A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (32 page)

Nehalé turned to say something, but Anando
had already stepped away, the access door still ajar. The kid was
already downstairs making plans for the deserted warehouse for him,
taking mental notes and measurements for the near future. He
smiled, an unexpected reaction to the situation and the choices he
now had to make. Perhaps he was a Prophet after all...the thought
of it humored him, to expect an unassuming Meraladian charity
worker to be the one to open up Gharné eyes to a Universal
Truth.

Anando,
he said within himself, unsure if the kid still
heard him.
Send the sisters here, to the
warehouse, if you can.

*

“Surely you’ll let them in, Nehalé,” Anando
said. “The main floor is certainly large enough to hold them. Rain
should be coming by this afternoon.”

Nehalé stood in the supervisor’s office
overlooking the floor, arms crossed and grumbling. The crowds
outside had amassed to nearly five thousand people, and more were
going to come before day’s end. They were flocking to him for
answers he did not have. He had expected their presence, even
before the Awakening, when it had all been just a long-planned
idea. But now that this moment was here, he unsuccessfully wished
it away. He was a soulsenser and a soulhealer, not a savior or a
prophet. Those were not his roles as a Mendaihu. He was not their
leader or their teacher.

“I know I should,” he responded. “Though I’m
still unsure if the floor can handle such a number.”

“Five thousand?” Anando laughed. “Trust me,
this place is solid enough.”

Anando was blissfully optimistic for such a
young Mendaihu, a fact Nehalé kept in mind when talking to him. It
was a trait that had gotten Nehalé himself in trouble more than
enough times when he was that age, when he’d confused optimism with
plain ignorance. Anando, however, had traded ignorance with
intelligence long ago on the hard streets of McCleever Sector, when
he gave up the street life and followed his Mendaihu fate. His
awakening four years ago had a profound effect on the both of them;
Nehalé had found him alone, shivering in a forgotten alleyway not
too far from this warehouse, completely lost physically and
spiritually. He’d taken the kid in and taught him all he could, and
before long, he’d come to see Anando as a younger brother, one he
could be proud of. During the course of the next few years he saw
the kid enroll at Bridgetown University and excel; he was now
making plans to join the Mendaihu Division of the ARU. That was
still down the road, but for now he was happy enough just to help
Nehalé care for those less fortunate that dwelled in the Waterfront
and McCleever Districts. He’d considered it an apprenticeship that
was well worth it. They’d worked together ever since, up until
about five months ago, when Anando had chosen to take a
soulsearching break. He’d vanished from the city soon after, but
he’d left a note with Nehalé, explaining that he’d return when the
time was right.

To see him today was very much a mixed
blessing. He was excited to see his good friend again, and he
appreciated the help offered that he would no doubt need, but at
the same time he couldn’t help but worry about Anando’s eternal
optimism. There were just too many uncertainties at this time, and
he could not afford ignorance, especially at this point in
time.

“Very well,” he said and theatrically waved
his hands in the air. He flashed him a quick smile and nodded. “Let
them in.”

Anando stood there for a moment, looking at
him. “Edha Usarai,” he said. “What’s really bothering you? If you
think you’re playing the reluctant hero here, I’m afraid to inform
you that there are more key players here than can fit on the
marquee.” Nehalé frowned at him, not quite comprehending. “You’re
just a part of a larger play,” Anando continued. “You may think you
have an important role, but it’s actually just a bit part.”

Nehalé caught the Shakespearean reference
but asked him to elaborate.

Anando smirked. “You’ve awakened the One of
All Sacred, my dear friend. You were the Mendaihu that let the
Spirit of the One stir out of its womb. Your part is done here.
You’ve completed your quest. What I’m saying is that these people
outside
need
you. They’re not looking for another deity to
follow. They’re not looking for a…a priest or even a religious man
at all. They’re looking for a sehndayen-ne. Someone who knows what
the One of All Sacred means to them. They’re here because you know
what the One can do, what she can bring to everyone here.”

He nodded, unnerved by how right the kid
was. He knew this obstinate fear was little more than fear itself,
his unwillingness to be in charge of such a large following. He
understood that this fear was also little more than the lack of
faith he had in himself, even when his faith in this Awakening
reached far past it. He also understood that from this point on,
the aftereffects of the awakening ritual were out of his hands.
Anando was right, he was indeed just another player in this
performance now. He let out a small laugh as he walked with Anando
out of the office and headed towards the loading bay doors.

“What about the Mendaihu agents?” Anando
asked as they descended the steps. “Surely they must know we’re
here by now.”

Nehalé shrugged. “No doubt…they’ve already
posted a security line a few blocks away, but they haven’t made any
moves. I wouldn’t worry too much; in fact, I expect a few of them
to pay us a visit very soon.” He thought, then added, “That is, if
they’ve been told the whole story. Not everyone would be as
understanding.”

“No…I suppose not,” Anando shrugged. “What
do you expect of them? The agents, I mean. Surely they know this
far from being an open-shut case.”

“Oh, of course,” he said. His voice echoed
in the vast emptiness of the warehouse. All Nehalé had to do was
open up the dock doors and everyone would file in. All his
prospective students, all at once. “I’d do the same. But these two
are different, aren’t they, Anando? The sister of the One…she’s
important to this, somehow. She’s important to
you
, isn’t
she?”

Anando blushed, finally revealing the truth.
“She…her spirit, sehnadha. It’s her Shalei spirit. I remember it
from Trisanda. From when I was there, lifetimes ago.”

Nehalé smiled as they approached the docks.
“Yes, you hinted as much earlier. I suppose it was a bit of
coincidence, then, that you were spying on her that night?”

“Spying?” he laughed nervously. “No, I was
visiting. I was doing you a favor by finding out who had embodied
the One. Once I recognized her spirit signature, it led me right to
her. It was only by coincidence that I recognized Karinna Shalei. I
ended up visiting her rather than the One that night.”

Nehalé stopped quick. “You made a spiritual
connection with Karinna already?”

Anando waved his hand down to calm him. “In
the Light. I didn’t drag her in there, mind you…she was already
there, just floating around aimlessly. I wasn’t sure if she was in
her lumisha dea or what. But I bet she didn’t even know where she
was until I spoke with her. I just opened her eyes a little bit.
Just enough for her to recognize a few things, but not enough to
overwhelm her.”

“Anando…” Nehalé said, shaking his head.
They stopped at a bank of switches and knobs, bolted to the wall
between a dock door and an emergency exit. He studied their labels
as his fingers moved past them. He found the switches he wanted and
placed his fingers near them. “You know better than to invade other
people’s privacy,” he continued. There was a hint of mischief in
his voice.

“Of course,” he answered, smiling. “And I
did no such thing. She sensed me first and recognized me.”

“Ha!” Nehalé pointed at him. “The proof! You
two are definitely
cho-shadhisi
.”

Anando laughed at him. “Now you’re just
making fun of me.”

Nehalé nodded. “Yes, that I am.” He pushed
the master controls of the dock doors, all of them slowly rising at
once, letting in the morning air and thousands of people. “But I’m
also telling the truth.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Elsewhere

Caren and Poe walked north on Ormand Street
towards the diner soon after Matthew left. These walks had become
tradition for them and she looked forward them, as it got her out
of the office, and often it signaled a break in a case. She looked
forward to this one in particular…if the two Mendaihu agents had
been holding anything back – and she was certain they had – now was
the time to get them to reveal it. As much as it irritated her, at
least now she understood why they would do so. Their previous
meeting at Headquarters had been fruitful and answered many
questions, but they’d still held back. It wasn’t until late last
night, after she and Denni had come to terms with who they were,
that she saw the reason for their reticence. The Mendaihu agents
had wanted everyone in that cramped room to read their spirit
signatures before they made any final decisions. They’d wanted to
familiarize themselves with each person’s unique signature, know
its strengths and its quirks, see how each person interacted with
the other, and if they were up to this task.

She could only wonder what they’d made of
her own haphazard soul.

“Poe?” she said.

He turned to her, hands thrust in his
pockets. “What’s up?”

“Odd question.”

He smirked. “As opposed to…?”

She playfully nudged him with her elbow.
“I’m serious. Did we ever find any evidence of Shenaihu action that
prompted Nehalé’s ritual? I mean, was there any reason for it in
the first place, regardless of its intended motive?”

Poe slowed up his stride as he frowned into
the air, and after a few more steps he came to a complete halt.
“Nothing on Matt’s data crystal about any Shenaihu uprising that I
could find. But the motive still makes sense. Nehalé must be
convinced there’s a Shenaihu offensive out there somewhere…and I’m
not entirely convinced there isn’t one…but we’ve yet to find
it.”

Caren pulled the collar of her uniform
closer around her neck, as an unexpected breeze rushed past them.
Goddess, it was unseasonably cold this morning! “Okay,” she said.
“What about incidents in other provinces? Do you think Kai and
Ashan would have heard anything about NewCanta or Metronewyork or
even New Boston?”

Poe shrugged, pulling at his own collar. “No
harm in asking.” He began walking again, and turned right onto
Leonard Street. The crosswind picked up, pushing the collar of his
overcoat into his chin. With a shrug of the shoulders, he
readjusted it and held it close to his throat. “I’ll add it to my
ever-growing list of questions.”

“It’s damn cold for September, don’t you
think?” she said. “Weird weather. So — what about EdenTree?”

Poe glanced at her. “What about them?”

“Alec, if Matthew risked stepping onto
government property to tell us about them, then EdenTree must have
something on the Shenaihu.”

He smirked at that. “They probably
are
the Shenaihu.”

“Not funny,” she bristled.

He slowed his step again. They were already
ten minutes late for the meeting. If he kept on stopping to
brainstorm, at this rate they’d end up completely missing it. Caren
nudged him on a second time. “Come on, think on your feet,” she
said, stepping ahead of him. “We’re almost there.”

He nodded. “What if…”

“Poe!”

He grinned stupidly at her and caught up.
“Sorry. But now you have me thinking…I’m not saying they’re all
Shenaihu, but what about the executives, or maybe even the CEOs?
Any chance of that being true? I mean, Janoss Miradesi and Natianos
Lehanna are both on their board, and both are known followers.”

“You’re flirting with slander here.”

He shrugged. “Just conjecture. But Matt’s
right, though. Why else would a company least affected by the
awakening ritual make so much noise?”

Goddess,
she thought, pulling at her
collar again.
The implications of that alone…!
EdenTree was
indeed the most ubiquitous company in the Western Terran
Hemisphere, as well as a major player in the Crimson Null
Foundation…they held connections to both human and Meraladian
technologies dating back to the first Meraladian contact nearly
three hundred years ago. And every twenty to twenty-five years
there was a disturbance in the balance of Mendaihu and Shenaihu,
causing another Seasonal Embodiment of the One of All Sacred, who
would set things straight. Sometimes it only amounted to a quiet
disagreement and a quick resolution…and sometimes it grew out of
control, like the Eighth. And each time EdenTree held a part in it,
whether sponsoring the peace agreements or donating time and money
to the cleanup afterwards, always looking heroic in the process.
She tried not to think of what Matthew may have meant about it
being more
intense
this time around.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll play along. Say they
are the Shenaihu. That
still
wouldn’t give Nehalé a clear
motive.”

“Not completely,” he countered. “Perhaps the
Awakening was also his way of corralling EdenTree — and thus the
Shenaihu — within the ritual’s perimeter while those outside took
part in the Awakening Process? Maybe they were affected, maybe they
weren’t. But they were definitely on Nehalé’s mind at the
time.”

Caren growled as a fierce chill slid down
her spine. “I was afraid of that.” Feeling both defeated and angry,
she continued on towards the diner. The blinking sign for Yoshi’s
Diner buzzed and swayed in the wind a block away. “Goddess, Poe,”
she said, taking his arm. “This has to be the longest four and a
half block walk I’ve ever taken with you.”