Four minutes isn’t long. I shot past Esta Faho. How did I know that’s Esta Faho? Because that low black rectangular block is the weapons facility. I shuddered. Something about it’s just—evil, maybe?
I got a good look at the area. Barrens. Sand. Rocks. It’s against a rocky wall, foothills of a mountain range that’s between it and where Esta Faho used to be. Red sky, bright red. They moved mines here, and they made the mountain range longer. Moonlight—they look like moons, but the 5 worlds were small as Earth’s moon. One, tiny Kin Para, is the one that crosses the others sometimes. They all look yellow because the sand is yellow on all 5 of ‘em. Not the rich, canary yellow of our new world, Elshar Zheiea. No, barely yellow at all, almost white.
Then, I got nearer to Alb Seer. I never saw it from up high, but I spotted lots of rings of seven buildings, all alike. Blue sky, with a few blue clouds, almost like Earth. A yellow sun. One moon. With pink and green and blue--
The ground zoomed up! I got a little scared. What do I do? Will it land itself?
A green streak came up and a Zheien hand grabbed the top of the portal. “O, Yea Becky? Why came you alone? Did one become unwell in your portal?” This man had orange skin.
“No, I came by myself. I need to speak with Pirad without anyone knowing.”
He steered down, and it was fast! But, just as I grabbed his shoulders, he pulled down with a twist. The portal shot into the white sand. We landed gently. “Oh, I’m sorry!”
“Lady Becky, I am well. Let me take you to Theaspaura, our king. He is enjoying the festival—”
“But I don’t want anyone to know—”
We stepped out by Theaspaura, his son, Theapet, and an Earthan. Oh, Kerjie! But, she’s still Earthan. I froze.
Theaspaura also had red-gold eyes. When they didn’t go lighter, I got nervous, but he’s not Esta Fahoan, he’s Fhiahan! They don’t do that. He and the man—not a diplomat’s uniform, but light armor. They have military?
He nodded to the man. “Eap, you and Kerjie enjoy the festival. This is Becky, 1st Princess of Esta Faho—”
Theapet gasped and bowed. “Fa, may I accompany? Kerjie, I wish nae to bore you with meetings.” His bright blue eyes opened wide.
She also bowed, just as low as he did. “I am sure nae to be bored, for I must learn much to be a princess, also.”
Oh, no! Another Earthan who might blab something!
The three of us ported into a green room. They all wore beetle-green. Kerjie’s dress was like mine, with Tessite trim and jewels around the wrists and hem.
I bowed to her. “Yea Kerjie, I am happy to meet you.”
“And I am happy to meet you, Yea Becky.”
The trio sat on a padded bench, and I had one to myself. Theapet spoke first. “This is nae a social visit, eae? Ziron tells me you came alone, and wished nae to know you came. What is wrong? I nae heard Tom or Nito in my Link today.”
I trembled. “There is a matter of great importance that I must discuss with Pirad. This concerns Mican.”
Theaspaura frowned. “Pirad, come to us, please.”
He just appeared. Clicked his face into a frown. “Becky. I heard that you have a Gift for finding Dosilians—”
Both Theapet and Kerjie gasped! Theaspaura was more poised, but still, his red-gold eyes widened.
“I-I did not find any since yesterday, though Wasa Mai sent me through Rahn Estar to look for them. Your clone with us will destroy our weapons facility on Esta Faho on January 31. He will then port there, and never return. Via said not to warn you—”
“Via? But he is only a healer, though a skilled one.”
“He is host of the White Cube. Mican is Host Of The Black one.”
Pirad got a dismayed expression! “You must not speak of this! Adia is host of the White Cube Of Light—”
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“Via has the White Cube Of Healing, and he’s Laruu!”
Pirad’s three sets of orange pupils flew apart in his green eyes, and he moaned. “Pinda! I found another Laruu!”
The man with kind of cat ears popped in. “Well, one of my Gifts turned out well!” He had thin black fur.
“Can you get rid of Mican? I mean, if he goes to Lisbaar, he’ll be trapped there when it blows up because he can’t port—”
The cat man sat by me. “Show me.” He put a paw, a very soft paw with squishy pads on my forehead. All of it went faster than I could see. “Oh. Gedda Dier was more clever than we ever imagined! But, I will not lose—oh, Via. I cannot keep up with his names, he took so many. So he recloned himself with his parents! I can separate them.”
A couple stood there. Looked around. “What world is this?” They were Ishah.
“Alb Seer. Go to Kirnonos. That way!” Pinda stuck a paw behind them.
They turned around and were gone!
“Let me send you back to Rainbow Elshar Zheiea before they miss you—”
“Wait! Can’t you remove my husband’s terminals?” I sobbed. I can’t lose Tom, I just can’t!
He frowned. “Not those terminals. Not until Mican dies. He has to believe that he has access to that weapons facility. But, you have a greater Gift than you know. You can see things that have happened, and things that are going to happen, but when you see it, you change it. You have to stop. If you muddle the timeline, Mican won’t go to Lisbaar. He can feel it change. Pirad, why would you create a Black Cube? Isn’t it bad enough that Rentappenen has the Cube Of Many Colors?”
Pirad moaned. “I did not create those! The Council did not authorize—”
“Then, who did?”
“Wally helped them.”
Wait. Via told Ella he created the White Cube. But I saw him find it. What’s real?
“Oh, before he decided to help us. Well, we can recover from this. I wish I knew this morning that Mican had a black one. He will be difficult. What’s he been doing over there, on Par Vu?” He planted that black paw on my forehead again.
He stood in a bedroom staring at a wall of vials. Some had glowing stuff in them and he took 3.
“Why are you here in Galarsmen’s chamber? I—”
Mican waved a vial of umar seg against Farley’s throat. He fell on the floor, holding his head, and passed out.
Galarsmen came in and tried to send a surge of telepathy to disable him and was shocked, that he didn’t fall. Any Elshar would. He planned to give him umar seg so he wouldn’t remember that Galarsmen fought him!
“You think I don’t know that you’re not putting enough in their vials? Slopfah, I want twice the amounts. If you want me to spare the lives of all these slopfahi, do as I say!”
“Eae, Master, I will!”
He left sobbing Galarsmen with Farley and walked out. Rubbing his head, so he did have a headache from what Galarsmen did! Passed by the wall of herbs without a glance. Those 3 vials floated back into place. Other healers came and packed it. Galarsmen refused help and they left.
Pirad clicked his face into an expression of abject dismay! “What is Galarsmen that he has herbs of the 5th level? Ahstam had them to study, and destroyed them when he knew they were not of our level!”
Pinda still had his paw on my head.
Ahstam tended a small garden behind a house that seemed abandoned. Pirad came to him. Zheien walked past but didn’t see them. “What are you doing growing these plants?”
“A diplomat flew a ship of slaves to my healers. I noticed a healer using a secret panel, and he appeared very unwell, so I followed. In his chamber were these plants, so I try to save them. Plants such as these grow around Elshar servers.”
“Do you know where the Elshars got them? From the Jain.”
Ahstam paled.
“And you know where on Jain. Your friend Bern went there to retrieve them, to try to save the Elshar Hub after Eriganh sent troops. They saved a copy of the Hub and sent these plants to Lidara. But they have secrets. Some of them were weapons that destroyed the Jain. Do not risk keeping them alive. Merely letting them die is not enough. You must send them in a red portal to the nearest sun.”
“I will.”
Pirad left.
And a healer came as Ahstam used a series of precise hand motions to hide the garden. “Master, what do you here? Our liege came injured from Esteerr—”
They ported away.
But Galarsmen, a young master healer, used those hand motions. “What does a Bisillipian know of healing? He may be an Elder, but I am also. He will not miss one leaf of asandana. It is enough to help my ennead to heal thousands, in a life.” He picked the leaf. But, saw another and picked that leaf, too. And, a third. Then, one more.
He went straight to a ship. There were a dozen healers there. That ship went to Esta Faho.
And, he ground the leaves into gel and put them into vials. Except for one. That one went into a vial around his neck, and someone would have to know those precise hand motions to see it.
He sniffed it before difficult healings. And, secretly gave it to diplomats who were dying, and they didn’t.