by F. Habib
‘Nice to see you too. Conflicted much?’ He rubbed his jaw with a crooked smile. Beth’s outrage tied her tongue and left her spluttering.
‘Hey there deserter, good to see you haven’t changed your spots.’ Mimi said.
He nodded at Decker, who stood arms crossed.
‘I brought a friend.’ He signalled behind him and a pudgy middle-aged man shuffled forward. Next to him stood a young man who carried a walking stick and a rucksack.
‘This is Paul Sonnenwalde. He has kindly agreed to help us with our problem and this is Thomas, his medical assistant.’ Paul didn’t respond. He just stared at Perun’s trainers. Thomas lifted his palm and crooked a smile in silent greeting. Beth shared a frown with Mimi and waited.
‘Can we go inside? Paul doesn’t like strangers or crowds and it would help him considerably if we could move inside.’ Paul didn’t seem at all upset. Does he have some sort of mental problem or is it an act? Perun led his guests inside. Beth made to follow, when it sliced at her and her gaze flew to Khoen. He stood like stone. His expression snapped her out of curiosity and she ran to his side. The last thing she needed was a meltdown.
She threw him a warning glance, but his eyes sent a chill through her. She placed a hand on his arm but the ugly thing twisting inside him made her yank it back. She swallowed and reached out again. She tried what she’d felt Galen do countless times, and pushed her best self towards him. His pain was awful; it crawled under her skin and it took all her will to keep hold of him. She’d help him.
‘Calm down right now,’ she whispered under her breath and felt his rigidity ease. The thing inside still writhed, but was no longer furious. ‘Perun is a friend and I will not be made to pander to your ego whenever this jealousy rises. In fact, I expressly forbid your jealousy.’ The monster abated but she sensed it hadn’t died. She knew what would kill it, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. This wasn’t the time for Khoen or herself. It was the time for her children. Her focus, her energy was for them. She knew now they represented something bigger than she understood. She wouldn’t let them down again.
She released his arm and turned into the tent.
*
Perun didn’t look a minute older than when Mimi had last seen him. She’d really have to corner him about it. Surely a quick pep talk to my epidermis won’t hurt, and God knows, the stress involved with hanging around the freaks, it’s a miracle I’m not a wizened hag. I’ll get on it right after Current Crisis.
‘So…what’s the story with Shuffles?’ She wiggled her thumb at Paul who was now staring at a whiteboard adorned with scribbles and pieces of paper.
‘I was told to find him. He’s part of this though he doesn’t know it. He’s an autistic savant, his gift is pattern recognition and computational speed.’ Perun shrugged, ‘that’s what his records say anyway. He was quite well known as a child, but he now lives in Colorado - a place called Durango. The old trains and railroad system there fixate him. I had some trouble persuading him to leave. We’ve been together three days waiting for a sign.’
‘The bumptious snakes told you to fetch him? How’s he going to help?’ Mimi said.
‘Yes and…I don’t know. Rana will know. That was her on the TV, right? I was told she’d reveal herself to me. I hadn’t realised she was going global.’
‘Yeah, it’s not likely to end well. Where’ve you been all this time?’
‘I hadn’t been off the base long when I was told to return home. There was unfinished business I’d been avoiding.’ His glistening eyes were a bottomless aquamarine sea.
Lord, these people are Fine.
‘Where’s home? The Sayan mountains?’
‘At first,’ he nodded, ‘then Tibet. There was much to learn.’
‘Okay…’ Mimi wondered what that meant.
‘What’s this Paul guy doing here?’ Beth looked ready for battle, face flushed. Mimi’s gaze slid past her to Khoen’s still form at the entrance. Aha, looks like he licked the bitter green toad. Maybe swallowed it whole.
‘He’s here to help with patterns,’ Perun held up his hands.
‘What patterns? How are we going to get Galen back?’
‘Must be the code. The patterns…they must form a part of it.’ Mimi said.
‘We don’t have a code!’ Beth said.
‘No, but Rana does. The crystal is in her. It contains Apep’s resurrection code, the Lightshapers are being obliging assistants, and now that she’s back with Galen, the circle must be nearly complete. The twins are probably just trying to shore up the team.’
‘Then why isn’t she here? What’s she waiting for?’
Mimi shrugged. ‘A grand entrance? She’s not shown much discretion so far.’
‘Wonder where she gets that from?’ Beth raised her brows.
‘It’s a mystery,’ Khoen said, close enough to make them jump. ‘Why don’t you just call for Galen? If he’s near, he’ll bring her.’
Beth’s mouth opened and closed.
‘Ooh. Not just a pretty face! Let’s go.’ Mimi clapped Khoen on the back and dragged Beth out of the tent to a chorus of screams.
‘What the…’
They pressed their hands to their ears, and then they too could see her. She stood on the corner of a faux-colonial building at the crossroads a block down Main Street, Galen by her side. She glowed with a gazillion watts in the sunshine, forcing everyone to squint. Mimi slipped on her trusty Burberry shades. Much better.
‘Whoa.’
Rana soared off the edge, a second sun in the cloudless blue, and landed with a crunchy thud on her father’s stack of cars, Galen in tow. The screams were deafening as the pile groaned in protest, rocking back and forth like it had stomach ache.
God, she’s big!
The cars conceded and collapsed like empty Coke cans into a rough platform; she stepped off, lifting her brother down. The now silent crowd moved back, the cameras surged against a buffer of soldiers. Decker stepped towards Rana then stopped. As she approached, Mimi saw why. She was huge!
‘What the hell is going on Honey B? She wasn’t this big on the tapes.’ Mimi’s voice was timid even to her own ears.
Beth ran, stumbled and then strode forward. Rana towered over her, nearly two meters tall. They stood together for a long moment. Beth raised clasped hands, pressed them against her own chest, and bowed her head to Rana. Galen smiled and did the same. Rana didn’t move, she seemed frozen by her mother’s posture, or was it her thoughts? Then she scooped them both up and spun them round so fast Mimi cried out in alarm. But Rana was smiling. She placed them down with care, the trio locked in an awkward huddle of mismatched sizing.
Mimi turned away to save her makeup, but her gaze fell on Khoen and Perun. They looked bereft as they leaned forward but didn’t advance; rivals, together excluded from the family they longed for. Khoen looked ready to crawl on his hands and knees to beg for mercy. Perun seemed less wounded, more accepting of his status. Tibet was clearly living up to its reputation, which was handy. Right now, it didn’t look like there was room for one father figure, never mind two.
Her waterlogged gaze flicked back to the huddle. At least Beth has this moment; a respite from the fear, the puzzles, the pain of unbelonging that’d haunted her for as long as Mimi could remember. She reached under her shades, wiped her eyes and smiled. The egghead’s surely never going to go back to that. No matter what happens.
She stepped towards them. ‘What took you so long?’ The three faced her, Beth scrubbing her cheeks with the back of her hands.
‘I had to be sure the Troika was disabled. They won’t be down for long and we have the Rise to complete.’
‘Troika…What three?’ Mimi said.
‘She means the brothers.’ Khoen stepped close, his face composed.
‘You mean the Providence boys were brothers?’ Mimi said.
‘Different mothers, but the same father. I’d known about them for some time.’ He gestured towards Decker. ‘He’s been a Providen
ce double-agent since I gave him the information I had.’
Decker flashed his tattoo. Beth gaped then eyed Khoen closely.
‘That was generous of you…’ Beth said.
Mimi could have sworn he flushed. He pursed his lips but the truth was pulled from him like an intubation tube.
‘It was a trade.’ He looked back at the advancing crowd as if hoping for rescue. Mimi could feel laughter bubbling up from her belly. Maybe Beth could lead this rabble after all.
‘What did you get?’ she pressed.
His silence was tortured and Mimi chuckled.
‘You,’ he said.
‘Me? I was a trade?’
Galen smiled at Mimi’s laughter, then ran past her and flung himself into his father’s arms; they fell back and drew all eyes.
‘Ok, enough.’ Even her voice sounded big. Feminine and soft, it still vibrated through them like a sergeant major’s drill. ‘The Troika are the least problem. Alamgir is imminent. He must be blocked or there will be no existence here in Tela. No place for us. He will vanish this matter and more.’
‘Hang on, What’s Tela and who is Alamgir?’ Beth shook her head as though to clear it.
‘This universe is within the realm of Tela. Alamgir is an entity from outside. He isn't interested in us, he only wants Avireri. If he knows that Avireri is released from Tela, we will be ignored. However, if his code is still trapped in weakened form here, then Alamgir will not hesitate to destroy all traces of the code, and that means you and every other being in Tela. Only Avireri can save us by leaving us behind; but first we must release him.’
‘Resurrect him you mean?’
‘Yes. He will manifest through a code that can best represent his entity within Tela. From there he will be able to access enough of his power to leave and seek out Alamgir.’
‘Is Tela our universe?’ Khoen said.
‘No, Tela is far larger than that. That is the only reason it is not yet destroyed. Alamgir knows his adversary hides in DNA and that DNA is within Tela, but he does not know this specific interface.’
‘Interface? Did you say interfa-‘
‘How do you know he isn’t here already?’ Mimi said.
Rana pinched the bridge of her nose. She closed her eyes and inhaled. She spoke slowly.
‘Time and space as you understand them are a side effect of matter and your perception of them is shaped by DNA. Your physical senses fool you and the measures you use to understand this place are developed, inevitably, from this incapacitated position. As your brains have evolved better processes, you've started to peel back the first layers of the illusion; at least enough to know you don't understand it. That’s the first step, but trust me when I tell you the stairway goes further than you can imagine.
When Alamgir comes into Tela, he will be everywhere at once. He will not be embodied in the way DNA life forms are. He will not even break into our base matter. He will rest within the Annat, that which you call dark energy. From there he can wipe everything in Tela at once; we would cease to exist. Not only DNA-based life, he’d clean all of Tela. It would mean eradication of the Lightshapers and many others who reside here. It would be instant and simple.’ Rana clicked her fingers.
Beth held up her palm for pause.
‘You say it’s imminent. How do we proceed? Certainly not here with all these people. What you have exposed will already transform human knowledge and frighten a lot of people. We cannot resurrect anything here.’
‘I proved to the Lightshapers that the potential of DNA is greater than its parts. If we succeed in his resurrection, new knowledge will be relayed to this stratum. It has been agreed. Soon DNA life forms will access more information than you can imagine. The horizons will fall away. Many will fall with them, but the courageous will not. Those species will glimpse more of the truth and evolve accordingly.’
‘Erm, maybe you haven’t heard, but humans aren’t known for our courage. And it’s not straight forward either. More people are afraid of public speaking than are afraid of death…by a considerable margin.’ Mimi trailed off at Beth’s narrowed gaze, ‘just saying…not sure it’s going to pan out so well for us fraidy-cats.’
‘She’s right. People are pretty much scared all the time,’ Galen said, ‘but courage, like fear, is contagious. Fear is birthed by ignorance. We just need to shine understanding into the dark and stand in its light for them to see that it’s okay to be brave. People want to be brave and will embrace courage if they are shown how. All it takes is a little inspiration.’
The group digested this in silence.
‘No pressure then, fearless leader.’ Mimi grinned at Beth who scowled back.
‘Shall we agree to cross that bridge if and when we need to? First we must get out of here. Decker can you manage that? We need a secure location.’
‘There’s a Stallion coming in.’
‘Wow, haven’t seen one of those beasts in a while.’ Mimi said. ‘You’d better clear the decks, don’t you think?’
Decker scanned the growing crowd and barked into his radio.
Beth turned to Rana. ‘Is there anything we need other than ourselves?’
‘No, just don’t forget the Reader.’
‘The-’
‘She means Paul.’ Perun said.
‘And Kade, where is he?’ Rana said
‘I’m still here. Not been killed off yet.’ His face flickered reflief and confusion like a cartoon flipbook as he stepped out of the shadow of the tent. Rana smiled at him and then looked up at the machine descending overhead.
The beat of blades thumped a rhythm in the warm air; debris danced. The chopper was an ugly brute, but so cool Mimi grinned up at it. Decker guided the group, Reader and all, aboard. They lifted off and Mimi wondered what the crowd below thought was happening. Unlikely to be the imminent resurrection of the creator of life as we know it. She shook her head at the hotchpotch crew strapped into their seats, except for Rana who dwarfed Decker at the open tail ramp looking out. God, whatever and wherever you are, help us.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘It has to come off.’ The doctor reeled at the screech that came out of James. Gaze on the floor, he composed his thoughts and quashed the urge to flee.
‘Shut up you idiot.’ Wes snapped at James’ twisted face. ‘All you had to do was keep him locked up. Guess you’re not as fast as you thought.’ He looked from the blackened hand to the doctor. ‘Can you do it here?’
‘No! There must be another way.’ James’ eyes were blue as a blowtorch. ‘Why don’t you give me your arm? You’ll grow a new one and they can do a transplant.’
’I’m sorry, but a transplant is out of the question. Being half-brothers doesn’t mean Wes is a suitable candidate. Rob is a better match, but he can’t regenerate. It’s a shame none of you can heal others. If it’s left too long infection could take hold.’
Rob unfurled himself from the low chair. ‘Our gifts have always been entirely self-serving. The spawn of Gia are clearly too powerful for us on our own. How about we ask him for help? ’
‘Who?’
‘You know who.’ Confusion morphed into trepidation in Wes and excitement in James.
‘You’d do that? You swore never to do it again.’ Wes said.
‘I know. But I don’t think we have much option now. You said we could do it all, without him. You were wrong. I think we must reach out to the Sire. He’ll know what to do.’
‘That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had Rob, which is impressive. What price will we have to pay? We agreed never again. As much as I want to win…’ Wes pressed his fingers into his eyes, his face ashen. The trio fell into tense silence.
‘Who is this Sire? Could he save the arm?’ The doctor said. They scowled.
‘Take it off,’ Jamie dismissed him and turned to Rob. ‘Will you do it today? We’ll need a tribute…what do you suggest?’
‘More time?’ Rob shrugged.
‘Can you afford it?’ Wes said.
&n
bsp; ‘Nope. And I expect to be repaid for my sacrifice.’
Wes and Jamie rolled their eyes.
‘I’m not kidding.’ Rob warned. ‘He took ten years the last time. I don’t have more than that to offer any more. He may take time from you two. He could do that on top of his usual demands. You won’t be blasé then, will you?’
‘Are you talking about lifetime years?’ The words were out before the doctor could stop them. Rob turned to him with narrowed eyes. ‘Doc, you’ve been with us a while now, let’s not have to draw this relationship to an end. It’s time for you to leave. Prepare for the surgery.’
As the doctor moved towards the door, he lifted his phone and pretended to dial.
‘Father isn’t going to be pleased with our failure. How will we explain it?’ Jamie said.
‘Let’s blame Gia. He can never resist his hate. I’ll do it tonight, once the mark of fire has been removed.’
The three men eyed the charred flesh with distaste. The doctor slipped out and closed the door softly behind him. He leaned against the wall and waited for the trembling to ease. He shuddered and decided this was his last day, no matter what. He pushed his body off the wall and pushed from his mind the knowledge that their father was long dead.
*
‘What’s she doing?’ Khoen’s whisper tickled Beth’s nape as he pulled her hair over her shoulder. She leaned into him then straightened, fixing her attention on the large screen that dominated their corner of the hanger. A small plane lurked on the far side, but it was otherwise empty.
The images on the tablet in Rana’s huge hands were relayed to the screen for everyone to stare at in equal perplexity. She’d been scribbling endless formulae into a tablet for twenty minutes at high speed.
‘I recognise some of this: spacial frequencies, see there, the Fourier series, phase-based spectral realignment. Hmm…many of these frequencies are infra and ultrasonic - we won't be able to hear them.’ She stepped back to Rana.
‘What can I do to help?’