“Trust me, Jena, nobody would blame you in this matter. Everyone who has eyes could see it was Willian’s fault it didn’t work out.”
“I hope you’re right. Although Willian would probably blame me for that as well,” she said with a sigh of resignation.
Chapter Ten
“IT’S GETTING PRETTY late, Barla. I should probably think about taking the three of you back home,” Amanda suggested.
Barla glanced over to the family still reuniting in the living room and hated to have to break into their time. She nodded her head and said, “Ahn is probably getting worried about me as well. I was gone a lot longer than I had originally planned. I’m glad I was able to witness the family reunion, though.”
She hopped off the stool and went to rest her hand on Vinia’s shoulder.
Vinia looked up and behind her and smiled at her friend.
“We should head home now. You can make arrangements with Amanda to see your kids again; I’m sure.”
“I know. I was thinking the same thing. Danika will be ready for dinner and bed by the time we get home. I just didn’t want this visit to end.” She squeezed her son’s hand warmly for emphasis.
“Why doesn’t Jon come with us? I’m sure he’d like to see Tuala,” Amanda suggested.
“They could all come,” Vinia agreed enthusiastically.
“I’m afraid not, Vinia. I only have enough seats for us and one other person, and Danika will have to ride in your lap as it is.”
“Oh,” Vinia said in disappointment.
“That’s okay, Mom. Val and I have already been there. Jon can go this time, and we’ll arrange another time for all of us to come over.”
Vinia shifted her gaze from Behn to Valentina and saw they both agreed with the new plan. She nodded and smiled over to Jon and asked, “What do you say? Are you up for a ride in the telepod to come to Tuala and see where I’m living right now?”
“Are you kidding? It sounds amazing!” Jon replied enthusiastically. He stood up with Danika still in his arms and then offered a hand to help his mother up from the couch. He was more than ready to take a ride in a space ship since that was how he still thought about it.
Without any further delay, they trooped out to the garage. At first, Jon thought they were playing a dirty trick on them because the garage appeared to be completely empty. He was just about to make a snide comment when suddenly the aircraft appeared in front of them. His eyes grew wide as he took in the cylindrical shape and the dull grey exterior. It definitely looked like a space ship and did nothing to dissuade his mind of the name.
Amanda touched a panel on the side of the craft, and a door dropped down onto the ground making a ramp for them to walk up. Jon expected to see strange shapes and mechanicals inside and was disappointed at how much it just looked like the interior of any private airplane. He walked up the ramp and took a seat in the ordinary looking chair.
Vinia sat down next to him and fastened her seat belt. She took Danika from him and settled her on her own lap and said, “You’ll want to fasten your seat belt even if the ride only lasts a few seconds.”
“A few seconds?” he asked in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
Amanda heard his comment on her way through the cabin and stopped to answer, “We will be teleporting directly from the garage to the Port of Cresdon landing field in Tuala. The transfer will only take about six to eight seconds, but it will feel much longer because there are absolutely no sensations during the transfer.”
“What do you mean by no sensations?” he asked nervously.
“Everything will go black, and you won’t be able to feel, see, or hear anything until we’ve reached Tuala.”
“Oh,” he stupidly said even as he felt his hands begin to sweat against the armrests. This was going to be much different than he had imagined.
Amanda and Barla both sat up front. Amanda palmed the side door shut and waited to see the green light indicating the cabin was secure. She began the start-up procedure and was pleased when the telepod rose several inches and maintained its balance effortlessly. She entered in their destination and shifted her hand over to the manual control lever. “We are all ready to go. Remember to count in your head to eight seconds and keep breathing! Here we go.” She pressed the activation button, and they disappeared from the garage.
Right on cue, they hovered above the landing field where the wind caught them slightly. Amanda was ready for it and countered neatly. She set the telepod down as rapidly as possible and powered down the systems. As soon as everything was off, she turned her head and asked, “Are you still doing okay, Jon?”
“Yes! That was absolutely amazing. Are we really in Tuala now?” he asked as he continued to stare out the windows at their new surroundings.
“Yep, let’s get out and walk to Barla’s house,” Amanda suggested as she hit the button on the control panel to open the side door.
“It even smells different,” Jon commented as he stood outside.
“That’s the ocean you smell,” Barla teased as she pointed across the way to where they could see the water on the horizon. “This is a port town.”
Jon felt stupid for having commented on the smell, but he soon forgot it as he turned his head to take in all of the sights. “Which house is yours?”
“Down the road a bit. Are you ready?” Barla asked.
Jon’s impressions of the streets and the house almost identically mirrored that of his brother. They went inside the house, and Vinia got a meal ready for Danika. Everyone else snacked on tocolas and some fruit salad.
Corva came in the back door and stopped dead in her tracks. She had not been expecting to come home to a crowd. She spotted Barla and brightly smiled as she said, “Dad has been worried about you. I’ll let him know you’re home.” The young girl turned around and flew out the back door.
They could hear her yelling for Ahn, and Barla grinned at her daughter’s enthusiasm. She did feel bad about worrying her husband, but she had done so much good that day it was hard to feel too guilty. A moment later, Ahn came charging through the door, saw the crowd of people in his kitchen, and marched across the room to take his wife into his arms and lift her off her feet with his enthusiastic greeting. He planted his mouth on her and kissed her soundly before setting her back onto the floor.
Everyone smiled at his unabashed greeting; they all knew that was his way with Barla. Their love for one another was hard to miss. “I’m glad you’re home safe. Who is this young man?” Ahn turned to look over at Jon.
Vinia proudly announced, “This is my youngest son, Jon. He wanted to see me and Danika home safe.”
“Good man,” Ahn said as he held out his hand for Jon to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Jon. My name’s Ahn. Barla is my wife.”
“It’s nice to meet you Ahn. Thank you for letting my mom live with you; it’s really good to know she’s safe,” Jon replied as he pumped Ahn’s hand enthusiastically.
“We love having her and her little one. Can we expect to see you around more?”
“I hope so. I guess it’s up to Mrs. Stel,” he answered as he looked over at Amanda hopefully.
“I’m sure we can arrange a schedule to get all of you kids over here,” Amanda replied. “We should probably head back now. I’ve had an exhausting day.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs. Stel. I didn’t even think about that,” Jon began.
Amanda chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about it.” She looked over to Ahn and said, “Barla can fill you in on everything we got done today. We were successful, and that’s all that really matters.”
Vinia looked troubled. She had been hopeful when Nealan had remembered who she was when they had initially transferred to Tuala before bringing him back to Earth. Now she was back in the same situation where he had no idea who she was. She was thankful he was safe again, so there was some consolation to the outcome of the day’s adventures.
Amanda and Jon retraced their way back to the landing field. They h
ad declined an escort knowing everyone there had things to do and to say to one another. Amanda knew the way, and she wanted some time alone with Jon to find out how he was coping with all of the changes.
“How are you doing, Jon? A lot has happened this afternoon, and I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
Jon scuffed his feet along the grassy path as he tried to form a good answer. “I’m really happy to have my mom back. I just don’t know what it’s going to mean for the Wilsons. They’ve been wonderful parents, and I don’t want to hurt them after everything they’ve done and sacrificed for us. It seems kind of ungrateful of us to say we have our mom back now, so thank you very much, we’re going to go home now. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes. You don’t have to make any decisions right away. Vinia knew the situation was complicated. Her main concern was reconnecting with all of you. She doesn’t have any means of taking you back right now anyway since she’s living with Ahn and Barla.”
“Why doesn’t she have a place of her own?” Jon asked suddenly.
“It’s a long story, and I’m partly to blame for it. I’ll let your mother tell you about it when she’s ready. Okay?”
Jon could hardly hide his disappointment, but he could understand why Mrs. Stel would decline to answer. He hoped his mother would feel comfortable telling him the story. There was a lot about his mother he wanted to find out, but he would have to be patient. Maybe Behn and Valentina would know more when they got home. He would ask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willian sat alone in his new bedroom and thought about everything he had seen and done in the past two days. It was slightly overwhelming to experience all of the new things on Earth. Reading about everything was vastly different than actually experiencing them, but he was relieved to finally be close to reuniting with Jena again.
His first look at the school was intriguing, and the young girl who he had met sure had been friendly. The stack of paperwork they had been given was slightly daunting until Melissa and Marcus had said they would handle it for him with Shemalla’s help. While they were working on getting that taken care of, he was free to do whatever he liked around the house.
He had already put all of his things away in his room. He had investigated the house both inside and out. For a while, he had sat on the front porch and watched the strange vehicles pass in front of the house. He wondered how many different types and colors of vehicles the people of Earth had, it seemed slightly ridiculous for there to be so many options when on Tuala they only needed a few. When he got tired of being out in the heat, he went back and rested on his bed for a while.
Pesi had come into his room and began jumping up at the side of the bed. Willian grinned as he realized the dog could not jump high enough, so he reached over and brought her up. She bounded eagerly across the whole mattress until she flopped herself down right next to him and threw her back legs out behind her. Willian laughed at the silly animal and stroked her soft fur from the top of her head down to the base of her tail where it flopped back up over her back. The tail seemed to have a mind of its own as it wiggled back and forth with Pesi’s anticipation of receiving another pet.
Melissa enjoyed the scene in front of her for a moment before she tapped on his open door and asked, “Are you hungry for dinner?”
“Sure!” he answered and hopped off of the bed and met her in the hallway. Pesi also jumped down from the bed and raced alongside his feet. Willian looked down at her and realized having a pet in the house could be quite enjoyable as well as entertaining.
The four of them enjoyed a meal which Willian was told was typical for Earth. He wished he could have had some foxl, but they did not seem to have anything like it here. He was going to have to get used to new foods for the duration of his stay.
“Are you excited to go to school tomorrow?” Melissa asked. “What did you think of it today when we visited?”
“Yes, I’m curious to find out how they do it here. The school was huge, and there were so many other kids. Our schools are much smaller at home.” Willian answered and then returned to eating his dinner.
Chapter Eleven
ALENA COULD NOT stop thinking about Barla and Ahn, so she decided to take a day off of her healing to head over to the Port of Cresdon. It had been ages since she had last visited so she thought it would be perfect timing. Just as Bryon was heading off to work, she asked, “Would you mind if I dropped you off at work so I could use the telepod today?”
Bryon got a quizzical expression on his face since his wife seldom flew on her own and asked, “Where are you going?”
“I thought I’d stop in and see how Barla is doing. Ahn called yesterday wondering if I knew where she was, and it got me thinking. Ever since we met with Jehoban and told we were supposed to work together to help Amanda, we’ve been even further apart than ever. I thought it would be good to find out what she’s been up to and to catch up on any progress.”
“Sounds like fun. I wish I could go with you, but I have a meeting today with Kenen in Beewa. Be sure to tell everyone hello for me,” Bryon said.
“Are you ready to head out? I’d like to get back home before the kids are out of school.”
“Sure, just let me get my files out of the office and then I’ll meet you outside.”
Alena picked up her purse from the hall table on her way out the door. She was excited about this change of pace, although she was slightly nervous about flying into the port town. Any air traffic near the ocean breezes could be tricky unless you were a confident pilot which she felt herself to be even if she flew infrequently.
Preparations took longer than the actual flight and Alena set the telepod down in the designated area of the Kirma Shipping and Receiving facility where Bryon worked. Bryon kissed her on the cheek before he exited the vehicle. Alena lifted the aircraft in order to leave and saw Bryon meet up with his assistant, Frasnia, and head toward the office together.
She smiled to see him so happy with his work before she turned her attention back to flying. She kept the destination coordinates firmly in her mind and activated the transfer. As expected she arrived to gusting winds as she hovered over the landing field in Cresdon. She rushed her landing and touched down harder than she would have liked with a cringe for her carelessness.
After she exited the craft, she circled around it to check for any damage. She would hate to have to tell Bryon she had caused any harm to the transport when she got home and was relieved to see everything looked just as it should. With a relieved sigh, she left the landing field and walked down the pathway to get to Barla’s neighborhood.
The day was quite pleasant with the sun shining and the warm breeze blowing in her face. She missed being able to smell the ocean air every day. Ever since she and Bryon had moved inland for his work, she dreamed of the day they would be able to return to a location closer to the water. She imagined it would be quite a few anons before that dream could come true.
Turning up the graveled path into Barla’s yard, she admired the beauty and symmetry of the grand house with its four columns and grand staircase. It was by far the biggest and highest house in the entire town, befitting the status of Harbor Master Ahn. She admired and respected both Ahn and Barla for their commitment and constant contributions to their society.
Alena knocked on the door and waited. For several moments she could not hear anything from inside and wondered if it would have been better to schedule a time to visit. When the door swung open, and Barla’s expression showed immense pleasure, Alena was grateful she had surprised her instead.
Barla flew out the door and hugged her friend whom she had not seen since they had met with Jehoban so long ago. They had been close until marriage, jobs, and children had demanded more of their time. “Come in, Alena! What a wonderful surprise! Come in.” She tugged on Alena’s arm to propel her into the house faster. She looked around outside before turning herself and following her guest inside.
“I hope I haven’t come at a bad time
. Captain Ahn called me yesterday asking if I knew where you were and it got me thinking it’s been way too long since we’ve talked.”
“Your timing is perfect. We were just sitting down to some steena tea in the living room. You just missed Ahn; he went down to the dock to get some work done before the quarterly audit.”
“Hmmph,” Alena chuckled as she knew how Ahn hated dealing with the hassle of the paperwork. “How did you get out of it this time?”
Barla smiled knowingly and answered, “I didn’t have to since one of the apprentices has been assigned to the task of entering the invoices into the patil every day. Now all Ahn has to worry about is making sure all of the numbers align properly to show a profit for the town.”
“How convenient for him,” Alena commented as she turned into the living room and saw Vinia and Danika playing together on the floor. “Well hello! I’d heard you’d come to live here for a while. It’s been forever since I’ve seen you, Vinia. And who is this young little beauty?” Alena dropped onto the floor and touched the beautiful little girl’s rosy cheek in greeting.
“This is my youngest daughter, Danika,” Vinia replied proudly. She knew her daughter was special and she was even more pleased to see Alena thought so too.
Alena entertained Danika for over an hour even though she had come to see Barla. Being able to play with a toddler was a rare treat for her anymore, and it made her wish she and Bryon would try to have a few more children before they were too old to handle the responsibility. Her own children were of an age where they were more interested in being around kids their own age rather than spending time with their mother. She missed having the special time with her little ones, and Danika only reinforced her idea of having more.
When Danika began to fuss, Vinia picked her up and took her into the kitchen to feed her before her nap. Alena watched her go and felt a tug at her heartstrings for the loss. She picked herself up from the floor and sat down in the chair across from Barla. Not knowing quite what she wanted to discuss she remained silent and contemplated different ways to begin.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 6
