Chapter 12 - Newcomers
Niklas found his two students helping to settle the new class.
He spoke quietly, summoning them back to their own work. He added, “You would have been back sooner if Governor Xyron had not been called away.”
Tymos glanced down at his formal attire.
“No, you don’t need to go back and change right now. I have set a test for you - geography. Get to it.”
Niklas went to sit at his desk and from there watched his two students start work. His eyes slid along to Tobias, who was well on his way to knowing all that was available about plants and horticulture. He was perfectly content with the fact that he was unlikely to reach second stage.
After a while, Niklas went to observe the new class as they started to learn to write. All were concentrating diligently and probably still in awe of having Prince Tymos and Princess Kryslie urging them to work hard. He turned back to check on his own students just as a series of quiet beeps began, alerting him to a message.
Niklas listened to the message on his communicator, and glanced over at his students. He could see the light flashing on their monitors, but they were obliviously concentrating on their tests. He went up to them.
“Save your work,” he told them. They both looked surprised and glanced at each other. He was getting used to those glances and they made it seem like they were talking to each other.
“Oh,” Kryslie exclaimed suddenly, seeing the green light flashing on her brother’s monitor.
“I don’t believe you have forgotten what that summons means,” Niklas said dryly. “The Governors are busy men and they have been waiting five minutes already.”
He smiled to himself after the two students had trotted to the beam in point and transmitted themselves away. They were a pleasure to teach and had shown none of the unpleasant behaviour Vincent had mentioned. Probably, they had simply needed some basic training, but Xyron had warned him that they had a great deal of potential, and it was still increasing.
That was part of the reason he was their tutor. He was prepared for the possibility that they would erupt into second stage, but was fervently hoping that Perrin Reslic was keeping their preparation and training ahead of their power level.
What he did find unsettling, was the fact that these human-Tymorean hybrids were subtly mutating. Xyron had confided that the human part of them was receding and the Tymorean genome was becoming dominant. However, since they now had transmitters, perhaps the changes were complete. All he had noticed of the change was the increasing amount of red in their hair.
He went to the terminals and checked what they had done on the tests. More than he expected and every question perfectly correct. He smiled, because what he saw proved his own theory of what one of them learnt, the other knew too. When teaching them for this topic, he had set them different subjects to research and for the test, he had deliberately switched the questions so that Kryslie was answering questions on the topic that Tymos had studied and vice-versa.
Tymos and Kryslie arrived in the Conference Room and moved to look around. They became the focus of attention of all three intent gazes. They covered their faint flushes of guilt at being tardy, by bowing in perfect unison to the seated Governors. When they straightened, they had their expressions under control.
Tymoros gestured to two vacant chairs. “Join us,” he directed curtly.
“You do, I trust, understand the definition of ‘immediately’,” Jono Reslic commented as they sat in the indicated places. “Was there an excellent reason for your delay?”
The thought of claiming to be in the middle of a test occurred to both of them, but was immediately suppressed by the knowledge that a summons from the Governor’s would always have priority. Neither thought that not paying attention to their communicator would be a good excuse.
“No Sir, we had our minds elsewhere,” Tymos admitted.
“I will have your monitors adjusted to beep when you have a message,” Xyron commented.
“Thank you, Sir,” Tymos said meekly. He decided not to ask why they had been called, but to wait for his elders to speak.
Tymoros did. “Vincent has returned here with two more humans from Earth that have inherited some of our power.” He saw he had the instant attention of his children but they waited for him to continue. “You won’t be able to talk to them yet, since they are both experiencing extreme reactions to the onset of second stage. We have agreed that you should observe them so that you can be prepared for the worst type of transition.”
Tymos glanced at Kryslie.
“You have questions, Prince Tymos?” Reslic suggested.
“Yes, Sir. Father told us that such a reaction in humans was unexpected. Are they Tymorean descendents, or human?”
“My brother should have a report soon,” Xyron answered. “It makes no difference – they will need training. Come with me now, and I will have your lunch sent to the observation room.”
Tymos and Kryslie sat by themselves, looking down into the laboratory where Xyron was tending to the two young men, strapped to the diagnostic couches. From comments he spoke aloud for their benefit, they knew that the sedated men would remain asleep until their initial symptoms of transition sickness eased. So far, there had been little to see.
When he finished eating, Tymos put his lunch tray on the seat beside him and commented. “It is a relief not to be watched all the time, isn’t it?”
“And a relief not to need to advertise when you need to relieve yourself,” Kryslie agreed after finishing off her drink.
They returned their attention to the room below until a vague sense of pressure made Tymos stand up. Kryslie shoved aside her tray and copied him as Reslic and Tymoros transmitted into the room. Both bowed in unison.
Reslic gave them a nod and Tymoros merely said, “Relax,” and turned his attention to the scene below.
Kryslie looked down again and saw that Vincent had joined Xyron and they were each doing hands on examinations of the patients. She also noticed that both men were spasmodically twitching.
After a further half an hour, Xyron transmitted up to the observation room.
“We have completed our tests, but now must analyse the findings. Vincent will monitor them until they have stabilised after their journey. They should not wake for several more hours.”
He turned to the quietly attentive, Tymos and Kryslie. “You may return here after your lessons to observe their condition.”
“Father, when they wake up can we talk to them?” Tymos asked.
Neither Tymos nor Kryslie were prepared for the Governors to converse amongst them selves in a dialect that they had never heard before.
Finally, Tymoros answered his son’s question.
“They are at a difficult stage. It will be several days before it will be safe for you to approach them. They must first become aware of their new power and we must have some time to sleep-teach them our language.”
Xyron explained, “It will be some time before they can mingle with the Royal Children. We will need your assistance to help them acclimatise and to orientate themselves to their new surroundings as you both have had the experience of changing worlds.”
“We understand,” Kryslie answered for herself and Tymos.
Reslic turned from watching the newcomers and said, “It is almost time for your afternoon lessons. You will just have time to change. I expect you to be there when I arrive.”
Tymos and Kryslie accepted the dismissal and the subtle warning. His Excellency, as they well knew, did not tolerate lateness. He had let them off with a mild reprimand earlier, but if he was replacing his brother today, they did not want another lapse.
Following the afternoon drill, during which it seemed that Reslic was pushing them harder than their younger classmates, they returned to the glass fronted observation room. Neither Xyron, nor Vincent, were visible in the laboratory where the patients were sleeping.
The two young men were starting to stir and the spas
ms they had noticed before were increasing in intensity. The restraints were still holding them onto the mattresses that were now near floor level. A particularly violent spasm shook both men and they seemed to wake. In turn, each tried to sit up, and fell back onto the mattress, defeated by the restraints. Xyron materialized into the laboratory out of sight of the two men and adjusted a dial. Vincent arrived in the observation room and commented to Tymos and Kryslie that the gravity in the chamber was now reduced to Earth normal.
The men in the room tried to sit up again, noticed the restraints and found they were not strong enough to hold against their determination to be up. Once sitting, the men became aware of each other.
“Hello,” one said instinctively. The other nodded an acknowledgement.
“I’m Keith Rasmussen,” the first spoke again.
“John Goss,” the second responded absently. He was staring thoughtfully around.
Keith suddenly had a violent shivering fit. John stood up from the mattress and walked unsteadily towards a bank of instruments. He walked into the invisible barrier and then appeared to walk in a circle as he tested the limits of the “room”. He walked back to the mattress and examined the broken restraints. They had been of some kind of metal reinforced fabric and they had parted like butter. He collapsed missing the mattress altogether.
Keith, when the shivers had abated, stood slowly and walked to examine the various objects within their limited area. He lifted a heavy looking bar and found it actually weighed very little. He found himself gripping it tightly as a wave of nausea and giddiness overcame him. When the sensation passed, he noticed that the bar had become distorted and fingertip sized dents were imprinted in the metal. His eyes met those of John who silently picked up a wooden block that crumbled in his touch. Keith tried to pick up the same type of thing with the same result.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Keith asked aloud.
“I don’t think so,” John replied.
“Hey, watch it!” Keith had to duck quickly to avoid John’s arms that flew out and nearly hit him. For a few moments, John was unable to control his movements.
“Sorry,” he apologized as soon as he could form the words. “This has happened to me before. I was tidying the storeroom and knocked a whole lot of glass stuff onto the floor. Later I went to pick up my boss and crashed the van. Last thing I remember is him holding me down and giving me an injection.”
“Last thing I remember,” Keith said thoughtfully, “I was at school. It was after lessons had finished for the day and I had been helping to pack up the sports stuff because I wasn’t looking forward to going home. I don’t remember how the fight started but I was suddenly having a go at my two best friends. Some teachers pulled us apart, gave us a verbal ear bashing about proper behaviour for senior students and threatened that I would not be school captain, if it happened again. They took us up to the office to see the headmaster of course. He’s a decent sort. He pushed me into a chair, listened to by friends saying I had just started hitting out and they were trying to calm me down. He dismissed the others with a warning and asked me to stay behind. He looked at my hands. They were purple, like they are now, and he nodded and said he would take me to a doctor friend of his.”
The voices of the patients seemed harsh compared to the soft accents of the Tymoreans. They carried clearly to the observers.
“They appear to have great strength and no control,” Tymos remarked.
“Yes, at the second stage all your abilities will increase. What you are observing is an extreme reaction. These people have had no training at all and no knowledge of what is happening. Once their power level stabilizes, my brother will control their power, like he did for you, until they have the basics of control,” Vincent explained and continued. “We have enabled them to accept the strange things that have been happening and as their training progresses their memories of Earth will diminish.”
The following week, before their afternoon lesson, Tymos and Kryslie approached John and Keith who were sitting with their attendants in the gardens. The two young men had changed subtly. Outwardly, they now wore clothes similar to their own, but purple with silver trim, indicative of a position in Xyron’s house. Their voices had softened and they were much calmer. Intuitively the twins recognized the controlling influence but made no mention of it. Two of the brown-uniformed security force watched from nearby.
“Welcome,” Kryslie greeted with a smile holding out a hand to each of them then sitting down in front of them. Tymos squatted beside his sister. John and Keith could both sit up unaided so they were already partly acclimatized.
“Cindy!” Keith returned the greeting with warmth. “Tim! It’s good to see you both.”
“You know us?” Tymos frowned it was part question, part statement. He studied the speaker.
“Certainly!” Keith assured him. “I know you from school!”
At the lack of comprehension on Tymos’s face, Keith began to sound confused. “You left school a couple of months before I was brought here! Wherever here is?”
“We are on Tymorea,” Kryslie said softly. “They brought us here from Earth because we have some of the power the Governors of this planet have, so do each of you. We are training to use it. We don’t remember our life on Earth now.”
“Yes, now I remember you,” John added. “My boss brought you from your school after some trouble there. He said he was taking you somewhere to recover. Come to think of it – our keeper looks like my Boss!”
“I don’t know exactly how long we’ve been here,” Tymos admitted. “Have they told you anything?”
“No,” John sounded aggrieved. “We have been kept in a glass walled room like two prize scientific experiments. Twice I saw my old Boss but he never came near enough to talk to. The others speak to us but we don’t understand them.”
“What colour did the others wear?” asked Tymos.
“Silver and gold,” Keith answered. “Why do we seem to be prisoners?” He glanced at the security men over his shoulder, and at the ones that had accompanied the twins.
“You are not prisoners,” Tymos assured them quickly. “And the attendants are only there to assist you and to help you acclimatize. The gravity is a bit higher here than you are used to.” Tymos did not choose to distinguish between the attendants and the security men. “When you are more used to the gravity, they will be able to start your training.”
“What kind of training?” John asked, becoming intent on her answer.
“The training to control the Royal Power that you have received,” Tymos reiterated. “It was necessary to come here because on Earth, untrained it would have destroyed you.”
Keith nodded slowly beginning to understand. He knew how the twins had been before they disappeared from school. He guessed now what had caused their problem and had probably caused his own.
“Royal Power?” Keith queried, “What does that make us?”
“You are to be fostered by Professor Governor Xyron,” Kryslie explained, indicating the trim on their uniforms.
“Why must I be fostered?” John asked pointedly. “I am twenty-three years old. I am not a child!”
“In terms of your development you are. We were told that the power usually develops in early adolescence. The Royal Children are trained from a very young age to be ready for it. We got it late. The Royal Governors, the ones who wear silver and gold, are taking an exceptional interest in each of us. They sent us here to help you, so… how do you feel?”
“Great,” both John and Keith agreed. “Except for the strange surroundings, that is,” John added pointedly.
Tymos shrugged as he stood up. “We have some exercises to show you.”
Kryslie stood and helped Keith to stand. Tymos gave John his hand.
They began with some simple warm up exercises and progressed to a slow walk. Even that tired the two newcomers.
“I feel like I’ve been sick for months,” Keith complained. “I am feeling shaky already.”
“Soon you’ll be doing this!” Tymos assured them and followed his words with a perfectly executed double forward roll along the ground. Keith actually laughed as Tymos sprang back up to his feet.
“What was wrong with that?” Tymos demanded.
Keith stopped laughing to explain.
“I saw you try that once at school. You landed flat on your back in the mud!”
“That was well done,” John admitted, impressed. “Let me try.”
His first effort was very bad. His legs and arms went in all directions. The second try, Tymos helped his body curve into an arc and the result was better.
With help, John repeated the manoeuvre several times before he tried it again on his own and succeeded. Not to be out done, Keith took a turn with Kryslie assisting him. He too eventually performed creditably.
John, sitting back on the ground, watched closely and noticed the casual ease with which the slightly built Kryslie hefted Keith who was taller and more solid. It made him thoughtful
The attendants assigned to the newcomers spoke softly to their charges but although they guessed, it was time to go; neither Keith nor John really understood them.
Tymos confirmed their guess “It is time for you to rest again.”
“Back to our glass cage,” John growled. “I want to get out of there. I am sure they keep us sleeping for longer than we need.”
“Don’t fight the sleep tapes then,” Kryslie commented. “They are trying to teach you the language.”
Then Kryslie stopped. She had been speaking in Tymorean. They had understood her. Why couldn’t they understand any one else?
Tymos and Kryslie did not watch their friends leave. Their own attendants reminded them that they must to return to their own schedule. The afternoon was only half over.
The next few afternoons were repeats of that day. First thing in the afternoon, Tymos and Kryslie received new exercises for John and Keith along with instructions for doing them. After the first time, an optional challenge was included. When the newcomers were finished, Tymos and Kryslie returned to their own exercises and expected to work twice as hard to complete the routine devised to challenge them.
The Tymorean Trust Book 1 - Power Rising Page 13
