by Jon Chaisson
CHAPTER FIVE
Caren
Caren and Poe left Headquarters as the sun rose over Branden Hill District, exhausted and frustrated. Caren stifled a yawn and rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands as they pulled out of the dark garage and into the bright morning. The muscles in her arms and legs screamed and twitched, pleading for sleep. Poe’s chain smoking wasn’t helping, but she was too tired to complain. At this point, as long as a window was open, Caren didn't care. Their investigation was far from over, but right now she just wanted to crawl back into her bed for the next twenty hours.
They’d just spent the last five hours downtown, interviewing witnesses and those affected, and her energy levels were depleted. After the fallout zone, such as it was, had been deemed safe for passage, they’d made their way through the grid of streets in the Tower Sector, searching for anyone else who hadn’t yet made their presence known. The recently awakened were usually easy to find, as they often gave off a heavy amount of excess spiritual energy which lasted for at least two or three days. Their work was cut out for them in that respect, but they still had to actively look for many who had chosen not to say anything, or say as little as possible. And there were a lot of those. By the time they’d interviewed at least three dozen willing people and gotten contact information for a few dozen more, they’d decided to give up for the time being. They’d made their way back to the ARU headquarters as the sun rose, grabbed a small and unfulfilling breakfast in the cafeteria, and debated what their next step would be. By now, Denni was most likely getting ready for school, so Caren called to check up on her. Her sister was bleary-eyed and exhausted from little sleep, but she put on a brave face and told her she felt no lingering effects of last night’s shockwave. Relieved by those words, Caren let her end the call. Poe suggested they drive around a bit and people-watch for an hour or two before calling it a day. It wasn’t the most productive thing to do, but it killed off the excess tension and it helped them gauge how the city was reacting to the ritual.
“Farraway,” Poe said, cutting the silence between them. He exhaled a puff of smoke and flicked ash out the window. “I’m starting to wonder…”
He said nothing else, and Caren glared at him. “What are you going on about?”
He threw a quick glance at her. “Oh…sorry, just thinking aloud. Just that…well, Farraway’s giving us conflicting signals. Calls us in to investigate an unsanctioned ritual. No problem, part of our job. Has Nick and Sheila start it off. Again, no problem, they’re our team two and they can handle it. Then assigns us two high-level Mendaihu to assist. Unexpected, but not out of the ordinary.”
Caren bristled. “Are you going anywhere with this?”
He flicked ash out of the window and took another drag before he continued. “Does it bother you that this ritual was big enough to cause that much spiritual bleedover? That was a cloud at least three or so miles in diameter when we saw it last night. You’d think we’d have Special Ops jumping in. Or CNF at this point, considering where it hit.”
She frowned at him. She kind of understood, but she was too exhausted to think straight. “Are you saying this case is a lot bigger than he's making it out to be?”
“It’s not a racial issue between the Meraladhza and the Gharné,” he said. “This is between the Mendaihu and the Shenaihu, and it’s not just a relations issue, either. I really hate that I have to say this, but I think one or the other is about to do something, and a Mendaihu just made the first move. Farraway wouldn't have brought the Shalei twins in otherwise.”
She wanted to agree with him, but she didn’t want to admit it, not just yet. “How do you know that? We’ve handled renegade cases before, Alec.”
“Not like this, we haven’t.”
“But how can we prove that?”
“Because neither the Mendaihu nor the Shenaihu act out in this manner, not without motive,” he shot back. “It’s not in their nature, you know that. And when they do, their own kind usually gets a hold of them before we do. Did you notice how many people commented on who might have been behind the ritual?”
Caren frowned. “Not many,” she said. “They recognized the signature, no doubting that. But they weren’t talking.”
“Damn straight they weren’t!” Poe growled, started to say something else, and then stopped. He growled again, took a deep drag off of his cigarette and forcefully crushed it in the ashtray, and focused quietly and intently on the road ahead. She’d rarely seen him get this riled up, and she knew enough not to push it any further. He had a mean streak when his blood boiled and his words would often go unchecked. She’d seen him lash out on criminals to just this side of an assault charge, and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end. She waited it out as they drove aimlessly through the Branden Hill district.
“So what do you think?” she asked, her voice deliberately calm. “Should we escalate this to the Crimson-Null Foundation officials? We still have time, and we’d be able to back the hell away.”
He responded with a quick shake of the head. “I don’t think that would help, to be honest. CNF won't know what to do with it. I’d say this is more a spiritual thing than a political or racial one. You and I are programmed for this kind of event.” He pulled out another cigarette, debated lighting up, and stuck it behind his ear instead. “This wasn’t any CNF-ranked terrorist, Caren. Just a regular Mendaihu. One hell of a strong one, yes, but a regular B-Towner, just like you and me. Only the strongest of the Mendaihu can summon up something like that. Especially something that big.” He shrugged. He pulled the cigarette from his ear and lit it up. His hands trembled slightly, enough for her to catch it. Poe rarely showed such fear openly.
“You still think this is similar to twenty-five years ago, don’t you?” she said quietly.
He exhaled slowly, and nodded. “Yes, I do.”
“Goddess…” Caren felt the chill all the way through her soul. It was the cold sting of ice upon her very essence. She bit her lip, hoping Poe hadn't noticed. Again she thought of the image of her parents, both Mendaihu of blood and deed, watching over her…and the image of their violent and pointless deaths. All in the name of spiritual balance. A delicate balance that was now in question once again. Almost like clockwork.
“Then in response...then the Shenaihu...” She found she couldn't even finish the sentence.
“We need Vigil,” he said, his voice low.
She frowned and nodded in agreement.