Anarchistbanjo's World

Ellen’s voice shook. “Howling Wolf’s face became very ugly and dangerous. It was frightening. He said this came at a terrible cost to Ron and Rachel and the drain on them was so strong they needed to be kept alive artificially. His voice grew low as he told us that now after all these years of being wired into the machine Ron and Rachel are dying and the Federation is desperate to find replacements for them.

They know Ron and Rachel were conducting independent secret research with a small group and are searching for them and for the secret location where they used to meet. The rogue attacks are field operatives seeking for the old secret meeting places and actively discouraging clansmen from being near the lake at all. Then he said Tobal, Crow, and Llana must be protected at all costs so they don’t end up dying in the same machine Ron and Rachel are trapped in. He was just telling us what the Federation has been doing with their time travel program when he stopped.”

“There was a gasp from the room as Howling Wolf grasped weakly at a knife that was protruding from his chest. Then he faded and was gone. Four City Council members were grappling with the City Council member that had thrown the knife trying to subdue him. The general was staring white faced at the blood on the floor where Howling Wolf had been standing.”

Ellen’s face grew pale and she whispered. “We turned to look at the person that threw the knife just as blood erupted from his mouth and he sagged lifelessly to the floor. Protruding from his back was a second knife. The four that had been struggling with him stepped back wide eyed as they realized one of them was a murderer. We were all shocked and didn’t know what to do.”

“The mayor was the first to act telling everyone to stay where they were and called the police. The general was already gone and no one remembered seeing him go. The police and medics came within minutes but it was clear the City Council member was dead. The four other City Council members were taken away by the police. The mayor looked visibly shaken by what had just happened and turned to look at us.”

“He said things were much more serious than he had believed. He asked to postpone the meeting till next month. He said the City Council needed to do some investigating on it’s own first. He also said he was inclined to believe our story in the light of recent events. Then he asked us to make certain Howling Wolf was alive and give him medical treatment if he needed it. The last thing he said was that Howling Wolf must be kept alive at all costs.”

“With that the meeting was adjourned and we immediately flew to the village in search of Howling Wolf but were not able to locate him. Failing that we returned to the base at the mountain and made a report to the Circle of Elders.”

Ellen continued her story. “I immediately left to find Crow and let him know what had happened. Crow was with his newbie when I landed and walked over. I told him what had happened. He immediately excused himself and sat down on his pack near a tree. He appeared to be going into a deep trance and suddenly disappeared. I didn’t know what to do. The newbie was looking at me with wide eyes. I decided to set up a camp and start a meal hoping Crow would come back.”

“It was about two hours later that Crow suddenly appeared sitting on his pack at the base of the tree. He looked tired and angry.”

“He’s all right,” he said “but someone is going to pay for this.” Ellen talked with Crow about the details of what had occurred and the murder of the assassin. That made Crow’s eyes flash even darker with anger.

“Someone didn’t want him to talk. Have you talked with Llana about this?”

“Llana,” Ellen said puzzled, “why would I talk with Llana?”

“She’s my sister.”

Ellen concluded her story and looked at Rafe and Tobal with troubled eyes.

“Things are getting dangerous and I don’t really know what to do about it. The Council of Elders is in shock right now and just wishing the entire thing would go away. They don’t trust the City Council at all and we can’t get in contact with Howling Wolf. I still haven’t talked with Llana.”

“Let me talk with Llana,” Tobal said. I’m not doing anything this month until she solos. Perhaps I can visit with Howling Wolf and learn more.”

Ellen took Tobal on her airsled and they found Llana heading for her soloing spot. Ellen left him there to talk with her.

Llana was not ready to let anyone have access to her grandfather, even Tobal. She had already heard about it from Crow and knew he was all right. She was seriously shaken by what had happened though and while she was relieved her grandfather was doing all right, she was not willing to risk anything that might further endanger him.

“I need to talk to him Llana,” he told her.

“Why?” She said. There was smoldering anger and resentment in her gaze.

“I haven’t told you everything,” he confessed. “There are some things he needs
to know and you need to know.”

“What things Tobal?” She asked quietly.

“Adam Gardner is Sarah’s father and he can time travel too!”

Her quick intake of breath showed how excited she was. “You are sure of this?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Your Grandfather and Adam Gardner could train all of us to time travel if they got together. I’m afraid the military is going to be looking for Adam now though and his life is in danger because your father said that several people knew how to time travel and were teaching it to others. Your father thought he was the only one left but he isn’t.”

She was silent a few minutes thinking and then stood up.

“You’re right. Adam is in danger and he must be warned. He and grandfather need to get together. Tell me where to find Adam and I will go tell my grandfather.”

“No,” he said stubbornly. “I want to talk with him.”

She tried to reason with him. “Tobal, I can be there instantly. I know how to bilocate. We are wasting time and every minute counts. They could be going after Adam right now.”

Reluctantly Tobal agreed and told Llana where Adam lived in Old Seattle. She wasted no time and was just about to go.

“Wait,” he shouted.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. “What?”

“Take this,” he whispered as he pulled the wand out and handed it to her.

She looked at it silently a few moments and then her dark eyes looked up at him and she nodded. “Thanks.” She said and was gone.

Tobal was stuck in the woods without any supplies and worried about his friends. He was especially worried about Adam Gardner. He had come to like the old man and didn’t like thinking his life might be in danger. He didn’t want to think Sarah’s life might be in danger too. He was glad a few hours later when Ellen came and brought him back to the gathering spot.

The next morning he set out for the village at the mile eating trot Llana had taught him. When he finally got there he was surprised to find the village really was a fulltime village. He had expected it to be more like a monthly gathering spot. There were guards that stayed and took care of things and some of the elders with highly skilled craft abilities had shops of their own. In addition some mothers with extreme youngsters took turns caring for the little one’s that were too young to be left alone while the others got together in groups and worked on projects and meals for the entire clan.

There was certainly no threat to the city in this village he reflected as he walked among the shelters and admired the handiwork of the skilled craftsmen. He spent his days talking to the old timers that lived in the village and asked about its history and how it had started. Slowly he began to piece together bits of history from the stories the villagers told him. It was after the death of his parents that Heliopolis had become a closed city under Federation military control. General Grant was then Lt. Col. Grant and had taken over the program after Lt. Col. Harry Kane’s accident and forced retirement.

There were several unexplained deaths within the city itself as well as the massacre at the lake. It was Howling Wolf that first noticed the deaths were those actively against the time travel operation and the machine itself. He suspected others were wired into the machine and died.

The military was actively searching for anyone known to be working with Ron and Rachel in their own private research without the machine. Realizing the real targets Howling Wolf managed to warn several of their small groups in time so they could escape. None of that original group now lived in the village itself.

Other citizens did not approve of the military occupation and formed the small village as a continuation of the social experiment his parents had begun. This time to include the elderly as well as small children in the formation of a utopian community that was an advancement of the initial concept. The military was willing to use the village as an official reason to keep a continued presence in the area. Later the City of Heliopolis was turned back to civilian control with the federation monitoring both social experiments.

At least that was the official story the villagers told Tobal. Howling Wolf was the unofficial spokesman for the village and highly respected. He also acted as shaman and healer for the village and was training his grandchildren to take his place. No one had seen him for several days though. They weren’t worried because he always seemed to appear and disappear whenever it suited him.

Tobal returned from the village in plenty of time for circle. There was light drizzle of rain making everyone damp and irritable. It was late morning and he looked around for Becca but didn’t see her, Melanie or Nikki anywhere around and wondered if they were still waiting for newbies at Sanctuary. He saw Zee and Kevin and asked them if they had seen the girls.

It was Zee that answered sourly, “They dumped them off this morning to be initiated and proclaimed them ready to solo. Then all three of them left for sanctuary again. They didn’t even have the decency to stay for the initiations.”

“It’s not right,” Kevin told him. “People are concerned more about getting Journeyman than they are about giving the newbies the training they need. Just rushing through the training and not even being there for the initiation is not right.”

“I’ve thought a lot about this myself.” Tobal looked at both of them. “I’ve been to every initiation since I came here, not just those for my own newbies. I believe it is very important to be here and give each other all the support and encouragement we can.”

Then he shrugged. “I still don’t know how much training a person really needs. I felt I needed to go back and prepare Nick, Melanie and Sarah for winter and spent an extra month doing that. Still Tyrone and Crow didn’t need the two months of training they got and Llana certainly didn’t need more than a month.”