Chapter 42 A Trap or a Blessing?

The cave opens up and the ship flies out into the dark-blue heavy skies. I can see on the other screen, that we’re leaving Crumbling Rose very quickly in a whirlwind of disturbed ragged clouds. Apparently Moro switches off the shield that prevents my own ship Arileot14 from leaving and anything else to get inside.

This is my much-desired break! Oh, Gosh, I’m so happy. What is the chance, that I can control the ship I’m held on as a hostage?! Am I lucky or what? Or do they have something else sinister in their minds? The sleazy minds of ederi I can’t read!

I watch the vast horizons, opening up, as we’re leaving the atmosphere. The well-built ship shoots straight up, weightless like a feather. It’s dynamic movement is flawless, smooth, and almost unnoticeable. We’re flying to where my mother is. Can it be they have found out independently that she might be on the planet of waterfalls?

Gemea, the ederi who walked out to us in the cave, touches the screen with his human looking, but boneless finger, and zooms in the map.

“This is where I found Leozarit, sir. This planet is called Ram, and it is not far away from us. It fits – Yasen knocked her off course as she was about to get to Leot. She landed just off the needed galactic sleeve. Right here.”

I see a planet, covered in mist, surrounded by the darkness of space. There is no way of knowing if this is that very planet I think she is on.

Moro looks at the screen thoughtfully, and says nothing.

“Why do you even think she is on the planet of waterfalls, Demi? All you saw was Ari showing Leozarit some pictures.” Immaul’s voice in my head suddenly brings comfort. He is here and he knows what’s going on.

I can handle this. I’m OK. If only they did not kill Zumi. My heart is burning with pain.

“Look at it this way – my Mom flew on Arileot14. It’s the ship that gets you to the destination you think about. She thought of Leot, and the ship was on its way to Andromeda. Then Yasen knocked her off course, and as the ship spun out into space, she had a thought of a faraway planet of beautiful waterfalls her father had shown her when she was a child…”

“My friend, you have a basket of logical gaps and unsubstantiated conclusions. Did I mention fragrant flowers of delusion?”

“Listen,” Undeterred my Immaul’s sarcasm, I want to prove my point. “Do you remember her eyes on those images? They were full of rainbows and amazement. Bright moments of childhood get stuck in a person’s mind, and then they come to you in the hardest moments of your life. I know, it happened to me, too. Question is – what galaxy this planet is in? Did Moro’s people figure it out, too?”

I’m distracted by a conversation between Moro and Gemea. The first wants to know what exactly Gemea saw and he answers that he saw an image of Arileot14 on the planet Ram. Another ederi chimes in, and he is doubtful about the whole thing. He is also wary. Somehow he believes it could be a trap. He warns Moro about it, he says it seems too simple. But Moro wants to hear nothing of it. He really wants my Mom so he can have the control over the future of the people.

The planet of Ram gets bigger on the screen. It looks somewhat like Earth – with big oceans and some dry land. The oceans look jade-green, though. But overall view is fantastic, as we enter the atmosphere. Marble-white clouds whiz by on the screen, as we descend.

“This is where I saw Leozarit’s ship.” Says Gemea pointing to some continent on the screen.

It gets ever bigger, and we finally land in a desert right by what really looks like my ship, Arileot 14!

“Please, be careful, sir.” The wary, unconvinced ederi frowns.

“Kamen, you need to calm down.” Orders Moro, and turns to me. “You are going out to make contact with your mother. The oxygen level in the air is pretty low, so, just turn off your lungs. I don’t want any trouble!”

I nod, because I have my own plan. I don’t even look at the hand imprint on the dashboard, fearful that Moro might figure out my only trump in this game.

I get ready to go outside, when Immaul bursts into my mind:

“Demi, I received a message from Zumi!”

“He is alive?!” I think, trying my darnest not to show anything. Receiving messages from Immaul when Moro is looking right at you is to walk on the knife’s edge, but the black stone keeps its promise, and Moro sees nothing.

He pushes me towards the exit, as I cast the last glance on my ship on the screen and notice something weird – it’s not all there. Some of it is blurred on the edges… Could it be due to gases in the air? Maybe, the outside wind kicked up some sand and dust?

Thinking about that I still wait for Immaul’s response.

“The message is encrypted. It’s going to take me awhile to break the code, my friend. It’s something… something about the prophecy. “The prophecy was fulfilled.” He is frightened, but excited as he sends the message. Does that make any sense to you?”

“No.” I barely hold myself from shaking my head. All I know now, is that Zumi is somehow alive. That fills my heart with joy. As for the rest of the message, it’s all the Crumbling Rose lore. The black stone told me all kinds of tales. Code-shmode, these are mysterious ederi for you. He sends me a message, but it is encoded. Go figure! Now I need to concentrate on my mission. I walk a short distance down the hall, followed by Moro.

“She is here!!! I’m opening the door!” I suddenly hear Gemea scream from the bridge of the ship.

This is followed by the scuffle between Gemea and Kamen, because the second one does not want to open the door and jeopardize the security of the ship, but a second later Moro hits the button on the wall, and the door opens.

There is a woman there. She smiles to us and walks in.

“Leozarit Gidealis?” Moro asks with amazement.

“Yes” She says in a nice, sweet tone of voice. “Greetings, my son!”

Then she hugs me.

I stand there, shocked, in an eerie silence. The woman is about my mother’s age when she disappeared, she is dark haired and about the same height, but it is not my mother. I don’t care where she was and what travels her body had to endure, but this lady looks nothing like Leozarit.

Moro, on the other hand, is so exhilarated he forgets to close the door. Right, the security is no longer needed. He is the king of the hill now!

“Dear Leozarit! We are happy to have found you. Your ship was knocked off course by our evil leader, Yasen. But me and my crew are here to rescue you and offer you to stay on Crumbing Rose, our lovely planet!” He smiles, and pats the woman on the back.

This is unbelievably insane. If her face was not enough to prove that this was not my mother, there is one piece of information Moro seems to have missed. Yasen told me, that she had amnesia. She did not recognize me in my dream, and tried to kill. She was dangerous and aggressive. This woman is soft and mellow.

We all walk back to the bridge, and I enjoy the wide-eyed surprise of Gemea and Kamen, as they look at the woman from Earth. She might not be my mother, but these guys are impressed. Whether they are impressed by her beauty, or by the power they are going to get after they take her genes, I don’t know.

What I know is an elevated feeling, a premonition of something really good about to happen. The veil of black stone covers my thoughts from Moro, who keeps on trying to penetrate my mind for any information.

“Can we test you?” Asks Gemea, holding a stripe of some white paper in his hands.

‘Sure!” The woman gives him most lovely smile ever.

Gemea walks up, and presses the strip of paper to the woman’s hand, and rips it off immediately.

Why would she agree to it so readily? I look at her, studying the traits of an unfamiliar face. She smiles back, without saying a word. Well, if this is not my mother, then I can’t follow through with the rest of my plan – to put my hand in the imprint and tell the ship to fly to Ashtarma.

That messes up things a bit. However, I’m not going back to Crumbling Rose, that’s for sure. This is my break, and I’m going to use it. Whoever this lady is, and whatever is going on, I plan to reunite with my fine husband and my sweet boyfriend. Jealousy aside, their bickering is still better than being locked up with the ederi!

The black stone still safely covers my thoughts from Moro. Good. What’s in it for this stone? Why is it helping me? I take a step to the dashboard with my eyes on the imprint. I’m going to do it now, as I don’t care anymore about their quest in search for my mother. They can look for her until they are blue in the face. I am going to Ashtarma!