Solomon led the way across the terrace. "So, Gaia. Where did you learn to do all that?"
A passing Paraperson waved at me, and I waved back. "All what?" Another one waved, and another. Everyone who saw me waved and smiled like I was a celebrity.
"What you did last night at Mammoth Mountain," said Solomon. "That was extraordinary."
I kept waving and smiling. "I didn't learn it anywhere. It just sort of happened."
"But all that power," said Solomon. "Surely that didn't just happen."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it did. I needed it, and it came to me."
"Like an adrenaline rush." Solomon narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Remarkable. On such a scale."
"What can I say?" I waved at some more Parapeople. I have to admit, I liked being recognized. Feeling like a movie star for a change. Like the center of the universe.
Solomon led us up a set of stairs to the next terrace. "Say you'll join us, that's what. Say you'll help us."
"Thanks for the offer," I said. "I'm flattered."
"Here's what it comes down to," said Solomon. "Do you want the world to be saved? Do you want the poison to be cleansed?" He stopped and fixed me in his gaze. "Because no one else is going to do it. It's all up to us, Gaia."
"Of course I want the world saved," I said.
"Something's holding you back." Solomon stared at me for a moment, then turned and started walking again. "Something's made you afraid to commit."
He was right, but I wasn't about to tell him. The matter of finding Aggie's killer still weighed on me; it was the whole reason I'd come to Parapets, after all. But to be honest, it wasn't weighing as much as it once had. Just because the killer's trail had led me to Parapets, that didn't mean Parapets had anything to do with him. He might have been just passing through, drawn by the abundant geomantic energy. Maybe the Parapeople would even be able to help me track him down. I was pretty sure they wouldn't say "no" if I asked them, especially given my new celebrity status.
So why hadn't I asked them already? And why did I hold back now from spilling my guts to Solomon? What was my hang-up?
"Well, I do hope you'll take us up on our offer," said Solomon. "If you'd like a testimonial from a brand new member, I know someone who can provide it." Grinning, he pulled Laurel close and kissed her forehead.
I frowned, and Laurel giggled. "Let me tell you, Gaia, the fringe benefits are tremendous." Beaming, she ran her fingertips over Solomon's chest and kissed him on the lips.
"You joined Parapets?" I was surprised. "When did this happen?"
"Last night." Laurel couldn't stop smiling. "Life is short, right?"
I nodded and smiled back at her. "Congrats!" But the news put me off a little. She'd only done the exact same thing I was thinking of doing, big deal...but it bothered me. Gave me a little twinge in the pit of my stomach.
"We're having a ceremony later this morning," said Solomon. "Wouldn't it be great if we had two new members to celebrate?" He raised his eyebrows and gave me a meaningful look.
I almost jumped in with both feet right there. Had a feeling it would make me even happier, then and for always. It would give meaning to the deaths of Aggie and Owen and Cousin Canyon; as awful as they'd been, they'd led me to a joyful place and a chance to save the world. There were all kinds of ways to justify joining up with this organization, which when I got right down to it, I knew very little about.
But I still held back. "I wouldn't dream of stealing your thunder, Laurel." I laughed and squeezed her shoulder. "I won't force you to share the spotlight."
"It won't be like that, Gaia," said Laurel. "Come on, I want us both to join today."
"I'll tell you what I will do." I caught Solomon's eye as we walked up the stairs to the top terrace. "Can I be her witness or maid of honor or whatever? Stand up for her at the ceremony?"
An emotion I couldn't identify flitted across his face and was gone. Replaced by the usual pleasantry. "We call that person a vow-sister, and yes. You may serve as her vow-sister at today's ceremony."
Laurel blushed. "Thank you, Gaia."
"It'll be an honor." Impulsively, I gave her a quick hug.
"And if you change your mind..." Solomon shrugged. "It'll be no trouble swearing you in, too, Gaia."
"Maybe next time." I grinned and waved at a passing group of Parapeople. One of them snapped a photo with her cell phone. "Now could somebody please get me some caffeine?"
*****
Phaola joined us on the terrace for breakfast, which was fantastic—more different kinds of filled crepes than I'd ever seen in one place before. Yogurt over fresh-picked berries in parfait glasses. Champagne mimosas instead of juice. A crowd watching us the whole time, laughing and clapping like we were on stage. Cell phone cameras snapping constantly.
When we were done, Laurel and Solomon rushed off to get ready for the ceremony (which I had a feeling would include very little actual getting ready). Since I had a little time to burn, I headed for the Great Hall with Phaola in tow. Headed straight for one particular lab I'd visited the day before, where one device under development was of particular interest to me.
"I didn't know you were into Research and Development," said Phaola as we entered the lab.
I held the door for her. "I can't get this one invention off my mind."
A young guy was working alone in the lab, watching graphics on a computer screen on a metal counter. He didn't get up from his stool when we entered. "You're that savior chick, aren't you?"
"Yep." I stood beside him and crossed my arms. "And you're that lab rat, aren't you?"
He glanced over and smirked. "I guess I'm supposed to talk you into joining Parapets, huh?" His hair and mustache were black, his skin deep brown; when he spoke, I thought he must have been from India. "Can I not extol the virtues of Parapets and say I did? Because I'm kind of busy right now."
I loved his attitude. "Sure, whatever." I walked over to the device I'd come to see—what looked like an MRI machine carved from solid glass or crystal. "I've got other fish to fry." Lightly, I ran my hand over the smooth cylinder surrounding the patient bed. The crystal vibrated and felt warm to the touch.
"Easy, Tex." The lab rat was off his stool in a heartbeat, brushing my hand away from the device. "You break it, you bought it."
"Easy yourself..." I read his name tag. "...Ayan. I'm here to help. You look like a man who could use a guinea pig."
Ayan shrugged. "There's a waiting list."
"For what, exactly?" Phaola slowly walked around the crystal MRI. "What does this thing do?"
"Think of it as afterlife radio," said Ayan. "Two-way radio. It turns out dead men do tell tales."
"And everyone wants in on the party line. I get it." Leaning down, I took a look inside the cylinder. It sparkled and smelled like cleaning solution. "But no one needs to know if I jump line, do they?"
Ayan laughed. "If someone found out, I'd be personally getting to know the dead intimately."
"What time, lab rat?" I said.
"What time for what, savior chick?" said Ayan.
"What time for my test drive?" I drummed my fingers on the cylinder.
"No no no," said Ayan. "I didn't say anything about a test..."
"You were there last night, weren't you?" I pointed at Ayan. "When I shut down the volcano in California?"
Ayan cleared his throat. "It was more of a team kind of..."
"All that power I put out there?" I raised my hands, then clenched them into fists. "Wouldn't that give your machine a hell of a jump-start?"
Ayan thought for a moment, rubbing the ends of his mustache. Then spun on his heel and marched back to his computer. "Seven o'clock tonight, and not a moment sooner."
"Why not now?" I said. "You got a date or something?"
Ayan sat down and didn't look up from his computer. "You don't tell me how to run my lab," he said, "and I won't ask you who you're trying to talk to on the other side. Capiche?"
I headed for the door. "Anyone e
ver tell you you're a pain in the ass?" I said as I walked past Ayan.
"Only on the other side," said Ayan, "and they're just jealous because I'm alive and they're not."
"You sure about that?" I said on my way out the door. "There's a thin line between jealousy and hitting the nail on the head."
"Your life will be in my hands soon!" said Ayan. "Just remember!"
"See you at seven!" I said, and then Phaola and I laughed the whole way down the hall.
*****
Chapter 48
The day just got better and better. It really did. "Smooth sailing" all the way.
Laurel's ceremony was beautiful. Everyone took a break from their work and turned out for it. Phaola and her fellow nymphs filled the sky with rainbows and glittering showers of rain that evaporated before it hit the crowd. Laurel cried when Solomon draped a necklace of kaleidoscopic shape-shifting pearls around her throat and pronounced her the newest member of Parapets and Groundswell. The crowd lavished their applause and attention on her, which was fine by me; it gave me a chance to slip away and check the ley line network for the killer.
I found no trace of him, which was also fine by me. Every time I searched and came up empty, it reinforced my hope that Parapets was clean. That the killer had only passed through it and kept going.
Why then didn't I widen my search, looking for a lead on the killer's next destination? Let's just say I wasn't in a hurry to leave. I admit it. I felt like things were coming together for me at Parapets after all the tragedies and let-downs of my recent life. I felt like I'd stumbled upon answers I'd never expected, answers and new questions that could help me turn things around in ways I'd never imagined. And, frankly, I was getting off on being a star. I loved being recognized and recruited and fawned over.
Looking back, I can't believe how selfish and irresponsible I was being. I'd come to Parapets to do a job, and I wasn't doing it very well.
But in my defense, I can honestly say it was the first time I'd truly been selfish and irresponsible. First time in my life, my current life anyway...which doesn't make it excusable, but I guess it's understandable at least.
So I had a quick look-see for the killer and hurried back to the circus. Ate and drank and danced at the reception after Laurel's ceremony. Impulsively promised to join Parapets myself and then celebrated that, too. Used my power to put on a show of skyborne rock and earth that put the nymphs to shame and drove the crowd wild.
And even as it was happening, I realized it was the best day I'd ever had. The best day of my life. No exaggeration.
So when Cassandra told me Mahoney had gone back to town, I didn't think anything of it. I'd half-expected him to leave, anyway; I didn't think he'd been planning to stay more than one day. He had a business to run, so of course he'd gone back to it.
Besides which, I had other things on my mind just then. Celebrating with my new best friends, for instance. Reveling in the love and appreciation of people who understood me.
And talking to the dead at seven o'clock.
*****
Ayan was waiting for me when I walked into his lab at seven o'clock. I could tell he'd warmed up the equipment; the crystalline MRI device was humming and rippling with streamers of iridescent light. The whole room was alive with blinking, flickering control panels and a symphony of chirps, clicks, beeps, and whistles.
"Ah! The grand entrance!" Ayan clapped sarcastically. "Nice of you to join me!"
"You said 'seven o'clock and not a minute sooner,'" I told him.
"If you'd really wanted this, you'd've been here fifteen minutes sooner," said Ayan. "I've got half a mind to shut this down and send you straight home."
I sighed and shook my head. "You are such a drama queen." Then, I headed for the crystalline device. "So what do I do? Just lie down in that thing?"
Ayan sputtered and followed me over. "Naked," he said. "You have to be naked."
I laughed and sat on the bed of the device. "Like that's gonna happen."
"Worth a shot." Ayan shrugged. "Free your mind, and the rest will follow."
"That's kind of the whole idea." The humming was louder when I lay down on the device. As I pushed myself into the cylindrical bay, the multicolored streamers of light rippling through it moved faster. "Any other suggestions?"
"We want to charge this thing up. I mean hyper-charge it." Ayan's voice was muffled by the crystalline cylinder. He stood over me, pressing glowing buttons on the surface of the bay. "So channel your power into it. Start low and build."
"When do I tune in the afterlife?" I said.
"Focus on the one person you most want to talk to." Ayan turned knobs, and the humming in the bay became a soft whine. "Think of her name, what she looked like, how she sounded. Really concentrate on that person. You should hear a voice..."
"But not you, pretending to sound like a ghost."
"You'll hear that first." Ayan chuckled and made more adjustments. "Then you'll hear the person on the other side. At least that's how it's supposed to work, thanks to the wonders of science and magic. Either that, or it'll turn your brain to tapioca." He finished working on the bay and walked off. "Either way, you get to talk to the dead."
"Guaranteed results," I said. "What's not to like?"
If Ayan answered, I didn't hear it. I lay for a long moment in the bay, waiting to get rolling...and thinking about what a great day I'd just had. Wondering how tomorrow could possibly be any better.
Laurel and I were staying another night, of course. After all, my induction ceremony was set for the next morning. And the truth was, I figured Laurel was staying for good. She was even happier than I was, plus she was in love with Solomon. I couldn't think of a reason for her not to stay.
And come to think of it, what reasons did I have for leaving? Cruel World Travel? Crimefighting with Briar? Hanging out with Duke? All of it seemed so empty now, based on a lifetime of lies. And I had a feeling any appeal it still held was about to go up in smoke. Any minute now, I would get the whole truth about my life, about my lives...the full truth that even Duke had been unable to provide. Because when I reached out to the other side, I was going to talk to the one person who knew all the answers about me. The one dead person who knew everything.
Me. I was going to talk to myself.
"Okay, Gaia." I heard Ayan's voice loud and clear from a speaker in the bay. "Go ahead and start channeling your power."
I did as he said. Closed my eyes and focused my will on beaming power into the device. Started at a low, steady level, a faint radiation seeping into the crystal. Then raised it by increments, concentrating the whole time on the image of the person I most wanted to contact. Thinking of her name and face and voice, which were my own.
Gaia. I reached out with my mind, searching for the soul of the one who'd come before me. The one who'd killed herself because she'd learned the truth about her life.
Briefly, I wondered if the same thing might happen to me...if the full truth was so terrible, it might drive me to hurt myself, too. It was a chance I was willing to take; the thought of finding out the secrets of my life was too enticing to resist. I just had to hope I had an advantage this time, going in knowing the truth had been bad enough to make me kill myself once before. I was already bracing myself for a rough ride, so maybe I could take it.
Gaia. Where are you, Gaia? I continued reaching out, hoping my message was getting through. Continued increasing the level of power I was pushing into the device, hoping it would open a window or door to the other side.
Can you hear me, Gaia? I ramped up my output, pouring more energy than ever into the device. Strained harder to reach into the other side, struggling to block out the machine's whine as it rose around me. Tell me about my life, Gaia.
Still, I heard nothing. Felt nothing unusual, either. If a window had opened to another plane of existence, it made no difference to me.
Gaia? Talk to me, Gaia. I continued to boost my output, flooding the device with power. Reached out more force
fully with my mind, demanding results. Started to wonder if the self who'd died hadn't passed into an afterlife at all...if her soul had simply been recycled into mine. Maybe there was no past Gaia to find on the other side, no ghost with all the answers.
Gaia? Are you out there? The device turned hot around me as I let loose the most power I could send. The spillways were wide open now; if there were windows and doors at all, they would be blown off their hinges.
"Holy crap, Gaia," said Ayan. "I can't believe how much juice you're putting out!"
Still, I kept pouring out more, and more rushed to take its place. I was like a flamethrower with an inexhaustible supply of fuel, eternally burning hot.
I reached out with increasing desperation, clawing at the void with my thoughts. Talk to me, Gaia! Concentrating harder than I ever had before. I need to know the truth! Grasping at nothingness, feeling nothing reaching back for me. No past-life mind or soul brimming over with answers.
But that didn't seem to bother Ayan. He didn't even ask if I was getting through to the other side. "The levels are off the charts! All the gauges are pegged!" He whooped with excitement. "How long can you keep this up?"
I didn't answer him. Please talk to me! Please help me!
The device was uncomfortably hot around me. I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer. The multicolored streamers of light were moving so fast, they strobed. My eyes were closed, and the strobe effect still punched right through my eyelids. I was starting to feel dizzy.
Gaia, please! I was running out of time. Please talk to me! Nausea on top of the dizziness. Sweat rolling off my body, turning to steam when it hit the hot crystal.
One more push, the biggest yet. A scream. Gaia!! Every last bit of power and will channeled into that single burst. Help me!!
Still nothing. Still silence. The device didn't work, or it wouldn't work for me, or there was no one to find on the other side. Or there was no other side.
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