AEGIS EVOLUTION

by S. S. Segran

  Aari didn’t buy the charade and knew the girls didn’t either, but they wouldn’t question it. Not yet, anyway. Mariah smiled. “We’re glad you’re still here, brickhead.”

  “Now that that’s settled,” Subira said, not unkindly, “I recommend you stay today and tomorrow. If Kody is flying you to South Africa, he should have a few proper meals and rest.”

  “Oh boy,” Kody hummed. “I’m starving.”

  “Er, we might have a problem.” Mariah held up her backpack. “I don’t think we’ll be able to take the Tree of Life with us on the flight out of Africa. It grows a lot every day.”

  “There is a courier south of the border that may still be open,” Dominique said. “I can have the tree dispatched to the go-between Sentry in Yukon, who’ll deliver it to Dema-Ki. And I might as well tell you this now and get it over with…” She cleared her throat, as if bracing herself. “Elder Nageau reached out to me last night. He instructed me to take Ajajdif back to the DRC and hold him there.”

  Aari wheeled around to face her. “DRC? But that means—”

  “I won’t be going with you to Dema-Ki,” she affirmed.

  Before the teenagers could complain, Marshall said, “One more thing. Subira.”

  The leader of the Watchers regarded him crabbily. “If you’re going to thank my people again, I will personally feed you to a leopard.”

  “Heh, don’t worry, I won’t. Actually, your people is what I wanted to talk about. Yours and ours. You, Dominique and I are really not so different. Domi and I are Sentries, descendants of an uncommon group of people with a duty that we can’t forsake… quite like the Watchers.”

  Aari could see Subira’s curiosity pique. “Interesting,” she said, “though something in your tone tells me you won’t share more than that, most likely because you can’t.”

  Marshall scrunched up his face. “Guilty as charged. But I’d like to think there’s a kind of kinship between the Watchers and the Sentries.”

  “I don’t know about ‘kinship’, Sentry, but let’s start with this: Should you need aid, or even if you drop by this region for a visit, know that you have allies here.”

  “That’s a better start than I could’ve hoped for, Watcher.”

  Subira nodded at the teenagers. “And what of these four?”

  Marshall smiled fondly at the friends. “Actually, there’s five of them. And they’ve got a bigger role to play than any one of us.”

  “Love you too, big guy,” Kody said, “but I could really do with a meal right now.”

  * * *

  The friends and Marshall saw Subira and some of her people one last time as they prepared to take off for South Africa the following morning. The Watchers wished them well, each touching the box of seeds before Tegan zipped it in her bag.

  Parting with Dominique had been difficult, but the Sentry assured the friends that they would see each other again. They gave her long hugs and boarded the Cessna, waving as she and the Watchers grew smaller in the vast savanna as the plane ascended. Flying south under the radar until they were out of Tanzania, they refueled at a small town on the shore of Lake Malawi that Subira had recommended.

  The leader of the Watchers was correct about the availably of flights out of Cape Town. However, the only connections they could find involved a circuitous route through painfully slow transits to their destination. Three days after leaving Tanzania, they shivered in the chilly air of northern Canada as they neared the fringes of Dema-Ki on horseback.

  I’m packing a heated blanket next time, Aari groused to himself. Guh, I hate the cold.

  Huyani and Akol had met with them at the edge of the forest, gathering the friends in one massive cuddle while Aari made a muffled comment about there being a lot of physical contact the entire week. Marshall was instantly overwhelmed upon being introduced to the siblings; he had never met anyone from Dema-Ki apart from Nageau. The Sentry was still in awe and trying to come to grips with the whole experience as their horses climbed the incline at the open end of the valley to enter the snow-covered village from the east.

  Akol, riding beside Marshall, grinned. “You wear the same expression as the other Sentries when they arrived a few days ago.”

  “We hear about this place from family members who heard it from Sentries before them,” Marshall murmured, taking in the pine trees, clusters of neyra and assortment of structures. “But to actually be here? It’s like retuning to a home I never knew was mine, but it feels just right.”

  “I hope you are well-versed in our language,” Huyani said light-heartedly. “Not all of us are omnilinguists.”

  “My dad made sure of it, but my accent’s gonna be atrocious. I apologize in advance.”

  Aari wondered at Marshall’s reaction. Funny, he thought. The five of us take this whole place for granted, but for a Sentry… it’s almost like a pilgrimage.

  Beside him, Mariah patted her mare’s neck. “It feels so good to be back in the saddle.”

  On Aari’s other side, Kody grimaced. “Of course you’d say that. Meanwhile, I’ve got a nasty saddle sore.”

  “Weakling.”

  “Don’t joke,” Tegan grumbled. “He has been weakening again. We’ll need to get another leaf for him to inhale.”

  They kept to the left of the river that divided the village, riding past the community square, the greenhouse, and finally to the barn and stable. The friends swiftly dismounted, and Tegan looked to the siblings. “Is it okay if we—”

  “Yes, yes,” Huyani beamed, waving them away. “Go! We will take care of your steeds.”

  The friends took off, jogging upriver through the trees until they came upon Dema-Ki’s new community hall where they knew their families and the Elders awaited their arrival.

  Tegan gripped the handle but didn’t turn it. Aari tilted his head. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “We’re going to see our families again after more than three months.” Her every word shook. “But this time we don’t have Jag with us.”

  “They already know he was taken,” Kody said. “And they know I’m sick. The Elders told them when they arrived.”

  “I know that. It’s just… it’s going to be hard to look at the Sanchezes.”

  Mariah rubbed the other girl’s back. “Jag wouldn’t want us to feel like this, Teegs. Come on. Let’s head in.”

  Tegan stiffened her jaw and they entered the spacious community hall. It was identical to the old one, right down to the fixtures and amenities, the prominent log beams that held up the roof, and the many round, wooden tables. Aari shuddered at the familiarity of the place. He recalled too clearly how the old hall had nearly burned down when Hutar tried to kill the friends.

  Then he spied the families and Elders by the stained-glass doors at the other end of the building, and the memories dispersed.

  The reunion was emotional and semi-chaotic, just a blur of motion as families rushed to envelop each of the friends. Aari’s father crushed him in an embrace, lifting him off the ground. Aari tried to pull away from the stubbly face. “Oy! I like affection as much as the next guy, but do you know how much hugging we’ve had recently?”

  “William, be careful, please,” Aari’s mother tutted, her eyes damp.

  William Barnes’ freckled face lit up as he let his son go, and Aari scooped up his four-year-old sister. “Hey, you little stinker. Missed me?” When the smaller redhead poked his nose, he laughed and covered her with little kisses. “Yeah, I missed you too, Leah.”

  As the buzz died, Tegan motioned for the friends to join her. Aari lowered his sister to the ground and the friends approached the Sanchez family. Neither party spoke, but when Jag’s parents held out their arms, the friends rushed into their embrace and his siblings joined in. It was a long minute before the family would let them go.

  Tegan pulled out the brass-clad box from her backpack and the group followed her to join the Elders, who’d watched the proceedings in courteous silence. She presented the box and Nageau took it reverentl
y, fingertips feather-light as he traced the patterns on the lid.

  “The Saplings of Aegis have returned,” he said. “And with them, the cure for humanity.”

  66

  Kody, Tegan, Aari and Mariah looked out over Dema-Ki from a hill at the west end of the valley. Gareth and Marshall, having updated each other on recent events, joined the friends on the slope. Even Victor decided to mingle, though he didn’t speak much. That was perfectly fine with Kody as he couldn’t decide what to make of the man yet.

  It turned out that, after losing their charter bus from the intercept by Reyor’s men in Alberta, two of the remaining Sentries had trekked to the nearest town to secure a pair of RVs while Victor and Gareth interred the bodies of the young Sentries killed in the assault. The entire group arrived at Dema-Ki later than scheduled, but all in one piece. Tegan’s father had his gunshot wound looked at by the Sentries and they’d patched him up just enough until they got to Dema-Ki, where Huyani and Tikina had then tended to him.

  Kody tugged his jacket tighter. It wasn’t smart to loiter in the cold in his state but he wanted to take in the pristine mountain air, to allow its freshness to seep into his ailing body. He tried not to think about what he’d been through, how the sickness had invaded him and pervaded his mind, driving him to see things that weren’t there and feel things that made him want to—

  He thrust the thought away. Knock it off. Don’t think. Just look forward. You’re fine. You’ll be fine. You’re not messed up. You’re fine.

  He bopped his head against Marshall, harder than intended. “So! How long you staying?”

  “Dunno,” Marshall replied, grabbing the teenager in a headlock. “It depends on what the Elders need from us.”

  “Speaking of,” Gareth said, “it’s the end of the evening. Don’t you four have a meeting?”

  “Yeah,” Tegan mumbled from where she rested against Mariah. “We should get going.”

  The friends pulled each other up and bid the Sentries good night. They headed across the river and up another incline to the temple, passing the open marble foyer with the center cauldron flaring in vibrant-colored flames, and walked down the hall. Nageau, Tikina, Ashack, Saiyu and Tayoka welcomed them as they entered the alcove where the Elders met to discuss matters.

  “Let us address the concern that is at the top of our minds,” Nageau said once the greetings were over. “Jag.”

  “We’ve tried but we still can’t sense him in the novasphere,” Tegan said.

  “Unfortunately so. From what we have ascertained, the harbinger wants him alive so perhaps his abilities have been curtailed. Tony seems to have returned with a vengeance and remains utterly loyal to Reyor. We have no inkling as to where he would have taken Jag, but rest assured, every Sentry out there is keeping an eye out and an ear to the ground.”

  “Keeping an eye out?” Mariah echoed. “Is that all we’re doing?”

  “No,” Tikina said delicately. “Younglings, we know this is hard, especially for Jag’s family and the four of you. It is not easy on the Elders and the people of Dema-Ki, either. You must understand that we will not rest until we find him. Still, there is a spark of hope. Victor gave us the name of a location known as ‘the Heart’. We speculate that it may be a Sanctuary. Victor believes a place with such a name must be significant, and Deverell is looking into it. We have other Sentries helping as well.”

  Tayoka pulled at his red beard, face weighed by grief, and murmured something. Tikina and Nageau, who’d been telepathically translating for the other Elders, both squeezed his arm. A knot formed inside Kody and he found himself wanting to comfort Jag’s mentor.

  “Elder Tayoka wishes us to recognize something important,” Tikina said. “Jag’s role.”

  “His timely and relentless questioning about the Tree of Life’s secrecy gave us cause to delve deeper into our archives,” Nageau said. “None of the Elders probed into that aspect of the Tree because that same secrecy is a mantle in our world. As such, we accepted it without question. But Jag would not have it. If not for him, Earth would be consumed in hellfire worse than what Reyor has already spawned.”

  Kody folded his arms and let his gaze wander through the assortment of flora around him, taking in the scents that were uniquely Dema-Ki. Jag, man, you don’t know what a hero you are. I hope you’re okay, brother.

  “So our boy averted a crisis,” Aari said, “but what about the current one? Elder Nageau, as of today, twenty-five million people are dead. And that’s just from the violent strain.”

  Nageau sat back and looked at the other Elders. Ashack raised a hand helplessly.

  “The Tree of Life arrived yesterday and was replanted in the greenhouse,” Nageau said. “Magèo and Nal have already sowed the remaining seeds. The first tree is nine days old now, and for full potency in large doses it needs to be at least four weeks old. If we rush to administer the cure, the sap’s effectiveness will be reduced drastically.”

  “But three more weeks…” Aari tucked his chin to his chest. “We were in Africa for eight or nine days, and the death toll went up by over one million in that time. The number of lives that will be lost while we wait now… ”

  “I understand, Aari. It is a conundrum. So this is what the Elders have decided after discussing with Magèo: While we cannot afford to risk tapping into the sapling just yet, we will try when it reaches the two-week mark. At that time, the sap can be harvested but its potency will be halved. We will tap into the tree again when it reaches maturity. It is the best we can do.”

  “Is there a plan to distribute it to the masses?” Tegan asked.

  “Since the sap is highly concentrated and evaporates readily into the atmosphere, Magèo believes that it would take a minute quantity to permeate the air in the form of mist. He has worked out three stages in the delivery of the cure.”

  “Sorry, I don’t mean to cut in,” Kody said, “but if we can get the cure from the tree at the two-week mark, does that mean…”

  Nageau leaned forward to cup the teenager’s chin. “Yes, Kody. We can administer it to you and heal you completely.”

  Kody forced back the wetness that edged from the corners of his eyes and smiled at his mentor. “Awesome. So, you were saying about the three stages?”

  Nageau removed a piece of paper from his cloak. “This is Magèo’s writing, do forgive me if it takes a moment to decipher his scrawl. He and Gareth worked out the mathematics. Ah, here it is. When taken from a two-week old tree, the sap is effective at a concentration level of one part per billion. The tree is expected to yield one large bucket of sap equivalent to three gallons. The sap will then be diluted with a billion parts of distilled water, which will produce three billion gallons to release as mist over cities and towns around the world.”

  “Cities and towns vary in size and population,” Aari said. “How do we account for that?”

  “The short answer is, this is an average figure that we are using based on research Gareth has done. There are several factors to consider, like total population, land area and density. We have been told that there are close to three thousand cities in the world with a minimum population of one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people. Some of them have extremely high densities. Gareth gave examples of Mumbai, Seoul and Lagos.”

  Aari nodded. “Mumbai has something like seventy thousand people per square mile.”

  “Yes,” Nageau said. “Such cities will lend themselves well to the aerosol method of delivery. On the other extreme, we have sparsely populated areas flung across larger regions. For these, ground delivery—as in, inoculation centers—and even the door-to-door approach will be required.”

  “This all sounds hopeful, but who’s gonna get this rolling?” Mariah asked. “I don’t think we’re equipped for this, are we?”

  “We are not. Your Centers for Disease Control will receive the sap anonymously with a letter detailing everything. They may even synthesize it eventually, but it would take a while to recreate some of the sap’s more u
nique elements… In any case, we will task Gareth and Victor with the deliveries.”

  “And why would the CDC believe anything in an anonymous letter?” Tegan asked.

  “We will request they test the cure,” Tikina answered. “They will have no choice but to follow through with the rest of our instructions when it works. They will receive the sap in six days, and once they have tested it and found a means to disperse the mist, we estimate it might take a few days before the first round of the cure begins to descend from the skies.”

  Aari blinked fast, something Kody had learned he did when engaged in rapid mental calculation. “That’s about ten to twelve days before the world receives the remedy. We’re talking about four hundred million lives lost in that time span. This is nuts! And it doubles every three days that it’s delayed!”

  Kody linked his fingers over his head and stared glassily at nothing. Nearly half a billion people. Mariah curled against him. He felt her slight tremors and rubbed his cheek against her hair.

  “Alright,” Tegan said. “At least others can still be cured. What’s next, then?”

  Aari shoved his face into hers, lip curling. “Really? Stop, Teegs. Stop being a machine. Feel something!”

  “I feel everything,” she hissed. “I’m just not letting it distract me from what needs to be done.”

  Kody got up and fell into the tiny gap between the pair, forcing them apart. “Nope. Cool it. We’re not doing this right now.” He politely signaled for Nageau to continue.

  The Elder gazed at them, a twinge of sadness flickering in his eyes. Kody had seen that look all throughout his training; his mentor was aggrieved by the burden of responsibility the Elders had laid on the friends. The teenager wished he knew how to console the older man.

  “I know this is a difficult situation,” Nageau said. “Many lives will be lost. But the five of you, the Bearers of Light, the Saplings of Aegis, you will save innumerable others. The harbinger will not bring humanity to its knees, not as long as you stand together. Not as long as you follow your spirit, and not as long as you carry the light that the prophecy has charged you with.”