A Storm in the Making

Chapter 15--Fellow Travelers

Chapter Fifteen

Fellow Travelers

At ground level the smell of food filled the air, causing my stomach to growl. Julius heard it.

   “Food, I think should be next before I return you to your uncle and brothers,” Julius tried to smile but it came out more as a grimace.

   Away to the west the sun was setting at last. The lavender sky was fading into a dark green and brown twilight that wasn’t pretty at all like the sunsets on earth. Whatever. This long day was coming to an end, for which I was grateful.

   We followed a pathway that meandered around the outside of the ancient stone walls of the monastery. Along the pathway and to the right, several two-story buildings slumbered in that brown twilight. Julius pointed to them.

   “Those are the guest houses. That is where we house Travelers.”

   There was a small group of people clustered together on a covered patio of the building closest to us. They appeared to be human. We stared warily at each other.

   “Are they……?” I asked, turning to Julius.

   “….From earth? Yes. When the three moons are full and in conjunction at the same time, the gateways automatically activate, sadly bringing in too many beings—.”

   “How often does that happen?” I asked, thinking back to the phenomena that had brought my family here. The Bermuda Triangle was suddenly making a lot more sense.

   “Sometimes nothing happens. Only if someone happens to be in the vicinity of a gateway at the other end when it opens is there a problem for us. Not everything that comes through is human, either. Earth is not the only planet that has gateways.”

   I couldn’t help but shiver when he said that.

   “Fortunately for us, the phenomena only happens once every two Dardarian years. Unfortunately for you and the others over there, that was once too often.”

   He waved at the group of people staring at us. Hesitantly, some of them raised their hands in our direction.

   “Part of this group came in three days ago—from England, I think. Another fellow came from Easter Island. He was a Traveler on his own planet—a photographer, he said—from New Zealand.”

   I was curious in spite of myself. “Will my family and I be staying with them?” I nodded my head in the direction of the people.

   “Your family’s rooms will be at the right end of this building. They are divided up into duplexes. There are enough of you that you won’t have to share with anyone else.”

   “Are my uncle and brothers over there now?”