Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  As if her thoughts had conjured him, he walked through the front door to be greeted by the hostess. “Good afternoon, Riccan. I’m sorry, your usual booth was just taken. Can I seat you in the next one over?”

  Riccan looked over at his ‘usual booth’ and saw Amanda sitting and replied, “No, I’ll still take my usual since that girl is the person I was meeting here. I just thought I’d get here first.”

  “Oh, well, go ahead then…you know the way,” she replied slightly shaken by this unusual turn of events. Riccan always ate alone.

  Riccan slid into the empty side of the booth and said, “I thought to get here before you, but I guess you had the same idea!”

  “Yes and I asked for this booth in particular because this was where we ate before,” Amanda replied.

  Riccan raised his eyebrows and asked, “So what’s the plan for tonight? Do we talk first or eat?”

  Amanda’s stomach was tied up in knots, but she needed a distraction so she said, “Definitely eat. We can talk while we wait for the pizza to be baked.”

  “Do you know what you want already?”

  “Sure.”

  He flagged down the waitress and said, “I think we’re ready to order. Amanda?” He looked to her to place the first order.

  “I’d like the personal pizza with hamburger and pineapple please.”

  When the waitress looked at Riccan she asked, “Will you be having your usual?”

  “Absolutely!” he answered with a broad smile as he watched the waitress head back to place their order in the kitchen. “Where do you want to start?” He thought he should just get right down to the point. If Amanda were some schemer it would be better to find out sooner rather than later.

  “I’d been contemplating that myself. Let’s see, I could start with your parents. Your father’s sister, Sanda, introduced your father to your mother in high school. They didn’t date until post-study. When you father graduated, your mother sped up her graduation date so they could get married. You are an only child, but your mother had a miscarriage before you were born.”

  Riccan simply kept nodding as she had all of her facts perfect so far. He wondered how she had done her research since these things were not a part of his public profile. He motioned for her to continue.

  “Your father has five brothers and sisters, but your mother is an only child. You stayed with relatives of your grandfather when you were attending school in the states. During your early childhood you and a neighbor friend…what was his name?” She stopped to try to remember the particular detail and then snapped her finger as she remembered, “His name was Andy Brun…” and then she proceeded to tell him the rest of the rock-throwing story.

  Riccan was really impressed now. He had not thought about that incident from his youth in decades. He was also certain he had never shared it with anyone. He nodded for her to keep talking.

  Amanda told him about setting the bush on fire with his cigarette and the outhouse prank at the high school. She started to say more, but was interrupted by their dinner arriving.

  They ate in silence. Riccan was too busy trying to figure out if Amanda were really telling the truth about having known him from a dream or if she had been very busy gathering data from various sources. He really had no idea how she could have amassed so many small details, but he meant to find out. In that moment he decided to ask her back to his house after dinner. After all, she had already told him about his house, she must have already seen it. There were some things even she would not know about when it came to his private residence.

  “Do you want to come over to my house when we’re done eating?”

  Amanda’s mouth was full, but she nodded her head. As soon as she swallowed she added, “There is so much more of Tuala I want to talk to you about, but it would be better spoken in private.”

  “I’m sure,” he replied noncommittally.

  They boxed up their leftovers and stood up to leave. Riccan left a wad of cash on the table. There was the matter how they would get to his house to decide: one car or two.

  Amanda solved the dilemma by saying, “I’ll follow you. If we get separated, I still know where you live so just make sure the gate is open.”

  Riccan was slightly creeped out by her admitting she already knew where he lived. He had a privately listed address and his home was under an LLC name and not his own. Maybe she had been following him for some time. This might be a very bad idea, but he had already committed himself so he would follow it through to the end.

  They parted ways at the entrance to the pizza shop and Amanda rushed to her car. She had to try twice to get her keys into the ignition since her hands were shaking so badly. Finally she pulled into the road and made a U-turn so she could head back toward the main road. She turned left and ended up just behind Riccan’s 4-Runner. Without trying to be too close to him she followed him through the two turns until they got to his street. She turned her blinker on before he did to turn into his driveway.

  After pausing at the entrance to the driveway for the gate to open Amanda looked ahead and could see Riccan’s reflection in the side mirror. He was looking back at her so she smiled uncertainly. He did not smile back, but drove ahead since the gate had fully opened. Now she was really getting nervous.

  Riccan did not bother pulling into the garage, but rather parked outside of the entrance. He waited for Amanda to get out of her car before they walked to the front door together. The door was not locked so he just opened it and walked in. He shut the door behind Amanda.

  “Am I also to assume you’ve been inside the house before?” Riccan asked almost sarcastically.

  “Sure, you gave me the tour yourself. Do you want me to demonstrate?” she asked with equal sarcasm.

  He gestured for her to lead the way and said, “As you wish.”

  Amanda felt her face blush as she started to get angry. She accepted the challenge and marched through the foyer to the living room. Before she entered she listed of where each room was located and then walked in. Standing in the middle of the living room she pointed first one direction and then the other and said, “The garages are through each of those doors. The one past the kitchen is where you keep your telepod.”

  “So, let’s say, for argument’s sake, I really am from Tuala, how come all of the stories you’ve told me thus far have all been here on Earth?” he demanded.

  “Because we were in a public place! Why do you think I said some things were better discussed in private?”

  “Okay, don’t get mad. I am a very private person and it’s a little hard for me to believe we’ve met when I clearly don’t remember ever knowing you. Why don’t we sit down and you can tell me what else you remember?”

  Slightly mollified, Amanda marched over to the leather couch and plunked herself down. Looking out the window, she remembered sunbathing by the pool and how relaxed and contented they both were. She wished they could get back to that level of comfort somehow. Taking a deep breath, Amanda began to speak again, “You are the Engineering Manager at Telepod Engineering Company on Durseni. The telepod you currently own is one you designed yourself using some technology from your experiences with flying here on Earth. You installed an auto-pilot feature similar to those found here. How am I doing so far?”

  “Everything you’ve said so far has been spot on. I still don’t know how you know it all, however.”

  Amanda smiled a small knowing smirk and then continued, “Your grandmother met your grandfather in Roswell when she was on assignment at the museum under the direction of Elder Vargen. Edwin was from Earth, but he followed her home and they made a life together. Your father’s talent caught the eye of Jehoban’s representatives and the whole family moved to Acaim and remained there.” She started to say more, but was interrupted by Riccan’s question.

  “So you know all of these things, what do you get out of convincing me we were once friends?” Riccan believed they could easily be friends even without her knowing his true identity.


  “We were more than just casual acquaintances, Riccan. Much more,” she said as she blushed again and looked away. Now that he had asked the question she was not really sure what she wanted from Riccan other than a way to get back to Tuala.

  “Are you saying we were lovers?” Riccan was truly curious now.

  “No, not lovers, but not far from it. We were rapidly becoming best friends. When we stayed a couple of days here, we became even closer and you kissed me at the top of the stairs before we went to bed.” She looked up at him and saw the look on his face and hastily added, “In separate bedrooms!”

  Riccan laughed out loud at the look on Amanda’s face. “I’m sorry to laugh, but you’re expression was priceless.”

  Amanda liked hearing him laugh again, a real laugh. She accepted his apology with grace and then said what she had been thinking all along, “I worked for you at the Engineering Company as your Engineering Resources Analyst. You had told my parents I was very good at my job. I’d like to go back to the life I remember.”

  Riccan was surprised to hear he had met her parents, it must have been more serious than he had originally believed. He’d never been to meet any girl’s parents, much to his own mother’s dismay. There had never been anyone he felt he could settle down with because of his mixed heritage.

  “So what exactly are you asking of me?” Riccan was curious to find out what Amanda was actually thinking. Did she want a life in Tuala or a life with him?

  “I’m looking for answers. I have so many things I remember, but some of them seem to be an impossibility, but then I saw you and now I’m not so sure anymore.” Amanda knew she was rambling, but she could not seem to help herself.

  “Why don’t you start from the beginning and then we can try and figure it out together?” he suggested. The more time he spent with Amanda, the more he felt he should try to help her. There was something about her which made him feel protective toward her.

  “When I woke up from my coma, my doctor told me to write a journal of my memories to help me sort through them.” She dug in her purse and pulled out the worn little book. “I think I captured everything pretty accurately these past months since I awoke.”

  Riccan felt like grabbing the book and reading it at that instant, but restrained himself as he could see Amanda was struggling with some inner conflict. “What would you like to do with your journal?”

  “I think maybe I should read it to you and then you could tell me if it could all be true or purely a figment of my imagination,” she answered hopefully as she looked up at Riccan with her big brown eyes full of trust in his ability to help her through this situation.

  “I’ll do my best. Would you like a drink before you start?” he asked politely.

  “A water would be great,” she replied as she opened her journal and looked at the first entry. At first glance she remembered it was about her time on the yacht with Neal, and maybe this was not such a good idea after all. She shook her head and thought everybody had a past and she should not be ashamed to share it. Amanda needed closure with regard to Neal as well so she had to include his story with hers.

  Riccan came back into the living room carrying two glasses of water. He handed one to Amanda and set his on the coffee table in front of the couch. He sat down facing Amanda with his leg cocked on the couch cushion.

  Amanda took a nervous sip from the glass, most likely to stall for a moment, as she was not actually thirsty. She leaned forward and put the glass down before she began to read from the pages of her journal.

  Over an hour had passed as Amanda continued to read. Riccan had held his tongue from asking the hundreds of questions he had thought of while she was reading. He could tell this was a hard experience for her and he wanted her to get through it at her own pace. There were so many people, places, and events from her adventure he, too, had a hard time believing it had not happened.

  Almost from the beginning, he realized Amanda was a powerful story-teller. Her writing was so expressive he could almost see himself beside her during her adventures. He was surprised to hear she had actually participated in two different lives while she had been in her coma. This was a very unique situation, of that he was certain.

  When she got to the part of getting her own birth crystal he could not contain his expression of disbelief. His grandfather was the only Earth person he knew of to have received a Tualan birth crystal. “Do you actually have the birth crystal you wrote about?”

  She pulled on the chain around her neck and the crystal popped out above her shirt. Riccan leaned forward to look closer at the stone and verified it was a legitimate birth crystal and not somebody’s attempt to create a copy. Their intricate designs were impossible to duplicate. He was convinced.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, please continue,” he apologized as he sat back and resumed his listening pose.

  Amanda took a sip of water before she kept reading. She kept seeing the scenes unfold in her mind as she read out loud the events for Riccan to hear. She took courage from him accepting her birth crystal as legitimate. It was actually therapeutic to read her journal to another person and have them actually believe her and not judge her for her memories. Another hour went by unnoticed and it was now dark outside.

  Amanda turned the page to her journal and discovered there were very few pages left to read. She had gotten to the part where she was spending time with Riccan here in his house. They had already gone to eat pizza and she looked up and smiled at Riccan at the ‘coincidence’ of their outing that night.

  “Please continue, Amanda,” Riccan requested with genuine interest. Her story was incredible to believe, but he found he really did believe she had experienced something truly remarkable. He knew some of the people she had said she had encountered, but he had never heard of Amanda being a part of any of their lives. This was truly a mystery to try to solve.

  “There’s not much left,” she said as she reached over to pick up her glass of water. She had no idea reading could be such a taxing experience. She set the glass down and ran her finger down the page to find where she had left off. She began reading again.

  Riccan managed to barely contain his gasp of incredulity when Amanda spoke of his hidden room with the treasures from Tuala. He had never told anybody about the room or its contents. If he had had any doubts before, they were effectively demolished by Amanda’s revelation.

  Amanda turned to the last page and finished with a flourish. She was thankful she had not included any of her research about Riccan or her practically stalking him since she had woken up from the coma. He probably thought she was strange enough without adding ‘stalker’ to her list of descriptions.

  She waited a few moments for Riccan to say something, but he was still silent and looking down at his lap. Amanda was becoming worried with his continued silence and finally asked, “What do you think? Could it really have happened?”

  “I think we have a way of proving at least part of it. Are you game?” Riccan said as he got up slowly from the couch, stretching each of his joints as he stood.

  “How? What are you thinking, Riccan?” Amanda also stood with an increasing level of excitement.

  “Let’s go look in the ancient text to see if the new passage is actually there. I know that book like the back of my hand and it has never had anything written on the title page. Do you want to look?” he asked even as he was walking out of the room toward the library.

  “I can’t believe you’d even have to ask me!” she replied as she raced to stay by his side.

  Riccan paused at the library door and gestured for Amanda to precede him into the room. “You can do the honors, since you seem to know so much about my house already!” he half teased.

  Amanda smiled and marched over to the far bookcase. She looked for the book with the red spine and put her hand under the shelf below it until she felt the release mechanism. The wall of books opened soundlessly and she looked back at Riccan with a pleased expression on her face.

  Ricca
n shook his head in amazement and walked over to open the door enough for them to enter. He took out the ancient text from the cupboard and placed it carefully on the table. He opened the cover and gasped when he saw the new passage just as Amanda had read it to him just minutes ago. He needed to talk with his father as soon as possible.

  Amanda felt an odd sense of déjà vu. She did not want what had happened before to repeat itself. They had died in the telepod when it collided with the small aircraft. She grabbed Riccan’s arm and said, “If you want to show this to your father, we need to teleport directly to his residence. Remember what I said happened before?”

  “Right,” he replied solemnly. “I need to write this down.” He started to look for a piece of paper.

  Amanda waved her journal at him and chuckled as she said, “I’ve already got that covered. Let’s go.”

  “I’d like to compare your version to the one written in the text. We need to make sure it’s perfectly accurate.”

  “Good thinking,” she said as she opened her journal to nearly the last page and then put it down next to the original.

  “You do have perfect recall,” Riccan praised. He was thoroughly convinced of Amanda’s sincerity. He was done with testing or questioning her since she was proved correct with the ancient text. It was as though Jehoban were telling him to believe Amanda and help her. He was ready.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “WE CAN’T JUST take off without telling your parents,” Riccan pointed out. “They’d send out an all-points-bulletin for me and say I’d kidnapped you. We’ll have to take a few days to figure out the best course of action.”

  Amanda crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. “I’m a grown woman, and I can make my own decisions,” she countered.

  “Yes, a grown woman who only recently recovered from a coma being taken advantage of by an older man she seemingly just met. It doesn’t look good, even though we both know differently. I promise I won’t go to Tuala without you if that’s what got you so worked up.”