TAL Linkage

It was important for me to start out Rome's Evolution not only with a bang but linkage back to The Ark Lords. I decided to do this by giving you a glimpse into Rome and Rei's life a couple of years after that previous novel in the guise of what would appear to be a rather mundane exchange between husband and wife. Here is the conversation between Rome and Rei after Rei came home to an empty house:

     Rei opened his eyes again, activated the ‘cell-phone’ in his head and called out, “Rome? Where are you? Where’s Aason?”
     “I’m at the library,” his adoring wife replied after a moment. “Aason is here with me.”
     “What’s going on?” Rei asked. “It’s getting kind of late.”
     “I’m so sorry, mau emir,” Rome answered. “We may have had an incident occur and we’re trying to sort it out.”
     Rei looked around then set his shoulder bag down on the dining room table and headed toward the kitchen. “What kind of incident?” he asked as he was walking.
     “Nothing major,” Rome responded. “The interns were away for the celebration of Tamas and when they returned, they found some items missing.”
     “What kind of items?” Rei asked, sauntering into the kitchen.
     “As far as we can tell, the only things missing are one of the Deucadon’s invisibility cloaks and Hanry Ta Jihn’s handgun.”
     “That’s an odd set of things,” Rei remarked. “Do you think somebody took them?”
     “We don’t know yet,” Rome replied. “The girls are trying to contact the remaining interns to see if one of them borrowed the items.”
     “OK,” Rei said. “Are you going to be a long time?”
     “No. The girls will figure it out. I’ll come back here tomorrow. Let me gather up Aason and we’ll come home.”
     “Don’t worry about it,” Rei said. “Take your time. I’ll get dinner started.”
     “All right, mau emir. I will see you shortly.” With that, Rome cut the connection.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Rome is now the administrator of the Library which is the foundation of the University of Deucado. Hanry Ta Jihn's handgun has made an appearance, or rather a disappearance. And reference is made to someone stealing one of the Deucadons' invisibility cloaks. Who and why? Patience, my friend, patience.