Authors: S D Taylor
“Rin? You guys call her Rin? I thought that was just a family thing we would never reveal to anyone else.”
“Tom decided we had to call her something other than Erin and she said the girls called her that when they were little.”
“Fine, but you aren’t calling me ‘Ug,’ so don’t even think about it.”
“Noted. I better get back before they wonder what we are doing standing like this. See you at seven in the lobby.”
“Right. And Doug, thanks for taking care of my family. I am sure you were a great comfort to them with me being gone. Dead in their minds.”
“No problem. I hope I can do half as good a job as you have over all the years. Those girls are forces to be reckoned with and you have done a great job keeping them safe and healthy.”
“They get it from their mom. She’s the force.”
Doug turned and walked back to his room. “See you in a bit, Dad.”
“Right oh, Son. In a bit.”
With the stress, hunger and exercise contributing to her fatigue, Erin had fallen asleep when Doug got back to the room. He sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes watching her breathing quietly as she slept, her red hair framing her face. He couldn’t help but think about everything that had taken place in the past three weeks and marvel at the fact that he could be so completely emotionally wrapped up with someone he had only known for a short time. But they had shared repeated life and death situations together, shared love and danger, saved people together and killed people together. They had seen what their life would be like for twenty years into the future and they had seen the children they might have someday. He had only known her for three weeks and yet it felt like several lifetimes. And he knew he wanted to share his life with her for as long as possible. He had a pretty good indication that it was going to work out for them if they could survive the next few days.
Somewhere in his pondering, Erin had opened her eyes and was watching him watching her. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. Having a good rest? You know we have more than an hour until dinner.”
“You know, under this swimming suit, I am naked.”
“Point taken.” And with that, they tried to make the most of the time that remained before their dinner engagement.
Chapter 39
Doug and Erin walked down the hallways of the Ponder resort, hand in hand and feeling better about their lives and prospects than they had in a long time. “Post lovemaking euphoria. Don’t go getting all giddy on me.” Doug sent Erin his thoughts as they walked along briskly.
“Let me have my moment. I’ve had several tough days here and I needed a little something positive to hold onto.” She paused. “Emotionally, that is.”
“Glad you clarified where you were going with that comment.”
He had forgotten how often she would hit him in the arm. But this time, he severed their thoughtlink so she couldn’t make a comeback unless she said it verbally. She frowned when she realized that but they continued on to the lobby smiling but in silence.
Dara and her boys were standing by a large fish pond that was slightly off center in the middle of the lobby. There were large Koi fish that were taking an interest in the boys who were dropping small pieces of fish food that the front desk clerk had given them. Erin and Doug stopped at the railing next to Dara. Erin smiled as best as she could manage and said, “Hi.”
Dara was in a happy mood and greeted Doug and Erin with a hug for each of them. Her thoughts were just a brief “Thank you for trusting me.”
Doug looked at her as normally as possible, but he was sure that someone studying his face could have detected the brief sense of fear and disbelief as this woman he had been told was the embodiment of evil hugged him. Above all, Doug was a pro. He got over it quickly and smiled at her. “It is good to see you, Dara. Can you introduce me to your boys?” He said it out loud and she answered simply, “Sure. This is Jontu. And this is Larn.”
While Doug was talking to Dara’s boys, Jelk came into the lobby from the opposite side accompanied by a beautiful young woman and child. Erin assumed that this was Jelk’s wife and young daughter. She walked across to meet them.
“Hello, Jelk. This must be your family.”
Jelk walked across the lobby with his vaguely insect-like stride. It never failed to produce a visceral reaction of horror from Erin but she managed to contain her emotions and keep the bright smile in place. Jelk smiled as he introduced his wife and daughter. “This is Olunda and our daughter Jinnee.”
Olunda was striking in appearance, with short black hair, very dark skin, large expressive eyes and a bright happy smile. “I am very pleased to meet you, Erin. Jelk has told me about you and Doug. I am glad the two of you have found each other. It is a wonderful thing to fall in love.”
Erin smiled back at her, finding it hard to imagine anyone could fail to smile back at Olunda. Her smile was infectious and she seemed just as nice as her appearance indicated. Erin bent down and offered her hand to little Jinnee, who was half hiding behind Olunda’s flowing white garment. “Hi, Jinnee. I’m Erin.”
Jinnee was timid, but she took Erin’s hand in her tiny little hand and gave it a single firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”
Erin was surprised at how clearly she spoke but she decided Jinnee must be slightly older than she looked. Erin had taken her to be around three years old at first glance.
“Did you see the fish over there, Jinnee?”
“Yes, but my poppa told me that if I got too close, they might eat me.”
The little girl smiled her mother’s smile, indicating that she knew this was a joke from her poppa, but a joke that she liked very much.
Erin smiled and nodded. “You must be careful when the fish are that big.”
The older Doug had joined them and Erin realized why everyone seemed focused on the time. They were not eating at the hotel. A shuttle bus pulled up in the circle drive in front of Ponder and with Dara’s prompting, they all loaded into it along with an equal number of strangers who were staying at the hotel. Erin assumed that the dinner arrangements were not unique to her party and she had that confirmed when the shuttle pulled onto the main road and joined three other shuttles that were all heading down the coast.
“Where are we going?” Without intending to, Erin ended up sitting next to Dara on the small schoolbus size seats.
“There is a nice restaurant on top of that mountain. The one to the left up ahead. My late husband and I used to go there and I thought all of us would enjoy it. And I get a discount since I am a frequent visitor.”
Erin turned and looked at her with surprise but Dara only smiled.
“Is it so very hard for you to realize that down deep inside, I am just a normal person with a family, a dog and a house. And yes, the occasional discount. I am not defined by my work, despite what you may think of me.”
“You surprise me, Dara. But I appreciate your complexities better now. Thank you for sharing this part of your life with us.”
Dara looked at Erin and held her glance for a moment. “You’re welcome. I am glad to share our country with you as well. I hope you are enjoying some aspects of it.”
“Absolutely. It is interesting to me on so many levels. I am enjoying the chance to see it all and experience it. Too bad it wasn’t under different circumstances.”
“I understand. I hope you enjoy the dinner.”
The shuttles were moving slowly around the curving road as it turned inland and started to climb slightly. Before long they reached the entrance for an aerial tram. They all got off the bus and headed into a large silver A-frame building. It was similar to a ski resort lodge and had a similar look and feel. The tram was one of the larger ones that Erin had seen and held nearly forty people. They were soon loaded on board and it sped up the mountain on an overhead track.
The three children gathered by the railing and looked at the ground receding below them as Erin stood nearby leaning against Doug as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Penny for your thoughts." He thought to her through their link.
She smiled at the joke. "What happened at home since I have been visiting this charming world?"
"I spent a lot of time being very angry about losing you. The zap from our mechanical dinner companion left me paralyzed for a day. Tom and Megan ended up in a fight with the hover vehicle and lost. But the Haida picked them up and they made it back to camp. That's about when the girls showed up and captured me."
"Captured you? This has to be a story worth hearing."
"I was paralyzed. Ying was taking care of me. Alannah and Katelyn burst through the tent flap waving their AK-47s and spitting out orders."
"Wow, the girls sound like chips off the old block. It must have been a proud moment in a future dad kind of way."
"You would love them. They are tough little versions of you, raised out in a wild place and ready to wrestle bears if needed. But they have a fundamental sweetness in them. They got their good looks from you. No doubt about that."
Erin felt the same old emotions tugging at her as she considered the life she would miss out on and how she kept wishing things had gone differently. She would have liked to have seen the girls growing up. But that was the life of the other Doug and Erin. The life they had lived already before they were pulled back in time. She had to stop dwelling on her what might have been.
She suddenly realized that Doug was “hearing” her thoughts. "Did you hear my angst?"
"More felt it than heard it. This link seems to convey feelings even if we don't put them in words. It is pretty scary to think they could create this technology. However it works. If they ever thoughtlinked to you and didn't have good intentions, they could mess up your mind pretty easily."
Erin wondered even now. "How can we be certain that all this vacation stuff is on the level?"
"We can't, but what choice do we have? Their technology completely removes my usual tricks to elude, confuse or fight. You are monitored and stopped the minute you try anything. So without their help, we would have no chance. If they turn on us and this is all sham, then we are no worse off than before." Doug left out Jelk's and Dara's names, just in case.
"But now that you are here, I am worried for you."
"Can't you see that this is exactly where I want to be? Here with you? To face whatever comes, even if it turns out to be death?"
"I am glad you are here, but I would rather you were safe back home."
"Well remember I wasn't 'home' anyway and the past two weeks have been anything but safe. Hoping to find a way to save you is the only thing that kept me going."
Erin let her feelings respond rather than think anything further. Doug could feel the love she had for him. And her joy and relief at his commitment to saving her.
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then they looked at the spectacular view of the bay with the mountains all around for the remainder of the short tram ride.
Jelk and the older, bearded Doug had been standing at the front of the tram discussing Lopfa.
"How long has it been here?" Doug knew there were towns in this area in his time but he wondered if the area had been depopulated during the difficult times over the past three hundred years.
"The town was revived about one hundred years ago. It was abandoned for a long time after the great plagues and it took some land developers to realize that it had potential as a vacation spot for people in Transarctica. The weather moderation really sealed the deal. But most of the hotels and this tram are part of a development plan from five years ago." Jelk was an excellent source of knowledge. If the kidnap and torture gig ever dried up, he might want to consider being a tour guide.
Doug looked out over the panoramic views in all directions. "It seems like they have succeeded in creating a popular destination. And the short travel time from Selenton makes it an easy decision. Is the cost reasonable for the local people from Selenton?"
"It is moderately expensive. Probably forty percent of the people in Transarctica could vacation here without having to save credits ahead of time. That is enough to keep most of the hotels full in the summer season."
Doug wondered if this stream of small talk was helping with their overall cover story. He noticed Erin and Doug making eyes at each other but not talking and he was concerned the watchers would somehow figure out about the thoughtlink. He still wasn't comfortable with Dara's explanation of how the technology had been developed and kept hidden. Every time he thoughtlinked he had a feeling that he was on the verge of being discovered. He felt like the guy in the prison camp movie who is digging a tunnel. He knew that discovery would probably lead to summary execution and he had seen enough of those to last him the rest of his life.
Dara came up and put her hand briefly on his shoulder and sent him a quick thought. "Be sure those two don't overdo the link."
"Don't worry. They need to catch up, but I will tell them to cool it a bit."
"Thanks. All our lives depend on keeping the telepathic technology secret. All our lives. Even the little ones."