INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 35: A LOVE BEYOND TIME

Abdulsamad was still at the door ramming his body into the thick, old wood. He had been there for about thirty minutes. What was he going to tell Galahad? That he, an experience anthropologist who has gone into innumerable ruins and dig sites lost two people. So, many thoughts rushed through his mind as he tried to hit the door open.

He had been in dangerous situations before, countless number of times but nothing could have prepared him for this moment. It was one thing risking his life but it was another different situation when the lives of others were at stake. He was entrusted with their safety; it was his responsibility to bring them back safely. Just like a surgeon who has been given the authority to operate on his patient; a person who trusts so much in his abilities that they willingly came under sedation and lay lifeless while the glorified butcher tore them open, Abdulsamad had been entrusted with life. What will he tell his friend? How will he explain it? These were the thoughts that Abdulsamad had as he did everything humanly possible to open this door.

Inside the room, the wind slowly disappeared. Xaviere and Petrichor lay by the box, he encased her with his arms and held on closely just the same way Shambasa did Layla. How incredible it was that after so many years they somehow found each other again. She took an arrow from him and he gave his life how her; it was a fair trade.

The wind left a mess of the room. Sheets were all over the place. It looked like a tornado had passed through a paper mill. The door finally gave way and Abdulsamad crashed into the room.

“Alhamdulillah….” The big man screamed in relief. “Are you ok?” He said rushing towards Xaviere and cupping his face in his palm. He then turned to Petrichor and said, “Are you hurt?” He did not touch her though. This was a testament to how strong cultural practices are. This man will still not touch a woman that was not his wife or blood relative not even after this scary, near death experience.

“Quickly now, let’s leave this evil place.” Abdulsamad said as he quickly ran out of the place, Xaviere and Petrichor hastily following behind. The three of them were breathing heavily and trying to caught their breath outside when they heard Galahad say,

“Goodness, what in the world happened in there?”

“Oh my good friend Galahad…God be praised we made it out.” Abdulsamad answered.

“Good god, it looks like Horus himself held you in his hands and flew you through the wind. Are you kids ok?”

“Well, we are now. I am so glad to see you Galahad.” Xaviere said before hugging the man.

“Can we please just go back now?” Petrichor pleaded.

“You poor thing, let’s all get out of here.” Galahad concluded before getting them into the car. Abdulsamad was so relieved that he got them out safely.

“Thank you Abdulsamad for keeping them safe.” Galahad said as he was about to drive them back to the resort. Abdulsamad who stood outside smiled at his old friend and gave him a nod.

The drive back was silent. Xaviere and Petrichor held hands, interlocking their fingers. They cared about each other, they always have but to be able to see into the past, into the lives of their former selves opened a whole new chapter. Everything made so much sense now.

Galahad was eager to know what happened within the ruins but he was a man who knew how to read the room. Whatever the two experienced was so ever whelming, talking about it now would be insensitive. He was really curious but from his experience, that never helps anyone.

“I thought we were going to meet Andrew.” Xaviere asked after a long time of saying nothing.

“Slight change of plans but he will meet us at the hotel.” Galahad answered.

They finally arrived the hotel and up to their room they went. The two lovers sat on the bed with their backs turned to each other. There was nothing but silence. They were not having a conversation but there was a connection between the two.

“How long have you known?” Petrichor asked.

“I haven’t exactly known anything, just glimpses, flashing from a past I did not know was my own. Everything just began to add up.” Xaviere responded.

“I love you, I have always loved you and I will forever love you. It doesn’t matter what era, what age, doesn’t matter what lifetime, I will always find you.” Petrichor said passionately with tears in her eyes.

“You are everything to me. Nothing makes sense without you, I will never let you go, my Desertwind.” Xaviere said. They hugged each other and said nothing else. The two just sat there, encased in each other's arms.

“Where are the love birds?” Andrew said as he stepped out of the taxi. He was done with his sand drifting expenditures for the day. He was so hyped up.

“They are in their suite sir, sleeping I assume.” Galahad said to Andrew.

“Well, isn’t that early? These two out here acting like geriatrics. We are in Egypt for crying out loud. This is not the time to sleep. The night has just begun. This is the time to dance amongst the stars, to laugh and make merry.” Andrew said passionately.

“It is 10:30pm sir and your friends had quite an eventful and exhausting experience at the ruins. I would advise you let them be.” Galahad responded.

“Oh, Abdulsamad must have dealt with tem an awful lot.’ Andrew said laughing. “Xaviere thinks he can just play archeologist.”

Galahad said nothing. He was a man who knew how to mind his business and not say things that do not concern him.

“Good morning sleepy heads.” Andrew said to Xaviere and Petrichor who just got out of their suite. The time was a few minutes past eleven; they had really slept in.

“Good morning mate.” Xaviere replied on their behalf.

“How was yesterday? It seems it really took a toll on the both of you.”

“I won't lie; it was quite an exhilarating experience.” Xaviere said as he looked at Petrichor who looked back at him with a smirk on her face.

“Welcome to Egypt my friend.” Andrew said dramatically throwing both arms in the air. “It is such a shame that you guys have to leave tomorrow. There is so much to explore, so much to do here.

“I know right. It is such a shame.” Petrichor said.

“So, what is the next adventure for you?” Xaviere asked his friend.

“The guys I went sand drifting with yesterday invited me on their yacht. So yeah, I will be headed there by evening. Do you two want to come along?” Andrew asked.

“Really, Andrew, a yacht with hot Arabians in bikinis; I think we will respectfully pass.”

“Smart choice.” Andrew said laughing.

Arabian yacht parties were famous for the wildness. This was not really something Xaviere was into. He normally would not have come along and Petrichor here cemented that.

Andrew got dressed and packed a suitcase. Xaviere and Petrichor would not see him again before they go back to Canada. The duo said good bye to their benevolent friend. Galahad had the car ready and drove him to the airport leaving Xaviere and Petrichor alone at the hotel.

“Can you hear that?” Petrichor asked Xaviere.

“You hear it too?” He responded.

It was like someone was whispering their code names from behind. They look over their shoulders but saw no one. Petrichor had her suspicions about what it was and Xaviere experiencing the same thing confirmed her thoughts. It was Zero and calling them like this meant there was an emergency.

“The VOID needs us.” Petrichor said.

Xaviere had never voluntarily accessed the VOID; this will be his first time. The both of them got into the room after propping the do not disturb sign on the door. They then held their hands together interlocking fingers.

“Close your eyes Xaviere and just drift away. Don’t fight it, just let the void take you.” Petrichor said slowly and in a very soothing voice. Xaviere closed his eyes and in a few seconds he was fast asleep on the bed his hand still in Petrichor’s. The feeling was like doing a trust fall into a pool. The VOID simply immersed you. Just like that, in an instance, the two lovers who were having the time of their lives in an Egyptian suite were in the VOID HQ.

“So kind of you two to finally join us.” Zero said to Petrichor and Xaviere in a sarcastic way. They were late.

“We are so sorry for the lateness; it won't happen again.” Xaviere said on their behalf.

“Spare me the apologies.” Zero said cutting them off. “We have a code black.”

A code Black was a serious issue. A human was trying to access knowledge so powerful that the whole universe was at risk by just this person enlightenment.

“There is an astrophysicist somewhere in Russia is creating a time machine and he is very close to actually breaking reality. We need you two to go and stop him. We all know what happened the last time somebody attempted to do that.” Zero said.

“Send us the coordinates, we will get on it right away.” Petrichor said.

“Ok. Keep me posted on all developments; Godspeed…”

The two woke up simultaneously still lying in bed with their hands firmly clasped. Petrichor smiled at him.

“We need to get to Russia.” She said.

“Let’s get to the airport then.”

“You are going to have to transport us there.”

Geographical translocation was a very tricky thing and only a few agents could do this; Xaviere was one or the few. The coordinates were locked in his mind and all he had to do was concentrate hard enough until he actually just appeared in the place.

He held her hands in his and closed him eyes firmly in order to concentrate on the location. After multiple failures, Petrichor said,

“You need to put your mind at ease. You need to be calm, erase every other thought from your mind; think of nothing else but the location. You can do it X; I know you can.”

At those words, in an instance, the two of them disappeared and reappeared in a poorly lit room in Moscow. They could see a man plugging some wires together into a device. This was the place and that was the man; the scientist on the verge of a world ending discovery. They were the only thing standing between this man and the greatest discovery in science.

The machine he built was like a circular door way. You could look through it and see the objects behind it. There were so many wires sticking out of the contraption and he had a bunch of old laptops lying everywhere.

He was one of those mad science-cy types and he fit the part just right. He had his hair overgrown and obviously unkempt, a pen propped on his ear like the way an architect drawing a master plan would. He had a white lab coat on or at least it used to be; the overdress now had patches of stain all over and evidence of continuous usage.

All over the place, there were empty bottles of caffeinated soft-drinks and empty pizza cartons. This man lived here. Like many scientists obsessed with the concept of time travel, this was his life’s work. Nothing else mattered. Not family, or love or people; just this one goal that he had dedicated himself to achieving. How sad was this Xaviere thought, that in the ploy to discover something lose yourself?