| |
As the morning wore on and they all woke, Alice and Noah talked in greater detail about what had happened when she went home. He had many questions about their father; anger and grief warring with each other over Ivan’s behavior.
Katerina tried to draw Caleb out but he wasn’t particularly forthcoming. Eventually he told her he was still tired and wanted to sleep again, turning away and closing his eyes. Feeling rebuffed, Katerina got up to find Noah watching her. He waved her over, moving so she could sit beside him.
“What was that about?” he asked quietly so Caleb would not hear.
Katerina sighed. “I was asking about his life back home, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it.”
“He’s pretty nervous. How about you? What’s it going to be like for you if you go back?”
“Honestly, it’s hard to know. Aaron told me a few days ago my parents aren’t who I thought they were. It feels like that’s changed everything.”
“What do you mean? What did he tell you?”
“I always thought they had boring jobs working for the government but it seems they work for the government in jobs that are far from boring. They investigate extra-terrestrial stuff — like this world.”
“Are you serious? That’s pretty amazing!”
“Yeah, well, my family is kind of unusual. I have an aunt and uncle in the CIA and another uncle in the armed forces, pretty high up apparently. When I was a kid I used to get dragged around military bases fairly regularly.” She sighed, “I guess it wasn’t all bad though. I did get to learn all kinds of interesting things. There was always some adult around to feel sorry for me and let me have a go at cool stuff.”
“Is that how you learned to shoot?” he asked, remembering back to the Karvan Inn.
Katerina nodded. “I learnt about different poisons, how to tie ropes, how to camouflage myself, how to track someone. It’s why I decided to become a criminologist actually. Seemed like a natural career choice.”
“I can see that,” he shook his head in wonder.
“What about you? What led you to counseling?”
“Probably the same as most people that decide to become counselors — having a messed-up family,” he said wryly.
“Seems like part of it is coming right,” she glanced over at Alice.
He nodded. “It’s crazy how much she’s changed, considering it was only a few minutes for us here. She really seems to have a whole different take on things. Makes me wonder what will change for me.”
“Me too.”
“So...uh, will you see your boyfriend when you get back home?” Noah continued, trying to sound casual but feeling awkward.
“No! I never want to see him again,” she shuddered. “Aaron told me he’s actually into some stuff I didn’t know about, some shady stuff. I really feel like such a fool! How could I be so deceived by the three people closest to me?”
“Perhaps they’re particularly good actors?”
Katerina nodded, her expression grim and they subsided into silence. After a few minutes, she asked, “What about you? Do you have a girlfriend back home?”
“Not at the moment. I hardly ever meet girls who interest me.”
The question slipped out unbidden, “What type of girls interest you?”
Amused, Noah gazed at Katerina until she squirmed and looked away. “Girls with fire in them — with courage and intelligence and boldness, who know what life is all about. Girls who care about others but not so much they can’t confront them if they need to. Girls with beautiful eyes and long dark hair...” he glanced at her brunette waves but she refused to take the bait, just said a lackluster little, “Oh,” instead.
They sat in a strangely companionable silence after that. Eventually Katerina said, “I might get some more rest,” and returned to her own seat. After a while she did fall asleep again, thinking about Noah and the sort of girls he found interesting.
They had been on the train for close to three hours by Noah’s calculations when Aaron received another call on his phone. By the look on his face the news was not good. Immediately after hanging up he gave rapid instructions to Karim who promptly hurried down their carriage and into the next one, while the priest woke Katerina and Caleb and gathered them all around him.
“It’s just as I feared. We’ve been betrayed by some of my own men, my fellow priests. I’ve been warned they’re waiting for us in Cereise City at the end of our train-route.”
“Does that mean Demetra knows about us?”
“No. Right now they’re just seeking to stop me because they believe what we’re doing is going to make things worse. They wish to bring me before our council on charges of treason. But Demetra will know nothing of this, they act alone at this point.”
“Are they right? Will getting rid of these rulers make things worse for the people here rather than better?” Caleb asked curiously.
“Not if we establish the right leaders in their places. Tobiah and Lyonel will soon bring restoration for Santtu. I’m looking for similar rulers in each area.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Karim is stopping the train short of the station so we can get off. Then we’ll make our way in pairs to a safe house that no one knows about except me and Karim.” He gave them the directions to it rapidly. “The train will be stopping in a few minutes so let’s get ready,” he added, glancing out the windows.
As promised, they had mere minutes to gather up their coats and the x-ray device and make it to the doors before the train brakes engaged abruptly and the train ground to a slow stop. Aaron flipped a switch to open their door and they climbed down quickly, one by one. Further down they saw Karim leap off too.
They were on a steep grassy bank sloping down towards a grove of trees. “Come on!” Aaron was already sprinting towards the trees. Moments later the train started moving again and they raced after Aaron helter skelter before too many of the passengers remaining on the train got a good look at them.
Once in the trees, Aaron slowed the pace a little. It was surprisingly warm outside the train and humid, so they were soon all sweating and uncomfortable. “Is it always this hot?” Noah asked Aaron as they ran.
“Yes, Demetra’s land is usually warm. It used to be a popular vacation place. There are many beautiful islands and beaches that people would visit with their families. But things have gotten so dangerous no one really holidays here anymore. They’re too busy just staying safe. See...” he stopped suddenly, sweeping his arm before them.
They were nearly through the trees and could see immediately what he meant. Before them was a stunning golden beach with crystal clear, sapphire waves lapping peacefully. “Ohhhh,” Katerina breathed, “it’s so beautiful. What I would give for a swim!”
Aaron shook his head, “Sorry, we can’t afford to stop. We need to get into the city and amongst people as quickly as possible — here, we stand out too much. We would be immediate targets.” He faced them all briefly and instructed, “Stick to the tree-line as much as you can and remember to turn off the beach when you pass a mansion with a high red fence. Alice and I will go first, but we’ll be going a different way. I need to check what’s happening amongst my movement before we join you. Karim and Caleb will go next so Karim can check out the safe house and make sure it’s not compromised; Katerina and Noah last. Remember your cover-stories if you get stopped or questioned.”
It was a strange feeling Katerina mused to herself, waiting so quietly in a strange forest on another world as they tried to evade being captured or worse. For she was quite convinced now that Kainnan and Earth were completely different worlds, though her mind boggled as to how it could be so. Everything they had been through, along with Alice’s testimony, had fully convinced her, even though Aaron had never shown her the evidence he had promised. She was deep in thought over what that evidence might have been when Noah said, “Come on, time to leave.”
The beach seemed to go on forever with its beautiful mix of gold sand and blue water, but after a while the trees began to change as the terrain slowly morphed into swamplands. Soon they were running past huge plants that looked like mangroves, occasionally slipping on the slimy ground forcing them to stick more closely to the beach. Then they began to pass mansions; huge stately affairs set back from the beach with large gardens carved out of the swamp, all surrounded by extremely high fences. As Aaron had promised there were no signs of life in any of them. He had cautioned them however, that many may actually be inhabited but their owners in hiding for fear of Demetra and those loyal to her.
They found the mansion Aaron had described easily with its big red fence and followed the path beside it away from the beach. It led them into a suburb of Cereise City not far from the safe house. To their surprise, they found the streets well-populated here with people walking and talking, busy with their lives. From what Aaron had said about the constant fear of kidnappings and murders at Demetra’s bidding, they had expected the streets to be silent and empty with people holed up in their homes unless they absolutely had to go out. And yet on closer inspection, they saw many were pallid, as if they rarely saw sunshine and light.
“Perhaps they’re just out of their homes because Demetra’s sick?” Noah suggested, watching a family of four cross a road in front of them.
“They don’t seem very happy though,” Katerina said, for no one ever seemed to smile.
Regardless, the trip to the safe house was uneventful and they were soon slipping into a beautiful, modern-looking home which came complete with wrap-around balconies and palatial furniture. Karim and Caleb were already putting together a much-appreciated lunch and waved them upstairs to relax.
They had barely thrown themselves down on the large couches there when they heard Aaron and Alice talking downstairs.
“That was a bit quick, wasn’t it?” Katerina commented.
“Too quick, something must have happened...” Noah was already heading for the stairs.
As they entered the dining room, Aaron was explaining, “We were nearly there when I got warning of a possible ambush. We changed direction and came in through an area I wouldn’t normally use and sure enough they were waiting, at least a dozen of them...” He glanced at Karim. “Mercenaries. I saw Erin there, but no one else I recognized — they’ve brought new people in by the looks of it. We couldn’t see any way through, and I just couldn’t risk getting caught to get to John.”
“What do we do now then?” Karim’s face was worried for the first time.
“We’ll just have to carry on without the extra help. The next lot of healers are going through in another two hours — we really need to be in that group before word reaches Demetra and she increases security.”
“This is bad,” Karim was shaking his head.
“Yes, this is bad,” Aaron agreed. “We have no way of knowing who or what’s been compromised. But we can’t worry about that yet — we need to focus on this opportunity while it’s here and deal with the fallout afterwards...Caleb, are you feeling prepared?”
“As much as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, let’s eat. Then we’ll go over things one last time.”
Once they had their meals in hand, they each found spots to sit. Katerina deliberately planted herself near Aaron, angling to interrogate him once more. She waited for him to swallow a few mouthfuls before asking, “What should the rest of us do while Caleb goes to Demetra?”
“You need to stay here. Stay hidden and try to relax.”
“Will you go with Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Won’t you be recognized?”
“No. I can disguise myself well enough to stay unnoticed.”
“Who’s John — the man you were trying to reach?”
“You are full of questions today,” he said with wry amusement. “John is the leader of my organization and an extremely moral and good man. He would have considered my request for assistance with an open mind and probably approved it.”
“Why are the others opposing you then? Why do they want to charge you with treason?”
“I’m not totally sure,” he sighed. “They could claim that it’s because killing a ruler is treason, but that’s not the real reason. We’ve discussed it before; that to save the people, to stop the senseless killings and the disappearances, something drastic would have to be done. And King Wilhelm himself is the one who approached us with the information about bringing you through from your world...” He sighed again. “To be honest, there have been rumblings of pride and desire for more power from within our ranks for many months now. You see, our way is one of understanding yourself well enough that you can function in the best possible place for you, so you will be good at it, be happy with it — which means there’s no need to fight for a more superior position. Those that lead us do so because they are best fit to do so. Those that follow, serve and obey, do so because their strengths, abilities and talents lie elsewhere.”
“But what about morality? I mean it sounds like some dodgy characters have way too much power in your organization...”
“Of course, we value character too. We don’t appoint a man or woman to a position until they have both — knowledge of themselves and integrity of character.”
“We haven’t seen many women working with you yet,” Katerina commented.
“Yes, that’s true. There are a number in Zeus’s land currently and we have several working behind the scenes, out of the way because things have become too dangerous for them. Only a small proportion of us, men and women, are trained to fight and handle ourselves in the face of danger.”
“You?”
“I am one of the best,” Aaron told her without a trace of arrogance. “That’s why I was the one sent to assist you.”
“I thought you were the one that planned this?”
“A group of us were jointly responsible; Karim, myself and three others. You may meet them at some point. One of them is John whom I was trying to reach today. One is in Velcharn, the other in Zana. Each of the other four has taken responsibility for a different part of Kainnan.”
“Karim’s was Santtu?”
“Yes, and thanks to you all we no longer need him there. Tobiah and Lyonel will carry on and start restoring Santtu without us now.” He leaned in close suddenly. “What you have already done is incredible you know! Bringing restoration to Santtu...It’s what we hoped for of course, but to be honest, it’s been very hard to believe it could actually ever happen.”
“How long have you been planning this?”
“Several years now. As I’ve told you, we’ve tried to get other groups through but it’s never worked out before. This is the furthest we’ve ever managed to get.”
“I haven’t asked you, what happens to us if we succeed? How do we get back to Earth afterwards?”
“We should be able to use a portal we’ve currently lost control of. If the four rulers are all gone, we will regain access to it.” He waited a moment then asked with a touch of humor, “Any further questions?”
She smiled wryly. “I think I’m all out for now. Can I get you another drink?”
As she reached for his glass, something caught his eye and he grabbed her hand tightly, demanding, “Where did you get this from?” He was looking at her ring.
“Claudia gave it to me on the plane.”
“I thought these were all lost long ago!” he exclaimed in wonder, holding her hand up to examine the ring from every angle. Unnerved by his intensity and his painful grip on her hand, Katerina was silent, waiting. “This is a very powerful ring!”
“Powerful? How?”
Aaron released her hand finally and sat back, eyes thoughtful. “There were a number of such rings that traditionally belonged to the kings of Kainnan. Most of them were lost or destroyed over time but I did learn a few years ago that there were still two in existence. Those remaining two have quite unusual abilities. One lights up golden-yellow when the truth is being spoken — giving its wearer the power to see into the hearts of men, to determine whether they speak the truth or not. I believe it glows blue when someone lies. But the other is quite different. It gives its wearer the power to deceive their hearers. To manipulate them with words and hide their true intent from them.”
“So which is this ring then?”
“I don’t know,” he said bluntly. “How long have you been wearing it?”
“It’s a little uncomfortable when my hands are swollen with the heat, so I’ve only worn it occasionally.”
“Since you’ve been wearing it, have you noticed either ability?”
“Well I did see through Amois.”
“Did Claudia tell you anything specific about it when she gave it to you?” he changed tack.
The light dawned on Katerina at that. “She told me it came with a prophecy of sorts. ‘In times of danger, wisdom will be your shield. In times of uncertainty, wisdom will be your guide. In times of deception, wisdom will guard you.’ And ‘truth will set you free’ is engraved on the inside of the ring in Hebrew.”
Aaron nodded. “It definitely sounds like the truth ring.” He rose and started pacing, his face animated with excitement. Everyone was watching him now, curious. “This is quite a stroke of good fortune! I’ll have to decide what we’re going to do with it. By rights it should be returned to King Wilhelm...”
“No,” Katerina cried then clamped her hand over her mouth, surprised the word had tumbled out. Aaron raised an eyebrow questioningly as she explained, “I’m not sure why but I think that would be a mistake. We have it for a reason.”
“That may be the ring working through you already. I need to think about this. For now, keep it on you at all times and don’t let it out of your sight. Try to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.”
“Should I keep wearing it?”
“Yes. We may have need of the insight it brings you. It shouldn’t stand out too much; unless someone knows what to look for as I do, they wouldn’t recognize it as anything special.”
“One more question then. How does it work?”
“A good question, and there are many theories about it. But I personally believe there is no innate power in the ring itself. My theory is that it is Father God who works through this particular ring. How and why I have no idea. But the way this ring works is similar to one of His gifts to humankind; the gift of discernment. I believe He’s the real one at work behind the scenes here.”
“But why work through a ring?”
Aaron shrugged. “He’s been known to work through many things — a donkey, the weather, a disembodied hand writing on a wall. I think a ring is somewhat tame in comparison. He is after all, the Creator of all. Surely that gives Him the right to speak with us in any way He pleases?”
“I guess I’ll have to think about that,” Katerina smiled to take the sting out of her comment.
They ate the rest of their food in silence, both deep in thought.
