She could not believe she had not even noticed her connection with her sister had been missing. Since it had returned so forcefully, she realized her sister had been terrorized with the sudden departure. I’m sorry, she thought to Jena. We’re in big trouble, sis. The telepod malfunctioned terribly, and we ended up in outer space. When I attempted to make a correction and use the manual controls, it only made it worse. We couldn’t see Earth anymore and then we were brought into a large spaceship where we’re being held captive by a man named Viceroy Blair who’s from a planet named Heliok. I’ll tell you more later. I love you!
They had reached the grow room, and Ozias opened the door for her and remained outside. As soon as she stepped in, she could smell the musty odor of stale water. She knew the first order of business was to get the aeration going through the water. Nothing would grow in scummy water.
She checked the controls and the small power supply and realized one of the brackets had come loose on the small crystal powering the system. Juila was able to hand-tighten the bracket until she felt the small vibration of tuning flow through the crystal. The system began to move the water in the troughs again.
Next, Juila checked on the fish in the tank. There were several dead ones floating on the surface. Even though they felt repulsive in her hand, she knew they could not remain in the tank, or they would kill the other fish as they rotted. She pulled them out and dumped them in a compost bucket she found under one of the troughs.
The aeration was running in the large fish tank as well, and she looked around for fish food. She wondered if anyone had thought to feed them as she finally located the pellets in a cupboard to the left of the tank. By the way the fish sluggishly rose to the surface, she imagined they had all been near death. Juila threw in another handful before setting the container down on the counter.
She looked through every drawer and cabinet trying to track down the seed supply. They still had a rather large selection, yet most of them would require more than three days to mature. She set about seeding as many containers as she could find with lettuce, kale, green beans, tomatoes, beets, and corn. Much of it would take too long to mature, but they had to start somewhere. The lettuce would be large enough to harvest in only a week since she had found the booster fertilizer in with everything else.
When she had the last tray floating in the water, she straightened up her back and groaned with the cramped muscles protesting the new position. She rubbed the sore area and looked around the room to see the amazing progress she had achieved in such a short amount of time. Checking one last time in the fish tank, she removed another two dead fish which had floated to the surface.
With a sigh of relief at a job well done, she leaned against the cabinet to ease the tension in her body. Using the time alone, she again could feel her sister’s link. Instead of it being effortless like when they were at home, this connection required concentration and focus to keep it open.
Why does the link feel different, Jena?
Because we’re also linked with Rasa and Sofia.
Sofia? What’s going on there?
She knows about all of us. She can tell you all about it when you get home. Do you know the coordinates of where you are?
Not exactly. The first malfunction had us exactly over our house in Florida except the Z coordinate took us out fifty thousand miles into space. I think my second attempt doubled the distance away from Earth. That’s the best I can do since I’m not able to get back to the telepod until Viceroy Blair gives me permission.
Are you in immediate danger?
I don’t think so. They are almost out of food, so I think the situation might change drastically in the next couple of days. I’m hoping we won’t still be around to witness it.
What happened with the telepod?
Again, I’ll have to try to figure it out when I regain access to the telepod. We had a hard landing in Roanoke so something might have come loose with the bracketry of the crystal drive.
Please try to be careful, Juila. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. Losing the connection was heart-wrenching enough.
Believe me; I’m going to be extra careful around this crew. I think my knowledge of aquaponics will keep them from doing me any harm. I just hope Val and Jon will have the same safety. They’ve separated us, so I don’t know how they’re faring in this. Val was pretty shaken up with the misadventure.
Okay, we’re going to let you go since I can feel your power’s being taxed just by having this conversation. We’ll keep checking in, but we won’t try to talk unless you need something. I love you!
I love you, too. I’m glad you’re here with me, it’s really a comfort.
Juila pushed herself away from the cabinet and walked through the grow room to get to the exit. She opened the door expecting to see Ozias waiting for her and rocked back on her heels when a different man leered back at her. “What happened to the other guy?” she asked stupidly.
“He’s on break. Follow me,” the older man said gruffly.
Juila would have taken longer if she had known she would be faced with another guard. Her palms began to sweat with nerves as he began taking her down a different hallway than the one she had been in before. “Where are we going?”
The guard did not even move his eyes in her direction as he continued to ignore her as he kept his pace brisk. He stopped abruptly and turned to the left, where he opened a door, waited for Juila to enter, and then shut it immediately behind her.
“You were gone for several hours. I hope you were successful in the grow room?” Viceroy Blair asked even though he never turned around to see her.
Juila could see he was typing on a keyboard to a blue backlit screen. She imagined it was a sort of computer even though she had never seen one quite like it. “Yes, I believe you’ll have quite a bit of food in the next week or so. I used the booster, but even I can’t make it grow faster than a week. I’m sorry.”
Viceroy turned abruptly in his chair and stared at her. “You’re sorry? For what? Getting us back online for food? You’ve done more than any of my team could do and you’ve asked nothing in return.”
“That’s not true, I’ve asked for assistance in getting us back to Earth. Are you still going to honor our deal?”
“As much as I can. I have other concerns more pressing at this time. Feel free to lie down in the bed over there; you’ll be spending the night in here with myself.”
“I’d like to go back to be with my friends,” Juila said promptly, trying to keep her voice calm in the face of this new, and possibly dangerous, situation.
“No,” he answered as he turned his back on her again as he went back to typing.
Juila could not understand the need to keep them separated. She really wished she could check up on them to make sure they were okay. She did not have a good feeling about this at all. “Can I at least go and check on the mechanics of my telepod?”
“No. Please be quiet and let me work on this problem.”
“Is it something I might be able to help with?”
“NO!” he shouted and then in a calmer voice he continued, “Please go lie down and try to be quiet.”
Juila moved slowly to the bed and sank down onto the edge. She definitely did not want to fall asleep, so she remained sitting with her mind working furiously on how to get out of this situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man grabbed her arm and forcibly hauled her away from her brother. She was moved into another room, and the door slammed shut even before she could regain her footing. There were voices arguing in the hallway and Valentina moved across the room to get as far away from them as possible.
The door opened again, and a man stepped in and leaned on the door as he closed it behind him. He moved forward slowly as if he were stalking his prey. His eyes roamed over Valentina’s body with his intentions clear in his eyes.
“Who’re you? Where’s my brother? Where’s Juila?” Valentina kept asking questions as she tried to think
of any way to distract him from his obvious intentions.
“My name’s Grobin. And what’s your name, sweet thing?” he purred as he stopped right in front of her.
Valentina’s eyes widened as she recognized the name and then looked closer to see it was the same man she remembered as the leader of the Roanoke Colony. “What’re you doing here?”
“You haven’t answered my question, sweet girl. What’s your name?”
“Valentina,” she answered. She would have picked another name except she did not know if her brother had already told them. The last thing she wanted was for her brother or friend to be hurt because she lied about her name.
“Valentina, hmm,” he practically purred as he stroked her cheek with the back of his index finger. “I almost married a girl named Valentina. She was a bit young for me, but you, you’re just the right age for me. Why don’t you give me a little sugar, sweet thing?” He moved closer until his mouth almost brushed against her lips.
She worked up her nerve and spit into his face as she buckled her knees to not be face-to-face with him.
Grobin jerked backward as though she had slapped him and his rage was instantaneous. He dropped down on his knees and grabbed both of her shoulders, slamming her back up against the wall. “You want to play it that way, huh? You like it rough?” He used the back of his hand to wipe away her spittle from his face.
“Touch me, and I’ll scream!” Valentina spoke through clenched jaws.
“I don’t mind screaming, feel free; nobody’ll come to your rescue.” He let go of her entirely and began unbuttoning his pants.
Grobin’s prediction proved correct. Valentina had screamed the entire time he ripped off her pants, pinned her to the floor, and took her body violently. The only good thing about the entire encounter was that it was mercifully short. Grobin finished swiftly and then left the room without a backward glance.
Valentina could hear his laughter and then his whistling as he moved down the hall. Frozen with fear, she could not even move enough to pull on her pants to cover herself. Her body started shaking as shock began to take over. Hearing a loud moaning cry, she suddenly realized it was her own voice. Her hands flew to her mouth to stifle the horrible sound as her mind began to register what had just happened to her.
She rolled onto her side, curling up into the fetal position as tears of rage and fear burned in her eyes. She kept both of her hands covering her mouth as her sobs ran into one another. Fear of hyperventilating overcame her as she struggled to breathe.
As if she were waking from a horrible nightmare, Valentina opened her eyes and slowly sat up. She pulled her pants over to her, fumbling in her attempt to put her feet into the legs holes. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to stop for a few seconds before she could continue. She managed to put her feet all the way through, and she bunched the fabric up by her knees.
With a hand on the wall for support, she managed to lever herself up from the floor and then pull her pants up the rest of the way. There was no way she could tell her brother what had happened if she planned on both of them leaving the ship alive. She had to protect her brother from ever finding out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
JENA REPEATED THE details she had learned from Juila to everyone in the room. She saw varying expressions between concern and hope. Their mother was anxious, whereas their father became excited to have a clue with which to work. Behn feared for both of his siblings since he had no idea what had been done to them because Juila had been separated from them. Rasa and Sofia had both shared in the experience with Juila so they had already processed the conversation and felt more confident because of Juila’s certainty that she could turn their situation around to their good.
Riccan returned to his office to look up information on his patil based on the new names and places Juila had reported. He also wanted to try and triangulate their last known location with the newest coordinates. If he could get close enough, he could use Amanda’s telepod to rescue them.
Amanda looked at the clock on the microwave and asked Behn, “Should you go home and tell your parents that Jon and Val are staying over tonight?”
“Probably, but I don’t want to miss out on any updates,” he replied with a shrug. He had promised his sister he would go home if they stayed out late and cover for them. It almost seemed as though she had known they would encounter a problem. He had to let go of that line of thinking since he was clearly reading more into an innocent comment than it deserved.
“We can call and let you know if we find out anything,” Amanda offered. She understood his fear since she felt the same thing because Juila was also involved. If she were in his shoes, she would probably want to stay the night as well.
“While we’re waiting, can anyone share with me why you all are here?” Sofia asked.
Rasa sat back on the couch with a grin on her face. She did not envy anyone in the room the answer to that question. She looked at Amanda to see what she might reply.
“It’s a very long story, Sofia. Seeing as we have some time on our hands while we’re waiting for an update, I guess we can tell you. My husband’s maternal line is completely from Tuala. His grandfather is originally from Roswell, New Mexico. Like his own father, he has spent half his lifetime in both places. It’s a similar situation for our daughters since I’m from here in Florida.”
Sofia tipped her head as she thought of something to ask and wondered if it would be impertinent for her to voice it. “Can I ask you something…kind of personal?”
“Sure,” Amanda answered, thinking she already knew what it was going to be.
“How is it you’re so young with the girls being sixteen. You don’t seem much older yourself than they are.” She glanced swiftly at Amanda before returning her gaze down to her hands in her lap.
“That’s a fair question, Sofia. I knew I’d have to answer it at some point. The fact of the matter is there was time-travel involved. When I was sent to Tuala by accident, I was also transported back in time several years. Likewise, my transfer back to Earth was not achieved through a sanctioned Gate, so the timing was also messed up. Needless to say, I’m technically only ten years older than my girls, which would be confusing for anybody.” Amanda had to chuckle at how ridiculous it actually sounded when she said it out loud.
“It must be hard,” Sofia began.
“It was at first. I was expecting them to be eight or nine when I went searching for them. When I found out they were almost sixteen, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Mostly I was sad for all of the missed time.”
“We had a good life, Mom. We visited you in your dreams, that was a gift to us from Jehoban,” Jena said to her mom. She did not want her to feel as though she had failed them in any way.
“I know, it’s still sad though. When you have children of your own, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
Sofia turned to Behn and said, “Jon told me what you said to him about your family. Is it true? Were you transported back in time as well?”
“Yes. Our mother did the best she could when she sent us away. She had no idea we’d be sent back eight years. For her, it’s only been just over a year since it happened. I’m sure she’s had to face the same feelings of loss at how old we’ve gotten without her knowing.” Behn nodded his understanding as he looked over to Amanda.
“Do you all have healing powers? What else can you do?” Sofia asked. She knew she had been changed by the healing and wondered if she also had powers of her own.
“Healing’s an advanced skill, and not everyone wants to learn it. We use elemental energy through the help of our birth crystal so we can do almost anything imaginable. You would consider it to be almost like magic,” Jena replied.
“You mentioned something about transference when Juila healed me. Does this mean I now have some powers as well? After all, I’ve been able to read both yours and Juila’s minds. And now I’ve helped you link minds with Juila even though she’s thousands of miles away. Can I le
arn to do the things you know?”
“I’m really not sure, Sofia. What happened with you is not common practice. Usually, when we heal someone, he or she is also from Tuala, so this doesn’t happen. Only time will tell what you are capable of doing now that you’ve learned to access that part of your brain.”
“I’d like it if you could help me learn as much as I can. I think it would be cool to be able to heal people. Imagine what would happen if everyone from Earth learned how to do the things you’re able to do!”
Rasa spoke up and said, “There’s nothing genetically different between the Earth’s people and the Tualans. We’ve often wondered and studied why the people here are unable to achieve the same things as we do so easily. It’s always been believed the birth crystal made the difference, but maybe we were wrong. Maybe it’s as simple as unlocking the right part of the brain.”
“When you talk about birth crystals, do you mean the pendants all of you wear around your necks? I’ve seen them before, but I never realized they had any real significance. Most of the time I don’t even notice them. In fact, I’ve never seen one on Mr. Stel or Mrs. Stel.” She looked over at Amanda.
“We both have them, yet it’s not required for us to wear them to be able to use them. As for the kids, they are unable to remove them until after they turn eighteen. The crystals give them protection from harm while they are young.”
“That’s good to know. At least we can take comfort in Juila, Valentina, and Jon each being protected then, huh?”
“I don’t know,” Rasa said slowly. “Since they are so far away from the Earth’s energy, I doubt they have access to the power or its protection. Juila is skilled enough that she could have translated herself as well as Val and Jon back to Earth if she had been able. I think she feels just as crippled as if she had been born on Earth.”
“That was the impression I had from her,” Jena agreed. “I think your assumption is correct.”
“That sucks,” Sofia said in the silence that followed Jena’s statement.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 13
