Travel Glasses

by Chess Desalls

  “You sent him? But how?”

  “In my position I have the ability to monitor individuals’ comings and goings through time and space. The TSTA has control over licensed vehicles and planned destinations, but not for the unlicensed objects such as the travel glasses. I could see you traveling through, Calla, but there was nothing I could do. I don’t have the resources. You just kept getting farther and farther away, and it’s taken a really long time to find where you are now.”

  “You sent him.” I let the words sink in. Mom’s actions seemed so…maternal. She’d been keeping an eye on me all along. She said she’d been worried about me. She didn’t want me to be alone.

  “You don’t realize how dangerous the game you’re playing is. You cannot jump from world to world and time to time as frequently as you have been traveling. You’re at a high risk for getting lost.”

  “But I was mostly just trying to get away from Valcas. What do you mean by ‘lost?’ You mean like literally lost in time and space?”

  Mom sighed before answering. She sounded tired. “That would be horrifying enough, but there’s more to it than that. I can give you an example. I understand that you spent some time with Edgar at his nowhere, his workshop in the woods. He is lost and has been for a very long time.”

  “Was lost,” I said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Edgar was lost. He’s dead now.” I winced. Those words still bothered me.

  “That is sad news for those who remember him well enough to miss him.”

  Another Hall lost to me. Enta’s words echoed in my head. “Mom, is Valcas lost?”

  “No, although he came pretty close more than a couple of times. Do you know what day it is, Calla? Do you even know how long you’ve been gone?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  I remembered my walk with Valcas along the hiking trail. I’d asked how travelers kept track of the time. He’d said that many get lost. I wondered whether Edgar knew how old he was when he died and how he’d kept track of time at the workshop in the woods. Putting together what I knew of Edgar and what my mother just told me, I realized that he didn’t keep track of anything but his experiments. When faced with outside topics like his family and his past life, he became agitated and confused. He withdrew. He looked, well…lost.

  “Oh.” I got it now. He really was lost. How close to being lost was I?

  “I have to go soon, Calla. But there is one more matter I need to discuss with you, something that I don’t want to come as a shock to you when Valcas brings you here to TSTA Headquarters. I’ve been warned about two pending charges against you, infractions for the unauthorized creation and use of daily reminders. Do you have any idea why that would be?”

  TWO?

  “I wrote on one physical object, a letter. The only other daily reminder I can think of was a photograph, but I didn’t write on it. I didn’t even know anyone had written anything on it until after I returned to the white tower. At best I was only indirectly involved because I was in the photo that Shirlyn took. I expected to be in trouble for the letter, but I had to write it. It was the only way I could try to help Enta prepare Edgar’s elixir. How am I responsible for the photograph when someone else wrote on it?”

  I clenched the ice cube box, digging my fingernails into its slippery edges. “What will the TSTA do to me?”

  Mom’s next sigh was more of an exasperated huff. “There will be a hearing. The TSTA will consider the consequences of the daily reminders and whether or not they are still in effect. The reason the daily reminder was created cannot be used as a defense. The punishment could be anything from a ban on further time and space travel to millions of dollars in fines. Those who cannot pay may either go to jail or volunteer for a dangerous mission aimed toward finding individuals who are lost. Volunteering for such a mission would put you at an even greater risk of becoming lost yourself.”

  My blood pressure dropped again. Everything was finally starting to crumble. Every bad decision I’d made was suddenly being thrown right back in my face. But, it wasn’t my entire fault.

  “I guess I’ll just have to explain everything that happened at the hearing and let them decide whose fault it is.” I hoped that the TSTA would at least listen to my side of the story and be fair.

  “I’ll look into the situation and see if there’s anything else we can do to convince the TSTA to be lenient. I have to go now. Please stay where you are. Valcas is traveling to you; he’ll be there very soon. If you don’t return here with him then the TSTA will send out one of its own people. That would not reflect well on you at the hearing.”

  “But, wait—you didn’t answer my question about whether Valcas is still looking for my father. Where did—”

  “Your father has made it quite clear that he prefers not to be found.” Mom’s voice was much less patient than it had been throughout our conversation. “Whether that is because he is lost or dead, I really don’t know, and I refuse to waste additional time and resources on finding the answer.”

  “Oh.” I blinked back tears. The shock of Mom’s first frank response on this topic stung deeply.

  She softened the blow with another sigh. “Right now, I’m worried about bringing you here safely.”

  “How long do I have until Valcas gets here?”

  “I have no way of knowing the exact moment. To Valcas it will feel instantaneous, but that’s not what it looks or feels like to the motionless. He left a while ago and is still moving. Please, keep the travel glasses off of your face.”

  “Okay.” At least I could stop worrying about where to go next.

  “Goodbye, Calla. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

  “Bye.”

  Valcas found me as I was trying, with one hand, to close the box that I’d been using to communicate with my mother. My grip on the doorknob was weakening and I could feel myself shaking. He wrapped two arms around me and held me up. His bright jeweled green eyes looked at me, concerned. “Do you need to sit down?”

  I nodded. He helped me into a seated position on the floor. Then he glanced at the box the guard had given me to take Mom’s call. “You received bad news?”

  “Yes. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, it’s never enough. Just when I think I get what’s going on, everything changes. I have to leave here. I have to appear at a hearing before the TSTA. There are charges against me for breaking TSTA rules.”

  I looked up at Valcas. I felt helpless, but also relieved. I’d told him the truth. I had to leave and we would have to say good-bye.

  Valcas’ eyes widened. “That is very serious news. Do you need witnesses? I will testify on your behalf.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’ll need until I get there.”

  He squeezed me tightly. “I’ll continue to wait for you, you know. I’ll be right here when you get back. If you need anything from me in the meantime, send a message from TSTA headquarters to me here at the tower.”

  He pulled a pen and the photo of us out of his pocket. I watched in awe as he noted on the back of the photograph that I was going to be away for a short period of time. Then he put the pen and photo back in his pocket.

  Valcas never stopped finding new ways to amaze me. Past versions of people really were fascinating—their limitations, their feelings, their humanness. It was so easy to pretend that he was real. He was so easy to be with and talk to. I was going to miss him. He deserved a real good-bye, even though this time I knew for sure that he wouldn’t remember it tomorrow morning.

  “Valcas, if you could choose one place, anywhere you wanted to go—anywhere at all—where would that be?”

  “Anywhere—as long as it was with you.”

  “What if I left here, but was somehow still with you?”

  “You mean with another version of me in a different place and time?”

  “Exactly.”

  We looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Neither of us smiled. We just sat there looking, waitin
g.

  “Then I would expect that whichever version of me that is with you will be extraordinarily happy.”

  “Do you really think it works that way?” I asked. “Is that even possible?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember ever having been this happy.”

  I bit back tears. I couldn’t look at him, knowing that if I did I just might lose the will I had left not to run away again. He grasped both of my hands and pulled me with him up off of the cold white floor. I felt his cheek meet mine as he bent down to hold me. I held on to every last moment of the Valcas not yet affected by the travel glasses, the version that very easily could have contributed to me becoming lost. I knew that I could not spend my future in someone else’s past, with someone who loved me only while I existed in recent memory.

  “Valcas, may I see the picture of us again?”

  “Of course.” He pulled the photo out of his pocket and held it out to me.

  I took the photo from him knowing that I could never give it back. I turned it over to look at what he’d written on the other side. There was the poem that he’d interpreted to mean that we were engaged. Since then he’d added a few details about me—that I liked asking meaningful questions rather than engaging in polite small talk, that I spent a lot of time inside my own thoughts, and that I had a healthy appetite when I was happy. I wrinkled my nose. Everything he said was true, but I didn’t think that he’d captured traits that were particularly interesting or attractive. “These are your observations of me?”

  Valcas smiled. “Just a few of my favorites.”

  I smiled back. He really had been trying to get to know me—to understand me. He wasn’t kidding when he’d explained what a real friend meant to him. “May I have this? Can I take it with me to the TSTA hearing?” I absolutely had to keep the photo so that it would no longer be a daily reminder of me.

  “Yes,” he replied, his bright eyes filled with emotion. “If it will provide you any measure of comfort while you’re gone, then you must keep it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So, then, this is good-bye?”

  I choked back a sob. Then I nearly choked for real when we were interrupted by loud footsteps combined with shouts echoing through the hallway.

  “MISS WINSTON!”

  The guard with the gray moustache ran straight for us.

  “Miss Winston, your ride is almost here.” He puffed, out of breath. “I will escort you outside the tower. Mr. Hall, sir, a TSTA representative has just contacted me with direct orders that you are not to accompany Miss Winston on her way out.”

  “Why not? Of course I will go outside with her and see that she is safely on her way.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but these orders are from much higher up. We must not disobey them.” He gave Valcas a shrewd look. “The representative anticipated that you may have an objection to the agency’s order. He is still on the line if you would like to speak with him.”

  “But, I don’t understand.” Valcas looked at me, deeply concerned. “How much trouble did you find while traveling, dearest?”

  “I don’t know.” I frowned. The guard’s words scared me. My voice shook. “You should stay here, Valcas. At least speak with the TSTA representative first. I don’t want to drag you into all of this. That’s the last thing I need right now.”

  Valcas looked back and forth between me and the guard. His brow was furrowed and his jaw tightly set. He addressed the guard without taking his eyes off of me. “Where do I go to take the call?”

  “The 343rd door on the right side of the hallway.”

  “Why so far?”

  “The representative did not say.”

  Valcas shook his head. “I will take the call.” He looked at the guard. “Please escort Calla outside of the tower as instructed. I’ll talk to the representative to see if there is some way around his absurd request. Then I’ll return here as quickly as possible.” Valcas looked back down at me and placed a hand on my cheek. “And if I’m too late—if you’re already gone by the time I get back, then I hope you’ll at least remember this…”

  He lowered his head and stepped in toward me. My breath caught and my shoulders stiffened. He drew closer, resting his forehead on mine for a brief moment. His lips pressed against my forehead and then my cheek where his hand had been. His arms circled my waist and pulled me closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up at him. Bright green eyes looked down at me. He smiled, soundlessly telling me that everything would be all right. I believed him. Then he lowered his head toward me. My heart fluttered and my stomach flip-flopped. His lips met mine. He kissed me, telling me wordlessly that he loved me. Of course I would remember. There was no way I could forget.

  We broke free from one another when it became impossible to ignore the guard’s foot tapping. “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but you should get moving if you still want to speak to the representative. You don’t want to keep him waiting, do you?”

  Valcas sighed and gave me another long look.

  “Sir?”

  “Tell the TSTA representative that I mean him no disrespect, but I won’t be speaking with him today. I’m going with Calla to TSTA headquarters. She will need my help there more than here.”

  I had no way of knowing whose look of shock was greater, mine or the guard’s. Valcas was coming with me? No, no, no. I couldn’t be responsible for dragging another silhouette into another place and time.

  The guard looked at Valcas in disbelief. “But, sir, you will be disobeying a direct order from a government agency. There will be serious consequences.”

  “What if it makes everything worse?” I added.

  Valcas’ jaw was set. He wasn’t going to back down.

  The guard stared at him. “The TSTA representative also anticipated this alternative reaction from you, sir. I’m sorry, but I cannot allow this security breach to occur.” He clapped his hands. The guard’s clapping echoed through the hallways like he’d set off a round of firecrackers. His hands sparked as if each clap generated a surge of electricity.

  White doors burst open on both sides of the front entrance into the tower. Guard after guard poured into the hallway. I gasped. Valcas’ arms were around me, holding me so tightly that I could barely breathe. The guards pried him off of me in less than a minute. Four guards held him back from me and then another group surrounded him as they led him away.

  He called for me over and over. Agonizing distortions of my name echoed in my ears until he was securely retained behind one of the white doors. I couldn’t hear myself sobbing until all grew quiet again.

  Only the guard with the gray moustache and I remained in the hallway. A glint of metal flashed as he removed something from his hands and placed it in his pocket.

  “I’m sorry that you had to see that, Miss Winston. This is not the first time that young Mr. Hall nearly caused a security breach. We restrain him for his own safety. He will be all right soon enough. Now, let’s get you outside of the tower before you miss your ride.”

  I balked when the guard offered me his arm. “Valcas is restrained for his own safety? By shutting him away in a room filled with guards? How is that supposed to make him feel safe?”

  “He may not appreciate it now, but he will someday.”

  As I followed the guard through the two arched doorways that led outside of the tower, I remembered how Valcas had locked me up in a room with one of his maids back at his palace. What a horrible way to protect someone—to keep them safe. But at least now I understood why he’d done that, why his methods had been so extreme. He wasn’t malicious or crazy, at least not completely. He’d responded to my fear and attempts to escape him the only way he’d learned how.

  We walked out into the dark and windless night. I tightly held on to the photo of me and green-eyed Valcas while we waited for the existing Valcas to arrive. A wave of red and purple sand sprayed up at the tower from the ground below, signaling his arrival. I slipped the photo into my backpack, next to the trav
el glasses and my letter to Edgar that I’d crumpled into a ball.

  Valcas was silent as he dismounted his black and gold Estrel-Flyer and walked toward me and the guard. The sand was so soft that it covered his dark shoes with each step. I looked at the guard, wondering whether he would find it strange that Valcas was here to pick me up even though just moments ago he’d been torn from me and taken away. He looked every bit the same, only his clothing was different and his eyes were covered by dark glasses.

  He called out my name as he approached. His voice was smooth and familiar, so much like the voice of the version of him that had just kissed me good-bye.

  “Thank you,” he said to the guard. “Thank you for taking care of Calla when I couldn’t do so myself.”

  The guard bowed as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “My pleasure, Mr. Hall,” he said. And then he turned and walked away, back into the white tower where the arched doors closed behind him.

  Valcas offered me his hand.

  “Wait—”

  He frowned, but he waited.

  “Please remove your glasses. There’s something I need to see.”

  Valcas tilted his head to the side and then shook his head as if I’d requested something impossible. “I’m not falling for that trick again.” He grinned. Then he started to laugh. His laughter wasn’t threatening or mocking. A deep, pleasant chuckle resonated from his chest.

  I raised my eyebrows and tried to look into his eyes through the dark glasses. “Please?”

  In a swift motion, he glided the dark glasses off of his face and hid them behind his back. He gave me a questioning look. Cringing slightly, I looked straight into his eyes, searching for something. He seemed different, yet he was the same person that I’d spent so much time getting to know. His eyes were paler than they’d been when I last saw him, now more of an ice gray with no hint of blue. I cringed again, absorbing the sickening contrast between these eyes and the stunning green gems that had me transfixed just a moment ago.

  “Thanks.” I reached into my backpack and pulled out the travel glasses. “Here. Take them back,” I insisted. “They’re yours, not mine.”