The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (18 page)

He laughed. “I'd love one right now.”

They left the station on foot, walking into
the haze of a cool autumn night. The skyline of Downtown shot up
before him, skyscrapers pulling up all around. Alnaisu Tower, New
Boston's one-fifth scale version of the Mirades Tower, planted
itself a little off to his right, where the old City Hall Plaza
used to be. This Tower was a pearly white instead of black, and
illuminated by various spotlights shining on its polycrete
surface.

“I've forgotten how much I enjoy this city,”
Poe said.

David shook his head at him, grinning. “We've
already had
that
argument, Alec. But you can visit us any
time.”

“Heh. I suppose you're right. So…do we have
anything planned for the next few days? I mean, I do want to spend
time with you all, but I might need to do a bit of quick ARU
research while I'm up here.”

“Oh, by all means,” David said. “That's fine.
I've got a class to teach during the day anyway, Gina's working,
and the kids are in school. As long as you check in with Dee-an'-Em
we'll be all set.”

“Definitely. Wouldn't take me long, anyway.
They still live near the college?”

“That's where we're going, right after a
chaser.”

“Excellent.”

When he finally stepped into the family
house, it did truly feel like coming home. Angela Poe was there to
greet them at the door, looking both teary-eyed and a little
exhausted, but full of love and welcoming him with an extra tight
embrace. David smiled and silently took Poe's bags and brought them
inside. Poe didn't see him for the rest of the night.

“Hey, Ma,” he said, kissing her on the
temple. “Good to see you.”

“My little madayin!” she cried, squeezing him
again. “Come in, come in! Your father is in the living room, fast
asleep I presume.”

Poe smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“Don't worry, you don't have to wake —”

“Is that Alec?” his father called out from
behind his mother. Daniel Poe came scuffling groggily out into the
hallway. “Alec! Welcome home, son.”

“Thanks, Dad. You look good,” he said, and he
did. His father looked as tall and strong as he always did, with
only a slight stoop of the shoulders. He’d aged a bit, but had not
lost one bit of the energy. “Sorry I've come home so late.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said, waving a
dismissive hand at him. “I'm only sorry you can't stay longer.”

“Come on,” his mother fussed. “We've set you
up in the spare room. There’s a day bed in there. It’s Danny’s
study now, so it’s got vidmat access if you need it.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Poe followed them
down the long hallway and up to the second floor. He peeked inside
each room as he walked by them, remembering little insignificant
things about each one...a word spoken, a song in the background,
thoughts he'd had...yes, he could still feel the memory puddles
here. The memories, the love.

I wonder how they'd respond to my awakened
spirit.

The thought had occurred to him off and on
over the last few weeks, but he'd never taken it seriously. It was
front and center now, and it made him uncomfortable. He was hiding
a secret from his own family, a family he'd shared nearly
everything else with since he could remember. Chances were good
they probably knew something about his birth parents that they'd
chosen not to share, but his situation felt different. This
was...

This was going to be tough.

“You're probably exhausted,” Angela said as
they entered the spare room at the far end of the upstairs hallway.
It was a small bedroom a little bigger than his and Caren's office,
though longer and thinner. Two tall windows looked out over the
side yard, the one window at the far end overlooking the
driveway.

“A little bit,” he said. “Been a long
day.”

“Well — don’t let us keep you up,” she said,
and put a hand on his shoulder. A very soft squeeze. “It really is
good to see you, Alec.”

He turned and smiled, hugged her again. “I
know, Mom. It's good to be here. And Dad?”

Daniel looked up at him, tired eyes
struggling to stay open. “Yeah?”

“Thanks. I mean, for calling my boss.”

His father flashed a quick smile at him.
“It's worth it. Good night.”

They both watched Daniel walk out of the
room. His mother turned to him, laughed to herself, and shook her
head. His poor father was never much of a late night person.

“Well,” she said. “Good night. Love you,
son.”

“Love you too.”

Angela gave him one of her patented sad,
motherly smiles, and turned to leave. She paused for a moment, as
if to ask something, thought better of it, and waved him good night
again. Poe stood still, listening to her footsteps moving down the
hallway until they stopped in front of the master bedroom. The
latch clicked open then shut, and then there was silence. The
entire house was silent.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Irritation

“She fascinates me,” Saisshalé said with a
wolfish grin, sprawled in one of the office chairs, making himself
completely at home.

Natianos Lehanna cocked an eyebrow at him
from across the desk. In any other situation, he would have been
amused, but instead he felt disgust. If Saisshalé hadn’t held back,
Agent Caren Johnson would be lying in a coma at the hospital, or at
least too weak and injured to be of any worth. Records had reported
her in good condition, two bruised ribs, and a few abrasions. This
diversion had not worked out the way he had planned. “She's
supposed to be out of the picture,” Natianos growled. “Not dead or
injured. You’re supposed to separate her from her sister, not kill
her.”

“I fail to see your fascination with
Karinna,” he said. “She's not the issue. There are plenty more
Mendaihu and cho-nyhndah you should be worrying about. I do admit I
was surprised at the amount of strength she had. But remember,
she's an untrained Mendaihu, that's all.” He sat up and leaned
forward, still smiling. “Karinna Shalei may have an important role,
but not nearly as important as you may think. Trust me, she’ll be
out of the picture soon enough.”

“She's the daughter of two brilliant Mendaihu
sehndayen-ne,” Natianos said, attempting to keep his cool. “She's
the older sister and Protector of the One of All Sacred. I would
not underestimate her abilities.” Despite all efforts to ignore the
man's irritating personality, his nonchalance unnerved him. He was
beginning to think that calling him might have been a bad idea. So
far this deity had done nothing but cause chaos.

Saisshalé let out a bored sigh. “You think I
don't know that? Attacking the Protector won't do a damn thing,
Dahné. It’s attacking a wasps’ nest. You'd only be making her even
more pissed off. We already killed their parents, didn't we?”

Natianos bristled. “
We
didn't kill
them,” he corrected, staring at him coldly. “I hired a Shenaihu
reality seer to find potential Warriors and Protectors. The man was
not
supposed to kill anyone, least of all those kids or
those two ARU agents. He was a rogue agent. The man was insane. I
won’t have that happen again.”

“As you say, Dahné,” Saisshalé said. Natianos
wasn't sure if he was mocking him or if that was just a sarcastic
attempt at subservience. “What's done is done.”

“I warn you: killing Agent Johnson, even by
accident, would cause an imbalance that even you could not control.
We cannot let that happen. Denysia has the ability to eradicate the
boundaries here.”

“What, you think she’s willing to drive the
Shenaihu to extinction?” The corner of his mouth curled up in a
grin. “Please, Dahné, share your theory with me. I'd love to hear
it.”

“You test my patience,” Natianos snapped.
“You may be the living embodiment of a deity, Saisshalé, but you're
only as strong as the faith people have in you. Don’t forget, I
know who you are behind the façade.” He paused then, those words
striking a thought in him. “Faith can be a very good thing. Since
the Awakening, the numbers of Shenaihu known to me have grown
exponentially. Most have already pledged loyalty.”

Saisshalé gave him a wilting look. “Spiritual
recruitment is a hard thing, believe me. I've had my share of
failures.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a
renaissance. Very much like what the Mendaihu are doing at the
warehouse.”

Saisshalé's smile returned and widened into a
toothy grin, and he let out a throaty laugh. “Oh, pashyo! You never
cease to amaze me, Dahné. You're not thinking of crusades at all,
are you? Too short of a time, right? You want the Shenaihu
equivalent to the One. You really want to go that far with the
balance, don’t you? One side or the other, then?”

“Not as such,” he said, waving a hand.
“Create the illusion that there are sides to be chosen. Spirits
don't choose whether they're Shenaihu or Mendaihu. They're created
with both, and the mind and the heart chooses. It's always been up
to the Gharné. There are Shenaihu who have taken up with the
Mendaihu at Moulding Warehouse. There are Mendaihu down in South
City, looking for the same thing. Some are cho-nyhndah. Some did
not choose to be part of the Gathering.”

“They aren't jinko, you mean,” Saisshalé
said.

Natianos winced at the racist term. “No,
they're not. But they're sympathetic to the cause. I want them to
know they have this choice.”

“Why would you want that, Dahné?” he
asked.

“Saisshalé, think about what I've just said.
If we went out there and
forced
all the Shenaihu to follow
us, we'd have a revolt and our movement would die. What Nehalé
Usarai has done out there is awaken
everyone
, Mendaihu and
Shenaihu alike. And they all have their own free will, Saisshalé.
They can choose to follow, they can choose to abstain, they can
choose any damn thing their heart desires. Because the main thing
is, it's their Trisandi spirit that's been activated. Remember,
their connections to Trisanda are just as close as ours. We
populated this planet, and we can control it if we so wish. But we
don't gain control by taking away free will. We gain it by giving
them their free will, but with one small shadow hanging over their
heads at all times.”

“And this shadow would be...?”

“Fear,” he said. “In whatever form that works
best. The rumor of war. Incompetence of the leader. A dangerous
uprising. The threat of personal liberties being taken away. Have
you noticed the general mood of the people on the street? Studied
indifference. The people have become detached from their reality.
Why? Because they
know
that something's wrong. They just
don't know what it is yet.”

Saisshalé nodded. “Someone's been studying
Gharné history lately.”

Again with the mockery! “Why do you say
that?” he said.

“Well, because this studied indifference has
been going on for centuries now, Dahné. Why else do you think the
people of Earth accepted the Meraladhza so easily? They were
expecting alien contact at some point. It was only a matter of
when
. The Gharné have gone past jaded and gone straight into
apathetic. They're sick of waiting for answers that aren't going to
be given to them.”

“Exactly. So they’re going to want to find
them on their own.”

Saisshalé snorted at him. “Good luck with
that, Dahné.”

“Faith, dear Saisshalé,” he countered. “Have
faith. I believe history has changed this time out. And I have a
few things planned that will get these people moving.”

“And you're not going to share, are you?”

“Not yet.”

Saisshalé fidgeted in his chair and crossed
his arms. Natianos' expectations of this man were still high, but
he was yet to prove to him that he was worthy of being the deity he
claimed to be. He had no doubt he was the once-mighty
Saisshalé...but the emphasis, at least for him, was still on the
once-
mighty. The man had a high intelligence, extraordinary
strength, and stubborn will to get what he wanted; it was just a
matter of getting him to use them properly and consistently. Right
now, all Natianos saw was a hired strong man with a good mind for
planning, just like any of the others he'd hired. And quite a
deeply embedded strain of cynicism.

Perhaps it was time to start the next
phase.

“I need you to do something,” he said.

Saisshalé cocked an eyebrow at him, again
with that amused smile. “Consider it done, Dahné.”

He ignored the subservient tone and brought
up a holo of the Bridgetown Sprawl map on his desk. He refocused on
the southern end of the Sprawl and zoomed in. He caught Saisshalé's
slight head bob to the right as he watched and hid his amusement,
oddly comforted in the fact that underneath the bravado, the deity
was still human. He halted the image above a strip of high rise
buildings a few miles west of Lexington Square in South City.

“I believe you’re familiar with NullTech
Alley. These are the corporate headquarters of three biggest
companies on Earth, all conveniently right next door to each other.
EdenTree Universal Technologies: the leaders in
ajyinul
research, nulltech and Light travel. Khema-Jamison-Shimura: leaders
in low-orbit research and information technologies. And DuaLife:
leaders in medical and psychological research. Do you understand
what I’m saying? There is no actual industry down in South City.
The production of any company is made outside the Sprawl, in the
Outpost Cities and shipped here. The Sprawls only deal with sales,
research and profit now.”

Saisshalé frowned. “I'm not sure I follow
you.”

“I wasn't quite finished. Now, Bridgetown is
called ‘the center of Gharra’ mainly because we first landed here,
but that’s really taken on a completely different meaning. It is
now the hub for virtually every important industry on the planet.
Corporate business is not what I had in mind here, however. What I
want you to do is keep an eye on these three buildings. They're
quite the valuable asset, more so than anyone would ever imagine.
If anything were to happen to these three buildings, Bridgetown
would be financially and politically crippled for a
long
time to come. I suggest you go, keep watch down there. Make sure
they still know the meaning of
studied indifference.
”