Stolen Dreams (5 page)

 

He
decided it was time to terminate the preliminaries and state his
objective. "I understand why you want to make the trip, and it makes
sense that you should be the geneticist to go. But, as I told you
yesterday, I believe a historian should participate in the venture and
that I should be that historian."

 

"I've given that some
thought, Professor, and—"

 

"Gabriel. The title is an honor, but
not necessary."

 

Not necessary for him perhaps, Shara thought,
but
she preferred to keep familiarities to a minimum. "As I was saying, I
have come to the conclusion that a historian would be a logical
addition to the team. Since history is out of my area of expertise, I
would leave it to the Tribunal to select the individual best qualified."

 

His
eyes narrowed at her implication that it would not necessarily be him.
"And I'm telling you, there is no one more qualified than I. The moment
I heard the rumor, my mind was made up that I would be part of this.
The research would be invaluable to my text. But now, after hearing
exactly what you plan to do, I realize there is more at stake here than
my work."

 

With his elbows on the table and his hands clenched
in
fists, he leaned closer and spoke in a deceptively soft voice. "I will
do everything in my power to make sure I'm right beside you all the
way, Shara Locke. You think you're going to go back in time, alter an
event that occurred ten thousand years ago, and everything will be just
wonderful when you return. Well, I don't believe that's possible. In
fact, I don't believe it should be permitted. I won't stop you from
going, because I want to make the trip myself, and you seem to have my
ticket. But I'll be drekked before I let you do anything that might
affect history as we know it!"

 

Shara was so stunned by his
pronouncement, it took a moment for her anger to flare. "Since you were
so thoughtful as to give me fair warning, Professor, I'll give you one
right back. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you do
not get to accompany me. But if you still manage it, you had better
stay out of my way. I will do whatever needs to be done to save this
planet. And if that means altering history, so be it."

 

Shara
stood up to walk away from the table, but before she took three steps,
Gabriel blocked her path. When she tried to go around him, he grasped
her upper arms and held her in place. She tipped her head back to give
him the full effect of her yellow-flecked glare and met a fury that
matched her own.

 

"Some people might be intimidated by your
tough
act, Shara. You are a big girl." He moved closer and stared down his
nose at her. "But I'm bigger." Stepping back again, he released her.
"Let me give you another warning. Know your enemy before you threaten
him."

 

 

"I'm
sorry, Shara," Romulus said, his hazel eyes revealing
that he truly did sympathize. "There's nothing more we can do. The
Ruling Tribunal has made its decision. They believe it's too dangerous
to tamper with time."

 

When Romulus had asked her to come to
his
office, Shara's heart had started to pound with excitement. She had
been so sure the news would be good. She appreciated his difficult
position. As Governor, he had to abide by the Tribunal's edicts; as her
father, he always wanted to give her everything she wanted. But this
was one time he had no idea how badly she wanted something, nor the
real reason why. "Didn't they believe what Lantana told us?" she asked.

 

"According
to the transmission I just received, they apparently believe all of
what he related will happen, because they have decided to prepare
warnings for future generations."   

 

"But
I thought we made it clear that a warning would be too precarious."
Shara's frustration forced her to rise from her chair and pace the
large room.

 

"I'm sorry," Romulus repeated with a shake of his
head. "Our hands are tied."

 

Maybe
your hands are tied, Shara thought, but mine are still free. She turned
away from him, knowing that if he saw her eyes, he would know she was
scheming. Trying to appear resigned to the decision, she promised to be
at his house for dinner in two nights, as usual, and left the office.

 

Later
that evening, when Shara was certain her parents and their staff had
gone home, she returned to the Governor's office. Having worked there
during her academy years, she was familiar with the storage system and
where to find the week's entry code. Within minutes she had an
emergency travel visa good for a round trip between Innerworld and
Norona. She couldn't be certain how many times she might need to make
that trip, so she took a few more. Copying her father's signature and
applying his seal took special care, however, and a man's voice in the
outer office let her know she had taken a few minutes too long.

 

"Is
someone in here?" the voice called out.

 

Security,
Shara deduced, knowing they would have been alerted to activity in the
Governor's office. She had expected to be in and out before they would
investigate.

 

"Yes," she returned. "I'm in the storage room."
Her
mind clicked through her options. If her father learned of her
late-night excursion, he might guess her purpose. She couldn't let that
happen. As the security man entered the back room, she remained seated
at the desk, as if it were perfectly natural for her
to be there. Relief eased her shoulders when she recognized the
black-uniformed man. "Good evening, Tomas. I didn't mean to pull you
away from your office. I guess I should have told you I'd be here
tonight."

 

Tomas lowered the small stunner in his hand. "Good
evening
to you also, Shara. Has your father got you working nights in his
office these days?"

 

She laughed, but braced herself inwardly
for
what she had to do. But she had no choice. "Not really. I was on my way
to his house, and he asked me to pick up these visas for him." Tomas
walked toward her, frowning slightly as his gaze fell on the visas in
front of her, and Shara panicked. If he recognized the signatures and
seals, she would be caught in a lie—a small crime compared to the one
she was about to commit.

 

She had been taught never to misuse
the
gifts the Supreme Being had granted her, but as the security man leaned
over the desk to get a closer look, she acted in self-defense. Her mind
entered his and planted a suggestion.

 

You must return to your
office, and you will not remember seeing me. You investigated the
Governors offices and no one was there. Everything was in order. Go now.

 

Tomas
stood erect and left the room. Shara took a deep calming breath, but
when she picked up the electronic writer, she couldn't stop her hands
from shaking. She had just broken one of the most serious Noronian
laws—invasion of mental privacy.

 

She assured herself that when
her
mission was over she would be forgiven for everything: the lie, the
illegal mind-touch, stealing the travel visas, and forging her father's
name, all leading to defiance of the Tribunal's decision not to use the
tempometer.

 

Listing
her crimes in such a way gave her an anxious moment. They were adding
up terribly fast, and she hadn't even left Innerworld. She repeated the
litany that had brought her to this point: The reward is worth the
risk. With a lot more haste, she completed her chore and returned to
her residence. -

 

In order to go back to the time of the
rebellion,
she first had to get to Norona without being discovered. There were two
days before her father expected to see her, and she wanted to be well
on her way by then. An express mail ship was scheduled to leave in the
morning, but even that speedy transport took a week. In an attempt to
put off suspicions as long as possible, she programmed her
telecommunicator to send a message to her parents' home right before
she was supposed to arrive for their weekly family dinner, saying she
was tied up on a project. A second message two days after that would
tell them she had decided to take a brief holiday and would contact
them when she returned.

 

Romulus had not been aware that the
tempometer had been removed from the desk in his residence, and Shara
hoped he wouldn't go looking for it now. All she needed was a little
luck. With the tempometer's help, she might even be able to get back
without her parents realizing she had been gone.

 

Although she
tried
to sleep for several hours, it was a futile effort. Finally she arose
and got dressed to leave. Using the clothing she planned to take along,
she carefully concealed the tempometer and the notes Lantana had given
her, and packed it all in a small bag.

 

Though
she knew she wouldn't feel anything there, she touched the spot behind
her ear where the universal translator chip had been inserted last
week. Since she rarely left Innerworld, she had never had a use for it
before. With the chip in place, she would be able to understand and
communicate in any known language or dialect being spoken wherever or
whenever she visited.

 

Ready to depart hours before the
appointed
time, she headed for her lab to pick up the microputer and make sure
she had left adequate instructions for her research team.

 

As
departure time neared, Shara's excitement mounted. Suddenly the door to
her lab opened, and the unexpected sound caused her to spring off her
stool.

 

"Going somewhere, Shara?"

 

For several wild
heartbeats, she
could only gape, speechless from the shock of being discovered by the
worst person possible. How could the professor have known what she was
planning? She hadn't made advance reservations or even spoken to
anyone. There were only the preprogrammed messages for her parents. But
there he stood, like an angelic centurion, with his feet spread and
arms crossed. Her resentment toward the odious man increased another
degree.

 

She tried to mentally order him away, but discovered
that
she was locked out of his mind for some reason. She tensed, expecting
him to be furious with her attempted invasion, but he didn't seem to
notice that she had done anything. Carefully avoiding an untruth,
especially with the evidence of a travel bag at her feet, she hedged.
"I don't believe my itinerary is your concern." He marched across the
room and cupped
her chin in his hand before she had a chance to object. As she jerked
her head away from his touch, a slow smile appeared on his face.

 

Gabriel
had seen what he was looking for, but decided not to let her in on his
realization quite yet. At the moment her eye color was a drab olive
green, and he knew she was hiding something this time. He mentally
catalogued that information for further analysis.

 

Shara backed
away from him, discomfited by the way his brief touch had warmed her
skin. "What do you want, Professor?"

 

"Teh, tch, tch. Still
angry, I see. Too bad. This journey will be difficult enough without
you scowling at me the entire time."

 

Shara
straightened her spine and gave him the scowl he was expecting. A week
had passed since their last encounter, and when he hadn't made another
appearance, she had hoped he had gone off on another one of his
research treks. "And what journey might that be?"

 

"You're not
a good
enough actress to pull off the simpleton routine, Shara. I know the
Tribunal turned down your request to travel back in time. I also know
you're planning to ignore their decision." Her small but audible intake
of breath confirmed his assumption.

 

"How do you know that?"
she whispered.

 

He
gave her his most charming smile. "Because, fellow scholar, that is
precisely what I intend to do as well." He paused for that dart to sink
in, then continued. "I could stop you right now. All I'd have to do is
let the Co-Governors know you have the tempometer." Her look of dismay
told him he had guessed correctly. She did have it in her
possession.     

 

"They
would never permit their offspring to become a criminal. But in that
scenario, I wouldn't get to go, either. I gave this a lot of thought,
and I believe I came up with the same conclusion that you did: The
reward is worth the risk. Give it up, Shara. You have no choice but to
accept me as your partner for the duration."

 

She was briefly
taken
aback at hearing her litany come from his mouth, until she recalled
their last argument. Since she couldn't get through to his subconscious
mind, she tried for a bluff. "Go ahead. Call my parents. They know what
I'm doing."

 

He noted the olive color of her eyes had grayed a
bit
more, and bet she was lying, despite the fact that it was prohibited by
the Code of Honesty. Striding past her to the communicator on her desk,
he wondered what laws were left for her to disregard. He touched a
button and said, "Connect me with Governor Romulus."

 

Shara's
finger
touched the same button a heartbeat later and disconnected the
communication. "All right. You can come. But I have one question. Do
you still intend to prevent me from altering history?"

 

"Absolutely,"
he stated emphatically.

 

"Then
I'd say partner is the wrong term, because I still intend to carry out
my mission, even if I have to do it over your unconscious body."

 

Gabriel
raised one eyebrow at her. "I'm accustomed to going long periods
without sleep. And when I do sleep, it's very lightly. Or are you still
harboring notions of overpowering me with physical violence?"

 

She
cocked her head, thinking physical violence should not be ruled out.
"If you're not with me, I don't need to do
anything."