The Four Faces Of Rath
Out Of A Nightmare
Chapter 67
LXVII
Maria dropped to her knees and ceremoniously, but with genuine emotion, kissed the soil she had just stepped onto after walking down the long ramp from the New Granolith. Standing beside her, Michael smiled and nodded understandingly. He was almost tempted to kiss the ground himself. Max took a long, deep breath of "real" Antarian air, and Liz hugged him and wiped away the tears that were forming in her eyes. Alex and Isabel spun around and around in the early morning Antarian sunlight, giddily acknowledging… and finally believing… that it was real. Nobody from the ship… not Jim Valenti, not Tess or Rayylar, not even the scientific-minded Varec appeared unaffected. They had made it! They really had finally come home.
It had been a long trip… much longer than any of them had expected. The trip to the other dimension had not taken that long, especially after they found a way to speed up their arrival. And the time spent with their doubles on earth had been rewarding, even if it had lasted somewhat longer than expected. But the trip home…
Tess had said it best when she surmised that they had taken a wrong turn somewhere and made a side-trip through hell. Nobody had ever disagreed with her assessment.
Even now, it was hard to believe that they were really home. It had taken barely over a week to get to earth in dimension Y… and almost seven months to get back. Seven very long and often disheartening months during which they began to think that they might never see home again at all… that this might be their lives, or whatever their lives were fated to become now, lost in the depths of space and time, far away from the homes they had once had, far away from the families they loved. They hadn't even seen Kryys since leaving the other dimension. With his special abilities, Kryys found Maria and Michael, his mom and dad, in Dimension Y, but when they were ready to leave for home, he left, too, departing the same way he had come, through the time continuum, returning home almost instantaneously. The others had to come back by a more conventional route… in the Antarian mothership. But wherever the ship and its crew had been since leaving Dimension Y… even Kryys apparently hadn't been able to find them.
No… no one at all was disagreeing with Tess' assessment.
Only a scant thirty minutes earlier, everyone onboard had wondered what surprises this new planet would hold for them as they entered its atmosphere. They had long before almost given up hoping that it would be their Antar each time they found another Antar. They had learned to approach each new planet cautiously, without drawing attention to their presence, and to take nothing for granted. But this time was different… Max knew almost immediately. It wasn't the golden sea rotating slowly below them that tipped him off. Most of the other "Antars" looked the same. It was the sudden connection he had to the jah-ees, the one he had healed, in particular. It had been like plugging in a lamp and the light suddenly coming on. Max hadn't even realized that the connection was missing until it was suddenly restored. Then he knew. This was home… This was really it… their Antar. Convincing the others had taken some effort, but in the end they had each given in to their desire for it to be true and had dared to believe… or at least to hope. And now they knew.
Home! This was home! Their home! If they ever had had any doubts, those doubts were about to be dispelled completely. Jim looked up to see Kathleen coming toward him. He smiled broadly, and Kathleen began to run, throwing herself into Jim's arms. Close behind Kathleen were Jeff and Nancy Parker, Philip and Diane Evans, Charles and Gloria Whitman, and Jeliya, who were running to keep pace with all the children. Kyle and Jeliya had not gone on the trip, but Kyle had shown up with Kryys right before they started back home. Jeliya had stayed on Antar to help watch the children with Kathleen and the grandparents.
Little Jayyd, running to get to her mom first, leapt almost ten feet into Maria's arms, then Zorel and Kryys tackled her, almost taking her down with their exuberance. Maria swung them all three around and around, kissing and hugging them, until she was dizzy, then they tackled Michael, who joyfully held, hugged, and kissed the children he had never intended to be away from for so long and had thought he might never see again.
Maya, Andya, JoLeesa, and Alyyx quickly latched onto Liz and Max, who kissed and hugged them as though they might never let them go again. Liz looked around for Jeffy and spotted her baby in Jeliya's arms. She held out her arms, and Jeliya started to walk toward her, but Jeffy wasn't waiting, apparently. Dissolving into atoms, he disappeared from Jeliya's arms and reappeared in Liz's outstretched arms.
"He remembers me," Liz cried, as tears ran down her cheeks. Jeliya nodded. After being away for over seven months, Liz had really feared that little Jeffy, who was not yet a toddler when she left, might not even know her anymore. It had given her a scary, empty, lost feeling in her stomach that she could not describe. But Liz's heart leapt with joy when Jeffy came to her and she held him again and kissed him, telling him how much she loved and had missed him, something that she told all her children over and over again.
Not far away, Tess was on her knees with her arms around both Jiba and Drel and her face buried between theirs, as tears of joy flowed freely down her cheeks, too.
Mareeya and Ceelya, sitting in Alex's arms, with Isabel hanging onto them, were all smiles. Though they might have been a little big by now to hold both at the same time, Alex wasn't complaining. He had scooped them both up in one fell swoop, and right now, he could have held twice as much weight easily and not even noticed.
Amy and Liz-Jolee held onto Varec as though they might have to split him in half to satisfy them both, and Varec loved it.
Danyy Valenti threw his arms around Jim, who held his younger son and smiled from ear to ear, as his eyes grew misty. Kyle walked up to Jim and smiled… then nodded to his father. Jim nodded back then unexpectedly reached out and pulled Kyle to him and hugged him, too.
Feeling something nudge his arm, Danyy turned around and saw Jung-Jo, who had sneaked up silently at his side while he was hugging his father. Danyy squealed with delight and threw his arms around Jung-Jo's neck and hugged him, too. Jung-Jo closed his eyes, his face etched with the classic expression of a very happy feline. He may have been a pawgor, a distant alien relative, perhaps, of saber-tooth tigers, but he was just a big, happy kitty cat right now. And like all the others, Jung-Jo was glad to be home. As everyone hugged and kissed, laughter gave way to sobs, then sobs gave way to laughter again.
Home. It felt good! It felt so very good… to everyone!
The driver pulled the hovercar into the parking area beside the palace and passed his hand over a small symbol on the console. Instantaneously, the car and its occupants were transported down into the palace garage adjoining the underground portions of the palace. The engines, already whisper-quiet, whirred to a stop, then the car's doors rose upward and Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, and Varec got out and walked to the side, as a second vehicle, a longer one, appeared in the place of the first one, which had already transported back out. As the doors of the second vehicle rose, Isabel, Alex, Tess, Rayylar, Jim, Kathleen, and several of the children got out. Once everyone was there, they all walked together down a short hallway then took a large, lavishly-appointed ascension chamber up to the main floor of the palace. The palace ascension chambers more closely resembled rooms than simple elevators. There were comfortable chairs to sit in, and the floors were carpeted. No one sat down this time, though. The ride up was short, and they were too excited. As the chamber stopped and the door opened, they stepped out to find the royal palace staff lined up waiting to greet them… and all smiles.
"Welcome home, Zan! Welcome home, My Lady!" the Antarian lady closest to them said enthusiastically. "It has been a long time. We missed you." She turned and smiled at Maria… "My Lady… and Rath! It is good to have you back, too!"
"It's been too long, Ami'tya," Max replied with a smile. "We missed you, too. We missed our homes and families."
"We're really, really very glad to be back," Liz added, giving Ami'tya, then the others in turn, males and females alike, a warm and heartfelt hug. At the moment, it just seemed right.
"Someone is waiting to see you, Zan," Ami'tya said, pointing toward the parlor, as Liz hugged the last staff person.
Max looked at Michael with a puzzled look. "We just got back. Who else would know that we were here before we even got back to the palace?"
Michael thought for a minute. "That's a good question, Max… one that I'd like an answer to. Come on."
Michael and Max walked into the parlor, and Michael instantly scowled and turned around to walk back out without saying a word.
"Michael? Where are you going?" Maria asked, coming in behind him as he tried to leave.
"Anywhere… anywhere but here."
"Maybe they have something important to tell us," Maria insisted.
"Nothing I want to hear," Michael replied, gently moving Maria out of his way.
"Maybe we should hear them out," Max said cautiously, taking Michael by the arm.
Michael spun around to face Max… "Why? So they can tell me that I screwed up time again or… or… changed what was meant to be… or… that they're going to change everything back the way it was? I don't want to hear it, Max!"
Max looked at Durj'ori, the Nogi-K'ya, then at the Drax-ta-Kiya of Jeroglasst questioningly. The question was unspoken, but they understood.
"It is true, we disapprove of capricious changes to the time continuum… the river," Durj'ori said.
"See?" Michael said, waving his hand in frustration then turning on Durj'ori…
"This is a family and friends reunion, Durj'ori! Which you are not either of! You understand that? We just got back from… from hell… or somewhere just about as fun. You're the last person I want to see or talk to right now!" Michael took Durj'ori by the arm to escort him to the door then reached back to get the Drax-ta-Kiya with his other hand. "You, too, Drax. No offense, but I don't want to hear that you guys are just calmly going to undo everything that we accomplished in the other dimension. And I don't want to know it if I messed up the time continuum… river… thingamawhiz that you guys play and romp in all the time. So just get out! Make an appointment. I'll try to work you in… say in about a hundred years. That's the way you guys do things, isn't it?"
"That is fine for me," Durj'ori said, "but you may be a very old man."
"I'll risk it," Michael scowled. "Besides, that's what I was hoping… to be a very old man before I ever see you again."
"When you change what was meant to be," Durj'ori explained, oblivious to Michael's protest, "you risk dire effects to the entire universe… unknown and dire effects. That is why the Nogi-K'ya are so careful."
"Yeah, well, I don't give a yegg's hairy ass," Michael replied caustically, shoving Durj'ori further toward the door.
At this point, Max couldn't help coming to Michael's defense…
"Michael didn't do this on his own, Durj'ori. I agreed with it. It was the right thing to do. If you have a grievance, it will have to be with me, too."
"Me, too," Liz said, stepping forward.
"And me, too," Maria said, stepping up and taking Michael's arm protectively.
"You'll have to take it up with all of us," Alex said, stepping forward to add his own voice to those of the others.
"Durj'ori," Isabel said, in an unmistakably threatening and icy tone, "if you change what happened in that dimension, and those… those… our doubles there die and never find the happiness or freedom that we helped them find, I'll make sure, personally, that all your remaining days are miserable beyond belief."
Isabel had no idea how she might make good on that threat. After all, the Nogi-K'ya were semi-immortal. They did die, but only after billions of years… even the Nogi-K'ya were unsure exactly what their life spans were. But Durj'ori took a step back as Isabel stepped toward him. It seemed that even the semi-immortal Nogi-K'ya knew when to retreat. And the look in Isabel's eyes was saying that this would be a very good time.
"Actually," the Drax-ta-Kiya said, "Durj'ori and I are not here to condemn you or your activities in the other dimension."
The Drax-ta-Kiya was not an ally of the Nogi-K'ya, nor were their causes normally the same, but he felt that it would be best, for both of their sakes, if this were clarified quickly.
""You aren't?" Maria asked.
"We are not," Durj'ori replied.
"Then why are you here," Michael asked, still not convinced. "Why should I believe that you're not here to gang up on me for changing the river of time or something? You may already have changed everything back the way it was before we went there to help our doubles? Are you going to swear that you didn't change anything back… or that you won't change it back later?"
"We will not… we did not," Durj'ori said.
Michael seemed to relax noticeably when Durj'ori said this. "Okay… well… okay… that's good to know…"
"Actually, we came to commend you," the Drax-ta-Kiya said. "It would seem that your trip was very successful… and the results have been… acceptable."
"Acceptable… I guess that's high praise coming from you," Michael said.
The Drax-ta-Kiya smiled. "Neither Durj'ori nor I are able to leave this dimension. The Nogi-K'ya are not bound by time, but they are restricted to this dimension. And I have not mastered the concept of traveling through dimensional time or space. In that respect… and some others… Kryys' powers are far greater than my own… he merely needs… guidance. He is, after all, still only a child."
Michael nodded, for once in total agreement with what the Drax-ta-Kiya was saying.
"I have always appreciated your guidance… and I appreciate your helping Kryys to understand his powers and use them wisely," Michael admitted.
The Drax-ta-Kiya smiled slightly and nodded. "That has always been my pleasure."
"The reason we are not displeased with what you have done in the other dimensions," Durj'ori added, "is that you did not change time there. You changed their present. That is acceptable, especially when it is for… what you would call… a good cause."
"Then you agree that it was a good cause," Michael asked.
Durj'ori nodded. "Changing time always has consequences that are difficult to foresee. The Nogi-K'ya may take hundreds of years tracing all the ripples that will occur in the time continuum if a particular change is made… before permitting the change to be made. When you went into your past here, you changed time, and there were consequences. But this time, that did not occur."
"Everything came out okay, though, after I went into my past before," Michael insisted cautiously. "Didn't it?"
"You brought back a plague… I believe you called it the Zwolinski plague. Fortunately, you and Max survived it."
Michael winced painfully, as Durj'ori reminded him, and his head slumped…
"I was unable to save thousands of other Antarians who died from it, though. I was responsible for their deaths for bringing the plague to Antar."
The Drax-ta-Kiya smiled again… or appeared to smile… almost, as he sometimes was prone to do. One was never quite sure.
"Rath, you really must do a census on your planet sometime. After you and Zan came out of it, there was a slight shift in the flow of time. I don't guess you would have noticed."
"A shift… how? What does that mean," Max asked.
"The people who died never died, Zan."
"But… how…"
"A slight nudge to the river of time."
"You did that?"
The Drax-ta Kiya shook his head.
"Who then?" Max asked. Then his eyes widened with sudden intuition… "Kryys?"
"No. Kryys wanted to do it, but he knew that the river held another future, so he waited. The Nogi-K'ya did it."
"The Nogi K'ya? Without a ten thousand year study? They're getting reckless and carefree," Max exclaimed reflexively, with more than a touch of sarcasm.
The Drax-ta-Kiya smiled. Max thought that it was the first time he had ever seen him actually smile.
"They thought that they sort of owed it to you."
"No argument there," Michael said. "They screwed up the whole time thing in the first place. It caused us a lot of grief."
"Well, they apparently had a contingency plan… a plan worked out over several millennia… for dealing with such an emergency. When their other efforts failed to produce the desired results in the time needed for… more mortal beings like us… they fell back on the plan. They have corrected all the anomalies now. Those things which still remain uncorrected were deemed… acceptable."
"Acceptable?" Max repeated with a tone of exasperation. "Acceptable? What is acceptable about making mistakes and then just leaving them that way?"
"Your baby, Jeffy, was a mistake, Zan. He was created in a different time bubble, a bubble that no longer exists… a bubble that perhaps never really existed in the real sense of time, as you know it. If the Nogi-K'ya had returned everything to the way it was, without allowing for exceptions, there would be no Jeffy."
Max swallowed hard then nodded. "I guess I do owe them then."
"It would seem so."
"What else did they not change back?"
"They left almost everything that Rath… or Michael… did in the alternate time line he was in the way he changed it. They deemed the changes he caused to be… desirable."
Max looked at Michael, and Michael shrugged.
"Dumas Zwolinski will grow up to be a different person because of your intervention," Durj'ori said, turning to Michael. "Hank won't change, but he'll stop and think first now, and that will lead to small improvements in his behavior. The ripples from these and other changes that you caused will touch many other people through the millennia. We have traced and plotted these changes and have deemed them all desirable… so we have allowed them to remain. We do not believe in changing time, but we believe that after it has been changed, all possible time lines must be considered."
"So I did something right?" Michael asked cautiously.
The Drax-ta-Kiya smiled again. "Apparently so."
Michael seemed momentarily stunned, then a bemused look came over his face. Max saw it and smiled.
Maria put both of her arms around Michael and hugged him. "Well, I knew you were right, Michael. I've always known it. You've always been right as far as I was concerned… no matter what anyone else out there might have thought. When you were searching for yourself in the past, all of us here knew who you were… and we know who you are. You're someone with a heart. Whether you're painting beautiful portraits or saving kidnapped children or protecting the kingdom or… or being my soul mate… you're someone with a heart. I don't think that can ever be wrong. In the end, it's the only thing in this universe that can be right."
Isabel nodded and stood beside Maria. "You know I haven't always agreed with you on everything, Michael…"
Michael grinned, remembering how he had goaded and irritated Isabel with his off-the-cuff remarks when Liz and Alex from the other dimension had been here with them.
"But I could have told the Nogi-K'ya what Maria just said… without a ten-thousand-year study," Isabel continued. Then she turned to Durj'ori… "We're glad you guys finally figured it out."
Durj'ori thought about expounding on the possibilities of having good intentions and still making mistakes, especially in matters affecting time, but he wisely had second thoughts. Instead, he just nodded.
"Well," the Drax-ta-Kiya said, standing up. "There is an interesting expression among the people of the planet that Rath grew up on… 'All's well that ends well.' I, uh… I think we can all agree that, in this case, at least, that quaint saying is true. Durj'ori… if you will accompany me, perhaps we should leave these people alone now so that they can enjoy their homecoming. Oh, and… Zan… have you had any more dreams about flying?"
"How did you…?" Max started to ask, but the Drax-ta-Kiya held up one hand…
"Don't forget that letter of acquaintance that the shapeshifter, Ta'lan, gave you to give to her double in this dimension. It may be… eye-opening." Having said this, the Drax-ta-Kiya dissolved into a billion tiny glowing atoms and disappeared, taking Durj'ori with him.
Max looked at Liz and reached into his pocket for the crumpled paper.
"I had almost forgotten it. So much has happened in seven months."
"What does it say," Maria asked.
Max shook his head. "I don't know. It's sealed. Ta'lan said to give it to her double as soon as we could after we got back home. She said it would explain some things… and it's our gift from her and Rahn for helping Rahn and bringing their king back."
"Then I guess we need to make a trip to the Kec'je shapeshifters' valley," Michael said, "But not today. Tomorrow… or the next day maybe. Today, I just want to be with my family again… in my own home." Michael put his arm around Maria and smiled… "And I have a special gift for you, Maria, of my own."
Maria grinned and hugged Michael. "Ta'lan's gift can wait another day, I think. Right now I need yours a lot more."
tbc
Coming up: The Kec'je secret