“Huan, are you having a bizarre mystic intuition I’m sure to regret?”
The cleric’s head swiveled so he looked at Jade, his normally kindly eyes deep and strange. “I am not sure.” He untensed. “One of those things. Shall we continue?”
“Sure. You …”
“I’m fine, Jade.” The magician-priest was suddenly his usual self. It was a strange thing to see, like watching metal turn to water in the space of a heartbeat. “Just an intuition. I’ll let you know if anything is dangerous, Jade.”
“Dangerous to me, by my definition. Not yours. Right?”
“Of course.” HuanJen nodded politely. Jade wanted to believe he was telling her the truth, but a tickle at the back of her mind made her wonder. She chalked it up to paranoia, which was always a good bet with her.
The two of them turned a corner and entered Chin’s Useful Herbs. On the outside, it looked like a mysterious store selling equally mysterious substances. On the inside, it was as one would expect - ancient wood paneling, strange vials and displays, a few things that probably once were animals, and a scent that suggested unusual medicines and more unique recreations.
The expectations ended there. Chin’s was a very old establishment, perhaps a century or more. This mean the original Mr. Chin, despite his extensive and ancient health regimen, was exceedingly dead by this time. The store had passed through a number of hands, and no one had wanted to change the well-known name. Name recognition on Xai was worth its weight in the valuable mineral of your choice.
The upshot of this was that a store founded by a tiny, active, sagely oriental man was now run by Lawrence “Law” Nash, a very tall, dark-skinned native man with an easy demeanor. For newcomers it was quite a surprise to have their stereotypes destroyed; preconceptions found Xai and Metris hostile environments.
“HuanJen.” Lawrence waved from behind the counter, his blue-beaded ponytail swaying. “And … Jade. Well, I have your order right here.”
Huan inspected the package Lawrence hefted onto the counter. To Jade it looked like a random collection of foliage, but to Huan’s senses and knowledge, it was far more. He sniffed, and poked, and prodded, and finally pronounced the collection of herbs acceptable.
“Excellent, Lawrence. The Ginseng is fresh, I see …”
“I know, but don’t let it sit.”
HuanJen nodded. “Now … Excuse me, I’ll be back in a moment. Jade, stay here. Don’t come outside.”
The cleric turned around and strode calmly out of the herbologist’s. Jade looked at Lawrence quizzically.
“Put anything particularly special in there I should know about?”
Lawrence shook his head. “Hardly. He does have his strange moments, you know.”
“He seems to have mainly strange moments.” Jade said with a touch of bitterness. “I hope he’s OK.”
“He’ll be fine.”
The two of them waited. A minute ticked off the strange-looking clock above the counter.
“He’s taking …” Lawrence began. Jade was already headed for the door. “Excuse me, but he told you to stay here.”
“Yeah, he did, didn’t he?” Jade answered frankly.
The door slammed shut.
Lawrence nodded as if answering an spoken question. She’d seemed the assertive type when she’d first placed the order. She’d had plans for regular pickups, regular purchases, put some structure into HuanJen’s herbology and alchemy.
She’d ignored the cleric’s warnings. HuanJen never gave you a warning without a good reason. It was nice knowing her while she was still alive …
Jade exited the shop, then inhaled deeply. HuanJen’s scent hung in the air, an after-rainstorm-and breeze smell, tinged with something else. Her eyes narrowed - something was definitely up, and the little bugger hadn’t told her. He’d been acting weird the last hour or so, weirder than usual, and seemed to think she wouldn’t notice. Jade wasn’t an arrogant person, but she hated being underestimated.
She stalked into the alley behind Chin’s, following the scent of her partner, senses alert. There was another scent besides HuanJen’s, and that of the buildings and …
Someone seized her around the neck, and a pistol was thrust against the side of her head. The other scent was quite obvious now, one of soap and strange oils and fear.
“Don’t move!” the assailant said. It sounded stupid to Jade, but it was a clear message at least. It was the kind of thing you had to say when you took someone hostage, she supposed.
“Fine by me,” Jade said calmly, looking up at her attacker. “Hey … Killian, right?”
The rodentine man pulled Jade along with him, backing himself against a wall. “I have your assistant, sorcerer! Show yourself!”
Jade was not a person to become fearful. Feel fear, yes. Experience it yet. Be fearful, never. Things that made her feel afraid soon just annoyed her.
She was now annoyed.
“You know, this isn’t going to work.” Jade wasn’t sure whether she was right, but she did know it would help destabilize Killian. Well, destabilize him further, he had a look that was sort of deer-in-the-headlights combined with a caffeine high, suggesting he wasn’t too stable as it was.
“Killian.”
HuanJen was suddenly at the end of the alley. Killian took a moment to fire at him …
… and the Fang-Shih melted away, the bullet embedding in dumpster.
“That’s sort of his zappy-teleportation thing.” Jade said as Killian pointed the gun at her head again. “You really ought to give up.”
“Really?” Killian’s breath smelled of mouthwash. “I’m going to be sent through portal Gimmel if caught. I know he’s got plans, but you, you’re going to change that.”
“How? Threatening to kill me? Go ahead, dickweed.”
Killian looked down at Jade. Not a single hint of terror was in her gem-green eyes. He’d killed people, he’d faced death, but he’d never seen a look like the one she’d given him, a mix of contempt and fearlessness. She could have had the decency to be a bit scared.
“Listen, ” Killian’s voice was low and hopefully menacing, “If you don’t shut up …”
“What, you’ll shoot me? Hello, duh! You need me so HuanJen doesn’t rearrange your face! Gods, can I get taken hostage by someone competent?”
One could hear Killian’s well thought out plans snap like brittle twigs. His face was a mask of confusion. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to work, this wasn’t …
Suddenly he wasn’t holding the pistol; it was instead being held by HuanJen, who was standing in front of the bickering pair. A few motions of cleric’s hands, and Killian had released his hostage, and was staggering in excruciating, otherworldly pain. His consciousness was fading, though he didn’t really feel injured …
“Jade, are you …” HuanJen began.
Jade whirled around, seized Killian by his ears, and rammed his face into her right knee three times. Killian’s slow fade from consciousness speeded up rapidly and he collapsed on the alley’s pavement.
“I’m fine,” Jade spat, “looks like he found us before we went after him.”
“Yes, and I told you to stay inside.”
“You gave me an order, and expected me to follow it?”
HuanJen gave Jade a steady look, but the edges of his mouth quirked into the shadow of a smile. “I had hopes. With him following us …”
“What?” Jade’s mind flared with anger. “You … damn you really did know. Why the hell didn’t you tell me? Hey, we talked about mystic intuitions …”
The cleric knelt by the unconscious criminal, checking the damage inflicted on him by he and Jade. “He’s a precognitive, Jade, any plan I or you made he would pick up. So I didn’t make any. I didn’t tell you I wasn’t planning anything or you’d doubtlessly come up with something.”
“So he knew you were looking for him without looking for him … and had … nothing to plan for.”
“Yes.” The cleric nodded in a fr
iendly manner.
“I don’t believe it, you … look, no speeches about doing by not-doing and other mystic stuff, OK? I’m reading those books you showed me, that’s enough.”
“Of course.” HuanJen pressed something into her hands. “Put these handcuffs on him, will you please?”
“Sure. Why do you carry around a pair of these?”
“My extensive interest in bondage.” Jade shot HuanJen a quizzical look. He replied with, “Joking, Jade, joking.”
“I can never tell with you.” Jade handcuffed Killian. “Now, what do we do with Mr. Killian here.”
HuanJen produced his cellular phone. “Call the Gendarmes, fill out the forms, and collect the bounty. And its Killian either way - Killian is his first name and his last name.”
“His name is Killian Killian?”
“Yes. I doubt that explains his criminal career but it probably didn’t help …”
Two and a half hours later, Jade tossed herself onto HuanJen’s living room couch and tried to determine if the bounty on Killian had been worth the risk to her life, or whether the majority of the money was to pay to compensate you for dealing with Gendarme bureaucracy. In her opinion, it was debatable.
“That,” Jade groaned resentfully, “Was ridiculous.”
HuanJen flopped down next to her “They aren’t going to just hand us that much money, Jade, especially for someone like him. We’re not some idealized Wild West society where you bring in a poster and a good match.”
“Yeah, I guess, it just annoys me that bureaucracy seems to exist on every Earth. I’m gonna check the phone messages, OK?”
“Thank you. I’m going to go freshen up a bit. Do you …”
“Nah, I went at the station, go ahead.”
When the cleric had vanished into the restroom Jade seized the phone from the table next to the couch and quickly checked the machine. Two messages were confirmations from clients, and she quickly jotted the information down on a the often-used notepad by the phone. The third message caused her to cringe guiltily.
She had expected this one.
The sound of the shower confirmed Jade had time to return the dreaded third call. She quickly punched in the number and waited.
“Hello, Lorne … yes, yes … oh, good, you heard. Of course. Look, I know you wanted me to drag him to Negative Joe’s little jam, but … yeah, glad you’re having fun. I’m beat, Huan’s beat, its late. I’ll make sure he gets to the Nax next Tuesday. Yeah, goodnight, tell Joe I hope the album works out. Yeah. And tell him good luck with the new hair, I think it works a lot better.”
Jade hung up the phone and sank into the couch. Clairice called it “the magic couch” for reasons Jade had not divined, and probably didn’t want to know. Whatever the reason it was big, puffy, and comfortable, which was quite welcome at this moment of time.
Her whole plan had been blown to hell by HuanJen’s lack of a plan. Get him out of his rut, get him to see friends on a different day than the usual get-together. Take in some music, be social. His friends had worried about him, about his isolation, and she’d tried to help out.
Oh well. Even if HuanJen had suddenly decided to have a life, she wasn’t going to be able to face it tonight. It was a shame really - he was a nice person, but he really needed to get out more.
The shower had stopped. Jade tried to focus on something to do when HuanJen arrived. Dinner sounded good, especially with him cooking. Then …well …
“Ah, that was refreshing.” HuanJen walked out of the bathroom, back in his usual black ‘traveling priest’ outfit, trying to do something with his wetted-down shock of hair. “So … anything else?”
“No. What about dinner?”
“I’ll throw some chicken in the broiler and I’m sure I’ve got enough for a decent spinach salad.” HuanJen sank back into the couch with an uninhibited sigh of pleasure.
“So get cooking,” Jade mumbled.
“I didn’t say when I was going to cook. You sure we don’t have anything else to do?”
“No. We’re free.” The Vulpine thought for a moment. How long had she spent getting her partners life in order? How many …
“Want to rent a movie?”
Jade turned to look at HuanJen. The idea slowly insinuated itself into her mind that he was trying to relax. On his own. At this rate, she’d expect to see the parting of the Sapphire Ocean any day now.
“Sure.” Jade tried to figure out what to say. “Got anything good?”
“No, not really.” Huan smiled a bit apologetically. “Well, there’s that rental store down the corner, take a few guilders and go find something fun. I’ll make dinner and we can have a nice quiet evening. Hey, I’ll give you a good foot rub while we watch, it’ll relax you.”
“No work?” Jade got to her feet, leaving the couch with some reluctance. “I got two messages, but they’re just confirmations.”
HuanJen shook his head. “No, everything seems to be in order thanks to you. Go on, we’ll take a break, it’s been an eventful day.”
Jade started for the door, then paused. “Yeah. Um, Huan?”
“Yes?”
“Sorry to get so bitchy back there. I know … look, sometimes I guess you can’t tell me everything.”
“We all have our secrets at times Jade, I’m glad you understand.”
Jade grinned crookedly. “You have no idea …”
“Actually, yes I do.” HuanJen’s eyes sparkled. “You’d be surprised, Jade, you’d be surprised …”
ALL THE WORDS I SPEAK
Dedicated to Dave Barry.
HUAN-JEN: MORNING
How to describe my life …
I’ve tried to explain it to Jade, and given up. I have to let her experience it so she can begin to understand, when words are not enough. She’s done quite well. “You have to be seen to be believed, or even understood, HuanJen” is the kind of thing she tells me, a sarcastic if encouraging display of her understanding.
There is so much …
I step off of the balcony of my apartment, and onto the streets of Metris. I become like a knife with no substance, penetrating but not cutting, and space takes on no meaning. I am in one place than another, for a moment as thin as a thought.
I sigh. Try explaining such an experience to someone whose major experience with mysticism has been Nexial Earth mainstream religion, theo-politics, and a few parapsychs. Describing it to anyone is difficult enough - I spent the first twenty years of my life training in a Taoist religious order on an alternate earth. My perspectives and experiences are not always appropriate for communicating with people.
I did learn one thing there - some things can’t be said. Words have limits.
JADE: MORNING
I wake up with the feeling of a breeze passing through me. Since it’s not due to dinner, it must be HuanJen doing his zappy-thing. Sometimes I can feel when he does his little shtick, and damned if it isn’t creepy. Garnet says she can tell when he’s teleporting as well, but none of the rest of the gang can, except Rake. Lucky them.
The clock. The time. Gods. I have to get up in five minutes anyway.
Once I manage to reach the kitchen, I find that Huan set breakfast out for me. He’s always doing stuff like that, I swear it’s like having a butler. I can’t complain, but sometimes I feel guilty. I like Huan, he’s really a nice guy, he’s a great … ah, hell, he is my boss, and I won’t delude myself. I just sometimes feel like I don’t do enough.
He makes breakfast. OK I clean and now I do laundry. He pays me pretty good even though I’m really a sort of secretarial spear-bearer. I’m lucky.
Well, today I try more at pulling my weight. He says he’s got some business to take care of, so I’m going to attend Guild Esoteric’s monthly meeting in his place. It may not be exorcisms or potion-brewing, but if I’m gonna call myself a partner I’m damn well going to act like it.
Hey, I have to try.
HUAN-JEN: CITY
I am in Metris and among its people, amo
ng those who live in what Guild Esoteric calls my “Zone of Keeping,” and what Jade more accurately calls my territory.
This is where I belong.
Metris is alive, Xai is alive, and the heartpulse of a thousand Earths runs through them. It was a glorious thing to me when I came here, and it grows more wonderful with each day. I watch it at night, before going to bed, being open to the Tao and to its manifestations in the city and world.
The minds and souls here are my mind and soul, the hearts and feelings my heart and feelings. I flow among the people like water, passing through lives as I move. Void, all passes into me. Silent, I listen. This is my life, here, among everyone. I am there when needed.
I pause to observe a couple in love, to see if Dealer Zero is really using his skills or still lying, all the little things. It seems small to some, but they don’t understand. The big is built on the small. What is large is made of the tiny. The smallest attention is the most vital of things.
Jade is beginning to understand this, I think. I enjoy it when we go out together on the job, or when people come calling on us; a more common occurrence as she manages my schedule. Jade takes a delight in things she would have thought of as common months ago. I have seen her smile, seen her green eyes light up at delivering elixirs, or holding a hand of a person needing comfort.
Right now I think I wish she was able to go with me, even if she is still understanding everything. I am feeling lonely. I know what is ahead. She would be someone to be there at least, perhaps to understand.
He’s dying.
JADE: CITY
OK, I like Metris. I really do. It’s clean, its friendly, it’s large, its interesting.
I just hate the walking.
I don’t take cabs, they’re too expensive. I take the trolleys sometimes, but I never seem to get those figured out either. I don’t own a bicycle because I don’t want to join the hordes of people trying to break the laws of physics while pedaling. Then there’s crossing the river Nahl, which requires you to know schedules, or the bridges, or …
OK, you walk. Or like now take a trolley close enough and walk. But “walk” is still part of the picture. A big, painful, ankle-hurting part.
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