“That made me think that if Evan masked us, we could slip into the culture of Columbia where we could familiarize ourselves with their routines and find out where Travlor is staying. When that has been established, we simply sign up as part of his army. Once we are at Travlor’s hideout, we can drop the charade and locate Daria.”
He looked around to see if the men had accepted his idea; some of them looked puzzled, so Aris tried to explain. “Think about it this way: if Evan is able to make the compound disappear, then he should be able to make us disappear.”
He stopped to wait for comment and commendations. No one said anything, so he plowed on. “I know this sounds childishly simple, but my thought was that if we can get into Travlor’s stronghold undetected, then we find Daria and get out before anyone suspects a thing.”
Nothing happened once he was done and no one said a word. Aris was quite deflated. He didn’t know what else to say, so he gave the floor back to Ni-Cio and went to stand next to Rogert.
The men were deep in thought, but Ni-Cio knew they were searching for any way that the plan could fail. He waited for their responses.
After a lengthy pause, one of the men walked over to Aris and placed a hand on shoulder. “I must tell you—I thought we would end up fighting to the death and I was prepared to do just that in order to get our healer back, but Aris, your idea is so simple that it is quite marvelous.” He glanced at his comrades. “I see no reason not to adopt this plan. What say you all?”
Already attached to each other through thought, the men reacted as one. They surrounded Aris and lifted him up into the air and onto their shoulders. They paraded him around the courtyard, their joyous shouts resounded through the compound and flashed through the vineyard. Thoughts raced outward, announcing to all that Aris had come up with a way to get their healer back with minimal effort and an excellent chance of no loss of life.
Ni-Cio and Evan followed the celebrating group. “How soon do you plan on leaving, Ni-Cio?”
Knowing he needed to keep his people buoyed with thoughts of their return home, he tried to think as Marik would have. He had to put the group’s best interest ahead of his own mad desire to push Evan into a biosphere and race to South America. He gritted his teeth before he answered, Marik’s admonishment echoing in his head. “Lead them well . . .”
“In another month, we will be ready. Our team will be buoyed by the knowledge that the larders are stocked, plants are flourishing, and our home is refurbished enough to welcome families for a visit.” He looked sideways at Evan. “I wish Marik had chosen someone else as council leader. I would have us leave this moment.”
Evan stopped Ni-Cio. “We still have time on our side. Now that we know where they are and we have some idea of how to break into his stronghold, it’s more than okay to make sure that your friends and families are settled and well taken care of. Don’t worry. Daria knows you’ll come for her and I’m sure she’ll be ready with a way to help us when we get there.”
The sad, mourning color of indigo twisted up from Ni-Cio’s neck. “I miss her so much. I feel as if half my body is missing. I am lost without her.”
Evan placed his arm around Ni-Cio’s shoulders and gently prodded him toward the kitchens. “My friend, I am familiar with your pain. I’ve felt that way most of my life. I promise; we will get her back safe and sound.”
Shaking himself out of the whirlpool of self-pity, Ni-Cio picked up the pace. “Let us see if we can find some more of that Greek beer. Aris deserves a great toast!”
They hurried toward the sounds of excitement that rang out of the kitchens and into the island air.
Travlor wasn’t feeling as chipper as he normally did after a healing session. He couldn’t discern the reason, but the closest he could come to describing the feeling was twitchy. He didn’t understand it. Thinking that he probably needed more rest, he promised himself that he would make an earlier night of it. “Alas, duty calls and the requirements of the rise of a world dictator preclude much rest.”
Stopping before the door to his rooms that were now his headquarters, he rolled his neck. The muscles were tight, no longer as relaxed as they had been after other sessions. He made a mental note to ask Daria about it. He would be interested to hear her thoughts. And possibly, he just needed another round of healing sooner than expected. He sighed. “Just another detail to reconsider.”
He opened the door, already barking orders to his major-domo and the attending general. They departed to do his bidding. Travlor took his seat behind the massive desk and rifled through all the papers. Three men entered and came to immediate attention. Travlor didn’t look up, just crooked a finger. “Come.”
They approached the desk coming to another ridged stance. They barely dared to breathe as they waited for their Messiah to acknowledge them. Travlor let them wait.
A phone rang in another room and bits of a hurried conversation reached their ears. Travlor looked up. “You have news?”
One of the three generals stepped forward with a smart salute. “Yes sir.”
Travlor waited but the man said nothing. “Well, let’s have it.”
“We have learned that the resisting countries have gathered their armies. They are combining their navies and their air forces into one military might. Their plan is to invade Columbia and bring war to us.”
Travlor sat back. The news was nothing he hadn’t expected. He knew that as his reach grew, governments would start to fear him and would react in the only way they could: by declaring all-out war on him and his followers.
He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on the top, then eyed his men carefully and compelled them to state the unvarnished truth. “Are your men ready?”
The general quickly stepped back in line and all three of the men replied in the affirmative.
“Do you have your defense plans finalized?”
They gave brisk nods.
“It is as I told you. We do not want to look like aggressors. These countries must fall through faith in me and a firm desire to follow my teachings. I don’t want to alarm the rest of the world, especially the United States. We don’t want to incur the wrath of Uncle Sam—not when they’ve got so many nukes at their ready disposal.”
Another man opened his mouth then decided better of that idea. Travlor inched forward. “Speak.”
The general glanced nervously at his partners then swallowed hard and stepped forward. “Sir, I know we don’t want to look aggressive. But don’t you think it’s prudent to mobilize our forces and take the fight to the other countries. To … take them by surprise before they can determine their course of action and move their armies?”
Eyeing the man carefully, Travlor quirked his mouth. It was a salient point but he didn’t want the world to know what a true megalomaniac he was. “I appreciate your candor. The simple answer is no. I can’t risk the time needed to move our forces from country to country. We will continue to grow our troops and we will continue to gather the flock into the fold.”
Travlor thought to leave them with a spiritual bit of wisdom. He stood and raised his arms to the men. He tried to look compassionate, but even he didn’t buy it. “I do not intend to lose one life if we don’t have to. I want people of all faiths to watch us and learn from us. Then it will be their choice to join with our crusade, or not.”
He rounded the corner of his desk and opened the door to usher the men out. “Just fortify our defenses in every base under our command. Have everyone on high alert and let us see where this takes us.”
The men stepped into the hall.
“Do not worry. It is my will that shall be done and together we will bring a new world peace to this quarrelsome planet.”
He didn’t wait for their response before he closed the door and laughed. “Quarrelsome indeed, a little mind control never hurt anyone.”
He crossed back to his desk, seated hi
mself, and went back to work. A sly thought made him smile. There is no rest for the wicked.
Daria was getting used to the spurts of growth that she and her baby experienced. The stomach pains no longer troubled her, but the weight was something else. She thought she might have to get a sling for her distended belly. She waded into the pool and sighed as the water closed around her. Pulling the paddle board from the poolside, she placed it under her head and let her feet float up. Her stomach broke the surface of the water like a beached whale. She shook her head in wonder. She didn’t even want to think about how she was ever going to deliver such a child. She gazed at the blue sky, filled with billowy white clouds, and tried to imagine different shapes as they drifted by. It was a game she looked forward to sharing with her daughter. She couldn’t wait to see what wondrous things her young mind would imagine.
Kicking her feet, she floated to the side and stood. As hard as the extra weight was to bare on dry land, the water made her feel almost weightless. She glanced up at Travlor’s windows. The previous owner had installed bullet-proof glass, and as paranoid as that man had been, Travlor made him seem like a novice. Travlor had rigged the jungles surrounding the complex with cameras and trip sensors connected to an intricate alarm system, and it wouldn’t surprise her to find that the soldiers had mined the entire area extending all the way back to the city where they had debarked.
She pushed the board away and tried a few backstrokes. She felt awkward and sluggish, without a hint of the grace she had known in her pre-pregnancy days. “That’s all right,” she crooned to her daughter. “I’ll be back to my old self soon enough.” She sang a nonsense tune that reminded her of something from her childhood. The baby moved and Daria grinned happily.
It was the first time since she had been taken from Atlantis that she was actually flooded with joy. She and her child were both healthy and her daughter continued to grow even if it was at an outrageous rate. When Ni-Cio came for them, they would be ready.
Between now and then, her efforts to sabotage Travlor’s health would go unnoticed, at least for a while. If he starts to wonder what is happening, I’ll just resume the healing touch with a more positive attitude. If I can just keep him yo-yoing until Ni-Cio is here, it could help him in some small way.
She thought about names for their baby, but she didn’t want to decide. That was a special moment that she wanted to be able to share with Ni-Cio. The baby kicked again and a single word appeared in her mind, “yes …” Astonished, Daria floundered around, almost losing her footing. What? It can’t be! She looked down at her stomach.
Another kick, even harder, and another thought, “yes …”
Daria focused all her energy inward. Scanning her womb, she almost screamed. Her beautiful daughter was looking back at her. The child acknowledged her with a smile. Then another word whispered into Daria’s mind. “love …” The word was followed by a profound feeling of warmth that surrounded her heart like a caress.
Daria grabbed her stomach and danced around the shallow end. Hugging herself, she sent a tender thought. “I love you!” She watched in wonder as her daughter closed her eyes and floated back into her dreams. “Oh my God!”
Her mind reeled. It felt like her heart would burst from the infusion of her daughter’s love and joy. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Daria retraced her steps out of the pool and grabbed her towel and robe. Her stomach rumbled as she dried her hair.
Laughing uproariously because her body was firmly in control and she could care less, she decided to try another compulsion. She issued the order. “Lunch on the terrace, please. Travlor will join me . . .” She thought she should change, so she snuggled into her robe and wrapped the towel around her wet hair.
However, when she entered the foyer, the woman was waiting for her with a puzzled look on her face. As soon as she saw Daria, she lowered her gaze to the floor. Daria was surprised; the woman’s response was certainly quicker than the previous one. “Thank you for meeting me. I am going to invite Travlor to join me for lunch. If you could set up a table on the terrace, I think the fresh air will do us both good.”
The woman left without acknowledgement, but Daria wasn’t bothered in the least. This was turning out to be one of the most memorable days of her life. Nevertheless, she still had to haul her body up the stairs and to her rooms. She smiled and waddled away as quickly as her bloated body would allow.
Taking advantage of their al fresco lunch, Daria tried to engage Travlor in small talk. She thought that if she could somehow draw him out, she would find a clue as to why he carried so much pain. However, his heart remained closed tighter than a clam shell. She finally gave up and concentrated on the mouthwatering Columbian cuisine. Between bites, she did wonder at Travlor’s preoccupation. He hadn’t offered anything in the way of conversation. She studied him carefully and initiated another scan. Nothing was amiss. “Are you feeling all right?”
The man continued to eat and looked as though he wasn’t going to talk at all. A few moments passed in which the only sounds punctuating the silence was the clink of silverware against china, the odd bird call, and the incessant buzz of Travlor’s cell phone. When he finally lowered his knife and fork, his expression was odd. “I haven’t felt as well as I normally do after one of your sessions.” He shrugged and cut into another bite of meat. “Maybe you should think about changing our schedules. It would be better to administer the healings at closer intervals. I leave it to you to decide.”
Unnerved, Daria glanced back at her plate. She shoved a forkful of food into her mouth and chewed until her jaws ached and the food had almost dissolved. She swallowed hard. She knew that if she didn’t remain calm, Travlor would sense her unease.
Her silverware chimed against her plate as she let them rest. Nonchalantly, she placed her hands in her lap. “I just scanned your body and everything looks well. Can you explain what feels different?”
Travlor pushed his plate away with a big sigh and signaled the server to remove it. He pushed his chair out, straightened his legs and leaned back. “I just don’t have the energy as before. It’s an infinitesimal sensation. However, in prior sessions, I’ve been so rejuvenated that I have felt the years drop away. Maybe you’re losing your touch.”
Laughing as lightly as she could, Daria shook her head. “Maybe you’re just aging faster than you knew.”
Travlor rested his head on the back of the chair. “Ah, the marching of time. It comes to us all. At least I have enjoyed a stretch longer than most.”
“Would you care to share how long?”
“Not in the least.”
Daria considered Travlor as he rested. “Well, since you have seen so much of the world through your span of time, do you have any wisdom that you could share with me or something I could pass down to my daughter?”
A frown flitted across Travlor’s face. Daria thought he would leave rather than answer the question. Instead, he sat up, pulled his chair back around and stared at her. “No one has ever asked me that.”
Daria was so moved she almost reached out to touch him, but she stayed her hand. How sad to have lived as long as he has and never have anyone explore his knowledge and wisdom. His is a very lonely heart.
She waited for him to speak, but he was lost in thought, eyes closed, elbows on the table and head resting on the tops of his fists. Slight facial twitches were the only indication that he delved into his memories.
Scowling deeply, he absentmindedly picked up an errant tomato and chewed thoughtfully. “If I could share one thing with you, it would be this—love never wins the day. It is one step away from becoming the worst pain you have ever known in your life and it can turn on a dime. Don’t trust it, don’t look for it, and if you think you have found it … by God run from it as fast as you possibly can and don’t ever look back.”
Daria gasped. She had never heard anything so jaded or sad in her life. She couldn’t imagine wha
t had happened to Travlor to make him feel that way. She wiped her mouth and slowly got to her feet. Pushing her chair away, she went around the table and faced Travlor. He stood up, head tilted at an angle. Daria stepped into him and before he could move away, she embraced him as close as her expanding belly would allow. She poured out all the love she held in her heart and prayed that he would feel it.
Travlor didn’t move. Daria couldn’t even detect the rise and fall of his chest to indicate that he still needed breath. She lifted her head and hesitantly lowered her arms. Like the statue on his church, Travlor remained unmoving, unblinking, gaze frozen toward the distant horizon. Daria backed away and smiled. She reached out one last time and stroked his arm, then she left him standing on the terrace, still as death.
Safe in her room, Daria tried to understand why Travlor had felt the lessening of her healing effect at their last session. It disappointed her to think that she might not be able to affect his health in even the most incremental of ways. The man was clearly a very different type of being. He’s more in tune with himself than I guessed. I’ll have to discontinue my attempts for now. I’ll try again when he’s more distracted or maybe I can use the negative energy in every other session so that he doesn’t maintain a constant state of health.
She thought about the hug she gave him. “I can’t believe he stood for it.” She went to the window and absentmindedly stroked her abdomen. “What happened to hurt him so much that he feels safer wrapped in hate?”
The barren wasteland that stretched through his soul made her heart ache. She had wanted to comfort him in some small way and before she knew what she was doing, she was hugging him as hard as she could. “He has to know that he’s not alone.”
She addressed her baby. “Pain is an unavoidable part of life; there are no guarantees. But, my darling daughter, the beautiful alchemy is that if you keep loving with all your heart and soul and let it flow through your actions, it always comes back to you, and often in magical ways.
Currents of Will Page 17
