Alienstarburst - Thanks! I've enjoyed writing the parts about the bog. :) I think you'll like this next part.
Sliding Into Antar
A New Age Dawns
Chapter 13
XIII
"To our new friends from across the dimensions… however many dimensions it may be and however far from here their Antar may lie… may our hearts and thoughts bind us together now and till the end of time," King Zan said, raising his goblet in a toast.
"Hear! Hear!" Alex seconded, raising his goblet to Isabel's, as the rest of the royal group and friends raised theirs, too, in joyous agreement.
"And may our doubles have long, healthy, happy, prosperous lives wherever they may go in their travels," Michael added, clinking his goblet against Maria's.
"Hear! Hear!" several people said at once.
It was a joyous occasion, as everyone sat around the large royal dining table together, enjoying the finest Antarian foods and jubish, an Antarian wine-like drink, for the first time in seven months. And the meal had an added atmosphere of celebration because their doubles were present… the doubles who were at least partly responsible for their being alive now. After all, it was Max from the other dimension who had healed many of them… and it was Max and Michael who had made Kryys aware of his own incredible healing abilities so that he could heal the others.
Kryys' contribution had not been forgotten either… nor had those of the other children…
"To Kryys Guerin!" Zan said, raising his goblet again… "For healing me and many of the other parents. You have an awesome ability, Kryys! Thank you… from all of us!"
(Alyyx Evans sneaked his hand under the table, smiling innocently.)
"And to Jiba, Danyy, Zorel, Maya, Andya, JoLeesa, Alyyx, Taz, Jayyd, Liz-Jolee, Drel, Mareeya, Ceelya, Rayyn… have I forgotten anyone?"
(Alyyx shook his head, still smiling innocently, and pulled his empty hand back out from under the table.)
Zan looked around the table and smiled, as he saw the grinning faces of each one of the children. "I think after the last two seasons and three days… actually, four days, now… you have all become something more than the children you were before this happened, and you've earned the right to join us at the big table during formal meals at the palace where everyone else is present. You were forced to survive without us for two seasons and three days… almost seven months. And you did better than just survive. You drove Kivar and his shadow shifters away and protected Antar and our people from them when they tried to return, and you saved me and all the other parents here by taking us to the healing place, a place that I was not even aware existed until we woke up there. So, Danyy Valenti… here's to you for discovering the healing place… Zorel Guerin… here's to you for guiding us through the Nan-Torel and for holding everyone together as a group… Jiba… here's to you for the most awesome illusions I've ever witnessed anywhere…"
"Hear! Hear!" both Max and Michael from the other dimension said at the same time, raising their goblets with a grin.
"Maya Evans… here's to you," Zan continued, "For using your mental ability to find out when Kivar was coming before he got here… and Andya Evans… here's to you for creating wild animals to help scare Kivar away the first time… and for a totally and outrageously awesome asteroid… which some of our people, I hear, are already calling 'the Kivar petard' and 'the Kivar Avengerstar.'"
There were a lot of nods and chuckles around the table, and everyone raised his or her goblet again, as they had done each time another name had been mentioned.
"And to all of you, here's to you… our children," Zan said, "For staying together and being an unconquerable force for good while we were away, uh… sleeping."
Zan raised his goblet, and the children grinned. Some of them raised their own glasses, which contained a special mixture of Indigo Grape Snapple, Agave Cactus Snapple, Cherry Coke, and a dash of Tabasco, all flavors that the Antarian scientists had copied from Earth drinks brought back to Antar by Michael. The children absolutely loved the mixture and always asked for it at parties. And this was definitely a party… or at least a major celebration.
"To a new beginning!" Liz said, "And freedom from the threat of Kivar ever returning again."
"I'll toast to that!" Maria and Isabel both said at the same time, raising their goblets high. They were quickly joined in by everyone else.
(Danyy nonchalantly slipped his hand under the table, all the time looking straight ahead and smiling as the grownups spoke.)
"So what do you plan to do next," Zan asked his double.
Max smiled and shook his head. "We're going home, we hope. That's where we thought we were when we came here. We didn't know this was another alternate dimension until we saw the children and figured out that something more than the weather was wrong here."
"I've been thinking about that," Varec said, "I have a couple of theories about why we went off course. My thinking at the moment is that the four individuals who called themselves sliders may have had something to do with it. I'm working on that as the most likely theory."
"But you can get us back on course, right?" Michael said.
"I should be able to," Varec replied, but his tone did not sound particularly optimistic.
"Well," Michael said, shrugging and turning back to the others, "Varec will get us back. I have complete faith in him."
"What I want to know," Liz said, turning to Tess, "…is, what in the name of Antar possessed you to jump into the black bog, when we still had no idea what was going on there. You might have drowned!"
Tess smiled. "Jiba jumped in. We have a bond."
"Well, yeah, I know," Liz said, "I have a mother's bond with Maya and my other children, but these weren't OUR children really… they were our children's doubles."
Tess sighed and nodded. "I know… but I still felt something. I knew that Jiba was totally unafraid when she jumped in… I felt it… and I knew that she would be all right… and that I would be all right."
"Must be a side effect of the mind warp ability you and Jiba share," Kyle said.
(Jayyd giggled and peeked under the table then slipped her hand under the table and back out quickly, looking straight ahead and smiling.)
Tess nodded, then she looked at Liz again… "I have a question for you, Liz. Maya, Andya, JoLeesa, and Alyyx are all here… I mean their doubles are here… but where is Jeffy… your baby? Is his double here? I haven't seen him."
Liz from this dimension caught her breath and turned to her double from the New Granolith… "You have a baby?"
"You don't?" Liz from the New Granolith asked, but deep inside, she already knew the answer. She had known it all along… "I think Jeffy is a one world wonder," Liz said, a bit sadly. Her double looked puzzled.
"What Elizabeth means," Varec offered, "Is that Jeffy was created in a time bubble that no longer exists and that only ever existed in that one place and time where Jeffy was conceived and born. It ceased to exist, and… it's very difficult to explain, but… it never existed at all."
"That doesn't make any sense at all," Liz from this Antar said, trying hard to understand.
"Our Michael traveled back in time," Liz from the New Granolith said, "And he met my double in the past. It was a screwed up timeline, and Max, Michael, and the others didn't exist in it… and I was about to marry some jerk professor who had been stealing my research to get himself ahead, but our Michael showed up and kind of put a stop to the wedding. Anyway, Max was in a different time or something entirely, and like I said, he didn't exist in my double's screwed up timeline. Time and everything had been all messed up by some guys called the Nogi-K'ya. We thought Michael did it, but it was them. Anyway, I was curious about what Max looked like, after Michael told me about him and convinced me that he was supposed to be my husband, so I called the sphere of the portal… Michael had shown me that it would answer to me… and I went to meet Max. I returned the same day to my own time by coming back in time again. But I had stayed with Max for a whole year in the other timeline, and we had Jeffy. I meant to return to Max right away, but then everything changed again and the time bubble that Max was in disappeared. At first, I didn't remember having Jeffy, because when the time bubble ceased to exist, it never happened. With the timeline thing straightened out, I returned to my real timeline with Max and our children… or became one with myself in the real timeline. I think that's actually what happened… but I couldn't forget my baby."
"She knew there was something terribly important that she was supposed to remember," Michael said, "And it was killing her. Eventually, she remembered. The Nogi-K'ya told her that Jeffy never existed, but Liz couldn't accept that. My son, Kryys, found him by going into the river of time, and he found a way to get him back and bring him home to her."
"Wow! I have a baby brother in another dimension," Maya exclaimed. "That's so totally awesome," added JoLeesa. "Can we get one, too," Andya asked.
Alyyx just wrinkled his nose, but then he smiled. "Oh, I guess I could train a new little brother."
Liz smiled. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you guys, but apparently, this baby only exists in their dimension. You would have to go there to see him." She sighed then looked at her double, as she thought about it… "Do you think that would be possible?"
Liz looked at Varec, and he shrugged and smiled. "I don't see why not. Once we get back home, I'll have the ship's internal log of all the places we've been, and I should be able to find them again… I suppose it would be possible for us to bring them to our Antar… to meet Jeffy."
The three girls squealed with delight, and Alyyx smiled and nodded… "Cool."
"Of course, we have to find our way back home first," Liz from the other dimension said.
(Ceelya pulled her hand out from under the table secretively and smiled.)
"Well, Zan said, raising his goblet again, "Here's to all of us…" He looked at Zorel and Danyy and smiled… "And to Jung-Jo under the table!"
The children's mouths dropped open. "You knew?" Danyy asked, surprised.
Zan nodded. "It was either that or one of you kids has been licking my feet all during the meal."
Everyone laughed.
"I thought Zorel's appetite was pretty hardy today," Michael said, looking under the table. "They've been feeding Jung-Jo."
Zan nodded.
"Can you let Jung-Jo stay here with us when you go home," little Jayyd asked.
Jim from the New Granolith laughed. "I think Jung-Jo wants to get back home, too, honey. He has a family, too."
"Whoa!" Jayyd exclaimed. "Jung-Jo is married?"
"Pawgors don't get married, silly," Zorel said, laughing.
"That's true, they don't," Jim said. "But they do choose a mate for life. Their babies grow up and leave to make their own lives, and the mama and daddy pawgor go their separate ways for a while, but they always find each other again when… when…"
Michael leaned forward and raised his eyebrows, waiting for Jim to finish and enjoying seeing him stammer as he tried to think of the appropriate words.
"When they want to start a new family," Jim said.
"I'm gonna miss you, Jung-Jo," Jayyd said, lifting the table cloth to peek under the table again. A big tongue licked her face, putting a huge smile on it again, as the other children all laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Maybe Jung-Jo's double is here on our Antar somewhere," Alyyx said.
Jim sighed but nodded. "It's possible. He may have survived, but he would be a fully-grown wild pawgor now. He didn't grow up around people the way Jung-Jo did… and around Danyy, who can talk to him."
"Our Danyy can talk to pawgors," Maya said, "Maybe he can find him."
Jim shook his head. "Even if you found him, remember that he would be wild. A wild pawgor is a dangerous animal."
"Oh, I know that!" Danyy replied. "I hear their thoughts. They're not like Jung-Jo."
"Exactly," Jim said. "But since you may be going into the Nan-Torel again, I should tell you what I know about pawgors. It might save your lives. If you ever see one face to face, never, ever run! Anything running is pawgor food. That's lesson number one. Lesson number two is, drop down on all fours and stay totally still. The pawgor will sniff you and leave. Don't get back up until he's long gone. And lesson three, don't ever come face to face with a wild pawgor if you can help it."
The children all nodded.
"Good advice," Zan said.
"And if you ever get lost in the Nan-Torel and have to sleep there," Jim added… "First off, don't! And second, if you do, cover yourself up with a deep layer of Ama leaves. It will keep the rob-jettas from eating you during the night."
"Wow," Zorel said, "You know a lot about the Nan-Torel."
"I've been in it a few times," Jim admitted, then he looked at his double and smiled.
Jim's double nodded. "I've been in there a few times myself. I always wanted to go in and do some deep exploring. I had been thinking about it a lot right before Kivar's shadow shifters showed up and ambushed us. Thanks for the tips."
"You're welcome," Jim said, "There's one other thing you should know about the Nan-Torel. The jah-ee is not just a myth. Since your Max does not have an understanding with the jah-ee's, you will have to consider them extremely dangerous predators. They have hollow talons filled with a deadly poison for which there is no antidote except in the world beneath their island. It would really behoove you for Max to make friends with them, but I don't know how he might do that. It was mutual need that brought the jah-ee and our Max together. And the jah-ee tried to eat him first. So beware. Do not get caught out in the open in a clearing in the Nan-Torel, especially near the river. I suspect that Zorel and the other children here can tell you a few more things about the Nan-Torel."
"Oh, yeah!" Zorel agreed, nodding, "We can!"
"Don't ever touch the purple bushes with the big anchor-shaped leaves," Liz-Jolee said, "They'll give you real bad welts all over."
Jim from the other dimension nodded. "Those are poison guma plants."
As Jim spoke, a huge feline head with two long saber teeth laid itself in his lap and purred. Jim smiled. "I know… we all want to get back home, don't we, boy."
Jung-Jo appeared to smile. It was probably his eyes. When he closed them in a contented way, it gave his entire face a smiley look.
"Jung-Jo says he's going to miss us, too," Danyy said, hearing the pawgor's thoughts.
>>>>>>>>>>
Most of Antar, it seemed, had turned out to say goodbye to the group from the other dimension as they prepared to leave their Antar and return home to their own. The New Granolith hovered on its anti-gravity docking system, waiting for the last ones to come aboard.
The group had spent the morning of their third day on this Antar receiving gifts and giving tours of the New Granolith to their doubles and to anyone else who wanted to come aboard; and that had been a steady stream of Antarians. Now, at just after high noon, they were finally ready to depart.
Liz, Maria, Isabel, Tess, and the others had all said goodbye to their doubles and to everyone else, and enough kisses and hugs had been exchanged to power the New Granolith all the way back home to their own dimension if kisses and hugs could be converted into energy. Max and Jim were the last ones out now, along with Jung-Jo, who was still frolicking with the children, giving them rides and pawgor licks. But the time had come to go, and Max nodded to Jim. Jim gave a little whistle to Jung-Jo, who came running to his side.
"Goodbye, friends," Max said shaking his double's hand again and hugging Liz and Maria and a few others. He looked at Jung-Jo and wondered how he was ever going to be able to extract him from all the adoring little arms holding onto him… If anyone had been a real hit here, it had been Jung-Jo with the children.
"Come on, Jung-Jo," Jim said. We gotta go."
Jim led Jung-Jo into the transport circle beneath the ship, and he and Max waved a final goodbye, as the transport beam took them into the ship. Moments later, the ship rose slowly from where it had been hovering… and headed out into the Antarian sky.
tbc