Chapter 25 - Home Again, Home Again

“Can’t we just shatter it?” asked Shalynnda.

“No,” the Blessed Goddess replied, still inside the crystal box, “Kennek placed a spell on the box that will detonate if I leave. I’m afraid it’s quite powerful and I can’t affect it from inside the box.”

“We can’t just leave you in there,” said Lenora.

“I don’t plan on staying in here,” the Goddess replied, “But there are more pressing issues to be addressed at this time.”

“What could be more important that setting you free?” exclaimed Lenora, practically near panic.

“Lenora!” snapped the Goddess, “You need to calm down, right now.”

The shock of being scolded by her mother snapped the queen back into reality, “Forgive me. It has been a day like no other.”

“And this day will contain much more before nightfall,” the Goddess said, “Shalynnda, I need you to wake up Gabriel.”

“Yes Goddess,” she said excitedly, “I’m so happy you’re among us again!”

As the priestess tended Gabriel, Lenora could see the other members of the herd warily returning. She took advantage of the few seconds she had alone with the Goddess.

“Mother, what happened?”

The Blessed Goddess shook her head, “It’s a story I can’t possibly tell you in the few short moments we have alone. Suffice it to say that I trusted someone with too much knowledge and he used it against me. But now my beloved daughter I must ask you to help me.”

“Of course!” she exclaimed, “You know I will do anything you ask.”

“I want you to trust Gabriel,” said the Goddess flatly.

It was the last thing Lenora had expected the Goddess to command, and it caught her completely off guard, “Mother! He’s an... an animal!”

The glance Lenora received from the Goddess told Lenora that she had already lost the argument.

“I didn’t ask you to accept him, and I won’t ask you to change your feelings about him. But I need you to trust him at his word.”

“If you say it mother, then I will do it,” Lenora fumed.

“Unclench your jaw, daughter,” the Goddess teased.

Lenora was about to retort, but several hundred members of the herd rushed up to see if the Goddess had returned; and that Kennek was gone. They just as quickly backed away as the strange, smelly, barely clothed, two legged man walked up to the Goddess and the queen.

{You wouldn’t happen to have any woodstone soap on you?} asked Gabriel, trying to stand downwind, {I reek.}

“I’m sure we can find some for you,” said Lenora, her voice laced with diplomacy.

“Lenora,” said the Goddess in a warning tone.

“I’m sorry mother,” Lenora cried, “But you ask the impossible! Ask me to give my life for my people and I will gladly do it. But there are two things in this world I will never do even by your command: I will never take another life and I will never be able to blindly trust him!”

{Good,} said Gabriel, much to the surprise of Lenora, {Consider yourself lucky if your people can blindly trust each other. But where I come from, trust is something that must be earned. Now if you folks will excuse me I have a reality to catch.}

“Gabriel,” said the Goddess, “As I said, the dimensional barrier between your world and mine is open. You may leave any time you wish and I will be eternally thankful for all you’ve done for both me and my people. But there is something I must ask of you.”

{Oh no,} said Gabriel, taking step back, {I’m not going to fall for that ‘just one more thing’ trap. I played by his rules and I won. The nightmare is over and I am outa here.}

{And Lenora,} he added, making sure nobody was trying to stop him, {she’s more beautiful than life itself.}

A blinding blue-white light erupted where he stood, and then Gabriel disappeared.

“Xerox,” said Sarah loudly enough to wake him from his post in the security room.

“Huh? Wha?” he said, still half awake.

“DSP-Satelites just picked up a launch flash anomaly in the northern pacific ocean. EMS readings match the profile of a dimensional breech.”

Xerox sat bolt upright in the chair, “Gabriel?”

“Most definitely,” the computer replied.

“Bring up a tactical. Plot a course between the origin of the flash and here. Give me distance and a minimum ETA.”

A large tactical map displayed across the far wall of the security room. A red blip marked an area several hundred miles south of Alaska.

“The distance is two thousand-sixty one miles,” Sarah replied, “Minimum ETA is twenty minutes. Shall I alert the team?”

“Do you have any conformation sightings yet?”

“No further data is available at this time.”

Xerox looked at the red line drawn across the map, “Sarah, where’s the first point where we could get a visual conformation?”

Sarah was silent for a moment, and then a green dot flashed near central Oregon. “The Pine Mountain Observatory.”

Xerox winced. ‘That’s already half way here.’ “There’s no satellite imagery available?”

“If there was,” replied Sarah, almost sounding annoyed, “then I would have displayed it.”

“Go ahead and alert the team then. And see what it’s going to take to get Pine Mountain to loan us one of their telescopes for a few minutes.”

“Yes sir,” she replied.

It was night, but the moon was full and the sky was cloudless. He was over a smooth featureless ocean and the stars were familiar.

“Yes!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, “Yes, YES, YES, YEEEE-HAAAAA!!!”

The teleport had made him dizzy, but the exhilaration of being home again made him feel like running a marathon. His flight shields kicked in as he hit mach speed and accelerated to altitude.

Using the moon and stars as a guide, he guessed his position to be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. He was also slightly north of Colorado. He slowly leveled out until he was facing east-southeast and flew as fast as he could possible go.

Shela was both thrilled and nervous as she got dressed. She told everyone to meet in the kitchen and wear their civilian clothes. Any costumes may give the impression they were prepared for combat.

“Sarah,” Shela said to the computer.

“Yes ma’am?” Sarah replied.

“Alert Fire & Ice that we’re expecting Gabriel back here at The Complex. Tell them that there is a slight possibility he may head to California. Either way we’ll keep them informed if anything develops.”

“Yes ma’am,” the computer confirmed.

“You think he might go after Tracy?” Scott asked.

“Since he has no clue where any of them are I seriously doubt it,” his wife replied, “But better safe than sorry.”

“Ms. Delboso,” Sarah interrupted, “I was instructed by Xerox to inform you that we now have a visual conformation. Gabriel is currently flying over southern Oregon and his flight path suggests he is heading for The Complex.”

“How long before he gets here?” Shela asked.

“About nine minutes,” Sarah responded, rounding the time to suit Shela’s profile.

“How fast is he going?” asked Scott to himself.

“Mach 8.23,” replied Sarah, “A new personal record.”

Scott and Shela exchanged glances. “He’s in a big hurry to get here,” Scott noted, “Think we should set up an ambush?”

“No,” his wife replied, absently rubbing her chin with an index finger. “Think about it. The last time he set a speed record he was exhausted. Now he’s flying almost twice the distance and going even faster. He’ll be lucky if he can still stand when he gets here.”

Scott pondered the thought as well. “So he’s either still in a berserk rage and isn’t thinking clearly or he’s snapped out of whatever he was in and is coming home.”

“Guess we’ll find out in about nine minutes,” she replied, then turned back to the intercom system, “Sarah?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Fix some refreshments for all personnel and favor Gabriel’s tastes.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sarah replied.

“Is he... gone?” asked Lenora.

“Yes,” replied the Goddess, “He is back in his own world.”

“Good,” the queen replied smugly.

“I didn’t get a chance to thank him,” said Shalynnda.

“Thank him?” replied Lenora, shocked, “Don’t you think it’s a little early to be thanking him?”

“Lenora,” said the priestess with a look of anger the queen had never seen before, “I have had quite enough of your attitude towards that young man. He came to this world totally by accident, had no reason whatsoever to involve himself with the affairs of this world, but he repeatedly risked his own life to save people that he doesn’t even know! And no, I don’t agree with his rationalization for killing. And no, I don’t necessarily think he’s a good person. But you cannot stand before me and tell me you would sacrifice your own life for his. You cannot stand before me and say that you have shown him the same kindness you would show a stranger to our herd. And you would never have been able to stop Kennek and return the Blessed Goddess!”

Shalynnda got directly in Lenora’s face. “Do you know why he was covered in filth? Did you recognize the smell on his clothes? King Derit sent his best fighters to Lendoren to kill Gabriel and Shahira, and I have good reason to believe that Kennek was the one who ordered it. Gabriel could have left the city any time he wanted to but stayed and tried to save all three them. And when he found Kayla dead-”

Shalynnda tried to continue, but the words just wouldn't come out. Her face was crimson and tears streamed down her face. “And when he found Kayla’s body cut to pieces and the Klidz eating what was left-”

Her emotions overwhelmed her and she turned and bolted up the road. Shahira gave Lenora an expressionless glance then turned and followed her mother.

Lenora was stunned. She had no idea how long she stood there until she vaguely became aware that someone was calling her name. It was the Goddess.

“Lendorinella,” said the Goddess, addressing her daughter by her full name.

“Yes mother?” she answered dryly.

“Gather the herd. We need to get moving.”

Lenora heard what the Goddess said, but it seemed like she was speaking to someone else. She felt like a spectator to everything around her.

“Lenora!” shouted the Goddess.

Lenora snapped out of her stupor. “I’m sorry mother. I-”

“No Lenora, you cannot tell me that you cannot do it. What has happened before this day was the work of a madman; and I will not have my own daughter blaming herself for it.” She turned to Barry, “Barry, would you bring everyone here please?”

“Yes, Goddess,” Barry said and galloped off.

“Is she right?” Lenora asked, looking up the trail at Shalynnda.

“You tell me,” the Goddess replied.

Lenora shrugged, “I believed in king Derit, and now I find out that we are nothing more than something to feed to the death worms. I believed in Dustin and how he promised he would come back, but now I have to believe I’m a widow.”

Lenora was silent for a moment.

“And you believed in me, and that I would always be there for you, and now you find out that I wasn’t,” said the Goddess.

Lenora closed her eyes and bit her lower lip to keep it steady. She nodded her head.

“I know,” said the Goddess, “Kennek told me about his grand scheme. About how he was going to remake everyone into a better people who would love him and serve him and accept him as their god. I tried for countless seasons to reason with him, to show him that his plan couldn’t possibly work. He was close Lenora. You have no idea how close he was to killing everyone. But do you know why he would never have become a god?”

Lenora absently shook her head no.

“Because nobody loved him. Because he couldn’t accept love and he couldn’t give love. That’s what drove him to madness. And do you know why the people of Lendoren still choose to follow you even when all things look hopeless?”

Again, Lenora shook her head no.

“Because they love you, and they know you love them.”

“I’m sorry mother, but with so many of the people I’m responsible for dead I find it impossible to believe that any of them could love me.”

“I do,” a voice said behind her. Lenore turned and found Geila and several others gathered. The redheaded mare walked up to the queen and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you,” she said softly.

“As do I,” said Fiona, as she too walked up and kissed Lenora on the cheek.

“As do I my queen,” said another, then another. Soon, hundreds were gathered around the Goddess and her daughter; each reminding her that they felt the same way for her as she did for all of them.

“Okay, okay,” she finally said, wiping away the tears from her face, “I’m convinced. But if we stand around here and do this all day we give the Klidz that much more time to come after us. I want everyone in Lendoren and re-supplied before nightfall. This is not going to be an easy journey.”

The herd collectively marched on towards Lendoren with Barry resuming his post as scout. Lenora stayed behind to make sure that everyone was spoken for.

There were two missing.

“They went into the world gate,” the Goddess said, “They are beyond our help at this time.”

Lenora held up the crystal box and looked at the Goddess, “I missed you so much.”

The Goddess smiled, “I missed you too my beloved daughter.”

“Shela,” came Don’s voice over her communicator, “I have a visual on Gabriel. ETA: thirty seconds. He’s flying a standard approach vector.”

“Copy,” she replied, and turned to the group assembled in the kitchen, “Is everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded. Don had traded places with Jon in the security room since they all agreed having the Warlord on the welcoming committee may not be such a good idea.

“He’s not landing in The Complex,” Don said over the PA system, “He’s heading into the hangar bay.”

Shela turned to Sarah’s android body standing next to her, “Patch me through to the hangar. Put it on the screen.”

The video in the kitchen flickered, and there stood Gabriel: stripping off his clothes right in the middle of the landing bay.

“What the hell?” said Scott.

“Gabriel,” said Shela into the intercom, “What are you doing?”

{Shela!} exclaimed Gabriel, {Damn it’s good to hear your voice! Tell Sarah to quarantine the landing bay and have one of the bots get a hazmat kit down here. I think I'm hot.}

“I’m on it,” said Jon, sprinting towards the pantry, “Have Sarah restore his security settings and seal the landing bay.”

“And Sarah,” added Scott, “Turn off the video to the hangar.”

Even Autumn was wearing a smirk.

{Shela, how long was I offworld?} asked Gabriel.

“Four days,” she replied, “Do you remember anything?”

{Pretty much,} he replied, {Was anyone injured? Um... you don’t have the video on, do you?}

Shela grinned, “We turned it off when we saw what you were doing. And no, nobody was hurt.”

“Nice butt!” yelled April.

Gabriel laughed, {I missed you too August.}

“That was April!” August protested.

“What happened?” asked Shela.

{Well... before I can answer that, tell me this: Was there a girl named Tracy?}

“You remember her?” asked Shela, amazed.

{Yes. I guess I also owe Autumn an apology.}

“If you had actually hurt me,” she said, “I might expect one.”

{Anyway, here’s what I think happened. The telepath put me in some sort of self-sustaining nightmare. Tracy somehow managed to get into the nightmare and partially disrupt it but not completely break it. I regained consciousness but I was still delusional. When I teleported I landed in a world where many of the elements of my nightmare existed in real life. It took me a while to figure out what was going on.}

“Why do you think you’re hot?” asked Shela.

{I had to fight my way out of a rather nasty situation and I’m covered in alien biological residue.}

“Slime?” asked April.

{Worse. Bug guts.}

“Eww!” April and August exclaimed in unison.

{Yeah. It was pretty gross. So here’s the situation: I need to get down to the medical lab and have a full scanning. Since I have no idea what was real and what wasn’t I may have touched or eaten something I shouldn’t have. And god only knows what kind of crap I may have picked up on the way. Also, I need you to contact Fire and Ice and have them bring Tracy here ASAP.}

“Gabe?” said Jon, interrupting the conversation from the med-lab, “Are you sure you want us to bring a telepath here?”

{Honestly? Hell no,} Gabriel replied, putting his clothes in a nearby paint bucket, {But I’m pretty sure I’m still delusional and the last thing this world needs is a guy like me flying around with a few loose screws. For all I know, my clothes might be perfectly clean and I only imagined the bugs.}

“Okay big guy,” Jon said, “It’s your call.”

A short time later Jon entered the hangar pushing a cart full of equipment. He had turned himself into diamond form to prevent any personal contamination. “Whoa! That’s some stench!”

{Tell me about it,} Gabriel replied, {I’d love to take a swim in a huge bottle of Clorox.}

Although he was practically immune to any toxic substance, Jon had to put on a mask to avoid the smell; and handed a full-face one to Gabriel as well. “Well I’m about to give you the opportunity to do just that.”

John pulled a large yellow container off the top of the cart that looked like a large packed parachute. Pulling a small ring, the bundle popped and expanded to form what looked like a small inflated pool. Gabriel knew the drill. He stepped into the pool and Jon began to spray him down with what looked like a pressure washer hose attached to the cart.

“Lift your foot... now the other...” Jon instructed, “Okay, now turn... a little more... What’s that medallion you’re wearing?”

{You can see that?} asked Gabriel, amazed, {I thought I was just imagining it!}

“Don’t bother with it now,” Jon said, “I just sprayed it. You can take it off once we get to decomp. You ready for the face?”

{Go,} he acknowledged, bending at the waist so Jon could get a better angle.

“Can you still hear me?” Jon said as he turned off the sprayer.

{Barely, so speak a little loudly,} he replied. Gabriel was now completely covered in a rubberized bio sealant. This would keep any contamination from spreading until they could get him to the med-lab and give him a through bath. Unfortunately the lenses on the gas mask had been hit with overspray and Gabriel was now blind.

“Okay amigo,” said Jon as he led Gabriel out of the pool by the arm, “Let’s get you to the med-lab.”

{Tell Franklin to meet us there,} Gabriel said through the gas mask, {I want him to analyze this amulet.}

“Franklin’s not here,” Jon said as he guided Gabriel to an awaiting vehicle, “I’ll explain it as we go.”

By the time they made it to the med-lab Jon had explained the majority of what had transpired.

{That boy’s an idiot!} Gabriel steamed, still being led by Jon, {How can someone with that kind of IQ be so stupid?!}

“How would I know?” said Jon, “I never could figure out what motivates him. But we’re standing in front of the decomp chamber.”

{Okay,} said Gabriel, reaching out to find the doorway. He ducked into the containment chamber and waited for the all-clear.

“You’re sealed in.” came Jon’s voice over the internal speakers once the door was locked. Gabriel pealed off the gas mask and put it into a holding box. He had to peel the rubber-like coating off his right hand to give him some dexterity as he pulled the scuba mouthpiece off the wall and took in a few breaths of air. He gave Jon the thumbs-up.

“You want me to throw in a hot wax coating while we're at it?” he joked.

Gabriel teasingly flipped him off.

“Fine,” Jon said as he started the decomp cycle, “See if I ever strive for customer satisfaction.”

The first cycle was a special acid that dissolved the rubberized coating. Once that was gone and the chamber was flushed with jets of water, a large spectrum anti-bacterial liquid was pumped in. Each member of the team had their own custom formula that was tailored to their individual ability to withstand harsh chemicals. When Jon used the chamber he was simply sprayed down with hydrochloric acid for a minute then dipped in a neutralizer. For Gabriel it was an orange liquid that looked and smelled like hand-soap.

“Move your wings around,” Jon’s voice came in through the hydrophones, “I want it to penetrate into the feathers.”

About ten minutes later, Gabriel stepped out of the decomp chamber looking like a drowned pidgin and wearing a disgusted look on his face.

{That stuff tastes horrid,} he said.

“I’ve told you not to drink it,” Jon replied, handing him a large towel and a Mountain Dew.

{Thanks,} he said, wrapping the towel around his waist and downing the entire can in a single gulp.

“Let me have a look at that medallion.”

Gabriel removed the chain from around his neck and handed it to Jon, “According to my delusion it’s supposed to be some sort of translator.”

Jon raised an eyebrow as he looked the object over, {Well it does have some sort of writing on it. I’ll have Sarah take a look at it. Meanwhile come with me to med-lab two. I want a full resolution scan.}

The two men walked around to med-lab two. Gabriel winced at the condition of med-lab one as they passed by. The maintenance droids will still repairing the damage he had caused.

{Okay cupid,} said Jon, {Up on the table.}

Gabriel gave him a ‘don’t call me cupid’ look and laid face-up on the table. The table itself was a clear acrylic with what looked like two large metal speed-bumps above and below it.

Jon stepped over to the far side of the room. {Sarah. Begin full-resolution scan in med-lab two. And bring Gabriel a new set of clothes.}

“Yes sir,” she replied.

The two speed bumps moved slowly from one end of the table to the other. Gabriel remained motionless while the scanners were moving.

{Sarah,} said Jon, {Please patch the video monitor in med-lab two to the local television cable. Tune it to Telemundo.}

“Yes sir,” she answered. A moment later, the Spanish cable channel was displaying on a nearby television screen.

Although Gabriel couldn’t see the picture he recognized the voices. It was the comedy show ‘¡Ay Caramba!’. Jon watched the show rather intently.

“Why are you watching the Spanish channel?” asked Gabriel.

“Scans complete,” interrupted Sarah.

{Because I don’t speak Spanish,} he answered, not taking his eyes off the picture.

“Then why are you watching?”

Jon held up the medallion, {Because I do now.}

Gabriel felt a numbing cold form in the pit of his stomach. “You mean you understand them?”

{To me they’re speaking perfect English.}

Gabriel jumped up off the scanner bed. “Give me that. Sarah, can you find any television stations that are in Arabic?”

“Yes sir,” she replied. The screen changed, and a Saudi television station appeared on the screen. Gabriel clutched the amulet in his hand, and the commentator switched to fluent English.

{This isn’t good,} said Gabriel in a daze, {This is definitely not good.}

“What’s wrong?” asked Jon.

{If this thing is real...}

Both of them looked at each other with concerned expressions.

“Then some of the other things you thought were imaginary may have been real,” said Jon, finishing the statement.

{Oh God,} said Gabriel, near panic, {What have I done?}

“Now hold on a minute,” said Jon, grabbing Gabriel’s arm, “Don’t freak out on me. You’ve been gone for four days and we need to run some tests.”

{Sarah. Display the scan results.}

“I’m still compiling the data,” she replied.

{Display any results you already have.}

“Yes sir,” she replied, and several video displays flickered with table after table of results.

Both men studied the results intensely.

“Heart rate, respiration, temp... it all looks fine.”

{Sarah,} said Gabriel, {Set priority alpha on the data from my hands. Compare the results to those of my previous scan.}

“Yes...sir,” she hesitantly said as all resources were dedicated to handling the information above anything else, including her voice sub-system.

“What are you expecting to find?” asked Jon, still pouring over the displays.

{Nothing,} replied Gabriel, {If I’m right then we’ll find absolutely nothing.}

Sarah continued to churn out preliminary results as they became available.

{Who’s in the security room?} Gabriel suddenly asked.

“Why?” asked Jon suspicious of Gabriel’s motives.

{I want to know how fast I was flying,} he replied.

“We clocked you at mach 8.23. A new record.”

{And it doesn’t seem strange to you that I was barely winded when I landed?} Gabriel asked.

“Now that you mention it, yes. Any theories?”

{Only one, but I need Sarah’s data to be sure.}

“Analysis of the hand areas completed,” announced Sarah, “Comparison with the previous results reveals extensive cellular regeneration on all levels of tissue. Previous scar tissue is completely undetectable and no neurological damage can be found.”

“What about brainwave activity?” Jon asked.

“Preliminary reports indicate that all brain activity is functioning at optimum levels. No abnormalities detected at this time.”

{Sarah,} said Gabriel, his voice shaking, {Search all data analyzed so far. State any reading that is out of optimum range.}

Sarah paused, “Surface skin readings indicate a substantial decrease in the amount of essential oils. But the variance is not large enough to require intervention.”

“Dry skin,” said Jon, “The decomp would have done that.”

{But other than that,} said Gabriel nervously, {There isn’t a single reading that is not at an absolute optimum level?}

“No sir,” she replied, “Analysis of the scans reveals that you are in prefect health nearly to the molecular level.”

Gabriel collapsed to his knees. {I left them,} he whispered, {I left them all to die.}

“Who?” asked Jon, “Who did you leave?”

Gabriel’s face was ghost white as he turned and looked at his friend. {Noliea.}

“Noliea?” asked Jon, “What are Noliea?”

Jon was sure the scans were wrong about Gabriel’s mental stability as his expression went from stark disbelief to near panic.

{Come on,} he said, grabbing Jon by the arm and literally carrying the diamond man out of the med-lab, {We have work to do. Sarah?}

“Yes sir?” she replied as he entered the hallway.

{Never mind,} he said as he found his entire team standing there waiting for him, {I found them.}

“You just got here!” Shela protested hotly, “And we don’t even know what happened to you. Now would you please just stop and explain what is going on?”

Gabriel continued to load his carrier: a delta winged storage compartment he had built several years ago to transport cargo on his back at mach speeds. He had also changed into his ‘heavy’ clothes; with extra layers of dura-armor sewn into the arms, chest, and legs. {I can explain while I pack. Remember when I told you that I transported to a world where several of the components of my nightmare really existed?}

“Yes, but-”

{The world I landed in has a race of people who are pacifists. From what I can tell they don’t even have the word ‘murder’ in their vocabulary. Someone built a dimensional gateway between their world and another and a race of insect warriors called the Klidz came back through and decided to use the indigenous people as a source of food.}

“The Noliea,” said Jon.

{‘Noliea’ isn’t a race,} Gabriel clarified, storing a set of night-vision goggles, {Noliea is one of the people of that race. I never found out what they call themselves collectively.}

“That’s the word Tracy gleaned from you just before you left,” said Shela.

Gabriel seemed to ignore the comment and placed several homing beacons in the compartment. Shela noticed that he was blushing.

“Okay,” said Shela, “Everybody out. I want to speak to Gabriel privately.”

Scott gave her an ‘I’m not too comfortable about this’ look, but she gave him a reassuring nod, and they all left.

{I’m not changing my mind,} he said, picking up a huge knapsack and placing it in the center of the compartment. The carrier creaked with the weight.

“I wasn’t planning on changing it,” she replied.

Gabriel was leaning over the carrier, adjusting things around to center the weight. He looked at the woman standing beside him, {No more than three seconds ago you were telling me to stay. Now you’re saying you’re not going to stop me?}

Shela, who until this point had a scowl on her face that would have made Autumn look cheerful, had the most subtle trace of a Mona Lisa-like smile.

“Is she pretty?”

Gabriel nearly fell into the carrier.

“When we were in the corridor outside the med-labs Tracy hit you with something she calls a ‘bliss’ attack. She has no idea what the person will see but she says they experience the most absolute happiness their mind can possibly comprehend. Autumn got only a slight taste of it and she hasn’t been the same since.”

Shela stepped up next to the carrier, “Tracy also said that just before you teleported she read a single word from your mind. It was ‘Noliea’.”

Gabriel stood there looking at the equipment in the carrier like he was searching for something. Shela noticed that his wingtips were shaking.

“Gabriel, I-” she began.

{Can you imagine,} he said, kneeling so he was eye-level with her, {someone taking the most fundamental concept of perfection from the back of your mind and showing it to you as if it were real. It’s always been there buried deep inside your psyche, but just out of reach of your imagination. I’m talking about true perfection; every thought, every word, every hair, every movement... everything that person will ever say or do will always be perfect for you.}

“Honestly?” she said hesitantly, “I would find it unnerving. I’m not a perfect person.”

{Neither is she,} he replied, {I don’t mean perfect in the literal sense that she never falters or makes a mistake. I mean perfect in the sense that there is nobody in existence who could make me happier. Shela, I... I can’t begin to describe what it felt like the first time I looked into her eyes.}

He looked up, trying to articulate what he was thinking, {And the answer to your question is no... she isn’t pretty. She’s not pretty, or gorgeous, or beautiful, or any other word you can think of.}

Shela was silent for a moment as Gabriel strapped the equipment in the carrier down and shut the access doors. “Then what is she?”

{She’s beyond any word I know. I can’t think of a word that even comes close. Even ‘perfect’ seems inadequate.}

He turned his attention to her again, {I’m sorry Shela. I know your feelings about interfering with off-world affairs. And I know I’m deserting the Guardians. But you can’t imagine how important this is to me.}

“I think I can,” she said, holding up her left hand to reveal her wedding ring, “At least, I have a good idea.”

{Once I have everything straightened out in their world I’ll be back.}

“No you won’t,” she said, smiling, “You might come back for a few days, but she will always be in your thoughts. And unless you bring her here, which I doubt someone who “doesn’t know what murder is” will want to do, you’ll keep returning to her world to be with her.”

{No,} he said, {It’s... complicated. I have responsibilities here that-}

“Gabriel,” Shela interrupted. She stepped forward and stroked the side of his face, “You’re one of the most selfless men I’ve ever known, and a wonderful friend. You’ve always put the needs of the Guardians before your own. And I haven’t forgotten that all this started because you took a hit for me.”

She gently kissed him on the cheek. “You’re fired.”