“Ja-Lil, he said his father’s betrayal was his now to cleanse.” She cupped his face in her hands. “It was because of you he felt he could not stay. He could not expect you to trust him if he could not trust his own line himself.”
Was this happening just minutes after he had felt so wonderful? Could so short a time change his entire world completely? He had entered the city this last time as its leader. He knew his future and what his mission was for the convergence. And he had felt great joy in anticipation of what was to come. He never dreamed so much could change so quickly.
Taking her by the hand, he and Tei-La quickly left the room and went downstairs. All the way, Mark was recounting what he had learned at his father’s transfer about Man-Den and his last great act of loyalty to the king. He knew she would have the right words to explain everything to Len-Wei. He also knew, with Tei-La’s help, his aunt would find the quality in life once again to make her happy.
What was harder to put into words was the responsibility he had to act upon. If he was responsible to the entire city, that meant each person by themselves. He could not sacrifice one, or all would be diminished.
“When I was away from the city for so long, I learned many things.” Mark wanted to tell her so much more than he was going to be able to at this time. “Life on the surface can be very dangerous. I fear he wants to shorten his life and never return here.”
They had reached the bottom of the stairs and were standing in the exact spot where he had felt her great life force only minutes before. Mark bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I must go to the treasure chamber before I leave. I will be back to say goodbye.” He needed the few extra minutes the visit to his chamber would give him to find the right way to explain to her what he must do and why. The look in her eyes before he turned away came close to making him change his mind, and he knew he could not do that.
Mark placed his hand on the spot next to the chamber entrance and the line appeared and the Dome made the opening for him. After he had left Roi-Den in the Kiv, he had stopped at Man-Den’s house and had gone to the room where they had fought. People had removed Man-Den’s body and had carried it away to be prepared for deposit in the sea. Nothing else had been touched. Stepping around the browning pool of his friend’s blood, he had quickly gathered the treasures and carried them back here to the chamber. They were where he had put them, here on the long table. He paused to look at them there together. The light from the Dome was not shining on the empty pedestals but was concentrated on the table only in one large spotlight.
He took a moment to place them all on their proper stand or table. As he did, the light shifted in intensity from the table to each treasure. He felt apprehension for this great being that affected and reacted so quickly and so correctly. The two bracelets were the last to be returned to their spots. Everything was back to normal. In fact, the entire city was now in balance and he knew it would function accordingly. With that reassuring him, he lifted the lid of the small box that contained the sand. Taking a small vial from his tunic, he carefully twisted off the cap. The cord that ran through the two small loops on each side of the container caught the light from the ceiling in its fine golden threads.
The box in front of him—the pure white sand it contained and the golden lid with the circle—was so familiar now. “The primary start!’ It had made some kind of disjoined sense when To-Bay had first explained the box to him. Primary start and its purpose, of all the treasures, was the city’s lifeline to the future, and Mark felt it would be the key to his and Ro-Den’s survival. To-Bay had related everything that his father had told him about it. But, as with the other treasures and their care and function, To-Bay’s explanation was merely a blueprint. Now Mark knew all that every king in the history of the city had known about them. They were connected to his life like the closest of family heirlooms.
Looking down into the box, he put his hand into the sand. At the first touch, the fine grains began to move. They swirled and eddied around and through his fingers as if they were fluid rather than solid granules. The coolness was apparent, and he noticed a definite increase in the energy he felt in his body. Cupping his right hand, he lifted a vial out and much of the sand flowed through his fingers, back into the box. This left a small pool in his palm. Very carefully, he tipped his hand and let the sand trickle into the vial. Screwing the lid back on, he put the cord around his neck and placed the vial inside his tunic.
He paused at the door and looked back at the room. Here he felt close to his father. In that room, his father lived again as the king of the city. If he could, he wanted to reach inside his body and pull out some thing that he felt was his parents and leave it here where it belonged. “What I cannot do in action, must be done in determination.” With that as his silent oath to the city, he nodded his head in reverence, backed from the room, and watched as the opening closed off his view.
In the small sitting room of his mother’s, he found Tie-La where he knew she would be.
“She sat on this bench, didn’t she?” she said. Tei-La knew Mark had entered, although she had not looked over to the door and he had come in without making a sound. “I can feel her watching and protecting me. Us. And I think the entire city.” Now she lifted her head and looked at him and their smiles met. “Ja-Lil, I want so much to be for you what she was for your father.”
“Tei-La, you are the strength I will rely on for the rest of my life.” Mark went to her and sat down. Her body was warm and he could feel her softness beside him. This he must remember, he told himself. This was what he would return to.
He quickly outlined what she must do here in the city. The Elders would treat her as they did his mother. They would look to her for guidance and she must have confidence in her instincts. She must tell them that To-Bay was to be accepted as minister in Mark’s absence.
“I will find Roi-Den and bring him back. He does not know it, but he has a mission for the city that only he can do. Without him, our very reason for being here will fail. That is for only you to know, my love. It is important that little time is wasted before I leave.” He kissed her once again.
“I will walk with you to the exit chamber. Every second until you leave the Dome will be ours together.” She looped her arm around his as they left their home and preceded down the streets, through the center of town, and past the fountain. They didn’t speak and looked straight ahead as they walked.
Mark knew her fear and concern, and he loved her all the more for not saying anything to stop him from going. Every once in a while, he caught the faint perfume of her hair and made a conscious thought to memorize it as a beacon for his return.
The people they passed seemed to know what he was about to do, If not in detail, they were all aware of what had happened with Man-Den and of Roi-Den’s departure. They quietly stepped aside without comment but silently wished Mark well and too have safe travels and a quick return. A few streets before the entrance to the hallway leading to the chamber, Mark set his mind to speak to To-Bay.
“To-Bay, it is Ja-Lil. Where are you?” He made no movement that would indicate to Tei-La that he was communicating to his friend.
“Yes, Ja-Lil, I am at the Elder’s hall. Should I come to you?”
“No, my friend.” Mark and Tei-La left the open city and entered the long corridor to the exit chamber. “To-Bay, I must ask you once again to serve your city in secret. As you kept the knowledge of my father and taught it to me, I ask you now to be ready for my queen if the need should come. If I do not return, you must be her right hand and her second heart. You will know the time. I can only hope that your dedication, her purity, and the protection of the Dome will allow our people to accomplish the task of convergence.” There was nothing left to say, and they tuned into the open door as he heard the last words from his friend.
“It is done.”
The chamber was empty, as he knew it would be, and they
stood there in front of the row of garments. She still held him tightly, and he felt the deep rise and fall of her breathing. He turned completely to her and held her in his arms. “There are not certainties in this world, and though my heart will always be here,” he placed on hand on her breast, “I have no idea how long I will be gone.”
She smiled. “You have been gone before, and here you are with me now. You will come back to me again.” There was no wishing in her tone. No uncertainty. Her confidence was her faith in the future. What she said, would be. She would leave no room for failure.
How wonderful and strange, Mark thought, that she would be so much in spirit like his mother. The infatuation of his youth had tuned to love, and he knew it had been fated. They were together, had always been together, and would always be together. Her strength grew from truth and knowledge and, therefore, truth was all he could tell her.
“There are so many lands beyond the sea, Tei-La, and in them great evil and great good. I have learned much in my time on the surface and Roi-Den knows little. It will take time to find him and more time for him to want to come home. Nothing is certain.”
“Do I have to say what I have said before?” She put her own hand where his had been. “I will keep you right here until I see your face again.” She would say nothing that would influence him from doing what he knew he must do.
Mark stepped to the exit wall and turned to her. She was drawn into his arms one last time, and the force of their kiss pressed the very air from their bodies. Their parted lips left almost no room for speech
“Guide the city in my place.”
She made a motion to speak, but Mark stopped her with a small kiss.
“You can trust To-Bay in all things.”
The next was the hardest to say.
“If I cannot return then the line of kings will be broken. The convergence will go forward, and you must complete the task.”
Together they let their arms fall to their sides. It was done. He must go and she would stay. Looking deep into her eyes, as he placed his palms on the wall, he felt he would live forever if she would only…
“Remember me,” he said. Then he passed through the wall and was gone.
Tei-La stared at the place where he had stood. She stepped up to the wall, put one hand on the spot he had disappeared through, the spot that was now the start of her memories.
“I will remember you, my love.” Her other hand was gently over her heart, touching the pendant of the former queen. “And you will forever live with me here.” In a moment that was forever, she slid both hands down to her stomach. “Your line will never be broken. I will see to it that your child remembers you…always.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Duffy starred in The Man from Atlantis in 1976-77. Although raised in Montana, he was trained with SCUBA by his sister, a professional diver. He then went on to pursue his theatrical career. After The Man from Atlantis he spent 13 years on TV’s Dallas and then 7 years on Step by Step.
But Duffy never forgot his desire to fill in the missing pieces of Mark Harris’s life. After moving to his Oregon ranch in 2001 he used his down time to write the first of his Man from Atlantis books. Not needing to confine his imagination to the special effects limitations of the 1970’s he has fleshed out an incredible life history of not just Mark Harris but of his entire Atlantean race.
You can connect with Patrick Duffy at www.Patrick Duffy.com
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