System Seven (28 page)

“And it could lead us
to the core of Totem,” Edward added. “Which takes us to the present. Soldado,
Mr. Lathrop is waiting in the room at the top of the stairs. He has a special
briefing for you and some new concepts that need your review.”

Soldado made a face.
“Eh, work. Let’s all hook up around another bottle of the good stuff later on.”
He pushed back from the table and headed for the door.

Edward said to Anki,
“I need to speak privately with Johan and Austin. You’ll find the great room
offers diversions, as does the game room and library.”

Johan looked at
Edward, asking if it were necessary she leave. Edward nodded.

She stood and squeezed
Johan’s shoulder on her way out. “Later you won’t choose Condrieu over me, I
hope?”

“A bottle of Condrieu
and
you. I shouldn’t be too long,” he
said.

Edward waited until
she left. “Williams, the door please. Alright then. First with you, Johan.
During my time, no one, Korda-born or not, has ever shut out a squad of korjé
without extensive training.”

Korjé were the
hunters, the thought police. Groups one and two.

Johan spread his
hands. “Well, I guess that makes me special.”

“It makes you
valuable.” Edward tossed a small wooden block onto the table. “You know what
that is, Gerrit Bartel.”

Stunned, Johan
faltered, trapped in a moment. He tried to recover. “And you’re a carnival
ride, Edward. What can I say?”

“There’s more to your
story, Johan. Vincent and Juliana Bartel were gifted members of our family.
They were Instructors.”

Johan went still.

“You witnessed their
murder. Eight years old, two years shy of Initiation. Your grandfather, not one
for the Family, chose to keep you from us and raised you without our
involvement. We honor those decisions. When you disappeared, you did so quite
effectively. That was fifteen years ago. We thought you’d been killed and so
imagine our surprise when your DNA threw a match. Not quite a prodigal son but
nonetheless we are glad you are with us. It explains your gift.”

He closed his eyes.
The dreams, the old hunted feeling, the paths he’d been led down. The circle
was complete, the healing a rising chorus in his soul. There were no accidents,
just as he’d always believed.

“What about my gift?”

“Just as you learned
to speak by listening to their speech, you also learned how to think by their
unique way of thinking. Between two Korda flows a language unto itself. You
were raised with and impressed by that flow. It explains why you were so
distant from everyone else growing up, why you drew judgment on people that
others couldn’t understand and why some people felt uncomfortable around you.
You looked right through them. It is why you are so good at shifting identity,
adapting to people’s needs. It is how you isolate wrong doers and sustain a
nomadic life, or I should say ‘lives’. You know the multitude of ways people
can think and be and you can emulate them like a skilled stage actor. You are
tuned to the meta field, to the true nature of people. A typical Korda child.
You had wonderful parents.”

“You knew them?”

“I knew of them. I met
your father briefly in Washington in sixty-seven but we never worked together.
I know you have questions but it’s late.” Edward shifted attention to Austin.
“How are you feeling? Any more headaches?”

“None like the ones
after the first treatment. The other pills help.”

“That’s good, very
good. Well, the anomaly, you are. A natural traveler. From where does your
ability stem? Any ideas?”

There was no knowing,
could be none. He shook his head. “Seems a lot to do with imagination.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because imagination
creates,” Austin replied without thinking.

“Precisely so, Austin.
Imagination is normally seen as important because it encourages visions of what
is possible. At the near end, imagination fetches concepts and plays with them,
birthing new relationships and ideas. Indeed, without imagination,” he shook
his head, “you are content to work with what you know. An abundance of
contentment is what prevents people from learning more about meta and their
connection with the world. Thank you, culture. With sufficient imagination you
begin to grasp the connections. Imagination drives curiosity, which in turn
drives discovery. Again, at the near end.”

“And at the far end?”
Johan asked.

Edward reached for the
wine bottle. “Do either of you mind?” He
quarter-filled his glass. “At the far end, far from where we are... I suppose
you join company with the Creator.” He took a sip. “Between here and there lies
the pitfalls of madness, no doubt for a reason. God’s locked screen door.”

Austin asked, “Aren’t
you suggesting that it’s not just the Comannda keeping man’s awareness in
check, but maybe God, too?”

The elder shook his
head. “No. The madness I speak of protects things greater than just Saoghal and
man’s journeys with his meta. The latter are within his reach, as the two of
you can attest, albeit with their own obstacles.”

“The biggest being the
Comannda.”

“True.”

“What about these
protein additions? If they work, I’m told I’ll be disturbing the quantum foam
with my thoughts. You know that’s kind of scary, no matter how cool it sounds.”

“You are a solid
subject in that regard. We know you have the control and moral code needed to
work it safely. Of course you will also be monitored and trained. Do not worry
yourself unnecessarily. So, you answered my question – you don’t know how you
came about your ability. Nor do we. It is an anomaly we wish to understand and
help you grow.”

Austin hesitated
before asking, “Is it possible that my dad– I mean, he seemed to know
something. About how they did things.”

“Could he have worked
for the Comannda? It is possible of course, though we’ve found no indications.
I encourage you to keep an open and positive mind in regards to him. However,
if you begin to feel contact from him, any impressions at all, let us know
right away. We have no way of knowing his fate or allegiances at this point.”

Austin could only nod.

Edward stood with his
glass and walked to the window. “It’s important to know that the two of you are
joining us during what most of the Runa Korda consider to be defining times,
times that were once predicted by those who have such vision. We’re approaching
an apex that involves the kind of conflict that will define mankind’s future.”
He turned to look at them. “You have been made to wait on the topic of aliens.
I can tell you now that humans are not unique in their intelligence nor in
their technology. I suspect we are garden variety. What makes us somewhat
different is the degree that the Comannda have been able to limit our
evolution. By now, most species like us would have crossed the language line
into meta-enabled communication, would have smoothed the differences that still
plague our societies, and would have used technology to erase physical
suffering entirely. It is this hostage-like existence that has drawn the
attention of our more evolved neighbors.”

“They want to help?” Austin
asked.

“Some would like to,
yes. In fact, they have been trying to the extent that they are able.”

“Why not just fly in
and take out the Comannda?”

Edward smiled. “If
only it were that easy, they would. No, it is up to our majority to create the
future. We have to climb the mountain as one or not at all. To do that, we need
to free ourselves of our own bindings.”

“We’ll never make it
then,” Austin said. “Like you said, the world’s a hostage.”

“The world is asleep,”
Sean said. “Lulled by a story that keeps them dreaming the fucked up dreams of
the Comannda. Our job is to awaken them without hurting them. But first we have
to keep the Comannda from destroying all our work and the world with it.”

Austin shook his head.
“Why can’t the aliens help? Seriously, if they are more advanced, they should.
Or don’t they subscribe to moral imperatives?”

“They are more
advanced in ways that you will find hard to comprehend, Austin. They seek
balance for us, but cannot tip the scales unnaturally. It is just so. What they
are
doing is keeping outsiders from
coming in and taking advantage. The universe is a very big place. For that alone
we are in their debt.”

“So we’re left to take
out the Comannda on our own.”

“Fundamentally, yes.”

“Sink or swim.”

“As it has been and
must be.”

“What are they called?
And how alien are they?”

“They are called Mu,
from their ancient language meaning ‘people’. They are everything we are but in
different measures and in a more evolved state.”

“Mu? Really? Any
relation to references in the Tao?”

Johan said, “Mu is the
term for the original non-being from which being is produced. It is pure
awareness, prior to experience or knowledge.”

Edward shook his head.
“I can’t speak to that. What influence they have exerted in our history is not
shared nor catalogued. I can only confirm they are masters of awareness.”

Austin straightened in
his chair. Once again the familiar pendulum of inevitability swung into view –
only now it was gigantic, involving an alien race, a shadow government, and the
possible devolution of the modern world. Only a month ago such a reality would
have been bizarre and nightmarish. He idly tapped the smooth oak of the
conference table. Thoughts of his dad and Kaiya and her mom and all his friends
and neighbors surfaced. So much sacrifice just to be at that table, only to
learn the most powerful people on earth were considering knocking everyone back
to the Stone Age and that advanced life forms were standing by to watch. Awe of
the enemy churned, driven by the facts. Awe quickly gave way to a stronger
emotion, that of anger.
They had no right
.
They just
didn’t
. No self-made
committee of man-gods had the right to manipulate an entire planet, to
determine who evolved and who didn’t, who ate and who starved, who lived and
who died.

“Austin,” Edward said.
“Are you with us? Is something wrong?”

Nodding curtly he
replied, “Well yeah, I think there is, yes. We need to stop the Comannda. Flat
out
stop
them. This can’t continue.
We can’t let it happen. The Mu can’t. It’s insane and completely wrong that they
don’t help.”

“We agree, in
principle,” Edward started with an annoyingly patronizing tone, “but there is a
bigger picture to consider, an approach we must–”

Something snapped and
floodgates gave way. Words spilled forth of their own volition. “An
approach?”
he asked. “This
approach
has lasted how many hundreds of
years? Your
awareness
of their powers
and manipulations has been used
how
to stop them? All I see is an army of savants dedicated to a cause I don’t
quite get. What
is
your purpose? What
have you been
doing
all these years?
Tell me your secret empire doesn’t include newspapers and media outlets around
the world! Tell me your Confrere couldn’t break out the truth!” Momentum
carried him. “Hell, with the technology used to reshape us, I bet you could
come up with an AIDS vaccine or a cure for cancer pretty damned quickly,
Edward. Or have a ship land in Times Square and let them reveal the truth about
our overlords once and for all. Why in the fuck do you dance and prance around
and not
do
something?” Unbridled now:
“Or maybe you really are just like them, working for your own goals? Too much
stock in the drug companies perhaps? Who pays for your mountain getaways and
country estates? Too damn comfortable, are you? You’re just like them!”

A shroud of silence
slipped over the room. Johan’s gaze flicked to Edward, then back to Austin.
Something had gone suddenly and oddly wrong.

Edward disregarded the
outburst entirely. “Back to the matter at hand. Evidence has accrued over the
past year indicating something big. As Sean will tell you, our technology–”

“Fuck this.” Austin
knocked his chair over backwards. “You’re all fucked up.” If he didn’t get out
of the room now, he might burst. He headed for the door, knowing vaguely that
it was him that was fucked up but not why.

Sean stood and Austin’s
head jerked violently to the side, as if struck. Anger spread like fire in dry
grass. Control slipped further.

Sean said, “You don’t
just walk out on a meeting this important.”

The words splashed
like fuel, sending him scrambling for a way to strike back. He descended
straight to his core and out into the grid, out into the space between them. He
focused on the space just in front of Sean and with all his might punched
movement
there.

A slight wind puffed
Sean’s face. He laughed.

“Keep that up and
you’re going to chap my lips.”

“Fuck you!” he shouted
in a torrent of anger. “Fucking cowards! You pretend nobility and– and
sophistication!
Sipping fine wines and
lounging like the rich. You chase Big Brother’s tailpipe when you could be
helping the world. You could have made incredible changes!”