by Jon Chaisson
*
They drove towards the Branden Hill headquarters of the Alien Relations Unit in silence. Caren was in no mood to talk, and thankfully Poe chose not to say anything. She stared out the window as they drove through the district, annoyed by the lack of any new information from their director, or from anyone else for that matter. The ARU radio frequencies were a chaotic mess, street patrols yelling over each other as they tried to make sense of what had just gone on downtown.
They drove past the main campus of Spender College, and she wasn’t exactly surprised to see a large number of students milling outside on the grounds, smoking or talking. They moved warily, as if they’d all witnessed the awakening firsthand. She had to be seeing a relatively small percentage of students at that moment…Branden Hill was the academic center of the city, housing over a dozen colleges and schools large and small and the autumn semester had just started. The youngest would be the most affected by this ritual, and although the school was well out of the range of the crimson mist, no one knew just how far the spiritual wash had reached, or how strong it had been at this distance. She could only hope those kids would be able to grasp what had happened and not lose themselves in the process.
They pulled into the circular driveway at the ARU complex minutes later. The underground garage was desolate and unnervingly quiet. Very few vehicles remained from the evening shift…Caren wondered where everyone had gone. Perhaps some were at the scene already? Or they hadn’t been called in yet? They heard the rear exit opening and closing and a few footsteps heading down the stairwell to a lower level. A few ARU cruisers also drove by at a coasting speed, their occupants waving as they passed. They had to know about the cloud out there…but they’d shrugged it off as another busy night at the HQ. Perhaps she’d read them wrong?
“This doesn’t feel right,” Caren said, her voice small in the cavernous garage. “You’d think we’d be All Hands by now.”
The footsteps were heading their way. Nick Slater, part of Poe and Caren’s second unit, emerged from the stairway threshold and joined them, exhausted and sore from a long shift. His ARU uniform was sweat-stained and rumpled, and he held his overcoat over his shoulder. There were dark circles under his gray eyes, and his short black hair was a flustered mess. “Most of night shift is Downtown covering initial triage, but it’s not being labeled an emergency,” he said. “No one else was called in. We may be going this one alone, the four of us.”
She frowned at him. “Seriously? A ritual like that?”
Nick shook his head and shrugged; he wasn’t happy about the situation either. He cleared his throat and rubbed at eyes with the heels of his hand. “Sheila and I just came from downtown for initial recon,” he continued. “The cloud is spiritual bleedover from an awakening ritual, that much we already know,” he said. “Low levels are harmless. I’ve seen it before, down in South City, when the Shenaihu have their own rituals now and again. At this level, though? We’re damn lucky it wasn’t ground level. We’d have had a shitload of casualties.”
Poe lit up a cigarette, bemused. “Granted, it should be harmless, at least for us, anyway. Spiritual bleedover dissipates within the hour, so this should be gone by morning.” He heard the faint echo of squealing tires navigating a parking garage switchback, and glanced over his shoulder. “Is that Sheila I hear?”
“Yeah…we’re clocked out and going home,” he said. “We gave Farraway our report, you two were copied. There are witnesses in there who swear they recognized an energy disturbance before the blast. Tuned to Mendaihu essence.”
Caren winced. “That can’t be right. They wouldn’t pull something like this. A proper awakening ritual, sure…but never something this catastrophic.”
“That’s what we’re all thinking,” he said, “but that's what we're up against here. Either a renegade Mendaihu, or someone's decided to start something big. And dangerous.”
He began to say something else, but the revving engine of a car coming up behind them drowned him out. A white unmarked patrol car pulled up alongside them, window sliding down and a mass of curly reddish brown hair popping out. Sheila leaned out and waved, an icy smile on her lips and fire in her dark brown eyes. She was not exactly in the best of moods. “Welcome back, you two,” she said. “Farraway’s inside waiting. Nick fill you in?”
Caren nodded. “Hope you two know a back way back to Glover Court. Traffic’s real sa’im rhade towards downtown.”
Sheila smiled at her and winked. “You know me, I find a way.” She waved at her partner and opened up the passenger side door. “Let’s go, Nick. Time to get the hell out of here.”
Nick hurriedly said his goodbyes and climbed in. Poe hummed and took a drag from his cigarette, watching the car pull away and snake around the last switchback. “Interesting,” he said once they were gone.
Caren caught the expression on his face—he was scowling. “Mendaihu?” she ventured.
Poe snuffed out the cigarette on the pavement. “Yeah.”
She did not say anything more about it. She had expected a renegade nuhm’ndah to be behind this, not the Mendaihu. She nudged him towards the entry elevator. “Come on, let’s get this over with. We won’t find answers down here.”
They took the main elevator up to the fourth floor, still unsettled by the quietness. Neither said anything, but it was just as well, because Caren’s mind was already running in several directions, full of unanswered questions. Never mind asking who was behind it…what was their motive? Why an awakening ritual, and why now? Who were they awakening, and why? Was there someone in particular they were aiming for? Were they aware of the strength of ritual, and how many potential Mendaihu they may have affected? And why would a Mendaihu willingly perform a ritual of such magnitude? Was it to goad the Shenaihu into acting in kind? And if so, how would that unfold? She shook her head and forced herself to stop before she went crazy. The answers would come in due time.
“I’m getting a headache already,” Poe said, cutting the silence, apparently reading her thoughts as the elevator doors slid open. His brow was a deep scowl, his focus not on the desolate hallway but in an undefined middle space ahead. “I have a few…” he trailed off, tapping a forefinger against his lips. He shook the thought away and exited the elevator.
She knew better than to ask. He was probably fielding the same unanswerable questions. She’d gotten used to his unfinished sentences, understanding that it wasn’t so much distraction as it was his way of playing the thoughts out. He’d often start saying something, only to stop after a few words when he realized it wasn’t the direction he wanted to go in. It was a little unsettling and frustrating, but he’d say what was on his mind sooner or later.
They found Chief Inspector Dylan Farraway’s office door slightly ajar and very little light spilling out. The Chief wasn’t one to dwell in darkness when things got heavy; he was a man who wanted the entire room illuminated with very little shadow. He paid attention to detail, and he wanted to make sure it was seen not just by him, but by anyone else who came in. But when they pushed the door open, they found his anteroom almost completely dark. His assistant Ellie had gone home for the evening quite a few hours ago, and apparently he had not bothered to call her back or get a secondary to fill in.
“He’s been here all night…?” Caren said, her voice just above a whisper.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said. He gestured at the light below Farraway’s inner office door — a sliver of dim light at the bottom. If he was in there, he was too blessed quiet about it. He prodded at Caren’s shoulder and pointed at the door. She lifted her hand to knock, but held it there for a second, opening it up and exposing her palm. At the tips of her fingers, she felt a weak yet distinct wave of personal energy coming from within, much of it centered near the area where the man’s desk would be. He was within, and he was fine.
She knocked quietly. “Sir?” she called. �
��It's Poe and Johnson.”
Farraway’s voice was unexpectedly calm. “Come on in.”
She turned to Poe again, this time with concern. He frowned, and gestured to the door. She pushed it open and found Farraway standing behind his desk, leaning against the low back of his chair. He acknowledged them with reddened eyes and a weak smile, and slowly, painfully, pushed himself up straight. He was clearly exhausted. Behind him, through his window and through the foyer, everything was bathed in a desperately beautiful shade of deep red.
“Sir?” Caren ventured. “Is everything okay?”
His dark brows arched, as if the question were out of place. “Me? Sure, Caren. I'm fine. Just out of energy.” He studied the two of them for a few seconds. “Both of you are fine?”
She bristled. “Sir…?”
He waved the question away. “Never mind, forget I asked. Obviously you two came in on little sleep, and you know why you were called in. As of this moment, all of your open cases have been reassigned to other officers — this ritual has become your priority. Your only priority.” He paused briefly, letting out a slow breath to measure the words for his report.
“Let’s start with a timeline: Twenty minutes before one, we started getting heavy energy readings from sensitives in the Main Street Sector — some Shenaihu, but mostly Mendaihu. They thought little of it at the time, as it happens every now and again at a meditation service. There just happened to be a scheduled service in the eastern portion of McCleever District at that point in time that was running late.
“At about ten to one, a few Mendaihu contacted the ARU to report hearing an innerspeak voice announcing a ritual of some sort. Again, they thought little of it, as most awakenings and cleansings are contained within a small area.
“And at exactly one o’clock, countless sensitives — including human, non-spiritual sensitives this time — had heard the word 'awaken'. That report’s been confirmed by numerous ARU officers as well.”
Caren shuddered. Had she heard it...?
“One,” Poe said, looking straight at Farraway.
Farraway scowled at him. “Excuse me?”
“The One of All Sacred. I heard the voice as well, sir. Whoever it was must have –”
He waved that away quickly. “Don't even entertain the thought, Poe. Coincidence. This sure as hell couldn't have been a Rebirth.”
“We can’t rule it out yet,” he countered.
Farraway dismissed the comment and continued, grabbing a hardback folder from the desk drawer. “At the moment, we’re still getting numbers on victims. Police and Fire are taking care of any damage and injuries, leaving us free to deal with our side of the investigation. This is what we have so far, including Kennedy and Slater’s report.” He dropped the folder on the desk in front of them. There were two vidmats within. “All sources pointing to a Mendaihu performing the ritual.”
Caren held back the same anger she’d felt earlier. “Why would they do this?”
Farraway pondered that for a moment, shrugging. “A rogue Mendaihu...or even a group of them...bent on soul awakening? I wouldn't know the reason. I've never known the Mendaihu to be paranoid. If they did this, they had a damn good reason. Someone or something is threatening them.”
Poe shook his head, scowling at him. “See, that’s what’s bothering me. The Shenaihu wouldn’t willingly start a spiritual war…not this kind of war, one of this size. Why the hell would they want to threaten —”
“It wouldn't be the first time,” Caren interrupted. “They've always found one avenue or another to disrupt the balance. Probably, hopefully, not as intense as the last time, but I wouldn't rule it out.” It was a weak response, but it was too personal for her not to bring it up. “I concede, it's not like the Mendaihu to instigate. Either we've got a paranoid Mendaihu, or an amazingly prescient one.”
Chief Inspector Farraway's eyes moved between them. For another long moment he said nothing. Caren and Poe understood his silences meant deep concentration on the subject at hand, but they still carried the uneasiness of emotions on edge. “Do what you think best,” he said. “I want the two of you to keep it shut, though, and shut tight. I don’t want anything distracting you or your team two. I’ve also assigned two Mendaihu agents who are coming in tomorrow.” He tapped at the keypad on his desk, entering even more information into their personal vidmats. Farraway switched on one of the flat viewing sheets and turned it in their direction, and instantly the holos sparked to life and stared back at them. They had the long black hair, dark eyes and wide oval faces of the Shalei clan. Their records were full of accolades and recommendations spanning years.
“Agents Akaina and Ashyntoya Shalei from the NewCanta chapter,” Farraway said. “They contacted me soon after the incident to offer their services. I accepted. They'll be in early tomorrow. And I'd like complete cooperation from all of you.”
Caren started to respond, but halted when she saw the coldness in Farraway’s eyes. He’d expected some kind of reaction out of her. Did he think this would dredge up unwanted emotions regarding her parents? “Of course, sir,” she said unevenly.
‘Yes, sir,” Poe answered with a nod.
“Good,” Farraway said, finally turning away. “In the meantime, I suggest you familiarize yourselves with the case, get in to the mind of the Mendaihu. The research library is still open, and Fancher’s already brought up all you need. That is all.”