Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  Amanda sat in silence as she thought through all of the repercussions of Shemalla’s news. Was she going to bring danger to her children? Was it Petre? Was it the Elders? Or maybe some unknown force or person? This was an impossible situation. She was going to have to think carefully about this before she made any decisions for her children.

  “Would it be possible to modify my mental block to allow me to think about this situation while I’m by myself but remember nothing when I’m with other people?”

  “I think I could arrange that modification.” She shut the crystal in Amanda’s hand and folded her own hand over Amanda’s.

  Amanda felt the crystal heat further. She could feel the warmth traveling up her arm, across her shoulder, up her neck, and into her skull. It was a weird sensation knowing things were being programmed in her brain. Even with her full consent, it seemed a strange thing to allow.

  Shemalla released her hand and gently removed the crystal. She returned it to her pocket and sat down on the couch opposite Amanda. Now that the block was in place, reinforced with a second block, she felt confident that her part in this adventure would be safe from discovery. She asked Amanda, “Do you want to talk about options for travel or do you want to tell me more about your time in Tuala?”

  “Well, I think the more you know about where I was and what I was doing would make your job easier for getting me closer to my daughters, right?”

  “That’s a fair assessment.”

  For the next couple of hours, Amanda recounted everything she could remember about her time in Tuala. Shemalla asked very few questions to allow Amanda’s story to unfold naturally. Amanda remembered many details which she had previously forgotten to mention to her parents.

  The more she talked, the more miserable she felt about leaving her daughters behind. She should never have gone hiking with Bryon. What had possessed her to think she needed time away? Now she would do anything to just be with her daughters every second of the day. She was willing to risk her life to go back to get them. Was she willing to risk their lives for them to be with her, though?

  Shemalla had let the silence draw out as she could see Amanda was thinking through her situation. After several minutes she asked, “It seems as though you were happy in Tuala. Would you consider staying with your children there?”

  “But I would miss my parents. And they would never get to know their grandchildren!”

  “But remember you have family there as well, your Aunt Barbara and your cousins whom you have never even met are all there. You could make a life with them, maybe even work for Captain Ahn or your Aunt Barbara with her orphaned children,” Shemalla paused to assess Amanda’s reaction, then offered, “Just think about it for a while, okay?”

  After a few seconds of hesitation, Amanda nodded and replied, “I guess that wouldn’t be too bad for me, but I can’t help thinking my parents would feel as though they had lost me again.”

  “I understand, but it is an option. I think we’ve covered a lot of territory tonight and it’s time I got you back to the hotel,” Shemalla said into the quiet. She stood up and waited for Amanda to join her.

  Together they left the house. Amanda remained silent with the thoughts playing through her mind. She continued her reverie in the car until they arrived at the hotel.

  “When will we meet again?” Amanda asked before she opened the car door.

  “I think we could get together again tomorrow night if that works for you.”

  “Perfect. Give me a call when you’re ready and I’ll borrow my parents’ truck to come over.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said as Amanda left her car and began walking into the hotel.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After a sleepless night and a restless day, Amanda was anxious to get back together with Shemalla. More than anything she wanted to have a plan of action in place. She had a terrible feeling that she needed to go soon, or trouble would come to either herself, Shemalla, or her children. Her parents had tried to comfort her, but her agitation would not abate. Amanda almost cried in relief when Shemalla called and said she was ready for her to come over.

  Back in Shemalla’s living room, she found herself looking at several maps laid out on the wooden coffee table. Each map contained locations of ley lines, natural sites such as canyons or caves, man-made structures such as pyramids and ruins, and also known gates operated by the Elders. Amanda was fascinated by the dozens of gates available on Earth for people to just wander through without ever knowing what their true nature allowed.

  Shemalla explained how the ley lines played a big role in allowing the gates to function. She pointed at each of the Elder operated gates and showed that their locations were where multiple ley lines intersected which made them stronger and therefore easier to navigate. Next, the natural sites proved just as interesting. Shemalla told Amanda that the ancient people had always known about sacred sites and usually marked them with hieroglyphics. She said that the deeper caves near the ley lines were the best gates but also the most treacherous.

  Amanda was interested in the man-made structures with questions as to their ability to function as gates. Shemalla said they were similar to the caves with the hieroglyphics. The ancient people understood that some locations were more sacred than others. They knew that strange things had happened to some people such as disappearances or reappearances. These locations were then marked with unique buildings such as pyramids or stone circles. The larger the structure, the more important the site regarding the strength of the gate.

  Shemalla insisted if Amanda decided to go back to Tuala she should probably consider a site close to where she last knew her daughters to be located. Travel in Tuala was not very easy for someone who was visiting, it was not as though Amanda would readily have access to a telepod. She had been fortunate to find people sympathetic to her cause before. She might not be so lucky the next time. If she fell into the wrong crowd, she could find herself sold to the Elders for research.

  Amanda shuddered at the thought. She just wanted to focus on being with her children again. She had never given much thought to the semantics of getting there. She never realized just how lucky she had been on her first journey into Tuala.

  Shemalla moved most of the maps off of the table and said, “I think we should concentrate on getting you through one of these gates.” She pointed to several locations on the map and said, “Do any of these places seem familiar to you? Or do you have any impressions of any of these sites?”

  Amanda looked up at her quizzically.

  Shemalla clarified her statement by saying, “Gates are a very personal matter. If you have a better feeling about one over another, you would have a better chance of success with that one. Do you see?”

  “That makes an odd kind of sense,” Amanda said with a grin. She bent over the map and seriously considered the several locations selected by Shemalla. She spent a few minutes studying the topography and geography of each location. One site did seem to stand out to her so she put her finger on it and said, “This one!”

  Shemalla bent forward and read the name on the map where Amanda’s finger was still resting and said out loud, “Campeche. That’s a little further from the ley lines than I would like to see you arriving in Tuala, but if the site speaks to you, then that will be our target.”

  “Is it possible to have a portable gate?”

  “They actually do exist, but only the Elders are able to operate them.”

  “Aren’t there any Elders who might be sympathetic to my cause?”

  “None who are available in my limited range of influence.”

  Amanda seemed to deflate back into the couch. “Is anything about this going to be easy?”

  “Sure, getting to your gate will be a cinch.”

  “How do you figure that?” Amanda asked with confusion.

  “Easy! I’m going to teleport you there!” She smiled at the astounded look on Amanda’s face. She continued, “I told you that was one
of my gifts.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know you were able to transport anyone other than yourself.” Amanda remembered her excitement for her first trip in the telepod with Bryon. She was not certain how she felt about not having any type of mechanical protection around her while being teleported. The idea seemed slightly unsafe to her. Then she chuckled to herself and thought that both modes used the same type of movement from location to location so it should not really matter the means for getting there.

  “It’s just a little trick of mine. Now, let’s get back to planning your journey.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Shemalla sat across from Amanda and considered the last problem which she knew Amanda would face in Tuala. She asked, “When do you get the cast off of your arm?”

  Amanda looked startled by the question, glanced down at her left arm, and replied, “Not for another four to five weeks. Why?”

  “The answer should be pretty obvious, Amanda. Just think about your time in Tuala. How many people did you encounter with a hard cast?” She looked smugly at Amanda while she waited for an answer.

  “None, I guess. I never thought about it, really.” Suddenly, the next obvious question came to mind. “Are you saying I won’t be able to go back to Tuala until my arm is healed? That’s too long!”

  “I may be able to help out a little with this problem,” she said as she removed her birth crystal from around her neck and held the stone itself between her thumb and ring finger of her right hand. She slowly moved the stone the length of Amanda’s arm, first along the bottom and then along the top. “Now, I’m not a wise-woman by any means, but each person can access the elemental energy, known as elemy, in the earth and direct it to the cells of a person’s body. The extra energy excites the cells to invigorated movement allowing for faster healing. If I were you, I’d schedule an appointment with the hospital here in town and have it x-rayed sometime in the next few days. In my opinion, it should be completely healed by then.”

  Amanda could feel a tingling sensation running throughout her arm. She could almost imagine the cells racing through her body and repairing the damaged bone and tissue. She smiled at her fanciful thought and looked up at Shemalla when she asked, “Can anyone with a crystal do this?”

  “I suppose so, but I tend to think that the lighter the crystal, the easier it is to accomplish,” she said with a self-deprecating shrug of her shoulders.

  Amanda thought this over and realized she did not know the crystal color of any of the adults she had had contact with in Tuala. Now she was becoming intensely interested in finding out for her own curiosity. She wondered if there were any type of book detailing the stones, their uses, and the abilities which they could enhance. She finally asked, “Is there any documentation on the stones? I would love to read up on them just for my own education.”

  “I’m sure the Elders have such things, and I believe the wise-women are taught the basics for each color range. Other than that, the crystals themselves teach each individual wearer what they are capable of,” she let the sentence drop off as she was considering any other information she might know without realizing it was not common knowledge.

  “What do you mean by the crystal teaching the wearer?”

  “It’s hard to explain, but it feels like an intuition that something is possible, so you give it a try. Sometimes the idea works and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s how you discover its limitations. I sometimes wonder if the limitations change with the level of need and maybe the level of maturity of the wearer. Can you imagine a little kid asking for the power to do something outrageous just because they wanted to without an actual urgent need? That could get pretty scary!”

  Amanda chuckled at the thought. Then she wondered, “Do you think I would ever be able to get a crystal of my own?”

  “I’ve never heard of an adult crystal ceremony, especially not someone from Earth. Part of the problem is the limitation with which your mind was raised. You see there is no physiological difference between someone from Earth and someone from Tuala. The difference is mental. We are taught that the mind has unlimited potential, and we know it. People from Earth are taught that there are definite limitations with the mind, and you believe it. It’s a matter of knowing versus believing,” she ended with a rush.

  The whole concept rang true with Amanda. She had always felt that there was something more out there. She always wanted to be able to do extraordinary things with her mind, but she had always been told it was not possible, and she believed the lie. “So what if I believe, as you do, that the mind is limitless? Would that increase my chances of being able to work well with a crystal?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” she considered thoughtfully. “Let me think about that idea for a while and I’ll get back to you!” Shemalla was excited about trying an experiment with Amanda. She hoped Amanda was successful, she was really starting to like this girl.

  Chapter Twelve

  BRYON WAS EXHAUSTED by the time he teleported back to his house. He felt clumsy as he performed the shutdown procedures for the telepod in the garage. There was a grave danger of being lost during transit when too tired to properly visualize landing coordinates. If he had not been so anxious to get back to Alena, he would have just walked home from the station.

  Alena opened the door to the garage with an expectant expression which fell as soon as she realized Bryon was exiting alone from the telepod. As hard as it was, she waited until he was inside the house before she asked, “What happened?”

  “I went down and filed an official theft report for Kirma Shipping and Receiving,” he said as he continued through the kitchen, grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, and automatically filled it with water from the sink.

  “What are you talking about? I don’t care about a stupid shipment for Kirma Shipping and Receiving! I want to know what happened with Jena!” Alena snapped out her frustration. She folded her arms across her body and tapped her foot as she glared at her husband with the expectation of being answered immediately.

  “That’s what I was talking about,” Bryon confirmed after he swallowed several gulps of water.

  “Bryon, you’re not making any sense! What does the one thing have to do with the other?” Alena was almost to the point of a nervous breakdown and she could not connect A to B.

  “Let’s go sit in the living room and I will tell you everything I think is going on,” he said as he stretched out his arm across Alena’s shoulders and steered her toward his chosen destination. He was not looking forward to this conversation, but he knew he was correct in his assumptions.

  They sat beside one another on the couch in the living room. Bryon set his glass of water on the coffee table to free his hands. He reached over and took one of Alena’s hands in each of his own as he began to recount all of the details of the evening. It hurt his heart to have to tell Alena his theory about Petre abducting their beautiful little girl, and Alena was crying silently by the time he completed the recounting of events.

  “But why would Petre want to take Jena? I know he was asking around for Amanda as though she were his wife but how would he know anything about Jena? It doesn’t make any sense, Bryon.” She shook her head in negation.

  “I don’t know how it happened, but I think Petre may have found out that Amanda was living with us. He must have put two and two together and figured out that Jena was Amanda’s child. Of course, if he called Amanda his wife, then he would imagine her daughter would be his in his sick and twisted mind,” Bryon reasoned.

  “Can you think of any way that Petre would have put the two people together? Remember, he said his wife’s name was Jesisca, and Amanda said the name of her fiancé’s yacht was the Golden Jesisca. Petre must have found the yacht and sold it to an Elder. That could be the reason why you found the vessel at the Old Soul Engineering Facility.”

  “I can’t think of any way he would know,” Alena despaired. She placed her head into her hands to try to wrack her brain for any clues. She dug her finger
s into her hair and into the sides of her head. Finally, a thought came to her mind, “Oh, Bryon, I might have done it!”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I brought Jena with me to your office. I introduced her to Frasnia, and I told her that she was Amanda’s daughter. I had adoption paperwork with me which I wanted you to sign, but Frasnia told me you were out of the office. You even called in at that exact moment asking about the missing shipment for Beewa. You didn’t have time to meet with me, and I was already late picking up the other kids from Tana’s house. I left right away but not until Frasnia knew the truth about Jena. Do you think Frasnia is in on this as well?”

  “Frasnia has worked for me for almost ten anons. I don’t think she intentionally had any part in the abduction, but she may have inadvertently told someone who did!” Bryon stood up with agitation. He started to pace back and forth thinking about all of his recent interactions with Frasnia. From what he could remember, which was not all that much, their conversations all seemed to be centered around work. He could not think of any personal conversations which he might have had with Frasnia.

  “It’s too late right now, but I think you should talk to Frasnia tomorrow about this.”

  “So where are we now?” Bryon asked. “Somehow Petre found out Amanda was living with us. He also found out we had Jena. Petre knows that I don’t like him so, of course, he wouldn’t come to see me about getting who he believes is his daughter. That’s not his style anyway, he would rather take what he can get rather than ask permission first. So now he may have taken the shipment bound for Beewa, otherwise, how would he have gotten the personal telepod out of the freighter? Do you think that maybe Ninan was in on this, too? He’s been missing since Jumat along with the shipment.”

  “From what you’ve said about Ninan’s work ethic I would have a hard time believing he was responsible for Jena being taken. Besides the people at the market all know Ninan since he eats lunch there every day. Also, he just bought a house here. Didn’t you say that Frasnia helped to get his house furnished with her parents’ extra furniture? Oh, Bryon, that’s it!” She jumped up and grabbed Bryon by the arm in her excitement.