Tara Across Time--NaNoWriMo

Chapter Eight

Robert took the tiller from Tara so she could rest.

"Robert, how can we know the plane will still be there,  and can we trust them?"

"So far my encrypted message has come back with the correct authentication code. Beyond that, we can pray."

"People still do that, Robert?"

Robert hugged Tara. "As sophisticrouated as we like to think we are, we still need it."

Tara snuggled against Robert, one arm on her as he held the boat tiller with the other. The wind was favorable, allowing them a full main sail and gib as they cut through the calm Indian Ocean.

"When the authorities received our Mayday Distress Call, those holding the plane knew to abort their rendezvous," Robert said.

"What will we do, love?"

"My allies have selected another remote, uninhabited island nearer here. We don't have many hours now, Tara." He kissed her. "See that small island with palms and large beach?"

"Yes, love."

"That's our destination."

In two more hours they were on the farther side where their sea plane was waiting. 

Robert said, "This craft is an ancient PBY sea plane they used in World War 2 a couple of centuries ago. It's metal and aluminum skin had been reinforced and restrengthened . It's engines replaced with lighter but stronger metals."

"I remember the PBY, Robert."ere 

"This plane isn't registered with any government.  No one can trace it. Neither do we file a flight plan.  Perfect for clandestine missions like this one."

At length the plane touched down in the Persian Gulf next to a private island where a man in white Arab headdress and robe met them.

"Tara, meet Prince Rashad of Qatar, who's cleared to fly from here to Washington. We'll be covered in white ourselves when we land in Virginia. "

The plane was swift, flying at forty thousand feet. Tara looked at the moon's reflection on clouds below as she snuggled next to Robert as the thin winds buffeted the plane.

"What will I do if something happens to you?" Robert said.

"Don't worry about me," she said.

As the plane descended toward Dulles-Reagan Airport, Robert used his communication device to call the White House.  He followed authentication procedures to get through to the President. 

"A warning to you, Mr. President. Use your position to marshall Earth's forces against a surprise invasion. I am now close enough for my data to reach you because my signal is weak for security reasons.. Now I have enough detailed information for you to download should anything prevent our meeting."

In a few minutes the President returned.

"Thanks. Am analyzing. So far it looks authentication. Good luck."

At that moment an explosion rocked the plane and it spiraled down toward the Chesapeake Bay.

Tara woke lying on a long, sandy beach with drift wood underneath her. Looking around, she expected to see the skylines of Arlington, Virginia,  or Washington. Instead there was a lush forest with a crude road nearby leading away from the beach. Then she realized it was a large island.

The Visitors had snatched her from the spiraling jet plane. Tara wished she could have joined Robert during his final moments on Earth.  Life had cheated her again.

Where was she? When was she? That is, what time in Earth history was she now in? What happened next enabled Tara to make an educated guess. 

A horse with a warrior in plated armor and samurai sword rode toward her.

Tara instinctively got up and bowed very low as the warrior approached. Something, perhaps the Visitors,  had suddenly filled her with knowledge about where and when. She was on the beach of the Japanese Island known as Okinawa. Somehow it came to Tara that the year was 1281. Once the Japanese Warrior confronted Tara, he spoke. The Visitors had for the moment given her the power to understand him.

"Who is this with light skin and yellow hair? Are you divine?"

Tara then realized that Emperor Kublai Khan was then threatening Japan and its islands with his enormous fleet of iron clad ships. Their numbers far exceeded those of the Greeks laying seige to ancient Troy. History had recorded that a typhoon had destroyed the Khan's fleet.

"I am not divine, but I have a message from the Divine," she said.

The warrior then spoke, "Then I must take you to see the Emperor, who is on this sacred island to pray." He leaned over, extending his hand.

Tara took hold to enable her to ride behind him. After a few miles she learned from the warrior's description that noise from her plane crash was somehow heard through time and space, prompting the Emperor to command him to investigate. That's why he concluded she was divine. Once at the Emperor's camp, the warrior instructed his geishas to prepare Tara to meet the Emperor.

Tara was clothed in a lovely Kimono with her lovely blond hair in a traditional beehive as the other women wore. Tara dared not looked the Emperor as she prostrated herself in his presence.  The Emperor then instructed the warrior to raise her up.

"Speak your message from the Divine," the Emperor said.

Looking at a spot just below his colorful waist, Tara said, "Oh, heavenly son, fear not the great fleet of Kublai Khan. The Kamikaze will save you and all that is Japanese."

The Emperor then looked to the warrior. "If she speaks truth, she shall be your wife. You shall be next to the Shogun."  The Emperor added something else. "If she speaks falsehood,  I shall have her head along with yours cut from your bodies! For you will have failed to recognize an evil spirit in her."

He then ordered Tara to be confined to a remote house with sliding doors where geishas waited on her needs and armed guards made sure she could not escape.

Soon a typhoon hit the island with incredible winds that caused her companions to pray hard for the next few hours. The Gale forces swept the Khan's fleet. Japanese warriors kept their samurai swords busy beheading the thousands of Chinese sailors and warriors who failed to drown in the sea.

"Claim your honorable wife," the Emperor said to the warrior.

Tara was gone.