“It seems there has been a change lately, in how easily everyone interacts. The hundreds of years since the twentieth century were quite different. Which is good, considering what was happening when I left.” He fell silent for a few yards. “In these centuries, people and cultures were generally not torn apart. And still aren’t.” Callaghan slumped. “Though new, troubling incidents are becoming more and more common. Even some piracy.”
Alexa tilted her head to the side. “So, governments are coming together here to make new laws?”
“Nay,” said Callaghan. “It’s the spiritual leaders who want to convene. Most every religion is sending a representative, to identify a manner to stop the change in trend.”
Alexa tried to think of a similar reaction from her own time, and couldn’t. Religious leaders foregoing their own interests and cooperating for a greater good. Things must have changed.
Callaghan asked, “Do you want everyone to know from whence you come?”
Her gut reaction was a strong, “No. Please.”
“We should move the airplane, at the least.” He gestured to the temple and all around them. “Adalans is known to be unusual. But the plane is too much to explain away.”
“Unusual?”
He searched for an explanation. “When the wormhole leading here was first discovered about thirty years ago, explorers for the League of Planets expected the system to be uninhabited. Humans already being here was a big surprise.”
Alexa asked, “Is it possible to secure the plane in a shed or something?” When Callaghan said yes, she felt a little relief.
They were quiet for a few yards, during which she watched her feet as she walked, an activity that usually put her in a zone. Soon though, the loss of Mac and her life threatened any happiness. Almost as bad as when her father died, when it seemed the last source of goodness was snatched from her.
A bad time. Not a place to revisit. Her mind veered off.
Change of subject. Alexa angled her head to the side, “I asked you if this is a military installation and you said no. Is Adalans centrally located, or neutral or something? Why here?”
Callaghan smiled, granting her the point of logic. “Good question. Would ye mind if I ask a few first?”
His request sounded suspicious. On the other hand, it might distract her thoughts. “Okay.”
“Mac is your fiancé, yes?” She nodded, and Callaghan continued. “Do ye have any family, other than Mac?”
Alexa massaged her neck. “Not really, because I don’t count a second-cousin who stole my family home, in essence. I recently worked for the woman till I walked out after receiving notice about the house. Otherwise, my mother passed away when I was a child and my grandfather,” her voice caught, “died five months ago. My one and only aunt, my mother’s sister, she died two years ago. And my father,” she sighed, “disappeared in a boating accident in the Caribbean when I was a teenager. ”
After a puff of breath, Alexa continued, “You’d think I would have the good sense to not go near the Caribbean.” She raised her hands in surrender. Memories seeped under the locked door. “Right before he left, I accused my father of always putting his pet theories about Atlantis before me. And look where I end up.”
A scene surfaced in her mind, with her wailing at her father, “You just tolerate me being around.” He had looked both pained and sympathetic. Before more of that old ache barreled through, she slammed the door on it and tamped down the emotion.
Callaghan was looking at her kindly, unaware of her selfishness then. “Do ye look much similar to your parents?”
“I supposedly look like my mother. I have my father’s eyes and hair. He was tall.”
Callaghan persisted. “What were their names?”
Alexa turned to gaze at him quizzically. “Mary and John. Alden.”
“And how many years ago did your father disappear?”
Wonder where this is going? “About ten or eleven years, I guess.”
Callaghan switched his attention to out over the ocean, probably watching the three sailboats.
Some kind of bird song twittered from a group of trees, and a small animal snuffled in the bushes. Alexa tried changing the subject again. “How is it the bushes and trees and all the animals I’ve seen are similar to Earth?”
Callaghan turned around, scanning the forest. “The people who came here many years ago brought their crops and animals with them. The birds and dogs and cats are much as the ones you and I knew at home.”
“My family always had cats when I was growing up,” she said. “I like dogs.”
“We even have some animals up there,” he pointed to the mountains, “that may be extinct on Earth. We have sent some breeding pairs to Earth, when governments ask for them.” He nodded across the ocean. “The plants native to this planet are more gray and the local animals are small, no bigger than a dog.”
Then he pointed up to the sky. “The nearest planet in this system is almost entirely crystal. Ye cannot live there without protection, though since the galactics showed up people do work there to mine the crystals.”
“Galactics,” repeated Alexa. “People from other planets?” Callaghan nodded.
A hush fell between them. Perhaps he was watching how the ocean changed colors as clouds raced above.
Callaghan drew a deep breath. “Did ye ever receive word about your father’s disappearance?”
“Not really.” Wish he would let go of that ancient subject. “His motorboat showed up in pieces, but not the small boat towed behind it. And his body never washed ashore.” After a moment, Alexa continued. “I tried to convince Dad the night before to ask my grandfather about borrowing the plane to go to the Bahamas. But Dad didn’t want him to know about the trip.”
Callaghan turned to her. “Alexa, I am sorry. I don’t know how to break this to ye more gently.” He touched her arm. “I believe your father was transported here.”
Alexa heard the cry of an eagle in the sky and the tussle of some critters down the trail. She stared at the man, wondering if she heard him correctly.
Her father. Here? She turned to Callaghan. “Why would you say that? How could that be?” She searched around, half expecting her Dad to step out from behind a tree. “Is he alive? Is he here?”
“Aye, alive!” said Callaghan. “At least, he was alive the last time we heard from him. But nay, not here.” Callaghan’s voice turned placating. “About ten years ago a tall man appeared, in a rubber dingy on the inlet here. He said his name was John. His eyes were the most amazing aquamarine color, close to yours. He had red hair, though not as bright as yours.”
“My God,” she breathed. “Where is he?”
“When he arrived he was very concerned about his daughter. In fact, he left about a month later, intent on finding some method to go back to ye.”
Alexa lowered her head in disbelief. “Did he know about the time difference, about being in the future?”
“Aye,” said Callaghan. “He said it should not matter, if he found the right person to help him. He was convinced a master, as he called it, would transport him back to ye. And he went to find someone for that.”
Looking up to the sky, Alexa said, “Dad always was a believer of saints and mystics. Do you know where he is?”
“Nay, I am sorry.”
“When was the last time you heard from him?”
Callaghan spread his hands. “It has been years. He stayed in touch at first. When we didn’t hear from him, I contacted the last place we knew he visited. They did not know where he went.
“However,” continued Callaghan, “partly because of his meetings on the different planets, Adalans was chosen to host this conference. Some of those wise men your father spoke with will probably be attending.”
Alexa did not hear much of what Callaghan said about the assembly. Her mind whirled in a storm of frustration and confusion. She turned and strode along the path. Callaghan followed.
She stopped and spun to face him. �
��What is the likelihood of this happening to two people from the same family? How can I know you are telling the truth? About any of this?”
Callaghan took her anger in stride. “Regarding our time and place, ye can verify with any one of the people beginning to arrive tomorrow. Regarding your father and ye,” he moved his head from side to side, “I think it may have something to do with your crystal.”
“You refer, I assume,” said Alexa, “to the one I promised to keep safe until I handed it to Mac and which I have no idea about what to do with now?”
Callaghan cocked his head. “Yes, that crystal. Is there any connection between it and your father?”
“Kind of. Dad also meditated. He learned when he married my mother because she was into it. Later, he took me to learn. The person who taught all of us, he is the one who gave me the crystal.”
Callaghan nodded, studying a nearby shrub. “Last night when I moved it, I noticed some similarity to a type we have here. More interesting, it resembles one in a legend from when I was growing up in Scotland.” He searched around and gestured to a nearby bench. “Did your father ever tell ye the name ‘Alden’ is Scots?”
“I’m vaguely aware of that. My father had a book with ancestors and he would let me look at it when I was a little girl.”
Callaghan said, “I enjoyed your father’s company when he arrived, after these many years without my kind.” He stopped, and began again. “I mean, I am happy here. I have a marvelous wife and many wonderful children. Nevertheless, it was good catching up a bit about my own time.”
Alexa picked up on his sadness. “Did you leave family behind in the 1940s?”
Callaghan nodded briefly. “Aye, my wife and infant son. I never had the heart to search through history to find out what happened to them. She was beautiful and kind. I hope she remarried.”
It struck Alexa that she could begin to think of Mac in the far past tense. As in, he was handsome and witty and lovable and loving, but no longer, because he di—. No, she wouldn’t even think the term. Internally, she fell to her knees, no, no, no, no, beating with her heart.
Callaghan did not seem to notice. “After a bit, your father and I compared our Scottish roots, and realized we both have a family story about the Crystal Ceres and its key, the Dog Ear.” The man looked at her. “Is something wrong, Alexa?”
Numb to the core, she shook her head.
“All right. This began long, long ago, when an enlightened sage arrived in Scotland from the west. He brought with him extraordinary crystals with which he wrought healing for the folk and awakened wisdom for their leaders. Stories of ceremonies and wondrous events were handed down. Eventually, a golden age developed under the rules of Alexander II and his son, Alexander III, including peace with England.
“Before the sage died, he trained a select few in safeguarding the crystals, an honor because simply caring for either bestowed good luck. As well, the man warned that, together, the crystals would be too strong for most anyone. Only one in any generation in the world would be capable of evoking the crystals while also preserving them. Actual misuse could result in their destruction, including great loss of life.
“By the first part of the 1700s, a small number of Scots families in the north continued protecting Ceres and the wee crystal, called both Dog Ear and the Key. Perchance the core of this group was in the east of Scotland, considering a town’s name in that region. The families switched them around to share the benefit, always keeping the two separate while being careful to maintain secrecy.
“However, perhaps the legend was true about the Key always finding a way to reconnect with Ceres. Or maybe it was human nature.” Callaghan laughed, not happily. “You see, one family decided it should hold both crystals.”
He threw up one hand. “Now, their intentions may have been good. They were in the thick of efforts to assist the bonnie Prince Charlie, and conceivably they thought that with both in their possession the greatest power would benefit him. Nevertheless, within a few years of tricking the other families and bringing the two together, both crystals were stolen by English from the nearest city in England. Shortly after, the Scots cause was lost at Culloden. That family lost its land, holdings and all its men folk, save one infant lad.”
As the man in front of her wound to his conclusion, Alexa couldn’t shake the impression that he felt personally responsible. It occurred there might be a connection. She asked, “What was the family’s name?”
“Callaghan.”
“Ah,” she whispered. “And the Aldens?”
“They were the last family to hold but one of the crystals.”
Chapter 8
After parting from Callaghan, Alexa met with Jesek to move the plane to a shed. It was a good thing they had already pulled it out of the ravine, considering that several floating baskets were necessary to even get it moving. Finally, with it secured in the building and the huge door locked, she waved to Jesek and headed to the forest where she’d walked with Callaghan. Some alone time and an opportunity for a little perspective on everything had become an urgent matter.
As Alexa turned the corner to locate a shortcut, she ran into a tall guy. Hmmm, make that a handsome tall guy.
“Miss, I deeply apologize. Please excuse me.” He continued for a bit, looking earnestly into her eyes and holding her arms. His touch, warm and dry, lingered longer than necessary.
“Thank you.” Alexa raised an eyebrow. “You can let me go.”
He released her with an apologetic smile and peered around, hunting for something. “Did you notice the most amazing antique being towed this direction? If I’m not mistaken, it was a Cessna 195.”
Alexa cringed. Too much, evidently, to hope her plane would not be spotted by a galactic. The man in front of her was definitely not a local. Too tall, too blond, not wearing enough white. “It’s a—” Alexa yelled at her brain to come up with something, “an example. Yes. It’s a mock-up of those ancient crafts. Built from a kit. Mostly balsa wood.”
“Balsa? Wood?”
Alexa bit her lip. “And plastic.”
“Ah.” With no hint of sarcasm, he asked, “Did you build it?”
She shuffled back. “My grandfather, uh. It was his. Now it’s mine.”
“I wonder if those kits are available anywhere. Sounds right up my alley.”
“I don’t think so.” She swallowed. “I bet not.”
The man gave her a sidelong glance and bent to whisper, “If you ever fire it up, may I be around? I love engines. I design engines.”
Oh no. “I don’t start it much. Fuel is costly.”
“I would wager so. In fact one can barely find that kind of fuel on Earth. Much less, this far from Earth.”
“Yes,” replied Alexa, in a tone to end the conversation. “Well. I was about to go this way. It’s been—”
“What a coincidence,” the man said. “I am headed in the same direction. May I join you?”
Why is it so difficult to resist an English accent? “Ah. For a bit, I guess. Although, I,” she broke off, then continued in a little voice, “was looking forward to some time alone.”
* * *
Watching Alexa struggle, Newcastle felt a twinge of guilt. If he had gone through that ordeal he’d be fleeing to the stars. But he really must obtain her cooperation, and the most obvious method would be romance. “How about if we both take the little hill. It looks fun.” He started out toward it to disallow time to object, and felt relief when she didn’t simply take off in the opposite direction.
As the gentleman his family raised him to be, he allowed Alexa to move ahead up the incline. Then when the dirt went steep for a moment, luck came his way. She slipped. And he made sure she slid directly into his arms.
So petite, she’s hardly there. Beautiful eyes. Which he had an excellent view of because he landed against a tree, with her face-to-face, eye-to-eye. Also mouth-to-mouth. Her lips, tantalizing, shocked him with an inexorable urge to close the gap.
She p
ulled away and said, “Excuse me.”
If he weren’t careful she might catch him staring. “Not at all. My family insists its sons verify safety first.” When she turned to continue, he noticed an enormous diamond on her left hand and realized romancing her might be a challenge, if she still felt connected to that so-long-ago man.
At the top, the woman took a stance squarely in the middle of the path, leaving no room for accompaniment. Come up with something! Don’t let her go. Desperate, he said, “I am here on business and if fuel for your balsa and plastic plane would be useful, I could arrange it.”
“You’re able to obtain that kind of fuel, this far from Earth?”
Mockery, or amazement? Newcastle couldn’t tell and became more intrigued.
She said, “I’m sure, though, I wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
Of course, she’s probably in need of funds. He said, “In fact, I came to Adalans to purchase crystals. For our ships and production facilities. I have an ample budget, and we search for new types of crystals all the time.”
The woman’s face became withdrawn. Argh. Wrong. He blurted, “Do you know you have the most amazing aquamarine eyes?” He bent toward her for a better look.
She leaned back, appearing both bemused and flattered. “Thank you. My father’s eyes were—are—the same color.” After a polite smile she said, “I’ll be going along now. A pleasure meeting you.”
When she offered her hand to shake goodbye, to Newcastle’s own amazement he brought it up and kissed her fingers. No more than a soft brushing of his lips. Something he’d not done since those historical dancing lessons as a teenager. Still, he certainly didn’t experience a jolt similar to that during those lessons.
Judging by her widening eyes, she experienced it too. “I will,” she began, then paused to check him out a bit closer. But she didn’t relent, saying, “I’ll just go along this way.”
Newcastle said nothing. Couldn’t do anything, past the probable foolish look on his face. At about twenty feet, the woman turned and waved. Since he still stood there on the path, he waved back.
Seeking Sirius Page 5
