Zero-Point

by T J Trapp

  “You mean, Daniel might be completely under my control?”

  “I’m afraid not. Daniel has no elf blood in him. You apparently have a strong vein of the elf. However, you cannot truly control someone with no elf blood, as an elf mother could with her clutchmen. The two of you can sense each other’s thoughts, but you cannot control Daniel beyond his will. If he had some elf blood in him, you could influence him, and if he was a full-blooded elf, you would control him, whether you intended to or not.”

  “It is creepy. I just met Daniel a couple of days ago! I don’t like the idea of some guy that I just met knowing everything I am thinking.”

  Erin let her rod buzz with memories for a while. “It is not as bad as you dread. You can sense each other’s feelings, not read minds. You can also communicate with each other through thoughts. With a little practice, you can learn to close out his feelings, by not focusing on him. However, I do not think that he can ever shut you out.”

  “Is there a way to undo it?”

  “It can be undone. The bond can be moved very easily between elf mothers, so you could give him to another elf mother. But my memory indicates that the normal way to remove a bond is for the mother to kill the clutchman.”

  Celeste grimaced.

  “The bond can also be broken with a truth stone. We have a stone like that at home, but I do not know if there is one here on this world.”

  “I don’t want to kill Daniel! So, you are telling me that I have to live with a guy who can sense my thoughts?”

  “That is your option. Unless and until we can find a truth stone.”

  “That pendant around your neck – it is cool. It lets you know all about the elves?”

  “Like all gifts, my elf rod is good and bad. It can be very dangerous, because it is easy to become lost in elf memories and become just like them. It is not a library. It is a large collection of my elf ancestors’ memories. Most memories don’t come with explanations, so it is often hard to understand what they really mean or the context they occur in. “

  “Still, it would be cool to have all those memories.”

  Erin smiled. “You must make your own memories,” she said.

  ✽✽✽

  Celeste walked towards the barn. She could sense the location of Daniel and hesitantly walked into his workshop.

  “Here you are. You and I seem to be the only ones here this morning.”

  “Looks that way. I knew you’d find me, though.”

  “I had a long talk with Erin last night, after you guys went to bed. I asked her about … about us.”

  “I know that you are concerned.”

  “Erin says we are stuck together – and right now I don’t like what you are thinking about me.”

  “Sorry. I can tell that you don’t like that we are connected. Do you think that I like it any more than you? I mean, you’re a nice girl and all – and the boss’ daughter – but I hardly know you.”

  “Ditto.”

  “And what happens if I meet some other girl, you know, and get interested in her? Will you be stalking me in my mind, watching and complaining?”

  Celeste threw up her hands. “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe I would. Or maybe you would, if it was me.”

  “You mean like that guard that you were checking out.”

  “Well, he is good-looking. I like how his muscles flow when he moves – Hey, that is what I mean. Quit acting like a big brother and looking over my shoulder.”

  “I didn’t ask for this,” Daniel retorted. “You did it.”

  “I thought I was saving both of our lives. I didn’t know what we were doing!” She huffed an exasperated sigh. “But, Erin says that we can undo it when we get to her world. The sooner we get there the better.”

  Daniel shrugged and turned back to his workbench.

  “What are you working on? I sense that you have a guilty feel. What’s that?”

  Daniel stumbled and tried to say several things before he finally gave up. “I confess. I had a desire to do something to please you – to show you that I am not mad at you. I was trying to make something for you. And I also confess that I have not been very successful at it.”

  “Do I get to see it?” Celeste asked.

  “Well, of course, if I can get it finished. I can’t hide something from you. I just wanted it to be perfect.”

  “I know what you are trying to do and I know how to help you. I appreciate your effort, and thank you for trying to make something for me.” She squeezed his hand. “And thank you for saving my life, at Alder Hall. I think you are a very sweet guy, and a nice guy, too.”

  “You’re welcome. We worked together to save each other,” Daniel said smiling at her.

  “But don’t think that gives you permission to take advantage of me or that I will like you looking into my mind,” Celeste said sharply.

  Daniel looked a little taken back and didn’t say anything.

  Celeste felt a little chagrined. “Maybe I overstepped. You don’t have to say anything. Here, let me help you.”

  Daniel pulled a red ruby out from under his work canvas. It was deep red, roughly the shape of a rose, and glowed in the dim light of the workshop. “After I saw the other roses, the crystal ones that Dr. Holden made, I thought that I would try to make a red rose for you. They are harder than I ever imagined. This one is the best that I have been able to do so far.”

  Celeste smiled. “I could sense that you were trying to do something special. And I think that I can help you feel the rightness of how to do it.”

  “Shall we try? To improve this flower?”

  “Sure!”

  “Then let’s. You can help me make this one better.”

  Daniel pulled a pile of sand out of his working bin and focused. He collected dark energy and let it slowly converge. He let Celeste take his arm and felt her sense with him. She became one with him. A sense of rightness came over him. Daniel continued to shape the dark energy in his mind. Then he released the dark energy and looked at the final product. A glowing red ruby crystal stood in front of them. It curved and flowed in infinite detail in the shape of a delicate rose.

  We did it, Daniel thought.

  “We sure did!” Celeste exclaimed excitedly. “That is as good as the ones Alec made!”

  They looked at each other in shock.

  That is the benefit of being bonded, Celeste thought to him. We can work together.

  She kissed his cheek for his thoughtfulness. Her mind was open and she could feel him responding perfectly to her. His thoughts and her thoughts melded together. Then she realized what was happening, and recoiled in horror at the combination; she pushed herself away from him, and could sense his relief as she stepped back. She stood there, looking at him, breathing heavily.

  “Thanks for the rose,” Celeste said finally, fingering the red gem. “It is beautiful!” She gave him a second kiss on the cheek. This time she was careful to not let their minds merge.

  You might be okay, for an old guy, she thought as she left him.

  48 – Transporter

  The array of focusing crystals were stored in a small shed by the back gate at Queen’s Woods. The transport ring was positioned next to the shed; the portal used to move all of the components from the fabrication facility in the barn was under an awning on the side of the shed. Alec looked at Daniel and the crystals with pride.

  “I could have never made the crystals without you, Daniel. You are better than I could ever be at making crystals.”

  “Thanks,” Daniel said, acknowledging the compliment. “Now that Celeste and I have learned to work together, since we became mentally coupled last month, it is so much easier to know when something is right. I could never have made the first crystals like you did, but when it came to duplicating crystals, working with Celeste to sense the sameness allowed me to form identical crystals. The two of us may have our differences, but this was the only way that we could ever make that many quality crystals so quickly.”

  �
�I gather it’s not all roses being mentally linked,” Alec said, looking sideways at his protégé.

  Daniel looked down at the ground. “Not really. Neither one of us likes it, but we have accepted it and aren’t fighting about trivial items anymore. The boss-lady said that when we get to your world, we can find some special stone – a ‘truth stone’ – and get unlinked. I know we both want that. Linking was an accident that we wish hadn’t happened, although it probably saved our lives at the time.”

  “Better alive and bonded, than dead and free, eh?” Alec said.

  A faint rustle told them someone had ported. Erin and Celeste walked out of the shed and positioned themselves alongside Daniel and Alec. Alec nodded at the two of them.

  “Ready?” Erin said.

  “Almost,” Alec said, and went back into the shed to check the array one last time.

  Nervous? Erin thought to him.

  Yes! I sure hope this works, Alec answered.

  Me too, Erin thought. Me too.

  Alec emerged from the shed and stood next to the transport ring with the others.

  “Okay. We are ready for the test.”

  Focus. He focused and let dark energy flow into his medallion, deep in his side. Then he sensed the dark energy that had accumulated in the array of focusing crystals in front of him. Each of the crystals was saturated with dark energy. Alec let his senses roam and could feel the pull of dark energy from Daniel’s medallion. He let the dark energy flow into the transport ring. The ring accepted the energy and almost eagerly transmitted the energy.

  Feeling the flow, Erin took hold of Alec’s arm and Celeste wrapped her arm around Daniel. Together they helped the two men sense the rightness of the crystals.

  That one’s not in phase, Alec thought to himself; slowly he manipulated the dark energy in the crystals, Erin helping him, until he could sense the rightness of what he had done. Searching, he adjusted several of the thousand crystals. Then he adjusted his focus and let the dark energy flow from the crystals into the transport ring. The ring absorbed the energy and focused the energy. Erin and Celeste both helped Alec to focus the crystal inputs until he felt he had the right end point.

  There. He let the energy flow.

  For an instant nothing happened – then a loud boom! reverberated through the woods. A technicolor display of lights lit up the area in a blinding flash. A mid-sized brown animal appeared in the transport ring. The animal collapsed to the ground, then slowly shook itself off, stood up, and staggered out of the ring. It looked at them, bleated in fear, and with one leap was out of the ring and into the forest.

  “A bounder! You did it! You have linked our two worlds!” Erin screamed.

  “Yes! You found the zero-point!” Daniel exclaimed.

  Celeste stared after the animal wide-eyed. “What …” she stammered.

  Alec looked more relieved than anything else.

  “It was even easier than I thought,” he said, with obvious relief. “I thought we would have to go through a fuzz to find Nevia, but it felt easy and natural. Now we are ready to transport ourselves home.” He hugged Erin; tears of joy welled up in her eyes.

  “‘Home.’ It sounds wonderful,” she said.

  “When do we go?” asked Celeste.

  “Well, let’s see. It will take two days to replenish the crystals with dark energy. That will give Daniel and me time to re-check all of the crystals and the connections. I think we should try to go in three days. By then, we should have plenty of dark energy and I will have had time to check everything.”

  “Aren’t you concerned about the warning you received? About the elves detecting your test, and responding?” asked Daniel.

  “Very concerned,” Alec answered. “That’s why Erin has stationed extra guards on the perimeter of Queen’s Wood and I put out the extra surveillance cameras. I didn’t think we had any choice but to do one more test – this one – to ensure that I had the endpoint correct before we tried to go ourselves. I didn’t want to send us into the bottom of the river or the wrong planet.” He squeezed Erin and looked at her fondly. “Erin’s memory indicates that the elves will take a few days to get organized before they respond. They are interested in destroying the transport device, and it won’t move. By the time they find it and respond, we plan to be gone.”

  “It will be so good to get home again,” Erin bubbled. “It’s been so long!”

  Celeste replied. “Hey! If we are leaving in three days, it doesn’t seem right to just sneak off and disappear. We should have a going-away party before we leave!”

  “That’s a good idea,” Erin said. “A celebration to mark the end of our time here! We can invite those who have worked with us to join us.” She looked at Celeste, beaming. “Two nights from now! The night before we leave.”

  ✽✽✽

  “Yes, boss, our ring fabrication line is turning out product, and we have made our first delivery to our client. Clients. Whoever they are. We have a delivery protocol in place, and a secure drop, and a payment line set up – everything seems to be working smoothly. Linda’s been a big help.”

  “Thanks, Frederick – I knew you could do it. Great job. And Sylvia?”

  Frederick chuckled. “She’s in her element, as it were! Lots of new people to boss around, lots of new materials to sift through and equipment to organize!”

  “And the new portal?”

  “Works like a charm. Daniel spent a little time here fine-tuning it, and we’ve trained a couple more staff to operate the portal between it and the shop, so things are going well.”

  “And Veranzo?”

  Frederick shrugged. “After that one call, where he sent over our new clients, we’ve heard nothing more from him. And that’s fine by me. On the other hand, the Community Protection Service has not bothered us lately, either here at the new facility or at the shop, and the usual delinquents panhandling on the street outside seem to have left the area.”

  “Well, let me know if you have any problems. But, I have some news for you.”

  “What, boss?”

  “Erin and I are about ready to go home. We’ve finally got everything lined up to go. We plan on taking Daniel with us, and Celeste, of course.”

  “Well, that’s certainly good news boss – for you, anyway. This is unexpected though. How long will you be gone?”

  “That’s the thing – we plan to leave pretty soon – in a couple of days – and I’m not sure when we will be back.”

  “The old shop – A&E Enterprises – and the new ring fabrication facility – how do you want us to handle things while you’re away?”

  “Frederick, I have every confidence in your ability to run things. You’ve done a great job, and I want you to keep on doing what you’re doing. Get somebody to be your assistant, if you need to, to cover day-to-day things at the old shop – I’d like you to continue your focus on the ring fabrication business, and making the medallions.”

  “Daniel will be hard to replace. You sure you want to take him?”

  Alec smiled ruefully. “Well, we have a special task for him, that he can only do back home. I hate to take him away from here, and I promise – we’ll send him back as soon as we can.”

  “Well, boss, I wish you good luck with your travels. We’ll certainly miss you. What about your ranch? Do you want us to close the portal to there?

  “No need to do that. We are going to leave Queen’s Wood pretty much as it is. Our cook has agreed to stay out there full-time and keep an eye on things, and Erin’s guards will still be there – half of them anyway. We’ll be taking the other half with us.”

  Frederick extended his hand and Alec clasped it. “You be careful, wherever you are going,” Frederick said. “Things are so uncertain now, all across the globe. I certainly hope you don’t run into any trouble.”

  “I hope so too,” Alec said, “but if we do, then I guess we do.”

  ✽✽✽

  The next two days were spent in frenzied preparation both for leaving
and for the party. Alec spent most of his time making sure that he had collected all the things he would need to make it easier to use dark energy on Nevia. Erin drilled Zalla and the guard force on advanced fighting techniques and how to counter elves’ attacks. Celeste spent a lot of time trying to figure out what she might need on a new world. Daniel spent most of his time fretting, and packing and repacking his gear. The cook searched out new recipes on the webnet and collected ingredients for fancy pastries.

  On the second morning, Alec assembled the travelers for a dry run of the transport – the four of them as well as Zalla and eleven more selected guards. Alec directed traffic as they prepared.

  “This is how we will do it tomorrow when we leave. We will have to stand very close together to fit inside the transport ring. I intend to move all of us in one transport operation. I don’t want to risk two transits – that could increase the risk of some component breaking and us getting separated.”

  “If something breaks, how will we return?” one of the guards asked.

  “We aren’t counting on this setup for a return trip. Once we get to Freedom City in Theland, Daniel and I will build a new transporter on that end. We will use it to return here. Now that we have done it once, we can reproduce the parts we need to build it. It is more trouble there, because it’s quite a bit more primitive in Nevia than it is in Texas, but the two of us have practiced to make sure that we can make all of the components.”

  The afternoon went quickly as everyone was consumed with last-minute details. Around four o’clock, Frederick and the first group of people from the shop appeared, and the rest of the shop staff ported to the festivities in small waves.

  Many hellos and farewells were shared as the guards and shop staff mingled. The cook had cleared the back patio as a dance floor with little tables holding votive candles clustered around the edges. Side tables were filled with guacamole and chips, nachos, barbeque, and exquisite pastries and custards, and pitchers of sweet tea and iced coolers with soda, beer, and Texas wine were plentiful.