"Life in the Stars"
"The Portal"
Chapter 47
XLVII
"My purpose is to provide a portal," the fourth sphere said as it floated above Liz's hand glowing with a pure white glow.
"A portal… to where?" asked Liz cautiously, her eyes wide with wonder.
"To any place you wish to go," the sphere responded. Shaqor-Niseel gave me to MayaSabriena that she might always be able to join him wherever he was in the universe."
"Did she?" Liz asked, curiosity replacing her former line of thought.
"Yes."
"So MayaSabriena did use your powers at some point… or points… even though you were in the cave on the little moon?"
"Yes."
"Oh my!" Liz said to herself more than to anyone else… "This is amazing!"
"Would you like for me to provide a portal for you?" asked the sphere.
Liz gasped slightly then thought for several moments…
"How do I get back after I go through the portal?" she thought to ask.
"You simply ask… and I will open the portal for you. My presence is not required. The portal will bring you back to where you were before you left unless you ask it to take you to another place."
"Can you open a portal for me to… Xarius?" asked Liz.
A wave of light passed briefly through the room, and what appeared to be a large mirror with a bright aura around it appeared in front of Liz…
"You may pass through the portal," said the voice of the sphere.
Varec reached out and touched the mirror… It was solid.
"The portal will allow the one to pass through who is permitted… no one else… unless the one who is permitted wishes someone else to pass through," the sphere clarified.
Max started to stop Liz, but Liz shook her head. Max stepped back, and Liz stepped forward. As she reached out with her hand in front of her and touched the mirror, the glass in the mirror rippled like small waves on a smooth pond emanating from the spot where a pebble had been thrown in, then Liz stepped through. She found herself standing on a balcony overlooking a landscape with which she was totally unfamiliar. Behind her was what appeared to be a palace. In the sky, there were four moons, still faintly visible though it was daylight. "They must be beautiful at night," Liz thought. In the distance, she could see mountains rising almost to the sky in one direction and an emerald sea in the other direction. Liz stood for a moment absorbed in the beauty of what she was seeing. Then she heard someone coming inside the room behind her.
"Portal," she called. The portal appeared, and Liz stepped through, appearing back in the lab with Max, Michael, and Varec.
"Where were you?" asked Max. "Did you see Xarius?"
Liz nodded, momentarily at a loss for words, then she answered…
"I was on a balcony of a palace looking out at some big mountains, a clear, light emerald sea, and a sky with four moons… It was beautiful! I heard someone coming behind me, so I came back…"
"Do you wish another portal?" the sphere asked.
Liz looked at Max and Michael then at Varec. Then she looked back at the sphere, thinking…
"Can you produce a portal to… MayaSabriena?" Liz asked, wondering in her mind if the portal could send someone back to the past.
"Yes," replied the sphere simply.
"Then… I would like a portal that will take me to MayaSabriena," said Liz.
The wave of light again passed briefly through the room, and the mirror appeared. Liz stepped forward and touched the mirror, producing small waves in the glass that rippled outward from the point where her hand had touched it, then Liz stepped through.
"This must be a mistake," Liz thought. "This is the same place where I just was."
Suddenly the door to the balcony opened behind her. Liz started to call for the portal again, but she had already been seen… and the lady standing in front of her did not appear to be particularly dangerous… in fact, she was smiling. She had graying brownish hair and her clothes and the pendant around her neck suggested that she was someone special. She might have been in her late fifties, Liz surmised… her hair was still mostly shiny and brown, just beginning to get some noticeable gray in it. She looked quite fit and healthy for a lady of her age… heck, for any age, really, Liz thought.
"Come in, my Dear," the lady said, motioning Liz to come inside the chamber from the balcony where she was standing. If Liz had any thoughts of turning and running or calling for the portal, she never acted on them. Instead she followed the regal looking lady into the chamber.
"What is your name, my Dear?" the lady asked.
"Liz," Liz answered plainly… "Oh! I guess you want to know what I was doing on your balcony…"
The lady smiled… "It's all right… Liz… I already know."
Liz looked at her… "You know?"
"Yes. You found my spheres."
Liz was again momentarily at a loss for words, which was unusual…
"Then you…"
The lady nodded, "I am MayaSabriena."
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Liz realized that she had her mouth open and nothing was coming out…
"I… I didn't realize, when I was here before, that I had gone back to the past," Liz said.
"The past?" asked the lady.
"Yes, you see," Liz said, "I'm from your future… You're… my ancestor."
The lady smiled again… "I already knew that you were my descendant; otherwise, the spheres would not have worked for you. But there is one thing you should know, my Dear…"
"What's that?" asked Liz.
"You are not in the past."
"But you…" Liz started… "You lived over ten thousand years ago."
The lady nodded, "In your time, that is true… Time is not the same here on Xarius. In your time, I guess I am quite an old lady!" Maya laughed heartily.
"I… didn't mean to imply…" Liz said.
Maya laughed even harder… "It's all right, my Dear, it's true… I am over ten thousand years old… Don't ask me to tell you the exact number of years! I stopped keeping track a very long time ago! I don't know if I can explain it to you very well, but on this planet, time passes differently than on most other planets."
Liz laughed. "Yeah, I know! As we get older, time seems to go faster and faster!"
"Well, here on Xarius it goes slower and slower… literally," said Maya.
Maya motioned toward the door, and Liz looked up… Standing in the door smiling at them was, quite simply, the most handsome man Liz had ever seen. Well, except for Max, of course! But Max was special. He was hers!
Once again, Liz realized that her mouth was open but nothing was coming out.
"Liz, this is my husband, Shaqor-Niseel, king of Xarius."
"Shag?" Liz said to herself involuntarily, more as a gasp than a statement.
Maya raised her eyebrows… "I see you found my diary, too."
Liz turned red and bit down on her tongue.
"That's all right," Maya said laughing… "I still call him 'Shag,' and that diary was written a long, long time ago! I'm surprised that it still exists and is readable. I would love to read it again… so many years ago… Ah, well!"
"They seem only as a day to me, my Dear," said 'Shag," putting his arm around Maya and kissing her as though they had been married only yesterday.
"So…" said 'Shag' to Liz, "You are our great, great, great, great… something… granddaughter."
------------------------End of Chapter 47
