Chapter 156: The Reservation

Saturday, June 19, 1971

“Michael?” Catherine touched me on the shoulder. “It’s time to get ready. We’re almost there.”

Her touch shook me from my reverie. I looked around the empty Dining Car, puzzled. It seemed like mere moments ago that everyone had been sitting here discussing what had happened at the Lodge.

“You fell asleep,” Catherine supplied.

I shook my head as if to clear it, but I knew I had not been asleep. I thought back to the connection I just experienced.

I decided it was my surprise at making the connection that had caused me to lose it, when I lost my focus on the ring. After all that I had been through since I woke up in this body, it looked like the moment was finally here. This HAD to be the alien that we had been warned was coming.

Each of my previous brief contacts had come when I was focused on relaxing, becoming one with the energies of the earth. This time, it had been when I had focused on the ring, that I had established a connection to the aliens.

So, focusing on the ring once more, the connection returned. I wasn’t sure why it worked, but I sensed there was much more to this ring than anyone had suspected.

The aliens seemed surprised by the re-connection as well.

“It’s him!” I heard her say. “He’s back!” I sensed their confusion on the re-establishment of the connection. “How is he doing this?”

Finally, since I had not answered the alien’s question the first time, she asked me again, this time with slightly less hostility.

“The ring. It belonged to my ... er, Don’rahall,” she had told me. “How did you gain possession of it? And how do you still live?”

“Who are you?” I had asked the image in my mind, my voice sounding even younger than my sixteen years.

There was a hurried conference with someone nearby, but I continued to see her image in my mind. I could only see her head and shoulders, but it was enough to let me know that she was similar to us in appearance. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties in earth years; though I knew she had to be much, much older. She reminded me of a girl I had known in high school, with straight coal black hair and piercing blue eyes.

I was surprised that the ring’s connection with her allowed me to scan her. She had no shielding, but scanning her was useless because her thoughts were in a language I could not fathom. However, I could still sense her emotions. Mostly anger and confusion.

She wasn’t the only one that was confused. For the last five weeks, Narvenia and her sister had been preparing us to face a dangerous ‘angry woman’ who was said to be traveling a long way to find her long lost lover who reportedly had visited our world several centuries ago.

“Where is he?” the angry alien spat her questions at me in a tone that told me she was used to getting answers when she asked a question. “What have you done with Don’rahall?”

From the way she spoke, it was obvious she had expected this Don’rahall to be here, still alive. The name meant nothing to me, but the ring on my finger became warmer at the mention of his name. I felt the power flowing through me as she remembered him.

This Don’rahall must be her true love. The one she’s coming to rescue,” I thought. “Or to avenge... “

“Who are you?” I asked again.

“How dare you ask...

The rest of her reply was cut off by whoever was with her, reminding her that I was a child. When she resumed, it was a more controlled voice that spoke. Even though she seemed to be speaking through clenched teeth.

“I am called Tabita,” she said with a condescending tone, “by those who have earned the privilege to even say my name! You will tell me how you now possess his ring. And what happened to Don’rahall?”

“The one who wore this ring sacrificed his life so that many would live,” I told her.

“Sacrificed? You mean he lives no more?” the unseen voice beside her cried.

When I did not reply, the unseen voice became enraged. For a moment, I thought I detected something like deep, profound grief. A chill went through me as I heard the unseen voice say, “Destroy them! Destroy them all and be done with it!”

I was confused. I was expecting Tabita to be the one that was upset. “Maybe it’s the woman I can’t see who’s really the one we were warned about?” I questioned in my mind.

“Not yet. I’ll not destroy them until I know,” Tabita told the other woman. “No other male in the universe should be able to touch that ring and remain alive. I made sure of it, before Father gave it to Don’rahall.”

“Could it be because ... he is a child?” the other woman asked, referring to me.

“I do not know,” Tabita replied. “But child or not, I must...” Tabita replied.

My connection faltered, and I did not hear the rest. I was thinking of all I had just heard, when suddenly, the connection returned briefly.

“But you know Don’rahall no longer lives,” the other woman said emphatically. “I have told you all along that this was a fruitless journey. Why did I ever allow you to come? You could have claimed that worthless ring without all this. Without involving the Bulariens...”

The connection faded as something interrupted my focus on the ring.

“Michael,” Catherine repeated. “You really need to go get ready. We’re almost there. Kalani and Ileana are waiting in your stateroom to help you dress.”