Encompassing Love (12 page)

Tomorrow glanced at the chairs, the pad paper and the pen.  She knew the guard had to get them back to their rightful places.  She bit at her lip and then said, “I’ve yet to visit you.  If you will tell the guard where you are, perhaps I can get him to lead me to your place.  I get lost around here and I suppose he owes me, due to the loans and all.”

James looked at Marla who responded on their behalf.  “Do you like spicy?”

Tomorrow looked confused, but decided to admit ignorance on that topic, “I don’t know.  I guess I’ll find out.”

CHAPTER 18

“Treat others kindly, Their battles may be fiercer than you can conceive.”  -- from the Book of Conan

“You get the idea.  You knew Phillip.”  He sees the looks they are giving him, but he knows they need to move quickly, “Pack all of this. What you can hold I can take, one by one with you.  What you cannot hold destroy.”

Venetia stepped forward, “Did you not notice he left tow of us pregnant?”

“Did you not notice I am here because, if for any reason, that, I am here to move you.  Let’s go!”

Hearing the tone of his voice James looked at Marla and urged her to hurry.  Paul looked at Siri and said, “James is lead now.  Come on, let’s get our stuff together.  It’s easier for us, we’re acclimated to being on the move.  They are going to have the tougher time at relocation.  We need to set an example and be first.”

Siri nodded at Paul and they both sprinted off to their quarters.  They were back in time to note that Tina was yelling at the man.

“Why?  Why do we have to leave, this is our home, we lost our leader, I lost the person I love and my child lost a father.  Why do we have to take on more bullshit now?”

Siri moved next to Tina, “It’s not his fault.  We knew all of this would have a huge impact.  Right now, this is the result of that.  Let’s ride the waves, Tina!”

Tina turned and looked at Siri.  “Fuck you, I don’t see you without Paul or a child you have to care foe in your belly!”

Siri held up both hands and looked back at Paul.  Paul stepped forward and said, “Tina, we need you to do the right thing so the right thing happens for your child.  We know Venetia.  We know she can be dramatic.  We need you to be the example for her.  Failing that, all we have done is waste.  Clearly this man is here because he knows what we have done, he knows why Phillip died and he is offering us a chance to make something of that.”  Paul moved his fingers to opposing sides of his lips and then puled them together as he thought.  “I know we weren’t expecting what Phillip decided on, but he damn well knew he was our leader, so he damned well had a plan for us.  It may not be optimal, but we’ve been through worse.  Please Tina, be ready and please at least pretend to be willing by the time Venetia gets back.

Tina looked at Paul, the man she didn’t know and then Siri.  She began to walk from the room but Siri said, “I’ll help you.”

Tina turned to Siri and said, “Do what?”

Siri responded, “Get your things together.”

“I have nothing to care about except for what I carry.  But if you have more lighter fluid, that could be helpful.”  Tina then turned but Siri followed anyway.

As they left through one door another opened and Venetia walked in holding a pole with a piece of fabric tied to it’s end.  “This is what we will need.”  She announced.

Paul and the man looked at what she was holding.  Marla entered with James and they both noted what the other two were staring at.

“We leave one of these here.  One of these in the city and we take one and found a new city under this banner!”  The way Venetia said it, it was clear the issue was not open for discussion. The image was disturbing.  It was a skull with two femurs crossing under it.  Across that, painted in red to look like blood, or what they were hoping was paint, was a symbol.

The man none of them knew but all had decided to follow said, “Appropriate.  Good work Venetia, I assume you are ready, so I will take you first.”  He reached out to hold her wrist

Venetia pulled away and said, “I want to plant the three and I have yet to make the other two.”  I will be last.

The man grabbed her wrist anyway.  Then they were deep in the city.  They looked out at the chaos of so many beings suddenly being without direction.  Venetia wept but she understood why he had brought her here.  She ran to the first piece of non-metallic ground she could find and staked the flag into the ground and then looked back as he grabbed her wrist and they again clicked.  Appearing in front of James, Marla and Paul, she said, “Now one for the home we leave behind and one for the home we will build.”  She turned to the man and nodded in thanks and then left the room.

“That one’s intense.  You’ll need that.”  Said the man they had never met.

“I suppose we always have, but, as you said, it’s intense.”  Paul responded.  James and Marla chuckled.

James then spoke, “So, is there beer where we’re going?  If not, I have an additional few pieces I’d like to hold onto.”

The man they had never met said, “There is nothing there, but the temperate atmosphere and pressure are good for what you have in mind.  I suppose you have a few seconds.  Do what you will with it.”  Then he grinned at James, knowing full well James had made a last minute change of mind and preferred his brewing equipment to a huge chest of clothes.

James took off quickly and Marla looked at his trail and then turned and said, “Pardon him.  He takes getting used to.”

“An active mind is a good one.  You found a great man, don’t forget that!”  He felt strange giving advice to people he had never met before, but he also knew it was the right thing to do.

Tina returned to the room, lead by Siri.  She looked up at the man she had never met and said, “Thank you.  I’m sorry I was rude, I just…”  then she broke into tears.

The man she had never met before looked at her and kneeled down and said, “I know.  You’ve been through a lot.  I am not so shallow as to dismiss that or take offense at you needing to get out what you are actually feeling right now.”

Venetia returned to the room with a banner in hand and then said, “So has no one gone yet?”

The man she had never met said, “I already said you would be the first.  You’ll plant that flag in the appropriate area and as each of the others arrive, you’ll create something great around it.”  He looked at each of them and then said, “Promise to respect that Phillip respected the six of you.  Umm, eight of you soon.”  He grinned at them and then he stood catching Venetia’s hand as it lowered and they were gone.

CHAPTER 19

“The universe does not give up it’s secrets without torturing the inquisitor.”  -- from the Book of James

“Phillip, I’d like to have a talk with you.”  Renfield approaches Phillip and the craft he is about to disembark in.

“About?  Brian doesn’t trust you.  He told me the two of you have been at odds for millennia.”  Phillip responds and continues checking his suit.

“Brian and I were at odds with ourselves, Phillip.  Please.  I’ll be brief.”  Renfield responds.

Renfield walks over and puts his hand on the craft.  “I love you so much my dear.  I understand.”  Tears well in his eyes as he says, “I felt I should say that out loud.  I’m not going to try to change your mind or Phillip’s, but it will be painful.  Just know I love you.”

Phillip looks at Renfield.  He can hear the echoes of the thoughts behind that statement.  “Ok, go on?”

“Let’s step away.”  Renfield says,

“No.  I’m fine here.”  Phillip replies.

“Let’s step away.”  Renfield says,

Phillip listens hard, but he knows that Renfield is skilled at protecting his mind from intrusion.  He tries hard to penetrate the dense wall that Renfield can erect.  He knew it was a longshot when he tried.  Phillip walks away from the craft.  “What?”

“I wanted to tell you I am proud of both of you.  I also want you to know your friends are safe beyond you and that they will establish the new.”  Renfield whispers, as if there was anything in the desert that cared about what he was saying.

Phillip looks at Renfield and studies his face.  He knows he can’t hear his thoughts, so he chooses to use a different skill set to determine what Renfield is thinking.  He doesn’t note any sign of deception, but he remains aware that he is talking to a man who has existed for more years than he can imagine.  “So you know?  Why did I think I was going to hide this from you?”  Phillip grabs at his straggles of a beard and looks directly into Renfield’s eyes as he asks, “So does it work?”

“Interesting question Phillip.  That’s my daughter.”  Renfield points back at the craft and then throws his hands up in the air.  “Does it work?  Phillip, she may not be in her own body right now, but that is my daughter.  Do you understand that?  How can you just ask me if it works.  No Phillip, it doesn’t work for me.  I’m accepting it because it works for others, but in no fucking way does it work for me, Phillip.  That is my daughter!”

Phillip looks at Renfield who is furious beyond words.  At first he considers mentioning it was Illumna’s concept, but then he realizes that doesn’t change the fact that he not only agreed to it, he built upon the plan.  He struggles for words as he feels Renfield’s arms around him.

“I just needed you to understand.  I won’t stop you because what Stephen is doing is with god intention, but it’s horribly, disgustingly wrong.  I know you know that from a completely different perspective than I could and I respect that fact.”  Renfield wipes at the sweat that he is producing more than he normally would.  “Is there anything you ask of me?”

Phillip looks at Renfield, realizing that he is not the monster his father described him as.  He can tell that Renfield truly does feel and has compassion.  He thinks through the things left undone, besides getting his friends to safety.  “There is a woman.  She is with child.  She is already part synth, but someday, her child will need help.  So that’s what I ask of you.  Please.”

Renfield nods.  He walks back over to the craft.  “I know I already said, it but I want to say it one more time, Illumna.  I love you.  I don’t know what else to say.”

“Dad, that’s enough.  Thank you for coming.  Thank you for not interfering.  Thank you for being my Dad.”  Illumna responds.

“Thank you for being my daughter!  I guess I got lucky, huh?”  Renfield wipes the sweat away from under his eyes.

“Obviously, that’s why I exist, Dad!”  Illumna replies.

“That.  Only you Illumna!  Your sister…”

“Solstice?”  Illumna asked, but she knew what Renfield was referring to.

Renfield wiped at the sweat that was dripping out of his eyes again.  “Yeah.”  He wiped again, because it kept flowing and he wasn’t sure how to stop it.  “She’s…just promise me, say a prayer for her to whatever you believe in.  She’s not with us anymore, but I think she will hear it.  Okay?”

“Yes, father.”  Illumna tests her jets as Phillip walks past Renfield and climbs inside the cockpit.  “I love you too.  I could have had a simpler father, in my dreams, but you were an interesting one and you always cared.  I couldn’t hope for more than that, Dad.”

As the craft took off on its final voyage, Renfield realized the water leaking from his eyes was not sweat.

CHAPTER 20

“So much time, so little to do.”  -- from the Book of Stephen

“Hello, Stephen?”

“How could you click in here?  I held off our father and Bob with my system.”  Stephen responds and clicks behind Renfield, but Renfield doesn’t even turn to face the attack.  Stephen moves to make a crushing blow to the base of Renfield’s skull, but his hand moves through it as if it weren’t there.  Stephen notes a strange sensation and looks at his hand.

“If clock is off by 55 minutes and it has no hour hand, it looks like time is moving backwards.  To the observer.”  Renfield comments as he turns.  “Stephen, you are not the master of time and space.  But you have been the death of our family.

Stephen’s mind begins calculating as fast as it can what Renfield could possibly be doing.  The look of surprise makes it clear this is something he has never thought about, even in all of the years he tested theories and ideas.

“Explain.  How did you do all of this, Stephen.  The field that keeps us from clicking in, etc.  Fascinating stuff.  See, I studied myself in a formal setting, informally, of course, but you seem to have cracked something about how all of this works that I haven’t.”  Renfield folds his arms and leans back a bit while narrowing his eyes at Stephen.

“Well, you clearly have figured some things out, Adam.  You’ve been around the longest and you got in here, somehow.”  Stephen walks past him realizing that if he can’t attack Renfield the same must hold true in reverse.

“It seems odd to me.  You must have cheated somehow.”  Renfield says.

Stephen stops and turns and says, “No, it was obvious, but you haven’t seen it after all years which means you’re slow.”  He then turns and continues to walk.

Renfield says, “Odd, Stephen since everyone always thought you were the idiot child.”

Stephen stops and turns quickly and clicks in front of Renfield’s face and yells, “Who is everyone?”

“Well, I have to admit, it’s a small group of people.  Not too many people ever liked you, so I don’t suppose you had too many friends.  So taking that out of the equation that leaves your own family, which you end up rewarding in horrifying deaths.  So I’m going to guessing their last few seconds they pretty much hate you too.  So, let’s do the math.”  Renfield hoods out one hand and starts ticking on his hand.  Then he holds up the other hand and laughs, “I won’t need that, your sphere of influence with anyone other than synths or people who are greedy is…”  He makes a goose egg symbol with the hand he isn’t ticking away with.  Then he looks at the ceiling and says, “Yep, let me round up here, so we can deal in simple numbers for a simple minded man.”  He watches as Stephen becomes furious and agitated.  Then he comes to a numerical conclusion, “Everyone”  He looks at Stephen and cocks his head to the side with a wry smile and continues, “You’re such a piece of crap that there is no one who likes you, Stephen.”

Stephen losses control and knowing it will do no good attacks Renfield again.  Again he feels a strange sensation with every blow, but again Renfield doesn’t seem to react, even slightly.

As Stephen controls his breathing and again resumes walking away Renfield looks up in the sky and says out loud, “I love you, Illumna!  I hope I helped you, dear.”

Stephen turns with a huge question mark on his face.  “Why did you say that?”

“Doesn’t matter now.  It’s too late for you to do a damned thing about it.”  Renfield grins at him and then adds, “You really aren’t that smart are you, Stephen?”

“What are you getting at?”  Stephen demanded.

“It’s not me who’s going to get at it.  Bye, bye Stephen, hope you enjoyed your stay.”  Then Renfield looks up at the ceiling again and clicks away.

Stephen realizes that the whole conversation was to keep him occupied.  Something must be happening.  It has to be something from above.  He runs to get back to his desk and he scans the immediate area for Illumna’s mind.  Then he types vigorously as he expands his mind further and then he hears her.  “Now that’s a cool Dad!  He’s more complicated than time, isn’t he Stephen?”

Then there is nothing.