Souls of the Never: A Fantasy Scifi Romance Time Travel series, with Dragons, Elves and Faeries. (Tales of the Neverwar Series Book 1)

by CJ Rutherford

  “Far be it for me to argue with you, but what are you accusing me of being right about? You make it your hobby to prove me wrong at every turn.”

  “Oh stop it! That was seven years ago. Can we drop it already?” Jules laughed, but she stopped the rest of her reply as the thought popped into clarity.

  “In fact, let’s not stop it, because that’s what I meant. What if you were right and I was wrong all along?”

  “About?” Jason was confused, but he was used to his junior going off on a tangent like this. Some of her best ideas had come this way.

  “Well, you have to admit, your basic universe theory—that there are multiple universes out there, each one created by different choices—well, that’s pretty much out there.” She smiled as she spun a finger in a circle around her temple.

  Jason chuckled at the blatant insult.

  “But what if you were right about the rest, Jason? Specifically, the barriers.” Jules was on a roll. “I mean, all along we’ve assumed the quantum level of matter is identical, and behaves according to the same laws of the universe, wherever it is. The theory agrees. In fact, everyone agrees with this.”

  “Okay, I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but you seem to be trying to rubbish my first two theoretical papers, while at the same time you contradict my third. This third paper which, incidentally, was written after you pointed out the errors in my first two.”

  He worked over what he had just said and came to the conclusion there was logic in there... somewhere.

  “It’s the barriers Jason!” enthused Jules. “I mean, all along we’ve been working on the assumption the barriers between dimensions, realities, worked to our set of rules and our physical laws. We’ve been chasing a white rabbit down a rabbit hole for years, but the one thing we’ve always been looking for is the rabbit hole.”

  “So what you’re saying is even though there is proof the barriers between alternate realities do exist, there may be other ways to travel between them than breaking through them?”

  Jason sat back, put his hand inside his lab coat pocket and pulled out a pipe. Not that he’d ever think about lighting it in here, however, but it was one of the tools he used to focus his concentration.

  Julia got up from her chair and started pacing back and forth across the small cramped laboratory, keeping herself distracted from the outside world while the idea fully formed.

  Jason was just one step behind, and as they looked at each other, a spark of thought jumped between them as they simultaneously realised the possibility. That they may have just solved a conundrum which had stymied the scientific community, ever since the theory behind the Einstein-Rosen Bridge had been proven to be sound.

  “So our white rabbit could be using a foxhole, or a badger’s hole,” said Jules.

  “In fact, anything except a rabbit hole,” Jason concurred, finishing her thought. “Okay, that’s certainly going to prove hard to sell to our colleagues. Unless, of course, we can generate a shred of proof.”

  “Well, Dr,” said Jules, “I think I feel like hunting some rabbits this evening, how about you?”

  If they were right, and it was a huge if, Jason thought, then they were on the brink of a discovery which could revolutionise the future of the human race. For decades, man had dreamt about reaching other worlds, walking on alien soil, but the distances involved were immense. With the spaceship technology available to mankind today, it would take hundreds of years to travel to even the nearest sun, and keeping any sort of crew alive for this length of time was currently impossible.

  Of course, there were the various experiments ongoing in fields such as cryogenic suspension, where the body was frozen to temperatures far below zero, so it could be preserved much longer than a normal lifespan. These ideas, however, were in their infancy, and there was no certainty they would ever be proven workable.

  So imagine if a method could be found to link two points, separated by hundreds, perhaps thousands of light years, allowing a person to step in at one side of the portal and be transported instantly to the other. Faster than light theory had been proven, indeed the experiment currently being carried out here had successfully harvested millions of exotic matter particles, which exhibited all the characteristics of superluminal existence. If it could be proven this void between worlds existed, and the evidence gathered by his team during the current round of procedures definitely pointed to it, the next step would be finding a way to navigate within it.

  Then there was the only slightly gigantic task of finding a point to link to and creating the link. Simple, he thought ironically.

  Jason put the pipe in his mouth and clasped it tightly, the stale tobacco taste allowing him to relax as he turned to his friend, smiling broadly.

  “Ah, screw it; I can sleep on the plane.”

  9 – The Glade – Exploding rivers and mermaids

  Present day

  “So, what has Gwenyth done this time?” asked Hallor, moodily.

  “Or should I say, what have they done? I can’t imagine my daughter wouldn’t try to rope her chief accomplice into whatever she’s decided to break.”

  Kon’s mouth twitched briefly before he managed to regain the composure fit for a Magister of the Council.

  “And I take it you’re here because they have managed to break something... again!” Hallor walked over to the seating area, beckoning his friend to sit.

  “Actually, this time your daughter and her friend managed to cause a small explosion.” The smile was impossible for Kon to hide this time. “No small feat when you consider they blew up a river.”

  Hallor’s eyes widened in shock, “How could anyone blow up a river?” Hallor spoke quietly, but Kon heard the disbelief in his voice. He decided it was time to inject a bit of humour into the occasion.

  “I believe one possible answer to your question is, ‘quite spectacularly’.” Kon’s ebony face lost its ability to hide his mirth, as his niece’s antics had the usual effect of amusing him extremely.

  Hallor looked at his brother in law with disapproval before he too smiled, albeit with an expression of exasperation. It was a feeling he had become used to over the last few years.

  Ever since Calleyne had arrived at the citadel sixteen years ago with the baby girl wrapped in his cloak, Hallor had felt out of his depth. His wife Marissa had fallen in love with her instantly, however, and indeed so had he at the time. All the Council had agreed to the adoption, but although he had loved her dearly, her increasing appetite for trouble over the last few years had continually alarmed him.

  “She is a good child, Hallor, and though you judge Amilee harshly, she is also,” said Kon. His dark skin heightened his smile. “Brother, they are young, why can’t you relax a little and let them have some fun?”

  Hallor snorted, “Because ‘fun’ for those two normally means destruction, Kon.” The exasperation was evident again in his expression. “Her ability continues to grow. By the great one, how does anyone blow up a river? Was anyone hurt?”

  “On this occasion the damage was limited to a sandbank on the lower banks of the estuary,” explained Kon, “though there are rumours a mermaid may have gotten her tail singed.” Kon looked on the verge of laughing out loud.

  Hallor, however, was not amused.

  “Mermaids again! What is it she sees in those creatures? They are dangerous, undisciplined. Why does she keep confronting them like she does?” he asked.

  Kon laughed, heartily and loudly. “For the great one’s sake Hallor, can’t you see?” He gave his sister’s husband a mischievous look, “They are kindred spirits, and she isn’t confronting them, she’s playing with them, trying to compete with their power over the water. And judging by the display today, she has already surpassed them.”

  Hallor didn’t know whether to feel proud, angry, or terrified at the vision his friend painted. Gwenyth, the child who had been brought before them by the youth Calleyne almost 16 years ago was special. Even as a babe she possessed a power
, a perception beyond her years. The questions she began to ask as a toddler dispelled any notion she was Eldar, even if the lobes on her round ears were not a clear indication in themselves.

  And if her increasing power, her ability to shape and control the magical fabric of this world she had arrived in marked her as special, it frightened her adopted father. The other one, Amilee, the cousin of Calleyne, born to his aunt and uncle shortly after Gwenyth’s arrival, was her twin.

  Impish, troublesome, and hot-headed, she was not the companion he would have chosen for his daughter. But the choice hadn’t been his. Marissa loved Amilee like a second daughter, so he had buried his objections, deep enough so nobody could see the fear and jealousy within him.

  “I suppose I have been hard on them,” he lied, “harder than I should be perhaps, but Kon, you know I love them.”

  Only part of Hallor believed what he’d just said. There had been a time, years ago, when he would have found this whole episode as humorous as Kon. But now everything she did put his plans in jeopardy, and he was terrified of being found out before they came to fruition.

  Fortunately for Hallor, Kon was blind to the fear lurking behind his friend’s eyes. He was much younger and less experienced than Hallor, and full of the innocence and purity of the Lands around him. He had, however, risen rapidly in the ranks of the Magisters, the enforcers of the peace here in the Veiled Lands, which was testament to his own ability. This was why his niece’s growing power delighted him so much. He saw a kindred spirit within her, one he thought he could nurture and bring into the Magistry. Her power at this young age was phenomenal. It was still raw and unskilled, but with instruction she could be great among their ranks, great enough even to eventually rival the Elders, he thought.

  Only one person in the room thought this was a good thing.

  Hallor had been ambitious all of his long life and it had served him well, leading him to the seat at the head of the Council of the Eldar. The Council had ruled and protected the people of this world since the beginning, when the Veil had hidden the Land and its magic from the enemy, Tenybris.

  Tenybris had sought to use the magic which lay at the core of Teralia to conquer and enslave the entire universe. Indeed he had almost succeeded. If it hadn’t been for the actions of the great one, Olumé, who hid the Lands and all their magic behind the great Veil, the universe and all the worlds and beings upon them would be a ghost of what had been. All of them would exist to serve Tenybris. But without the magic, his forces had been defeated.

  Tenybris, however, had escaped and still remained hidden, even to this day.

  In the thousands of years of history of these Veiled Lands there had never been any major strife or conflict; indeed, why should there be any when the Land provided everything for its people? The Magistry existed to mediate any minor disagreements which arose. Frictions between the various races living here were always minor and short lived, thanks to their strength and wisdom.

  There had been occurrences, stretching back over a century now, but becoming more frequent, which threatened to disrupt the harmony. Like the affliction which had decimated so many of the great herds of deer and bison, or the unexplained disappearances of travellers journeying through the deep forest.

  “You know, Hallor,” said Kon, “if these rumours bear any substance, we may need all the help we can get.”

  Hallor snorted. “Rumours are what they are, Kon. Nothing more than stories made up in an attempt to disrupt the peace of the Glade.”

  “But might it not be wise to send a scouting party into the forest? Hallor, there have been three disappearances this year alone.”

  “Yes, and of these three, two have been known troublemakers. I’m sure the Faer have simply been leading them a merry dance through the deep, in revenge for them trespassing in their groves. They will turn up, eventually.”

  Kon clearly didn’t agree, but he wasn’t about to overstep his authority. Hallor may be his bother-in-law, but Kon was still a junior member of the Magistry.

  “I suppose you’re right, my friend,” he said, “anyway, I have work to do. Will I see you at dinner later?”

  “Yes, I have matters to discuss with the Council, but tell Marissa I won’t be late.”

  Kon bowed before leaving the room.

  Hallor had been chosen to lead the Council, but he had also been chosen to carry out another far more important task... It was he who was to ensure the release of the magic and the destruction of the Veil. So the great Olumé had told him in the visions. But he had been warned by Olumé to move slowly and secretly, to bear the burden of fear upon his own shoulders, knowing panic would sweep the land if it was known the time of battle was so close. Hallor knew he had to remain in power long enough for the Veil to be broken, for according to Olumé, his plan had failed utterly and magic was the universe’s only hope.

  A small part of him quailed at what he might be forced to do, but someday, soon, he would have to deal with his daughter.

  10 – Switzerland – Alice through the looking glass

  Two years earlier

  Jason had thought tomorrow would be the greatest achievement of his life. The culmination of his life’s work in the lab, brought to fruition in the experiment planned for the following morning. But as he lay here in bed with his wife slumbering in his arms, he knew he’d just surpassed it. Well, technically it had been a two-person job, but this little detail didn’t prevent him from feeling the elation and pride within as he looked down at his beautiful and pregnant wife.

  As she stirred, he remembered with regret the time lost with Katheryne, his daughter, and he made a vow then and there to make more time for this new life growing beside him. In fact as his wife woke up he made his first tentative step along this path.

  “Hi, you two,” he murmured as he kissed her gently on the forehead.

  Alice McNair laughed. “Don’t tempt fate, it might be twins, or triplets,” she said, mischievously. The completely unconcerned look on his face must have shocked her as she sat up abruptly. “That wouldn’t bother you at all would it?” she asked.

  “Nope,” he chuckled, smiling widely, “in fact, I’ve made a decision. After tomorrow’s experiment I’m going to retire, well, semi-retire at least,” he added on as a look of disbelief appeared on his wife’s face.

  “How can you say that Jason, I mean, what you do, it’s important, it’s—” but Jason interrupted her.

  “What I do is almost finished. Once my theory is proven tomorrow, I can let Jules and the others continue the day to day work while I get to sit back on my laurels for a while,” he said, smiling.

  Alice grinned back at him. “Hmm, I don’t think there will be much time for sitting on any laurels, seven and a half months from now.”

  Jason chuckled and pulled her closer, putting his hand on her stomach. Their schedules lately had made her news all the more remarkable. They’d seen each other only twice in the last two months, so that meant...

  “Paris,” he said. “We made this little one the weekend in Paris didn’t we?”

  Alice put her hand on top of his and smiled. “Well, let’s face it, we had enough practice at the time, remember?”

  Jason grinned at the memory and leaned in to kiss his wife.

  “Why don’t you come with me in the morning?” he said, “I mean, it probably won’t be anything much to look at but it’d mean a lot for me to have you there to see my final triumph!”

  Jason sat up straight and raised one pointed finger in the air in what he obviously thought was an impersonation of pure brilliance. Alice, however, took one look and hung her head in her hands, giggling furiously.

  She looked up once she had recovered to see him smiling at her. “OK, my nutty professor, I’d love to come. I haven’t seen Jules in ages anyway.”

  She smiled wickedly at him as she pulled him to her.

  “But for now, let’s see what sort of final triumphs we can get up to, just the two of us.”

  *
<
br />   The next morning

  Jason looked on as his teams carried out the final calibrations. All had been ready for hours now, but this was another way for Jason to keep them, and if he was honest, himself, focussed. This was the moment they had worked toward for the past three and a half years, ever since the first incontrovertible evidence had been gathered of the existence of extra dimensional space. This in itself had been a small step toward the final completion of a stable wormhole to another dimension, but the evidence that the space in between these dimensions existed, and was theoretically navigable, was a huge achievement.

  And so it was with pride that Jason looked up at his wife, sitting in the viewing gallery with a number of the senior members of the facility. She winked at him cheekily and he smiled back mouthing ‘I love you’ to her. She looked around, embarrassed to see a few of the others had seen his open display of affection and they were smiling in her direction. But she didn’t mind. After all, she knew most of them, had known them for years in fact, and both she and Jason considered them friends.

  The time had finally come, and Jason sat in his chair with his pulse racing and entered the coded sequence to start the process.

  Jules reached across from her seat next to him and squeezed his hand. He turned and they simply smiled and nodded to each other. Neither of them believed in luck, just in science.

  “Particle beams at full strength, beams are in alignment,” reported Jules as she watched the monitors. In the chamber which housed the phenomenon, known as the collider aperture, but affectionately christened the rabbit hole by the team, dozens of beams collided at the same point creating a microscopic reaction similar to a sun.

  Jason punched another sequence and watched as the instrumentation confirmed the convergence of the beams. The monitors automatically dimmed the display so the guests could watch without the need for protective glasses.

  “We have a collision event,” he said, sounding calmer than he could possibly feel. The handling of collision of particles traveling close to the speed of light was a delicate balancing act. One tiny mistake in their calculations could start a chain reaction which would kill them and everyone else in the underground facility instantly.