She took a breath, then continued. “Rebecca Price didn’t like how controlling Aretes were becoming. She decided it was important to do everything possible to prevent more from being born. So, with the help of the Great Ones, she and her husband constructed a device that would constantly work against humans, making it incredibly difficult for them to have more than one and even two children.”
She waited for this to sink in, watching as expressions of disbelief appeared on nearly everyone’s faces.
“How do we know this is true?” the president asked.
“You don’t. And because the journal won’t allow me to read out loud from it, you’ll have to believe me.” Nicole paused, pulling out a weathered piece of paper. “But I do have a map to the machine. And I’ve talked to people in other dimensions who’ve been spying on Rebecca.”
“Other dimensions . . .” the president muttered. “You’ve got to be kidding me. And what if we don’t believe other dimensions exist?”
Coolidge stood. “That’s your choice, but almost everyone talking to you today has physically been in another one at some point during the past year.”
He had Austin tell again about the living city they’d been led to beyond Arches, and even Judith Ann pitched in with what she remembered. Then Lyla, who’d joined the meeting late, told about their experiences when they’d gone to find Mrs. Morse. Coolidge and Nicole also gave their own accounts.
Nicole could tell that the men and women were coming around, but that they still needed more convincing where the actual expedition was concerned. So, she got to her feet and told them about her brief stint with the Tarians. About her initiation and the world convention. She told them about the amount of preparation the Tarians had done over the past hundred years and the countries where they had a great deal of influence, along with the weapons they had in their possession.
Austin and Coolidge also spoke, and Nicole had to breathe through the nausea that came in spurts when she and Austin were in the same room.
After everyone had spoken their part, Coolidge gave the particulars about the expedition.
“We have access to large amounts of funds, but we don’t have time to acquire the necessary equipment. And that’s where the university comes into play. We can rent the equipment or, if necessary, buy it all from the university.”
“What funds? You had no funds last time.”
Coolidge glanced at Nicole, eyebrow raised, and she gave him a nod. He turned back to the authorities. “Nicole inherited a great deal of money and is willing to use it for the expedition.”
The president of the university grunted, then folded his arms. “We need to discuss. Please excuse us for half an hour.”
Nicole and the others left the room. She couldn’t wait for this to be over—she’d really struggled with reading the authorities and couldn’t tell if they were favorable to the idea.
She, Lyla, Sylvia, and Lizzie went to the cafeteria to get ice cream while waiting, where Sylvia kept everyone laughing at jokes and random things.
Nicole was constantly surprised at Sylvia’s level of positivity. Her body was barely functional—at least, the getting-around part—and she’d lost fingers, for crying out loud, and probably toes too. But none of this seemed to get the woman down. Nicole appreciated this reminder—that no matter how hard it got, there was always something worth fighting for, something to be positive about.
Coolidge texted when the authorities were finished, and the four girls headed back to the auditorium.
“We’ve reviewed your material,” the university president said, “and your petition, and we’re inclined to say no to certain aspects of it.”
Professor Smith leaned forward. “We’ll allow you to use most of the university’s equipment you’ve requested, but you’ll need to contact the professors you wish to work with. If they choose to help, it will be on their time. We won’t be granting any resources outside of the equipment.”
The university president nodded. “Please understand that our decision is based on necessity. If what you say is true and Aretes may be destroyed in the next month, our university will be gone anyway. But if you’re wrong, we can’t afford to have so many faculty members tied up while they’re supposed to be teaching classes, even if it is summer. If we’d had more notice, things would be different.”
Nicole hesitated, then got to her feet, addressing her question to the university president. “So . . . if we have access to some of the equipment, would we be allowed to say that it’s a university expedition?” She rushed to continue. “We understand why you’re not giving a full yes, and we respect that decision, but we’ll be a lot more successful in gaining help from the other universities if we can say Katon University is behind us.”
The president frowned, thinking over what Nicole had said. “That would be fine. If any university gets credit for the expedition, it should be ours, as we’ll be invested in it the most.” His frown deepened. “But, young lady, you’d better be prepared to replace all damaged equipment.”
“I am.”
“Very well.” He waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
Nicole followed the others out of the room. She wasn’t sure how to feel, as it wasn’t a complete success. But Coolidge seemed pleased with the outcome, so she decided to be happy as well. Things could have been a lot worse.
Chapter Four
That evening, as promised, Nicole was visited by a dead Arete. She’d just changed into her pajamas and was writing in her journal when he appeared at the foot of the bed, wearing a burnt orange polyester running suit.
“Hi, Nicole,” he said.
Nicole gasped, dropping her pen. “You freaked me out.”
He flushed, his face looking pained. “I’m so sorry—I wasn’t sure how to alert you to my presence without startling you.”
“Well, Rebecca always has a spider appear. Can you do something like that?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I don’t have any ties to creatures in that way.”
Nicole picked up her pen, setting it and the journal aside and curling her feet under her. “Well, I guess I’ll just always be freaked out when you come. Unless I call you first, of course.”
“Of course.” He walked around the room, inspecting Nicole’s furniture. “Things haven’t changed much since I was alive.”
“When did you die?”
He glanced back. “About thirty years ago. I was twenty-five.”
Nicole chuckled. “There have been a few changes in the past thirty years.”
His face brightened, a smile crossing it. “Like what?”
“Well, technology. We have computers now.”
He scoffed. “Computers existed before my death.”
“I know . . . but not like this.” Nicole got off her bed and crossed to her desk, opening her laptop. “They weren’t this small, were they?”
The ghost joined her, staring down at the machine, an expression of wonder on his face. “Oh, no. Nothing like this.” He glanced at Nicole. “May I?”
She shrugged, then grinned. “Go ahead. Just don’t download any of my bank information.”
“Bank . . . information? You can access that from your computer?”
“Yes.”
He looked stunned for a moment, then pulled out the chair and had a seat. His hands hovered over the keyboard, but he didn’t touch the machine.
Nicole grabbed her phone from her nightstand. “And that’s not all. This is a computer too.”
She set the phone next to him on the desk.
He raised an eyebrow. “This little thing?”
Nicole pushed a button on the side, and the screen came to life. She chuckled when he jumped. “It’s called a cell phone. It’s like a telephone, but it doesn’t need a cord and it works pretty much anywhere I am.”
He stared at it for several seconds, obviously struggling to take that in. Then he shook himself, stood, and turned to her. “I’m sorry, I got distracted. And I’m taking up p
recious energy satisfying my curiosity.” He extended a hand. “I’m Trevor. It’s nice to meet you.”
Nicole shook his hand and smiled. “I’m Nicole, as you know. Do you have anything to report today?”
He nodded. “Monsters have begun gathering in Jack’s dimension. From what we can tell, they plan to come through the link and protect the Tarians while they worship the Great Ones.”
He sat on the chair again and continued. “Aretes are also gathering under Elizabeth’s command.” He looked at Nicole. “That woman is shrewd and knows how to lead. She’s been quite successful in riling everyone up.”
“Good. We need someone like that.”
“Yes. We’ll take care of the monsters in Jack’s dimension, but any that come through the link will be up to earth Aretes. I especially feel bad about that, but it requires far too much power for us to return to our home dimension. It wouldn’t be a good use of our energy.”
“And you won’t be participating in the fighting?”
Trevor looked crestfallen. “No, I won’t. I wasn’t strong enough with my powers—it never seemed like a high priority to me.”
Nicole still couldn’t understand how someone could be born with this magic and not do everything in their ability to develop it as much as possible. But she knew and loved Lizzie, and Lizzie wasn’t very interested in pursuing magic. Obviously, others felt the same way.
“But coming here is okay?” Nicole asked.
“It’s all I’ll be doing—I’ll be conserving my powers in between visits with you. Jack and Anna will continue updating you through their note system, and when you need to alert them to something, call me and I’ll come.”
“Okay, that works.” Grateful for the reminder, she closed her eyes, memorizing his magical print, then looked at him again. “I’ll let you know when I need you. About how much time should pass between visits, though?”
He shrugged. “A few hours. I’ll try to conserve enough energy so if you need to call me back immediately, it might be possible. But I don’t know if that’ll work. We’ll see.”
Nicole nodded. “Thank you, Trevor, for your willingness to do this. Please let Anna and Jack know that we appreciate everything they’re doing. And same with Elizabeth, if you see her.”
Trevor blanched. “I’d rather not approach her, if it’s all right with you. She’s . . . intimidating.”
Nicole held back her chuckle—she knew what he was talking about. “Oh, I understand. Believe me, I do.” She frowned, wondering something. “Why don’t more Aretes come back and visit loved ones after they pass on?”
“It takes many, many years to start generating power again—it doesn’t function or flow the same as it does when you’re alive. By the time we’ve built up enough, most of us choose not to see anyone we knew while alive. It wouldn’t be fair to family who’ve said goodbye so long ago. And it’s painful for us, too, since the visits don’t last long.” Trevor got a far-away expression on his face. Then he shook himself. “Well, it’s time for me to go now.”
He waved goodbye, then disappeared, and Nicole finished writing in her journal.
After pondering over Trevor’s visit for a few minutes, she turned off the light and went to bed.
***
Early the next morning, Nicole received a phone call from none other than Austin’s father, Dave. She almost dropped the phone, expecting that contact with the man to make her sick, but nothing happened.
“I’ve heard you need to purchase some land in Idaho.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I’ve been looking over the map Austin’s professor forwarded. Some of the property is owned by the government, which does pose a problem. I’ve purchased government-owned land before, so I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it might be a bit difficult.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not quite comfortable asking this, but how much money would you be willing to throw toward the purchase? The government is notoriously slow in these sorts of transactions, but I’ve found they step up their speed when large funds are involved.”
“Money isn’t an issue—at least, it shouldn’t be. I’ve accrued over two billion.” Nicole had no problem sharing this information with him, especially due to what she’d learned about him from Austin. He could be trusted.
Dave chuckled. “That should be plenty. Don’t worry—I’ll have my Realtor rein things in. But we won’t hesitate to toss in a little more cash if things don’t move fast enough.”
“Thank you—I appreciate it. When can we expect the transactions to be finalized?”
“Within the month. And we’ll need you to fly out here to sign the paperwork. I don’t do things over fax machines and you really should meet my Realtor in person before signing. Just to make sure you’re comfortable with him.” Dave hesitated. “And besides, I’d like to meet my future daughter-in-law.”
Nicole blinked. Wow. That was forward. “Um . . . that would be fine with me. Thank you, Mr. Young.”
“Oh, call me Dave. And later, Dad, if you want.” He chuckled. “I’ll be in touch.”
They ended the call and Nicole sat on her bed, staring at her cell. It was so weird she’d just talked to him. Did Austin know the conversation would be taking place? How would he feel about his dad’s forwardness? It would probably make him uncomfortable.
Nicole finished getting ready and joined Lizzie in the kitchen.
“Need help practicing any magic?” Lizzie asked. “Oh! And I’ve got the day off.”
“Wow—that’s a miracle. You’ve been working a lot of hours lately.”
Lizzie put her face in her hands. “I know. I swear, that doctor really has no ability to organize. Or hire people who know how to organize. Good thing he’s such a great boss.” She hesitated. “And besides . . . school is expensive. I’d like to pay for it instead of having my parents help out.”
Nicole tilted her head. “Lizzie, there’s nothing wrong with parents helping. College is expensive. I’m only taking care of it myself because of how manipulative my parents are.”
“Speaking of them, have you heard from them or Greg recently?”
Nicole shook her head. “Not one word. I’m pretty sure they know I’m not returning. And Greg . . . I don’t know what’s going on with him. Last I heard, he was still working with the Tarians.”
“Even though they tried to sacrifice him? That’s ridiculous!”
“Tell me about it.” Nicole grabbed the book Coolidge had loaned her a few months earlier. She sat at the counter and Lizzie joined her.
“The reason I got today off was so we could go to Portland.”
“Oh, that’s fantastic. I was thinking we’d go after you got home from work . . . but that’s really leaving things late and I’d rather not drive in the dark, if we can avoid it. So this works well.” Nicole opened the book. “I’d like to practice for a while before we leave, since I was planning on doing so anyway. We can leave around two or three in the afternoon. That’ll give me several hours to practice. And you’re serious about helping me?”
Lizzie’s eyes brightened. “Definitely!”
“Good. Because I still can’t figure out how to work with dirt that isn’t separated.”
“Hmmm. That’s a problem. Right?”
Nicole nodded. “It’s rare to find dirt that isn’t composed of lots of different things.” She sat on a stool, grabbing a bag from the corner of the counter. “I can control the different materials on their own, but haven’t had a lot of opportunity to practice on anything more complex. Would you mind focusing on my magic and seeing if you can sense what I’m doing wrong?”
“Sure!” Lizzie pulled a stool around to the other side and watched as Nicole took several Ziploc bags out of the larger bag.
One of them had bits of bark in it. Nicole emptied that onto the counter. Then she grabbed another bag—this one with sand—and made another pile with that. She did the same for the remaining Ziploc bags until there were also piles of rust-colored dirt, icky-smelling manure, an
d a fine sand that was greenish in color.
“This is all I could get my hands on,” Nicole said.
“Manure, Nicole? Really?”
Nicole chuckled. “Hey, you find it pretty much everywhere. At least this is horse manure and not dog byproduct.”
“Good point.”
Nicole bit her lip and stared at the piles. “Let me make sure I can still work with them individually before we try anything more complex.”
She focused on each material separately, asking the stuff to shift around just a bit. The easiest was wood—of course—with the hardest being the red dirt. She couldn’t remember what it was—the store owner had said it was a common ingredient. It barely moved when she nudged it.
“Yeah, that one obviously doesn’t like having you tell it what to do,” Lizzie said.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Nicole spent over an hour working on each material until it responded quickly to her bidding, making sure to take frequent breaks. She wore the bracelet Coolidge had given her—the one that electrocuted her to help her know if she was still feeling pain—as a way to measure how much she was exerting herself.
Finally, after three hours, she decided she was ready to start blending and separating the materials.
As before, the red stuff was the most difficult to work with. Nicole attacked it first, hoping to get past it fast. But it still wasn’t molding to her wishes, so she went on to the other materials.
She continued working for another two hours.
By the end of the study session, and with lots of hysterical and exhaustion-induced giggling, the two girls decided it was time to quit. Nicole had successfully combined and separated up to three items at a time, not including the red. She felt good about her progress and hoped that the next time she needed to work with Earth Arete stuff, she’d be able to do so without needing help.
Lizzie helped Nicole clean up, putting each material back into its marked Ziploc bag, then the girls rushed to their rooms to gather things for an overnight stay in Portland.
Reclaim, Mosaic Chronicles Book Five Page 5
