Good!   Sankalara thought!   At least he's listening.   He didn't have us summarily thrown out of his office!   As would be his right.   Now if I can just sell him on it, without slipping up and giving away something important.   And if Herrapki will just trust me as I asked!   Out loud she said, "Let me formally introduce my cousins here!   This is Javastad the sub-elder of the Suskani village and this is Herrapki, the Elder!"   Hammabelpar nodded to acknowledge the introductions.   Sankalara went on, "Now.   It came to me one day, as I was meditating, that the reason why Jevstan has not come back is because we are not a united people!   I mean, it seems so obvious that I wondered why no one ever thought of it.   So I went to their village and asked them if they would participate in an experiment with me.   Herrapki agreed to do this.   And Javastad agreed to monitor it.   What I need you to do is to declare a capital-wide day of arrest and to get the word out to all the presbyters.   I want to have a public forum for this demonstration so that there can be no doubt if it succeeds!   Will you do this?"

   Hammabelpar pondered for a long moment.   And while he did Sankalara gave Herrapki a surreptitious sharp look, willing him to remain quiet and to play along. Apparently, he either got the message or decided to keep quiet on his own for whatever reason.   In any case he said nothing.   At last Hammabelpar spoke. "First of all I want to commend you for your courage."   Sankalara gave him a tight acknowledging smile.   Hammabelpar went thoughtfully on, "I can see no great harm in this.   At worst Jevstan will remain away, keeping his council.   At best we will usher in a new age.   Myself, I will need to see this to believe that it has worked.   Can you give me any hint as to what you have planned?"

   Sankalara was afraid that he would ask that.   So.   She would have to kowtow afterall!   She gave the High Priest an imploring look.   "I beg your indulgence.   This is an awkward moment in our history.   It is a matter that only the Grand Matron can handle.   I am not the Grand Matron at the moment, my mother is no longer able to carry on her duties and when I am the Grand Matron, you know that I can't divulge that sort of information.   The sanctity of the office would be compromised."

   "I thought I would ask.   I only thought there might be some special preparations I would need to make.   If you assure me that this is not the case then I will leave you to your council and I will see to my end."   Hammabelpar gave her one last searching look.

   "I assure you that if you do your part that all will be as well as it can be.   And I only say that because I don't have one hundred percent assurance that it will work.   I mean, I believe that it will, but first I must try."   Sankalara gave him a determined look.

   "One last question then.   What day do you have this planned for?" Hammabelpar asked, shifting some papers around on his desk.

   "Charianna's Ascension Day." Sankalara said with a fine sense of irony.   "That's several days from now and all should be settled between my mother and me!"

   "That is a fine choice!" Hammabelpar said, the irony not lost on him.   "May Charianna smile benevolently on your mother.   I shall, of course, join you if needed."

   "Thank You for your good wishes for my mother." Sankalara told Hammabelpar, giving him a small deferential bow.   Turning to Javastad and Herrapki she said, "Shall we go see my mother now?"

   On their way back across the square Herrapki fell in beside Sankalara and said, "I have a couple of questions.   Who is this High Priest?   You never adequately explained the heirarchy here.   And why didn't we go see your mother first?   In my clan that is the way we do things.   I mean, I am sure that you can understand that I want to be sure that I am not getting involved in something that is way too dangerous.   So would you mind explaining all this?"

   Sankalara felt like asking him if this wasn't a bit late for questions like that.   But that wouldn't be fair.   She'd led him here on a false pretext and had asked him to trust her implicitly so she really did owe him an answer.   Instead she gave him a reasuring smile as she explained, "The High Priest is in charge of the more secular aspects of the Religion.   He also has civil duties.   He is in charge of seeing that the edicts of the Grand Matron gets carried out by the presbyter's, amongst other things.   Had I not come back, he would have eventually found me, using the PQ.   I needed to report to him at this time since I am not at this moment the Grand Matron and am still under his jurisdiction."

   "So what you're saying is that he is a sort of glorified chief of police?"   Herrapki said, with a wry grin as he pretended to be awed.

   "Or another way to put it is -- don't worry.   He's a church cop and has no purview over you!"   Sankalara replied, giving him a teasing, playful grin.

   "OK.   I'm not worried about him.   But what about your mother?"   Herrapki gave her a sober look.

   Sankalara sobered too. "Well, you see my mother and I have had differences of opinions for years.   And I was in no hurry to possibly restart old fights -- especailly here so close to the end of her life!   And that leads me directly to the other reason.   I am in no hurry to see her dying." A near sob caught in Sankalara's throat and she could say no more.

   "I see." Herrapki said as they reached the side entrance of the tabernacle.   Pausing before opening the door for Sankalara and Javastad, he asked, "Are you sure that you want us along?"

   "There are two good reasons why I'd like you along.   For moral support and because it would do my mother's heart good to see that we have united again."   Sankalara told him, gravely.

   "Well, I don't think we can strictly say that we have united, but it can do no harm to present an united front for the moment," Herrapki replied, opening the door and motioning Sankalara and Javastad in ahead of him.

   The Grand Matron's quarters had once been the emperor's suites.   As such the rooms were the most opulent in the tabernacle.   Javastad and Herrapki looked around in awe at all the splendid furnishings, walls, floors, ceilings and windows of the receiving room, but that magnificence was lost on Sankalara.   She'd seen it a thousand times and besides her mind was somewhere else entirely.   She left them there for a moment and proceeded to the anteroom where she found Molotark loitering, very probably awaiting her appearance.   Through the open doorway she could see the huge bedroom, the large bed and the figure lying in it. That figure was lying completely still.

   Fearful and in a hushed voice, Sankalara asked, "Am I too late?"

   Molotark's face was somber, but he gave her a quick sly smile nonetheless.   "I am sure you wish that were the case.   Then before Sankalara could voice an empty protest he hurried on, "I wish that you two could have gotten on better.   Your mother was, er, I mean, IS a fine lady.   But then again, so are you.   I'm afraid the trouble is that you two are way too much alike." He sighed, "Yes, she yet lives."

   Sankalara had heard it before.   Many times from Molotark.   And she didn't need to hear it again.   The sad thing, though, was that he was right.   Her and her mother WERE too much alike.   Once again she wished that it could have somehow been different.   But of course it was much too late for that -- if there had ever been time.   Even had they gone back in time using the PQ they would both still be who they were.   Time was not the answer, time was the enemy.   Time was what seperated them.   Time had made them who they were and those subtle, almost infinitesimal differences could never be healed over or bridged.   They could not be together in time since they would then not be mother and daughter.     Experiences in time -- the experiences that made them mother and made them daughter -- could never be adequately shared or understood -- not even with a PQ time machine.   Sankalara sighed too. "I guess I'd better see her then."   No longer fearful, but feeling a mixture of sadness and relief, she went back to get Herrapki and Javastad.

   As soon as Sankalara stopped at the side of her mother's bed and saw the wasted features there she was struck with a wave of empathic revulsion that made her whole body ache clear down into her loins.   Once again she was forcibly reminded that she hated the fact that one did not live forever.   But perhaps that would change for her -- if she and Javastad could work it out afterall?   Her mother's eyes fluttered open, interrupting Sankalara's morbid train of thought.

   Looking up at Sankalara, her mother blinked a couple of times to get her eyes to focus.   In a weak, but firm voice, she said, "Sankalara!   You are here at last!   Who are the men with you?"

   "This is Javastad and Herrapki, relatives of ours on Jevstan's side.   Gentlemen, this is Karolhana, my mother."   Sankalara performed the introductions as she reached down to brush an errant white/red lock of hair from her mother's forehead.   Not quite knowing what to say next and wanting to delay the inevitable, she floundered on, "Of course I would introduce you to my father, but just like Rikke Starhm, the men in our lives don't live as long and my father has been gone a long time."   Immediately horrified as soon as the words were out of her mouth and desperately wishing she could take them back, Sankalara just stood there helpless, blushing furiously.

   Javastad rescued her.   Smiling smoothly at Karolhana and giving Herrapki a surreptitious wink, he said, "Women!   They have all the luck!"

   Sankalara managed to produce a reasonably believable chuckle and Herrapki stood there smiling and nodding like an idiot.   Karolhana was either fooled or else pretended to be.   In any case she went right by the gaffe on Sankalara's part. Sitting up in the bed a bit and giving them all a benevolent gaze she said, "Like I said, Sankalara, dear, I am glad that you came at last.   And it is good to see that you have united with the Suskanis.   I had prayed to see that before my time was through.   And speaking of that -- my time IS very near.   In fact I believe it would be good for you to have Molotark call Hammabelpar."   She didn't quite manage to stifle the gasp of pain as she laid back down.

   Sankalara wasn't going to engage in useless theatrics.   While Herrapki bent over Karolhana, murmuring soothing words and sponging her brow with a cloth he'd taken from a bowl sitting on a table at the head of the bed and Javastad stood there looking solictious and grim, Sankalara went to tell Molotark the news.

   It wasn't long before Hammabelpar appeared.   Taking in the situation with a quick glance he asked Javastad and Herrapki if they would consent to be witnesses.   They gave each other unsure glances, but agreed.   He asked them to step to a position near the doorway.   Still mystified, but still willing to play along, they did so.   Then Molotark took his position on the left side of the head of the bed, Hammabelpar took the right side and Sankalara stepped to the foot of the bed.   In a moment -- a horribly long moment, a moment that Sankalara would later feel had to have been an hour long -- a light rose from the area of Karolhana's chest.   That light coalesced into almond shaped green eyes, spangly, floating gold motes, and zipping blue ractangles that looked like windows filled with blue sky.   Writhing up towards the ceiling for a moment, this conglomeration suddenly came together, looking like a questing transparent hand imbued with the green eyes, the gold motes and the blue rectangles.   Changing shape one last time and still engorged with the odd, colored shapes it became a transparent trident with lightning prongs.   Plunging right at Sankalara, it engulfed her body, surrounding her like a silvery nimbus.   She stiffened all over.   She shouted in exhilaration and exaltation.   Ripping her clothes off, she fell to her knees, spread her arms wide and then pulled them towards her body as if she was trying to pull the nimbus even closer about her like a second skin.   The nimbus shrank a bit, seemed to be the reason why she was suddenly rocking forward and backwards, then entered her body.

   The room became deathly quiet.   Sankalara was still on her knees, but she was no longer shouting.   Instead she was staring upward, transfixed, at a point that no one else but her could see.   Karolhana was obviously dead.   Javastad and Herrapki were staring, frozen in place, not even breathing.   Molotark had a look frozen on his face that was part joy and part deep sadness.

   At last Hammabelpar broke the silence and the frozen tableau.   "The Grand Matron is dead.   Long live the Matron."   He went to an ornate closet, retrieved a purple and silver and gold floor length cloak, crossed the room again, and offered Sankalara his hand.

   At the contact from his hand, Sankalara snapped out of it.   She rose to her feet and let Hammabelpar clothe her in the cloak.   She gave her mother's body a last, wistful look filled with ineffable sadness.   Resolutely, she turned away.   As Sankalara turned away the body of Karolhana disappeared in a twinkle of light that jingled like far off bells ringing out the advent of some joyous event.   When the bell sound and the light had faded away, Sankalara smiled radiantly then at them all.   "The power is passed.   Hammabelpar, will you leave us?   Molotark, see to my affairs, please?"

   When Hammabelpar and Molotark had left them alone, Sankalara sagged down onto the bed that was now her own, putting her face into her hands.   After a minute she looked up into their questioning faces.   "OK.   Who wants to go first?" she asked, giving them both a small, tired smile.

   Herrapki went first.   "What was that light show that we saw and what happened to you mother's body?" he said with a little shudder.

   "The light show was the physical manifestation of the PQ incarnate being passed from my mother to me.   And her body disappeared into the PQ vortex where it will now remain in a spiritual/metaphysical state.   Energy must be conserved.   You use it, you put it back." Sankalara said, looking like she was in no big hurry to join her mother.

   Herrapki shuddered again.   But it wasn't from fear, Sankalara realized as he spoke in response to her answer.   "After seeing that I now believe more than ever that you CAN bring Jevstan back!"

   It was Javastad's turn.   "How many days -- exactly -- do you have now to prepare for the Big Event?" he said, giving a good impression of a little child who is hardly able to wait for XandleMas day.   Yet there were unspoken questions in his blanket question.

   He was giving nothing away by acting that excited, Sankalra knew, since Herrapki didn't have a clue what was up and it would certainly be the question that he'd ask -- if Herrapki didn't.   Still Sankalara didn't know how she was going to answer his unspoken questions without making Herrapki suspicious by asking him to leave.   She decided that she'd answer the easy question and hope for inspiration.   "Charianna's Ascension Day is three days from now.   And I only have a bit of final preparations to make.   I've been working the beginning stages for some time now since I knew this day was soon to come."

   Herrapki saved Sankalara from having to come up an idea to get rid of him.   "I've seen enough of this for one day.   If you'll excuse me I believe I want to go talk to Pashli.   She's an enchanting creature."   Sankalara waved him away languidly as if she could care less and he headed for the door.   As he was leaving Sankalara wondered why she hadn't thought of the obvious.   I guess I just have too much on my mind, she told herself.

   As soon as Herrapki was out of earshot, Javastad and Sankalara shared a chuckle.   Sankalara summed it up. "Enchanting, huh?   I wonder what Pashli said or did when I sent her to his room?   I guess there's no accounting for taste, huh? Of course Pashli IS a dear!"   She chuckled a bit more, fondly.   Looking at Javastad and trying to get serious, she said, "I know you had more questions.   What were they?"

   But Javastad was still stuck on the earlier subject.   "You sent Pashli into Herrapki's quarters?   You are more wicked than I thought!"   He chuckled a bit then turned as serious as Sankalara was.   " Well, I really just had one.   What are we going to do if this doesn't work?"

   "Bringing Jevstan back?" Sankalara asked absently, her mind elsewhere.   Gods! She was emotinally and physically wrung out, she suddenly realized.

   "NO!   Of course not!   I mean, what if our plans don't work at all?   What if we meet unexpected opposition that we can't handle?" Javastad said, peering at her closely with a grim expression.

   With a huge effort, Sankalara managed to focus on the question. "I don't know! What if?   And why are you bringing this up now?"

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