Seeing his bright red telepod waiting for him across the roof, he felt his steps get more spring in them. There was nothing he enjoyed more than the freedom of flying in his personally designed telepod. He pressed his hand down on the exterior plate to activate the side door to open and felt himself relax further as he watched it slowly descend to just above the ground.
He stepped inside and appreciated anew the plush foxl interior as he walked to the front of the aircraft and sat down in the pilot’s seat. He palmed the side door shut at the same time as he began the activation procedures. The telepod rose several inches from the ground and hovered, waiting for further input. When he checked the glass panel to ensure all of the systems were working properly, he entered in the coordinates for his planned destination. He tapped the activation button and visualized the destination in mind as he and the telepod disappeared from the rooftop.
Chapter Six
“WE LOVE YOU and we’re only concerned about you, Neal,” Jessica told her son for at least the tenth time.
“I don’t know what you’re so concerned about. What more do you want from me? I’m home, safe and sound.” Neal looked first at his mother and then shifted his gaze to his father. What he saw in both of their expressions did nothing to reassure him. He tried to see the situation from their point of view and still he could not get over how unreasonable they were being with him.
“I know Amanda said she thought you’d be tired, but really, Neal, you’ve only been awake for about thirty minutes from when you first arrived two days ago. Don’t you think we have reason to be concerned? Where have you been all this time? How come you don’t remember? Don’t these unanswered questions concern you as well?” Jessica finally spoke her mind and she reached for her husband’s hand for comfort.
“Your mom’s right, Neal. It’s just not normal for you to not remember anything. I think it would be a good idea for you to see a counselor. If nothing else, it’ll give you someone other than us to talk to. You might remember something under the guidance of a professional.”
Neal looked with utter disbelief because his father was actually suggesting he should go to a shrink. He was not crazy and he resented his father’s implication. If he were not so tired, he’d get in the car and leave. Then he remembered he no longer had a driver’s license. He would have to get that problem remedied as soon as he caught up on his sleep.
Jessica could see her son was getting angry and backtracked slightly by saying, “Just think about it, Neal. We don’t want to pressure you, we just want you to have every opportunity for a full recovery from your ordeal.”
“Even though you can’t even be sure I had an ‘ordeal’ and yet you want to treat me like a nut job!” Neal stood up and left the room. He was not even sure why he was so upset. He had always had such an easygoing temperament, maybe talking to someone other than his parents would be a good idea. He went into the kitchen and called Amanda. Once again, he left a message before hanging up in frustration. If Amanda would just talk to him, maybe he could get the answers his parents were so eager to hear.
Jessica stepped beside her son in the kitchen and consoled him. “She hasn’t returned any of our calls either, Neal. Maybe she needs some time as well.”
“Time for what? She’s obviously moved on. I mean, after all, she’s married to that Riccan guy, isn’t she? At least, that’s what you told me. I still don’t know what happened to our relationship.”
Jessica glanced over at her husband who had joined them and saw his small nod. “Neal, Amanda’s had a hard time since you both went boating.”
“Yeah, it looks like it.”
“She was missing for fourteen months before she was found on a beach in Mexico.”
“Where was she during all those months?”
“We don’t know. She doesn’t remember either. There’s more, though. Even after she was found, she had some medical complications.”
“Like what?”
“She was in a coma for seven years, Neal.”
“What? She looks fine now. How can that be?”
“It’s true, she’s had a miraculous recovery. Better than anyone hoped really. I’m sure she feels bad because you were gone so long. Maybe she knew where you were all along, but since she was incapacitated, she couldn’t help you. Maybe guilt keeps her from answering our calls. Whatever the case, I’m glad she brought you home, no matter where you were or what happened to you while you were gone.” Jessica hugged her son abruptly as tears blurred her vision. She never thought she would have the opportunity to hold her son again. She was intensely grateful to have him back.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I had no idea what everyone has been through. I’ve been very selfish in only thinking about myself. Maybe you’re right to suggest I speak with a counselor. If you make the appointment, I’ll go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nena was feeling rather lonely with her husband, Daven, away at the convocation. She had always hated when his job kept him away from the Residence for any length of time. This meeting, however, was different and she was glad to know Daven would be part of an historic decision.
When she had found out Wilken’s successor was to be Rasa, she was so pleased. The more she thought about it, she also worried for the problems Rasa would face with her new role in society. If Rasa thought studying with Jehoban were hard, then she was in for a hard lesson in politics. There were several Elders who continually liked to keep the pot stirred. Sometimes she believed they just liked to use their power to cause trouble which definitely did not fit the ancient definition of the Elders.
Rasa could bring young blood and perspective to the aging group of Elders. Of the fifteen Elders of the world, only two of them could even be considered young. Even then, Debbon was almost fifty anons old and Senjin was forty-three anons old. Her own Daven was sixty-eight anons and the median age of the remainder was over one hundred anons. Granted, Elders lived longer lives than other people, yet their views of the world were still from an earlier time. They needed to learn how to relate with the people and the changing ideals.
To clear her head, she decided to take a walk through the garden paths. Something had been troubling her lately and she had yet to come to any decision over it. Her new first-daughter was spending all of her time working on the fulfillment of the new prophecy and here she was, merely sitting around doing nothing. It went against her moral grain to leave the difficult task to a single individual. She felt she ought to do more to help, which was the crux of the problem. How could she help?
Normally the beauty of the landscaping could soothe her mind and allow her to come up with creative solutions to any problems. Unfortunately, the answers she sought continued to elude her. Maybe she should discuss it with someone else. Whom could she trust? Inspiration finally struck as she realized there was another person in her exact situation. She could talk to Elder Debbon’s wife, Chelesa.
With a spring in her step, she hurried back into the Residence. She went into her office and tapped in the code to send a message to Chelesa. Since Chelesa had received her wise-woman status, she had less time to devote to personal pursuits. This new idea of Nena’s kept nagging at her brain that it should be considered carefully, after all, the fate of the world depended upon the completion of the prophecy.
Thinking about her own schedule with teaching the little children in their first year of study, she figured afternoons would be the best time to try to get together with Chelesa. She typed a quick invitation for tea for either that afternoon or the following one and hit the send button.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a newly trained wise-woman, Chelesa was pleased to have another duty to occupy her time where she could interact with the citizens of her husband’s district. She had always been active with charitable causes, yet she always felt she should do more. She was now able to help the people when they needed it the most by using her talent as a healer to give them comfort from whatever ailed them.
Chelesa saw her last patien
t for the morning and then wound her way through the broad streets to head back to her home estate. Debbon had asked her not to bring any of the patients home since that was the only location where he was able to have peace from their ever-present demands for his time. Chelesa could see his point, yet it did make her practice a little more burdensome. She respected her husband’s wishes because she knew he gave all of his energy to his position as Elder when he was working, it was only fair for him to have some quiet, peaceful downtime at home.
Upon arriving at home, Chelesa went to her offices to check for any new messages while she had been out. Chelesa was pleased to receive the invitation for tea over at Nena’s house. She needed a distraction from her own family concerns. With Debbon gone at the convocation, Chelesa was left alone with her son, Willian. While she was grateful to have him back home safe, she also did not like how he had tricked them when he used his father’s Ascension Gate without assistance.
She had always known he was capable of more than he applied himself, however, she had hoped he would come to the same conclusion in a less dangerous manner. This time his stunt had gone too far and had put his father in a precarious position with the other Elders. How would it look for the First to lose his son in a gate mishap? Luckily they were able to keep the incident among themselves.
She could see now she had been too lenient with him in the past. It was her obligation, not only as a mother, but also as an example for the district to raise her child in accordance with the rules of society. Nena would be a good person to discuss her problems with since she would understand her unique social situation.
Chelesa confirmed her attendance at tea for after lunch and then turned off her patil. Instead of ringing for a housemaid, she decided to go to the kitchen to talk to them herself. She wandered through the house and admired all of the plush elegance all around her. Often, she marveled at how blessed her life had been and she appreciated every opportunity which presented itself.
At the back of the estate, she entered the kitchen. There were several staff members who devoted themselves full-time to the art of cooking and baking. Unlike the typical household, hers created meals the old-fashioned way of doing it by hand unless an emergency situation called for food to be delivered immediately. The head chef insisted he could taste the difference when the meals were prepared with elemy rather than by hand. Chelesa could not make any distinction, but she was not about to argue with the quality of food her staff prepared.
“I’ll be going out after lunch. I’m not sure if I’ll be home for dinner. Please make sure Willian has something healthy and don’t let him convince you to make his favorite enskil dumplings just because I may be away,” Chelesa said to the head chef when he finally looked up to see what had created the interruption in his staff’s routine.
“Ah, my lady, I’d never change the menu once it’s been set. The routine is very important to keep, you know,” he replied with a mischievous grin.
“I’m sure!” Chelesa could not keep from returning his grin. She knew the head chef would do anything for his favorite child regardless of routine. “I’ll take lunch in my office as soon as it’s ready.”
“Very good, my lady. It should be ready in the next few minutes.”
“Thanks.” Chelesa left the kitchen and smiled at the resumption of the normal chaotic noise as soon as she was out of their line of sight.
Chelesa felt bad about eating her carefully prepared lunch with such haste. The truth of the matter was she was terribly anxious to get out of the house and meet with Nena. She also had to admit to herself about being curious as to why she was suddenly receiving an invitation to the Pantano Residence. She could not even remember the last time she had been there.
She finished the last bite of her fried foxl and tomato wrap and used her cloth napkin to wipe her fingers and mouth. After setting the napkin down she shoved the plate away from her work surface to be able to use her patil. Before she left she wanted to make sure she had not received any new messages from her patients. The last thing she wanted was to be interrupted in the middle of her outing to come back if she could avoid it beforehand.
After scanning several screens, she could find nothing new to delay her departure. She left her office and went upstairs to change her clothes. She was surprised to see her hands were shaking as she buttoned the front of her fresh tunic. It seemed ridiculous to be so anxious until she realized she was just excited for a new adventure, no matter how simple the outing would most likely become.
With one last check in the full-length mirror, she nodded approval at herself and smiled. She left her room, went down the stairs, and out the front door to get to the landing field for her own personal telepod. It was not very often she even needed to use her pod, yet she was always thankful she had learned to operate one herself. It was rather inconvenient to have to depend on someone else’s schedule to travel.
She used her remote to open the side door as she neared the small aircraft. As usual, she visually inspected the exterior as she approached to make sure nothing had damaged the outer hull. Stepping inside and sitting down in the pilot’s seat, she palmed the side door shut with the button on the control panel. Everything seemed in order as she activated the startup procedures and verified all of the green lights before entering her coordinates for the Pantano Residence.
Once again, she was thankful for her husband’s generosity in getting her telepod’s systems upgraded with the latest technology so she would not have to solely rely on her mental navigational skills to operate the craft. The new method required her simply to type in the location and the rest of the transfer was handled by the operating system. Not only was this an improvement in navigation, it was also much safer. She did not have to concentrate so hard on maintaining the coordinates in her thoughts as she activated the transfer. Old habits prevailed as she still mentally recalled the location even as she tapped the button to send her on her way.
Chapter Seven
WITH NOTHING MORE to do except wait, Nena planned the agenda for the next day’s schedule for her students. She found herself easily distracted and her mind tended to wander. She had just shoved the notebook away from herself with an exasperated sigh when her patil beeped with an incoming message. She squealed with delight as she read Chelesa’s acceptance of her offer to come over that very afternoon. It seemed Chelesa was missing her own husband as well and would welcome the distraction of an evening with another woman.
Nena rang for one of the house staff to come to her office. Punctual as ever, there was a knock on her door almost immediately. “Come in,” she called and watched as her head maid entered the room.
“How may I help, Lady Nena?” Melba asked promptly.
“Please make arrangements for tea and treats for this afternoon.”
“How many will be in attendance?”
“Only myself and Chelesa.”
“Very good. Will anything else be required?”
“No, thank you. Chelesa should be arriving just after the lunch hour.”
“We will be ready, my Lady,” she smiled and left the office as quietly as she had come.
Nena returned her attention to the patil and her eyes were caught by a file she had almost forgotten she had placed on the main screen. Her husband had made a digital copy of the document and had asked her to review it at a later date. She tapped the screen to open the file and began reading. Time slipped by effortlessly as she became engrossed in the story of Amanda’s journal of her time in the coma.
While she had heard Amanda read the story to them before, the first telling had been so fantastic that the details had failed to register completely. Now, Nena was able to take more time to absorb the intricacies of the story and wonder what significance each piece had in reality. They had already established that Amanda had not been the actual participant in almost all of the story, yet what could it all mean? Surely there was a deeper significance other than Amanda knowing odd details of random people’s lives in Tuala.
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br /> A tap at her office door interrupted her ruminations and she looked up with a startled expression to find Melba waiting to be acknowledged. “Yes, Melba?”
“Chelesa is waiting for you in the front room, my Lady.”
“Really? I can’t believe it’s so late already,” she replied as she hastily shut down her patil and stood from her chair. “Thank you for letting me know, Melba. Please bring the tea and pastries after we have been seated.”
The maid curtsied and stood aside to allow Nena to go past her into the hallway. If she were needed for anything she would be nearby. Until that time, she returned to the kitchen to get the maids together for the afternoon service.
Nena rushed down the long hallway and entered the main reception room. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Chelesa. I lost track of time completely!”
“Oh, it’s no bother. I’ve been enjoying the wonderful view from up here. I forget how much greener it is here than back at my home,” she said as she turned and greeted her hostess with a smile.
“We could walk the garden paths after we have tea, if you’d like.”
“I’d love that, Nena!” Chelesa practically gushed at the idea. She had not realized just how tense she had become in her own home since Willian’s stunt with the Gate.
Nena was surprised at the alacrity with which Chelesa responded to such a mundane offer. Maybe her offer for tea had been as good for Chelesa as it had been for herself. She gestured to the couches and offered, “Shall we sit down for tea? It should be here soon.”
Chelesa nodded and turned her back on the windows to cross the room. Just as she settled herself on the plush cushion, several maids came in and arranged everything within easy reach of the two of them. She was relieved to see Nena gesture for the women to leave everything as it was so they could serve themselves. It was always such a trial waiting for the maids to get everything put together when it could be done so much faster by herself.
Levels of Ascension BoxSet Page 58
