HeVan & Earth

by Lucy Kelly

  “I’ll explain it all to them later. I don’t have time for questions now. Just tell me what to do,” she said, kissing her daughter on the forehead and putting her to her breast. As soon as Grace heard Jordan stir, her milk had come in.

  Addie walked over to a chair in the corner. On the table next to it was a very large, very old book. Sitting down, she picked it up and opened it in her lap.

  “Maybe there’s something in here. Tamiel told me I would need the book. She said it would help me as my powers grew.”

  As she flipped through the pages, Grace took the opportunity to be with her daughters. She missed them already. It was hard being away from them when she needed to do her job. At the same time, she knew she’d go nuts if all she did was sit around and tend the little ones. Being the arbiter filled a need.

  “You know, now you have this nifty new teleporting power, you can get me at feeding time. I’d prefer it to a wet nurse or bottle feeding them. Is that possible?” Grace asked, putting Jordan back in her crib and reaching for Rebeccah.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure, I can do that. But I think I’ll call you before I teleport you. I wouldn’t want to pull you out of the shower or other more embarrassing situations…” she said, giving her eyebrows a quick up and down wiggle.

  “Oh, that would be bad. I agree, call first,” she said, giving her sister a wink. As she nursed Rebeccah, she looked over at her sister. “A year ago, did you ever expect we’d each fall in love with three alien men and move to another planet? And not just be an average citizen of that planet but the ruler? Sometimes I still feel as if this has been a bizarre dream, and I’m going to wake in the hospital,” said Grace.

  “The hospital?” asked Addie.

  “Yeah, as if someone has slipped me some LSD, and I’m on a wild trip.”

  “Well, you’re not on a trip. I think I found what we’re looking for. Let me scan this section and I’ll put it on a nano-patch for you. By the time you finish feeding Harriett, you’ll know all you need to know.”

  “Great! Thanks, sis. I knew I could count on you. The whole moving me across the world in the blink of an eye was unexpected, but I’ll freak out about it later. I’m sure my guys will have something to say about it too.”

  As she burped Rebeccah, Harriett began to wake. Addie walked over and placed the nano-patches on Grace’s temples. The nanos would interface with her brain and download the information she needed directly into her subconscious. When she needed to know something, she’d be able to pull it up, like a memory. The nano-patches had made it possible for all the women who had emigrated from Earth to be quickly educated in the language, history, and customs of HeVan. Many wanted to be able to pursue similar careers to the ones they had on Earth, and many wanted to learn new things.

  The nano-patches made it possible. So far, the general population of HeVan didn’t have access to this technology, one which had been developed during the long trip to Earth. Addie was still deciding if it should be made available to the general population. Sometimes learning things the long way held more value than learning them quickly.

  Placing Rebeccah back in the crib next to her sister, she picked up Harriett and sat in the other chair. She wanted to give her attention to her daughter for the next few minutes.

  After all the babies were fed and sleeping, Addie gave Grace a hug and sent her back to where she was standing before.

  Grace looked at the empty fireplace and then turned around to face the opposite end of the room. There were a great many more people in the room now. Her three Ankida stood in front of her, about ten feet away. They prevented anyone from approaching the area where she appeared. Someone gasped and Justyn turned around quickly.

  She could see he’d been worried about her. Her gentle giant. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She didn’t care about their audience; her Ankida needed reassurance, and she was going to give it to them.

  Jalen and Jett crowded around and got kisses too.

  “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Justyn said in a gruff voice.

  “Believe me, it wasn’t planned. I’ll tell you more a little later. Right now, I’ve got an investigation to conduct,” she said.

  With her Ankida by her side, and the knowledge of how to use her powers readily available, she walked back to where Tulia still sat. Next to her sat another woman. Grace recognized her from the memory savers; it was Branca. It was also apparent she had not been making use of the gene therapies needed to maintain her body. She appeared to be a woman in her late thirties. Grace knew she was only a few years older than Malpha. She should still be able to maintain a body age level of mid-twenties. There was a story here.

  Behind Tulia’s chair, stood six men whom Grace immediately labeled boy toys. She knew it wasn’t kind; it was the vibe they gave off. They weren’t her daughter’s playthings; no, these men belonged to mommy dearest. She didn’t see Councilman Hend anywhere, but the holding where he lived was closer to the border with Seraph. Pumping up her power, Grace’s eyes changed to silver.

  “I need a small room with a table and two chairs. The household will wait in this room, with no conversation. I will speak to Branca first, and then I will speak to every person here. My Ankida will remain to see my commands are carried out.”

  Grace pointed to Branca. “Branca, come with me,” she said.

  Tulia looked as if she wanted to say something, but a look from Grace stopped her.

  As Branca led her down a hallway, Grace studied the woman next to her. She could tell this was not a happy person. Hopefully, she would be able to change that. The room where Branca led her was exactly what she needed. A little nicer than the interrogation rooms at the Chicago PD, it should put most of her interviewees at ease. A small sitting room, empty of furniture except for two chairs, which looked out over a terrace to the garden beyond. The walls held bookcases with cupboards below. She waved Branca to one of the chairs, and she took the other one.

  “What room is this?” Grace asked.

  “It was my grandmother’s sitting room. She liked to read. She also spent time here on her handcrafts.”

  Grace moved her hands gracefully through the air as she closed her eyes. Opening them again, she saw a light film of transparent silver, like plastic wrap, hung on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Branca was staring.

  “I’ve deactivated any listening or viewing devices. Anything you tell me will be kept in confidence and shared with no one. Times are changing for HeVan. The Nam-Nin has returned. She has joined with HeVan and been granted the gifts needed to restore the Nephilim. I have also joined with HeVan on another level. I have also been granted gifts needed to aid my people. I want you to tell me what harms have been done against you. Please fear nothing, just tell me in your own words as we look out at this ageless view.”

  Branca looked over at the small woman sitting in the other chair. She was scared, but she believed the truth in those silver eyes. She started to speak.

  Chapter Four

  Earth…

  Josephine woke and rolled over in the bed. Her ribs were still a little sore, but she was feeling much better. At least she was warm. The snow outside had to be three feet deep, minimum. The heating bill must be ginormous. They had arrived at the compound at around one in the morning. The snow had slowed down the travel. According to Becky, it didn’t normally take so long.

  Her stomach growled. She decided she had to get out of this surprisingly comfortable, warm bed, and start her day. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Another growl had her heading for the bathroom.

  After showering and dressing, she started putting on her outerwear to head outside. The building she was in reminded her of a college dorm. It was mostly bedrooms and bathrooms with a lounge and a game room. Meals were in the main building. Becky said it was so they would feel like a community. Supposedly, after her breakfast, she’d be going through orientati
on. She was curious to see what that entailed. Bundled up, she headed out.

  Luckily, there were covered walkways joining all the buildings so she wouldn’t have any problems getting to the main building. Someone had been out early and shoveled the snow from the walkways. Halfway there, she heard a shout of laughter and looked off to the right. A bunch of people, very large people from the looks of them, were driving snowmobiles, pulling sleds full of kids, mostly teenagers. Josephine felt a shiver just from watching them; she didn’t understand how people could have fun when it was so damn cold out. She wanted a fire and a hot toddy. Right now, she’d settle for some hot coffee. When she stepped into the lodge, the first person she saw was Becky. Had the woman been lying in wait?

  “Hi! You must be Josephine. I’m Sarah, Becky’s sister. These are my Ankida, Kai and Ari. I bet you could use some coffee. We were just about to get some. Follow me, and I’ll show you where the magic elixir resides,” she said with a laugh.

  “I thought you were Becky for a minute there,” said Josephine.

  “Becky doesn’t spend too much time here at the retreat. She has a house outside of Chicago. She’ll be here for about a week until the weather clears a little and then she’ll head home. We’re expecting a large group to be coming through in the next month or so, and she has a lot of prep to do.”

  Josephine thought she might as well start asking questions. “Becky said this place was founded by a couple of rich women. Who are they and why did they set it up?” she wanted to know.

  “Okay, fair question. Let’s grab some coffee in the kitchen. You overslept and missed the big breakfast, same as me, so we’re on our own. But I think I can talk the guys into cooking something for us,” she said, winking at one of the behemoths walking behind them.

  “How do omelets, hash browns, bacon, and toast sound?” asked Kai.

  “You’re my new best friend,” Josephine replied.

  “Oh, that’s right, I heard you’ve got some sore ribs. Should you be moving around so much?” asked Sarah.

  “Would you like me to carry you?” offered Ari.

  Josephine let out a nervous laugh, “No, I’m feeling much better. I didn’t even tape up my ribs this morning,” she said.

  “It’s hard to tape up your own ribs, especially when they’re cracked. After breakfast, we’ll stop by the infirmary. We have a doctor and two nurses on staff, all women. They’ll be happy to check your progress with x-rays and then re-wrap you. You shouldn’t fool around with your health,” said Kai.

  “Aren’t they cute? No flirting, though, they’re all mine,” Sarah said.

  By this time, they had arrived at the kitchen. Kai got busy making breakfast while Ari made coffee for the women.

  “It’ll be a few minutes until the coffee is ready, so come with me for a moment. We’ll be right back,” said Sarah.

  Josephine’s stomach chose that moment to growl again.

  “I promise we’ll be back soon,” Sarah said, laughing.

  “Here is a biscotti, they were baked fresh this morning,” said Kai, holding out a napkin-wrapped biscotti. “It’ll hold you for a while.”

  “Thank you,” said Josephine as she followed Sarah out of the kitchen through a different door.

  She found herself in a large dining hall. There were round tables, with eight chairs around each. A quick count showed her they could easily feed three hundred or more.

  “Here, this is what I wanted to show you.” Sarah gestured to a large photo on the wall.

  There were five women in the photo. In the middle was a short redhead with a lightly freckled face. Next to her was a taller woman with dark hair; her looks were more Latina. Both Sarah and Becky were in the picture, as well as another woman with brown hair and green eyes.

  “These are the five women who founded this retreat. Addie married multi-billionaire brothers. Like me, she went for the polyandrous relationship. Anyway, she sold the family farm and put the money into our trust. She’s living in a palace now. This is her sister, Grace; she married some distant relatives of Addie’s Ankida. You know Becky and me; we each got two guys. Finally, this is my best friend, Tammy. She’s happy with her one Ankida. His name is Markus; you’ll meet him later. Tammy didn’t have any money, but what she has is fifteen years in the hospitality industry. She knows how to keep this place running. She and I live here year round. Come on, the coffee has to be ready by now.”

  Josephine listened and she would remember everything Sarah told her. But for now, the thing grabbing her attention in the picture was the birthmark on Addie’s temple. It was the same as hers and the same as the stitched symbol on Ishme’s shirt she had noticed last night.

  When they sat down in the kitchen again, breakfast was ready. Looking around, she was surprised. This kitchen wasn’t very big, certainly not up to restaurant standards. It couldn’t possibly feed three hundred people.

  She took a first sip of coffee, sending blessed caffeine into her system.

  “This kitchen seems a little small to feed enough people to fill all those tables.”

  “This is the family kitchen. It’s a place where any of our guests can come and have a friendly family meal if they so desire. There’s another larger kitchen where the main meals are made for the group as a whole. A lot of the newcomers feel more comfortable here with fewer strangers around,” Sarah said.

  Josephine nodded; it made sense. The four of them started to eat in companionable silence.

  “I noticed Addie has an interesting birthmark on her forehead. Becky’s husband, Ishme, had a logo on his shirt, which looked similar. He said I’d get the story later,” Josephine said, reaching for her second cup of coffee.

  Sarah took a last bite of her omelet and leaned back in her chair. Kai and Ari had finished their massive piles of food and stood.

  “We’re going to head to the nursery and check on Gavin and Glory,” Kai said, as he leaned down to give Sarah a deep kiss. Ari kissed her too.

  Then the men put their dishes in the dishwasher before leaving. Like so many others, Sarah had contributed to the Great Chicago Baby Boom. The scientists were still trying to discover why so many people had become pregnant in an ever-widening circle around Chicago. Chicago had become a Mecca for women with fertility issues. But whatever the magic was, it seemed those fertility issues were gone now.

  Sarah turned to Josephine. “That birthmark is why you’re here. It was in the picture taken as evidence for the battery charge against your ex. I have one too. We’re all distantly related, sisters under the skin, so to speak. Addie’s an archaeologist. She could give you all the history on it. We also have a genealogist working on all our family trees, trying to find more of us, but it’s hard.”

  “Why is it so difficult?” Josephine asked, feeling a little weird by the answer.

  “Because of all the descendants we’ve been able to find, about four hundred right now, are all women. The whole last name thing makes backtracking difficult. About half the women currently in residence have birthmarks, including Angela, the woman who arrived with you last night. Come on, let’s clean up and I’ll take you to orientation,” said Sarah, getting up.

  The two women made quick work of cleaning up the kitchen for the next visitors. After starting the dishwasher, they left. Going back through the door they had used the first time, they backtracked toward the front door of the lodge. A hallway ran down the opposite way from the direction she’d taken entering.

  “Down this hallway are the offices: orientation, education, doctor, dentist, pharmacy, administration, and identity. Daycare facilities, laundry, and the store room are on the opposite side of this wing,” she explained as they walked along.

  Sarah held open a door marked “Orientation” and waved Josephine through.

  “Identity?” Josephine asked as she walked into what looked like an ordinary office.

  There was a desk with two chairs. A short file cabinet stood next to the desk, with a couch along the wall. What stood out was the
computer sitting on the desk; Josephine could tell this was an expensive piece of technology.

  “Once a geek, always a geek. I’ve got to keep my hand in,” Sarah laughed.

  That’s when the light bulb flashed in her mind and Josephine knew from where she recognized Sarah. She was the programmer of the “Finder” program. Nearly every law enforcement agency in the country used her programs to find people. She had sold her company to her partner and made billions from the sale.

  What is she doing in the back-of-beyond Wisconsin? Josephine wondered.

  “What are you doing up here in the frozen north?” she asked, and Sarah just laughed.

  “I am keeping my stress levels down, doctor’s orders, among other things. We’ll get to that. For now, we’ll continue with your orientation.” She turned on her computer and pointed to the TV screen mounted on the wall behind her. “You’ll be able to see what’s on my monitor by looking at the screen up there.”

  Sure enough, she looked as Sarah worked through several levels of security and finally brought up a directory of names. As Josephine read over the names on the file attachments, she recognized a few of them from the case notes her boss had her review. She saw Sarah click on one of the files and pictures appeared on the screen.

  “This is Darcy. As you can see, her husband did a number on her. He’s in prison, but she was terrified he’d get out and kill her. She was struggling to get her life started again. She spent a month with us. Here’s a picture of what she looks like now. We fixed her teeth, replacing the missing ones with implants her husband had knocked out. There was some plastic surgery to repair her nose and remove some of her scars. She’s working as a dental technician in Belleview, Washington, now. She got interested in dentistry while she was having her own work done.”