Alexa turned toward the shuttle, its open door inviting. About halfway across the dock, a guy trotted up and began walking beside her. “Hello,” he said in a cheerful, friendly manner. “I’m Zaire Chevalier. How are you?” Cute, medium dark skin, smiling brown eyes, and dreadlocks neatly pulled back with a yellow band.
“Fine, thank you,” replied Alexa and continued walking. She preferred to not maintain a conversation. Whether intended or not, Penelope had prompted some internal debate for Alexa regarding the crystal.
At about thirty feet from the shuttle, Zaire asked, “Might you be the beautiful woman who flew the remarkable aircraft over the temple on Adalans?”
The question caught her so off guard Alexa came to a complete standstill. “Excuse me?”
“An ancient aircraft was seen in the skies over the temple and evidently landed a couple of nights ago.” He smiled engagingly. “You fit the description of the pilot.”
She headed toward the shuttle. He might follow her to a chair, but not into the ladies room.
He kept up and peppered her with questions, “How is it, flying that aircraft? Is it different from piloting a shuttle? Its engine was noisy. Is it really powered by gasoline, instead of crystals? Where do you find fuel for it? How is it that such a craft is on Adalans? Why do you know how to fly such an ancient craft?”
At about this point he brought out a three-inch shiny ball, threw it up in the air and it began circling her. The questions continued, “Where is the plane from? Where are you from?” The ball seemed to be taking photos. “When are you from?”
He stopped about five feet from the shuttle. “Work with me on an exclusive.” She raced through the door. “I’ll shield you from all the others,” he yelled, as she left him behind the corner.
Alexa did not stop until she located the sleeping alcove she used earlier, climbed in, and locked the door behind her.
Chapter 11
After arriving on terra firma that night, the basket ride to the temple site through a quiet and gentle breeze about put Alexa to sleep. Downright civilized. It certainly helped her feel better after the attacks on the space station by robot and reporter.
Along the way, Alexa had one question answered. As the several people in her basket quietly conversed, she wondered aloud about no one piloting. Someone replied, “Crystals onboard are attracted to other crystals at each destination.”
Corky had a point. Robots aside—she didn’t know if she’d ever totally become used to their presence—Adalans was a boundary-stretching juxtaposition of basic and sophisticated. Barely adequate walking paths and woven grass being almost the lone barrier between her and a thirty-foot drop to the ground, didn’t jive with glowing walls and hovering conveyances.
Exhausted and numb, she climbed into bed well after midnight.
To her dismay in the morning with the room flooded with sunlight, it was apparent that her luggage had been searched. She’d not touched anything last night, opting to simply lay her clothes on the table and sleep in the white gown from the first night. Nothing was glaringly wrong. However, her stuffed animals were moved and other belongings shifted around in the suitcases. Donny has gone too far. She yanked open her door.
He must have come out of the kitchen behind her as she headed to his room, because she didn’t hear him until he spoke. “You got home late last night.” He fell back a step when she whirled at him. “Whoa! What happened?”
“Someone searched my bags.” Alexa pushed her face up at him. “Do you never give up?”
“It wasn’t me! I swear!” Donny glanced at his room. “In fact,” he paused. “Now you mention it, I think the gear in my duffle bag was also messed with.” He threw out his hands. “We were both gone yesterday afternoon.”
Alexa began to pace. “I wonder if that Corky person paid someone to search while we were on our way to the space station.”
That caught Donny’s attention. “You went to the space station? How cool.” He jammed his hands into his jeans pockets and scuffed the toe of his high-top sneaker. “How was it?”
Alexa wanted to resist this little interchange, considering it too close to friendliness with Donny. Still, she didn’t have the heart to deny his interest. “The flight up was,” she nodded to herself, “pretty incredible.” She smiled. “Weightlessness.”
“No,” he said, drawing it out. “Too cool for words.”
Alexa continued. “The station is a big metal disk with windows every once in awhile. Inside,” she considered and smiled, “was pretty similar to a shopping mall. Including the stale air.”
Donny gave a short cackle. “Makes sense. I hope I can see it sometime.” He turned toward the kitchen and stopped. “Hold on, did you mention someone on the trip up?”
“Yeah,” said Alexa. “It’s pretty clear this man wants the, um, package.” She couldn’t explain why her intuition told her to keep its identity secret. “He tried his best to talk around the issue. But he wants it, I think.”
“So you know,” said Donny. “That’s a relief.”
“Know what?”
“The people who hired me? Back home? They still want your, your, package.”
“Why do you say that?”
“This guy came up to me in front of the temple and asked if I obtained ‘the item’ for his family.”
“What did you say to him?” In other words, do I have to worry about you still trying to steal it?
Donny appeared contrite. “That I didn’t know what he was talking about.”
Alexa tried to remember Corky’s words. “The man in the shuttle didn’t mention a family.” She raised her hand to Corky’s height. “He’s a bit taller than me, with dark curly hair. And speaks with a Spanish, or maybe Portuguese, accent.”
“No. Different dude,” said Donny. “The man was tall, blond, British accent.”
* * *
Newcastle lounged on a sunny terrace overlooking the front of the temple, observing frantic preparations for the arriving dignitaries. He hoped they succeeded. His own family had lost a ship and everyone on it to the pirates.
For himself, however, he wished he were more secure on how he’d done with the Alexa woman. He’d become used to an immediate response in his interactions with the fairer sex, who reacted if not to his own experienced charm then certainly to the allure of his family. It was never even necessary to introduce himself to anyone.
She did seem to experience a similar shock to his impulsive kiss of her fingers. He must remember that little gesture, especially if it generally produced such an effect.
Nevertheless, Alexa abandoned him on the path and he’d not seen her since. He took advantage of her absence yesterday to try to locate the crystal, taking great pains to deflect detection by concentrating on happy childhood memories. To no avail.
His oldest brother had been exceedingly clear: Bring it home, or be the first kicked off the payroll as soon as possible.
Now what.
He caught sight of Alexa. No mistaking her. Too far to verify eye color, but the red curls and strong stride pegged her. Newcastle paid his bill and began strolling along a specific tangent.
Chapter 12
On her way to check in with Rachel, Alexa hoped no bad news about her friend meant good news. Something going good, that would be nice. On the other hand, thoughts about yesterday and being attacked almost as soon as she was off the planet kept coming up. Could the robot have been after the crystal? Why would a robot want a crystal? Lady Penelope seemed certain the machines would never take such actions.
Donny stole it from her. Corky did his best to buy it from her. And Penelope proposed to take something from her. Even that British man at the shack for the plane, probably the one who approached Donny, mentioned crystals and offered her money. Could Penelope and that man be related?
That British man. Probably the type who always gets what he wants.
She did need money. It had been downright embarrassing to depend on Bridgeth for clothes and food. What
was she to do? Oh, Mac. We had it all so well planned. Watching her feet as she walked up the steps, Alexa failed to notice the person in front of her until at the top. It was that man. She strode by, keeping her eyes forward.
“Hello,” he said, appearing beside her. “Nice to see you again.”
Exactly as the reporter on the space station. She sped up.
“Going somewhere special?” he asked, his long legs having no trouble keeping up with her.
She halted, and he continued on a couple of steps before stopping and turning. She demanded, “Who are you?” He looked stunned. He should be, her tone was not friendly. “Why do you want my crystal?” To dominate this interchange, Alexa had intended to appear as fierce as possible. She couldn’t concentrate on that, though, because almost every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward her. She hadn’t shouted. In fact she’d taken care to keep her voice close to a whisper. Still, everyone nearby was staring. Then it dawned, she’d probably yelled loud and clear with her emotions.
That man also realized the reactions around them and said in a irritatingly calm tone, “I am Iain Newcastle and please believe me I am not threatening you. However, you might want to tone down your emotions.”
“I can see the situation,” she snapped. “I want some answers, or you have not ever witnessed the emotions I will bring down upon you.”
“Possibly. Nevertheless you don’t know my sister. I assure you, try as you might it would be a challenge to surpass her abilities.”
Alexa didn’t resist when he began leading them out of the temple. She said, “Actually I met your sister, I believe. A certain Lady Penelope.” It appeared he was unaware of their interaction. “My question for you is, how did you search our guesthouse without being noticed?”
He stepped back. “Why do you assume I was there?”
“Because I am not blind. I know when my belongings have been interfered with. Also because Corky pestered me on the trip to the space station, and your sister was in the station to keep me busy.”
“You know Corky?”
“Well, yes,” she explained with exaggerated patience. “He tried his best to buy my crystal for you.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not budging.”
“He wanted the crystal?”
“Hah!” she said. “You admit you know about it.”
“Wait, this is important. Corky of the absurdly long name, tried to purchase the crystal from you?”
“Yes,” said Alexa. She plopped her hands onto her hips. “What is it with you people? It’s almost a thousand years. Can’t you let go?”
* * *
Newcastle searched through his memory of the family legend. There was something about another party. A pretty nasty character, if he remembered correctly. Possibly Corky? The witless twit overnight Wonder Boy?
His mental efforts to try to place Corky in this little drama were interrupted by Miss Alexa. “Well, Sir Charming? Any response?”
“As a matter of fact, my brothers received all the knighthoods. Listen, you may be in a bit of danger.” He lightly touched her shoulder. “Let me buy it from you. My family can protect it. Besides, it was ours before you took it.”
At last, he had her full attention. She stared at him, and asked, “Your last name is Newcastle?” When he nodded, she continued, “As in the city in northern England, near Scotland?”
He felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Yes. My family’s name was something else then. When we left for Varga, we took the name of our home city on Earth.” He continued in his smoothest style. “Since that was hundreds of years ago, it is probably all right to mention the reason for changing our name may also have had something to do with a slight disagreement with certain parties, who made their antipathy rather plain.”
She nodded. “I’ll bet. Since it would make sense if your family also stole the crystal from my group of families in Scotland! By the way, I recommend not trumpeting to Callaghan that little detail about your home city.”
Newcastle rubbed his face. “Let me help you. Sell me the crystal. I’ll pay handsomely.”
She didn’t even seem to consider his offer. “Did you just happen to be on Adalans and notice me as a person who might have something you want?”
He glanced into the temple. “The family legend predicted you would show up here, around this time.”
She quickly followed the logic. “Legend. You’re saying there was enough information to create a legend. One lasting 950 years.”
“So, you’re that old?” He regretted his words the moment they shot out of his mouth. When she turned to leave, he caught her arm. “I apologize. Overly glib on my part.” She narrowed those beautiful eyes, requiring an explanation.
With a shrug, he gazed out over the ocean. “Unfortunately, the story became a little garbled over time. But here it is: More than a thousand years ago our family searched for two crystals taken from us. It took some time before we located them. John Lloyd, he did that.”
Alexa put in, “Lloyd stipulated that I shouldn’t be hurt.”
“You knew Lloyd?”
“Yes.”
“What was your impression of him?”
She looked off into the middle distance. “British accent. His hair was dark. Short and kind of pudgy. Didn’t talk much. Seemed somewhat lonely.”
“Every once in awhile, you say things proving it all truly did happen.”
“Oh. It happened. A couple of days ago for me. What’s the rest of the legend?”
“Then the crystals disappeared again. The story is a young woman took one and some old man evidently hid the other. Lloyd tracked the woman,” he gestured to Alexa, “however, she escaped,” he gestured to all of Adalans around them. “In some manner, not sure how, Lloyd got the idea that she, as in you, should show up here, about this time.”
She asked, “How did you keep track of this? It’s almost a thousand years!”
Newcastle shrugged a little, before saying, “The story and instructions were stored via various methods, to appear about every fifty years, to remind my family to perpetuate the information with the newest technology. From what I can tell, identifying a member of the family was challenging a few times. Luckily, a few essential elements seemed to have made it through.” He gestured to Alexa with his head, “You are here and you have a crystal.”
Alexa appeared skeptical. “Besides being informed you should steal, did the messages give you a reason? For stealing?”
He brought his hand to his chest. “We prefer to think of it more as reclaiming.”
“I’ll bet.” Alexa stood there, waiting.
“This part becomes a bit vague.” He leaned against a column. “When we possessed the two crystals, everything was golden, we couldn’t lose. We dominated the shipping industry. We controlled all the banks. Then the two disappeared. And it all fell apart.”
“Yet during all this time, you stayed a family with a memory.”
A new thought occurred to him, “I wonder if those reminders helped keep us focused? Sometimes, the surviving member was female.”
Alexa rolled her eyes. “How good of your family to recognize a female.”
“Her husband would change his name.”
“It’s been a really long time. Why remain fixated on something so small. It’s not magic, at least I haven’t noticed any. Except for attracting all this attention.”
Newcastle said, “Supposedly having the two at the same time is worth it. Lloyd certainly believed so. Can I convince you to let me buy it from you? One part of the legend mentions someone truly heinous. I don’t want to think of you in danger.”
Uneasiness passed over her face. “Am I in danger with you?” She lifted her chin. “What if I don’t agree to sell it to you?”
Before he thought it through he replied, “You are in no danger from me.” As he said the words Newcastle knew he spoke truth, despite any threat to his own wellbeing from his brother.
She stroked her forehead. Taking it all in? Perhaps she could be convinced.
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
Chapter 13
As Alexa trekked through the corridors to Rachel’s hospital room, her mind gnawed on a few facts. Stranded. No money. Depending on strangers. Consistently attacked and accosted, for a little piece of hard glass that as far as she knew could not be delivered to Mac as requested. And she couldn’t fathom why it would be useful for anything other than some fairy tale. Selling the thing might make sense.
She hesitated outside Rachel’s door. Crystal drama aside, no amount of money would help in what she must do now, inform her friend there would be no contacting Sammy.
In the room, Donny sat beside Rachel’s hospital bed. Both of them bent over what appeared to be a game of tic-tac-toe, using Rachel’s space-dude pen and the palm leaves used locally as a kind a paper. Rachel, who wasn’t doubled over in hilarity but had regained a healthier color, looked over when the door closed. “A.J., you’re here. I’ve been worried they locked you up.”
Alexa glanced at Donny, and wondered why he didn’t quite meet her gaze. She said, “Nah, just running around. Wow, you look great.”
“They say I can move into a room near other people soon.” Despite the upbeat words, Rachel kept picking at the sheet. She peeked over at Donny, then said, “So, how is it going in your search for a way to get us back in time?”
All of a sudden, oxygen was absent from Alexa’s lungs. “Search?” Donny’s eyes cut to the door. Hold on, buddy. You’re not getting out of this.
“Yeah,” said Rachel. “Donny told me you were searching for ideas about time travel and ways to use them.”
Alexa cleared her throat, found a smile, and opened her mouth, not totally sure what would come out. “I am. Clarifying. The feasible. And the impossible.”
“Oh God, thank you, A.J.” Rachel grabbed Alexa’s hand. “I couldn’t face life without some hope of seeing my son again.”
Seeking Sirius Page 7
