Portals (30 page)

“Okay, Dad. Let us know if it opens again, okay?”

“Will do, son.”

Jones turned to Aurelia. “There is another development that may interest the elves.” Jones looked at me and Thulu. “Our friends here seem to have developed some additional abilities.”

“Oh, really?” Aurelia turned to us, interest shining from her eyes.

“Yes, La Fi’s heretofore unreliable feelings have apparently become more reliable.  She is exhibiting telepathic abilities. And Thulu can now hear the dead, where before he could only see them. Reo is doing his show, so we shall have to wait to see if his abilities have also expanded. He already had a wide range, so I am curious what changes might have happened with him. I think we should begin monitoring those on Earth whom we know to have abilities and, if possible, track any changes.”

“This helps support your theory, Dhavenbahtek. I’m sure you’re quite pleased about that,” Aurelia said with a smile.

“Supports part of my theory, anyway,” he said ironically. “I may have to rethink some of it.”

“Well, it certainly lends credence that something is happening on this world and it is not Gabriel or any of the other Light Ones. I’ll pass this development on to Belus and the others for you, if that meets with everyone’s approval?” She looked around expectantly. At least she had asked us.

Thulu nodded and I shrugged and nodded as well.

Jones raised an eyebrow as he continued, “Also the mutated daemons who were in custody have apparently decided they did not care for human captivity and have left their cells.”

“I’ll spread word of this, as well. Mutated daemons loose on any of our worlds is not is good thing,” Aurelia actually sounded disapproving, a tone I hadn’t heard from her before.

“Is there anything else?” she asked.

“How are the Light Ones doing?” I asked.

“About as well as can be expected. Michael has everything under control and there have been no more deaths, but we have sent in empaths.”

“What about Mihren, Barterian and Sahrok? Is their cluster okay?” asked Thulu.

“Yes, they are fine. They have been able to adjust better than some of the others and have been helping other clusters, as well as taking in some who have lost their clusters. They should come out of this in a strong position.”

 “If there is nothing else, I shall be off.” She turned a luminescent smile on Lassiter. “Nice meeting you, Detective,” she said before popping out.

Lassiter was beginning to look dazed. I imagined that if I was becoming overloaded, he must be positively saturated.

I felt a strange sensation take over my mind and body as I relaxed against Thulu. It was as if a large weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Any thought of danger to my family from the mutated ones no longer bothered me. It was weird because the sensation and the thought behind it were completely unexpected. I had no clue where these feelings were coming from and tried to trace them. I wasn’t successful with that, but I found some other ideas and feelings that were equally intriguing.

For one thing, I had a strong feeling that while the danger to our family had eased considerabley, the risk to Jones had increased.  I had faith in Jones’s fighting abilities. I’d seen him fight first-hand and knew he could hold his own.  Still, I felt I should let him know this latest development and felt apologetic as I filled him in. I felt silly telling him he was in danger, but I knew I was right. I also felt a bit guilty that I was relieved the danger was over for me and Thulu.

Jones took the news with equanimity and watched me thoughtfully, his expression mild.

I moved abruptly and stood. “I need a drink.”

Thulu stood and followed me from the room.

I stood in the kitchen trying to decide what I wanted, while Thulu leaned against a counter.

“You want to talk?” he asked.

“Not yet.” I sighed as I decided a screwdriver would be just what I needed.

I pulled orange juice out of the fridge, but dropped the plastic bottle as a roaring sound blasted through my head. The dull thundering sound drove me to my knees. I felt Thulu’s arms around me, but couldn’t hear him. My hands were over my ears, but, of course, the sound wasn’t from outside. It was inside my head. The same roar I’d heard twice before on Neva, but magnified a hundred times. My vision dimmed, crackling black lightning around the edges. I shut my eyes and curled into a ball, trying to figure out what was happening to me. I wondered if I was having a stroke, but at my age?

Strong hands pulled at my own and I opened my eyes to see a dim, fractured Jones on one knee in front of me. He didn’t speak, just held my hands firmly in his and stared at me. I realized he was trying to make a connection again.

I wasn’t fond of having Jones in my head again and shook my head slightly, but even that small movement made the roar louder, and I quickly stopped. I felt Thulu behind me holding me up in a sitting position, and I leaned into him. Long seconds passed as Jones frowned at me, seemingly unable to break through whatever had taken over my brain.

There was surprisingly little pain, although the deafening sound was unpleasant. As suddenly as it began, it stopped. I opened my mouth to say I was okay, when another sound rang clearly through my head.

A voice spoke the daemon language, “
Dhavenbahtek has returned?”

Figures began to form. They seemed human, but I didn’t see any details, only silhouettes. I had the sense these two were connected to the two I’d seen at the jail, but they were not the ones I’d actually viewed.

I felt another presence and realized Jones had succeeded in joining me. It was growing very crowded inside my head, and I didn’t much care for it.

A higher-pitched voice said,
“Yes, a little while ago. I only caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared into their house. He has warded that place very well, and I cannot penetrate the defenses.”

“Trabohren, you must keep a careful watch on his movements. We must know what he is -”

“Stop, Khadentok! He is here, along with the Thulukan woman.”

I felt a mental shove and my mind went blessedly blank for a few seconds. Jones lingered a moment, but also withdrew. I opened my eyes to see him frowning at me.

“What the hell was that, Jones?” My voice was shaky. In fact, my whole body was shaky, and I was weak, much like when I’d gotten a bad bout of the flu a few years back. I felt a trickle of sweat snake its way along my hairline.

Jones gave my hands a final squeeze as he released them. Thulu pulled me up, but my legs were wobbly, and he quickly scooped me up and carried me into the family room, where he deposited me on the sofa and sat next to me, his hand on my forehead.

Lassiter and Stuart had trailed behind, both with identical expressions of concern. I smiled weakly at them.

“You’re clammy,” said Thulu.

“Gee, thanks. I’m okay now. Just didn’t much care for that vision, if that’s what it was.” I weakly tried to push his hand away. “I need to clean up the OJ.”

Stuart disappeared back down the hallway.

A few minutes later, Jones came into the room carrying a hot, steaming mug.

“Drink this, La Fi,” he said. He handed the mug to Thulu, who held it to my lips. I raised my hand to take it from him, but my hand shook so much, all I would have done is slosh it all over me and the sofa.

I sipped and realized it was hot, very sweet mint tea. I hadn’t heard the microwave and realized Jones had materialized this or something. I would have preferred a shot or three of scotch, but the tea was soothing, and I smiled my appreciation at Jones. Stuart came back in with a wet cloth which he handed to me. It was cold, and I immediately put it to the back of my neck.

Whatever had happened, the after effects were quickly disappearing. Jones told the others what he had witnessed inside my mind, while I continued to sip the tea. Thulu had relinquished the mug, but not his spot right next to me. I managed to hold the mug steady as I leaned back against the heavily padded arm of the sofa.

I reached out to set the mug on the coffee table, but Thulu intercepted me and did it for me. I leaned back against the sofa arm once more, trying to sort out what had happened.

“Jones, I get that I tapped into their little chat, but what was that awful roar before it? I heard that twice before on Neva, but not nearly as loud. I thought it was something to do with being on an alien world.” I looked at Jones. “Obviously, I was mistaken about that.”

He shrugged, a frown still creasing his forehead. “My best guess? Something similar to the static you hear as you tune in a radio station. And no, of course this has nothing to do with Neva and everything to do with the changes you are going through.”

“Jones, no one tunes in a radio station anymore. You know that, right?” I said. He opened his mouth, but I raised my hand. “Never mind, I know what you mean.”

I was comfortable seeing and hearing the dead. I was used to it. Sure, I’d had my little feelings that no one took seriously all these years, but never anything like the last few days. It was unsettling. It was also unwelcome. And having a dull roar go through my head was not something I wanted to repeat any time soon. I fervently hoped it was due to my having seen the two beings earlier in the day that had prompted the connection. I somehow doubted I was going to get off that lucky, though.

I didn’t much like the idea that things were happening to me without my control. No, I’m not a control freak. Well, not much of one anyway, but these vision things were completely unacceptable.

“Jones, how do I get rid of this crap? I don’t want weird things happening. What if I’d been out in public? That would have been mortifying.” Another thought occurred to me and I felt a thrill of fear. “What if I’d been driving and had Carter with me? I could have easily wrecked.” I felt tears well up and angrily banished them. I didn’t cry often and had no patience with tears right then.

Thulu put his arms around me. “We just won’t have you drive until we know this is under control, love. No worries.” But his eyes said he understood. Of course, he did. He was Thulu and he would always understand. That made me feel better.

“I am not sure you can get rid of this, La Fi,” said Jones. “If this is a result of the changes happening to Earth, then we shall most likely need to find a way to mitigate it.”

“So how long do you think we will be in this magic zone or whatever the hell it is?” I asked grumpily.

Jones shrugged. “Since I have no idea that theory is even the correct one-”

I interrupted, “It is. We have passed into some place where the laws of physics have been joined by the laws of magic.”  I stopped wondering where this was coming from, but continued, knowing that I was right.

“It isn’t going to stop,” I finished in a small voice. I could see it in my head. The certainty of what was happening was there, and I could see a future that made me shudder from its scope.

“Thulu’s arms tightened around me. “What do you mean?” His voice was soft, filled with encouragement.

“It’s going to go on for years and years. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Humans are going to change. Become more than we have been. Our very bodies will change. We aren’t going to die easily anymore. Maybe not right away, but we are going to live long lives like the other magical beings.” I turned to look at Thulu, wonder coloring my thoughts, before I gave an ironic laugh. “But it looks like we are going to be just as stupid as we’ve always been.”

My laughter stopped abruptly as I saw more of what awaited us. Scenes flitted inside my head. An immense sadness came over me as I saw that humans were not ready to have extra powers or abilities. Not as a whole species, anyway. I saw destruction and death. The battle between those who would be changed and those who would not, but instead would live out their short lives and die. The ages old hatred between those who did not have something for those who did.

I remembered an old Bette Davis movie I’d seen one night when I couldn’t sleep. A line that seemed strangely apropos, I quoted to the others. “It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

I looked at Jones. “Only our night is going to last ages and ages. Can the elves help us? This is going to tear this planet apart, unless we learn control. A planet full of humans who can suddenly do pretty much as they want is going to be horrific. It’s going to be a somewhat slow change for some, but I don’t see a very good future for us for a long time.”

I focused on the others to see looks of surprise from humans and fairies alike.  Realizing that I’d been sitting there like some prophet of doom and gloom, I gave them an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. Not sure where all that came from.”