Portals (8 page)

The others had been putting the food away and getting the dishes loaded into the dishwasher. By the time we came downstairs, everyone was ready to move to the family room to have our dessert and try the Yquem.

Jones was right. It was absolutely wonderful, a honeyed apricot wine that was sublime. I sighed as I inhaled deeply and sipped my wine. I opened my eyes to see Jones with a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“Okay, Jones, you can bring this every time you come to dinner.” I smiled contentedly at him.

I thought he choked a little. “Very funny. Always the joker, La Fi.”

That probably meant it was horribly expensive and he had a limited store. I made a mental note to ask Thulu later.

Jones leaned back in his chair, took another sip of his wine and savored it before he said, “I have a proposal for you.”

Thulu and I exchanged a glance, Reo raised an eyebrow and Sloane looked mildly interested. For Sloane that was a lot of expression.

“I have no choice but to bring Satorah up on charges before our Royal court. However, I am not quite sure what the current feeling is back on my world. We have come a long way in rebuilding what we once had. My people are not as militant, nor as vengeful, as in times past. This does not mean that we are back completely to what we once were.

“Our numbers were severely diminished by the wars with the Light Ones. Each time we would rebuild a little, only to go back to war and need to start over again. The process to rebuild our losses is a slow one. Also, we have never been a people who had many children. Being immortal comes with a price and our children are few and therefore cherished.

“So, you can see why rebuilding our population would take time. Yet, we have rebuilt. We have undergone our own Renaissance, as any people who have been oppressed will. In fact, we have gone through several.

“We have not had open warfare with the Light Ones in almost a thousand years. The hostilities remain and there have been minor skirmishes, but not outright war and not on our home worlds. I had hoped with the news that Gabriel was gone, my people could relax for the first time. Michael is and always has been far easier to deal with. I have great hopes that we can put hostilities aside between our peoples once and for all.

“But if Satorah is not an aberration, if she does represent an actual faction within our ruling class, then I must be prepared to deal with that.” Jones sipped at his wine thoughtfully for a moment.

“Regardless of the situation there, I must return to my home world. After careful consideration, I have also decided to take the Light Ones who need to be returned to their own world with me.”

There was a silence as we all took this in. I really hadn't expected Jones to do it. I fully expected him to leave the Light Ones to their own devices at best. Or put them out of their misery at worst. An altruistic Jones was something I didn't completely trust, but perhaps I was being unfair. After all, he had promised to cut back on the killing.

Jones intrigued me, but his actions were unfathomable at times. No matter how human he appeared, he was not human. He was ancient, he was a killer and he could be ruthless. I'd also seen him be kind, generous and charming. Those were the times when I could see why the ancient Greeks had considered daemons to be benevolent beings.

“Wow, Jones,” I said. “I have to tell you I really wasn't expecting that.”

“I do enjoy being unpredictable,” he said smugly, with one eyebrow raised.

Reo snorted. “So where do we come in, Jones?”

“I spent some time speaking to Aurelia and Belus. They have confirmed that the only way into the Light Ones' world is through our portal. They have agreed to help organize an expedition to the world of the Light Ones via my home world.

“I think if I bring other races, it will be safer for the Light Ones. Under the theory that there will be interest in meeting other races to dilute the presence of the Light Ones. I also want to back up my own testimony against Satorah with those who have less reason to be biased.

“That is where you come in. I would like the four of you to go with me. I also intend to invite Aela and a few of her warriors, and Romeo and Juliet. My people will respect outside testimony and having so many diverse viewpoints will give them a fuller understanding of the events of the last month.” He looked at us over the rim of his wine glass.

Thulu and I looked at each other, excitement at the thought of going off-world bright in both of our eyes. Then I remembered we had a new responsibility. We couldn't simply go wandering off to other worlds when we had a child. Thulu's expression grew thoughtful.

Jones had carefully watched the two of us and nodded.

“You are concerned about Carter,” said Jones.

“Well, of course, we are,” said Thulu mildly. “Just how long do you think we would be gone? And is there any danger to us?”

“As to time, that is difficult to say. I am not quite sure how long the trial will last, but certainly not long. I would imagine part of a day at most. Getting to the Light Ones' portal on my world will take minimal time. I will simply open a portal near that one.”

“Why not just open a portal right next to the one to the Light Ones’ world to begin with? Let the Light Ones go right through to their own world. That would be a lot faster wouldn’t it?” I asked.

“And deadly, as that portal is very closely guarded, as I am sure you can imagine. Going to it without permission would certainly result in many deaths. Besides, since I must take Satorah before the Court, I can hopefully kill two birds with one stone.”

“In any case, the Light Ones will not only need to get to the portal, but they will need assistance once they are through.  According to Belus, the valley where the spell is being cast is some distance from the connecting portal to our world. And their terrain varies from desert to low, but very rocky, mountains. I do not have the option to use a portal on their world.”

“Two questions: One, why can't you make a portal while there, and two, why don't they just fly?” asked Reo.

“The elves have already begun the spells to quarantine them from the rest of us.  Portals will no longer be able to be opened either to their world or on their world until they have succeeded in curing them.

“And absolutely they can fly. They will most certainly have to get as much energy as they can before they leave. However, the children will not be able to fly as far as the adults and will need rest periods that the adults do not need, slowing them down. That could result in depleted energy if the time becomes too long.”

“What about teleportation?” Thulu asked.

Sloane answered, “That is not a talent that is readily available. Most of those who teleport cannot teleport others.  Of those who can, most of those are limited by only being able to port to a place they have already been or have someone there who can act as a beacon. The elves there are healers for the most part, not teleporters. Those who can teleport have not been to the area where the portal is. We need to move sooner, rather than later. I’m not sure we can find people with these talents as soon as we need to. I also do not think it is wise to widely advertise that we are going.” He shook his head. “No, we shall need to go on foot across the Light Ones’ world.”

Jones tilted his head to one side, mentally calculating. “Not on foot exactly. I plan to use ATVs from Earth, but about a week would be a good guess.”

A week? That wasn't so bad. Parents went on vacations all the time. And with our large extended family, it wasn't like we didn't have someone we could trust to care for Carter while we were gone. In fact, we had lots of someones. But could I leave him for that long? I'd only been a mother for a month, but I knew I would miss my new son. And what about him? Would he be upset for us to leave? Was it the right thing to do with his birth mother so recently dead? And what about us?

“And the danger part?” I asked. Jones hadn't answered the second question. I wasn't afraid to go into danger, but as a new parent, I owed it to Carter to not get myself killed.

Jones looked at me steadily. “I would not imagine it is any more dangerous than driving your car. I think I would describe it more as a tricky situation, rather than dangerous. Of course, that is just my best guess, since I have not had contact with my world in quite some time.”

Maybe this was doable. I looked at Thulu, trying to gauge which direction he was leaning. He dimpled at me before leaning over to kiss the top of my head.

I thought over what they had said and a conclusion that wasn't very pretty came to me.

“You need us for their food supply. That's why you want us along.” I stared straight at Jones.

“I want you along for various reasons, but yes, that is one of the minor reasons. If they do not have the resources to make it flying on their own, they certainly do not have them with only me and the others.”

“We need to discuss this, Jones, but I think we can have an answer for you tomorrow,” Thulu said.

Reo said he might need a few days to arrange someone to fill in for his show. His night job was a wildly popular act at a five star hotel as female impersonator, Brandy Malone. Brandy sang a bit, made predictions, gave advice, dispersed goodwill and various other “magical” tasks. She had a very large following, and her show was sold out months in advance.

Taking a break meant letting a disappointed audience know in advance and giving them the chance to re-book. Usually, when Reo took an unexpected break, extra shows were added to make up for those missed or he prevailed upon his friendship with Miss Diva, a mega pop star to fill in. I wondered if she could or would cover a week of shows. DeeDee, Miss Diva's real name, had recently finished a world tour, so I supposed it was possible. The nice thing was that when Miss Diva filled in, people didn't complain much. She had a lovely acoustical act she did that was far different from her pop tours.

Sloane said he was available and would be happy to go along.

Stuart, of course, would go where Jones did. He smiled when he caught my eye, and I got the impression he was a bit excited to go to another world.

Jones seemed unsurprised with the responses. We chatted idly about friends and family, as we finished the last of the Yquem.

After all our guests had left and I'd washed the last of the crystal wine glasses, Thulu and I made our usual rounds of checking the house. I doubted anything, magical or otherwise, could penetrate our defenses. Jones had placed particularly strong spells around our home, protecting it from any kind of predator.

We shut off the lights and made our way upstairs, where we checked on Carter before going into our own room.

It wasn't long before we were both ensconced in our front window seat, looking out over the city, bedroom lights dimmed so as not to interfere with the city lights. Neither of us said anything for a long while. This was our usual nightly routine, to just sit quietly and let the events of the day settle.

Of course, the events of the day were not usually as controversial or dramatic as this day's had been.

Thulu thought the visit from Brown and Lassiter had mostly been a fishing expedition. Obviously, Brown suspected something, but wasn't sure what. We decided to leave that topic alone, since there wasn't much we could do at this point in time.

We also stayed away from the topic of Thulu helping the police. Sometimes the better part of valor was just to let things go. And I was still too emotionally raw from so many deaths in the family to deal with what I considered his betrayal. No, that was a topic that must be discussed, but it was one for the future, not that night.

As to the situation of the Light Ones, we both agreed that they needed to go home. Whether we would take part in that expedition still remained to be seen.

What had happened at the Grant Corporation was horrific. I tried to block out the brief images I'd had. My imagination was more than up to the task of filling in the blanks, and I simply didn't want to go there. So different in appearance, but both children had suffered needlessly and cruelly, and I knew I'd remember them for a long time to come.

In an effort to block that thought, I latched on to something else that had caught my attention while we were at the Grant Corporation.

“So, Jones and Grant had a child. I wasn't expecting that tidbit of information,” I said, leaning against Thulu's bare chest.

I felt his head nod behind me as his fingers gave mine a light squeeze. “Well, we should know by now that Jones is going to always do the unexpected. The guy has lived for eight thousand years, at least. I'm sure there are lots of deep, dark, old secrets a person could accumulate in that amount of time.