“What, Alena? What does his furniture have to do with Jena going missing?”
“Frasnia and Ninan are friends, right? Frasnia knew about Jena, and she must have told Ninan about her as well. She seemed pretty excited about the whole idea when I told her. We really need to talk to Frasnia!”
“Okay, let’s table that idea right now since it’s too late to talk to Frasnia. So, let’s assume Ninan knew about Jena. How does that news get to Petre? And do you think Petre wants to be a father? He doesn’t seem the type, but he has gone through a lot of trouble to get Jena away from us.”
“I think you may be right, Bryon! The only good thing about this whole mess is I don’t think Petre would hurt Jena if he thinks she’s his own daughter. Although how Petre came to that conclusion is a mystery. Amanda told us the girls were the children of her fiancé, Nealan.” She freed one of her hands to reach for a tissue to blow her nose. “What are our next steps?”
“If we can get a solid lead on the telepod beacons we will at least have some clues to continue the search. Meanwhile, the authorities are planning on sending out bulletins to every port letting them know that Petre MacVeen is wanted for questioning. They are going to wait to file the missing shipment report for a couple of days to see if we can recover it along with the lost freighter telepod.”
Alena reluctantly nodded agreement knowing her husband wanted to keep a perfect record with the company for safety and security. This missing shipment report could raise unwanted investigations around the shipping and receiving facility. The investigators were known for taking serious advantage of businesses in trouble. She still had a nagging thought that the filed report might aid in the discovery of the stolen shipment and maybe Jena. Alena had to leave the decision up to Bryon since he would have to face whatever consequences came from the record.
“Alena, I’m sure you’ve already done this, but I have to ask…,” Bryon started hesitantly.
“What is it, Bryon? You know you can ask me anything.”
“As Jena’s mother, you are best able to check in on her through her birth crystal,” he started and was shocked when Alena’s complexion first turned white and then immediately bright red. He continued swiftly, “What have you seen? Any detail may help the authorities in their investigation.”
Alena stammered and then suddenly covered her face again with her hands while she shook her head. “I’m so stupid, Bryon! I can’t believe I’m so stupid! At her crystal ceremony, I saw she was going to have a tumultuous life, and she would need as much protection as we could give her. I made such a big deal for Amanda to put protective charms over both girls because of the visions I had seen. I was so devastated by Amanda’s death that I didn’t even think that those charms would be ineffective once Amanda was gone and I never remembered to place those charms back onto the girls. Now Jena is missing, and it’s all my fault!
“Here you are now reminding me to use her crystal to locate her and I never even thought about it! What kind of a wise-woman am I when I can’t even think to look in on my own little girl to save her life?”
“You are not stupid, Alena! Stop saying that! You have been under a lot of stress. It’s not your fault.” He stroked her back to comfort her as he spoke, “You are not acting as a wise-woman right now but as a mother! The one thing has nothing whatsoever to do with the other. Use what you know to look for our daughter. Why don’t you try to take a look right now, okay?”
Alena took a deep, steadying breath and began the mental process of centering her thoughts around Jena’s black crystal. She felt an immediate connection and her first worry for Jena’s safety was alleviated, she excitedly spoke, “She’s alive, Bryon!”
“Good! That’s really good, Alena. What else can you perceive?” His hands hovered near Alena, but he dared not touch her. He was afraid she would lose her tenuous connection with Jena if he distracted her in any way. While he was waiting for an answer, he reviewed the information she had inadvertently revealed about what she had seen during the girls’ crystal ceremony. He wished he could ask her more about it, but he knew she was bound to secrecy. His thoughts were interrupted when Alena started speaking again.
“It’s really dark where she is,” Alena began, “and I don’t hear any sounds around her.” She pursed her lips and shut her eyes harder to help focus her concentration more on the birth crystal. Finally, Alena shook her head, opened her eyes, and looked directly at Bryon when she said, “I’m not getting anything else, Bryon. She appears to still be sleeping, she’s alone and in the dark.”
Bryon reassured her immediately by saying, “The important thing is that she’s alive and well. You would have felt if she were in any distress, right? That’s really good news!” He nodded his head as though he had made a decision.
He slapped both hands on his knees and said, “I’m going to send a message to Frasnia that I’ll be taking a few days off. You are going to need help with the children if you are going to try to keep monitoring Jena’s whereabouts. Also, I think Frasnia should come over here first thing tomorrow morning so we can ask her questions about Ninan and anything she knows about Petre. I’ll be right back.” Bryon stood up and strode swiftly from the room to send the message through his patil.
Alena watched him leave the room. As soon as he was out of sight, she silently broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Her shoulders slumped forward, and she tightly folded her arms across her stomach to help comfort her aching inside. She rocked herself back and forth and settled into her misery for a couple of minutes.
Trying to keep herself hopeful all afternoon and evening had finally dissolved into despair. She continued to castigate herself for thinking that her patient’s well-being in the market was more important than keeping an eye on Jena. Then she failed Jena again by not thinking of checking for her through the birth crystal. Maybe she was not fit to be a wise-woman. She certainly did not feel wise at the moment.
Bryon paused in the doorway at the sight of his beautiful wife in so much obvious pain. He was not sure he would be able to help her heartache, but he did understand the feeling of guilt at the loss of Jena. He had felt exactly the same way since he was the person responsible for Amanda dying.
Crossing the room rapidly, Bryon decided to use the same tactic his wife had used on him for his guilt. With a stern voice, Bryon stated, “Stop whatever line of thinking you are having. It’s not helping, and we all need for you to be thinking clearly right now.”
He sat down on the couch beside her and pulled her into a firm embrace to show her that they were in this together now. “Let’s put together a plan of action,” he stated with authority.
Alena took a deep shuddering breath and asked, “What can we do? What do you have in mind?”
“I think we should start writing a log of what you perceive through Jena’s birth crystal,” he began. “We should also write down all of the things we need to do, like talk to Frasnia. We need to keep organized so we don’t miss any details. Do you have any ideas?”
“Maybe you should learn to use Jena’s birth crystal to look in on her as well. Then we would be able to take turns,” she offered helpfully. “It can be very tiring, even dangerous, to monitor a birth crystal for extended periods of time, especially if it’s far away. I won’t be able to do it alone.”
“Okay,” Bryon said with some skepticism, “you know I’ve never been very good at it. I’m willing to try anything if it means we can get her back sooner. Give me another tutorial right now.” For the first time, Bryon was an active participant in receiving the training necessary. He had always had a half-hearted willingness to learn since Alena was already proficient in the practice. He had never felt the loss of the skill until this very moment when he needed it to work so desperately.
Together they spent the next several hours going over the details of centered concentration. Bryon worked really hard at following all of Alena’s instructions. He had always respected Alena’s easy use of the crystals and was again admiring of A
manda’s skill when she had learned it so readily. He had begun to think of it as a woman’s talent. With their own children, he struggled to access their birth crystals when they were in the next room over at their house. He had never even thought to attempt a long-distance monitoring.
After at least the tenth attempt, Bryon gasped and then exclaimed, “I saw the darkness around Jena!” Of course, his excitement broke the connection but Bryon did not care. He had finally been successful in using the crystal.
Alena smiled at Bryon’s exuberance over his success but admonished him for losing the connection. She said, “Get right back to where you left off.”
Bryon smiled back at Alena and then frowned in concentration again with his eyes closed. With a controlled tone of voice he spoke, “Okay, I’m back in the darkness. What should I do now?”
“Concentrate on the individual details. Bring each item into focus. Listen for any sounds. They won’t sound like they do around you here; there’s a quality to it which almost echoes,” she spoke in a measured, almost hypnotic, monotone. She did not want her instructions to distract Bryon from his experience. She needed him to be good at this, too.
“Oh!” Bryon yelled suddenly and then his eyes flew open as he turned his head to lock his gaze with his wife’s.
“What did you see, Bryon?”
“I just saw Petre leaning over Jena!” He jumped up from the couch and spoke over his shoulder as he rushed out of the room, “I’m going to call the authorities.”
“Wait!” Alena ordered as her expression took on the look of someone using their inner sight. Her voice changed as the connection was established, “Let me see if Petre says anything to Jena which might help us figure out where they are!”
Bryon hurried back to the couch and waited expectantly beside his wife. He found himself holding his breath as she continued her observance in silence. As the minutes went by, Bryon decided to get a pen and paper to start documenting their discoveries. He had wanted them to be as methodical as possible. Within a minute, he was back in the living room writing down the few things they had learned that evening and noted the time beside each item.
Alena shook her head to clear her second vision. She said, “I think Petre is planning to move Jena somewhere else right now. I expanded the field of vision around Jena and noticed Petre had stacked several boxes near where she is sleeping. I think they are both in the personal telepod. Petre picked Jena up and cradled her in his arms as though he really did care about her.
“He could have just as easily left her to sleep undisturbed, but he picked her up, Bryon. Let me think for a moment about what he said to her.” She rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed her temples with her index fingers as she tried to recount what she had just witnessed.
“Okay, I think he said, ‘You are mine, Jena. Nobody will ever keep you away from me now that I have you.’ There was something else, too,” Alena paused to consider her words carefully. “Let’s see, ‘Jesisca had no right to keep you from me. I told her I always wanted a daughter named Jena. I’m glad she used the name I picked for you. She should have stayed with me. I would have kept her alive. Don’t worry, Jena, I will make everyone pay who kept me from your mother. Once I get some money together, we can sail away in my water craft, and nobody will ever keep us apart or tell us what to do.’ Then he set Jena back down and walked out of the birth crystal’s field of vision.”
Bryon was busy scribbling down every word Alena had said. He reviewed what he had written and then mused out loud, “So you saw boxes stacked near Jena. They were in a personal telepod. Petre needs money to get away. It sounds to me like he’s planning on selling the cargo which he probably stole from Ninan. With the money from that cargo, he would be able to be lost for a long while.
“We are going to have to get a message out to potential buyers of mining equipment to report if Petre approaches them. Maybe we could work with them to trap Petre with one of the buyers and force him to give Jena back to us.”
“That sounds too dangerous, Bryon. He doesn’t want to give Jena up, he made that pretty clear. What if he were willing to let her die because he didn’t want anyone to have her but himself? He’s obviously sick, Bryon. You heard him say that the name Jena was his idea! We were all there when you suggested that name for her, Bryon. He’s delusional! We can’t risk it!” Alena was becoming alarmed with the ideas racing through her mind.
“It’s okay, Alena. We’ll think of something else. Meanwhile, I am going to call the authorities and tell them what we’ve discovered. If Frasnia can locate the telepod beacon before he gets back onto his water craft, we may be able to end this whole ordeal swiftly!
“We should also notify the port authorities to be on the lookout for his water craft. If he doesn’t have it as a means of escape, we may be able to corner him somewhere. We need to somehow convince Petre that he is not Jena’s father because we know Amanda told us that Nealan is Jena’s father.”
This time, when Bryon stood up, he really did leave the room. Alena could hear his half of the conversation with the authorities. She had a raging headache. Monitoring crystals was a tiring task and they had been at it for most of the evening; far longer than recommended.
She was going to have to get some rest, but she hated the idea that she would be comfortable, safe, and sound in her bed while her beautiful little girl was in the hands of a psychopath. Shaking her head in resignation, she decided she would have to make peace with it until they could get her back safely. At least it appeared Petre was concerned about Jena’s well-being. She would have to take comfort in that small mercy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda sat beside Shemalla in a booth with both of her parents seated across from them. Chris and Diane were starting to wonder what had been going on since Amanda had been unable to answer any of their questions. Shemalla wanted to alleviate their concerns by having dinner with them before she would be meeting again that evening with Amanda to continue their planning sessions.
“We’ve made some serious progress,” Shemalla stated to Amanda’s parents.
“Is there anything you can share with us?” Chris asked a little bit petulantly.
Shemalla understood his agitation. She could imagine it would be frustrating to be excluded from your own child’s problems. “We have a small complication with Amanda’s cast. She won’t be able to travel until the cast has been removed.”
“But that’ll be weeks,” Diane interjected suddenly. She looked over at Amanda to see how this news was affecting her. She was puzzled by her daughter’s unconcerned expression. “Am I missing something?” Diane asked in the silence as she looked at each person around the table.
“I would suggest you take her to the hospital tomorrow to have it x-rayed. I think she may not need it anymore.”
“I have the impression this is one of those things which we should just go along with and not ask questions,” Chris stated flatly. He remembered Amanda telling them that on Tuala the wise-women were able to heal people immediately so it stood to reason that Shemalla had done something similar for Amanda. Apparently, Tualans were able to do special things on Earth as well.
“I like the way you think, Chris. Anyway, once the cast is gone, I believe we will be able to make the transfer as soon as possible. I won’t be able to control how long Amanda will be gone. I want both of you,” she paused and looked purposely at both Chris and Diane, “to understand the possibility that Amanda might not be able to return to Earth. She could be gone forever.”
Diane gasped and shook her head. “I’m not okay with that at all!”
“With all respect, Diane, it’s not your decision.”
Chris started to protest when Amanda raised her right hand and instantly spoke up, “Mom, Dad, please stop! This is my decision. I know the risks. I’m willing to take any risk to be with my children. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power to stay safe, but ultimately this is about my children. If I am able to bring them back, I will. If I can’t b
ring them back, I will choose to stay with them.
“Also remember I have family members who live there as well. I would love to get to know Aunt Barbara better and to finally be able to meet my cousins. Barla expressed an interest in getting to know me better, and she didn’t even know I was her niece. Barla and Ahn will do everything they can to help me, which they’ve already proven, more so when they discover I’m really a part of their family.”
Diane was not going to let this go easily and cried, “This isn’t fair, Amanda. We just got you back.”
Chris patted Diane’s hand on the table and looked at Amanda intently before saying, “We will respect whatever decision you make, Amanda. You are grown up now and have a responsibility to your children. We understand that responsibility which is why your mother is having such a hard time with this. She wants to be with you, too.”
“I know, Dad, and I hate the idea of leaving both of you as well. It just can’t be helped,” she said with a sigh of resignation.
The waitress came up to the table during the awkward silence. She efficiently took their meal orders and topped off their beverages. When they were private again, the conversation continued.
“Like I was saying before, I think the transfer will happen this week, given that her cast gets removed,” Shemalla continued as though she had not been interrupted.
Diane swallowed a sob. Chris looked apprehensively at his daughter and then at his wife. Amanda smiled tentatively at both of her parents, willing them to understand and accept her choice. Finally, Diane reluctantly asked, “What can we do to help you get ready?”
Amanda sighed with relief that they were finally accepting her decision. She smiled at her parents and said, “I don’t think I’ll need much after I get this thing off.” She raised her casted arm and scowled down at the offending appendage. “It’s funny to think, the two bones I’ve ever broken and both have been healed almost instantly. I guess I will never get to go through the full dreadful experience of belabored Earth healing. I can’t say that it makes me overly sad.” She was trying to lighten the mood. Her parents both smiled and also made an effort at being more helpful than selfish.
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