The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (5 page)

“Anything?” Poe asked.

“Nothing new,” she said. “The sensitives are
getting used to their new abilities, and the non-sensitives are
taking it in stride.”

Poe took a drag from his cigarette. “You
sound let down.”

“I guess I was expecting a bigger reaction
from the crowds. It’s not often that Gharra gets a full renewal of
spirit.”

He laughed at her obvious pride. “Give it
time. I’m sure they’ll come around.”

“I really did expect more, to be honest. I
can’t be the only one who freaked out when my abilities fully
manifested themselves. Look at you.”

He cocked his head at her. “What about
me?”

“You’re
naturally
a cho-nyhndah, Alec.
I was there when you finally awakened on your own.”

“So?” He found a waste incinerator stand in
front of a nearby store and threw his cigarette in. He started to
dig into his pocket for another, but stopped himself. “What are you
getting at?”

Caren bit her tongue. This was the only
unpleasant side effect of Poe being a recently awakened
cho-nyhndah: the quick and sometimes irrational emotional response.
“When millions of people have an epiphany at the same time, you
kind of expect some type of mass metanoia.”

“Meta...?”

“A spiritual change of mind. If it was just
the warehouse, it would make sense. There’s some serious glow going
on over there. But this was on a global scale, Poe. I don’t
know…maybe I’m just expecting too much.”

He contemplated her words for a few moments.
“Maybe this awakening isn’t really what everyone was expecting or
wanting it to be?”

“Which would beg the question: what the hells
were
they expecting, then?” She frowned and looked away,
frustrated at this stupid conversation. They’d come to the end of
the block and were waiting for the crossing signal. Just off the
curb, someone had recently stenciled the words
here lies
fate
in large, dripping letters. There was exactly one tire
tread through the words, yet no blotting of the paint on either
side. Smartpaint, perhaps?

“You weren’t listening, were you?” Poe
said.

Caren shook her head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, Denni’s rituals were communal rather
than individual. People tend to be more relaxed when they know
they’re not the only ones dealing with a tense situation.”

“So you’re thinking there’s more to it than
just an extension of the soul?”

Poe winced and nodded forward at the changing
light. They proceeded across the intersection, the graffiti already
forgotten. “Not so much an extension,” he said as they reached the
other curb. “More like a connection.”

“An interconnection,” she mused. “Meraladians
have that spiritual link between one another, once they’ve met,
that stays with them. I think we Earthers just took the next step
towards that.”

“Speaking of which,” Caren said, nodding in
the direction of the Tower. “Just up to the Sector boundary and
back. Three more blocks, then we can head back.”

“Okay,” he mumbled, suddenly distracted.
“Huh. Is it me or did it just cool off all of a sudden?”

She lifted her head and cast another sensing
thread, reeling it back quickly in alarm. The temperature had
indeed dropped considerably...and unnaturally. She focused on the
civilians nearby; the unawakened felt nothing, but the sensitives
had also felt the change. They had all picked up on the change in
energy. Some had quickened their pace but others had stopped
completely, already picking up on the changes and preparing
themselves for a confrontation. Caren shook her head, cursing
quietly. There were Shenaihu nuhm’ndah nearby, no doubt.

“It did,” she said to Poe, and keyed the comm
attached to the epaulet of her overcoat. “ARU Branden Hill, this is
CJ-one-twenty-two, you copy?”

Cilla, their unit’s head communications
operator, answered the call. “Copy that, CJ-122. Target you and
Agent Poe at Guyton West and Sandison. What’s going on, eichi?”

“Cilla, do me a favor — read our location and
do a wide scan, will you?”

“Sure thing, CJ,” she answered. “Commencing
scan now.”

Somewhere miles above the Earth on Tigua
Space Station, the Edwin-Akandia Energy Sensor Device started the
task, found and latched onto the energy readings of Poe and
herself, and made an ever increasing spiral sweep of the area
around them. The ESD read Light energy much like normal radio
telescopes would pick up radio waves; the ARU had been using it for
at least two decades, oftentimes relying on it like a crutch, but
it had been a lifesaver on numerous occasions. Caren feared this
may end up being one of them.

“You’ve got a lot of sensitives in the area,”
Cilla said. “Mostly newborns. A few Mendaihu and Shenaihu...wait.”
She paused, but did not take her hand off the mike key. “Looking at
two — no, one — wait a minute. Either there’s two nuhm’ndah close
together, or this guy is
enormous.
Zooming in now.”

“Location?” Poe asked.

“Should be right in front of you,” Cilla
said. “Fifty yards or so. One nuhm’ndah, repeat —
one
nuhm’ndah, and he’s off the damn charts. Proceed with extreme
caution.”

Caren scanned the immediate area and saw
nothing out of the ordinary. She reached for her stunstik anyway,
and just to be on the safe side, set her pistol to undo its safety
upon handreading. “Slipping in, Poe,” she said. “Back me up. Going
to get a bead on them.” She blinked twice, and everything around
her became sharper, more intensely real. Ghostlike auras shimmered
around people and animals that passed by her.

“I don’t see anything,” Poe said, craning his
neck, continuing his straight visual scan. “You?”

“Still looking,” she said. “Damn crowded down
here to — wait a second.”

Nuhm’ndah.

Caren suddenly gasped, an unknown voice
invading her thoughts.

Nuhm’ndah!

“There. Got a lock on him.”

The man stood patiently in front of an
appliance store window with his hands flexing at his sides,
glancing furtively at every person who passed by. He was indeed
enormous, at least seven feet or more, narrow in frame but far from
lacking muscle. He had long, unkempt black hair, most of it
obscuring his face. She focused her readings on his soul’s
signature…or more to the point, the lack of any. Hundreds of
flickering spirits passed by in this busy business district, but
this one man stood out. There was no shine, nothing. It was as if
he had no spirit at all. If he did, he was keeping it well hidden.
The only mark on him was his face. A dark and bloody static
obscuring the man’s face in a completely unnatural way, refusing to
show the man’s real identity —

There he is!

That wasn't Poe talking, nor was it this
Shenaihu nuhm’ndah. It was someone else, very close by. Too close.
She could feel the increasing ripples of fear and anger starting to
wash over her.

I’ve got him now!

She adjusted her vision back to normal and
rubbed at her eyes in frustration. The man — no, a
giant
of
a Meraladian, stood almost directly across the street from them.
He’d sensed the other man as well, and had stopped fidgeting. He
stood his ground, palms out, ready for action but refusing to be
the first one to act.

“I see him,” Poe said. “Shit. They’ve got a
crowd.”

“He’s —” she stopped again, and paled.

Karinna…don’t let her die this way,
the voice whispered within.

“He's —”

Karinna,
the voice cried. Who the
hell…?
Please, you must protect her!

Poe’s gaping mouth snapped shut, forming a
thin, severe line. His brows furrowed, he let out a slow breath and
moved quickly towards the curb. Caren cursed and followed, suddenly
feeling dizzy and excited at the same time. The unexpected thrill
of the Mendaihu hunt welled within her, having found a potential
threat against those she watched over...and the stark reminder that
she had never reacted like
this
before in her life. This man
was not yet a criminal, only a Shenaihu nuhm’ndah, making his
presence known.

Why did she suddenly feel such intense
hatred
for this man? Who was he? She dared not reach out and
sense him directly, fearing these violent energies would ensnare
and swallow her own spirit whole.

Another man, much shorter and far weaker, had
quickly moved into the tall man’s personal space. She watched the
big man sidestep, left to right and back again in defensive
response. The shorter man’s aura shone in a silvery light, almost
angelic. Caren instantly recognized the Mendaihu soul within. He
was chattering and waving his arms, but making no moves to assault.
He didn’t seem to have any attack plan at all, only to swarm and
irritate him.

I am Mendaihu Gharra,
the small man
announced to all who could hear him. Caren’s heart jumped. That
voice she heard moments before had been his. And he was about to
make a very, very huge and dangerous mistake.

No, no!
“Goddess…! Poe, he’s —”

The Shenaihu leaned forward, closed his eyes,
and held hands to his heart, palms out. She recognized the movement
and quickly retreated, cursing and pulling Poe with her. The big
man screamed something in a heavily accented Anjshé, and
pushed
. The small man goggled at him, and had just enough
time to bring up hands in the same gesture to brace himself for
impact.

The Light tore out of the large man’s palms
with such force it
ripped
the air in front of him, leaving a
bloody contrail of physical spiritform behind it, just as it had at
the Tower.

Caren had just enough time to grab Poe’s arm
and steady him as the force of the shockwave hit. She took a lunge
position and stood her ground. She heard the screams and the
skidding of tires up the street —

No, not this!
she heard the man cry.
Not like this!

Caren shouted and cursed. Six nearby
transports, caught in the wake of the energy blast, lost control
and swerved into each other. Storefront windows shattered
everywhere —

Karinna stay back

— but very few in the crowd had retreated…and
Caren sensed something wrong. Something so very wrong. They weren’t
protecting those nearby. They weren’t helping anyone who’d been
caught in the shockwave, but slowly moving forward. Goddess, this
was like St. Patrick’s all over again! She began pushing her way
through the crowd, Poe close behind. She was not going to let this
happen again.

The smaller man refused to give up. He was
raving inside despite his laboring breath, hobbling gait and his
nearly useless left arm.
I am Mendaihu Gharra!
He staggered
forward again, stopped suddenly, and glanced at Caren.

Smiled...?

She felt his needle thin wisp of sensing a
second later, and shivered. She pleaded for him to stop, but he’d
already turned back, ready for another round.

The large man frowned, then let out a quick
laugh and nodded at his foe with all the conviction of a man
looking forward to killing his prey.

Call me Saisshalé,
he said.

Caren
felt
that voice within her
chest...a trembling restraint. Someone behind her gasped at mention
of that name, and she felt hatred. A deep and primal hatred, and a
choking disgust so visceral she felt it in the pit of her stomach,
the bile rising to her throat. She knew who this man was, hated him
with every fiber of her spirit. She should not be feeling this way,
not against anyone, Shenaihu or Mendaihu, and especially not
against someone she’d had no knowledge of. She was Protector, not
Warrior. She was —

Karinna,
the small man said.
Peace
Love and Light to you.

Caren opened her mouth to speak, but nothing
came.

Gordan Milainikos
, she’d sensed from
the man’s brief connection. He nodded slightly in her direction.
Caren found herself staring at him, knowing instantly that he was
there for a reason, and to tell her...

Tell me what?

“It's almost time,” Gordan said between
breaths.

The nuhm’ndah laughed at him. “Not nearly,
jinko
.” He lashed out, grabbed a fistful of Gordan’s collar,
and yanked him off his feet before he could react. Gordan flailed
but connected at nothing.
You’re not even close to the
truth,
the nuhm’ndah said within. He grabbed Gordan’s neck with
his other hand, and stepped into Light —

Gordan!
She cursed aloud and sent
another strand of sensing energy, but it was no use; it was already
lost to the chaos. She reeled it back in and started moving forward
again.

“He's in the next alleyway,” Poe said,
keeping pace with her.

“You saw them?”

“Sensed them exit.” His face was a ghostly
pale. He'd recognized something about that nuhm’ndah, that
Saisshalé...something she’d missed first time around.

She heard and felt another tearing of the air
from around the corner, shorter and louder this time. Caren knew
that sound, remembered it from her childhood. A small yet powerful
crackling of air, the sound of someone powerful, stepping back out
of Light. The crowd...again, something wasn’t quite right. A
recognizable pang that anyone could taste from a mile away. An
extremely thin balance between Mendaihu and Shenaihu, between
primal love and hate. She spread another gossamer wing of energy
over them, reading them all at once, and recoiled in horror.

They were all cho-nyhndah, just waiting to
fully awaken. Wanting answers and receiving few. Open,
directionless souls with Mendaihu blood, waiting for inspiration.
And growing angrier by the moment.

“Balance,” she said, and called out.
Gordan.

Agonizing seconds passed before he answered.
He wants her, Karinna.