A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (10 page)

But pure chance had him sitting at his
window table, staring out at another loud and restless night in
McCleever Sector.

Pure chance.

He'd almost forgotten why he couldn't sleep.
It could have been any number of things…the heat and humidity
turning his apartment into one big sweltering hotbox, or the
students drunkenly hollering their way down the street as they
hopped from one bar to the next, or the low flying BMP helicopters
buzzing over his neighborhood and splashing their searchlights
everywhere. Normally, he could sleep through all of that. Living in
the same place all his life made him immune to most noises and
distractions. He should have been in bed, blissfully unconscious to
the world.

He’d found his answer much later, when he’d
finally returned to his apartment after meeting up with Matthew.
There was that...
unnatural
discomfort in the air. He
couldn’t quite describe it any other way. The air was a bit too
saturated, too stifling. The electricity in the air rose in
anticipation of something wondrous and unknown. The night sounds
faded away with the setting sun in empty echoes. It felt too
disturbingly like the end of something old and familiar, and an
awakening of something altogether new and frightening.

Discomfort as trivial and mundane as that
would never have kept him awake in the past.

He'd wasted no time making his way over to
Caren's apartment after Farraway’s call. Sirens blaring almost all
the way, he'd shortened the time to just over a half hour, a
personal record even despite the traffic. Goddess, the traffic! A
mass exodus from the Tower sector had turned all the major highways
and thoroughfares into one giant mess, and he'd been lucky enough
to have been minutes ahead of it. It bothered the hell out of him
that he’d had to even go to Caren’s in the first place, even
despite the magnitude of the event. He hated himself for disrupting
her life like that. Nearly thirteen hours he’d taken from her, away
from her sister and her own life. And yet she kept the complaints
to a minimum, bless her. She would never admit it, but she had more
patience than anyone he knew.

Upon finally reaching his apartment again
the next afternoon, a mere seven hours' sleep did nothing. It was
dreamless sleep, the kind that kept energy from him when morning
came. Having an embarrassingly large meal and then sleeping for
another five hours seemed to help, though just barely. Physically,
though, it was rough. It was high time for an extended vacation.
He'd never felt that exhausted in a long time, not since he was a
rookie. The ritual, at least peripherally, had taken a lot more out
of him than he’d expected, and in more ways than one. That didn’t
sit well with him, and it would continue to bother him until he did
something about it. Unfortunately, that time was not now, and not
for the immediate future. He’d have to make do with facing this
fresh demon however he could, whenever he could. He thought this
meeting was a good place to start, given the situation. He’d jumped
at the chance to conduct it himself, even suggesting the location
to Farraway. The Crest was Poe's one place of sanity in this
Sprawl.

Situated at the southernmost tip of Breed's
Hill in the Provincial Wilderlands north of the city, the Crest was
a wide stony ridge with a breathtaking view of central Bridgetown,
from the west hills to the shore. Poe often made his way up there
during their more intense investigations in order to disconnect
himself from the world for a while. He'd stay up there for hours,
sitting at his favorite rock outcropping, watching the city live
its life apart from him. Bridgetown looked so much more peaceful,
even beautiful, from that vantage point. It seemed fitting then,
that he would meet the two Mendaihu agents on such neutral ground.
He arrived at the gate moments later and pulled into a spot near
the park’s entrance.

The path past the iron gates wound for
nearly a quarter mile up the backside of Breed's Hill before
reaching the Crest. Poe took his time walking it, debating on how
to best approach this duo. He'd met and dealt with all kinds of
Meraladians in his life, and had all kinds of reactions to
them…frustration, awe, confusion, friendship…try as he might to
ignore the fact, they’d been around for over two hundred years but
they were still alien to this world, and he would view them as
separate from himself. He felt that way with everyone, really…it
had nothing to do with them being alien and everything to do with
his own feelings of being the Other. He knew enough of his past and
his bloodline to know he was more than just human…but in the
process, he didn’t quite know where he fit in. He was Terran human,
at least as far as he knew, but there were deeper questions that
had remained unanswered. He’d made peace with all that long ago,
however. He would react to the Meraladhza and respect them like he
would any human he knew: by their words and their deeds.

Meraladians were on average taller than
humans by at least six inches. They weren't so much taller as they
were larger in frame. They were also slightly darker in skin tone,
almost a deep bronze hue. Most had dark and matted hair, though
many living on Earth bleached or dyed it different colors. The
Meraladian Mendaihu adepts wore their hair in very long double or
triple ponytails, as their Mendaihu ancestors on Trisanda once
had.

By far, their most unique characteristics
were their psionic abilities. Meraladians were conscious of any
attention being paid to them. They knew when they were being
watched, even being glanced at. Most simply ignored it, but others
acknowledged it by waving or nodding with a polite smile. Over time
it had become just another social norm. Most Meraladians were also
adept at thought reading to some extent, or ‘soulreading’ as it was
commonly called, and it was different from innerspeak. It wasn't so
much a literal mind reading as it was a reading of the nuances in a
person’s brain patterns and making guesses from there. They
couldn't tell when a person was thinking of a bowl of fruit on a
table; they could, however, tell the person was thinking of
centering an object somewhere. After that, it was a matter of close
listening and logical guesswork.

Human emotion, however, they could read with
ease. It wasn’t just the physical cues that humans displayed
without thinking, such as fleeting eye contact or fidgeting hands,
that any trained person could pick up on…it was a reading of the
chemical messages to the person’s brain as well as their soul’s
vibration. If a person was terrified, for instance, their spirit
gave off an intensely strong and fast vibration that a trained
Mendaihu could hear if they listened closely. And if the target was
nervous but wary, the vibration was obviously much slower, though
the strength remained. Meraladians had two centuries’ worth of
Earth presence to learn the nuances of the landscape of human
emotion, and it hadn’t taken them long to perfect it.

The trees surrounding the path thinned out
to brush and curved into the opening above the Crest. It was a
gorgeously sunny day, making the view of the city even more
breathtaking. Akaina and Ashyntoya Shalei stood near the edge,
taking in the sight. They’d definitely sensed his arrival, but were
doing the polite thing and not acknowledging it first. They both
wore the uniforms of the Mendaihu elite force, long black coats
with the gray patch of the Mendaihu sigil, two intersecting white
circles standing on end symbolizing multiple realities, stitched on
the right shoulder. Both wore their black hair in a long triple
ponytail that reached down towards the middle of their backs.

He cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Somfei,” he said, voice wavering. “I am Special Agent Alec Poe,
ARU. Welcome to Bridgetown.” They smiled and turned to face him —
definitely in that order, not the other way around — and bowed in
his direction. They were both quite handsome, he’d noticed. They
had curving jaw lines, Akaina’s slightly softer and more feminine.
Both had the rounded and smallish nose, wide mouth, and piercing
dark eyes, typical of the Shalei clan.

“Agent Poe,” the man said in a calm, even
tone. “I am Ashyntoya Shalei.” He placed both of his hands over
Poe's, a Mendaihu gesture of total trust and a plea for the same.
“Please, call me Ashan. This is my sister, Akaina.”

“I’m honored to meet you, Agent Poe,” Akaina
said, taking his hand. “I’ve heard much about the Branden Hill HQ.
Your work is exemplary. And please, call me Kai.”

Poe quickly cleared his throat, hoping he
wasn’t blushing right now. He felt he did good work, but felt
‘exemplary’ was definitely not the word he’d have used. “Thank you,
and thanks for coming,” he said, giving her a customary nod. “Agent
Johnson and I appreciate the help.”

Ashan cocked an eyebrow. “It is our duty,
Agent Poe. We feel this case should be of the highest importance.
We're proud to help. Come, let’s walk to the edge.” Ashan led the
way towards the Crest overlook, Poe behind him and Kai trailing
behind.

“Has Chief Inspector Farraway filled you in
on everything?” Poe asked.

Ashan nodded, already distracted by
something in the direction of the city. Poe could see the gears
already starting to turn in the man’s head, a sudden and deep
concentration on whatever had caught his eye. Poe smiled, seeing a
similarity between Ashan and Caren. The two seemed to be in a
constant state of thought. He knew he wouldn't be getting any more
words from Ashan for the next few minutes.

“We've been sent the preliminary data,” Kai
said, answering for her brother. Her voice was low and warm.
“Whoever had performed the ritual knew what they were doing, and
knew the outcome. I should add that both Ashan and I agree that,
within the delicate balance between the Mendaihu and the Shenaihu,
it is extremely rare that anyone would have gone to such
lengths…though we understand what they were trying to accomplish.”
She paused thoughtfully, glancing out at the city. She was drawn to
it just like her brother, but with less distraction. She turned
back to Poe and smiled. “However, before we go into any detail, I'm
curious, Agent Poe…I’d like to know your thoughts.”

He blinked, the question unexpected. He
thought about it for a few moments before answering. “Well, first
off...tell you the truth, I think—no, I sense a Mendaihu performed
the ritual, and not just to create chaos…he had a reason for it,
otherwise it wouldn’t have been an Awakening. I've monitored
large-scale rituals about the size of a small auditorium, but
nothing as big or as strong. You’d think a
braudha
of
Mendaihu set it off, but…” He trailed off and glanced ahead towards
the city. In the distance, the Mirades Tower rose high above
everything, watching over the Sprawl like a sentinel. He shivered
unexpectedly, and turned back to Kai. “I admit I'm not quite
convinced of the motive,” he added as an afterthought. He paused,
looking her in the eyes. He didn't want to say it, but he felt he
had to. “Caren and I believe it may have been aimed at the
Shenaihu. Like it was the first volley.”

If there were any reactions to his words,
they kept it well hidden. They approached the Crest's edge, mere
feet away from Poe's usual meditation spot, and looked out over the
city. A flock of BMPD helicopters dotted the air above the Main
Street and South City Sectors, the busiest and most populated
neighborhoods at this time of day, monitoring the area. Lines of
multihued skyscrapers, reflecting sunlight, seascape, and the
countless other buildings surrounding them, rose up gracefully in
height in a slow arc towards the Tower, as most skylines in this
type of province would. The blackness of the Tower, though,
reflected little except its coldness.

“What was the initial public reaction?” Kai
asked.

“People were more alarmed by the shockwave
than the bleed,” Poe said. “All told, I believe there were no
fatalities where the ritual was the main cause, and the number of
injuries is negligible. Psychologically, however? Scared the hell
out of a lot of us at the time, but once we saw there wasn’t any
real physical damage, a lot of us went back to our lives. We’re
worried, but we’re not terrified. The official gauge of public
reaction right now is that of guarded concern.”

“No hysteria, then,” Kai nodded.

Oh, how he wanted to respond to that! He’d
heard from some of his connections that most of the hysteria had
been concentrated within the halls of the Tower — to be more
precise, within the confines of the Provincial Governor’s Council.
Rieflin’s cabinet members were pissing themselves with fear and
couldn’t agree on how to move forward, especially after his
revelatory speech. The humans had responded to the event
predictably and wished to use force as a preventative measure. The
Meraladians, on the other hand, suggested letting it play out
longer, fully understanding the spiritual connotations of the
ritual. They were officially at a stalemate.

Poe decided to keep the politics out of it
for now. “Officially, no,” he said after a moment. “There are
pockets of unrest, mostly in the Warehouse and East McCleever
districts, maybe a bit in South City, but nothing serious. The ARU
has that under control. Why the Tower was targeted, though...I
really couldn't tell you. I mean, we have a few ideas, but...”

Ashan hummed absently. He was looking out
over the Sprawl, lost in thought, nodding again, until he closed
his eyes. The head movement ceased and breathing slowed, his body
becoming unnaturally still. Poe glanced at Kai, but did not say
anything to break the silence. She caught his eye then looked back
at her brother. She knew precisely what he was doing. She held out
a tentative hand to Poe, motioning for him to take it.

Nervously but without question, he grasped
it. If a Mendaihu wanted to make a physical connection, it meant
they were going to show you something you could not see or perceive
on your own. It could only be seen through their eyes, through
their spiritual vision, and it was going to be something important,
and something you would never have experienced before in your life.
Kai looked into his eyes one last time to ensure he was prepared,
and gave him a soft smile. He started to speak, but everything went
dark —