UNTIL EVENTS DO.

US PART.

At dinner that evening, Tory noticed they were a crew member short. 'Where's Noah?

'Working,' Jenny replied.

'You're kidding ... but it's his birthday!' Tory stood, not about to let him spend the evening in front of a computer.

'Hey,' Daniel forewarned her, 'he's really not into a celebration right now. He's started writing the book,' he explained.

'Say no more.' Tory went to sit down, when suddenly her smile broadened and she looked at Taliesin. 'Come with me.' She took the Merlin by the hand and led him off.

Taliesin got wind of her thoughts on the way out of the rec-room. 'Selwyn is here?' he questioned, so delighted he near choked on his words. For the lad had been a prize pupil of his, and he had gone on to become a fine Bard and High Druid in his own right.

Tory nodded to confirm. 'He's Noah Purcell now, a journalist turned novelist. The poor fellow has it in his head to write my whole family history ... thus you and he simply have to talk.'

'The pleasure will be all mine,' Taliesin assured her.

She gave the hatch door a thump, before entering the tiny quarters. 'Hey Noah.' She sought to interrupt him, though his attention remained firmly focused on his typing. 'I've brought you a birthday present.'

Noah finished clicking out a sentence on the keyboard, then swung his chair around to address Tory.

'Sorry boss, I don't mean to be rude. Hi, Teo,' he waved to Taliesin, who appeared kind of mystified.

'It's been so long,' the Merlin uttered, teary-eyed. He had not encountered Selwyn's soul mind since he'd resided over his burial fire, early in the seventh century.

'Yeah, it has been awhile.' Noah nodded in accord.

'How goes all in the Middle East?'

'It's seen better days,' said Taliesin.

Noah gave half a laugh at this, turning his attention Tory's way to look her over. 'So where's my present?'

'Right there.' She motioned to Taliesin.

'Aw!' Noah was clearly disappointed. 'No offence, Teo, but I really didn't miss you that much.'

'No, no. Teo is just the packaging. It's who is underneath that is the surprise.' Tory raised her brow a couple of times to heighten the mystery.

Noah looked from Tory to Teo, thinking they were pulling his leg.

'Look closer,' Tory advised, and Noah did so just to humour her.

When Teo began to transform, Noah jumped right out of his seat, unsure if he wanted to hide or grab his camera. But then he froze, seeing the shining man with silvery hair and flowing robes who'd manifested in Teo's stead.

'Noah Purcell meet Taliesin Pen Beirdd.'

'Oh, my God.' Noah ventured to hold out his hand, and as Taliesin took hold and shook it firmly, the lad calmed a little. 'This is such an honour. I've read so much about you.'

'Much of which you originally wrote, no doubt,'

Taliesin smiled. 'For indeed, you were a fine scholar yourself.'

'You don't say.' Noah suddenly snapped back to reality, pulling up a chair for the Merlin to sit on.

'There's so many things I want to ask you, I hardly know where to start.'

'He hasn't changed much.' Taliesin winked at Tory, who agreed.

'Well have fun, guys.'

'Aren't you staying?' Noah was unsure whether he wanted her to or not.

'Are you kidding?' Tory headed for the door. 'I wouldn't get a word in edgeways.'

Both sides of Noah's mouth turned down as he considered she was probably right. And with a decisive nod, he closed the hatch door.

Late that night, and throughout the two nights following, Tory and Rhun went about collecting the blood samples Taliesin needed to run his tests. The advanced gadget used to extract the blood also stored each sample in its own vial. The Merlin wouldn't say where he'd acquired his devices and methods, but Tory had seen the like of them back in Atlantis. Her guess was that they were a gift from the Goddess, Keridwen.

This blood extraction process was so quick and painless it didn't even cause a stir in their sleeping subjects. Not one person was overlooked, as the immortal strand ran through all the tribes of the Earth.

Rhun made a special trip outside the base to test Pete Nangina, the other rangers, and their families.

Brian let Tory know when the results were in, and she rushed to the lab to discover who amongst them were Chosen. 'Do you know?' she drilled Brian as he kept pace with her.

'He's been pretty tight-lipped.'

They arrived to find Rhun was also present.

'You don't miss much, do you?' Tory commented, and her son bowed his head graciously. 'So what's the verdict?'

'Are you sure you want to know?' Taliesin teased, and three expectant looks were the only response he got. 'In that case, the two most expected results were Daniel and young Nicholas. There were some surprises though. Pete Nangina and several members of his family are carrying the gene, as well as Floyd, Noah and your Aunt Rose.'

As the news sunk in everyone fell silent, feeling a mixed bag of emotions: happy for those who were named, mournful for those who weren't.

'We shall all be united one day,' Taliesin reminded them, 'one day soon.'

'So what happens now?' Tory queried. 'If they're all suddenly transformed to their prime, isn't everyone going to get a tad suspicious? Aunt Rose and Pete are proficient at the physic arts but Floyd, Noah and the boys are going to take some time to train.'

Taliesin shook his head. 'We administer Keridwen's elixir to those concerned, but their immortality gene will not kick in until they experience physical death.'

He passed Tory a tray containing several small vials, and a device to administer each dose.

Tory placed the kit aside as Taliesin began packing the rest of his apparatus into a bag. 'So that's it. You're leaving?'

'Well, I do have many other tribes to seek out.' He closed his bag and it vanished. 'You will return my device when you're finished with it, won't you?'

'But you said you'd help me visit with Rhiannon?'

Tory jogged his memory before he disappeared on her.

'Has a month passed already?' he queried.

Tory wanted to say yes, on the off chance the Merlin really wasn't keeping track of time, but chances were he was testing her. 'No.'

'Well then, I'll be back when it has. Toodles.' He waved and was gone.

That month seemed to last an eternity. Tory was forced to sit and watch the outside world slip further into chaos and ruin.

Its protective shield lost, the Middle East turned into a festering sore on the face of the planet. Her parched ground began to crack and her mighty rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, were in danger of disappearing; needless to say, the water was polluted beyond repair from the blast anyway. Radioactive rainfall fell over the bottom of Africa and, powered across the Atlantic by the south-easterly trade winds, the poisonous storms reached as far as the coast of Brazil. Strange weather patterns the world over started threatening agriculture, livestock, and so, too, the food supply.

Cadfan had become a mega-star, idol, and guru overnight. The room where the miraculous resurrection had taken place was fast becoming a shrine. People travelled from all over the globe to visit the site in the hope of finding the Messiah who could heal them of their illnesses, or shield them from the holocaust that had seemingly besieged the planet. But their efforts were in vain. Doc was keeping the prophet well hidden at present.

Rhiannon was also becoming a regular feature in the news as the girlfriend of the most sought-after man alive.

Through the eyes of the media's cameras the couple appeared fabulously happy, and all at Watarrka were furious that they could do nothing but watch the lie unfold.

It was also made public that the Goddess had been found residing at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean - there had been no survivors and there would be no salvage attempt. Earlier reports that foul play may have befallen Dr John Pearce and family were quashed by Rhiannon, who maintained that there was never any ill-will between John Pearce and her mother. She also advised that the Pearce's were on board the Goddess the last time the submersible had left port, which seemed to account for their mysterious disappearance. Rhiannon said she had left the service of the vessel to pursue private studies, and thus had not been on board to perish with the rest of her kin. The yarn was very neat indeed, as the bodies of Dr Pearce and his family were never found, and the Goddess had failed to dock anywhere in over three years.

At first Tory couldn't figure why Doc had let them off the hook. But a few days before she planned to visit her daughter the diplomat's reasons became all too clear when he announced his plan to wed Rhiannon. It was apparent that Tory's acquittal in the Pearce affair was so Doc had all loose ends tied up before he married her daughter.

Ray was not present to witness the news bulletin.

He was on the isle of Pico in the Azores with Thais, chasing up some orichalchum from inside a cavern on a cliff face there. It was the strongest substance known to exist and he and Ray hoped to fashion their anti-NERGUZ device from the tough, rare metal. The same evening of Rhiannon's wedding announcement, Thais returned to base briefly to advise that the cavern had partially collapsed during the eruption of Pico Alto in 2005. It could take them quite a few days to break through to the chamber of orichalchum, if they managed to do so at all.

Their delay proved fortunate for Tory as Thais would keep Ray out of the way and occupied until such time as she could speak with Rhiannon.

Late in the day that marked the passing of the month, Tory anxiously awaited the arrival of the High Merlin, praying to the Goddess he hadn't forgotten their arrangement.

Floyd was still appropriating copies of Doc's itinerary from the diplomat's secretary on a regular basis.

He had found out that Doc was leaving Rhiannon for a week at his estate in England to see to their wedding arrangements, while he attended a conference in Geneva to discuss the Middle Eastern crisis.

This is the best chance I'm going to get, Tory decided, anxiously eyeballing the cavern of abodes from a great height. Maybe that was why Taliesin insisted she wait until now, knowing that the perfect situation would arise?

Tory was slowly coming to the conclusion that she should just go find the Merlin, when a tiny blue ball of light came sweeping through from the cavern of produce, with several children running after it. The children ceased their pursuit and watched with awe when the glowing ball went spiralling up towards Tory.

'I've seen you before,' she smiled, closing her eyes to receive its message.

Meet me at Lynn Cerrig Bach, Taliesin's voice advised as the ball of light penetrated her forehead. Midnight tonight, Gwynedd time.

As Tory's eyes parted, all her anxiety had left her.

'I'll be there.'

The restored temple of the Goddess was a sight to behold at night, with inner torches lighting the four cardinal points of north, south, east and west. Tory scaled the stairs to the inner sanctum where the statues of nine comely muses watched over the altar stone.

Once inside this dwelling she entered a circle of protection, cast by and fortified with Taliesin's energies.

She found it strange therefore that she should feel chilly and ill at ease as she approached the heart of the temple.

The Merlin was standing beside the large altar stone that bore the Celtic cross. 'Let us proceed,' and he motioned Tory to lay upon the sacred rock.

She complied at once, eager to see her daughter. But before Tory lay down, she felt an urge to question. 'Are you annoyed with me, Taliesin?'

'Not at all. Why do you ask?'

'I don't know, you just seem kind of abrupt, or distant or something?' Tory couldn't quite peg what it was.

'I know you are anxious to see your child, that is all.'

He placed both hands upon her shoulders and encouraged her to lay back.

'It's a pity you weren't so sympathetic a month ago,'

Tory jeered, deciding she never would understand him.

'Shh,' he instructed placing one hand at each side of her head. 'Relax now, concentrate.'

Tory closed her eyes to find her centre, but the Merlin's touch was as cold as ice, and she could not focus. A bad feeling was brewing inside her, as if her own will was rebelling and imploring her not to proceed. Tory sat up abruptly, shrinking from the Merlin's icy touch.

'I've changed my mind,' she was saying, when she spied Taliesin standing at the entrance to the temple. He seemed to be yelling at her very loudly, though she could not hear a word. Her horrified eyes turned back to the head of the altar stone where Taliesin also stood.

'It's a trick,' he told her. 'Shamash is trying to prevent you from making contact with Rhiannon.

Quickly, we must hurry.'

Tory moved to comply, yet her instinct again told her no.

'Nay, don't listen to her!' Taliesin yelled from the entrance stairs, unable to penetrate the shield Inanna had cast around the site. He could see the corpse that was residing over the proceedings. The evil enchantress must have killed the security guard in order to utilise his body until Tory's became free. No doubt Tory saw this stand-in as himself, and she obviously couldn't hear anything beyond what Inanna wanted her to hear.

'Could we just take five for a second.' Tory's sudden suspicions urged her to back up. She managed to get clear of the altar, and then a few paces, before her whole body seized up.

'No, Tory,' the Merlin told her, 'we must act now.'

The more Tory resisted his will, the clearer her situation became. The image of the Merlin peeled away to reveal the face of a dead man. She pushed against the stone altar to resist the corpse who was willing her closer, and stared beyond his physical body to glimpse Inanna. I'm in deep. Tory had entered the circle voluntarily and in all probability was no psychic match for the age-old Goddess. The Law of Rebound - that a superior force will always defeat a lesser power - stated as much. Whatever Tory projected in Inanna's direction would rebound on her tenfold; not threats, nor spite, nor force could free her now.

You can't hope to defy me child. The Goddess spoke in her own alluring and soothing voice. Don't force me to hurt you.

Still firmly gripping the edge of the stone, Tory closed her eyes and thought of her daughter. As she felt her whole being fill with love, the Goddess'

hold on her weakened and she was able to back up several feet.

The Goddess laughed at her attempt to escape. Oh yes, so full of love and compassion is our Lamamu ... let us see how forgiving you really are. Inanna waved her hand about the altar stone and manifested a tiny ball of light which she cast at Tory, and the impact knocked her off her feet.