able to find a few vague historical references suggesting that other, much smaller craft may have mysteriously disappeared from that precise spot in the past, but there is nothing in our records to support those assumptions."
"And the passenger list?"
The OMC agent cleared his throat. "I am sorry, sir. It's been verified. One of the passengers was an Innerworld emissary. Tarla Yan was on board when the aircraft vanished."
"Oh Rom, I am so sorry."
Rom felt Aster's empathy as clearly as he heard his mate's words in his mind.
Aloud, Aster said, "She may be perfectly fine somewhere, just like I was when I went for a cruise off the Bahamas and ended up here."
By remembering that long ago day, he was able to force a half-smile. When the yacht she'd been on was accidentally pulled into Innerworld, he had already known something major was about to change in his life. He just hadn't realized how major it was going to be.
At that time, he had been a provincial chief administrator and Tarla had been his assistant and very close friend. She'd been exceptionally efficient and supportive but it was always obvious that administration wasn't giving her any sense of fulfillment. After he and Aster were formally joined and became the Co-Governors of Innerworld, Tarla had tried a committed relationship with one of the other transplanted Terrans, even moving out to a mining camp with him for a while, but that hadn't lasted either.
Tarla was one of the few people Rom had ever met who envied the Outerworld Terrans and the unstable, chaotic lives they led. She'd always wanted less control rather than more. With his endorsement and considerable training, she became an Outerworld emissary, living a "normal" Terran life as an emergency room nurse while secretly being an observer for Innerworld.
That was over two decades ago. At first, she'd made a point of paying him a visit whenever she returned to Innerworld but he now realized it had been at least three years since she'd been back.
When the current Outerworld war broke out, Tarla hadn't hesitated to accept the more dangerous assignment of observing the action from a front-line position since her cover as a trauma nurse more than qualified her to do so.
Many Outerworlders held the belief that the war could have been prevented, but after millennia of observing Terrans, politically-minded Noronians, like Romulus, knew there was nothing anyone could have done. By 2050, people of Asia and Eastern Europe were in dire economic straits and ripe for a takeover by a hungry, overcrowded country. China made its move so unexpectedly, it was weeks before the rest of the world realized that the sleeping dragon had truly awakened and no country on the planet could feel safe from its voracious appetite. While the United States government discussed whether to reinstate the draft, China simultaneously invaded Japan and Germany and there was no longer a question of non-involvement of any Outerworld country.
After three years of wasted lives and massive devastation, the dragon was somewhat caged but still very dangerous. Months of negotiating between China and the United Nations ended with a barely acceptable, yet absolutely imperative, compromise. China's borders were extended to encompass all of Asia, the Middle East and Africa and, in turn, the dragon would keep its claws off Europe, the Americas and Australia.
More than ever, Norona, and more importantly, Innerworld, needed courageous, highly-trained, emissaries throughout Outerworld, observing and reporting back from ground-level points of view.
Thus, for personal and political reasons, Romulus wanted Aster to be right, that Tarla truly was "perfectly fine somewhere."
Chapter 3
Tarla tried to block out the voices buzzing in her ears. She wasn't ready to wake up yet. Rather than fading away, however, the voices kept getting louder. After several more minutes of attempting to stay submerged in murky sleep, she reluctantly swam to the
"And the passenger list?"
The OMC agent cleared his throat. "I am sorry, sir. It's been verified. One of the passengers was an Innerworld emissary. Tarla Yan was on board when the aircraft vanished."
"Oh Rom, I am so sorry."
Rom felt Aster's empathy as clearly as he heard his mate's words in his mind.
Aloud, Aster said, "She may be perfectly fine somewhere, just like I was when I went for a cruise off the Bahamas and ended up here."
By remembering that long ago day, he was able to force a half-smile. When the yacht she'd been on was accidentally pulled into Innerworld, he had already known something major was about to change in his life. He just hadn't realized how major it was going to be.
At that time, he had been a provincial chief administrator and Tarla had been his assistant and very close friend. She'd been exceptionally efficient and supportive but it was always obvious that administration wasn't giving her any sense of fulfillment. After he and Aster were formally joined and became the Co-Governors of Innerworld, Tarla had tried a committed relationship with one of the other transplanted Terrans, even moving out to a mining camp with him for a while, but that hadn't lasted either.
Tarla was one of the few people Rom had ever met who envied the Outerworld Terrans and the unstable, chaotic lives they led. She'd always wanted less control rather than more. With his endorsement and considerable training, she became an Outerworld emissary, living a "normal" Terran life as an emergency room nurse while secretly being an observer for Innerworld.
That was over two decades ago. At first, she'd made a point of paying him a visit whenever she returned to Innerworld but he now realized it had been at least three years since she'd been back.
When the current Outerworld war broke out, Tarla hadn't hesitated to accept the more dangerous assignment of observing the action from a front-line position since her cover as a trauma nurse more than qualified her to do so.
Many Outerworlders held the belief that the war could have been prevented, but after millennia of observing Terrans, politically-minded Noronians, like Romulus, knew there was nothing anyone could have done. By 2050, people of Asia and Eastern Europe were in dire economic straits and ripe for a takeover by a hungry, overcrowded country. China made its move so unexpectedly, it was weeks before the rest of the world realized that the sleeping dragon had truly awakened and no country on the planet could feel safe from its voracious appetite. While the United States government discussed whether to reinstate the draft, China simultaneously invaded Japan and Germany and there was no longer a question of non-involvement of any Outerworld country.
After three years of wasted lives and massive devastation, the dragon was somewhat caged but still very dangerous. Months of negotiating between China and the United Nations ended with a barely acceptable, yet absolutely imperative, compromise. China's borders were extended to encompass all of Asia, the Middle East and Africa and, in turn, the dragon would keep its claws off Europe, the Americas and Australia.
More than ever, Norona, and more importantly, Innerworld, needed courageous, highly-trained, emissaries throughout Outerworld, observing and reporting back from ground-level points of view.
Thus, for personal and political reasons, Romulus wanted Aster to be right, that Tarla truly was "perfectly fine somewhere."
Chapter 3
Tarla tried to block out the voices buzzing in her ears. She wasn't ready to wake up yet. Rather than fading away, however, the voices kept getting louder. After several more minutes of attempting to stay submerged in murky sleep, she reluctantly swam to the
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