GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) (35 page)

"Get us out of here.
Now!"
Gabriel yelled in Shara's ear.

But just as her fingers moved on the tempometer switch, her bag came loose and slipped over the edge of the raft. In a panic, she made a dive for it.

Chapter 18

Security Chief Varius burst into the Governor's office. "Tunnel number seven just collapsed!"

Rom's stomach clenched violently but he forced himself to ask, "Casualties?"

"None have been reported so far," the chief replied, making a monumental effort to control his panic. "Two hours from now it would have been a different story. A ship was scheduled to depart for Norona using that lane."

Rom rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept in days. Couldn't. He mentally contacted Aster before giving Chief Varius his instructions.

We can't put it off any longer. We have to act immediately
, Aster thought to him.

In the past two weeks, the changes had taken another giant, disastrous turn. Cattar had reluctantly revealed that she had known how much worse it could get but had hoped they would have prevented it.

This was the second tunnel to disintegrate. The first had resulted in the death of seven hundred Innerworlders. In Outerworld, most of Europe was now a wasteland because the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 had been altered.

Transmissions from Norona indicated they were also experiencing a series of strange phenomena but the changes didn't seem to be heading for deterioration of the planet.

The only positive note was that Cattar and the Innerworld scientists were certain they were getting close to a solution to both flaws. Unfortunately, they still needed the original device in hand to conclude their analysis.

Cattar deduced that Shara had made another time-hop that ripped the tear in the time-space continuum much wider, but wherever she had traveled to, it wasn't home. And if she didn't get here soon, there might be no home for her to arrive in.

All things considered, Rom knew what had to be done. He met Chief Varius's worried gaze and said, "Notify Emissary R-17 that it's time to make contact with the Secretary General of Outerworld's United Nations. They have to be told what's going on, even if there's very little they'll be able to do about it."

Varius nodded and waited for the Governor to issue the order he knew had to be given.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Rom spoke the dreaded words. "Commence evacuation procedures."

Chapter 19

Gabriel grasped Shara's ankle a second before she disappeared under the water. But his hand was slick with rain and he felt her slipping away despite his tremendous effort to pull her back. His other hand was gripping the edge of the raft. If he let that go to get a better hold on her, they could both go down.
Shara!

Help me!
She sent him an urgent image of what he needed to do to save them. Suddenly the raft shot straight up in the air and Gabriel thought surely the end had come. Instead of flipping over however, the raft hovered there, as if being held up by a powerful geyser of water. But it was their combined mental power, not a physical force, keeping them levitated.

With the raft fairly stabilized, he was able to drag Shara back on board. She lay over his lap, choking and sputtering and drenched from head to toe, but her fingers remained clenched around the handle of her precious bag.

He wanted to comfort her and scream at her at the same time but both reactions would have to wait until they got clear of the storm. "The wind is blowing us off course. We've got to go." He shifted her back into their former position and as a bolt of lightning electrified the air around them, they surged into the next leg of their journey.

At the end of the time-hop, it was immediately apparent that Gabriel had been correct about the wind blowing them off course. The late afternoon sun was shining in a clear blue sky and the sea beneath them was flat as a sheet of green glass but land was nowhere in sight.

Holding the mirrored triangle in front of him and Shara, he instructed Beauty to give them their present coordinates. It wasn't quite as bad as it appeared. "Indicate distance and direction to nearest body of land with dense population of life-forms, evolution level four and above." Their destination was 2.2 kilometers northwest. "How are you at rowing?" he asked Shara.

She twisted her head back to look at him. "I thought you said you could make a sail."

"A sail needs wind. We went from one extreme to the other. I have a personal-sized retropower rocket that I could hook up to the rear of the raft, but it can only be used once and I'd rather save it for a real emergency."

"Then save it and our strength. Take us in with your mind. You can do it now."

"Not without your help."

Shara shook her head. "All I did a minute ago was give you a push start then concentrate on not drowning. You held the raft up by yourself."

Gabriel didn't know what to say. He'd been too terrified to think about who was doing what. In case it was only a fluke, he focused his mind on elevating the raft. When it rose off the water, he was so surprised, he let it drop again.
Did I really do that by myself?

Resting her head back against his chest, Shara smiled at the wondrous delight in his mental voice. A heartbeat later, she realized she hadn't reconstructed the partition. As she raised it, he stopped her.

"Please don't. We can each block our own thoughts now and I'd rather keep the channel open between us." He felt her question. "I have a strange feeling that we may need it. Anyway, it's not as terrible as I remembered. I don't mind you being in here with me as much as I thought I would."

Shara smiled again, letting him know his concession was appreciated.

He tightened his arms around her for a moment then urged her around to face him. "Now that we've got that out of the way, perhaps you'd like to tell me what possessed you to attempt suicide back there?"

His abrupt mood change was jarring but she knew she deserved his anger this time. "I'm so sorry. I panicked. I saw all my work about to disappear and I didn't think of the consequences."

Crossing his arms in front of him, he kept his expression stern and his thoughts closed to her. "In the future, you will consider the consequences first
then
act. Both our lives could have been lost because you were worried about losing material possessions!"

"I said I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?
Penance?"

He closed his hands over her shoulders. "What I want is a promise that you'll never,
ever
do anything so foolhardy again." He pulled her close and embraced her tightly. "In all my journeys, I have never felt fear so great."

Shara held her response, hoping to hear some word of love following the scare of losing her, how his life wouldn't be complete without her, but his analysis was much more clinical.

"It must have been due to our joining. If you feel an extremely strong emotion, such as fear, I suppose I can't help but feel it also."

She sighed quietly and eased out of his arms. "Yes, I'm sure that's what it was. We should change clothes before we reach land."

Gabriel thought she looked awfully dejected. Perhaps he'd been too hard on her but such an enormous breach of safety required serious handling. He reached over and tucked her wet hair behind her ear. "I didn't mean to be so harsh. I've become so accustomed to your being around, I forget how limited your journeying experience actually is. You'll get better in time, I'm sure."

Yes, she thought to herself as she dug the rebel garb out of her bag. Better at journeying. Better at hiding her weakness. Better at accepting the fact that she would never have the loving relationship she had always dreamed of.

In a short time they were once again dressed as Friends, Beauty hung from Gabriel's neck and Shara had returned the tempometer belt and special Innerworld ring to her bag. Under Gabriel's newly acquired power, they were headed toward land. It had been agreed that if anyone recognized them from Norona, they would explain that they'd traveled to Terra on Zeus's ship, which had set down in Athens, but then decided to explore more of the planet.

With Beauty's help, Gabriel guided them to a stretch of beach with heavy vegetation a small distance from the royal city of Atlantis, where they might be able to make camp. As he lowered the raft onto the sand, he had the feeling they were being watched.

Yes, I feel it too.
When her eyes could see no one about, she used her mental vision. Not far away, crouched amid a thicket of broad-leaved bushes, were a man and woman.

They appear to be more frightened than dangerous
, Gabriel surmised.
You talk to them
.

"Hello?" Shara called in a purposely lilting voice. "Please come out. We mean you no harm."

Very cautiously, the couple stood up, came out of the bushes, then fell to their knees with their foreheads pressed to the ground. Considerably shorter and stockier than Gabriel and Shara, they both had brown skin and straight black hair clipped below the ears. The only covering they wore was a short piece of rough brown material wrapped around their hips and knotted at the waist.

Gabriel stopped Shara from telling them they didn't need to bow.
They must have seen us float in on the raft and think we're gods. Remember, these were a very primitive, superstitious people. Don't disillusion them just yet. We need information and they might be more helpful if they're a bit awestruck.

Whatever it takes, right?

Within reason.
"You may rise and tell us your names," he said in an imperious tone.

They stood but kept their heads bowed. "I am Jarad and this is my spouse, Ester. You wear the dress of the Friends," the man said, sneaking a look at the strangers.

Shara was instantly relieved to note that her translator chip was programmed with these people's language, whatever it was.

"Yes,"
Gabriel replied. "That's right. We're Friends. We're looking for the others like us."

"They're all gone," Ester said with a sad shake of her head, then looked to Gabriel with a hopeful expression. "They promised someone would return to help us. Are you the ones?"

Gabriel quickly improvised. "We were told there would be a man and woman at this location who could guide us and answer our questions. Who made this promise you spoke of and when?"

"The promise was made by the second visitors," Jarad told him, "and has been passed on secretly through two generations. We had begun to lose any hope of salvation but then Noe started hearing God's voice and now we have seen you arrive like birds from the sky, exactly as it was predicted."

Shara thought she knew what Jarad was speaking of but she wanted to be sure. "What has God told Noe?"

Ester and Jarad glanced at each other with worry in their eyes.

"I will know if you lie," Shara said, gambling a bit.

Jarad raised his head and met her gaze. "God told Noe that the end was coming soon and the land and all the evildoers on it would be swallowed up by the sea. Noe was ordered to build a huge ark and gather on it a male and female of each animal and tell other good men to do the same. But most vessels have been discovered before they were finished and taken by King Jupiter's soldiers for use in the war against Athens. Noe and his family stay hidden high on the mountain, so their ark has not yet been found."