Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  The threats to their family which had precipitated her journey to Durseni had also given her a rare opportunity to learn a skill she had believed forever out of her reach. Her position in society as the wife of an Elder kept her busy with all the requests of the people, so much so, she never felt as though she should abandon their needs to meet her own. Also, her children were a top priority and she wanted to be a hands-on mother to both Willian and Jena.

  Her thoughts returned to her husband, causing her anger to rise yet again. She pushed away the book she had been pretending to study and slammed her fists onto the tabletop. It was time she spoke to her husband.

  “Debbon!” Chelesa yelled over her shoulder through the apartment. She expected her husband to be sitting in the next room, yet no answering call sounded. Their living quarters were not so large that he would have a hard time hearing her calling for him. She pushed away from the table to go into the bedroom to confront him when the front door behind her opened.

  “What’s wrong, Chelesa?” Debbon inquired as he swiftly entered the room. He could instantly tell something had upset his wife and he hoped she had not received another threat from the street thugs.

  “Where were you? I thought you were in the other room,” she accused angrily.

  “I went to see Petre before he was transported to Kirma.”

  Clearly she had not expected his answer and rocked back on her heels before having to sit back down in the chair she had just vacated. “Why?”

  “You were busy studying, so I thought I should try to get some answers about our trouble back home.”

  “You think Petre had something to do with it?”

  “I know he did. He threatened me at the station and I took the opportunity to read his mind.”

  “Debbon, that’s not ethical. Why would you take the risk? Especially with him.”

  “There was no risk really. He is in serious trouble for this new succession of crimes. He’s been scheduled to appear before the Council of Elders.”

  “Wow, that’s bad!”

  “Yes, I was thinking the same thing. If he’s sentenced, as I believe he will be, then his mind will be wiped clean before he’d be allowed back in society. I knew tonight would be my only opportunity to get any answers regarding his part with Jena as well as the trouble he started for you at home. My guess was correct; he orchestrated the whole thing. Now I just have to find the people he used to harass you.”

  “It would be nice to know the situation has been taken care of before we’re done with this class. Then we could focus our attention on finding out where our kids went and then getting them back.”

  “One thing at a time, Chelesa. I’m only one person and I have a few other obligations on my time right now.”

  “Our children should be your first priority.”

  “They are! That’s why I need to take care of these thugs before I bring the children back home. Elder Vargen assured me his employee was placing our kids with a very good foster family.”

  “If only we were sure they made it to their final destination…”

  “We don’t need to borrow trouble. Jehoban will watch over the children, we can be assured with that regard.”

  “Thank you, Debbon. You’re so wise and always know just the right thing to say.”

  “It’s probably why Jehoban made me into an Elder.”

  “And also why you were voted First by the Council of Elders. I love you, Debbon.”

  “I love you, too, honey.” He looked down and saw the text she was reading and knew she had not gotten far on the day’s lesson. “It looks as though you still have quite a bit of reading to finish, so I’m going to take a shower and give you some quiet time.” He walked into the bedroom and continued on to the bathroom without looking back.

  Chelesa agreed with her husband about the studying, however her mind still raced with his newest revelations. How big was Petre’s operation against her family? Could they be in danger on Durseni? Petre was found here on the island, could he have been planning something against them? Her unproductive thoughts definitely showed a lack of faith in Jehoban. With a final shake of her head, she decided to leave it up to the Creator and pulled the textbook forward so she could resume her studies.

  Chapter Three

  RICCAN SMILED AT Chris’ enthusiasm for seeing his telepod. He was used to people clamoring to see his racing telepod, however those people were from Tuala and had most likely ridden in a telepod before. Being from Earth, Chris did not have any other experience with this form of transportation other than hearing what Amanda had described.

  As Chris drove, Riccan used his telepod’s homing beacon to give directions. The drive took about ten minutes and Riccan recognized the surroundings when he finally told Chris to park the car. They soon began walking the considerable distance to get to where he had landed near the water. He could understand Chris’ nervousness, however there was nothing he could do about it until they reached the vehicle.

  “How much further?” Chris asked, as they continued to walk away from the car through the brush and marshy footing.

  “I landed just on the edge of the open water. I figured nobody would be around during this time of night so it would be relatively safe.” He looked down to the hand-held locator and added, “Another ten feet and we should be there.”

  “I don’t see anything, Riccan. Are you sure this is where you landed?”

  Riccan smiled as he continued forward with confidence. He reached out and rapped his knuckles on the side of his telepod. From Chris’ view, he knew it would look as though he were knocking on nothing but air. Riccan ran his hand along the side of the craft until his fingers felt the button to open the side door.

  Chris stepped back as he heard something opening, yet he still could see nothing in front of him. He looked questioningly at Riccan for any indication of what they should do.

  “Come inside, Chris. Once I shut the door behind us, you’ll be able to see everything clearly.”

  Had Chris not been so intensely curious he would have found the whole scenario quite creepy. Later he would probably feel as though he had his own alien abduction story, but right now he followed Riccan’s directions. He took three steps and felt the door close behind him and all he could do was stare in wonder around himself.

  “This is way better than the display at the museum in Roswell!”

  Riccan laughed out loud since there was absolutely no comparison between the two vehicles.

  Inspecting the cabin around him, Chris saw several rows of seats covered in a soft, smooth leather. All of the interior was covered in either fabric or plasfilm so none of the metal framework showed, even on the floor.

  Without waiting for permission Chris continued into the craft until he got to the control panel. It came as no surprise none of the panel looked even remotely familiar. He sat down in one of the control seats and stared at the construction and design of the cockpit. “Is this what you do at your company?”

  “Yep, she’s my pride and joy. She has all of the latest technology, most of which has yet to be seen by anyone outside of our company.”

  “This is amazing, Riccan.” He ran his fingertips lightly along the sleek dashboard and wondered what it would look like during flight. “How fast does she fly?”

  Riccan smiled because Chris asked the same question his daughter had not too long before. He answered, “Faster than anything else in Tuala. I haven’t had the opportunity to really test her paces, but I imagine she’d surprise everyone. I discovered a new way to align the power crystal so it’s more responsive even when a lesser crystal is used. The control panel is mostly handled the same way as the conventional telepods, but the displays are all located within the plascreen.

  “On other telepods, each function has its own light on the board, this one integrates them all to one screen so there’s less chance of missing something vital. There’s even a built-in safeguard against pilot error which is almost equivalent to an auto-pilot.”

/>   “Amazing! Can I see the power system?”

  “Certainly, it’s at the rear of the cabin.” He backed out of the cockpit and walked the few steps to the aft section of the craft. He turned a few knobs and pushed aside a panel to reveal the intricate design of the main crystal and the brackets suspending it. The bracketing had wires attached to them to power the various components throughout the vessel.

  “It’s such a simple and clean design.” Chris knelt down on the floor and wished he had a schematic of the ship to see how it really worked. The whole idea of powering a vehicle with a crystal seemed such a novel concept and he wanted to know more. The biggest problem he ran into now was he just did not know what questions to ask since he knew nothing about this technology.

  “Would you like to go for a ride?”

  “Do you really have to ask? I’d never turn down the opportunity!”

  “Let’s go get buckled in and I’ll take you up.” He took the lead, returned to the cockpit, and sat down in the left-hand seat.

  Chris managed to figure out the fastening system of the right-hand seat before grinning eagerly at Riccan to indicate his readiness. He watched intently as Riccan began the start-up procedures.

  Riccan touched the plascreen to turn it on before activating the telepod’s crystal drive. The vessel rose several inches above the ground soundlessly and hovered in place while Riccan verified each green light on the screen. If this were a standard flight he would then switch to mental steering, but he wanted to show Chris how the craft performed before teleporting to a secondary location. He would save the best for last by ending the trip with a teleportation home.

  “I’m going to take us further into the wetlands to keep out of the public’s sight. It’d be hard for me to explain my presence on Earth if the press made a big deal of a new UFO sighting. The Elders frown on any publicity and I tend to agree with them.” He skimmed across the water until he came to more trees. The telepod rose in the air giving them an amazing view outside the panoramic windows. Except for telepod racing Riccan hardly ever took the time to joyride and appreciate the scenery.

  “The ride’s so smooth it doesn’t even feel as though we’re moving.” Chris stared out the windows with a boyish grin plastered on his face.

  “What do you think, should we see how fast she can travel in manual mode?”

  “Absolutely!”

  “Okay, hold on, I’m going to ascend fast to an altitude where we won’t be bothered by prying eyes.” He touched the screen and typed in an altitude of four gania. He could feel the pressure in the cabin begin to normalize as they climbed rapidly. Within a minute they were at the designated elevation.

  Chris could hardly believe how far they had gone in such a short amount of time and asked, “How far up are we?”

  “Roughly ten miles from the surface. Okay, now let’s see what she can do!”

  “Let’s go. Whoa!” Chris’ breath burst from his mouth as the scenery below became a blur and nothing could be identified as they raced to the east. At this rate, he was certain they were traveling as fast as a space shuttle. Never in his life did he imagine he would fly at such a rate of speed. He also wondered why he was not feeling any G-forces. “I can see we’re moving right along, so how come we don’t feel it as well?”

  “Because I activated the anti-gravity force before we began. If I hadn’t done so, we would have passed out well before now. I think we might’ve found her top speed.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just under 20,000 miles per hour. At this rate we will circle the Earth in just over a hour. Did you ever imagine you would travel the world tonight?”

  “Not in my wildest dreams!” He leaned forward to see if anything could be recognized below, but everything remained a blur until Riccan suddenly stopped the telepod. Concerned, Chris looked over at Riccan before asking, “What’s wrong? Where are we?”

  “We’re a couple of miles off of the Pacific coast. I’m pretty sure you’d like a demonstration of how we normally travel. Are you ready?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Okay, I’ll warn you that during the transfer you won’t have any sensory input. Some people have a hard time with that even when they know what to expect. My best advice is to keep track of your breathing and remain calm.”

  “Deep breathing and remain calm…I got it. Let’s go!”

  Riccan reprogrammed the plascreen to take them back to the same location from where they started. He pressed the button to switch from manual to mental control and took his hand from the controller. With one more movement he clicked on the final destination and everything turned black and all feeling ceased.

  Three seconds later they appeared back at the waterfront mere inches above the ground. Riccan issued all of the shutdown procedures and reactivated the cloaking shield. Since they were landed Riccan was able to finally check on his passenger. “Are you okay, Chris?”

  “I’m sure I’ll never be the same, Riccan. That was the most amazing adventure I’ve ever been on. Amanda tried to explain this type of travel, but words do nothing to describe the reality. I wish Diane had been here, too. Although I don’t think she would’ve enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.”

  “We should probably get back to your house; Diane’s probably wanting to go to bed sometime soon. I doubt she’d rest easy until you got home.”

  “It sounds as though you already know my wife.”

  “I know my own mother. Diane is a lot like her in some ways.”

  They exited the vehicle where Riccan paused to palm the door shut. As they drove back to the house, Chris kept shaking his head in disbelief at his latest adventure. It was possibly the most thrilling thing ever to happen in his life and yet he would be unable to share the excitement with anyone other than his wife. However unfortunate the circumstance, he would do it all again in a heartbeat. He pulled into his driveway and waited for the garage door to lift.

  “Thank you for taking me, Riccan. I know you risked a lot just to satisfy my curiosity.”

  “No thanks needed. I was just as ready to test her paces. I’ve been so busy at work I haven’t had the time to really try her out since I finished building her.”

  “That’s your build?” Chris could hardly believe Riccan designed the telepod, let alone built it as well.

  “Yep, she’s my pride and joy. I’ve loved telepods ever since I could remember and I learned everything I could about them. When it came time for me to pick my major in post-study it was an easy choice to decide on becoming a telepod engineer.”

  “It’s too bad I can’t have one here on Earth. It sure would be a blast to play with on the weekends.”

  “No offense, Chris, but people from Earth don’t have the ability to operate a telepod. We use the link between our birth crystal and the crystal drive to navigate.”

  “That’s unfortunate. Amanda had once told me she’d like to learn to fly one.”

  “Amanda could learn.”

  “But you just said…”

  “Amanda received her own birth crystal from Jehoban.”

  “Seriously? I can’t wait to hear that story!”

  “You’ll have time.”

  Chris pulled the car into the garage and shut off the engine. “Will you all be staying for a while?”

  “Yes, but we’ll have to go back soon. We can discuss it tomorrow.”

  “Okay, let’s get back inside so I can tell Diane about the ride.”

  Chapter Four

  AMANDA LOOKED AROUND as she sat at the breakfast table with her parents, her twins, Riccan, and Willian, feeling relieved to finally be reunited with everyone. It had all worked out so well it almost did not feel real. Her parents had gotten to know Jena over the past few weeks of her and Willian living in the house even though they did not know she was their granddaughter.

  Diane insisted she knew Jena was her grandchild the moment Jena’s eyes opened the morning after they were dropped off. She had kept it to herself so Chris would not beco
me more upset with what he would have termed as her ‘irrational’ idea.

  Now Amanda had some decisions to make and her time was running out. Riccan had said they could spend a few days on Earth before they had to go back. There was no reason for her to return except to continue with her job and get to know Riccan better. Did she really want to risk her future on Earth to possibly have a relationship with someone from a different world? The idea was so crazy, but she was seriously considering doing just that.

  Her eyes shifted over to the little boy sitting beside Jena. Willian was only about five years old with dark hair, eyes, and complexion. His presence was the only thing stopping her from having the perfect reunion. She had yet to tell her parents about the boy being betrothed to her daughter. Alena had informed her the betrothal was irrevocable except by the children themselves since the ceremony had been completed which meant the union was blessed by Jehoban. Amanda knew Jehoban had been instrumental in so many of the coincidences surrounding her journey in Tuala, she did not want to anger Him with breaking the betrothal.

  Willian would eventually have to be returned to Elder Debbon and Chelesa. Only Amanda and Riccan knew where their son was being cared for on Earth. Amanda hoped she could come to some arrangement with the Elder to be able to retain custody of Jena, but still honor the agreement. She hoped to speak privately with Riccan, but the opportunity had not yet arisen.

  Her mother was in such a great mood to have her whole family back on Earth and in her house. She had gotten up early to make a special breakfast for everyone to enjoy before her father had to go off to work. Chris had offered to call in to get the day off, but Amanda assured him they would still be around when he got home. If he had not had a new account to work on, he probably would have called in anyway.

  Amanda picked up her beef bacon and ate a piece. She had not seen any beef bacon in years and wondered why her mother had bought it. When she had asked, her mother told her the children were used to eating fried foxl and this was as close as she thought she could get. Amanda smiled at her mother’s effort even though the taste was nothing alike, but her mother could not know that.