “I’ll let Ozias know after he’s finished eating his meal. Will anyone volunteer to freshen up Grobin’s house?”

  Dilela, Mitelda, and Edda stepped forward after looking at one another and nodding agreement. “We’ll go and do that for you,” Dilela spoke quietly.

  “Thank you all!” Vinia turned to go back into her house. From the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the only older male teenagers, Semsen, who did not seem happy to hear about another man coming into the community. She would be certain to keep an eye on him to make sure he did not cause any trouble. She opened her door and swiftly left the crowd behind her. “It’s all set, Ozias,” she said as she leaned against the inside of the door with relief.

  “Are the people being hard to deal with? You seem slightly out of sorts.”

  She pushed away from the door and slowly advanced across the room. “Not exactly hard.” She searched for the right word to describe the villagers. “They aren’t used to making decisions on their own. Grobin always dictated what would happen and they would blindly follow. Now that he’s gone, they’re cautious of every choice, fearful of doing something wrong. I can’t blame them. Up until Viceroy Blair took them, their whole lives’ experiences revolved around the area surrounding this village. Outsiders had always been turned away.”

  Ozias nodded his understanding.

  “You’ll be staying in Grobin’s house for now.”

  “He was the leader here, wasn’t he?” He recalled how arrogant the man had been.

  “You might say that. I’d call him a tyrant, personally.”

  “Do you think they’ll resent me for coming back?”

  Vinia shrugged her shoulders and said, “Don’t give them any reason to. Since you’re done eating, I’ll give you a tour of the village while the women get your place ready.”

  Ozias picked up his empty plate as he stood and wondered what he could do with it. He hated leaving a mess for Vinia to clean up.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Vinia said. As soon as he put the plate back on the table, she used a small amount of elemy to take care of the mess. Again, seeing his expression of disbelief, she added, “Most of the people here don’t use the skills they were born with. Grobin, and all of the other leaders for that matter insisted it was unnatural and evil. My family disagreed, but we never did anything within sight of the other people here. If we could keep this to ourselves…”

  “You can trust me, Vinia. I’m grateful for everything you’re doing for me, and I’ll support your leadership in whatever way I can.” Ozias raised his hands, practically pleading her to trust him. He would do anything to prove his worth to this amazing woman.

  Chapter Eleven

  PETRE FELT LUCKY when he discovered a strange clearing in the forest. He looked up and saw several lines suspended from giant towers following the same pathway. Since the footing was much better in the cleared area, he decided to follow the overhead lines to see where it would lead him. Certainly, the people would not decide to build such a device unless they planned on utilizing it in some way.

  There were several large bodies of water where the path wove its way around them. More than once, he wished he had his water craft available so he could rest comfortably as he traveled over the calm waters. He had already spent one anxious night exposed to the intolerably cold elements. More than once, he wondered how the people on Earth could stand to live with such cold weather. Then again, he had yet to see a single person yet, and he hoped he would discover any civilization soon since he was hungrier than he could ever recall. All of his muscles protested as he kept moving one foot in front of the other.

  His lifestyle on the oceans certainly had not prepared him for such a physical journey. He would have stopped to rest, except the biting wind made him too cold to stop for more than a few seconds at a time. He was going to have to find something to eat soon. If he had known the trip would be so physical, he would have packed provisions. As it was, he was forced to only stop for water breaks at the streams and lakes.

  When Petre encountered a black-topped surface, he wondered at what it could mean. He stepped back suddenly as a large object sped along the way, and he realized it must be some sort of trading route. With more eagerness, he turned left and almost jogged alongside his new discovery. As another object appeared ahead of him, barreling toward him, he paid more attention to it and realized there was a person seated in the front.

  Petre only had a couple of seconds to realize the speeding objects were vehicles of some sort. Initially, the noises emanating from them had kept him from registering their function. Now that he had seen several, he noticed the vehicles came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, unlike back home where there were only a few size differences and hardly any variance at all in design.

  He kept jogging, not only to keep warm but also to get to wherever all of the vehicles were going. Surely, civilization had to be nearby. Just as his breath was coming out in ragged sobs, and plumes of white air obscured his vision, he felt the stiff breeze of another passing vehicle, bigger than any other. His steps slowed down as he realized the vehicle had decelerated and finally stopped ahead of him. Now was the time for him to finally meet someone from Earth on their own soil.

  Excitement at the prospect of getting help soon turned into fear as he came up beside the large vehicle. He had no idea if this person were friendly or not; he was just going to have to hope for the best. Once he got to the front of the vehicle, he looked around him with more than a little confusion. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice calling out to him.

  “Are you okay, mister? It’s freezing out here. Get into the cab and get yourself warmed up! Here, let me get the door for you,” the burly man said as he reached up behind Petre and pulled on a shiny lever. He looked back at Petre expecting immediate compliance.

  Realizing belatedly that he should comply, Petre mumbled, “Thanks,” as he stepped up onto the shiny metal step and used a handle on the doorframe to help him up into the high cab. Immediately, he could appreciate the heat coming out of the vents in the dash. He held up his hands in front of it even as the man shut the door behind him. Being so consumed with getting warm, Petre barely registered the man walking around the front of the vehicle and getting into his own seat behind a big circle sticking out of what Petre imagined was the control panel.

  Petre was literally shaken from his heat-soaking trance as the man began to drive the semi. The shifting, contorting, and shaking of the cab appalled Petre into wondering if the vehicle were safe. He had been in some poorly maintained telepods, but this took his worry to a whole new level. The noise coming from the front of the vehicle seemed even louder than a racing telepod, which he thought was ridiculous in any event.

  He glanced over at the stranger and saw his neutral expression, so he had to assume all was well with the vehicle. There was much he needed to learn about Earth, and this was his first valuable lesson in transportation. Some of the noise instantly went away as the driver turned a knob on the control panel.

  The man shifted his gaze from the view of the road as he addressed Petre, “Where are you headed?”

  “New York City,” he mumbled.

  “You know you’re heading the wrong direction, right?”

  “Not really. I’ve never been there, and I got turned around while I was walking.”

  “Where’s your vehicle? I didn’t pass anything along the way.”

  Having to improvise hastily, Petre gestured toward the hills and said, “I got stuck up there.”

  The man looked dubiously toward where Petre had indicated. He was unaware of any driving trails anywhere near. He shrugged indifferently and had to assume the man was suffering from hypothermia. “If you’re set on getting to New York, then I’ll drop you off as close as I can to the bus station, unless, of course, you have other transportation arranged already.”

  Petre shook his head. While he did not know what a bus station was, he hoped someone
there would know how to get him to his desired destination. Still holding his hands up in front of the warm air vent, Petre was beginning to be able to feel his fingers again. He had no idea how anyone could possibly want to remain living in an area with temperatures so cold.

  His body started to relax as the heat settled around him. His eyes closed and he slumped against the window and door frame. Before many more seconds passed, Petre was fast asleep and missed the hour-long journey to Winnipeg.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The women stood in small groups, pretending occupation all the while they kept their covert attention on the house in the center of the village. They were intensely curious about Ozias now that he was staying in Grobin’s former house. Not everyone felt secure with a stranger in their midst even though a vote had been taken allowing him to stay.

  “It’s just not right,” Agetha grumbled to Fraya. “What do we really know about him, after all? He doesn’t even have a proper, honorable name.”

  Fraya looked over at Agetha and wondered if there were something to what Agetha was saying. She personally thought Ozias was handsome, not to mention old enough to take as a husband. The shortage of eligible men in their community was even more prevalent since they had returned to Tuala.

  “Maybe we should suggest he change his name,” Fraya suggested quietly.

  Agetha glared at the attractive, young girl for her comment. “He doesn’t belong here, Fraya! We were doing just fine without him!” Thinking about how peaceful her life had become ever since her husband had remained captive with Viceroy Blair, she did not wish to have to answer to any man ever again. She felt protective of Fraya’s innocence and did not want to see her get involved with this stranger who could prove to be more harmful to their community than even Grobin had been.