Resonance

by Dianne J Wilson

  As the breath left his lungs, the blades of glass grass responded. They moved as one, swishing to each emotion, each word. As he sang of Tau, the glass grass blades zipped to each other, lying flat, forming one solid surface.

  Kai knew what to do. His heart sang to Tau, and it poured from his mouth in music and song. He stepped onto the field of flattened glass and it held. He took another step, and another.

  28

  Evazee was dozing when the electric buzz of the force field shut off. The absence of noise woke her. She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. Peta popped into her pod.

  “Are you awake? They’re coming to fetch us.”

  Evazee leaned back on the wall of her pod, wishing that the mush in her brain would leave. “Who are they?”

  “I dunno. I just heard a voice telling me to get ready because it was time.”

  Somehow those words didn’t excite Evazee much, but she kept her thoughts to herself and followed the small girl out of her room. They met a dozen others in the central space between their pods, all of them just as confused as Evazee felt as to where they were being taken.

  They didn’t have long to wait. A man appeared. He was dressed in a casual cream jumpsuit. He motioned them all closer. “Have a look around. Can anyone tell me what you all have in common?”

  A couple of them glanced around and shrugged. Evazee slipped a hand over the imprint at the base of her neck. She had a feeling this was what they had in common. Peta watched her closely, staring with one eyebrow lifted.

  “Keep yours hidden for as long as you can. OK?”

  Peta pulled at her sleeve and covered up her silvery-grey imprint. “What are you going to do about yours?”

  Evazee took the ponytail out of her hair and it fell in loose waves around her shoulders. “This might help a little.”

  The jumpsuit man came straight for Evazee and brought her to the front. He pulled her hair back from her neck and pointed at her imprint. So much for trying to hide it.

  “This is why you are all here. You all have these. We’ve discovered that these marks are a major hindrance to our training methods. We know that you are all here because you responded to The Call. You must understand that The Call bypasses logic but resonates with the deepest part of you, a part you may not even know exists. By responding, you acknowledged your deep, unspoken desire for more. We are here to help you find what you long for. The first step is to free yourself from this branding that limits you. You no longer need to be held captive by a simple image. You are more than that.”

  The group shuffled. A few looked hopeful. The rest looked worried. Evazee had no desire to lose her imprint. She was only just beginning to figure out how it all worked, and she liked it.

  White showed all around Peta’s eyes. It seemed she didn’t want to lose hers either.

  Jumpsuit man seemed entirely unfazed by their lack of enthusiasm as he herded them together. “Follow me.” He led them down a narrow passage. Was that running water? They stepped into a high vaulted chamber. In the middle of the floor stood a tall, rectangular stone structure. Each side formed an arch and water cascaded off the top, flowing down in a solid sheet of liquid across each opening, hiding what was inside. Peta’s cold hand slipped into hers.

  “Right, folks, there’s nothing to be scared of. Who will be taking the plunge first?”

  No. She didn’t want to do this. Losing her imprint was unimaginable. But she needed to know what to expect so she could either warn Peta, or create some miracle to get them both out.

  Her nails dug into her palms as she stepped forward. “I will.”

  ~*~

  As the last note of his song sounded, Kai stepped off the flattened glass grass. The moment he drew breath, the grass swished up, tall and deadly once more. Even though he was safely across, Kai’s heartbeat doubled. Too close.

  He faced the bridges to the city now, completely unsure of which one would grant him access. There was always the risk that his name was on some wanted list and buzzing in through the front gate would bring the authorities down on him, but that was a chance he’d have to take.

  It took two misses before he found a first-tier gate that would let him in. After that, it all seemed too easy. He found Tau’s temple by following a group of city dwellers to the replenishing hall, and from there he used the familiar hall to re-orientate and take the right direction.

  Kai walked up to Tau’s temple with a plan. Get inside and find out what’s going on. On second thought, that probably didn’t count as a plan. It was getting near time for another service, and the crowd of people was growing steadily.

  Kai hung out on the fringes. If the authorities saw him, they would remember him as a troublemaker. There was no doubt in his mind. Being thrown out—or worse—locked up somewhere would be counterproductive. He finally settled in between two tall pillars of the building just across the street from the temple. It was a good vantage point without being seen.

  The mood in the square was grim. Most of the celebrants wore troubled frowns and downcast eyes. Not a single smile amongst the lot of them. Was a glum face a pre-requisite for gaining entry? A man caught his attention, sitting outside the temple with his back to the wall, his arms hooked loosely around his knees. He watched the people as they passed, the expression on his face completely unreadable.

  He looked familiar. Kai dismissed him and scanned the crowd once more, but his attention drew back to the man. In a sea of people brimming with deep concern, he carried peace as if it ran through his veins.

  There was only one other man who’d ever come close.

  Tau.

  Could it be Tau? Kai’s heart popped, and he nearly rushed over, but something held him back.

  Across from him, a young girl was watching the man, too. Her midnight hair was drawn back into a single straight ponytail, much like Bree’s. The man caught her eye and smiled. It was Tau.

  The girl searched the crowd, maybe looking for whoever she’d come with. Whatever she was looking for, she must have found it as the tautness left her shoulders, and she ran over to Tau. He patted the ground next to where he sat, and she bottomed down next to him without a moment’s hesitation. Tau leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

  The girl’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded. Tau took her hand in his and traced a pattern on the skin of her forearm. The LifeLight patterns underneath her milky skin danced. The Light darted beneath her skin, and she glowed. Her face lit up in sheer delight as the LifeLight settled inside her.

  A brief flash and then the light dimmed and winked out, leaving a perfect silvery imprint on the inside of her wrist. The little girl threw her arms around Tau’s neck and hugged him. He whispered again, and she nodded, running quickly to lose herself in the crowd.

  Kai crossed the street and stopped at Tau’s feet. “It is you.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Why are you sitting outside?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Kai waved toward the huge building. “It’s your temple. Shouldn’t you be inside?”

  Tau leaned forward and craned his neck. “Oh this thing.” He shrugged, “They don’t let me in.”

  “Are you for real?”

  Tau grinned. “Those that come here are searching but not always for me. Besides, I’m right here. Those who truly want me, recognize me.”

  “So what happens inside the temple then? Is it all just wasted space?”

  Tau’s face creased into a frown, “Not quite. I think you’d need to see for yourself.”

  “I don’t know how to get in. The last time I made it as far as backstage, and I saw them orchestrate a whole meeting. They shammed a miracle healing. It was horrible. They also saw me, so that ruins my chances of going back.”

  Tau grimaced. “If they would only ask, I would do some real miracles for them. Maybe one day they will.” He smiled.

  Kai’s emotions reset. “We can hope!”

  “The area you call backstage is only one section of the temple. I thi
nk you’ll find what happens there rather interesting. Here, let me show you how to get in.”

  Tau reached down and drew in the stone slabs of the road with his finger. His fingertip melted the hard surface, leaving grooves behind. In less than a minute, he’d drawn a complete, overhead diagram of the temple.

  “Right, we are here.” He marked a spot with an X. “You’ll need to go down this way.” his finger traced a second line around the outside of the temple, “to about here. This whole wall looks solid, but it’s designed to let people in unnoticed. So if you know what you’re looking for, you can let yourself in. Once inside, find the lowest level of the central court, and you should find what you seek.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then you find a way to correct the wrong. You’ll need help, but you are not alone.”

  “Well I’m glad to see that you are still as vague as ever.”

  “I try my best.” Tau mock-bowed.

  ~*~

  The soldier waved toward the tall rectangular structure. “Pick your side and enter. Be careful. What you face in there can harm you.”

  “What do you mean by harm?”

  The soldier waved her forward. Evazee gave one last glance back toward Peta, who stood with her face pale and hands balled into fists.

  The arches. Focus on the arches.

  Inside the first arch was a familiar scene. It was the image of her dad in bed holding the letter she’d written. The same vision had plagued her with guilt for years now. Only a fool would willingly go back there.

  She moved on. The next scene turned her stomach. The training ground at the OS. Peta lay in a crumpled heap at the foot of the climbing wall and darKounds prowled the perimeter. It didn’t take much to hurry past that one either.

  The third showed her gran tucked up and frail in her hospital bed. It had been a long time since Evazee had visited, and the twinge of guilt in her belly was enough to make her run.

  The glow from the fourth arch played patterns across the floor, mesmerising Evazee before she even turned the corner. Like seeing a sunset from underwater, rippled light and colour wooed her. This was the one.

  Water splashed her skin, and she flinched. It was icy, but as she passed through, she stayed dry. Beach sand crumbled beneath her feet, and sunlight warmed her skin and made it tingle. Evazee turned in a slow circle. Waves rolled in lazily, showing off their sparkling shade of turquoise on one side, but she turned her back on that scene, captured by what lay opposite.

  A pathway led between the dunes, underneath overhanging banana trees with clusters of ripe fruit. She stepped into the shade and followed. Flowers grew between the feet of the trees, playfully dotting splashes of colour that glowed even in dimness. Rushing water filled the air with music. There must be a waterfall up ahead. She broke through the trees and sank behind a rock.

  She was right. A sparkling waterfall, higher than a four-story building, threw its water into a rocky pool with the petulance of a child. Someone was swimming, unaware of her. A leaf cracked beneath her foot and she cringed.

  The man in the pool turned onto his back and floated, making snow angel patterns in the water. His eyes were closed and he looked familiar, though from this distance, Evazee couldn’t be sure.

  “Evazee, come join me. The water is fine.”

  Evazee’s heart thumped, and she frowned as she peered over the top of the rock. The man still floated with his eyes shut. How did he know her name?

  “Don’t you recognise me?”

  She inched forward and squinted, tilting her head sideways. It was Elden. But not uptight Elden who was so tightly wound that one wrong word would snap him. Oh no. This Elden was totally relaxed. His skin was golden, and he smiled, stealing her breath away.

  “Come on in. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Evazee’s heart pounded, and she felt more alive than ever. She slipped out from behind the rock and padded to the edge of the pool on bold feet. Every weight she’d ever carried lifted from her heart. The water lapping her ankles made her skin tingle, and clothes and all, she slipped easily below the surface. So this is what it felt like to be alive. Truly alive. Light danced through the water, and she hung suspended, feeling weightless. Only when her lungs were bursting did she come up for air.

  Elden’s eyes sparkled in the sunlight as he watched her every move. “It’s good, yes?”

  Evazee laughed and splashed water at him. He ducked below the surface and swam to her. His arms slipped around her waist.

  “Dance with me.”

  “But I can’t feel the bottom.”

  “You don’t need to.” He pulled her close, and she surrendered to the rhythm of the water, the pounding of the waterfall and the warmth of his skin. He swam her over to a shallow rocky bowl. They settled against the side with their legs floating free. The sensations on her skin overwhelmed her, leaving her breathless.

  “Do you know how beautiful you look right now?”

  Evazee giggled and waved off the compliment.

  But Elden wouldn’t let it drop. “Wait, you have to see.” He dived back into the pool and kicked down to the bottom. When he came back up, he held a shell in his hands, polished and shiny as a mirror. He settled in next to her and held it up. Their reflection in the shell looked otherworldly.

  A sliver of unease shot through her belly. She reached for his arm and pulled the shell closer, angling it so that she could see the hollow between her collar bones. Her imprint had faded so much, it was almost gone.

  ~*~

  Kai stared at the wall and scratched his head. If Tau could show up and point out this entrance to him, it would be so much simpler. He stepped in close and ran his fingers along the edges of the smooth stones. Nothing moved or shifted. This felt like such a waste of time. He pressed on the corners of the stones, wishing he had taken more careful note of what Tau had said. For all his pressing, nothing changed.

  He took a step back, studying the wall. Maybe he could do the same finger thing that Tau could do. A song flitted through his mind, something about impossible and nothing. He hummed it as he reached toward the cement between the stone. It melted beneath his skin with an ease that took his breath away. He traced out a rectangular shape and pushed. The stones shifted aside, and the way in stood open. If ever Kai needed a stark reminder that the spiritual realm operated on different laws to the natural…

  He climbed through and dropped to his feet inside the coolness of the room. Cold air brushed over his skin and raised goose bumps all down his arms. The silence was broken only by the sound of water flowing. It rushed and slowed with a gusting that could be mistaken for wind.

  The wall in front of him was curved. Kai placed his hands on the wall, hoping for some clue as to which way to go. He shut his eyes and felt the flow going to the right. So the source may be to the left. Removing his hands from the wall, he followed the curved passage and came to a dead-end. At least that ruled out one way to go.

  Smack in the middle of the dead-end wall was a button. Kai reached out and pushed it. A vibration passed through the stone below his feet, yet nothing changed.

  There was nothing for it but to follow the passage the other way. His footsteps echoed. He waited for soldiers to peel out of the woodwork and drag him out of here. But nobody came, and Kai kept walking alone, following the constant curve of the walls, spiralling ever deeper into the heart of the temple.

  The noise of his feet echoed, bouncing off the walls and coming back to him louder.

  Hiss. The surface beneath his feet shifted. Kai looked down and yelled. The rock beneath his feet had melted and morphed into a transparent glass-like substance.

  Below the surface ran a river of black ooze, flowing in the opposite direction to what Kai was walking. He kept on, following the ever-shrinking passage toward the middle of the temple. Softly at first, almost imperceptible, the noise of wind began to build. By the time Kai consciously identified the sound, it had swelled to a level that seemed like it might whip t
he roof of the building off.

  The passage opened out into a circular room built around a central tube. At once Kai knew what was making wind sounds. The high ceiling was made from the same see-through substance as the floor, but instead of the black beneath his feet, there were four distinct colours channelled into the space from different directions. Each stream fed in at an angle and blew around the circle until they all emptied into the tall, central, glass tube. They mingled as they spun together, and halfway down the tube, all the colour blended to make sticky, black goop. He’d seen it before. In the spirit cuttings.

  Kai rubbed the back of his neck and shoulders. Staring up was giving him a crick. One stream was a dull grey. Next to it was a diffused black flow. Then a glowing purple section, and lastly, wedged between the purple and grey, a sparkling gold flow that twinkled and shone. It seemed completely out of place.

  Kai traced the gold stream to the section of the wall where it entered. He leaned on the wall and craned his neck to try get a better look at what the gold flecks were made from. As he touched the wall, a panel lit up, displaying a stretch of sparkly rock lighting a flat expanse, populated by small mounds. He recognised the place from the surveillance room monitor.

  Kai moved across to the purple section and reached for the wall. Again, his touch activated the panel. In the image that lit up, he saw the shacks up on stilts painted in lumo purple from mushrooms.

  Kai avoided the black and went straight to the grey. A night-vision image of the graveyard slowly appeared, and Kai realized where he’d seen the grey before. His friends had been covered in it until their wardrobe upgrade in Stone City.

  It looked like there were different things being harvested in different places, and it all came together here to make black goo. But what was the point?

  With no small measure of dread, Kai approached the panel below the black and braced himself for images of nameless horror. Holding his breath, he touched it and then stepped back a few paces. The scene that lit up the screen shocked him.

  It was a worship service in the courtyard of Tau’s temple.