My hand was on the doorknob when Michael knocked; he looked startled by the immediacy of my response. “Good morning,” I smiled as brightly as I could at that ridiculous hour. It wasn’t hard after I got a good look at him. He’d traded his usual black ensemble for one similar to mine, and without his trench coat, I would be able to admire his physique much more readily.
He raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Good morning. Ready to go play in the jungle?”
“Yeah.” I was ready to stare at his ass all day. “Definitely.”
“Good. I’ve got the inflatable all ready to go.”
The small boat would hold up to four comfortably, so it felt spacious with just the three of us. Artemis stayed in her bag though; we couldn’t risk any claw punctures.
Though I had been to South America before, in more populated areas, I couldn’t recall ever watching the sun rise over the jungle. The light filled in the grey with vibrant colors; like a paint-by-numbers set, the greens of the leaves, the blue of the ocean and the earthy beige of the sand magically appeared before my eyes.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Michael shouted over the engine.
I turned back toward him and smiled, “Absolutely breathtaking.”
“You took the words out of my mouth.”
“No, you said ‘beautiful’.”
“That’s when I was talking about the dawn.”
I would’ve jumped on him right then, but I held back because it probably would’ve knocked us out of the boat. There was still so much about him that was a mystery, I wasn’t sure about anything, except that he knew how to choose the right backdrop to deliver his cheesy lines.
We followed Romeo and Juliet for about fifteen minutes before we came to the mouth of a river, and it was only minutes more before we were engulfed in the canopy of trees.
The sound of waves breaking on the rocky shoreline faded into the distance, replaced the rhythmic thrumming of the living, breathing forest.
***
The thick foliage made our progress slow and the humidity made me feel like I was trying to breathe underwater. Michael lead the way, relentlessly hacking away at the jungle with a machete, to make a path for me to follow that almost seemed to disappear again right behind me, so I was afraid to pause for even a second. Every now and then Romeo and Juliet would alight atop a tree and wait for us to catch up before circling off into the sky again.
After four hours on foot, my t-shirt was clinging to my skin, soaked through with the dampness in the air and the sweat streaming from every pore on my skin. We came to the edge of a ravine and I looked over my shoulder to see the sun was already beyond the peak of its journey for the day, just beginning its descent toward the other horizon behind us. It was when I turned my head forward again that my eyes caught one of the slanting sunbeams, angled just so, reflecting back at me from some unnatural surface in the jungle.
It was only the briefest of flashes, but it was enough to draw my attention down and to the other side of the ravine about five or six hundred feet ahead. Fixing my gaze on that flash, I saw movement about halfway up the wall, and made out two camouflage-clad figures, which appeared to be a man following a woman up a ladder of vines.
“Michael, look,” I pointed, but he had already seen them. “Why would anyone be out here?”
“Who’s out here is the more important question.”
I fumbled in my pack for my binoculars and raised them to my eyes, but my hands were shaking so badly, all I could make out was her hair was about the same color as mine, cut in one of those short bobs I was afraid I could never pull off. “Here, you take them,” I handed the binoculars to Michael hoping he would have better luck.
He took a moment to get them in focus, and then all the color drained from his face as he lowered them again. He whispered, “What the Hell?” under his breath.
“What?” He didn’t respond, but looked through the lenses again. The woman seemed to be looking directly at me at that moment, and with my sunglasses I just caught a flash of the glowing brand of a Traveler on her forehead. “Do you know them?” I hissed. “Are they assassins?”
“Not unless you’re planning on committing suicide and haven’t told me.” I just looked at him, blinking. He shook his head and passed me a bottle of water. “Even I’m caught off-guard by this one.”
I gulped, realizing the answer before I asked the question. “It’s us, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yes. But why? How?”
The Future Us reached the top of the wall, and amalgamated with the forest, disappearing from view. “Guess this kind of blows the theory about not being able to occupy the same time as yourself out of the water, huh?”
His wrinkled brow and accompanying scowl were his response. “We need to hurry, or they might be gone before we get there.”
***
Scrambling, and mostly falling down into the ravine, we ran along the bottom and then scaled the wall of vines back up the other side. It seemed like we were moving much faster than the other us, I was sure we were gaining on them.
Romeo and Juliet continued to lead, but had been flying just enough ahead all along that I suspected they were guiding the other us as well.
The rush of air that accompanied a Hopper came just moments before we stepped into the clearing. “Dammit,” Michael muttered.
“What?” We didn’t need any surprises now.
“It’s gone.”
“What? The tree?”
He nodded.
“Maybe it’s just not here yet?” I hoped.
“It was here, Juliet delivered a sample to Zhou overnight.”
I didn’t understand what was happening, “But....”
“We took it.” He meant the other us we saw in the jungle; the us from the future.
“But why?” I was so angry at myself, if I had a gun and the other me was still there, I might’ve shot her. “They should know we needed that tree! Why would I take away my chance at saving Mom and Jay?” I shook my head, “I couldn’t have done this.”
“You didn’t take away anything,” a new voice emerged from up in a tree above us. I scanned the leaves and found its owner was a small dark-skinned man, whose white teeth gleamed through the dark leaves as he beamed down at us. “Well, it is true the other version of you did take away the Flamella tree, but they left a healthy supply of the Essence first.”
“Adjatay, my friend, it’s good to see you,” Michael called up to the shrunken man, clad in a very worn pair of linen shorts and denim vest, which might’ve been a long sleeve shirt at one time.
With surprising agility, he scrambled down the tree, “It is my good fortune to have seen you twice in one day.” He paused and prepared to jump the last six feet, “Though I can’t say too much about the first visit.”
“Why?” I asked as his feet touched the ground.
He stood straight, a tall three inches more than me, and extended his leathery hand in greeting, “Samantha Marquet, it is a pleasure to make our first acquaintance. Which is actually our second, but really your first....”
I smiled and shook his hand, “Don’t worry, I think I’m still following what’s going on.” Artemis meowed, so I let her out. She went straight for Adjatay, and started rubbing his legs
Michael got back to the point, “Why did we take it, Adja? Can you tell us that?”
He shook his head, “They didn’t even tell me why, but I didn’t ask. They did say you should take the fruit to free your friends, and then get the hell out of there. You told them you would bring the tree, but all the Society really cares about is the Philosopher’s Stone, and they will settle for it, for now. The tree will be returned in the near future. In the meantime, get to your friends and get them out of there, my impression is that there are security concerns at the mountain.”
“Will you come back with us Adja?” Michael asked. “Ninety three years is long enough to be out here alone, don’t you think?”
The little man smiled. “How could I
ever want to leave all of this?” he asked, waving his left arm in a big arc up to the sky and back around to the forest behind him. “Besides, I am not alone,” Juliet landed on his arm and Romeo in a branch just above them. “This is our home now.”
It was then I understood the macaws didn’t lead us to the tree; they led us to Adjatay, the tree’s guardian. This was a post he had volunteered for; it was not forced upon him. What I didn’t understand was why he would choose to live in utter isolation from other human beings, but I decided that would be a story I would have to hear another time.
“Yes. But, Adja, without the tree here, there is no need for this, this isolation,” Michael continued to try to convince him.
“Oh, you’ll bring it back. Not right here, but to me, wherever I choose the next site.” He gave us his biggest grin yet. “You gave me a receiver,” he produced two dark green Hoppers from his pockets, “and one of these for each of you. So you’ll come straight to me. But give me at least a month to find the right site.”
I took the Hopper he offered me, but I was skeptical. “How do we know these will bring us to you?” I looked from Adjatay to Michael.
Michael winked. “Do you trust me, and yourself?”
I rolled my eyes and looked back to Adja. “When in the future did they come from?”
“They didn’t say.”
“So it could be any time?” I knelt to put the Hopper in my pack, and noticed a paper folded inside the band. It said “for Sam only.”
Michael cleared his throat, “It would have to be after Nathaniel had his breakthrough and the time machine became functional.” He knelt to inspect the contents of the burlap sacks.
Pretending I didn’t see the note, I asked, “Are you sure?” That would mean I would be more than two hundred years old when I returned to steal the tree. Unless the long-term, forward travel thing had become possible before then.
Adja answered, “Nothing is ever for sure, Sam.” He stepped closer, “Not even Death, if you have the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“So I’ve heard.” I wondered how old Adja was.
He looked to make sure Michael was focused on inspecting the crop in the sacks, and whispered, “That is for your eyes only, per Future Michael,” obviously referring to the note. He cupped my hands in both of his, and mouthed, “Read it alone, back at the Mountain.” He smiled gently at me, but I could see sadness in his eyes. Then he said aloud, “Never lose faith, my girl. We will meet again, soon. From what I have seen, everything will work out as it should.”
The way he told me to “never lose faith,” told me he was someone near and dear to my family. Mom and Dad said the same to me often.
“Well, there should be more than enough here to tide them over,” Michael stood up, dusting his hands off.
“Yes,” Adja agreed. “You were very careful to make sure of that.”
“But now we have a change in plans,” Michael told me.
“What?” I asked. “We only have a few days left before we have to be back.” We were supposed to just hop straight from the jungle, with the Flamella tree, back to the Society. Why we wouldn’t go there with the Philosopher’s Stone, I didn’t know.
“We need to get Zhou first; we’ll all hop from there. We can retrieve Poseidon’s Gift later.”
“Why do we need Zhou?” I asked.
Adja answered, “If Future you needed to protect the tree, you’ll want him with you.”
Michael agreed, “If there’s any kind of trouble, we’ll need all the allies we have.”
“You think Tollack won’t keep his word?” It sounded like a dumb question after I’d asked it.
Adjatay answered, “It might be a first if he did.”
So it was settled.
Adjatay hugged Michael first, then me. “Safe travels, my friends. We will meet again soon.”
***
Back on Poseidon's Gift, we dashed from the suite to Zhou’s room, and then to the bridge, where we found him reading a book. He looked up at us, alarmed. “Back so soon? Where’s the tree?”
“We’ve had a minor set-back.” Michael summarized what happened in the jungle.
Zhou regarded him carefully for a moment, “Man, if that’s minor, we better not run into any major set-backs.”
“Then are we agreed it’s best for you to eat the Philosopher’s Stone before we go back? It would not end well if we turned up with the Essence from one of the offspring trees.”
I hadn’t thought about that, “You don’t think we would do that to ourselves?”
Michael sighed, “No, but I’d rather play it safe, than be sorry in the end. I also think it would be best if we have Zhou already in top form, just as a precaution.” Zhou nodded in agreement while Michael held out one of the fruit, “I’m sorry, I know the Mrs. doesn’t like it when you reverse without her.”
Zhou waved away the idea with one hand and took the fruit in the other, “Bah, she’ll understand.” He took a bite, and then another, and another, and on until he had eaten it, Philosopher’s Stone and all.
The transformation was incredible, like watching a time-lapse video of someone aging - all at once - only it was in reverse. His hair darkened and thickened, his skin smoothed and tightened, his heavy eyelids lifted, the blue veins on the backs of his hands receded under the skin and his clothing, which had hung loosely on his skeletal frame, was now filled out, fitted to the lean and muscular, young-version of Zhou.
He held his hands up before him to examine them, then brought his palms together and bowed to us. When he raised his head, he was smiling broadly. “It’s good to be back.”
CHAPTER 26
10/10/2006
Return
We stumbled onto the floor in the suite at the complex, and I immediately checked my Hopper for the time, but I was blinking away bright spots in my eyes from the light, so I couldn’t read it. “Tell me we made it in time.” There was no sign that Mom and Jay were there now.
“Yes,” Michael smiled as he looked back up from his Hopper. “With more than three days to spare.”
“Tollack won’t like that,” Zhou added.
“So what now?” I asked, while bending down to free Artemis again.
“We’ll be their heroes when we deliver the fruit. Then we’ll call for a vote that will oust Tollack, and put your mother in his place,” Michael stated.
I asked, “And what happens to Pennington?”
“He will either comply or face alienation,” Zhou projected. “He could also choose to join with one of our various enemies, though I doubt he would.”
“Why not?” It seemed like a viable option to me.
“He would align with them only as a last resort,” Michael explained. “His primary concern is where his next fix of the Philosopher’s Stone is going to come from.”
“And we’re the only ones who can give it to him,” I said.
Michael nodded. “It will all work out,” he assured me. “But, before we do anything else, I’m sending Artemis back to the Mansion.”
“Why?” My stomach did a flip-flop at the thought of her hopping alone.
“For her own protection. There’s a reason the Future Us didn’t want the tree here, I think it would be best to send her ahead, too - just to be safe.”
Zhou agreed, “This way we don’t need to worry about her if anything does happen. The Society doesn’t realize her significance, but an enemy from the future might.”
I nodded my consent, picked her up and kissed the top of her head, and then put her on the dining table. Michael took a device from his pocket similar to the Hoppers, only without a wristband. He pulled the face up, twisted it clockwise, and then set it flat on the table in front of Artemis, who was sitting up at attention, waiting patiently.
Michael rubbed under her chin, “Ready to go, Miss Mis?”
“Errraow,” she crooned lovingly. She turned her head and dipped it upside down into his hand for another ten seconds before she finally looked up at me,
said, “Maow,” then pressed her right forepaw on the Hopper’s face. The Hopper glowed with a hot white flash, extending into an arc of iridescent light that surrounded Artemis, and then contracted into nothing, taking her with it.
I looked to Zhou, then Michael, “You’re really sure she’ll be ok?”
Zhou laughed, and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Worst case, she’ll have to get out and do a little hunting for a change. She’s good at it, don’t worry, she won’t starve.” Then he excused himself to go look for Mom and Jay.
I thought back to the scenario Michael had laid out for going forward. The whole thing really didn’t sound like Mom’s cup of tea, “Is Mom going to go for this? Taking over the Society?”
“She’s already been working on it, while we were getting the fruit,” he informed me. “The truth is, Marion doesn’t like to play the politics of the Society, but she is a master of the art. Until you’re ready to take charge, she will act as your steward.”
Again, with the planning my life, without my input, “What if I’m never ready?”
“Some of the best leaders in history didn’t ask for their job; they never believed themselves to be ready, and many of them never finished, for that matter.” He left me to ponder that while he went in search of Mom and Jayden.
Who is the right person to bear this responsibility? Is there such a person? Aside from a stint as swim team co-captain senior year, I’d never been in a position that required leadership. I never asked for this burden - to govern the Society and the Flamella tree - and I knew I would never be ready, but with the support and advice of people in the circle around me, I resolved I would find a way to manage.
Then I remembered the letter, and figured now was the time to read it. I slid my finger under the edge of the paper, and unfolded it; it was not in my handwriting.
Dearest Sam,
This note finds you out of necessity, nothing more or less. I believe you’ve grown to trust me, and you must now, more than ever, as you read this. I also believe over the last few days, you’ve been considering the status of your relationship. When you get back to Novica, you must pretend everything is as it was. You must put some distance between yourself and the Michael in your time. I know you understand what I mean, if not why.