by Lucy Kelly
“She’s a fine girl, Carol. You didn’t do anything wrong. And just look at the fine looking man she’s got there,” Gilda added.
By this time, Jeze’s face was beet red. He excused himself and Suzanna said she’d be out soon. Rapha left with him, as he saw that Carol no longer needed him. She also needed a little cooling off. They were both red in the face.
“Now, where were we before I interrupted everything with my scandalous behavior?” Suzanna asked with a smile at her mother.
“I was asking Addie if I would be allowed to come back to Earth if I asked,” said Marta.
“That’s right. And yes, they’ll bring you back if you ask any time before you get to HeVan. The current law on HeVan is females aren’t allowed to leave the planet. And I haven’t decided if I’m going to change that one or not when I get there.” Addie gave them a minute to let that sink in. Then she turned to Heidi and asked, “Heidi, did you get a chance to look over the real estate parcels I bookmarked?” asked Addie.
“Yes, I went through them this afternoon. Kylan helped me with the computer. If it weren’t so far away, the land in Alaska would be ideal. As it is, I’d choose one of the parcels in Wisconsin. I checked online and the population density is less than one person per square mile. If you bought up a large enough parcel of land, you’d be assured of privacy. I was thinking that if you need a cover story, I’d set it up as a woman’s retreat and farm collective. I made a list of the ones I liked best, there are even parcels right on the lake,” finished Heidi.
“Would any of it work as farm land? Or ranch land? The Space Station is going to need to be re-supplied and it would be good if we could meet some of their needs. They can grow things in the arboretum, but they don’t have access to meat proteins like chicken, beef, pork, or venison. Ideally, I’d like to be able to provide those from here. However, it may not be feasible to do so and remain hidden from the government,” said Addie.
“If the Station is so big, couldn’t they do chickens?” asked Marta. “Free range chickens could run around the arboretum place. You said it was huge.”
“You have a point, Marta; for all I know, they may have small protein animals that I didn’t see. Why don’t you and Heidi look into that? You know what we have to offer here on Earth. And talk to your guys about the delousing procedures; we don’t want to accidently send some harmful insect from this world to HeVan. You know how gardeners are always complaining about Japanese beetles that accidentally got imported to the US on wooden pallets," said Addie.
Then she turned back to Gilda. “I apologize for the late hour; we couldn’t bring the pod down when people would have been able to see it.”
“Don’t you worry, my dear, I’m an old woman now. I don’t sleep much anyway. And this is so exciting. That doctor, such a nice young man. My face doesn’t hurt at all anymore. Tell me, is he married? My Marta, she’s still too young to marry. When she’s ready, she will need a young man like that,” said Gilda.
“Miranda, our matchmaker, has already matched him and his brothers to a young lady doctor who’s out of the country right now. She’s in the Peace Corps,” said Addie. “Of course, they aren’t the only doctors on the Station,” she added with a smile.
“Aunt Gilda, when I brought you those two envelopes and the velvet pouch and the metal box, you thanked me and put them in your lap. I know it’s rude, but I’m dying of curiosity here,” said Suzanna. “What’s in them?”
Addie clapped her hands. “I’m so glad you asked. I didn’t have the nerve.”
Gilda put them on the table and looked around; everyone was trying not to look at the items sitting in front of her. For a minute, she looked at the objects as if she’d never seen them. She shook it off and smiled at them all. She turned to Suzanna. “With everything that happened, I forgot about the box. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d lost it. Thank you so much,” Gilda said.
“As to these other things, I’m not so sure. We’ll have to look,” she said.
She picked up the velvet pouch, untied the strings and opened it. She poured the contents out into her hand for the others to see. They were loose stones, mostly diamonds, of all sizes and cuts. What they had in common was the quality. They were all of the best color, cut, and clarity. She sniffed a little, and with a sigh, put the jewels back in the pouch, re-tied it and set it down. She picked up the first envelope. Opening it, she reached inside and pulled out a pile of papers. Looking at them, she saw that they were Bearer Bonds. Putting them down on the table, she reached for the second envelope. When she opened that one, she found stock certificates. She now had ten-thousand shares each of International Business Machines, Westinghouse and 3M. She put the shares down on the table.
“This explains so much.” Gilda said. “My husband—he was much older than me. His family lost almost everything when the banks crashed. He was just a child at the time, but it had a huge impact on him. He never trusted banks and he was always stashing money around the house. I thought I had found it all after he died. This explains the empty savings account. He was in a lot of pain towards the end and forgot to tell me about the gems. These stock certificates are over fifty years old. Who knows when he bought them; they wouldn’t have cost much then. Here, Marta,” she said, handing the stocks and Bearer Bonds to her. “Now you can go to any college you want.”
“She sure can,” said Suzanna, looking at the top certificate. “Those stocks are worth several hundred thousand, if not millions of dollars.”
The door to the kitchen opened and Arjun came back in with one of the new guards. He and his brother, along with two others, would be temporarily replacing Jalen, Justyn, and Jett as Addie’s personal guards. Addie remembered this guard’s name was Kai. Gilda called them all ‘young men’ and they all looked as if they were in their mid-twenties, but she knew they were all at least two hundred and fifty years old.
Kai was the shortest of all the men she’d met so far, at a measly six foot seven. He was also the first blonde. He and his twin brother Ari wore their blonde hair in what Addie thought of as a Viking style. There was a braid by each temple with the rest pulled back in a leather thong at the nape. Most startling were their eyes, not gold and not green; they were a citrine color or maybe chartreuse. Luckily, most people would just assume they were wearing contacts. For now, they were still in their clothes from the ship. She didn’t know what the cloth was made of, but it had the look of leather with the comfort of stretch fit jeans. Boots and a leather vest completed the outfits.
Kai and Arjun came over to the table. Arjun leaned over and gave Addie a kiss on the head. “You should go to bed; it’s very late,” he said.
“I’ll go to bed when you do. I took a nap after dinner, remember? Don’t worry so much. Now, what did you guys come in for?” she asked.
“We’ve figured out how to make everything fit, but we need the ladies to move into the passenger chamber now. The aisle and doorway will be blocked later,” he said with a grin.
“Gilda,” he said, gesturing to the door with his arm. “Your carriage waits.” Then with a sober face he added, “Remember, violence against women in any form is abhorrent to us as a people. That you were harmed in any way is unacceptable. If there is anything you need to have that we can provide for you, please let us know,” said Arjun, and then he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“I don’t believe in that kind of debt, Arjun. You’re making it possible for me to walk again. I’ll have many years to spend with my sister and my granddaughter. If any debt is owed, it’s from me to you. Let’s start fresh from here,” she said.
Arjun gave her a bow. “You humble me with your generosity. Addie, I and her other Ankida would ask that you accept the position of Royal Jeweler to the House of HeVanth.”
“Oh, yes. Please say you will,” Addie said, bouncing a little in her chair. She loved the rings that Grace had helped pick out and that Gilda had brought back to the house.
“I would be honored. Has an
yone on your planet heard of Faberge?” she asked with a giggle.
“Don’t carry her off just yet, Arjun,” said Addie, “she hasn’t shown us what’s in the big, metal box. The diamonds were pretty and it looks like she may be a millionaire. Now we want to see what’s behind Door Number Three.”
Kai turned to Arjun and whispered, “Is the Queen all right? I don’t see any doors with numbers on them.”
Addie heard what he said. “It’s an expression, Kai. Don’t worry, you’ll catch on quick. We’ll watch some game shows tomorrow on the television.”
She turned to Gilda. “Come on, no more stalling.”
Gilda pulled the box towards her, and then she pulled out her necklace with a HeVanian opal inset in gold—it was actually a locket. She opened it and removed a key. “The story of the Nephilim and the Queen has been passed down in my family from mother to daughter for as long as anyone can remember. Now you tell me it has been nearly ten thousand years. That’s mind boggling to me! In this box are a few of the things we’ve managed to keep and pass down in the family. The power of the women enabled us to keep these items through wars, famine, plague, and bad husbands,” she said with a little giggle but no one else laughed, they were too engrossed in watching her open the box.
She used the key to turn the lock and slowly opened the lid.
First, she pulled out three separate feathered wing pieces. They were very thin and looked delicate, as if they could easily be crushed; they were tied together with a thread. Gilda heard Arjun gasp as she lifted them out. “As the story goes, these are parts of each of the mating wings of our Nephilim ancestor. After he lost his wings, they had to be destroyed to keep others from finding out. He treated these pieces with a chemical or something so they wouldn’t rot or turn into dust. They’re just as bright and beautiful now as they were when I first saw them on my fifteenth birthday. That’s when my mother first started telling me about our heritage,” said Gilda, holding up the wings. The predominant colors of the feathers were shiny silver, teal, and glowing bronze. The third wing had several flecks of other colors.
Arjun knelt on the floor by her chair. “The Goddess was smiling down upon us when she led Grace into your store, Gilda. These colors belong to a lineage long thought lost to our world. HeVan will rejoice that descendants of that proud House have come back to us. Your lands border ours, Gilda. The homesteads and farmlands have lain fallow for over a thousand years. We’ve looked after the treasures and artifacts of your House out of hope and honor. We thought the lineage of Azaz had died out. They were the finest artisans, makers of swords, knives, armor, mirrors, and jewelry in our history. You can be proud your skills come naturally to you.”
“Oh, wow, Grandma,” said Marta, “so we have a place to live already?”
“Waiting for you on HeVan is a place to live, yes. Your land is roughly the size of the state of Montana. Only the Zingara go there now. We gave them right of passage in exchange for them protecting your inheritance,” said Arjun.
Marta turned to Addie and handed the stocks and Bearer Bonds to her, “Here, you need to buy things on Earth and I don’t think these will do us much good on HeVan. I don’t want to go to college anyway; I want to design jewelry like Baba G. Use this to get your land and start your farms and everything. We have the gems, the land, and the job as Royal Jewelers. We’ll be fine,” she said. “Besides, I heard what you were saying to Becky about providing food and supplies to the Space Station.”
“That’s very generous, Marta,” said Addie, “but I couldn’t take your money. How about we set up a Trust? We’ll call it The Azaz Family Trust. That way, if you come back on vacation, you’ll have access to funds. Sound good?”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Addie, thank you. Except, until you change the law, there won’t be any vacations on Earth. So don’t worry about me needing money right away,” said Marta.
Then Gilda spoke up, “Suzanna mentioned on the ride back about satellite phones and all. Such things! When you get that all set up, you can help me do something about my property in the City. If I’m not going to use it, I want my friend Ethel to have it. I’ll tell her I’m going into witness protection or something,” she said with a laugh. “Now, it’s time to go. The rest of the things can wait for another time. I feel strongly that now is not the right time to show any more. I have to tell Marta, Suzanna, and Carol the stories first,” she smiled at Heidi. “Heidi and anyone who’s interested can eavesdrop.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll ask Jeze to set up a memory saver and then we can share it amongst the crew. Would that be alright, Gilda?” asked Arjun and she nodded.
Kai bent down and scooped her up from her chair. She had the box and the velvet case in her hands, with Bella and Boris following behind as if Gilda were the Pied Piper. He carried her outside while Marta, Carol, and Heidi followed.
Suzanna stayed behind for just a moment.
“Addie, my superior called me earlier, there were more transmissions; it must have been when Jett communicated with the ship. I told him that the signals were emanating from a casino in Chicago called 'Hell'. That there was an ongoing investigation and results were expected soon. It was clever of Jett to order up this pod from there. So no more worries about being found out. Just buy those Sat phones and I’ll get in touch when we’ve tapped into the satellites, and then we’ll be good to go,” said Suzanna.
“Thank you, Suzanna, that’s a load off my mind. Now we can set up a safe haven for women who want to stay here and those who want to go. You’d better get going. Now that Arjun has effectively removed all my company, I’m going to head up to bed,” said Addie, as she got up to leave.
She watched the women go into the pod, and the men began loading in the last of the women’s belongings. As she walked up the stairs, she remembered her earlier conversations with Grace. She was hopeful she’d be coming to HeVan, too.
Chapter Ten
A couple of hours before the shuttle pod was scheduled to land, Rune and Justyn headed into Chicago. Justyn was anxious to meet Grace. Jalen had been keeping him informed of their activities throughout the day and into the evening. He ached to feel the soft skin, smell the womanly scent of his perfect match, his Join.
They had decided to leave Suzanna’s car a few blocks from the casino owned by the Kadyrovs. So he was driving the car following Rune in Addie’s van. Rune had driven into the City already and would show him the way. Rune would then head over to Becky’s house to pick up the false identification for the new crew members that would be staying on Earth for the time being.
He had learned to drive the van on the country roads near Addie’s house. Now he was driving on a road called a ‘tollway’ and it was vastly different. The speed didn’t bother him in the least; he’d traveled much faster in vessels back home. It was the proximity of so many other cars and the haphazard method of driving some of them employed. He was amazed at the number of drivers who seemed to be doing other things in addition to piloting their cars and vans.
At last, Rune was signaling for them to exit the faster road. As Justyn followed Rune onto the City streets, he realized that this was much harder than the roads near Addie’s house. There were still many cars, and now there were people, too. By the time they reached a parking garage near the casino, he had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. He was happy to get out of the car and stretch his legs. And the van was much more comfortable for a man of his size.
Justyn grabbed the duffle bag Addie had given him and walked over to where the van was parked.
Climbing in the van, he looked over at Rune and said, “It is much more difficult driving in the City; I don’t think I want to attempt it again. At least not until I practice more on quieter roads.”
“I also am still getting used to it. Suzanna drove into the City earlier today and there were even more vehicles and people. I drove home for the practice. I like it, though; it is a challenge,” answered Rune.
“Is Becky expecting you? It’s
very late. Are you going to be able to find your way to her house?” asked Justyn.
“Becky works late quite a bit. She says that many of her customers are overseas. I think she works too hard. Remember how she was when we stayed with her? I will take care of her in the morning, see that she eats a good meal and then be back at Addie’s home before noon.” Rune pointed to the dashboard.
“Addie’s van has what she called a GPS. They have a satellite orbiting their planet, which tells this box where we are. It is programmed with maps of the area. Addie input our destinations and all I have to do is follow the directions of the computer. See, we have reached the first destination,” he demonstrated by starting the engine and pulling out of the parking garage.
“I just tell it we want to go to the next destination,” he said, punching the screens the way Addie had shown him.
“Why do you have to punch the buttons, can’t you use a mind-link on the device? I don’t think removing your hands and concentration away from the steering mechanism is a good idea,” said Justyn.
“Jett has not had an opportunity to put the necessary programming into this device. He wants to check with Addie first. He pointed out that we need to be careful of exposing the humans to Nephilim technology,” answered Rune.
They proceeded towards Grace’s home by following the melodic voice of the on-board computer. Addie had told them that she had programmed it to stop three blocks from the building as they didn’t want the van to be seen stopping there and be traced back to her. It only took about twenty minutes to get from the casino to Lake Shore Drive and soon it was time for Justyn to hop out again.
“Safe journey, Rune,” said Justyn, as he got out.
“A pleasurable journey to you, my friend,” Rune answered with a grin before plugging in the next destination and driving on.
Justyn quickly walked the remaining three blocks to Grace’s building. He liked the area she was living in with the park and the lake beyond, but he still preferred the wide-open country spaces. He wasn’t used to this many people gathering in one City. The cities back home were much smaller, though now there were several cities standing vacant, just waiting for occupants again.
