‘It’s a good thing I’m immortal then.’ Rhun had shrugged off the threat, remaining mindful of the chief’s words. For it was almost as if Maladaan was being a little too quiet, contented and trusting of their lot. If nothing was done there would be war, the Tablet of Destinies had foretold this, and no progress had been made on a solution to the planet’s displacement. Avery had been unable to find the elusive Grigori and so he was still none the wiser as to when Taren Lennox, whom they suspected held the key to Maladaan’s solution, was going to show up.
‘Why the worried face?’ Sybil inquired as she entered with morning tea.
‘You know why,’ Rhun grumbled, rising from his seat to take in the calming view beyond his balcony doors.
‘Everything is going to be fine,’ Sybil assured him, placing her tray on the desk to approach her husband and hug him from behind.
‘Do you know something I don’t?’ Rhun queried her carefree attitude; he’d told her of the Tablet’s predictions and until this morning she’d been as concerned as he was.
Sybil had to chuckle at the question. ‘I imagine I know a great many things you don’t,’ she toyed with him, and ducking under his arm she slinked around in front of him. ‘And I assure you again that everything will be fine.’ She kissed him passionately, but not in any rush.
Rhun was pleasantly surprised by her amorous mood, although he wondered what had happened to Sybil’s stance about keeping their work and love life separate. ‘Do we have time for this?’
‘About an hour,’ she whispered, sucking his earlobe and undoing his belt at once.
Rhun almost lost his train of thought at this point and, lifting his wife up, he carried her to the large window seat that they favoured. Once settled on the seat Rhun’s hands were freed to sneak up under Sybil’s gown. ‘What happens in an hour?’
Sybil could only grin at first. ‘Everything will be fine,’ she suggested at last, whereby Rhun was filled with joy by what he suspected she meant.
‘They’re here, aren’t they?’ he prompted, more excited than he’d been in a long time.
‘Let me put it this way …’ Sybil took hold of his face and directed all his attention and enthusiasm her way. ‘You are about to become very distracted, and we may not get this chance again for some time, so … make the most of it.’ She kissed him again and Rhun fell into her seduction gladly, inspired by pending events and, ever thankful for her foresight, he showed his appreciation in the most pleasurable way he knew how.
Within his Otherworldly realm, Avery was deep in meditation, as he’d been for many weeks on and off. He was basing himself on Kila for the time being; not in the city, but as far from it as possible. He was focused upon his task of attempting to contact the Grigori and he knew damn well that the causal angels heard his calls for an audience, but they were not compelled to comply.
Rhun would be hitting the roof by now, and Avery wanted some good news to give his brother before he reported back to him. A hopelessness had begun to creep into Avery’s attitude and even he was beginning to wonder if the Grigori had just dumped their problem in his quarter along with a lot of false promises and pissed off.
There you are.
His father’s voice drew him from his inward focus and Avery opened his eyes to find the same Grigorian angel who had visited him before, only Azazèl was wearing the masculine form today, and had Armaros and Sammael with him. ‘What do you mean, here I am?’ Avery directed his frustration at Azazèl. ‘I’ve been trying to contact you for a month!’
We’ve got something to show you. Azazèl smiled and their surrounds went into a spin.
When the environs came to a standstill, Avery was standing alone inside a spacecraft and through the large shield window before him was the planet Maladaan.
‘Oh shit! You’ve brought me into one of Maladaan’s spacecraft?’ Avery was horrified, sure that if anyone caught him here he’d cause an international incident.
The answers you seek are before you.
Avery heard Azazèl’s reply in his mind, and if the Grigorian was anything like his father he was probably being quite literal. He cast his sights downward and lying at his feet were two bodies, both of whom he recognised at once. ‘Holy mother of creation!’ It wasn’t often that the Lord of the Otherworld was stunned, but he could scarcely believe his own eyes.
He knelt beside the young couple to see if he could scrutinise any differences between these two and the parents he remembered. This man was his father, yet not the huge hulk of a man Maelgwn Gwynedd had been, but rather slender, fit and every bit as tall. The woman lacked the warrior form of Tory Alexander and was a brunette, where his mother had been a blonde, but otherwise she was just as he remembered her.
A huge emotional wave flooded Avery’s senses as he realised how much he’d missed his parents and how heartening it was to see them again. Even though technically they had no idea who he was, or who any of the Chosen were for that matter, their presence would bring much joy back on Kila.
Avery stood and looked about, through the ship walls, down through several decks, and the ship appeared to be deserted. It also appeared to be heading straight towards Maladaan.
What to do? Avery pondered, and as no answers were forthcoming from the cosmos, the Lord figured the Grigori had left him to it.
The big question was, did anyone know these two people were here? Would anyone know if he just transported them back to Kila? The ship, too, was it close enough to the planet to be on their scopes yet?
I need Ronan, Avery decided, and Rhun. And with that thought, he was gone.
After some time to rest and adjust to his new outlook, Ronan had responded to Kestler’s request for a meeting and the aged professor suggested they meet in the courtyard of the healing complex.
The chief expected to be confronted with anger and hostility from the man he had wronged. But when he spotted the professor sitting in the shade of a large tree with a chequered board game on the table in front of him, his fear ebbed.
The professor invited the chief to be seated at the table, where game pieces were aligned in two rows at opposing sides of the board.
‘This is a local strategy game,’ Kestler advised, ‘care to learn?’
Only two weeks ago the chief would have told the man to ‘fuck off and get to the point’, but Ronan was so far removed from his old mentality that he smiled, genuinely delighted by the offer. ‘I would like to, very much.’
It took a half an hour of being beaten in only a few moves by the professor for Ronan to learn the game’s complexities, and he was now taking far longer to access his moves.
‘You don’t seem at all the monster I took you for, Ronan,’ commented Kestler.
‘Oh, I was,’ Ronan assured him, carefully moving his queen into position to take Kestler’s castle, but keeping his finger on the piece as he checked again that she could not be taken by his opponent.
‘But surely you were not born ruthless?’ Kestler reasoned.
The chief shook his head to confirm. ‘The diagnosis seems to be that I shut off my heart when I lost my son. I then vented my frustration at his untouchable psychic girlfriend upon any bloody psychic I could find, which finally culminated in a massive heart attack and a near-death experience.’
‘But I am not psychic.’ Kestler wondered why he had been targeted.
‘You were a threat to secret service covert interests.’ Ronan finally let go of his queen and looked to Kestler. ‘I know that sounds cold, and it was … but I can assure you that that decision was the second-worst call I have ever made …’ Ronan’s emotions began to well and he did not bother trying to repress them. If he looked like an idiot in front of the professor, humiliation was a small price to pay for what he’d nearly done to this brilliant and distinguished gentleman. ‘I have had cause to regret that decision on many levels in the past few weeks. When our planet shifted, you were the only person I needed. Your expertise cannot be replaced, and I should have considered that. In fact,
all life is a precious and mysterious thing!’ Ronan corrected himself. ‘But I see now that I did lose all regard for life along with Yasper … the worst call I ever made resulted in his death.’ The chief’s voice rasped and he hung his head to quickly wipe his face with his robe sleeve and catch his breath. ‘I can only thank the Chosen that we are both still alive,’ he raised his head and looked directly at Kestler, ‘so that I can beg your forgiveness, Professor, for I am indeed sincerely sorry for all the wrongs I have done you.’
‘Be at peace, Chief, do I look worried about where your offences have landed me?’ the old professor asked, light-heartedly. ‘It seems to me that you have suffered enough without me adding to the torment. There is no ill will here.’
‘You are too forgiving.’ The chief felt such an easy absolution was not befitting his offences.
‘Life is too short,’ the professor said as he looked back to the game. ‘If you wish to make amends, then focus on the game and give me a little bit of a challenge!’ Kestler used his knight to take Ronan’s queen.
Ronan was stunned a moment. ‘Those bloody knights!’
The Lord of the Otherworld manifested alongside their garden setting, nearly scaring both men out of their wits.
‘Sorry to intrude like this, gentlemen, but I urgently need to consult with Chief Ronan.’ He placed a hand on Ronan’s shoulder.
‘I shall return.’ Ronan raised a hand to wave to Kestler, having grown accustomed to being whizzed off by the Chosen from place to place over the past month or so.
‘Not to worry,’ Kestler waved off the interruption, ‘I would have had you in checkmate in the next move anyway.’ He turned up both hands in conclusion and Ronan was gone before he could dispute the professor’s premonition.
Avery arrived in the governor’s office to find both Rhun and the secretary of state appearing a little flustered — their dress was in a dishevelled state and their hair was tousled. Some of Sybil’s rouge had found its way onto Rhun’s cheek, and she was in the process of trying to remove it as Avery and Ronan arrived.
‘Ah, Avery …’ Rhun pulled himself from the scrubbing to greet their guests, ‘… we’ve been expecting you.’
‘Just lost track of the time then, did we?’ Avery mocked, as clearly his brother had been focused on more personal matters.
‘Just a little make-up malfunction,’ commented Sybil, with much amusement, as she quickly moved to retrieve the tray of cold, un-poured tea from the governor’s desk.
‘I need you to come.’ Avery strode over, dragging Ronan with him, and took hold of his brother.
‘Where are we …’
‘… going?’ Rhun eyed the control bridge in the craft where he’d landed and gazed out to the planet beyond. ‘Are you insane?’ He realised they were on one of Maladaan’s ships.
‘Good heavens!’ exclaimed the chief as he looked around. ‘This is the Astro-Marine Institute Explorer! I thought it was still back in our original universe,’ he explained his excitement. ‘If it could get here, then maybe Maladaan has some hope of getting back there!’
‘So no one on Maladaan knows that this vessel is here yet?’ Avery got the answer he was looking for.
‘I doubt it,’ Ronan commented, ‘as the crossover took out all our satellites, our deep space radar capabilities are a bit limited at present.’
‘By the Goddess.’ Rhun spotted the unconscious pair on the floor and when Ronan saw them he gasped.
‘I should leave,’ he said resolutely. ‘This woman and I have a history, and if she wakes to find me here with you, she is going to assume the worst.’
Avery understood the caution. ‘Governor?’ he called for Rhun’s instruction.
‘Take him back to Chailida,’ he instructed, ‘I’ll hide these two.’
Avery didn’t bother asking where; the Lord could find them with a thought now that he knew they were here. ‘What about the ship?’
‘I’ll shut it down and leave it, just in case it’s been spotted,’ Rhun advised. ‘We’re the only ones who know that there was anyone on board, and I want it to stay that way.’
All three men nodded.
‘See you soon,’ Avery advised as he vanished with the chief.
There was only one place in Rhun’s mind where he could take these two and ensure they remained a secret. He placed his hands on both the unconscious souls before him and brought to mind an image of the interior of the remote lake house.
Noah was just in the process of packing to head back to his city abode for the start of the school year, when he heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate.
He’d been very anxious since he’d spoken with the governor last — a whole month and still no word on any of the Tablet’s predictions.
Needless to say he was relieved to find Rhun standing in the middle of his lounge room, wearing a smile from ear to ear. ‘Guess who I found?’
‘No.’ Noah couldn’t believe it and rushed down the stairs into the sunken living area, to behold two unconscious bodies on the floor, who were the very image of their dearly departed leaders. ‘There is truly no avoiding destiny,’ he uttered, amazed.
‘I need you to hide them for me,’ Rhun instructed, ‘no one must know they are here.’
‘But the school term starts in little over a week.’ Noah knew he would surely be missed then.
‘Hopefully they will come out of this coma and we’ll have some kind of plan before you are required to return.’ Rhun was making this up as he went along. ‘Is Rebecca here?’
‘No,’ Noah replied, ‘she left to return to KEPA yesterday.’
‘Good,’ Rhun decided, ‘all the simpler … if any of my siblings get wind of this, we’ll have all and sundry dropping by and that might be a little distressing when these two have no idea who any of us are!’
‘I understand,’ Noah concurred. ‘But these beings are not immortal like us — don’t you think Cadfan should take a look at them?’
Rhun was thoughtful a moment. ‘If they don’t emerge by tomorrow, I’ll send for him.’
‘In the meantime, they might be more comfortable upstairs,’ Noah suggested, and then assisted his governor to move them both.
When the pair were comfortably laid out beside one another in the master bedroom, Rhun had Noah submerge the lake house to await their guests’ return to consciousness.
‘It’s a while since I beheld a true miracle,’ Noah commented, as he and Rhun gazed at the couple, the light in the room dimming as the lake house sank into the lake.
‘Since they left, I think you’ll find, En Noah,’ Rhun bantered, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
Noah’s expectant grin broadened also. ‘Now we must not have too high an expectation of these people; they may not be at all as we remember them.’
Rhun shook his head to disagree. ‘Adventure, in the pursuit of knowledge and justice, is their soul essence; that will never change.’ He looked to En Noah in the fading watery light. ‘So, I’m reckoning that we had best prepare for action.’
PART 2
MALADAAN ‘PLANET OF SECRETS’
8
BACK HOME
Zeven Gudrun trudged his way back home to the small but exclusive apartment that he shared with his girlfriend here in the government sector of Heavensgate on Sermetica. Since his employment with the AMIE project had come to an end, President Anselm of Sermetica had conscripted him into the United Systems Secret Service, and Zeven had been running secret missions for him ever since. As a psychic he had little choice but to assist the USSS, or he’d be restrained and would certainly never see the inside of a spacecraft again. Zeven still loved flying fast craft more than sex, and that was really saying something!
He was not looking forward to telling the little woman that he was being sent on another long mission so soon; they had very few close friends left since the crew of AMIE had disbanded and Aurora got very lonely during his long absences. She had not been a happy camper of late; in fact neither of the
m had found planet-bound life very much to their liking, and moving in together might have been their biggest mistake. He loved Aurora, but she limited his options considerably. He’d be a top-level government operative by now, if he’d still been single; in fact he probably wouldn’t even be in this universe, as he would have stayed with AMIE.
But he’d made his choice, in a traumatic moment of emotion and turmoil, and now he had to live with that decision for the rest of his born days. A memory of waving his captain and Taren Lennox goodbye filled him with remorse, but, heaving a heavy sigh, he shook off the memory and opened his front door.
Zeven expected to find Aurora in the kitchen murdering dinner, or watching something in the lounge, but an eerie silence hung in the apartment. ‘Rory?’ He moved into the bedroom to find her zipping up her bags. ‘Are you going somewhere?’ he asked, before jumping to conclusions.
Rory rolled her eyes. ‘Look, we both know this isn’t working, Starman, so please don’t make out like this is a big surprise.’
Zeven felt she had a nerve. ‘If you were just going to leave, then why did you make me stay?’
‘Ooooh!’ The comment made her furious. ‘I had no intention of leaving you! But then I didn’t realise that you would forever resent me for making you stay,’ she yelled, as if she’d been dying to get that off her chest for a while; but then she calmed. ‘I’m sorry … my bad.’ She held up a hand in truce. ‘You are a free spirit, Starman, and I should never have asked you to stay.’
‘I wanted to stay,’ he said, ‘at the time, I truly did.’