While dressing for the conference the next morning Alexa reviewed her options. Selling the crystal, to anyone, no longer seemed the right thing to do. So close. On the other hand, considering the less than one hundred dollars in her purse, the idea of traveling to Earth to locate one man among billions made her head ache. Also, she got to look forward to informing Newcastle about reneging on the deal. My lucky day.
Speeches were already in progress when she arrived. Alexa took a seat in the middle of a tier looking down on a small circular stage, between two ladies within the Sufi group. No available seats nearby.
A gentleman on the other side of the room was speaking. “The worst new trends in society began about ten years ago, from my research on Varga.” He spoke with a British accent, thus the planet must have at least Latin and Anglo-Saxon cultures. Alexa searched for Corky. It appeared he had not yet shown up.
Newcastle and Lady Penelope’s entrance certainly grabbed her attention. They took seats about a third of the way around the arena from her, and Newcastle straight away began listening to the speaker. Penelope scanned the crowd. As soon as she spied Alexa, she spoke to Newcastle. Alexa switched to studying the red-gold curl she’d been coiling round one finger. At that moment, the headscarves worn by the ladies beside her seemed like a great idea. Newcastle, cool as ever, managed to not follow Penelope’s gaze, while Alexa feigned utter fascination with the new speaker.
The aged leader of the TohuMu delegation stiffly rose from her seat. “Too many have forgotten the necessity for the internal path,” she said in a clear voice. “These incidents are isolated now, though the direction is clear. We must remind them of their inner Selves, with which they have lost contact.”
Thereupon, Corky burst upon the scene. He strode to behind the Varga group while skimming the crowd. After pausing at sight of Alexa, he continued until spotting Newcastle, then leaned against a column with arms folded, staring at the man and his sister. Penelope must have sensed being observed because she shifted from watching Alexa to scrutinizing the room. Newcastle murmured and she stopped. He spoke again and she turned to watch the speaker. It appeared that a few from Adalans also noticed this whole interchange.
Another man took the floor. Attendees had made references to piracy, but she hadn’t truly understood. As he spoke, her own little drama began to seem inconsequential.
“The attacks took the town by complete surprise. At first after the new people arrived, everything seemed normal. They presented themselves as religious emissaries and this community welcomed them.” He stopped. “Within a couple of weeks, however, distrust among previously tolerant groups began to surface. Teenagers who had never been in trouble began writing hate messages.
“One day, an airship landed nearby. Men in black robes filed out with a hover pallet in their midst.” The man swallowed. “An annual fair was going on with everyone attending. From one moment to another, those men changed from supposed clerics to murderers.
“Women of child-bearing age, they loaded into one ship. Any able-bodied male still alive after the attack was crammed onto a separate ship.” He faltered. “Almost every other soul, young and old. Perished.”
The man sat and dropped his head into his hands. A woman beside him took over. “Slogans such as ‘Accept the Saint or Die’ or ‘One World, One Way’ or ‘The Saint’s Priest Knows All’ were painted on surfaces still standing.”
Another man in the group put in, “We learned from interrogations after other, failed, attacks that this group is exclusively disaffected rejects from other societies. Women are meant for breeding and males that don’t join them are forced into labor. None of the so-called monks captured have been conversant enough in astronomy to let slip even hints about their base location.
“Now that we know their methods, we hope to be better prepared. But this was too quick to muster any kind of response.”
Silence reigned in the hall for a good half minute before a kindly looking man rose. “We all know the saint to which those slogans refer.” He softly pounded on the chair in front of him, seeming to choose his words carefully. “I have studied the originator’s history and cannot believe that man’s teachings have devolved this much from the early 2200s.”
A voice behind Alexa interrupted, “There are rumors of a priesthood taking it over in past decades. My prayers are with those communities hit by this so-called religion. I assume the authorities are tracking them down.
“Nevertheless, whether these pirates are related to this religion or not, isn’t an issue we can solve, here and now. The reason my government paid for this trip was in hopes of some practical response to the general increase in negative societal trends.”
The man from Varga stood again. “Alas my impression is the authorities have had too few challenges for too many centuries, and budget cuts have reduced their ability to respond.”
Ambassador Bridgeth Callaghan took this opportunity to stride to the stage in the middle of the circle. She waited, to gather everyone’s attention. “Would expedited communications aid you?”
The man considered for a moment. “I believe the Varga department head I met with before this trip implied he was struggling to cover the territory, which includes another planet in our system. Communications would be a weak point, at those distances.”
Bridgeth spread her hands wide. “Then perhaps rapid communications, even at the extreme distances due to the light years between us, might assist us all to respond to this troubling drift in spirit.” She turned to take in the entire group.
“Adalans recently discovered a new application for an extraordinary crystal.” Bridgeth paused dramatically. “Instant communications, no matter the distance.” She stopped long enough for the last statement to sink in. “Would this be of use to you and your governments?”
A man behind Alexa called out, “Sound? Or also visual? And how clear?”
“Thus far, we have used it for sound.” Bridgeth examined around the theater again. “It is about time to stop for lunch. Adalans hoped to present the various crystals at some point. Would this afternoon suit the delegates?”
No one dissented and quite a few responded, “Yes!”
“Good,” said Bridgeth. “We will reconvene here after lunch.”
As one, everyone stood and began stretching and moving around. Thus Alexa managed to duck out of the meeting without coming across either Newcastle or Corky. She hurried to Rachel’s new room.
As she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her, Rachel cried out, “A.J., I wondered if you’d taken off in space.”
Alexa brought up a finger to her lips and waited a few moments. When the crowd including Corky passed beyond the hallway leading to this room, she shook the tension from her shoulders. “I’ve been working hard for you.”
“Or hardly working,” responded Rachel. “I know you.”
Alexa grinned. Rachel was getting back to her usual self. “There’s good news and,” trying to figure how to classify the rest, she settled on, “and challenging news.”
“Good news first,” said Rachel, sitting up in bed expectantly.
“I’ve been told someone can transport us back to our time.”
Rachel did her little screaming, yelpy thing, “Yes, yes, yes,” and wrapped her arms around herself. “I will hold my Sammy again.”
“The challenging part is finding the man. Considering he’s been known to disappear into thin air. Literally.”
Rachel fell onto her pillow and made a face as if she couldn’t believe the last bit.
Alexa said, “He’s a Master of the Universe, I’ve been informed.”
“If he can do this, I don’t care if he’s master of dancing with the stars.”
“The other challenge is traveling to Earth.” Alexa knew the answer, but asked anyway. “You have much money on you?”
“If it’s still in my bag, I’ve got twenty bucks,” said Rachel. “Though something tells me it won’t be enough, even considering its potential value
as an antique.”
“Huh. Didn’t think of that angle. But yeah, I’m pretty certain we are under-funded for this venture.”
“Any idea on how much we need? Are there frequent space ships?” Rachel looked up to the heavens. “Geez, I can’t get used to all this.”
“Honestly, I’ve no idea about costs or schedules. I found out about the man only last night.”
“If our old stuff can’t raise enough money,” said Rachel, “do you think it might be possible to sell the plane? I mean, you were on the way to do that.”
Alexa contemplated the possibility. “Wonder if Callaghan really can replace the propeller.” After tapping her fingers on the table beside Rachel’s bed, she said, “I can’t imagine the religious leaders here being collectors of the odd antique plane they happen to find on some out-of-the-way planet. Let me ask Callaghan. Perhaps he’ll have some ideas.”
When the delegates returned after lunch, a man in a white toga stood on the stage, in the middle of four wooden tables set up in a square around him. On those tables were lumps from the size of a fist to as big as a basketball, each covered by a white cloth. The ambassador introduced the man as a crystal expert.
Over the ensuing hour, Alexa wrote on a palm leaf as fast as she could more scientific detail than she thought possible about crystals.
Yellow crystals were used for healing,
Red, like a ruby, increased strength and courage,
Green promoted mental clarity,
Purple was for perceiving hidden knowledge,
Orange for breaking inertia,
Milky white crystals, like pearls, supported happiness,
Deep blue stones promoted peacefulness,
Clear as a diamond removed negativity, and
Black supposedly absorbed negativity.
When the expert finished, men dressed in the Adalans togas appeared at the top of the theater. On cue they marched down single file, each carrying a cloth-covered item the size of a two-foot cube. They faced out to the crowd and as one whipped off the cloths. Revealed were ten pure crystals, flawless except for gold-colored threads arcing and dipping through the clarity. A sigh escaped from the group.
“This particular crystalline form,” announced the expert, “is for communications.”
A few people barely stayed in their seats. Everyone leaned forward.
Evidently, the crystal’s capability for sending and receiving data increased with the size and number of threads. “Is that gold?” someone asked.
“The color is an illusion,” the expert said. “Each vein is empty space.” The man walked to a specimen and picked up a light. “The crystals are all part of the same group. And when you do this,” he touched that crystal with a blue light and blue coursed through every other crystal, even feet away, “they all echo it. We have the technologies to specify connections between or among the crystals.”
The man who asked earlier repeated his question, “Only sound?”
“We have used it for sound, though video may be possible,” responded the expert.
A delegate from the TohuMu group demanded proof, and the ambassador suggested a short break, to prepare for a demonstration.
Chapter 16
Amidst the crowd with everyone buzzing about the presentation, Alexa was lucky enough to locate Murdoch Callaghan in a moment of solitude. “Your crystals created quite a stir,” she said. “Everyone around me wanted them.”
Callaghan chuckled. “Yes, my Bridgeth could have a career in sales if she becomes tired of diplomacy.”
Alexa reached for a tart from a table beside them. It tasted nutty sweet, with a swirl of fruit. “Believe it or not,” she said, “there may be someone who could help me and my friends get to our time.” She took a sip of coconut juice, watching astonishment register on Callaghan’s face. “The group from India told me of a man, a master, as my dad insisted should be out there.” Then she bent her head to the side, and asked, “To afford tickets on some kind of space ship to Earth, where this man probably is, I wonder if you might have any ideas of someone who would be interested in purchasing an antique plane? Slightly damaged.”
Callaghan grinned. “Actually, Jesek told me someone inquired about buying your plane. And if you’re referring to the propeller, the new one has been ready for more than a day.”
“Really!” Alexa put down her glass. “What a relief about the propeller. Who’s interested?”
“A friend of Jesek’s, a freighter captain. I believe his name is Pearson.”
At that moment, a man came up to Callaghan and muscled in on the conversation. He took hold of Callaghan’s hand and shook heartily, speaking loudly about the wonderful Adalans hospitality. Alexa waited a little bit away from the noise.
Pearson. As on the space station? She searched around the room for the tall captain with long brown hair. When she and Callaghan were alone again after the man departed to run after his wife, she asked, “Is Pearson here?”
“I have not seen him downside.” Callaghan began scanning the crowd. “Let’s locate Jesek. He will connect the two of you for a deal, and arrange about the propeller.”
While waiting, Alexa recognized Newcastle approaching them. She managed to ignore an impulse to melt into the crowd and instead bravely turned to face him.
Newcastle, however, was not aiming at her. “Prime Minister Callaghan,” he said in an official tone, “I wonder if my family may assist you.”
Shocked, Alexa spun to Callaghan. “Prime Minister! You never told us.”
“Tis simply a title, for a small population. Not Churchill.” He turned to Newcastle. “How might ye help us?”
“Security, for Adalans and the solar system,” said Newcastle. “Even among these fine representatives of the highest spiritual attainment, this afternoon I fairly tasted rampant desire, particularly for the last crystal. And where there is desire, among governments there is thought of acquisition and control.”
Callaghan sighed. “Aye. I know all about that.”
Alexa backed away from what promised to become a long and involved conversation, hoping to make a discreet get-away to locate Jesek. But she should have realized Newcastle would not allow her to escape that easily.
“Miss Alden,” announced Lady Penelope, blocking Alexa’s path, “I understand we have business to complete.”
“Oh. Hello.” Alexa bit the inside of her lip. “You know, I don’t think we have been formally introduced.”
Penelope smiled sickly sweet. “Miss Alexa Jane Alden, may I introduce myself, Lady Penelope Margaret Elizabeth Newcastle, daughter of the Earl of Eastumberland, of New Britain on Varga.” She made a mock curtsey. “Now the niceties are accomplished, how would you prefer to receive payment? After delivery of the item, of course.”
No way was she going to deal with this woman in front of her. Alexa said, “I believe I would be more comfortable continuing on this subject with your brother.” She glanced at Newcastle, still deep in conversation with Callaghan. “I’m certain he and I will meet together soon.” Before Penelope could respond, Alexa murmured “bye,” and fled.
“Of all the nerve,” the blonde trumpeted at her back.
* * *
That afternoon, while the delegates witnessed immediate communications via the special crystal, Alexa officially met Captain Pearson over video link. Did he have such sharply chiseled features, direct eyes, when she met him on the station? She said, “It’s hard to believe you’d be interested in a dowdy old plane.”
“I collect all types of aircraft. You should see my 2580 Indigo shuttle XL.” The captain flashed a smile.
Alexa’s heart lurched. Mac’s smile. She managed to maintain a neutral face. “Where would one put an Indigo shuttle?”
“My home is on Earth.”
“Earth!” She barely restrained herself from jumping up and down. “Where on Earth, if I may ask?”
“I go to my home in North America almost every trip to Earth.”
“I thought I rec
ognized an American accent,” she said. “Were you born there?”
The captain tilted his head from side to side slightly, weighing his response, “You could say that.”
Realizing place of birth had become more complicated over time, with new planets and even space stations, she changed the subject. “Is your ship able to transport a small plane?”
Pearson gave a good-humored chortle. “Oh, yes. Adequate space. One thing, however, I wonder if you would be willing to come here to the station to complete the transaction. I can send my shuttle for you and the plane.”
Alexa had no problem with the request. “Shall we first agree on a price?”
“Of course,” said the captain. “I thought something along this line.” He pulled a tablet from his green ships coveralls, brought up a screen and held it up to the video camera.
Her double take was worthy of a vaudeville show. “That’s about triple what Jesek and Ambassador Bridgeth suggested.”
“Considering its rarity, on some planets you could probably receive even more than this.” The captain then maybe employed an old sales technique. “Would you prefer to wait for more?”
Alexa gave a quick shake of her head. “We are in a bit of a hurry. Your offer is much appreciated.”
“If time is a factor, how about tomorrow morning? Jesek can attach the replacement part tonight.”
Marveling at the ease of the deal, she said, “How early can you arrange it?” Even taking into account overseeing the installation, she still had enough time to locate a couple of extra items that might help distract attention from the real crystal.
Chapter 17
Before daybreak Jesek, Alexa and Donny convened to move the plane out of the shed. The three of them had worked the night before, attaching the shiny new aluminum propeller.
Donny held a glow-crystal to give her more light. She verified the tires retained pressure, and the rudder, elevator and ailerons remained firmly attached and moved easily. The oil level? Whew, enough for the flight. She also visually investigated whether the fuel tank remained at the point she left it and the line had not accumulated water. Enough fuel, too. All rivets were secure. Brakes and struts checked out.
Seeking Sirius Page 9
