The Light-Field (59 page)

‘You will call me Shifu,' he said, ‘which means —'

‘Master-father.' Taren frowned, curious that she had retained her understanding of the language of her past-life incarnation. ‘But —'

‘No buts.' He waved as he stepped into the corridor. ‘See you in one thousand and forty six BC Earth time, or thereabouts.' Telmo gave her the thumbs up as the door closed and isolated her.

‘I thought my past-life persona was living in an all-female monastery?' Taren aired her query anyway. ‘How am I supposed to find a Shifu there?'

From what she'd garnered from Jiang Hudan, Wu was an all-encompassing word that meant shaman, oracle, healer, seer — they were the mistresses of all things supernatural in the ancient world, and were only ever female. This was how the balance of power between the sexes was maintained in ancient China: men were the masters of Earth, and women were the mistresses of Heaven. This world was very intriguing to Taren, who stood to learn much from the experience. What did not thrill her, however, was the very strong possibility that she was a vestal virgin and bound by oath to remain that way.

Her attention shifted back to Lucian, and she joined him on the floor of the chamber. ‘Something tells me that in Zhou, our close association is not going to be as permissible as it has been in our past.' Again she felt a twinge of annoyance at Lucian's early departure; she would have liked to have said goodbye.

‘Never mind,' she decided. ‘We had last night and there's always our true reality awaiting us at the end of all this. Happy travels, my love.' She kissed his cheek gently and laid down beside him. ‘Here's hoping all roads lead back to you.'

She closed her eyes and returned to the misty bridge inside her mind's eye.

As she commenced the crossing, Taren considered that she could fully appreciate why Lucian had not returned to Kila; standing in her Wu incarnation's shoes, she'd not wanted to leave either! She did not consider this a sidetrack from her work with AMIE — it had always been their goal to investigate new worlds and states of being. Still, a stint in the ancient history of a planet in another universe was far beyond any exploration aspiration she'd ever had, and she could only be grateful for the opportunity to venture where no soul had dared before.

Her steps quickened as she headed down the far side of the bridge. But this time, when Taren leapt into the void and was enveloped by the great light barrier between the mundane and etheric worlds, she felt her soul-mind tear away from her physical form, before being spirited forth to her next life quest.

 

‘They've all gone,' Noah announced to Rhun from the pit at the end of the corridor, where the meditation chambers were located. The historian had come to a stop in front of the door on the end. ‘I guess it's safe to let Khalid out now.'

‘By all means.' Rhun motioned for him to go right ahead. But as the door dispersed, Noah looked to Rhun, distressed, and then rushed inside the cell.

Rhun was up and in there as fast as lightning. He found Khalid dead on the floor of the cell, just like those on AMIE's crew that had just made the time jump.

Noah looked to Rhun, fear in his eyes. ‘Do you think he has followed them?'

‘What's that?' Rhun plucked a communicator from Khalid's hand, and pressing the play button on the screen, the communicator played a recording of Telmo's regression session with the AMIE crew. ‘Shit! He must have left this in his cell recording while we took him for a walk.'

‘Do you think he means them harm?' Noah was worried.

‘He obviously lied about not having any psychic power, so who knows?' Rhun was furious. ‘I can't believe he played us all!'

‘You're assuming he has bad intentions,' Noah warned Rhun.

‘I've got to go.' Rhun backed up to the door. ‘Wish me luck.'

‘I'll see you off.' En Noah rose to accompany Rhun down to the chariot's vault and as they passed through the pit, there were attack transmissions being broadcast. ‘It's Tarazean,' Noah informed.

‘None of this is going to happen,' Rhun swore, as they headed for the teleporter plate. ‘This time I know exactly where I'm going, and it's certainly not anywhere near where I landed last time …
everything
will change.'

‘I have faith that it will.' En Noah joined him on the teleporter plate.

Once they were clear of the pit's security measures, they both teleported to the vault beneath in the Institute of Immortal History.

Rhun was quick to assume the control seat in the chariot and fire it up. ‘I'll see you back there … and then back here,' he added with a grin.

‘You will,' Noah affirmed. ‘I can hardly wait to do some past-life regression and see how you are all getting on.'

‘I'm confident … I've got the best team history has to offer.' Rhun shook his dearest advisor's hand.

‘All the same, be careful back there.' Noah let Rhun's hand go and stepped back. ‘I'd sure hate to wake in a worse reality than this.'

‘Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.' Rhun flashed Noah a confident grin and then focused all his intent on his desired destination. As he recalled ancient Zhou, he couldn't help but smile
when he considered the adventure that lay ahead. ‘Yahweh Shyamal!' he called out, his vibratory rate rising as he was engulfed by the etheric light the chariot exuded in passage. ‘The Timekeepers are coming back to Earth, and we're are going to
KICK YOUR A
—'

Bletzer, June G., PhD.,
The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary
, The Donning Company Publishers, Virginia, USA, 1986.

Laszlo, Ervin,
Science and the Akashic Field — An Integral Theory of Everything
, Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vermont, 2004.

McTaggart, Lynne,
The Field — the Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe
, Harper Element, London, 2001.

McTaggart, Lynne,
The Intention Experiment
, Harper Element, London, 2007.

Maladaan

Capital City: Esponisa

Ruler: President Woodford Tallak

Climate: Polluted

Landscape: Overdeveloped

Highrise modern cityscapes

Known as the technology capital of the USS

Frujia

Capital City: Kotan-Bathaar

Ruler: Chief Matan-tu-hoo

Climate: Hot, tropical

Landscape: Scattered island archipelagos

Small tourist colonies

Known as the pleasure capital of the USS

Sermetica

Capital City: Heavensgate

Ruler: President Jabez Anselm

Climate: Controlled

Landscape: Desert-mineral rich

Mobile-airborne cities in the clouds

Known as the mining capital of the USS

a.k.a. the Planet of Men

Phemoria

Capital City: Tonissia

Ruler: Queen Qusay-Sabah Clarona

Climate: Moderate

Landscape: Forest and ocean rich

Beautiful ancient cities, unspoilt by time

Known as the cultural capital of the USS

a.k.a. the Planet of Women

Oceane

Capital City: none

Ruler: Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi

Climate: Wet and steamy

Landscape: Largely ocean and small rocky land masses

Unknown to the USS

As mentioned in the dedication I have many people who help me to keep my web presence alive and kicking, and apart from the aforementioned ladies, I owe a very big thank you to my husband, David, for my new website traciharding.com. I also want to thank our great kids, Sarah and John, for their love and support all year round — even when I am ignoring them to write books.

A very special expression of appreciation to Lindsay Tomasic for her kind permission to use lyrics from her song ‘Starman' in chapter 4: The Sermetic Royal Lines from her album
The Most Amazing Dream
— which I discovered on iTunes. I was so thrilled to be able to include these lyrics, as they were just so perfect for the scene — and if truth be known the song influenced the storyline! You can find Lindsay on the web at: lindsaytomasic.com

A big heartfelt thank you to my agent, Selwa, who is always so patient and supportive of my endeavours, and to her wonderful stable of authors who inspire me every day — I won't drop names, but you all know who you are.

Thanks also to my girlfriends, family and friends. I praise the universe for all of you! That equally applies to all my on-line friends and readers on the THC, Trazling and on the Traci Harding Fans and Trazling Facebook Pages — you all ensure I remain a gainfully employed author and I am so grateful for that.

I cannot close without thanking Stephanie Smith, my rock at HarperCollins Publishers Australia, and all the team, for the fifteen happy years we've worked together to present my stories to the world. What can I say …
I love your work
.

Since 1996, Traci Harding has had four trilogies and three stand-alone novels published by HarperVoyager Australia. Her books are published in several different languages, and are also available in e-book format from the Apple iBookstore, Amazon, Kobo, Google, ReadCloud, and Booki.sh. Selected titles are also available as a digital audio download through iTunes and Amazon — and as an audio book through Bolinda Audio.