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Rayen passed through the opening Kaz made in the warding and ignored the way his eyes searched her face for answers. When she put her hand out, he handed her the laptop, then she continued on.
On her last visit here, he’d tried to tell her that she was stepping between Callan and his destiny, interfering with the natural order of the MystiK world.
It took a while to sink in, but she now accepted the truth.
Callan was not hers to feel jealousy over, or this deep, wrenching loss that she couldn’t make stop. Yes, she accepted that, but it didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.
When she reached the central area of the village, children were eating and arguing and running around.
Gabby and Jaxxson stood in the middle of the chaos, handing out food and keeping peace between Kenja’s Uberon Warriors and the kids of Callan’s village, some warriors and some from other Houses. Except for their leader, not one of the Uberons was over the age of thirteen, but they were a deadly lot that had to be kept under control.
Gabby stood on the ground. Huh. Evidently, she’d solved her levitation problem.
Kenja strode into the scene, at least six feet tall and strongly muscled. She surveyed her warriors as one would look over an army at rest, then her gray-green eyes swept over to Rayen.
They’d had their differences, one that had ended with her sending Kenja flying across fifty feet to slam against a tree. She hadn’t tested Rayen since then. Rayen’s power was hiding again, but the look on her face should warn anyone against crossing her now. She would do what was right and honorable, but she couldn’t be held responsible for any reaction to someone’s bad attitude.
While she’d kept track of the Uberon leader, Kenja crossed the village common area and stopped in front of Rayen. “So? Were you successful or not?”
Callan chose that moment to walk up. “I’m back, if that’s your question, Kenja.”
“Then I have fulfilled my duty and will take my Uberons away from here.”
“The TecKnati are going to attack.”
Kenja’s tone dismissed Callan and his claim. “I am not worried about my people. They are skilled in ways the TecKnati will never understand or be able to combat.”
Tension sheared off Callan. Rayen wasn’t empathic like Kaz, at least she didn’t think she was, but she could feel Callan’s anger seeping out with every harsh breath.
He made a rough scoffing sound. “You know what? Fine. My duty is to my people, the ones who trust me to protect them. My people believe me when I tell them the TecKnati have created a laser grid that can neutralize our powers, and you witnessed it being used on me.”
Kenja’s eyes flared as if insulted, but even if she had wanted to speak up, Callan wasn’t done.
“If you’re so independent you can’t see past your nose and realize that we’re stronger as a unit, then take your Uberon children and lead them to their deaths. As they die, remind them what a powerful leader you are and how they should feel honored to die for you, because the TecKnati are coming for all of us. All. Of. Us. You step outside the ward around this village and you’re on your own. I’m not risking any of my people to come after you, because my duty is to keep the MystiKs in this village safe.”
Zilya and Etoi had just walked into the common area when Zilya noticed Callan and changed direction to join them.
Just great.
Rayen found a tree to lean against so that she could stand to the side and not fall on her face from lack of sleep. She was growing more tired as the adrenaline rush subsided, too tired to interfere in whatever was going to play out between Kenja and Callan.
Kenja hadn’t liked what Callan said. From the fire in her glare, Rayen wondered if they were going to have a replay of their last battle. Unlike that time, when Callan pulled back to keep from harming Kenja, he might not be so considerate right now with her threatening to take children from this village.
He would do anything to protect these children, even fight Kenja for real.
Zilya stepped up between Kenja and Callan. “What’s going on? As senior leader from the Governing House, I—”
“Shut up!” Kenja shouted as Callan snapped, “Stay out of this.”
Zilya took a step back as if she’d been hit. Her mouth dropped open. Etoi gripped her spear in a tight fist, but wisely held her tongue for once.
Kenja turned to Callan and one side of her mouth curved up with a ... smile? Yes, Kenja found something humorous about all this tension. She told Callan, “I may have judged you too quickly. Your brother was groomed to be the next leader, but I would never have followed him into battle. I will stay and we will defend this pitiful village together, because that is what warriors do.”
Callan let out a long breath and after a moment he extended his hand. Kenja gripped it, and they shook.
When she released him, she swung to face an audience of children and called out, “Silence.”
Quiet fell over the rumble.
Kenja said, “Uberons, when you finish your meal, which will be in no more than six minutes, you will meet me at the west wall for our evening drills.”
A resounding “Yes, Doyen!” shouted, then the kids returned to eating.
The term doyen bumped around in Rayen’s mind until she brought up the meaning as one of respect.
Before Kenja walked away, she told Callan, “If the TecKnati bring the weapons they had the last time, your ward may not hold.”
Rayen heard a noise of someone moving up to the group and Becka appeared. The royal girl said, “The TecKnati complained that equipment they used as weapons was taken out of the Sphere, but I heard Thylan speaking to his scouts about taking the grid components apart and turning it into a weapon to use against you ... if he didn’t get the computer.”
Everyone looked at Rayen right then.
She had the computer tucked under one arm. “They can’t have this. Thylan believes this computer is something called the Genera-Y computer, but it’s not. Until he figures that out, he isn’t going to risk destroying it, but the minute he realizes he’s been played he will attack this village and destroy everything. He’s insane.”
Zilya found her voice. “Who is Thylan?”
Callan answered, “SEOH’s son.”
Zilya shook her head and sounded appalled. “Attacking us would be the height of insanity. If the TeKs could kill us outright, SEOH would have done that already. If they wipe out this village, an equal number of TecKnati children die at the same moment back home.”
Gabby and Jaxxson were heading over as Rayen told Zilya, “I understand the whole treaty thing and Thylan probably does, too, but I’m not sure he cares. I really don’t think he’s mentally sound.”
Callan’s gaze had strayed to her while she spoke. She could feel him staring at the cut on her cheek and wanted nothing more than for him to come over and hold her. No matter that she could defend herself, the memory of Thylan’s attack was an ugly blotch that lingered in her thoughts.
But then she caught Becka looking over at Callan with big round eyes, begging him to notice her.
Or was she looking past Callan to where Kaz had quietly joined them? No, that was a bad case of wishful thinking on Rayen’s part. She and Kaz apparently disliked each other because she’d obviously not wanted to ride his tortalone. He hadn’t offered either.
Etoi shouted because that was her only volume, asking Becka, “Who are you?”
For all of Becka’s delicateness, she whipped a haughty glare at Etoi. “I am Becka of the Creativity House, and you are not to speak with that tone to anyone at my level.”
Etoi surged forward, but Zilya touched her arm and that produced the same result as giving an order to a well-trained animal. Etoi glowered at Becka, but she backed down in the face of Becka’s arched eyebrow daring her to speak.
Lifting her chin with regal arrogance, Zilya said, “I’m sorry you were captured, but you are welcome in our village. You are G’ortian, correct?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I am Zilya of the Governing House. We have food and will find you somewhere to rest tonight.”
“Thank you. I would like a bath as well.”
A bath? To be honest, Rayen would like a bath, too, but since she didn’t recall anything resembling the bathroom back at the Institute, she was out of luck and so was Becka.
Kaz had refrained from speaking until now, but Callan must have spoken to Kaz telepathically because Kaz jerked around to Callan and shook his head.
Callan said nothing and moved no muscle. He just stared at Kaz until Kaz took a deep breath and called out, “Zilya.” When Kaz had her attention, he said, “Once Becka bathes, let me know and I’ll create a kamara for her.”
Becka swung around and tossed a look from Kaz to Callan, then back to Kaz. “You? That’s inappropriate.”
Callan finally said, “Things are different here, Becka. We do whatever it takes to survive. I’m too drained to build one. Zilya’s power is for the children first. We assume you’d like privacy. That being the case, it’s either a kamara by Kaz or you sleep outdoors.”
She looked as though Callan had suggested running naked through the village. “I must have a kamara.”
Callan told Etoi, “Get with Kenja and fortify the perimeters.” When she opened her mouth, he added, “Don’t give me a reason to discipline you. I’m not in the mood. Push me, and you won’t like the way it turns out.”
Gabby came over to Rayen and touched the cut on her cheek. “Are you okay?”
No, she wanted to find a corner to curl up in and sleep, but that wasn’t happening yet.
Callan started toward her.
Kaz sent Rayen a condemning look as if she was pulling Callan’s strings.
She straightened from the tree and told Gabby, “I’m fine.”
“No, you aren’t,” Callan said, contradicting her. “You have a cut on your face, and I saw another cut on your arm. Where else are you hurt?”
“Nowhere that you need to be concerned about.”
“Rayen—”
“Don’t.” That was the only word she could get out between the painful thumpings of her heart. That single word managed to cut off whatever Callan was about to say.
If he comforted her right now, she’d forget about her resolve to do what was best for everyone.
Well, everyone but her.
Kaz stepped up, clearly trying to draw Callan’s attention. “We need to talk about the warding.”
Callan kept his eyes on Rayen. “What’s the problem?”
“The ward isn’t going to hold. We have to redo it, but we need more power.”
That broke her and Callan’s staring match. He asked Kaz, “How do you know it’s weak?”
“We had a dugurat get inside last night.”
Gabby exclaimed, “You found some more dugurats?”
Only Gabby would miss the point about the weakness in the perimeter and focus on something that reminded her of a pet back in her world, but these animals had peculiar hair and a brain that never grew beyond puppy stage.
Jaxxson put his hand on Gabby’s shoulder, smiling at her. “One dugurat and I have her locked away for now because they can be aggressive when expecting.”
“She’s pregnant!” Gabby’s smile took over her face. “We have more pupples coming.”
“Yes.”
Rayen had to laugh at the thrill in Gabby’s voice. If only they could all be that happy in the darkest of times.
Gabby’s ponytails bounced with her animation over the news. “When can I see her?”
Her question interrupted something going on between Kaz and Callan, who were exchanging murderous looks again.
Breaking away from Callan, Kaz replied, “I have to inspect the ward with Callan then ... take care of Becka, but Jaxxson will be able to take you to the dugurat once he’s free. Don’t go without one of us, because she’s not friendly in her condition.”
Gabby waved the issue off. “That’s fine. I want to take care of Rayen’s injuries first anyhow.”
Callan whipped around at the reminder that Rayen had been hurt.
She was done with all this tension and told Gabby, “I’m not hurt that badly.” At least not physically. “But I’ll let you do your healing thing if you can find a place away from ... everyone.” Before Rayen turned her back on Callan, she reminded him, “V’ru needs to see you and know you’re safe. He was deeply depressed while you were gone and wouldn’t leave his bubble. Tony got him to come out and help us. I think V’ru is better, but he’s still a scared child.”
“I’m on my way to see him next.” Callan held himself still, but she could tell he wanted to say more. If she had given him any encouragement, he would’ve, but she didn’t. She turned to follow Gabby.
“Follow me.” Gabby walked away, tossing a look at Jaxxson, whose eyes were only for her. Gabby returned the look with a flirty one.
She waved at Jaxxson and nodded, another silent conversation. Two happy people in this place, but for how long? Gabby had to go home and so did Jaxxson.
Rayen wanted everyone to be able to go home.
In fact, she wanted to go home. She wanted to be somewhere that it mattered whether she lived or died.
The vision of riding across the desert at night with her father had replayed through her mind all day. Had he sent her to the shaman knowing she would be spun away to another time?
“Here we are,” Gabby announced.
With being so lost in her thoughts, Rayen hadn’t realized where she was going. Six-foot-tall blue tortalone feathers strapped together formed the walls. They were attached to some rough posts, something the MystiKs had created by hand.
She dropped her head back to look up. There was no roof. “Whose place is this?”
“Jaxxson’s healing hut.”
“Does he care if we’re in here?”
“No.” To prove her words, Gabby went about picking up bowls and a woven piece the size of two hands. Pointing at a slab of blue-gray wood supported by two tree stumps, she said, “Have a seat.”
Rayen obeyed and watched her friend carry a container over that she set in front of her. It was a scooped-out piece of wood, the size of three hand widths, with a carved exterior, and full of water, or whatever they had here that passed as water. “First,” Gabby suggested, “why don’t you clean up?”
She handed Rayen a rag and a chunk of something that smelled floral.
Rayen used it to scrub the dirt from her arms and face, feeling better with being clean. Gabby kept herself busy while Rayen washed under her shirt and anywhere she could get to without stripping off all her clothes since Jaxxson might walk in at any moment.
When she was done, Gabby came over carrying a stump. She placed it on the ground in front of Rayne and plopped down. Gabby opened her hand and waited until Rayen held her arm out. She carefully turned it, studying the gash on Rayen’s arm. “It’s not bleeding any more. What’d you get hit with?”
“Thylan thought he was going to force himself on me. When I told him it was a bad idea, he pulled off a wide belt and started hitting me with it.”
Her lips scrunched up with a bitter twist. “What a coward.” Then she placed her fingers over Rayen’s cut and whispered a jumble of words.
Whatever she was doing soothed the aches everywhere Rayen had been hit. When Gabby let go of her, Rayen could still feel where the cut had been, but now it was a scar on her arm and when she touched her cheek.
Gabby said, “That will be better tomorrow. I focused my attention on the ones that I sensed were more painful. You should be able to heal yourself.”
“I can, or at least I’ve done it before, but I needed Callan to show me how to direct my power. You’ve figured it out though. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I only wish you’d have made that slimeball pay.”
“I did when my power finally showed up. It has a mind of its own sometimes. But when it did come through, I had my hand on the computer. My power turned the computer into a screeching animal. Thylan’s ears and nose bled. I got him back.”
The computer! Rayen slapped a hand on her forehead at forgetting about the stupid thing. “Where are Tony and V’ru?”
“Tony said he was going to help V’ru with the prophecy and do some geek therapy. I heard V’ru laughing a little while later. Jaxxson called it a miracle. He said no one had been able to get through to V’ru after Callan was gone.”
“I’m sure Callan stopped by to see him.”
“Let’s forget about them and the computer for now,” Gabby suggested. “Let’s talk about Mathias.”
Rayen stilled. What could she share with her friend without breaking her word again? “What about Mathias?”
“To begin with, he’s dead.”
Holding her breath from shock, Rayen struggled to figure out what to say. Who had told her? Callan wouldn’t have, but he and Rayen, plus Kaz, were the only three who knew. Had Gabby told anyone, like Jaxxson? “Uhm...”
“Hold it, Rayen. I know you gave him your vow that you wouldn’t tell and although I think we’re close enough friends by now that you should have told me, I’m not holding you to the friend rule.”
Rayen let out her breath. “How did you find out?”
“Mathias told me.”
That was not what she thought Gabby was going to say. Rayen opened and closed her mouth, at a loss for words that would be right in this situation. She gave up and said, “You’re going to have to explain this to me.”
Gabby sat with her hands clasped between her knees and gave her the most serious look Rayen had ever seen on her face. “Mathias came to me. I can see him, but Jaxxson can’t. He’s telling me things.” She waited for Rayen to say something. When that didn’t happen, she said, “You must see a ghost sometimes, too. You’ve talked to someone at times that Tony and I couldn’t see or hear.”
True. Rayen’s grumpy ghost. “Yes, I have an ancestor who shows up from time to time, but I have no control over when he appears. What about Mathias?”
“He appeared briefly before we left the Sphere the last time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried, but we were a little busy if you recall.”
Yes, they’d been rushing to make the transender so they could find a computer to bring back. “You’re right. We haven’t had time to talk about anything. So, uhm, do you know how Mathias died?”
Gabby’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears and her voice came out raw. “It was awful. The wraiths that took him came and found him when he was talking to me. I screwed up the first time I saw him on this trip and said his name.” She swallowed. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Again? How many times have you seen him?”
“Three. The first time was on our last trip and twice today. He’s trying to tell me about the prophecy, but he gets dragged away. His spirit is weakening all the time. We have to save him. If he doesn’t cross over soon, he’ll be stuck forever with the wraiths and his spirit will remain a shadow of itself for eternity.”
Rayen grabbed Gabby’s hands. “Tell me what we have to do, and I’ll do it.”
“Mathias says we have to fulfill the prophecy.”
Dropping her hands, Rayen sat up and ran a hand over her face. Why couldn’t the answers ever be easy? When she lowered her hand, she asked, “How are we going to fulfill the prophecy with Callan and the other MystiKs stuck in this place? I don’t see any chance of them going home before that BIRG Con ceremony tomorrow and it sounds like all the parts of the prophecy must happen there. I have no idea what to do. It’s taking all everyone can manage to keep the MystiKs alive while they’re here.”
“Mathias said he’s watched V’ru search archives when V’ru thought translating the prophecy might save Callan from the TecKnati. Mathias said there was a legend about an ancient analog computer that was created by the first TecKnati sent back in time, which didn’t make sense at first.”
“Why?”
“Because as far as we know, the first machines that we consider real computers back home were built in the mid 1940s.”
Rayen did a quick calculation. “That means the ancient analog one would have been created long before your time.”
“Right. A TecKnati was sent back in time as the first test for time travel, but he ended up further in the past than expected. He landed in ancient Greece.”
“How did he build a computer back then?”
“It wasn’t one with components like the computers we have today or, uhm ...” Gabby waved her hands around. “You know, not today as here in the Sphere, but current day in the past where I live.” She took a breath and muttered, “That sounds so screwed up, but whatever.”
Then she continued. “The story Mathias told me was that this TecKnati sent back in time picked a name from the era he landed in. He called himself Antonis because that was the day he arrived in Greece.”
“You mean like the day of the week?”
“No, the Greeks actually named every day of the year back then. Based on that name, Antonis arrived on January 17. Weird, but whatever. Antonis was not thrilled to be sent back to primitive life in Greece, but it wasn’t so bad once he fell in love with a woman called Lysandra who had unusual powers.”
“Was she something like a MystiK?”
Gabby shrugged. “Maybe. That’s how it sounded to me. Anyhow, when Lysandra showed her powers to Antonis, he told her about how the world was headed toward destruction in the future. She convinced him it was their duty to fix things so that technology and natural gifts could coexist in a balanced world, and she showed him how he could live in peace with someone who had natural gifts. This Antonis decided he would create a computer that would send him and her far into the future. He figured out what had gone wrong during the first time he traveled back in time and believed he could travel forward in time until just before the K-Virus showed up, then keep it from killing so much of the population in the future.”
Rayen wasn’t the person to argue computers or technology, but even she knew that didn’t make sense. “How was Antonis going to make this computer work two-thousand years ago with no power source?”
“That’s what I asked. Mathias said the computer had to be a sentient machine, which meant that Lysandra would have to power it using her gifts.”
Call Rayen impatient, but she was exhausted from no sleep last night and dealing with Thylan. She was having a hard time following Gabby. “How does all that have anything to do with figuring out the prophecy?”
“I’m getting there and jumping ahead is only going to confuse you.”
Nope, she was already confused. “Please continue.”
“One of the fetial came to Antonis and his wife to warn them about—”
“A fee what?”
“I knew you were going to ask that.” Gabby scratched her head in a spot between the multi-ponytails. “From what I gathered, a fetial was a group of twenty Roman officials, sort of a cross between priests and peacemakers. They worshipped the god Jupiter. Anyhow, one of them was not quite like the others. His skin was darker than most Romans and he had the sharp cheekbones found on those from Eastern Asia. He had shamanic-like powers that the others didn’t, so they tiptoed around this guy.”
Rayen held up her hand and counted as she pointed out what she knew. “Antonis was a TeK sent back to ancient Greece. He met a MystiK woman name Lysandra and built a sentient computer. What did the fetial-shaman-priest warn Antonis about?”
Gabby gave her a look she usually saved for Tony. “I know your day probably sucked more than mine but have a little patience Rayen. I’m trying to explain this.”
Rayen hadn’t meant to sound so irritable. “Sorry. I’m just ready to fall over and I have a bad feeling this story isn’t going to end well.”
That would have been a great time for Gabby to smile and tell her to have a little faith, too, but she didn’t. Rayen’s sense of impending doom expanded, threatening to suck the air from the room.
She nodded at Gabby. “Go on.”
“It took Antonis almost two years to build his device out of cyprium, their name for copper. The shaman guy shows up one day and tells Antonis that rumors were flying about Antonis building a war device. Antonis denied it and this shaman guy believed him, but that didn’t change the fact that Antonis stood to have his head cut off or die some other horrible way. He finished the device, but he and his wife had not been able to get it to work, so when the shaman came to tell them they had to flee, Antonis packed up his wife and the device. They joined the shaman, who smuggled all of them onboard a ship leaving port that day.”
As if a switch had been thrown, Gabby stopped talking, sat up straight and stared at nothing.
Rayen whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Gabby held her index finger up for her to wait then nodded to herself and returned to Rayen. “There’s a problem with the ward. I have to go help Jaxxson and the others, but I want to tell you this first.”
“Did you just talk to Jaxxson telepathically?”
She smiled and her cheeks pinked with embarrassment. “Yes.”
“That’s amazing.” Rayen smiled back at her, glad to have Gabby and Tony with her. She hated for them to be subjected to all this, but she couldn’t ask for better friends right now.
Gabby got serious. “Listen up. This is pieced together from spoken history, mythology, and MystiK visions so I’m just going to tell you what Mathias told me. As the ship Antonis was on left the dock, his wife had a vision that they wouldn’t survive the trip, so while Antonis and his wife hid below deck, he tried once again to make the device work. Nothing happened until the shaman came down and told Antonis that he would change the course of the world, but not the way Antonis thought.”
That sounded like the shaman Rayen had spoken to in the past who made no sense. Why couldn’t people just say what they meant? But she kept her thoughts to herself, letting Gabby get out what she had to say.
“Antonis ignored the Shaman, but his wife suggested combining their power for the device. The details get a little vague at that point, but someone on the Greek island of Antikythera saw the water spinning up around the ship, then an explosion of light and the ship sank. That sunken ship was discovered in the early 1900s along with an engineered mechanism made of copper gears. That mechanism has since been called the Antikythera computer.”
Rayen’s lips parted in shock. “How is that any help?”
“I had the same reaction, Rayen, but Mathias said the point is that it’s believed they overloaded the power, and the device blew a hole in the ship instead of activating the time travel.”
Gabby stood up, floated a moment. The muscles in her face showed the strain as she came back down to the ground.
“You figured out the levitating?”
“Jaxxson thinks I did, but Mathias actually showed me how to get control of my power.”
“You didn’t tell Jaxxson about seeing Mathias?”
Gabby hit her with a sharp stare. “No, just as you didn’t tell me about Mathias. I gave my word.”
Point taken. “Is that all you have to tell me about the prophecy, because I’m still confused.”
“No, but I have to hurry. I can tell Jaxxson is getting anxious waiting on me.” Before Rayen could ask how she knew that Gabby finished explaining. “The prophecy supposedly originated with that shaman named Damianus who received the words in a vision and told the prophecy to Jupiter before leaving on the ship. Jupiter has since passed it on to others through visions. Mathias is convinced we need a sentient computer with MystiK power sources to fulfill the prophecy and once that happens the MystiKs will be sent home.”
Rayen jumped to her feet. “Gabby, there’s no way to bring the real computer we travel through here and this one—” She lifted the laptop. “—wouldn’t work today. It isn’t sentient and all I managed to do was shove so much power into it that I almost destroyed it.”
Gabby swatted a lock of hair out of her eyes, a motion more about frustration than her hair being a problem. Her voice was thick with emotion. “If we don’t figure this out, Mathias will never cross over. But that’s not why he’s coming to tell me all this. Mathias continues to guide this village even from death. He said if the prophecy is not fulfilled by the time the red moon sets tomorrow, everyone still in the Sphere will die.”
