by Bob Blink
“You sound as if you expect the Nexus to cease to be available later.”
“I don’t know what covering it with the copper shield might do. It might make it so we can’t use it while covered either. In addition, come the spring, I suspect we will all be very much occupied with Ale’ald’s advances, and traveling then might be ill advised. At some point I’ll need to be here to demonstrate and help deploy everything I want to bring back.”
“Is there anything you need from us?”
“Probably more gold. I thought I had enough, but after talking with Buris and Wylan, I can see some additional expenses coming up.”
“That should be simple. You have already brought back copper worth many times the value of the gold you took. Angon’s treasury could swell given such an exchange.”
“Anything else?”
“A couple of items I want to experiment with, but I can get them in the dorms.”
“Then perhaps you need to go and find Tishe. If she doesn’t want to go, we will need to find another.”
Chapter 110
Tishe was shocked by being offered the opportunity to make the trip as she was as eager as Asari to see Earth. Jolan spent a long time with her, explaining what to expect, and what she would feel upon arriving and finding herself essentially cut off from the power for the first time since she’d made her link to the source.
“You will be using your English for real. No one else there will understand the language we use here. There will be cultural differences, only some of which I was able to pass along in the crystal.”
He told her about a friend’s wife who had visited another country on Earth some years before. She had read all the books about where she was going, and talked to others, even studied the language. She’d thought herself prepared. But in the end, she’d envisioned a place in her mind that was just like home, but where they spoke a different language. When she arrived, she had been totally shocked by what she’d found. This would be somewhat the same. Earth would be nothing like what she was familiar with. It would be unsettling, but he promised her, very interesting.
“I understand,” she said, but he knew she didn’t really. Only by going there would make it all become real to her.
Asari was predictably upset when he learned that someone was going to go along with Jolan, and it wasn’t him.
“It’s not fair,” he complained bitterly when Jolan told him that Tishe would be going to Earth with him in a couple of days. For the first time since he’d known him, Jolan could tell that Asari wished he were a mage himself.
“Be patient Asari,” Jolan tried to soothe his friend. “We know it is possible, but we don’t know how yet. Rifod, Nerila, and Altz are all trying to find out whatever they can about the Nexus. I told them how important it is to me that we find this out. It’ll take some time, but I know you’ll get your chance.”
The others on the team were told of the plan at the next meeting, but surprisingly, none were particularly put out by not having been selected. The idea of going to an unknown place where they wouldn’t be able to use their power was enough to curb the enthusiasm of most mages. It had been that way in the past from the records, and it seemed the situation hadn’t changed that much. Ward was the only one who showed any interest in possibly going, a fact that Jolan noted against future needs.
With all of the tasks he needed to complete out of the way, Jolan was getting anxious to get back to Earth. With the seasonal shift being later than he’d expected, he needed to get started on some of the activities there. Besides, while the end of fall and the coming of winter here had put a halt to Ale’ald’s advance, that would change in a couple of months when spring returned.
* * * *
It was early morning, the day after he’d told Tishe she had been chosen to make the trip, and they stood once again in the underground chamber looking at the Nexus platform. Jolan carried a wrapped package in his left hand, and a box of gold in his right. Asari was there, as was Chancellor Vaen. The rest of the team was about their own tasks. They had seen this before, and had elected to pass this time. It was amazing how quickly a miracle became commonplace.
“Are you ready?” Jolan asked Tishe, who for the first time since he’d known her looked a bit nervous.
She swallowed and nodded.
“I’ll go first, and I’ll be waiting on the other side for you. It’s simple. Just stand on the platform and execute the spell.”
Tishe nodded a second time and looked over at Chancellor Vaen who smiled encouragingly.
Hoping this would go as smoothly as he’d said, Jolan stepped onto the platform, and, with a confident smile, winked out of existence. A moment later he stepped off the mound onto the grass in the backyard of the house in Boulder.
He had to wait a few minutes, long enough that he started to wonder, when suddenly Tishe solidified in the air in front of him. He’d half expected the prickly feeling in his head to manifest itself, but it didn’t happen. That too must be an artifact of the manner in which Cheurt was using the Nexus.
Tishe’s eyes were wide with surprise. “It’s real,” she said, as if she’d expected it turn out to be a trick of some kind. It’s getting dark here.”
It was. They’d left in the morning, but it was early evening here on Earth. Well, he’d know the days would slip with respect to each other, and he hadn’t tried to keep close track. Randy wondered if Cheurt kept track somehow, since he couldn’t remember him ever arriving anytime other than during the daylight hours.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
“I feel like something is missing, but otherwise I’m fine,” she answered.
“That the absence of the power. It takes a while to get used to it. Come on. Let’s go see if my sister is here.”
Now that he knew his sister lived in the house, Randy headed straight to the back door and knocked. A moment later Janie peeked out of the window, and her eyes widening in recognition, she opened the door.
“You’re back,” she observed. Then she saw Tishe standing half hidden behind Randy’s legs. “Who is the child with you?”
Randy knew how Tishe would react to be addressed as such. “Janie, this is Tishe. She is a fully accredited mage of the fifth order. That’s the same as me, by the way. That means right now she is every bit as powerful as I am. While I have probably topped out, she is still growing. She can already do things I have no hope of ever doing. No other mage in recorded history has advanced in level as fast as Tishe. She may be young, but she is no child.”
Tishe looked at Randy in surprise at this glowing description.
Looking contrite, Janie stood back and invited them inside. “Does she speak English?” Janie asked.
“She’s had a copy of English impressed into her brain, and a whole day to practice it. She can understand everything being said, but she might feel a bit awkward with the language right now. Trust me, in two days you will think she is a native.”
“Why did you bring her?”
“To show her around Earth and to introduce the two of you. We also thought it would be useful to have someone else who was known to you just in case I was unable to come and we needed your help. We felt Tishe’s unique abilities made her the best choice for now.”
“Hi, Tishe,” Janie said. “I’m Randy’s sister Janie.”
“It sounds funny to hear someone call him Randy,” Tishe answered. “We call him Jolan there.”
Janie looked at Randy. “Jolan?” she mouthed.
“It’s a bit of a story. I’ll tell you later.”
As they walked back into the living room, Janie said, “I wondered if you’d be back. After everything, I have to admit I wasn’t prepared to see you simply disappear the other day. It must have worked as you hoped.”
“Perfectly,” Randy replied. “I’ll be back much longer this time. Tishe will be staying a few days, then she will go back. She might come over from time to time. Partly it will be up to her, but she might also act as a courier for any m
essages that they might want to send from the other side.”
Janie was looking at his packages as he sat down. “More gold I assume?”
Randy nodded. “And a couple of items for projects I need to work on here. Has anything changed since I left?”
“I haven’t seen that man, if that’s what you mean. I also get calls every day from Gene asking if you’ve returned. You should give him a call.”
“Okay, I will. He’ll probably want to come over.”
Tishe had been fascinated by the conversation and couldn’t stop looking around the room. The lights were so different than the glow bulbs, and the styles of the furniture were unlike anything she’d seen. Jolan’s sister was dressed very differently than anything she’d ever seen. There would be so much to observe while she was here. She watched as Jolan picked up a device and punched some buttons. A telephone she realized. Moments later she knew he was talking to his friend Gene, who he’d said lived across town. They didn’t need magic here.
“He’s on the way,” Randy said after he placed the device back onto the table.
“Maybe while we wait we can introduce Tishe to Tim and Shauna. They are going to wonder about her anyway.”
Janie checked her watch. “They need to get to bed anyway. It’s school tomorrow. That will leave us free to talk when Gene arrives. You certainly managed to pull him into this easily enough.”
“I’m glad he is as enthusiastic as he is. I’m really going to need a lot of his help.”
They made the introductions, and while Janie was herding the kids to bed, Randy showed Tishe some things about her room. He showed her how the light switches worked and made a point of showing her the bathroom facilities, pointing out that the hot water could be really hot and to be careful. Running hot water was not something they had on Gaea, and he didn’t want her to get burned. Tishe was very intrigued by everything, and wanted to try out the shower later.
* * * *
“My god, these are real?” Janie asked as they looked at the pictures on Janie’s computer screen that he’d brought back from Gaea on one of the small thumb drives.
Janie, Gene, Randy and Tishe were sitting around the computer in the small area of the living room. The pictures were a combination of the recent photos he’d taken with the new camera, and those that he’d taken along the way with the iPhone. He’d downloaded everything he had.
“What is that thing?” Gene asked, pointing to the screen where a shot of the Muloka skull was showing.
“That’s the monster Asari and I encountered when I first arrived. I told you it was big.”
“You killed that with a pistol?”
“It wasn’t the power that mattered, but the fact that the copper bullet defeated the magic. If it had been a real wolf and not a creature that survived because of its magic, we would have been dead.”
They scrolled through the photos, with Randy identifying the places or people that were shown. At one point Janie sensed Randy’s sudden stillness and looked quickly back at the screen to see what had just been displayed.
“God, she’s beautiful,” Janie said. “That’s her, isn’t it? The girl that was kidnapped.”
Randy nodded, uncertain if he wanted to test his voice at the moment.
“She’s his almost-wife,” said Tishe matter-of-factly.
“Almost-wife?” Janie asked.
“They lived together, but hadn’t yet exchanged the vows.”
“She’s like Tishe,” Randy said finally, feeling he had regained his control. “She’s one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever known. In the whole of Gaea, the whole world there, there are only three known level seven mages. Shyar is one of those. She can do things you can’t imagine.”
Randy was about to correct himself and explain that Shyar was actually currently a six and was expected to be a seven before long, when he suddenly realized he knew somehow that it had happened. She had transitioned. She was a seven. The implications of the knowledge, however he had obtained it, were incredible. Not only did it imply she was alive, but somehow he was able to learn something about her.
He saw that Tishe was nodding, and realized she knew about Shyar as well. Dragons! How? He needed to have a talk with her later.
They continued through the pictures, until all of the people and locations Randy had photographed had been identified.
“What level is the society?” Gene asked when they were finished, and he now scrolled through the photos himself.
“Early 1800’s Earth equivalent for the most part, but because of the magic there are areas where they are considerably ahead of that. Some of the countries are more advanced than others, mostly because of the influence of magic in those areas. Gaea was further advanced at one time, but the war a thousand years ago knocked the society way back and they are still recovering.”
“How do you get around?”
“Mostly by horses, or horse drawn carriages. Even there, things are changing. When I first arrived I traveled from near the site of the Nexus, the gateway that brings us to Earth, all the way to Cobalo and the College of Mages where Tishe and I live. It took almost two months, one way. One of our most closely held secrets is the portals, which Nerila recently discovered. We have one at the college and another near the Nexus. Now we can cover that distance in a single footstep.”
Gene shook his head in amazement. “And this lady. You say she is almost four hundred years old?”
“Another bit of lost knowledge. She was cured of a disease as a child, but the old mage who knew the spell used something that affected her aging. I’ve never heard of anyone else who has lived as long as Vaen.”
“Now that you are back, what are your plans?”
“I have to finish gathering everything I can think of that will help us win the war with Ale’ald when I go back. We have a couple of months of relative calm through the winter. Once spring comes, we can expect them to start the push to capture Seret, the last remaining ally for the country where Tishe and I live. I also have to think of a way to rescue Shyar.”
“Do you want help?” Gene asked, studying Randy carefully.
“Absolutely. Some of what needs to be done will be very difficult alone. Especially since I don’t officially exist here anymore. I have to be careful to not bring attention to myself. It would be difficult to explain where I’ve been. They would put me in a rubber room.”
“I’m in then,” Gene said simply.
“You might want to take this a bit slower,” Randy replied. “There could be consequences to some of what I’m planning on doing.”
“Why? Is some of it illegal?”
“Most of it wouldn’t be. All the information you are gathering is an example. But some things are borderline, and a few cross the line.”
“What do you mean?” Janie asked.
“I’m going to need guns. If Gene or you were to buy them for me, especially the handguns, I think that is a felony.”
“They’d never find out,” Gene noted.
“Probably not, but it’s still a crime. One task I have to complete I wouldn’t want you to be involved in, but so you can carefully think through your willingness to be involved in any of this you need to know about it. The man Ryltas that Janie has seen come onto the property several times. He is an Ale’ald wizard. He is their source of information from Earth. I’m going to find him and, most likely, kill him.”
Janie looked shocked, but Gene only nodded slowly. “That makes it real. You really have a vested interest in their battle. Win or lose, it appears you’re in this to the end.”
“I plan to stay on Gaea. It’s my home now.” Randy had considered the notion before, but his unexpected statement surprised him as much as Janie.
“I’m still interested in helping,” Gene said finally.
Randy smiled. “Are you ready to tell me what you want out of this?”
Gene looked uncomfortable, but finally relented. “I want to go with you.”
“Back to Gaea?” Rand
y asked surprised. “Why?”
“Look at you,” Gene answered. “You have found a new home after a short time. Look what you can do there. There’s a whole world you can help advance. You have knowledge and ability that can, and from what I’ve heard, already has changed their way of life. I’m bored here. I write games. My skills could really make a difference there. It would also help you to be free to attend to the war itself. I’d like to at least go and see. Maybe I’d want to come back, but I don’t think so.”
Randy could see Gene and Buris working together. Buris was brilliant, but was going to be far out of his depth. Even with the knowledge Randy had transferred to him, he was suddenly dealing with technology far beyond anything he’d ever seen. Gene could be the man to help bring things together. There was just one problem.
“I don’t know how,” he told Gene honestly.
“What do you mean? You brought Tishe here this trip.”
“I didn’t bring Tishe. She’s a mage. She brought herself.”
“It makes a difference?” Gene asked.
“We have only just rediscovered the Nexus and how to make the transition. The only way we know for certain is for someone with magical ability to execute the spells required. Asari, you saw his picture, wants to see Earth more desperately than you can imagine. It’s the same problem. He’s not a mage, so he can’t make the trip.”
“So there’s no hope?” Gene asked dejectedly.
“There is,” Randy said. “We know the Nexus can be used to bring non-mages. From the records that exist we believe significant numbers of people from Gaea made the transition to Earth. The mages didn’t like it here, because they didn’t have their magic. They didn’t stay, but the others did. We simply have to rediscover how it works. We’ll find out how, but I don’t know when. You’d have to wait until that happens.”
