Alpha Rising (23 page)

The giggling ladies pressed closer. One
pushed Star forward. “You go first.”

Then the other two chimed in, “You go
first.”

Star’s heart said one thing, her lips
another. “Oh, no, I can’t kiss him. It has to be someone from
Gihon. Your people have the gift.”

With their tiny hands cupped over their
mouths, twittering, snuffing, and squinching their eyes closed, the
ladies tiptoed to Bach’s side and moved in to deliver the wake up
call.

He held back a smile and played his part
convincingly as, one-by-one, the women knelt, planted a peck on his
warm lips, then dashed away squealing in delight. As Star
predicted, he awoke. By now the festivities had stopped and
everyone was watching. Bach stood and dusted himself off, flashed a
dazzling smile, and saluted as he backed from the circle with Star
at his side.

As the two hurriedly left, Star shifted her
eyes in Bach’s direction. “How did you end up here?”

“
At the last table on the
street, the guy had a treasure map with a perfect symbol marking
this location. I wondered if he might be the chosen one, but he
said the site was just beyond the trees … showed me how to get
here. When I entered the circle of big leaves, everyone surrounded
me and a man shoved a glass of sparkling water into my hand. They
said it’s an insult to refuse and they wouldn’t take no for an
answer. So I took a sip, just one, and dropped to the ground as
they cheered.” He sighed. “I realized fakin’ it was the best thing
to do.”

“
I’m glad you’re okay,” she
said, “but I was sure worried when I couldn’t find you. From now on
we’re staying together.”

#

On the crowded street they were again caught
up in the mystical fair.

Star wanted to return to the table of a
merchant she had spoken with while searching for Bach. “He has many
intriguing items,” she said.

The short statured merchant’s long gray
beard reached to his knees, and stars and a moon decorated his
flowing black clothing. His undersized table held dozens of clear
and colored crystal balls. Bach saw one he liked, but the vendor
was busy helping another customer, so he lifted the ball from its
golden tripod without asking.

He caressed and turned the smooth, cool orb
in his hands, hoping to see something, but was quickly
disappointed. “Dud,” he said with a headshake.

The little man in black looked at him and
scoffed, “Jenesis man will see nothing but his hand.”

Still engrossed in trying to get the crystal
ball to reveal something, Bach paid no attention.

The merchant rolled his eyes, shook his head
in annoyance, and lifted the orb from Bach’s hands. He used the end
of his beard to clean fingerprints from it, then gingerly set it
back on the tripod. He motioned for Bach to crouch to eye level,
then leaned forward on his short arms and looked into Bach’s eyes.
“Only your hand will you see if you pick it up.” He waved his arm
over the sphere and awaited Bach’s reaction. “Now look.”

Bach faced the globe straight on, not about
to touch it again. A streak of gray smoke shot around the ball’s
inner circumference. Then twisting white streams, like small
tornadoes, pressed against the glass as if trying to escape. The
globe shuddered from increased internal pressure and the tripod
skipped across the table with the chattering sound of glass
bouncing on metal.

The merchant steadied the ball, and the
cloud inside morphed into dozens of colorful shapes transforming
from large to small and back again, like a dazzling laser light
show. Seconds later, the vivid display collapsed into an internal
black hole, leaving behind a torrent of shooting stars.

“
Wow, a meteor shower,”
Bach said aloud.

“
Take heed. A meteor
shower,” the merchant replied.

“
Take heed?”

The man looked at the sky. “Souls of the
sinless returning to the Creator.”

“
Souls of the sinless?”
Bach mused out loud. “Who’s sinless?”

The merchant put his hands on his hips and
stared at Bach. “Children.”

Bach nodded, but then he
recalled something similar his mother used to say. “I’ve always
heard that shooting stars were souls of the
faithful
returning to
heaven.”

The little man’s faraway stare seemed
unending.

Star softly said, “The hereafter awaits both
children and the faithful.”

#

Bach and Star continued their search, but
soon both grew weary. He sighed and led her toward the building
with the staircase. “Let’s take a break.”

As they neared the stairs, she pulled him to
a stop. “Do you feel that?” she asked.

“
What?”

“
Like something pulling you
back?”

“
No.”

She looked around for the source of the
sensation and headed to a nearby display. Her eyes went straight to
a translucent pink gemstone the size of a doorknob. Compelled to
touch it, she lifted it gently, with cupped hands. “Warm, yet soft
and fluid—like liquid velvet,” she commented.

“
It senses emotion,” the
vendor said. “You are troubled.”

“
That’s right.” Star placed
the stone back on the table. “We’re behind schedule.”

Bach nodded politely to the vendor, then
took Star by the hand and pointed toward the staircase. “Let’s take
that break.” He plopped on a step with a pathetic moan, jabbed his
elbows on his knees, and held his head in his hands. “If we don’t
find the symbol soon, I’m going back for that crystal ball. Maybe
it’ll tell us where the chosen ones are.”

Star closed her eyes and
rubbed her temples. “Maybe we should try
our
powers of concentration. Wouldn’t
it be great if that worked for us as it does the
residents?”

“
Maybe we should drink a
whole cup of sparkling water.”

She laughed. “So you want more kisses,
huh?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. First kisses I’ve had in
a long time, and my lips were numb.”

Her laugh stopped short. She stepped higher
on the stairs to get a better look. Several yards down the
sidewalk, two giddy little people danced and turned in circles,
their golden tunics fanning out around them. The handsome man’s
soft brown hair blew straight back, accentuating a broad smile on
his face, and the beautiful woman’s long, dark hair spread two feet
in all directions as she circled repeatedly, then stopped in dizzy
delight. The two noticed Star watching. The lady waved, then pulled
her mate toward the stairs. When they reached the Alphamates, the
little lady’s feet never stopped moving from excitement and her
brown eyes sparkled like her golden earrings. She shoved a
hollowed-out obelisk, about six-inches long, into Star’s hand. “See
here, see here. We’ve been working so hard. We’ve done it, we’ve
done it.”

Star examined the tapered, four-sided
crystal, then peered through it. “Amazing. I can see all the way to
our ship. You’ve made a telescope. I can’t tell what magnification,
but it’s exceptionally powerful for one so small.”

The lady beamed at her mate. “Obbo made
it.”

He slid his arm around her waist. “Ivy
helped.”

“
Flawless craftsmanship.”
Star scanned the crowd through the telescope. “I’d like to have one
of these.” She passed it to Bach. “Do you have another?”

Obbo shook his head. “Made two, but only one
works.” He rummaged around in his pocket. “But made something more,
something better. Now look.” He poked a round object into Bach’s
hand.

Bach put the object to his eye.

The little man snatched the object away and
fastened it to end of the obelisk, then shoved it back to Bach and
waited.

Bach peered through the
telescope and turned in a full circle. “Wow. It’s a four-way
viewer—objects displayed in four graduated sizes.” Then he realized
the round end piece had two intersecting lines.
The symbol.
He placed his hand on
Obbo’s shoulder. “Obbo. You and Ivy are the ones we’re looking
for.”

Before Obbo answered, Ivy grabbed the
obelisk and focused on something in the distance. A second later
she cried out, “Oh see! Oh see! Bad winds coming.”

Obbo took the scope from Ivy and scanned the
sky. “Bad winds coming. Hurry, hurry! Must be safe.”

“
Bad winds?” asked
Bach.

Obbo thrust the obelisk to Bach, who looked
in the direction of the bad winds. To his horror, he learned that
bad winds were a half-dozen rampaging tornadoes swirling toward
them like rolling death.

The street vendors, forewarned by visions,
scurried about packing up their wares. Bach had no need to relay
the Creator’s mission to Ivy and Obbo—they understood. As the
foursome pushed and shoved among panicked throngs, an eddy of icy
air whirled dirt and debris down the street, wrapping the town in a
veil of darkness. Parrots and other birds scattered in fear of the
bitter winds. Two of the smaller parrots alighted on Ivy and
Obbo.

Star held Ivy’s hand as they ran toward the
Alpha. She noticed the birds and shouted through blasts of wind,
“We still need animals.”

“
Need animals?” Ivy
asked.

“
We need to bring animals
from your planet.”

“
Animals will be
frightened, frightened. They know bad winds,” Ivy replied, trying
to catch her breath.

Obbo tried to keep up. “They sense bad winds
before we do,” he said, panting.

Howling gusts blew Bach’s words back into
his mouth. “We’ll never round up frightened animals.”

“
What?” Ivy
yelled.

“
Where-are-the-animals?”
Bach asked.

“
Hiding from bad winds.
That way,” she yelled, pointing right.

The four made it to a crude outpost where
birds and small, ground-dwelling animals had gathered in fear.
Star, Ivy, and Obbo corralled the little animals and used Star’s
fabric map as a sling to carry them. Bach emptied a water trough to
carry the others. A variety of birds flew alongside as the four
hurried to the ship.

*****

After securing the animals, Star rushed back
to the main cabin, only to find Bach so preoccupied prepping for
rapid ascent he’d forgotten to take Ivy and Obbo to their chamber.
“Ready for liftoff,” he yelled.

Star buckled the short statured people
beside Bach on the wraparound bench in the cockpit, and the big
ship ascended into the darkened sky, leaving behind raging twisters
on planet Gihon.

The little couple chattered and sobbed.
“First our two daughters disappear, now our people and home planet
suffer.”

“
Your children
disappeared?” Star asked.

“
Disappeared without a word
or sign. Disappeared,” Ivy replied.

Obbo added, “All children vanished. Gone.
Can’t explain it.”

“
I’m so sorry,” Star said.
“Something’s going on. Children are also missing from planet En
Gedi. I’ll investigate as soon as we get back to Dura.” She wrote
in a logbook.

Once the ship was safely airborne, Star
unharnessed the little pair and helped them from the bench. “We
have accommodations for you in our E-module. I’ll take you
there.”

“
Where are we headed?” Obbo
asked.

Star pulled up the flight plan on the
monitor while Obbo peeked over her shoulder. Before she could
answer, he warned, “Don’t go now to planet Troas.”

“
Troas is next on the
chart, it’s closest,” she said.

“
Don’t go.”

“
Why not?”

“
Time to save, leads to the
grave. Go to Colosse.”

Ivy stepped to Obbo’s side. “Danger in the
sky, do not fly, to Troas,” she warned.

“
Do you mean the Rooks?”
asked Star.

“
Only can feel … many
wings, many wings.” Ivy flapped her arms like wings.

Bach pondered Ivy’s comment. “Many wings?
But, rerouting to Colosse will add to our time. It’s eighth on our
original plan. How will wings harm us, Ivy?”

“
Too many wings will never
fly again,” said the tiny visionary.

Star looked at Bach. “We’d better go to
Colosse … adjust the route sequence later. I trust Ivy’s and Obbo’s
gifts of foresight.”

“
I’ve got a feeling the
Rooks are involved. Trying to foil our plans,” he said.

She nodded. “They know an airborne takeover
is futile. They may have gone ahead to create problems.”

Obbo looked around and walked aft. “Will we
sleep on this ship?”

“
You’ll be aboard for a few
days, comfortable and safe in the E-module.” Star led the little
couple through the passageway.

Once inside their chamber, Ivy’s excitement
overflowed at seeing the shrubbery and surroundings. “This
simulates our home planet.”

“
Feel free to explore and
socialize with the others we’ll be picking up,” Star said. “If an
alert sounds, watch the readouts on your chamber’s monitor for
information from the flight deck. If you’re in the module’s
communal area when an alarm sounds, return to your chamber. During
takeoff and landing, or if we enter a dangerous situation,
notification is instantaneous. Secure yourselves in your
environment until further notice. The passageway door between the
ships locks automatically.”

“
What about the animals?”
Obbo asked.

“
Their module has gravity
variance to compensate for sudden thrust.”