The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (40 page)

Mancka let go of a held breath and stared at
him. “That's an awfully big risk you're taking, Anton,” she said.
“Especially without security.”

To that, he laughed cheerily. “I made it
here, didn't I? No one even stopped to acknowledge me!”

“Sir...” she started.

“For Goddess' sake, call me Anton!” he
beamed. “This is freedom to me, you understand? And you know
why
no one accosted me?”

“Uh...” she started.

“Because they knew who I was,” he said. “They
knew because they
sensed
it. I could sense it! Yes, even me,
Mancka. Even I’m feeling different now. There are plenty of
Mendaihu and Shenaihu out there who know my spirit signature, as
familiar to them as Nehalé Usarai's. Anyone who saw me, or even
sensed my presence in some way, knew I was there. They could have
done anything to me, but they didn't.”

“They wouldn't,” Mancka said sternly. “The
Mendaihu would protect you as it's their duty, and the Shenaihu
think you're a pawn so they have no use for you. I wouldn't get all
cocky just yet, Anton. There's an imbalance out there, and it's
worse than any hrrah-sehdhyn attack. And it's here in
Bridgetown.”

That made Anton stop dead, his smug grin
melting into a troubled frown. He opened his mouth to form a word,
thought better of it, and closed it again.

“Its name is Saisshalé,” she continued.
“Vengeance deity of Trisanda.”

The worry on his face changed to complete
dread, a reaction she wasn't expecting. She ventured further. “They
say Saisshalé is behind the recent violence in the city. He never
attacks more than one or two people at a time, and he never kills
them. He just leaves them inches close to death. I’ve also heard
talk his actions are merely a diversion.”

Anton nodded slowly. “No one's been able to
capture him, except one ARU agent up in New Boston. A Detective
Simon Murphy had him overnight just the other day, but he managed
to escape. Commissioner Tatreaux let me know as soon as he heard.
He's been giving me twice-daily updates.”

“Agent Murphy is the only one who's ever been
able to apprehend and contain him, which really isn't too
surprising,” she said.

“Why, because he's that good?”

“No, Murphy's a regular agent. A little
eccentric but intelligent. But he's not strong enough for that.
Saisshalé is extremely adept at long distance Lightwalking. It's
often his preferred mode of transportation. He stayed in
confinement as a personal choice. He was waiting for someone.”

Anton nodded, thinking aloud. “One of our
agents was up there when he escaped. Agent Alec Poe from Branden
Hill. Murphy's report of the incident says Saisshalé escaped soon
after being questioned by Poe, but he didn't go into too much
detail. Saisshalé threatened him, threatened Bridgetown, and then
flashed out of there.”

“Must be edha Poe, then,” Mancka said.

“Could be,” he continued. “I'd like to meet
this agent.”

Mancka said nothing. This conversation was
starting to get dangerous. This was not some problem Anton could
solve by just using his title. She knew where this Alec Poe was.
She'd briefly met his partner, Caren Johnson, the day of the failed
Ascension. She could easily sense the whereabouts of both within
this city. But she wasn't about to reveal his location, not to him,
not to anyone. Poe was better off remaining a sleeper, just another
B-Towner, his fate uncertain and unknown. As much as she wanted to
share this information and help Anton in finding his own answers,
she couldn't. Anton would have to do all of this himself.

At this point, it seemed that the air had
been cleared between them. A few Mendaihu and Shenaihu nearby had
sensed the tension but kept their distance. She let out a quick
nonverbal message to everyone that all was calm and his actions had
been for good reason. It appeased a few, but not as many as she had
hoped. She would have to find some way to prove them wrong.

“I hope you don't think ill of me, Mancka,”
he said quietly. “I would hate to have lost your friendship because
of what I did.”

“I don't,” she answered. “I can't speak for
everyone here, but I understand what your plan is now. It's risky.
But it will work. All that's needed is a little bit of faith...”
she paused for effect, exhaling heavily. “...and a shitload of
luck.”

Anton smiled as he nodded, and began moving
towards the edge of her rack space. “Luck I can wish you,” he said.
“I'll keep in touch. And don't hesitate to contact me if you need
anything.”

“I won't,” she said, forcing a smile. “Watch
your step, Anton.”

He glanced downwards, having completely
forgotten how high up he was. He wavered for a second, grabbed at
the metal ladder, and swung himself onto it. “Peace, Love and Light
to you, emha. And I wish you all the luck in the worlds.”

“I'll keep you up to date if anything
happens. Peace, Love and Light to you as well.” She watched him
descend the ladder then walk down the aisle, physically alone but
spiritually watched over by those perched in their rack spaces.
Their contempt had warmed over to wariness, trusting him at least
for now.

His intentions are well meant,
she
heard Nehalé say within.

She twitched and raised her arms in defense,
startled by his sudden presence of spirit. She knew he was close,
had even felt him as he sat quietly a few bays over, but still his
intrusion had surprised her. She lowered her hands and huffed.
You heard all of that?

He was telling the truth,
he said.
He was not lying or hiding anything. His is now a spirit that's
reveling in its freedom. Leaving his post was a smart move.

“Smart!” she barked. “Nehalé, can you trust
his council, now that he's dropped the reins?”

No need to talk aloud,
he said.

“I'll talk any damn way I want to,” she
growled. She began to crane her head left and right, trying to find
him. He was close, very close. Possibly a few levels down at this
point. He was shifting his position constantly. “And stop
hiding!”

I wish I could,
he said.
It's a
little difficult right now.

“What —”

All you need know is that things are going
according to plan. Saisshalé has shown himself as the contender.
Agent Alec Poe is the Protector. And Governor Rieflin has just
cleared the playing fields. He's taken out many of the extraneous
players that we do not need at this time. Do you understand?

“Not at all,” she huffed.

You will soon,
he said.

“Soon enough?”

In time.

Mancka shook her head and closed her eyes.
She didn't want to talk anymore. Not to him, not to Anton, not to
anyone. She wished she could find that nonspace that The One of All
Sacred was so fond of visiting. She felt the yearning again for
that place she'd felt when The One had called for all of them, when
she'd failed the Ascension. It was a place of calm and cold
beauty.

P
ashyo,
she sighed, and turned
over.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Grid

Christine heard the news about Rieflin's
plans five minutes after she returned back to her apartment, after
spending most of the morning at the Data Research Library. Caren
had called her, leaving five messages before finally catching her.
She now sat on the roof of her building, sitting on a fold out
chair just outside the roof shed. She slouched heavily and took a
drag from a cigarette, wondering just how much further this screwed
up situation was going to get. At precisely ten this morning, she'd
been denied access to nearly everything she’d been able to retrieve
just the day before. Jenn had confirmed multiple times that her
Level 5 access hadn’t been revoked or altered, but that the
information had been blocked. It was not necessarily a setback, but
it was still irritating.

Caren's news about the Governor’s actions,
however, had come as a shock.

Down the street, she could see the upper part
of Moulding Warehouse, where just last month Denni Johnson had come
extremely close to completing the Ascension ritual and become the
almighty One of All Sacred...and all that it entailed, for better
or worse. Christine often wondered what would have happened to the
world, had she followed through and completed it. Who would have
been affected? Bridgetown? The North American Provinces? The world
itself? She knew the One could perform it again whenever she chose
and complete the cycle, but right now there was little doubt she
would try it anytime soon. She understood the consequences.

Denni
, she thought.
What are you
doing right now?

Christine had known the girl since Caren
joined the ARU force. They'd met a number of times when she would
stop over Caren's apartment for work-related issues and
get-togethers, and they'd talk and laugh and share ideas, but that
was all. Now that she was the One of All Sacred, she wished she had
gotten to know the girl better on a personal level. Caren would
have wanted that. She admired Caren's hard work bringing up Denni
after they'd lost their parents, and she'd done a wonderful
job.

Denni wouldn't be seeing anything with the
same scope as the failed Ascension, but it would most likely have
the same effect on the city, and Christine couldn’t figure out what
it was going to be. The nuhm’ndah were planning those small
attacks, but they weren’t amounting to anything other than minor
irritations. What were they up to, anyway? These small street
fights were making absolutely no sense at all. She decided that she
might need to know Denni as the One of All Sacred after all, if she
was going to find that out.

Well — there was no way she'd be getting
answers by moping about on the roof. She pushed herself off the
chair, clipped the end of her cigarette, and tossed the butt into
an empty stone flower pot nearby. She stood at the door for a
moment, tempted to turn around and take one last look at the
warehouse, but decided against it. She'd lived through that once;
she didn't need to relive it again in her mind.

It was time to make some calls. She'd been
out of the loop for six months, and wondered if any of her old
contacts were still in the loop, or alive for that matter. Many of
them were in this run-down sector, so there was a good chance they
were still here, and that they'd been affected by Denni's ritual in
some way.

She knew she'd been affected herself that
day, but she’d chosen not to look further into her own psyche to
see what had been switched on, at least not until after this was
over. She was quite happy being a normal Earth human with a knack
for deduction, investigation, and spiritual healing. To look
further and risk either disappointment or confusion was not on her
active to-do list right now. She didn't want to waste any more time
having to learn new tricks of the trade if the old ones worked just
fine.

She reentered her apartment and saw that
she'd received another message while she was out. A quick glance at
the mini-vidmat next to the phone revealed it to be Alec. Odd that
he would call so soon after Caren. They seemed to be spending less
time as a team and more on their own endeavors lately. She woke up
the receiver and sat herself down in front of the two-way
mini-vidmat and let it dial him back.

Moments later the animated avatar of Alec Poe
flashed into existence.

“An avatar, eh?” she said to herself. “This
is new.”

He’d always called her via office vidmat, but
this was on a link she didn't recognize. It wasn't a Branden Hill
or a Central McCleever prefix, but originating at the Mirades Tower
of all places! She smirked at the visual; his digitized self looked
remarkably like him only five to ten years younger. It was
high-quality rez work, something ARU wouldn't normally spring
for.

“Hey Alec,” she said. “This is a new look for
you.”

“I'm not at the office,” he said. His avatar
lip-synced his words, the timing off by a fraction of a second. No
one would notice unless they were used to seeing bootlegs like
this. “This is just a beta version,” he explained. “New voice to
avatar software. It’s a joint KJS-EdenTree project.”

She frowned at him. “Where are you,
anyway?”

“Vigil,” he said. “Just gave them the news
Caren must have passed on to you. They’re understandably
frustrated, but this won’t stop them.”

“Please tell me you called me other than to
show off your new toy.”

“Yes I did,” his avatar nodded, and stepped
back. There was a quick blurring as the image zoomed out and the
full body could be seen. He wore a knee-length brown leather coat
with a tight black bodysuit underneath and high dusty-brown boots.
She smirked, immediately recognizing it as the dress of a Mendaihu
Elder. It was an apt choice of work wear, especially if he was
about to use it for less than legal purposes. He was standing in
front of a floating world atlas, a simple terrain version with
minimal location tags. He turned and made successive taps against
the North American continent, moving closer and closer until he was
above Bridgetown.

“Impressive,” she laughed. “A chibi Mendaihu
is about to give me a geography lesson.”

Alec chose not to come back with a witticism,
merely cocking his eyebrow instead. How did he get it to do that?
He added to the effect with a smirk, that little lift of the left
corner of his mouth and a slight nod of the head. This was high
quality software if it could capture all his personal facial quirks
like that.

“I seem to have your attention now,” he said
with a chuckle. “The subject of a Reverend Edward Miriam came up in
conversation this morning, between Caren and Madeleine and I. Do
you remember him?”

“The priest from St. Patrick's, yes? I know
he's been missing since the attack.”