The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (17 page)

Colin waved him down. “That's not the point,
Kaplan! Look — I said before, if they
are
doing it on
purpose, we have to figure out what that purpose is!”

“Well, have fun, kid,” Drew shrugged. “I've
got paperwork to do.”

Poe laughed as Colin spouted a string of
stuttered epithets. He’d had this same kind of conversation with
Drew when he first started out ages ago. All the new rookies would
have some brilliant and revolutionary idea for the Unit that would
change everything, only to be shot down by cursed logic and
reality. Everyone went through this, even him.

“Okay,” Poe said as Colin calmed down. “Just
for the fun of it, let's pretend your conspiracy makes some sense.”
Colin bristled but said nothing. “Let's say our reality seer victim
has deliberately put himself in harm's way. Why? For what
reason?”

“He's protecting something, or someone,”
Colin started.

“Okay, but who? Could be anyone.”

“Well...” Colin faltered. “I heard somewhere
that most of the victims were either Mendaihu or had some sort of
spiritual connection somehow. That's why the ARU's been covering
these cases.”

“That's true, to an extent,” Poe said. He hid
a smile, appreciating how cathartic it was to talk to someone about
these cases, however obliquely, and work them out aloud and with
others who weren't directly involved. “I'm not sure
why
they've been targeted,” he continued, “but you have to admit it
certainly puts the ARU in a difficult position. Our main objective
is to find whoever is organizing the situation.”

“The Spiral gang…” Colin started.

“…have been a nonentity for the past four
years,” Poe interrupted. “Highly doubtful they’re even involved.
Not with the nature of these assaults. For all we know, someone’s
tagging the areas as misdirection so we won’t see who’s actually
doing it and why.” He shivered, reminded of the little argument
he'd had with Caren earlier today. He masked it by covering his
mouth and frowning in thought. His lack of words was soon
forgotten, however, when he saw Christine walk through the door. He
waved her over and introduced her to Drew and Colin. She remembered
Drew from her earlier days, and immediately took a liking to Colin.
If Poe's observation was correct, she'd just found someone who
could be just as much of a wiseass.

“What's the word, eicho?” she said happily.
“Let me just say this is the one place where I can feel both out of
place and at home at the same time.”

Drew laughed and gave her a hug. “We miss you
down at the Ay Are Zoo, Chris,” he said. “How have you been?”

“Busy,” she said. “Freelance is taking up
more time than I’d expected, especially lately.”

“Great to hear you’re doing well, Chris,”
Drew said warmly. “Well — we're in a heated debate right now, and
perhaps a fourth corner could finally put an end to it.” He briefly
explained what they'd discussed so far for her, Colin interrupting
as much as he could.

Poe took the time to glance at his watch, and
nodded to himself. It was twenty to five — Christine had been
uncharacteristically early — and he had a little over an hour to
kill here before dashing back to his apartment to gather his bags
before heading up to New Boston.

“Is that all?” Christine she said when Drew
finished.

“Pretty much,” he shrugged, sipping from his
coffee.

“Sounds like you need a Mendaihu agent to
figure this one out,” Christine said pointedly, arching an eyebrow
at Poe. “I'm sure they could come up with a logical
explanation.”

“Possibly,” Drew said. “I know there are a
few on it already. Then again, they're not looking for these
connections. They're treating them as regular cases, not as
conspiracies.”

Poe smirked at Drew's dig. “Some of them are
just looking for anything at this point,” he said. “They want to
make sure their work is thorough before coming to any
conclusions.”

Colin, not to be outdone, chimed in.
“Honestly, would it make a difference if a Mendaihu were on the
case? It's not a matter of spiritual attacks, anyway. Sure, a few
bright lights and a few energy blasts, but since the Awakening,
pretty much anyone has the ability to do that now. So let's start
at the beginning — the victim sprays the tag, victim gets assaulted
by big ugly psychic guy. To what end? To
distract.
They're
keeping the suspect from achieving their goal. What goal, then?
Well, if the tag is any suggestion, I'd say something
bigger...
much
bigger. And if history tells us
anything...”

Silence covered the table for a good few
minutes while Colin and Christine both looked separate ways,
avoiding Colin's smug grin. Poe avoided it by waving down a waiter
to order two coffees and refills for the other two.

“Well, you certainly know how to kill a
mood,” Poe said flatly.

“Actually, he's got a point,” Christine said,
to their surprise. “Poe, this is precisely what I wanted to talk to
you about.”

Drew pointed at himself and Colin. “I'm
sorry, do you want us to...?”

“Oh, by all means stay, Drew,” she said. “I
don't mind. As I was saying, if Colin here is correct, then their
distraction is working out nicely. The ARU is busy working on these
assault cases, and the BMPD are still working on the ones that
don't look like they have any spiritual connection. The CNF and the
Governor’s Special Forces haven't ruled them to be a priority yet.
Everyone’s keeping it low-level on purpose.”

The waiter brought over two cups of coffee
and refilled Colin's and Drew's, depositing a cream dispenser in
the center of the table. Poe used the distraction to glance at
Christine, wondering where she was headed with this. She glanced
back, offering a quick grin. He nodded his thanks to the waiter and
waited until he left before continuing.

“So you're saying the nuhm’ndah are using
these events for distraction then?”

“That's it exactly,” Christine said. “History
defines moments like this. An era of devastation is often preceded
by any number of disconnected events with a common outcome of
social breakdown.”

Poe nodded. “And with their attacks, the
hrrah-sehdhyn, the Rain of Light, and everything else…you make it
sound as if the return of the One of All Sacred was more than just
a spiritual blessing.”

“It’s an attempt to sway fate in their
direction,” she said. “And because it’s gone global, I’m sure it
might be happening elsewhere. All of the Embodiments, save the
first, have occurred mainly in Bridgetown or close by. And there
have been similar disruptions popping up in most of the eastern
coast Provinces over the last few days.”

Colin was eager to join in this conversation,
but was too fascinated and awestruck to be able to come out with
anything. He nodded frequently and tapped his fingers together
constantly, trying to filter all of this information in one go.
Colin was definitely a rookie, but at least he was a smart and
attentive one.

Drew, on the other hand, had been furrowing
his brow, wanting to step over her words so many times, but held
himself in check because he respected her. “It's still all
circumstantial,” he grumbled. “Nothing we can base a case on,
Christine. It's too
big.
”

“Of course it is!” she countered. “That's
precisely why they're doing it! We
can't
base a case on
this, because there is no case to solve! They’re merely acting as
they normally would in similar circumstances. Same as they did with
the Awakening ritual, same as the Ascension. The only reason it was
a case in the first place...” She skidded to a halt, suddenly
realizing what she might have revealed. She avoided looking at Poe,
instead shaking her head and shaking her hand in the air, as if
thinking of better words to say. “Well, it became a case because at
the time, the Chief Inspector’s focus was on Nehalé Usarai. Which
unfortunately set the precedent of your units picking up anything
even remotely related.”

Drew shook his head, still unimpressed. “The
idea has merit, Christine, I'll give you that, but I can't motivate
myself to get behind it. I'm still not convinced.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Colin muttered.

Poe elbowed him. “Not now, kid.”

“Regardless,” she continued. “The ARU must be
well-prepared for this. We're the ones going to the front lines and
working triage, whatever happens.”

Poe understood that all too well. “I'm not
looking forward to that. That last one was enough for me.”

Christine cocked her head at him. “How did
that end, by the way? Everyone okay?”

“A few bruises and a lot of damaged ego,” he
said. “Six transports collided from energy blast waves, some heavy
but localized masonry damage, and a lot of annoyed neighbors. The
victim is still unconscious, and the suspect fled the scene. Caren
and I got a few scrapes, nothing major, but it certainly took a
hell of a lot out of us. What bothers me is that's the usual at
every other reported incident since the Ascension attempt.”

Christine nodded. “More often than not, it's
only one or two victims, maybe three, rarely more than that. It's
not the quantity of damage, but the quality.”

“I'll talk to Chief Inspector about it when I
return. I know he has enough to worry about, but I’d still like to
go over it with him.” He glanced at his watch; he still time before
he had to head out. “I'm ready to order. Anyone else hungry?”

“You're buying,” Christine smiled. “You owe
me.”

“That I do.”

“You’ve been looking at the time since I got
here. Something else up?”

He nodded quickly. “Going up to New Boston
for a few days.”

“Family, or work related?” she asked. She
stared straight at him without any emotion at all. The only
telltale movement was the tapping of her right index finger against
the table. She wanted him to poke around up there, get a few
firsthand accounts before he came back.

“Bit of both,” he nodded.

“Tell your parents I said hello.” The tapping
stopped.

“That I will.”

Poe leaned back in the coach seat of the land
shuttle as it sped toward New Boston, his eyes closed and his mind
wandering. It was nearing nine now and the shuttle had just passed
the outskirts of Newyork Metroprovince, meaning in another two
hours he'd be pulling into South Station in New Boston, with his
brother David waiting.

Guilt passed over him as he thought of the
family he hadn't visited in over two years. Even now he felt a
little trepidation, knowing their relationship had always been
slightly strained. He'd been adopted as a child and knew very
little about his birth parents. He loved his adopted family very
much, but there was always just that bit of distance between them.
He knew it was his own reaction and had nothing to do with them;
just like everyone else, he could not escape the feeling of not
quite belonging.

This was going to be a hard couple of
days.

He'd called David again just before he left
his apartment for the Nullport and the land shuttle interchange.
His brother had responded with great humor and excitement at
hearing that little Alec was going through with this trip.
Belatedly he realized he’d had both conversations on his comm
rather than vidmat. He hadn't seen David or his parents for so long
that he wondered how much they'd changed. Was Dad still a tall,
lanky man with stooped shoulders and a slightly craned neck from
his decades of writing? Was Mom still her quiet and eccentric self?
And then David: the last he saw his brother, the man was as thin as
Dad and going prematurely gray in the temples. He wasn’t quite sure
how he’d react to seeing how much his family had aged in the last
few years.

He shifted in his seat and tried to relax.
Maybe getting a quick nap in would make him feel better.

The train coasted to a stop a little before
eleven. He scanned the long and lonely platforms of South Station
from his window, nearly empty except for a few late night
travelers. David would be out there, somewhere. The dreaded moment
was now here, and unexpectedly, he felt more calm than agitated.
Maybe coming here wasn’t a bad thing after all. What had he really
been afraid of?

Stepping out onto the platform, bags in hand,
he was instantly reminded of his first early impression of New
Boston in early autumn: a cool humid breeze coming off of the inner
bay, tinting the air with a mix of ozone and saltwater mist.

“Alec! Over here, kid!” David's distinct
accent, a cross between New Bostonian and Bridgetowner, rose above
the low rumble of idling shuttle engines. He turned and saw his
older brother jogging across the concrete platform. He looked
surprisingly trim, even a little more muscular than the last time
they'd met. He looked great. Happy, full of life.

“Dave!” Poe called out, a genuine smile
tearing across his face. “Pashyo, it’s great to see you,
eicho.”

They met halfway and fell into a tight
embrace. Poe shivered; this felt
right
. It felt comforting.
He was so convinced that some unnamed, unseen animosity would creep
up the moment he arrived, something he could only
sense
, but
there was nothing there, except love and happiness.

“Glad to see you made it, Alec,” Dave said,
and turned him towards the exit into the station proper. He grabbed
both of Poe's bags and hoisted them over one shoulder, putting his
free arm around Poe's shoulders. “Truly...we're all glad you're
here.”

Poe bristled as he felt that pang of guilt
again, but said nothing. Instead he shrugged and stifled a cough.
He wanted a cigarette right now, but couldn't smoke until they left
the station itself. He'd have to wait. “Where are you parked?” he
asked.

“Took the subway,” he said. “Easier that way.
Say — you want to go for a drink first? You look like you need
one.”