Chapter 7:
(09/04/01)
After spending a little while exploring Atlantis, the cabal learned that its ruler, the Atlantean, was a powerful mage and set up an audience with him. They explained their plight, and he seemed sympathetic. After thinking for awhile, he agreed to send the cabal back to Earth, though it would be difficult. The ship could return automatically, but Marcus and Maria would have to return by another (for unknown reasons), and the rest of the cabal would have to proceed by a third. They would have to go through several stages of “decompression” before returning to Earth, and it would be a long and dangerous journey. Everyone accepted the offer immediately. (Tom stayed behind in Atlantis.)
Before they left, Jennifer asked the Atlantean for a favor—would he return Gabriel to his human state? The Atlantean agreed, waved his hands a few times, and Gabriel was as good as new again. The only change was that his flirting with Jennifer had now ascended to new heights, leading most of the cabal to assume they were sleeping together (even though they were still just talking about it all the time).
The Atlantean waved his hands, and the cabal suddenly found themselves in a flat, barren land made of nothing but metal. Reaching out with Correspondence, Jennifer determined that they were in the center of an enormous ring of cities, and that a number of figures were approaching them rapidly. Unsure of what to do, the cabal waited until the figures drew close enough to be identified as HIT Marks. The cabal tried to fight them with magic but weren’t able to do much. Finally, Gabriel gave up and teleported everyone into a junkyard where they could hide out until the next shift came along.
In the junkyard, Jennifer did some research and found out they were in Autocthonia, a realm controlled entirely by the Techocracy (in the personages of the Machine and the Matron). Kenley stole an old, broken HIT Mark from a scrap heap, taking it along with her in one of the Bags of Holding Gabriel had made and given to everyone in Horizon. Everyone else laid low for a few weeks until the next shift came along and the cabal found themselves in another strange place.
The new realm had technology of a much lower level; in fact, it seemed almost prehistoric. The cabal arrived on the outskirts of a sizable city and began moving through it to check it out, attracting a considerable amount of attention as they did. In the city, everyone noticed three men and women (not mages, but they had a strange and powerful Prime signature and resonance surrounding them) moving through the crowds and patrolling them. The inhabitants of the city seemed to defer to them. Suddenly, one of them walked up to Jennifer, brushed aside her bangs, looked at her forehead, and walked away. Angrily, she called after him. He turned back, and for a moment it looked like there was going to be a fight. But then, one of the other Prime-beacon men shouted, and the guy went running after him.
The cabal observed all three Prime-beacons running toward a young girl standing in the center of the crowd. They were drawing their swords and seemed ready to kill her. Unable to abide that kind of cold blooded murder, Saxon ran over and threw himself in front of the girl. One of the men began attacking him with the sword and nearly killed him, but the girl was safe. Jennifer and Gabriel then used Correspondence to bring Saxon and the girl back to where the cabal was, and evade the Prime-beacons by going deep into the primeval forest surrounding the city.
In the forest, the cabal had to keep moving in order to avoid the Prime-beacons, who seemed to be hunting them down in search of the girl. Along the way, Ripple began talking to her, befriended her (to the point of effectively adopting her as a daughter), and learned that her name was Sadira. Her entire family had died, and the Prime-beacons were hunting her down for reasons that even she didn’t understand. Since she obviously wasn’t safe in her own world, Ripple invited her to come with the cabal, and she accepted. Saxon also became very close to her.
After a few weeks in the forest, the next shift happened and brought Gabriel, Jennifer, Joe, Kenley, Ripple, Sadira, Saxon, and Wan back to their home planet at long last. Marcus and Maria, who had apparently changed her name to Isabella at some point along her journey, were there waiting, although both of them seemed profoundly changed by their experience. Marcus said that he knew of a city—Aminus, Oregon—where his business (Marcus Theatres) had a good foothold and where the cabal could safely settle. Everyone agreed, and set out for their new home.