Stolen Dreams (2 page)

 

"When will all this take place?" Romulus
asked, his brows narrowing in concern.

 

Lantana
tried to respond, but was gripped by another hacking cough for several
seconds. When he caught his breath, he was so agitated that his words
ran together. "You mustn't know the date. All could be lost. You would
leave warnings that might be forgotten. Or worse, the people will wait
for proof before acting, and it will be too late. No, you must
do as I say to save Innerworld. Khameira must never be born.
Unfortunately, he was an orphan, so the logical solution of preventing
his mother from conceiving him is not viable."

 

Shara shook her
head,
thinking she must have misunderstood. "How would we be able to prevent
his birth if we don't know who his mother is and we don't warn future
generations?"

 

Lantana shifted against her arm to face her
directly. "You can do it, Shara. Your work makes it possible .. .
without violence."

 

"My work? I'm a genetic researcher, not a
diplomat."

 

"Yes, yes, I know. You are also well known in my
time for your discovery of the memory molecule within the DNA structure.

 

Shara
was almost afraid to ask, but curiosity won out. "You mean my theory is
correct? It is possible to trace an individual's direct ancestry, back
to the beginning, through the deoxyribonucleic acid?"

 

Lantana
nodded. "That, and more. I was not certain precisely what time I would
arrive here, so I brought a copy of the monograph you wrote—or rather,
will write—regarding your findings." He pulled a sheaf of papers out of
a large pocket in his caftan. "I was not certain if my information chip
would be easily compatible with the readout units of your time, so I
printed this out for you. In this, you should find whatever you need to
move up the completion of your research."

 

He reached back into
the
pocket and handed her an envelope. "A lock of Khameira's hair is
inside. By analyzing it, you will find the genetic identification of
his ancestors. Khameira claimed to have Noronian blood.
His mental powers seemed to confirm that supposition." Another coughing
spasm prevented him from continuing for several minutes.

 

Finally
he
held Sham's gaze with his and spoke in a raspy whisper that sent a
chill down her spine. "Go back. Back to the beginning on Norona. Find
the rebel who was Khameira's ancestor." His bony fingers grasped her
hand and squeezed. "You must prevent that one from being exiled to
Terra. Then all will be well." His fingers released their hold as his
head fell back on Shara's arm.

 

After a moment Shara searched
for a
pulse, but found none. Quickly she touched his temple, then shook her
head. "Nothing." As she lowered Lantana to the floor, Romulus left the
room.

 

When he returned, he said, "A team is on their way from
Medical. They'll revive him so we can question him further."

 

Shara
tried to participate in her family's speculations, but she was too torn
by her own conflicting emotions. Sadness for an old man who died in her
arms, fear of the future he described, and elation that her theory
would be proven correct were all secondary to an overriding sense of
anticipation. A trip back in time would be an unprecedented event. She
could be fundamental in saving the planet, justify her entire career,
and learn the truth about her own ancestry, all in one glorious
adventure.

 

While they awaited the medical team, Romulus
removed the
tempometer belt from Lantana and locked it in the hidden security
drawer of his desk. A short time later the team arrived, but swiftly
determined that there was no life spark remaining in Lantana's body to
be revived. His time had come to an end, and the soul had immediately
departed the body.

 

"So,"
Romulus said as his family took seats in the living area, "our options
have just been narrowed. Without being able to question our visitor
from the future in greater depth, there is no way of guessing the exact
time period he spoke about. A warning to all future generations might
be sufficient. Then again—"

 

"Then again," Aster broke in,
completing
her mate's sentence, "depending on how far in the future this takes
place, the warning could be forgotten or misconstrued, just as he
prophesied."

 

Mack had his own ideas on the matter. "If we knew
the
date, we could use the old guy's time device to send someone forward to
snatch Khameira before he gains control. Since we can't do that, maybe
we could get to one of his ancestors in our time. What about that
theory of yours, Shara? Can you really figure out who the tyrant's
ancestors are by that lock of hair?"

 

"I think so. I'll have to
read
my own research paper to see how I finally figure it out, but
basically, I believe that the memory molecule contains the pattern of
every direct ancestor of an individual. Each person has his own
identifying pattern that gets added to those inherited. Analysis of a
hair sample should result in a complete list of ancestral patterns. The
method involves testing other people and looking for a matchup. In
other words, somewhere in Outerworld right now is a direct ancestor of
Khameira. Prevent that person from breeding, and Khameira would never
be bom."

 

Aster shook her head doubtfully. "I don't see how you
could accomplish that. There are billions of people
out there. Besides the physical impracticality of testing that many
people in your lifetime, it would be impossible to force everyone's
cooperation."

 

"That leaves only Lantana's suggestion," Shara
declared. "He obviously thought out all the same possibilities that we
did. I must go back to Norona, to the time before the rebels were
exiled to Terra. There were only a few hundred people sent to live on
the surface. All I'd have to do is test each person in that group, find
the one with a pattern that matches one of Khameira's, and stop that
person from going."

 

Before Shara completed her last sentence,
Romulus was up and pacing. "Hold it right there. You've jumped right
over three important facts. One, Lantana did not explain how to use
his device. Two, even if he had or you could figure it out yourself,
time travel is prohibited. And three, you are hardly qualified for a
mission that would obviously entail considerable risk."

 

"On
the
contrary, Father, it is my theory that will be on trial and my
equipment that will be used. No one is better qualified than I. As far
as any risk involved, I am no less qualified than mother was when she
helped prevent this planet from being destroyed by an asteroid and
rescued you after you were abducted by that demented Terran, Gordon
Underwood."

 

Romulus clearly was not happy with the comparison.
Despite what he had said to Mackenzie earlier, he still thought of
Shara as his little girl, even though she was approaching her thirtieth
year. "Remember, your mother was not alone. She had a highly skilled
tracker accompanying her." Romulus preferred not to think about what
might have happened to him or Aster had it not been for the special
mental talents of his empathic friend, Falcon.

 

"So
I'll engage a guardian to protect me. Perhaps Falcon would like a
change of scenery. It must be about time for him to take a break from
Outer-world's stress factors again."

 

"You know he rarely
leaves his
Terran family these days." Giving her suggestion only a moment's
consideration, Romulus returned to the original problem. "At any rate,
a guardian wouldn't help if you don't have authorization to make the
trip. I'll compose a communication to the Ruling Tribunal tonight,
relaying Lantana's warnings. Too bad we didn't have a recorder on while
he was speaking, but perhaps together we might be able to reconstruct
his exact words. I'll add a request for permission for someone to make
the trip, if the tempometer can be figured out. Either way, we have to
leave the final decision up to them."

 

Shara frowned, but said
nothing. At least he hadn't refused her outright. It seemed obvious to
her that every avenue, even one against the law, should be investigated
to prevent the disaster Lantana warned them of. But no one could
predict how the Tribunal would respond. As she helped her family recall
Lantana's description of the future, she leafed through the pages of
the research monograph he had brought her.

 

It took only a
quick scan
to confirm that this was indeed her work and that completion of the
genetic tracking program she had been struggling with was now in her
hands. While they awaited the Tribunal's decision, she would go ahead
with her research. When approval for the time travel came through, she
wanted to be ready to go.

 

It
was inconceivable to her that the Tribunal would refuse permission when
the future of both Norona and Earth depended on it. It was also beyond
her imagination that they could turn down her request to go when she
was so close to proving her theories about the memory molecule
firsthand. No one needed to know that her research had a personal as
well as scientific basis.

 

She was only a child when she had
set her
goal, and it was one of her classmates who had pushed her toward it.
The little boy had called her a Terran and made an awful face when he
said it. Shara had asked her teacher what the word meant, but the
definition—a human born on the surface of the planet and whose
ancestors were also Outerworld natives—did not seem to apply to her.
Nor did she understand why being a Terran, even if she was one, would
cause the boy to sneer at her.

 

When, a few days later, that
same boy
had made up a cruel song about Shara being a "mixed-breed" and
encouraged the other children to join in the fun, Shara asked her
parents to explain. That day she learned the truth. Her father was pure
Noronian, but her mother was a Terran, an inferior species of
humanoids. In order for Shara to understand, her parents had explained
how they had met.

 

When the Noronians first established their
mining
colony in the center of the Earth, they had considered the fact that
the native Terrans being humanoid like themselves was an advantage,
since a group of Noronians were to be left on the surface. They could
easily integrate with the primitive inhabitants. It was never intended
for any Terrans to be brought into Innerworld, however.

 

Tunnels
were bored through Earths twelve magnetic
fields for the Noronian ships to travel in and out. Unfortunately, as
Earth's population grew, accidents began to occur. Because of the
magnetism, a Terran vessel occasionally moved into a tunnel doorway
undetected just as the doorway was being opened, and the people on
board were transported into Innerworld. The Noronians considered these
Terrans dangerous and inferior, but they could not risk revealing their
presence in the Earth by sending them back.

 

Aster Mackenzie
arrived in Innerworld because of one of those accidents, but fate had
surely had a hand in it.

 

At
the time Aster arrived, there was a strong taboo against Noronian
Innerworlders fraternizing with the transplanted Terrans. Nevertheless,
Romulus, who had just been nominated for the Governorship of the
colony, was irresistibly drawn to Aster and she to him. When they were
both stricken by the Noronian mating fever, Romulus knew they were
destined to be together. But merely being together was not enough to
satisfy the fiery craving of the fever. Although there was no record of
it ever happening before between a Noronian and a Terran, Aster and
Romulus's souls were crying out to each other. The only cure was
joining, which eternally bonded two people mentally and spiritually,
and a joining between their races was forbidden by law.

 

After
risking their lives to prevent Earth's collision with an asteroid,
Romulus and Aster petitioned the Ruling Tribunal of Norona for special
permission to join. Aster's bravery and loyalty during the crisis
carried considerable weight, but it was the proclamation by the
Tribunal that Aster was distantly related to one of the original
Noronian colonists that tipped the scales.

 

Aster
became Romulus's mate through the sacred joining ceremony, and they
were appointed Co-Governors of Innerworld—a post they had held ever
since.

 

The Tribunal's proclamation satisfied most of the
people, but
there were die-hard bigots who refused to accept it as truth and others
who accepted it, but assumed the drop of Noronian blood Aster inherited
had to have been from an inferior Noronian to begin with. In their
minds, a Terran could never be their equal, and they passed that
prejudice down to their children.

 

As the first child born from
a
mixed joining, Shara was considered a precious symbol of the future by
some and an unholy freak by others. Her parents' joining had been
expected to mark a change in the way Noronian Innerworlders viewed
Terran Inner-worlders, but prejudice occasionally still bubbled beneath
a facade of civility. Only a handful of other mixed joinings had been
publicly recorded since, and just two of those had borne children.
Because of their parentage, Shara and Mackenzie's status as
"mixed-breeds" was common knowledge throughout the colony.

 

That
fateful day, over twenty years ago, Shara had determined to find a way
to prove Aster's Noronian ancestry and thereby remove the clouds
surrounding her own heritage. Her choice of a career in genetics had
been based on the desire for that proof, her excessive ambition driven
by that goal. Now, unexpectedly, the means had been handed to her, and
nothing was going to stop her from taking advantage of the
opportunity.           
 

 

With
part of her mind listening to her family and part still wandering in
the past, she almost overlooked the last few pages in her hand. The
word tempometer caught her eye and she took a second look. The final
pages did not detail her research, but Lantana's. He had included his
experimental findings, schematics for the device, a set of operating
instructions, and a final, handwritten note which read: