by Teya Tapler
“Come to the dining room, I need to tattoo your arm.” Amanda shouted at Evan as she left.
A few steps later someone snatched Evan from behind and lifter her up. She screamed and dropped the clothes as the blanket slipped to the ground. A big hand landed on her lips and shut her mouth quiet. She started kicking trying to wiggle her way out of the strong grip. She couldn’t see who had attacked her but the smell of alcohol around her indicated that it might have been Mort. Evan felt his strong grip around her body and his breathing on her neck.
He carried Evan quickly along the corridor into the dining room where Amanda was setting up the tools. On the far end of the dining room table she had spread what looked like a set of tattoo parlor equipment. The attacker threw rudely Evan onto the end chair and held her shoulders close to its backrest, pushing them down, not letting her move. She was glued to the chair.
Amanda gave Evan an indifferent and bored look then turned to prepare the engraver. It didn’t look like the tattoo machines Evan had seen on TV. It had a bigger handle with various needles that were positioned in a way that suggested them producing a three dimensional image. She felt sick at the thought of what was to follow. Then someone strapped her to the chair with a rope going twice across her chest trapping her arms underneath. With the corner of her eyes she saw Ranshen tying the rope behind her while Mort was holding her shoulders still. The friendly conversations were over. Evan had to comply. She was expected to be one of them, look like them and behave like them. They had shown her that they had a way of making her follow their rules and that she would be wiser to abide.
Amanda pulled Evan’s left arm and before Evan could react her wrist was tied to the armrest. They tied her right wrist too. Feeling her feet free she tried to kick but Mort slapped the back of her head with his heavy hand and she got dizzy.
“Stay still,” Amanda imitated a friendly smile and turned to pick up the tattoo gun. It looked even bigger in her delicate hand.
Evan froze. She couldn’t move under the tight rope and her head was still spinning. Breathing was difficult; the fear had crept too deep inside. She sat on the chair with wide open eyes fixated to the tattoo gun as Amanda slowly positioned it in the middle of the inside of Evan’s left arm and pressed the trigger.
Sharp pain pierced Evan’s arm. The pain started moving up and down, and left and right as Amanda drew the logo. The ink burned like fire. The sensation started sneaking up the elbow and reached Evan’s shoulder. She squint her eyes and tried thinking happy thoughts.
Puppies! Kittens! Velvety blue pansies! Evan repeated in her mind over and over trying to picture little cats and dogs running among her favorite flowers on a bright and sunny day. But the pain was too sharp and too strong. The flowers changed color and turned scarlet red like Amanda’s hair and the images of the happy animals got distorted and started to resemble Zull Mort and Ranshen as the tattooing continued. Evan forced herself not to look and tried hard not to think of the events around her. She used all her will power not to move, not to open her eyes, not to shout. Silent tears of pain and horror rolled down her cheeks.
***
“Good morning,” Evan heard a familiar male voice and opened her eyes. Mort was standing next to her bed. She instinctively checked her clothes under the covers and was happy to discover that she was still with her jeans and t-shirt; the clothes she wore the last time she was awake.
“You fainted during the procedure and Ranshen brought you here,” Mort said noticing her confusion. “I hope you like the image. We think it came out nice.”
Evan pulled her left arm from under the covers and saw the heavily bandaged tattoo site. Her warm skin pulsated under the gauze.
“You’ll see it in a few days,” Mort roared at her. His patience was wearing off quickly and he couldn’t continue talking like a normal person for too long. “It takes some time for the ink to bond properly to the middle skin layer. Forming the desired three dimensional effects takes time.”
Exhausted from being afraid Evan nodded slightly. Not seeing a chance to escape she was slowly becoming compliant.
“When you are ready, come to the lab. I’m at a very important stage of my work and need to show you something,” Mort ordered her and left.
Evan got up and bolted the door behind him. Then she made her bed. To her surprise someone had brought her a pillow and an extra pair of sheets, of course all of them in various shades of red. She went to the bathroom and washed her face then following an old habit looked at the mirror above the sink to smile at her reflection.
A stranger stared at her. The face had her features but the pixie hair cut was much shorter, it looked more like Mort’s crew cut and… was burgundy color. They had died her hair without her permission. Evan gasped. They had dragged her into a room, tied her to a chair and tattooed her against her will. What else had they done to her? Her heartbeat accelerated as her thoughts raced desperately. She felt betrayed and alone and exposed and violated all at the same time. Her hands undressed her hastily and she examined her body in front of the mirror for any signs of unwanted intervention.
After looking long and wide she calmed down. The rest of her body seemed untouched. There was nothing else. They had only forcefully done what they had said was needed for her to be accepted as part of their group.
A sigh of relief came out of her mouth and she sat on the toilet to normalize her breathing. Her heartbeat gradually slowed down. She was officially part of the 906 Inquisitors and Mort’s assistant.
Evan needed to survive until Zander or his friends came to take her home. She dressed up, armed with patience and headed to the lab.
Chapter 3
The Chancellor transcasted himself to the designated area and followed the directions of the welcoming group to the balcony loggia. He sat on the third row leaving plenty of space for the younger representatives to see the ceremony first hand. He wasn’t as excited. The destruction of the pearls was something he wasn’t looking forward to. He had to use all of his connections just to delay the issuance of a permit for the new girl to obtain a locator chip implant hoping that she wouldn’t be allowed to attend if she didn’t have one.
He sat quietly and watched the movement on the stage. The Anaconda team, one man short, was talking with professor Wilderness while that new girl was reading the commemorative plaque on the wall. Almost all of his colleagues have gathered around. It was time to begin. He activated his phone bracelet and called the chief scientist. She answered at the second ring.
“This is professor Wilderness. How may I help you Chancellor?” she said.
“Professor Wilderness, the time has come. You may proceed,” he hissed in the receiver and ended the call seeing her nodding towards him from the distance.
The scientists were carefully taking the containers out of the sturdy transportation crates and then opening the containers’ lids with a special tool avoiding human contact with the content at all cost. A tall blonde guy with curly hair and light brown skin approached the new girl and then pointed to the professor and the scientists. The Chancellor looked through his binoculars and identified Emil. That was the guy whom he had personally sent to retrieve the pearls after they were cast through time and space and later that was the guy who had gone back in time to retrieve the notebook with Mort’s secret notes. Seeing Emil again was not among his favorite things. With trembling hand, the Chancellor put the binocular back in his pocket and closed his eyes. He hid his hands in the pockets of his ultramarine robe and started imagining what the best way to kill Emil would be, every time telling himself that he is doing that in the name of his brother or in the name of his nephew of just because he thought that Emil deserved to die. Making each imaginary death more painful and slower than the one before gave him temporary peace and satisfaction.
When The Chancellor opened his eyes the girl and the professor were talking, gesturing towards the pearls and the transcaster base, looking at a piece of paper, pointing to the crates where the pearls wer
e waiting. Emil was with the other people dressed in black and the scientists had cleared the stage and headed towards the control room. After a while the professor joined the other white coats and the girl headed to the first pearl at the edge of the stage.
The pearl closest to her started to glow. She picked it up with two hands and hugged it closer to her chest. The pearl seemed heavy for her and its shape was preventing her from carrying it differently. When the pearl touched her chest its glow turned into a bright color-changing light. Everyone gasped while the girl, ignoring the light and the spectator’s reaction, carried the item to the round transcaster base.
The Chancellor couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought that only Zull Mort had such powers over the pearls. He had seen Mort activate the pearls many times and was positive that no one else could make them even glow. The Chancellor had secretly tried that many times, repeating what he had seen Mort do, but the pearls had never reacted to his touch in that magical way. When the Chancellor touched them instead of the calming glow the pearls had stung him, sending electric shock through his arm to his whole body paralyzing his hand for a while.
Eager to see more and to find out who that girl was, the Chancellor hastily pulled out the binocular again and focused on the girl’s features. She had an oval shaped face with fair, perfectly healthy skin, delicate features, plump lips and lovely almond shaped brown eyes with long lashes. Her pixie haircut and high cheekbones were giving her a mischievous look. The Chancellor tried to remember if he had seen her before. Beauty like that shouldn’t be hard to remember or spot around. He searched his memory in vain. In the meantime the girl moved the pearl away from her chest to put it down. The bright light turned to glow and then when she put the pearl in place the glow stopped all together.
The Chancellor felt uncomfortable, angry and agitated. He had to have that girl’s power at all cost or alternatively he had to convince her to join his cause. If he didn’t have so much make up, one would easily see him turn red. His brother struggled for months before finally perfecting the mixture. That girl could help him succeed faster and maybe their group won’t be captured because they would be more powerful after that.
The Chancellor trusted his hand in the deep pocket of his ultramarine robe and felt the solid handle of the transcaster gun. The power to change the fate of the 906 Inquisitors was within his reach. He would pull out the gun and send that girl to his brother in a gift wrap.
The thought that the past cannot be changed in the presence of those pearls crossed his mind. He remembered the 906 Inquisitors trying to influence the Galactic politics and economics by using the pearls. They’ve caused a lot of destruction and killed many people just to find out that there was something in the pearls that prevented them to change the progress of any event or to jump-start another, even if the people involved with that event were among the victims. Regardless of the gang’s actions, they remained futile.
The Chancellor closed his eyes for a second to disperse the ghastly memories and the unpleasant feelings they brought up. It was going to be different that time, he knew it. The girl was what they’ve been missing all along. She was going to change everything for the better. If he sent her to the past, by that time the next day his brother and nephew and all the other gang members would be celebrating their success remaining oblivious of the little gift from him that changed their fate for good.
The Chancellor quietly pulled out a transcaster gun. He fumbled with the settings with two hands. It was hard adjusting the destination coordinates appropriately without looking. He had to feel the dial with his fingertips or peek without attracting too much attention. Once ready, the Chancellor waited for the right moment. He wanted to send to Mort both the girl and the pearls. He needed to shoot her at the precise moment when she was placing the last pearl and all of them were in contact with each other.
Hunched over the gun to conceal it from the other representatives sitting in the loggia, the Chancellor continued watching as the girl took each pearl in her arms slowly and methodically then lovingly carried it to the transcaster base and carefully positioned it there. Each pearl started to glow then emitted the bright color-changing light which changed back to glow before darkening again as the girl placed the pearl to rest on the transcaster base. Before bending to take the fifth pearl the girl searched for professor Wilderness who waved her back from the control room and then nodded indicating that she can go ahead and complete the structure.
“Excuse me Chancellor,” a low baritone voice interrupted him. Oliver, his assistant, was standing in the isle: his lanky body hunched as usual and a wide and weird, servile smile gracing his face. ”There’s an urgent call from the President.”
The Chancellor turned abruptly to face Oliver. For quite some time, Oliver had been his official assistant in the eyes of the world around them while at the same time, unofficially, he handled the Chancellor’s requests to eliminate difficult people and make way for his agenda.
The Chancellor got up trying to conceal the gun and shoved his assistant away as Oliver bent slightly extending the phone closer to the Chancellor. The two of them bumped heads, neither one expecting the collision. In the commotion The Chancellor accidentally pressed the trigger and fired the transcaster gun.
The girl on the stage flashed in blue and disappeared. Three people dressed in dark clothes ran on the stage as if trying to catch her before she faded away. The Chancellor heard them shout something inaudible after her as she vanished.
The group of Earth’s representatives around the Chancellor erupted. His companions had started to shout expressing their thoughts and opinions all at once. During the commotion the Chancellor hid the gun back in his pocket. His steel cold, gray eyes pierced the bewildered Oliver who stood frozen next to him with a phone in his still extended hand. Ignoring the president’s call, the Chancellor activated his own phone bracelet and called professor Wilderness. He had to do something that might cause him more problems in the long run, but now was the only reasonable thing. Keeping his cover and continuing to be the person eager to destroy the pearls was of upmost importance. His life hinged on his reputation.
“Give me Emil on the phone,” he ordered.
“This is Emil,” came at the other end after a while.
“Is it necessary to be reminiscent? You must transport her back to us.” The Chancellor shouted at the receiver. “Your mission to reposes the person who could assist us destroying the pearls is not yet finished,” he ended the call.
“Yes?” the Chancellor yelled at the bewildered Oliver. “What d’you want this time, you worthless person? Not once have you come to me with good news without causing disasters.”
“Th-the president,” Ollie extended his arm with the phone in front of the Chancellor’s face. The latter picked up the phone, turned his back to the petrified assistant and said calmly in a highly professional voice. “Pardon the delay, Sir. How may I be of service?”
***
A few hours later the Chancellor and Oliver were back in the Chancellor’s office at the Galactic Committee Building. Oliver was not feeling comfortable sitting on the sofa, on the exact same spot he was when given the assignment to kill Evan in the 21st century – his latest and unfortunately unsuccessful mission. The accident during the pearl destruction ceremony was another thing the Chancellor would never forget and most likely never forgive him. Frazzled, Oliver looked down at his sneakers – the shoes he liked because they were helping him sneak behind his victims unnoticed and undisturbed. He should buy another pair of not so stealthy sounding shoes. His favorites have caused him a reprimanding. Oliver swallowed heavily and looked towards the Chancellor.
The Chancellor was sitting at his immaculately organized desk, searching for something in its numerous drawers. Every single item in front of him had its own place, everything flawlessly arranged in perfect rows. After a while he pulled a thick red folder and lovingly laid it in the middle of his desk. With two hands he opened the folder and his eyes fell on
the picture attached to the first page: the Shtuttgart family after the discovery of the last pearl. The girl that made the pearls shine was looking at him. Wearing a t-shirt with a smiley face and having longer hair she was defying the whole world around her. Her name was Evangeline. What a beautiful name for someone who had caused so many problems.
A thought crossed the Chancellor’s mind and his forehead wrinkled under the heavy white makeup he was still wearing. The left side of his face twitched as he moved toward Oliver and sat on the nearby red leather arm chair.
“Ollie, you must see to something for me,” the Chancellor said. The tone of his voice was unmistakable. He wasn’t talking to Oliver he was delivering him his orders.
“Yes, sir,” Oliver said.
“I need you to go back in time and pass onto me all the knowledge you possess about that girl, the Anaconda team, the location of the golden locket and the pearls. You have to describe to me all the miniscule details,” the Chancellor hissed. It was still hard for him to believe that they had the reader maker locket in their possession, just to lose it again. Alex, the “delicate matters specialist” working for him, had done very well. Realizing the secret connection between the pearls subconscious powers and the reader maker locket’s intuition enhancing abilities Alex had used one of the pearls to lure the locket’s guardian and take the precious item back. At the time Ranshen was happy with the development. The thought that possessing the locket would give the 906 Inquisitors even greater powers, had made him instruct Ollie to go back in time and deliver it to him. It was needless to explain that hadn’t turned as expected. “You also have to convince me to kill Evangeline,” the Chancellor continued, “after the third success and not to trust Emil. D’you understand this? Tell me to kill Evangeline after the third success and not to trust Emil.”
