"Paradox (story 2): The Backward Journey (Chapter 3)" by Steven P. Love

Chapter 3

         The Stranger seemed content with the clothing Trekell donated from his own personal wardrobe.

         “I’m actually surprised that my attire fits you so well,” Trekell noted as he slipped one of his Trench coats, emblazoned with the Royal Seal of his House, over the Stranger’s shoulders.

         The Stranger turned to Trekell with an inquisitive face. “How is your daughter?”

         “In excellent health, apparently,” Trekell said sounding relieved. “Not that I’m ungrateful but I feel that I must ask how and why did you heal her?”

         “I don’t really know,” the Stranger said with a perplexed expression. “All I remember is that I felt a compulsion to reach out to her. When she took my hands I think I blacked out because the next thing I remember is you dragging her away from me. It was during that moment that I realized I could understand what you were saying.”

         “Have you recalled anything about yourself? Your name, your species,” Trekell asked in an interrogative voice.

         The Stranger shook his head negatively. “I’m sorry; I can’t remember anything prior to waking up on that table.”

         “So you don’t remember saving me and my daughter from a Thunder Hunter,” Trekell asked pointedly.

         “What’s a Thunder Hunter,” the Stranger asked with a look of naive curiosity.

         “A very large carnivorous reptile,” Doctor Avra answered as he and Obsidyanna entered the chamber. “Very nasty and troublesome, I might say.”

         Obsidyanna came up and embraced her father happily. She then turned and smiled at the Stranger, who returned her smile with a courteous nod.

         “What’s the verdict, Doctor,” Trekell asked with anticipation.

         “She’s the healthiest Vekolth I’ve ever examined,” Avra stated with astonishment. “I’ve never seen a recovery like this before; all of her organs are functioning normally, the synthetic blood has been replaced by her own natural blood components, even the degradation of her DNA has completely reversed itself. I’m at a total loss as to how this occurred.”

         “It looks like your prayer was answered, father,” Obsidyanna said smugly. She then looked at the Stranger with an expression of adolescent amorous. The Stranger seemed amused at Obsidyanna’s apparent fascination with him.

         “Yes, it would appear so,” Trekell agreed while looking at the Stranger with suspicious curiosity.

         “Has he remembered anything about himself,” Doctor Avra asked.

         “No,” Trekell answered with a sigh of disappointment.

         “He still doesn’t even know his name,” Obsidyanna asked with a puzzled expression.

         “As I mentioned to your father I don’t remember anything prior to waking up here,” the Stranger apologized. “I’m sorry.”

         “Well, we need to call him something,” Obsidyanna said to both Trekell and Avra.

         “But what,” Trekell asked.

         “How about Jahnus,” Obsidyanna suggested.

         “Interesting choice,” Trekell noted.

         They all looked at the Stranger as if seeking his approval of their adopted name for him.

         “It sounds like an interesting name. Does it have any particular meaning,” the Stranger asked curiously.

         “Jahnus was supposedly the First Vekolth,” Obsidyanna explained. “According to the myth the Great Maker of the Universe created him from….”

         “I think you can explain our cultural and religious beliefs to…. Jahnus…. later,” Trekell interrupted. He then turned to Avra. “Doctor, how do you suggest we should proceed with our….guest?”

         “Perhaps we should take him back to the crash site,” Avra suggested. “It could jog his memory…at least in theory.”

         “Sounds plausible,” Trekell concurred. “But how do we get him to the ship without being seen?”

         Sudden, Trekell’s communicator chirped. “Trekell,” he answered.

         “I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but the Palace Tutor is asking whether the Princess is going to make it in for her lessons today,” a female voice asked.

         Trekell hesitated for a moment but then answered, “Tell Madam Madera that Obsidyanna was delayed because…..she had to see the Doctor this morning. She’ll be to her tutorial momentarily.”

         “Yes, sir,” the female voice ended.

         Trekell then looked at a grinning Doctor. “I wasn’t lying, was I?”

         “You won’t hear me contradicting you, my King,” Avra replied with a chuckle.

         “But father I want to come with you,” Obsidyanna begged.

         “We barely escaped a Thunder Hunter last time,” Trekell reminded his daughter. “I will not put you at risk again. Besides, you need to continue your lessons, especially now that you don’t have the excuse of your failing health.”

         Obsidyanna pouted as she started toward the lab door.

         “Remember, Obsidyanna,” Trekell reiterated. “Not a word to anyone about Jahnus.”

         “I know,” she sighed in frustration while turning to leave the lab.

         “She seems rather…independent,” Jahnus noted with a humorous expression.

         Trekell smiled at Jahnus in apparent approval and understanding of his remark. “Yes, she is at that.”

         Madam Madera seemed annoyed when Obsidyanna finally arrived.

         “So…Princess Obsidyanna, you’ve finally decided to grace me with your presence,” Madera said sarcastically as Obsidyanna closed the door and took her seat in front of Madera’s desk.

         “I’m sorry,” Obsidyanna apologized.

         “You’re only one of many pupils that I instruct on a daily basis, Obsidyanna,” Madera stated scornfully. “If you’re going to be delayed you should notify me yourself, not have your father do it for you. You’re a young adult and should conduct yourself as an adult.”

         “Yes, Ma’am,” Obsidyanna said with her head bowed respectfully since by custom the Palace Tutor is only answerable to the King.

         Madera seemed surprised that Obsidyanna accepted the scolding without protest.

         “Are you feeling all right, my dear,” Madera asked while looking at Obsidyanna curiously. “Your father mentioned that you had to see your Physician this morning.”

         Obsidyanna looked up at Madera and simply replied, “Yes, Ma’am. I received another blood transfusion last night and the Doctor wanted to verify my health before I carried on with the day.”

         “I see,” Madera said with a strange smirk. “So, you’re not going to whine to me about how you’re dying and there is no point to your education?”

         “No, Ma’am,” Obsidyanna replied while rolling her eyes back indicating her irritation at Madera’s mockery.

         Madera then made a mocking gasp. “Finally… we have made some real progress.” Madera then stood up and came around to Obsidyanna’s side. While looking down at Obsidyanna smugly she said, “Then let us begin today’s lesson.”

         After the hovercraft cleared the docking bay the Doctor got out of the co-pilot’s seat and went into the back compartment. He then unlatched the door to what appeared to be a large metal crate allowing Jahnus to step out.

         “I hope you weren’t too uncomfortable in there,” Avra asked with concern as Jahnus brushed his coat to shake some wrinkles out.

         “I’m fine,” Jahnus replied as he looked around the compartment in an effort to get his bearings. Relieved, the Doctor then led Jahnus to the cockpit of the craft.

         “I don’t understand why you had to hide me like that,” Jahnus said with some annoyance in his voice as he stood behind Trekell’s seat.

         “Well, you did fall out of the sky,” Avra stated. “Some Vekolth might react badly to that fact.”

         “In what way,” Jahnus asked naively.

         “Well, umm,” the Doctor looked anxiously to Trekell for the rest of the answer.

         “What the Doctor means is that some of our people are…shall we say…superstitious,” Trekell explained in an objective tone. “If we just let you walk out among the people unannounced and without some kind of plausible explanation of your arrival there are some that would see you as a threat to their beliefs. Those fears could provoke dangerous hostility toward you.”

         “I think I understand,” Jahnus said with an expression of recollection. “Your concerns do seem kind of familiar.”

         “Are you beginning to remember who you are,” Avra asked curiously.

         “Not really,” Jahnus answered. “But sometimes I do see flashes of images and voices in my head. I’m not sure what they mean yet.”

         “Perhaps the culture you came from is not too dissimilar from ours,” Avra suggested. “Concepts and ideas expressed from our culture might trigger more memories leading to your eventual recovery.”

         “I’m actually more curious as to how you learned our language by simply touching my daughter,” Trekell said flatly while working the flight controls.

         “I have a theory about that,” Avra interjected. “Since his Quantum energy signature proves that he is from our future perhaps he represents a more evolved Vekolth with telepathic abilities; assimilating knowledge through physical contact with another intelligent being.”

         “Seems possible,” Jahnus concurred. “Before I took Obsidyanna’s hands I could not understand anything any of you were saying to me.”

         “I also concur,” Trekell said. “But that does not explain how Jahnus was able to miraculously heal Obsidyanna at the same time.”

         “I’m still working at that one,” Avra said in an almost apologetic tone.

         The Tutor laughed almost maniacally at Obsidyanna’s question.

         “But why should it be so ridiculous,” Obsidyanna sassed at Madera’s skepticism. “If the Physicists have proven with their complicated equations that Time Travel is possible then why can’t it be possible that a being from our future might….pay us a visit.”

         “Because, my dear Princess, if it were possible to travel backward into the Past the risk of creating a temporal paradox would be so great that the Traveler would probably not even make the attempt,” Madera concluded in a scornful voice.

         “But what if he did, hypothetically,” Obsidyanna pressed.

         Madera sighed with frustration. “If someone traveled from our future to our present, which would be the Traveler’s past, his mere presence in our time could irreparably change his own future. Just stepping on an insect could set off a chain of events that would ripple forward in time and completely change what he would remember as his present and past. One possible result would be that his interference in the past causes himself not to even exist in his own time.”

         “And if he doesn’t exist in his own time then how can he make the trip into the past in the first place,” Obsidyanna realized.

         “Exactly, thereby creating the paradox,” Madera confirmed in a more proud voice.

         “But what about the ‘Branching Time-line theory’,” Obsidyanna asked. “I remember reading that if something was changed in the past the present would still be there, it would just be isolated in its own time-line separate from the new branching time-line created by the alteration of the past.”

         Madera scoffed. “Why are you so fascinated by such theoretical concepts? You are a Princess. You should be thinking about literature, art, music, marriage to an eligible Prince and your eventual ascension to the throne, not whether or not a time-line will be diverged by a hypothetical change in history by a hypothetical Time Traveler.”

         Obsidyanna shrugged and smiled with a hint of smugness. “I’ve always had a fascination with the hypothetical. For me the two most important words are ‘what if’”.

         Madera let out another disapproving sigh as she sat back down at her desk and opened a small square metal container. She then plucked out what appeared to be some cured plant leaves and surreptitiously slipped them into her mouth. She chewed them with an expression of pleasure.

         Obsidyanna appeared disgusted by the sight. “Isn’t that stuff bad for you?”

         “You have your medication, my dear, and I have mine,” Madera said as she dabbed her lips with a small hand cloth. But Obsidyanna still looked at her with a contemptuous scowl. “Karrotos Leaves are legal, my dear.”

         “I know,” Obsidyanna acknowledged. “It’s just that it….makes your breath smell like a dung heap.”

         Madera was caught off guard by Obsidyanna’s bluntness. “I think you’re finished for today, my dear.” She then made a gesture indicating that Obsidyanna could depart. When Obsidyanna finally left Madera pulled out a small glass spray bottle and promptly sprayed a sweet smelling substance into her mouth in preparation for her next pupil.

         Jahnus appeared just as amazed as Avra and Trekell at the sight of the impact crater. Its shape and depth was much more impressive in the mid-day sun.

         “You found me at the bottom of this,” Jahnus asked while peering over the edge.

         Trekell nodded. “Right down there,” he said while pointing toward the center of the crater’s floor where they could barely see the impression in the soil where Jahnus had been lying the night before. Trekell then called to Avra who was scanning the area with his analytical device. “Have you found anything, Doctor?”

         “Nothing,” Avra replied with both frustration and astonishment. “No radiation, no ship fragments, and the soil ejection pattern match the probable pattern of an object shaped like a Vekolth body traveling at high speed.”

         “I cannot see how that is possible,” Trekell said with disbelief. “A living being just cannot survive such an impact without being torn apart.”

         “I can’t explain it either,” Avra said as he came over to a large pile of gray ash. “Is this the Thunder Hunter remains?”

         Trekell nodded.

         Avra scanned it. “Its composition is consistent with the known mineral content of a Thunder Hunter’s flesh and bones, but there are no complex organic compounds. It’s as though all the carbon based substances evaporated,” he said with amazement.

         “What kind of energy could have caused such a massive molecular disintegration,” Trekell asked.

         “The only thing I can think of without consulting one of our physicists is some kind of high energy plasma,” Avra speculated. “But a plasma blast intense enough to completely vaporize a Thunder Hunter would have set fire to the vegetation of this whole area causing a forest fire visible from the city.”

         “But the trees and bushes are undamaged beyond the impact area,” Trekell noted while gesturing at the surrounding forest.

         Avra shrugged. “Forgive me, my King, but I can’t explain it.” Avra then approached Jahnus. “Are you sure that you cannot remember destroying a large bipedal reptile?”

         “I’m sorry, I can’t,” Jahnus replied with a shrug.

         Avra sighed with frustration as he turned back to scanning the crater.

         Obsidyanna stared out longingly at the distant forest while leaning against the railing of the balcony. She could not keep her mind from wondering about Jahnus. There was something enticing about him; a mysteriousness that reminded her of the story her father told her when she was younger, a story of her mother seeing the Great Maker’s Avatar and how he was unlike any being known to the Vekolth. Was Jahnus the Avatar returned? Were his arrival and her miraculous healing truly an answer to her father’s prayer? Obsidyanna could not shake the feeling that Jahnus’s arrival at that opportune moment and his display of power was more than just a coincidence.

         Unable to set aside her yearnings to know the truth and feeling full of rambunctious energy Obsidyanna decided to take out her personal flyer for a little excursion to the impact site. She hoped to meet up with Jahnus and her father before they headed back to the city. After making her way to the Palace docking bay she began preparing the little boomerang shaped craft. While unfolding the parallel steering bars on the top of the craft she was startled by an approaching Palace Guard.

         “Princess, what are you doing,” the guard asked curiously.

         “What does it look like I’m doing,” Obsidyanna countered with a tone of annoyance as she warmed up the little jet engine.

         “But I thought that you were ill,” the guard said appearing confused.

         “I was ill, but I’m better now,” Obsidyanna replied while thinking smugly of her miraculous healing by Jahnus. She thought to herself, ‘if only you knew’.

         The guard sighed at Obsidyanna’s obstinacy. “Princess, I must advise you not to go out flying today.”

         “Why,” Obsidyanna asked with irritation while glancing back at the guard.

         “Forgive me, Princess, but the Central Aviation Control is advising all personal craft smaller than one teran in weight to stay within the city’s shield perimeter,” the guard reported respectfully.

         “What for,” Obsidyanna asked with surprise.

         “This is the migration time for the Giant Sky Raptors,” the guard stated. “Three have been sighted within 30 kiloms of the city.”

         “What direction are they flying,” Obsidyanna asked while snapping a safety strap around her waist.

         “Last I heard they had a general northern heading,” the guard replied. “They should pass by the city in about an hour.”

         “That should give me just enough time,” Obsidyanna said with confidence as she revved the engine up so that the turbine made a loud whistling whine.

         While standing on top of the Flyer like a surfer preparing to ride a wave of air she stepped on a pedal that caused the little jet engine to shoot out a rocket-like burst of flame. The thrust sent the little winged craft flying away from the dock at full speed with Obsidyanna’s blue feathery hair and sinuous tail trailing behind her.

         The guard could only watch with dismay as Obsidyanna disappeared between several buildings on an apparent race to escape the confines of the great city.

         “I wonder if I’ll ever remember who I really am,” Jahnus said with a sigh of disappointment while looking out the cockpit’s side window at the receding crater.

         “Give it time,” Avra assured him. “From the evidence I’ve gathered your memory loss might have been caused by your crash landing. Impact trauma to the head is a common cause of amnesia. The brain compensates by rewiring itself to by-pass damaged areas.”

         “So you’re saying that my memories could return,” Jahnus paraphrased.

         “Eventually, yes,” Avra confirmed. “But since your physiology is still a mystery there is no telling how long your recovery will take.”

         Jahnus sighed with frustration.

         Suddenly the communication system beeped indicating an emergency transmission was coming in. Trekell slipped the headphones over his ears.

         “Trekell here,” the King answered. “Why are you contacting me on the emergency frequency?”

         Avra and Jahnus watched with curiosity and concern as Trekell’s eyes widened with shock.

         “Why didn’t you stop her,” Trekell yelled angrily into the microphone. His face twisted with angry expressions as he listened to the frantic voice on the headphones. “Do everything you can to override the shield’s automatic controls. I’ll intercept her, Trekell out.” He then angrily slapped the console in front of him. “That daughter of mine will be the death of me.”

         “What’s wrong,” Jahnus asked anxiously.

         “Obsidyanna apparently could not wait for our return,” Trekell sighed sarcastically. “She took off in her personal Flyer to meet up with us.”

         “Why the concern,” Avra asked appearing confused.

         “There are three Sky Raptors heading in her direction,” Trekell stated in an ominous tone.

         “Oh, no,” Avra said forebodingly.

         “What’s a Sky Raptor,” Jahnus asked.

         “A giant skin-winged predator that has a very nasty reputation of snatching Personal Flyer’s out of the air,” Avra explained in a nervous voice. “I hope they override the shield systems if we can’t get to her in time.”

         “Why? What’s this issue about your city’s shield,” Jahnus asked with a confused expression.

         “The city’s shield automatically activates if anything threatening approaches within a kilom of the city’s perimeter,” Avra explained. “It’s normally set to automatic to prevent any misjudgments by those monitoring the scanners at the Central Aviation Control, but if the shield activates while Obsidyanna is still outside she’ll be at the mercy of the Raptors.”

         “Not if I can help it,” Trekell growled as he pushed the throttle forward increasing the hovercraft’s speed.

         Obsidyanna relished the rush of wind and fresh air as she cruised along high in the sky. After having been cooped up in the city for the last several months she found it intoxicating to be free, even if it was for only a short time. She knew that the guard had probably signaled her father informing him of her insolence, but Obsidyanna also knew that her father probably would not risk her revealing the secret of Jahnus’s presence by punishing her openly. Still, she did expect a thorough scolding once she made it to the impact site. It was a small price to pay for the chance to see Jahnus outside of the city and interact with him more personally.

         “Where is she,” Trekell asked himself as he stared desperately at the scanner screen. “We should be detecting her by now.”

         “Increasing resolution to maximum,” Avra said as he touched a series of buttons in sequence.

         “Is that her,” Jahnus asked while pointing at a tiny flashing dot of light on the edge of the scanner screen.

         “It’s reading as a metallic object,” Avra stated. “It has to be the Princess’s Flyer.”

         “How far is she from the city,” Trekell asked desperately.

         “About 10 kiloms,” Avra said. “That puts her half way between us and the City.”

         As Trekell steered the craft to intercept Obsidyanna three more dots appeared on the screen.

         “What are those,” Jahnus asked with an expression of concern.

         “They must be the Raptors,” Avra surmised forebodingly. “They’re only two kiloms from her. One of them appears to have broken away from its group and is heading straight for Obsidyanna. At its current velocity it’ll be on top of her in a matter of minutes.”

         Trekell touched a control on the console. “Obsidyanna, come in!”

         Obsidyanna was blissfully day dreaming of her anticipated meeting with Jahnus when she was startled by the sound of her father’s voice screaming out of her wrist communicator.

         “Father,” Obsidyanna answered with surprise in her voice.

         “Obsidyanna,” Trekell yelled through the tiny speaker. “There’s a Raptor closing in on you! Take evasive action NOW!”

         “What,” Obsidyanna answered with disbelief. “But that’s not possible. They were an hour away when I left the city.”

         “Don’t argue with me, damn it,” Trekell shouted. “I have it on my scanner; it’s right behind you!”

         Obsidyanna screamed when she looked back to see a huge dark silhouette looming behind her. She steered the Flyer out of the way just as the Raptor’s giant beak snapped at her. The beast screeched angrily as it turned to pursue her.

         “It’s going to get her,” Avra exclaimed in horror.

         “Doesn’t this ship have any weapons,” Jahnus yelled as he watched Obsidyanna’s Flyer dart around trying to evade the monstrous skin winged terror.

         “This is a pleasure craft not a combat fighter,” Trekell yelled desperately as he watched Obsidyanna’s plight helplessly.

         Obsidyanna swayed and flipped the tiny Flyer as randomly as she could without losing control. She was just barely keeping ahead of the Raptor’s attacks. Her best chance was to make a run for the city and hope that she could get far enough ahead to get inside the shield perimeter before the Raptor’s presence activated it automatically.

         She pushed the throttle all the way causing a burst of flame to spew out of the rear and into the face of the Raptor. The flames and smoke infuriated the Raptor. It flapped its massive skin wings as hard as it could in pursuit of Obsidyanna.

         As Obsidyanna began to put some distance between her and the Raptor she let out a sigh of relief, especially since the City was now in sight again. But the relief was short lived; the little jet engine, overworked by Obsidyanna’s hard flying, began to sputter.

         “No, no, no… not now,” Obsidyanna exclaimed in terror as the engine continued to sputter causing the little Flyer to slow and lose altitude. The Raptor was now closing again.

         Obsidyanna nose dived toward the City in one last effort to beat the Raptor inside the perimeter. But suddenly the shield snapped on automatically, enshrouding the city in a virtually impregnable bubble of energy. It was such an intense field it shimmered in the sunlight. But for Obsidyanna it was a potential death sentence because now she was trapped outside with the Raptor rapidly closing in on her. The Docking Bay Guard’s forewarning was now swimming in her thoughts as she pulled up hard to keep from crashing into the rippling barrier of energy.

         Obsidyanna had one last chance; if she could intercept her father’s hovercraft the monster might turn away since the hovercraft was physically larger than the Raptor. But the Flyer’s engine was still malfunctioning. It might give out before she could reach her father’s hovercraft. With the Raptor rapidly catching up Obsidyanna had no choice. She pushed the throttle hard. A trail of smoke clearly indicated the engine was straining as the Flyer slowly gained altitude away from the City.

         “Come on,” Obsidyanna yelled as she mashed down the throttle pedal as far as it would go.

         “I don’t care if you have to smash the computer,” Trekell yelled into the microphone. “Take the shield down NOW!”

         “My King, look,” Avra said anxiously.

         Trekell and Jahnus looked outward to see Obsidyanna’s Flyer making a sharp circular turn with the Raptor right behind her.

         “What’s she doing,” Jahnus asked with confusion.

         “She’s heading for us,” Trekell realized with hope in his eyes. He then touched the radio control. “I’m coming, my daughter!”

         “Father,” Obsidyanna cried over the radio. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to meet you….meet Jahnus. Please forgive me.”

         “Don’t worry about that now,” Trekell assured his daughter. “Keep heading this way. Try to maneuver behind us. We’ll shield you until a Fighter can be dispatched from the City.”

         “I don’t think I’m going to make it,” Obsidyanna cried. “The engine’s cutting out!”

         “No, I won’t allow it,” Trekell cried. “Keep coming, I’ll intercept you as quickly as I can. If necessary you can jump on top us. Don’t give up!”

         “Please, father….hurry,” Obsidyanna cried again.

         Trekell looked over at Avra with frantic eyes. “Watch her closely, Doctor. I’ve got some flying to do!”

         “Is there anything I can do,” Jahnus volunteered.

         “Just stay out of my way,” Trekell replied commandingly.

         The Raptor screeched as Obsidyanna frantically stomped on the throttle repeatedly trying to keep the Flyer ahead of the snapping beak.

         Then, in the distance, Obsidyanna could see the glint of sunlight reflecting off of the metallic body of her father’s hovercraft. Feeling a surge of hope and confidence she steered the failing Flyer toward it.

         Knowing that she may have to bail off the flyer and onto her father’s hovercraft she released the safety strap that held her in place. It was dangerous but she saw no other choice.

         “Father….please hurry,” Obsidyanna cried to herself as smoke began to pour from the dangerously overheated engine.

         Suddenly, the Raptor made one last snap at Obsidyanna. She screamed as its beak clamped onto one wing just inches from her feet. It jerked the Flyer sideways throwing Obsidyanna off.

         “NOOOOO,” Trekell screamed in horror at the sight of his daughter’s fall. He strained against his own safety straps as he instinctively tried to stand up but the straps held him fast.

         Obsidyanna screamed at the top of her lungs while tumbling through the air in a downward death spiral.

         “Can’t you do anything,” Jahnus yelled frantically.

         Trekell touched the radio control and yelled into the microphone, “I need a Fly Catcher out here NOW!”

         “We’ve monitored the situation,” a restrained female voice responded. “We’ll have one out there in 60 seconds.”

         “You don’t have 60 seconds,” Trekell yelled with angry desperation. “My daughter will hit the ground in less than 30!”

         “We can’t do it,” the female voice stated with sad resignation. “The Princess is too far away!”

         Trekell pulled the headphones off and threw them against the console, crying at what was now inevitable.

         “This is my fault,” Jahnus said guiltily as he watched helplessly while the Princess plummeted downward.

         Suddenly, Jahnus had a memory flash in his mind. It was as if he had been taken outside of reality. He saw himself with a blue skinned feathery haired woman, who hauntingly reminded him of Obsidyanna. They were lying together in a bed facing each other, the blue woman smiling at him affectionately.

         “You and I have a destiny, Jon,” the woman told him.

         “Eckara,” he said while reaching out to caress her cheek.

         As suddenly as it started the flash of memory ended and Jahnus was back in the present reality. But that brief moment in that other place gave him a revelation.

         “I know what I have to do.”

         Suddenly, Jahnus’s form seemed to ripple and shimmer like heat radiating off of a hot surface. Trekell and Avra then gasped with astonishment as Jahnus vanished leaving only a faint afterimage that quickly faded.