Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods (30 page)

“
Who is watching?”

“
Continue doing what you were doing. Gaza is watching. You must get as far away from me as you can. You’re in danger here.”

“
Not until I find out what is going on.”

“
I’ve stolen something from Gaza’s fortress, something that will ensure I will never be safe again, a vital tool Gaza is using to find his wife and daughter. They were not killed. Gaza still searches for them.”

“
What? How do you know this?”

“
I don't have time to explain, but Gaza’s lost his faculties. There’s no reasoning with him.”

“
Then all hope is lost.”

“
Not entirely. I have a plan. But I need to get out of here undetected, which means you’ll have to leave. Gaza’s watching you, and if he sees me here, we're both in danger.”

“
How will you protect yourself?”

“
By staying as far away from the gods as possible! I'm going to seek out Arganis as I originally intended, and as much as I would like you to come with me, I need to go alone.”

“
I will have a servant prepare a horse and supplies for you. I will tell him I am sending Moota on a journey. Go to the stable. The horse will be left unattended.”

“
Thank you.”

“
Stay here,”
she whispered through the thread.

“
Okay,”
I whispered back.

Her footsteps grew fainter, and a door slammed. I thrust the cover off me and went to the window. Night had descended over Trinador. Tiny lights danced like fireflies in the trees. Good. The night would conceal my escape. It would be slow going by horse, but if I attempted to travel through another thread, Gaza might be able to track me. I looked up at the three glowing orbs in the night sky, and was thankful Gaza had a liking for moons. I would need their light. I leaned out the window and took a deep breath.

Suddenly the sky flashed a brilliant orange. I jerked my head back in. The walls began to groan with a deafening vibration.
Is this it?
I thought, gripping the windowsill.
Did I push Gaza over the edge?
The vibrations mutated into a resonating hum, and in the distance, muffled screams of terror echoed. The voice of Gaza boomed out. “
CHARM! YOU HAVE ONE DAY TO RETURN WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN!”

And as quickly as they had begun, the vibrations ceased, leaving me shaken, but somewhat relieved. He didn't know where I was, which meant I was safe-- for the moment.

I gathered my wits, and a measure of courage, and made my way down to the stables. My destination, Pagnia. Time was running out and it looked like the fate of Vrin rested on me.

I followed the roads but kept a hood over my head to shroud my identity. The landscape was cold and lifeless in the blue moonlight. Shadows shifted restlessly among the trees. As Charm, growing up, I could remember playing in woods like these, but now they seemed empty. It never occurred to me then to consider the lack of insects. Vrin never had such things, and I’d never noticed. Now, however, I found their absence troubling. Vrin had been my home, but now it was nothing more than an imperfect shadow of a world just beyond my memory. I wanted
my
Vrin back, the one I had built my life in.

I hunched over, and pushed the horse harder.

The sky was beginning to glow with the first signs of dawn as I entered the well-manicured area of Pagnia. The town was all but deserted, and as I guided my horse along, his footfalls echoed loudly through the vacant streets. When I reached SCAR’s hideout, there were no signs of life, and the door was bolted, so I guided the horse around the back to find a way in.

A cellar door gave me access. I creaked it open and groped my way down the stone stairs. It was dark, except for the faint light from a lantern in the far corner. I moved in closer. And that’s when I saw him. A figure lay next to the lamp on a wooden cot. But that was all I saw, before a sharp pain shot through my head, and everything went black.

I squinted. The light was bright. A river rushed past me and turned into a waterfall but I could not see its base. The sun was high in the sky and seagulls played in the wisps of cloud above. I sat down on a gray rock and absorbed the beauty of the mountain scape stretching out before me. It was peaceful here, even though I was not sure where here was.

“You have questions,” said the man in white next to me.

“I always do,” I replied.

“Yes, but now you have a question you have never thought to ask before, which is not surprising really, since you are no longer the person you were.”

“Yes. Now you carry in you the imprint of Thomas Tardin and this causes you to consider things you would have never thought to consider before. Thomas believes this is a dream because that is what Charm believes, and Charm has never been able to see this place as it truly is. But Thomas can't understand why it is so vivid, and thus the question. I know it's disconcerting, but don't worry, we will eventually pass beyond this realm and enter into more familiar territory.”

“How can we pass beyond, if we're not moving?”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “It's like riding the bus where you find yourself engrossed in a book or a conversation with the person next to you. You're oblivious to the scenery passing by outside.”

I focused on him and immediately something began to happen in my peripheral. The scene shimmered like Jello. Lights and shapes melted around me, swirling and pulsating like a living organism.

When it stopped he said, “There we go.”

My muscles loosened and I turned to examine my new surroundings. We were no longer outside on a mountain range. Instead, the mountain scene sped by just outside the window of the train. I looked back at him, and then around at the plush compartment.

Out the window I saw a tunnel approaching. Car after car disappeared inside, and then it was dark. The train began to slow with a steady squeal, then stopped.

“Are we there?”

He gave me a nod. “Follow me if you want your answer,” he said. As he stood and stepped out of the compartment, I followed closely. He led me down a thin hallway and through a sliding metal door with a tiny window.

We were alone as we exited the train, and we soon found ourselves standing on a jet black platform watching as the long silver train disappeared into the night, taking its light with it. And then for a moment, all was still.

I felt as if all of the information of the universe came flooding into my mind and I was immediately at one with it. Every question I could have ever thought to ask was answered, including the one for which we had made the journey.

The answer to my question was connected to the very nature of my existence. I was not simply flesh and bone, but a complex multi-dimensional being. As a man, I could not possibly comprehend the other aspects of myself, but they still existed, and they still effected me.

“So it's that simple?” I said.

“It's only simple here, because you are in the nexus.”

Another question entered my mind, but as it occurred to me to ask, the answer was there. I wondered about the dark void I had experienced before Vrin. It had not been like this. I remembered a vast and lonely place. The knowledge which suffused me offered the answer—

I had created that void from the essence of Dantra, the same substance which Vrin itself was made of. While in Vrin, within Dantra, impulses from the computer triggered responses in my brain, and they in turn molded Dantra, using my connection to that spirit realm.

A dark feeling hung in the air on the street outside my childhood home. A soldier brushed by, wearing a World War II uniform, and clutching a rifle with a wooden stock. I followed him for a short distance, then bolted across the neighbor’s yard to hide behind some barrels. I peeked out, no one saw me, so I hunched over and scooted across the lawn. Bursts of gunfire rained down on me from the neighbor’s house. I ducked and rolled. The fire ceased.

I poked my head up then made my way toward the darkness past the open cellar door. Again gunfire broke out. I dropped to the ground and dirt exploded in small eruptions all around me. --But I was not afraid; I was no longer effected by the things of this world. I stood and faced the window. A shadowy figure took aim. But the barrage of bullets passed right through me.

My perspective shifted and I found myself watching from outside my body. Every shadow in the neighborhood began shifting and moving. Coming alive. Approaching from every direction. Surrounding me. Pressing in on me. Hoping to receive a touch from their holy one.

The last thing I saw were my glowing metal eyes-- and that was all I remembered, once I was fully awake.

A SHORT REST

001001011001110

I squinted as the salty air washed over me. Off in the distance the sound seagulls squawking mingled with guitar music. I gripped the railing and looked down into the green ocean water. Fish shot by just beneath the surface like ghostly apparitions. I’d had a night of deep restful sleep. My joints still ached considerably, but my head was clearer and my strength was returning.

“Thomas,” Annie's voice called from inside the bungalow. “Would you like some eggs or something?”

“Thanks,” I yelled back through the sliding doors, “an egg sounds wonderful.”

Her voice sounded strange to me, wrong somehow, and I had to remind myself, this wasn’t the Annie of my memory. She was not standing in the kitchen with a big pregnant belly. And little Rebecca was not sitting on the living room floor surrounded by a million tiny toys. No, this was not the vacation we were headed to after New York City. --I had slept through that one.

I looked over at the envelope laying on the glass table next to me. This was quite the mystery I’d found myself entangled in: virtual worlds, science fiction experiments, cryptic notes... It was all just a little more than I could wrap my brain around. I was used to solving things like product launch schedules and media campaigns, not government conspiracies. --Not that I wanted to solve
anything
at the moment.
But,
I knew myself well enough to know, that I could not just sit back and do nothing to try to solve this mystery. It was in my nature to solve puzzles. Some would even call it an addiction.

Again I read the name and address on the envelope. Who was this
Hazel Brown?
How did she fit into the puzzle? Was she an associate of Dr. Solomon? If she was, why wasn’t she at the center? And
why
did the envelope contain my name, and
only
my name? Even with a night of restful sleep behind me, I couldn’t even
begin
to make sense of that one.

I tucked the envelope back into my pocket and hefted myself out of the chair. Whatever it meant was irrelevant. Hazel Brown was my only lead, and it was with her I would start my investigation. I slid the screen door open, and followed the scent of breakfast.

Sam was intently watching a news clip glowing from the paint on the living room wall. I looked for the source of the projection, but found none. Rebecca was sitting on the couch with a book.

Whatcha readin’?”

“Davata Notrals.” She looked up with a bright smile. “There was a copy in the dresser.”

“Are they
still
putting those things in hotel drawers?”

I studied it closely; leather band, face trimmed in silver. But there were no buttons. The obsidian material inside the trimming had a life of its own. Faint numbers faded in and out in a cryptic pattern. I let out a sigh.

“Come here.” Annie put down the toast and came around the counter. “I'll show you.” She lifted my hand and touched the face. “Dial Stephen Andrews.” The watch came to life. Annie gave me a wink, and returned to her work.

“Hello?” said the watch.