This is the sequel to Adventures of a Paper Girl. It is a crossover with Christopher Stasheff's Rogue Wizard series.
A tall man and woman sat together in the control room of the spaceship, discussing their last mission. Once again they had succeeded in finding the right government for the people and were completely satisfied. Magnus was currently wishing (behind several layers of shields) that he were capable of love since Alea was the most wonderful woman he had ever met. She was his equal in many things and balanced her talents off his own. As he was contemplating this, there was an alert from Herkimer. "Wormhole alert, sir. Strap down quickly!"
The two hurried to fasten their safety netting and barely finished before they were sucked into the gaping tunnel. It was ugly and disorienting and fascinating all at once. Finally the tunnel ended and they were shoved out into a stretch of space that was completely unfamiliar. They had no luck whatsoever finding stars from any known skyscape, nor were there familiar constellations. However, there was a habitable world not far away, though there were no signals of technology on any band. Scanning the planet, there were many cities and even some odd sort of cars, though there were still many horses. After looking at many of them, he decided to set down near the one he found most interesting though he couldn't understand his own fascination. Once they neared the place during the early nighttime of that city, he realized that there was a great concentration of psychic energy throughout the entire area that was centered in the middle of the city, as if it were the heart of a gigantic spiderweb. Herkimer touched down on a plain outside of Haven.
Michael and Kary, whose lifebond had strengthened over the past four years, were out riding because they had seen a falling star. When they had calculated its trajectory, they realized it was likely to land nearby so they got permission to leave the city and investigate. Ordinarily, Herald-trainees were not supposed to go out at night but because they were presently studying the position of the stars so they could navigate without a compass, they managed to convince their teachers that this would be useful.
They were particularly excited at this chance to use their unusual gifts on an object from space. They had long since finished training their Mindspeech and Magegift but no one had know what to do about the others so they were mostly ignored, except by the Chronicler. He repeatedly asked them questions about what it felt like to have earthsense and psychometry, though of course there wasn't really a name for the latter. As yet, they merely acted on instinct in using either, which could be very frustrating. They showed their notes to the guards as each gate and had barely left the last one when the ship touched ground.
Inside the ship, Herkimer told the inhabitants that the air mix was completely identical to that of Gramarye (The ship had never been there but had gotten the information from Fess during the information transfer) and Magnus and Alea got their shots. Right before opening the airlock, Magnus briefly opened his mind to see if there was anyone around. He wasn't expecting anyone but in fact he touched four shielded minds who approached. They had the healthy aura of someone with a clean mind and conscience but then he realized that they were ten feet away. Suddenly, one of the masculine minds fell unconscious. Moments later, a female one did so as well. There were another male and female near them as well but they didn't feel quite human. Not like animals but there was something about them that he associated with holy priests he had met in Gramarye, like a God-touched person.
He hadn't heard anyone hostile outside, so he hurriedly opened the airlock and rushed out, worried about the unconscious ones. He found two teenagers sprawled on the ground, a boy and girl who looked to be around seventeen. There were also two rather worried looking horses beside them who had rather odd tacking. He lifted the boy and Alea picked up the girl. Before going back inside with his burden, he decided to mindtouch the horses so as to impress on them the desire to stay where they were. Instead, he felt a mind more intelligent than his own close her mind to him. The stallion did the same when he tried a second time. Finally, he gave up and left them, having the ship close the lock behind him.
Emily and Stephen watched as their Chosen were carried inside the strange object. Then they called Jacy and Anna through their Companions. The two girls arrived in short order and knocked on the indicated door politely.
Kary and Mike were still in private mindspeech mode so they sorted out their memories together. They had been riding up to the enormous metal object and then Mike had fallen off Stephen because through his Companion, he could sense the ground beneath him. Then Kary had dismounted and knelt beside him. That was where her memory stopped.
Magnus meanwhile was monitoring them while Alea went to the airlock. Outside, she saw two more teenagers standing there wearing grey uniforms similar to those of the two inside.
"Can I help you?" She asked out loud because she was so surprised at their arrival and by the fact that they recognized the entrance.
Anna and Jacy looked at each other but neither knew the language os Anna tried to mindspeak the woman. :Excuse me but Stephen and Emily told us you took our friends inside when they collapsed. Could we see them please?: Alea's eyes widened but she stepped aside to let them enter. :Thank you. I am Anna and this is Jacy. What happened?:
Alea answered, :I haven't a clue. We had just got here when Magnus flung open the door and rushed outside. I followed him and found your friends lying on the ground. We're trying to help them but don't know how. I'm Alea by the way.: She showed them where their friends were.
Anna inserted a line into the pair's link and said, :If you wouldn't mind coming around right about now, I'm going to see what happened to you.:
Jacy added, :These are good people. I can tell.:
Magnus was watching them and was amazed at the sight of two more teenagers bending over his patients. The boy and girl immediately opened their eyes and looked around curiously. One of the girls who was standing said, :Thank you for taking care of our friends. I'm Jacy. Anna is going to try to heal them but could you help give her strength?:
Magnus's eyes widened but he said, :I will help. But in return could you tell me afterward about this place? I will in return tell you about where I am from. What do you want me to do?:
She reached out a hand to him while the other touched Anna's arm. He grasped it and felt nonverbal instructions as to what he should do. He passed energy down his arm and into hers and she in turn gave it to Anna who was intent on the ones lying down. Anna told both of her helpers, :They got a shock from their strange gifts, the ones that let them feel the land, that much is certain. But will you look at this?:
Jacy followed Anna's mind and found that all of Kary and Mike's channels had opened. She recognized some of the Gifts but there was also another odd one. Magnus was also watching and that really surprised him. His hand trembled slightly in Jacy's. Anna did her best on their channels and then dropped the link to Jacy. Idry had also been feeding her power and she kept open that link because she needed that strength to stand. Idry had directed her in what to do about the channels because Anna's lessons had not included such treatments.
Jacy meanwhile kept hold of Magnus's hand. Her Empathy had told her that Magnus was bleeding inside metaphorically. She allowed Jemmy to see through her eyes. She hadn't expected him to know much more about mindhealing than she did, though that was one of her Gifts, but he surprised her by saying, :I think it is a case of an old broken heart or more. He is obviously in love with Alea but someone convinced him to stop caring about women in that way a long time ago so he has decided not to love lest he be hurt. You can do something about that.: She mentally nodded.
He was looking confused, partly because of the shock of all that had happened and partly because he was wondering why she still held his hand.
She worked quickly, with Jemmy giving her advice as she went. Alea was watching but she didn't interfere because she sensed that the girl was trying to help. Anna was sitting between her other two friends and was holding their hands. Alea's mindspeech was not very strong yet, though it was improving, but she could sense both girls were using their own much stronger psychic abilities. Suddenly Magnus's eyes widened and Jacy slumped forward. He managed to catch her just on time and with the air of an older brother, he carried her over to a couch.
Anna looked up briefly and her eyes unfocused as she looked at her friend. Then she said, :Don't worry about her; she's just tired from using her Gifts. She healed you, if you can't tell.:
Magnus managed a smile at the girl who was so mature for the age she looked. Then he went over to Alea. "Can I talk to you?" He asked out loud. She looked at him curiously but nodded.
They went into the next room but left the door open because nobody knew their language anyway. Magnus haltingly began to speak. "I've told you some of my history but there is one part I left out, the real reason why I left Gramarye. There was this woman…" He explained about how his heart had been broken several times over by the agent Finister in different guises and how it had come to be healed. Then he said, "I got permission from my father to leave and as I was going I saw that little man again, the one that kept telling me that he could give me a sort of shield around my heart so it wouldn't be broken. Then, after I accepted, he told me he didn't know what the Key to open it was. That is why I have distanced myself from you. I wanted to love you but I was so convinced that there was a shield around my heart that whenever I wanted to get close to you, something in me would drive me away. That man must have implanted something into my subconscious so that I could never wed. More than likely, he is one of my family's many enemies who don't want democracy to take hold on Gramarye.
"Anyway, what Jacy was doing back there, I think, was breaking open that shield and healing my mind of the influence of that man. She was better than that other healer was. All she did was hold my hands and look into my eyes and healed me. This planet must be an amazing place. So I'll ask you what I really have wanted to ask since I met you, despite that compulsion." He got down on one knee and said, "Will you marry me, Alea? I love you."
She hesitated not at all before saying. "I will. I love you and have waited for this day a very long time. At least now I know why you didn't ask earlier." She smiled down at him. "Now get up, you big oaf!" She laughed.
Okay, that was really cheesy. If anyone was at all interested in having a sequel and reads this, I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter should be along soon.