The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (6 page)

Her hands balled into fists.
The One of
All Sacred?

He wants to stop her
, he grunted.
But without her, we may all die.

She frowned deeply into the air.
Gordan,
what are you talking about?

Gordan let out a wail.
Ahhh Goddess.
Karinna we’ve got to k —
grrk....graaAAAAH—

A knife of searing pain hit her square in the
gut, stopping her dead. She gagged and coughed up blood that was
not there, and blindly grabbed at Poe’s jacket. Pain gave way to an
even deeper hatred — Saisshalé had attacked Gordan twice, without
reason or remorse. She gathered her strength and scrambled through
the crowd and into the alleyway. Poe was a few steps behind, barely
masking his fury. He’d felt that pain as well.

The two men were halfway up the alley.
Saisshalé had Gordan’s collar locked in a tight fist, lifting him
high. Gordan attempted to wrestle him away with his right hand, his
left still useless at his side. Caren and Poe kept their distance,
preparing themselves for a bloody fight. Caren grabbed for the
stunstik clipped to her belt, then thought,
screw it
— she
pulled her Shrieve automatic out of its holster, activated it, and
aimed. Poe followed her lead.

“ARU, drop the civilian!” she shouted,
standing defiant. “Sa’im rhade, D’haff Sshalé. Don’t make us use
force.”

Karinna!
Gordan managed with a
gurgling scream.
No! Not him!

Shut up, Gordan. I'm trying to save your
life.

The Shenaihu nuhm’ndah turned and saw Caren,
and stared at her in such a way that her soul shuddered. He was
reading her, prodding at her spirit clumsily and recklessly, and it
felt like a violation — she growled herself, barely able to contain
her disgust. She did not recoil or lose her aim, however. There was
no way in hell she’d give him the opportunity to find a weak spot,
ever. Not this man.

The man gave with an unearthly growl, and
dropped Gordan's limp body, leaving him in a sick, twitching heap.
He turned fully and faced Caren full on.

“Karinna,” the man said. “I know you.”

Gordan moaned and tried to crawl away.
Karinna...?

I'll be fine,
she said to him.
Peace, Love and Light to you, eichi.

The man glanced at her weapon and began to
laugh. “Shoot me with
that
? Not likely,
jinko
.”

Jinko. Second time he used that term.
Normally an antialienist slur, but this time used to call her out
on not being awakened from birth. Not the connotation she’d
expected.

“Step slowly,” she said evenly, “…and no one
gets hurt.”

He laughed harder this time. “You don't even
know who I am, do you?”

This time, she laughed.
No, but I have an
idea,
she said within, the rage of her Shenaihu side bursting
forth, unrestrained.

The man stopped laughing. His face contorted
into a mixture of confusion and surprise...but not fear. This
Saisshalé was immune to fear, by the sensing of it...all she could
feel were his surface emotions, but they were frightfully strong.
He was running on pure, unfiltered spirit right now. She waved at
Poe to back her up as she moved slightly closer.

I am Karinna Shalei, Mendaihu Gharra,
she said.
Don't make me come over there and displace you into a
wall.

The man regained his composure and grinned.
“Not bad for a newbie,” he said with amusement. “Better watch that
bravado, though. Could cost you.” He lifted his left hand and
pushed the air in one fast and fluid movement —

“Poe! Watch —” She reached for him again but
missed this time. He reacted a moment too late and was lifted off
his feet, crashing into the opposite wall. She felt a sharp needle
of pain appear on his left shoulder, and immediately sent out a
quick thread of soulhealing his way. Poe was damned lucky in that
he’d feinted at the last second and had only been grazed by
Saisshalé’s blast.

But it was all she needed. No one attacked
her partner, or anyone in her city, not now. She glared at him,
took a step forward against the man's shockwave, and pushed back at
the air with her free hand. Saisshalé did not expect the move and
lost his balance, tripped over Gordan's body and crashed into the
wall behind him.

Weak,
he laughed, dazed but otherwise
unharmed. He lifted himself up and dusted himself off.
Pitiful,
Karinna. I know you’re stronger than that.
He moved his hand
again, and this time she felt the gathering of energy. She lifted
her own hand and —

“No!” Poe shouted, and fired his Shrieve.
Light bursts seared the air past Caren’s left shoulder and straight
for Saisshalé’s chest, but stopped just short, hot needle fire
hissing against his invisible wall of defense. The force, though,
pushed the man back a few more feet, nailing him against the wall
again. Caren saw the opening, and went for it.

“
D’haff Sshalé!
” she roared as she
sprinted towards him, lunging for his midsection. She connected and
heard the crack of bone and the rush of air out of his lungs. He
gasped, eyes wide, and tried pushed himself up again. Caren saw the
next opening, kicked her right leg high and connected with the left
side of his face. He spun drunkenly, arms swinging at nothing. She
grabbed his collar, and pushed with her entire soul.
Hard
.

“Two questions,” she growled, taking him by
the throat. He gurgled as she swung his body up against the
crumbling brownstone with a dull thud. Another crack as the back of
the man's skull hit the wall.

“First, why the Mendaihu, and why now?”

The man coughed up blood, splattering Caren's
uniform. She did not flinch.

Ask Janoss Miradesi,
he said.
Ask
him why he attacked St. Patrick's.

She smiled at that. Janoss...Natianos
Lehanna’s flunky was behind that attack? But this one, by all
accounts, was random. Saisshalé cowered, now clawing at his throat
unsuccessfully. He was amazed, and maybe a little afraid now, at
his inability to escape the grip of this merely human ARU
officer.

Caren pushed him into the wall again. He
gurgled and spat more blood in response.

“Second, why am I a jinko, asshole?”

The man actually grinned, despite the pain.
Manmade, eichi,
he said within, his voice low, guttural, and
purely malicious.
An Earth cho-nyhndah. Unnaturally awakened.
Unclean.

Then his right foot connected with her
stomach and pain shot up her gut and up her throat. She let out a
squeal and soared backwards, crashing against the opposite wall,
inches away from Poe.

Bastard,
she hissed.
You do
not
do that to me!

Gasping for air, she grabbed for her gun
again and aimed. At nothing.

“Where the...” she stopped short and fell
back to the ground, retching. That kick had taken more out of her
than she’d expected. She’d numbed the pain with her own
soulhealing, but it had taken all the fight out of her in one go,
and that shouldn’t have happened. She shifted and sat in the rubble
of the alleyway, gathering her senses again. “Where…where the hell
did he go?” she managed. She glanced at the spot where Saisshalé
had been seconds earlier, then at the body of Gordan Milainikos. He
was unconscious, and his breathing had become shallow and raspy.
She grabbed her comm from her overcoat epaulet and keyed in the
ambulance homing signal.

Unclean.
She bit her tongue as she
caught her breath, the sharp pain of the attacker’s kick still
wrenching her gut. The more extremist nuhm’ndah couldn't stand the
idea of cho-nyhndah created by ritual means…and Denni’s Gathering
ritual had done precisely that on a global scale. The idea of
judging the purity of someone’s spirit disgusted her; she did not
want this to become a purity issue, not if she could help it.
Needles tore at her lungs as she inhaled, and she swore again. She
shouldn't have attacked so soon, so violently.

Whatever the hell just happened sickened her
on multiple levels. This was not a random attack, not at all.

“Where the hell did he go?” she asked.

Poe sat next to her, rubbing the back of his
head and leaning against the wall. He opened his mouth, and then
shut it just as quickly. Instead he slowly got to his feet, grunted
and wavered, and pulled out a cigarette. He held it between two
fingers, but did not light it just yet. She looked up at him, into
his dark eyes, but this time chose not to read what was on his
mind. She would not invade his thoughts if he didn't want her in
there. Perhaps some minds were not meant to be read. He held out
his hand and helped her up.

In a surprising move, once she was on her
feet, he embraced her.

“Ow! Alec?!” she squirmed.

I'm sorry, Karinna. But we're not ready for
this. Not yet.

She froze when she heard the voice. It was
Poe's…but it was beautiful. Goddess, it was angelic, so rich and
full of love! It was his True Self talking, from behind that wall.
It sounded pure and heartfelt...it sounded
regal
. It stopped
her cold. He knew something, if not about this man then about
himself
, that even he couldn't bring himself to accept yet.
She looked down on Gordan, and realized the only thing she could do
now was pray for him.

Sa’im taftika, sehnadha,
Poe said from
within, touching her on the shoulder.

CHAPTER FIVE

Intersection

The Sentinel ambulance arrived quicker than
Poe had expected, only ten minutes after Caren keyed in the
emergency codes, and the medic team saw to him in short order. His
nerves were still shot from the adrenalin rush, and rubbed at his
sore shoulder from where he'd hit the wall. They sprayed an
anti-inflammatory on it, but truth be told, it didn’t hurt nearly
as much as he’d expected. Nothing was broken or torn. He’d waved
off any further assistance, and instead moved off to the side to
watch the responders work over Gordan’s pitiful form. Miraculously
he’d only suffered a broken arm and some internal injuries, but
within…?

Caren had scanned him, only to recoil in
shock at what had been done to him. Saisshalé had forcibly wrenched
the man’s soul from his body, nearly destroyed it, only to leave it
connected by a single life thread. He was alive…but just
barely.

Poe glanced over at Caren, who had remained
close to Gordan's body until he was taken away to a nearby
hospital. The east Branden Hill precinct sergeant listened to her
report with detached amusement, maybe even a little boredom, as she
gave him the report. He must have been recording the interview with
his eyecam, but his attention seemed elsewhere. Caren had barked at
him twice already, only to be reminded of their respective ranks
each time. While everyone else in the area was calming down, she
was only getting more worked up.

Their backup team, Agents Sheila Kennedy and
Nick Slater, had arrived minutes after the ambulances had arrived.
They kept to the rear and left them alone, waiting for everything
to settle down first. They were parked in front of the appliance
store where Saisshalé and Gordan stood minutes before, surveying
the damage. Sheila set her eyes on specific things — the crash in
the street, the shattered storefront and the area surrounding it —
and casting out short tendrils of sensing energy, taking a note of
the levels she uncovered. Nick, on the other hand, paced quickly
from one point to another, glancing up and down the street with a
deep frown. He was searching for something, but Goddess knew
what.

Poe turned back to Caren. She was still
talking to the sergeant, but had motioned to him.
How's the
shoulder?
he heard her ask from within.

Sore, but I'll live
, he responded.
Second team's up front. I'll fill them in.

Caren nodded again and turned back to the
officer.
Got it. I’ll find you as soon as I’m done.
She
shifted her full attention towards the sergeant again, continuing
her report. Satisfied that this debacle was squared away, he headed
towards the end of the alley.

“Hey.” A thin man in a blue smock stepped out
from an open doorway, stubby fingers curled around a cigarette. He
took a deep breath and exhaled pointedly in Poe's direction.

Poe waved the smoke away face and flashed his
badge. “ARU,” he said. “I need to ask you a few questions.” The man
glared at him and stopped short of saying
no shit, really?
Poe dismissed the man’s insolence. “Did you happen to witness
anything?”

The man grimaced and pointed the cigarette at
Caren. “Only that she beat the shit out of that big guy. Damn near
broke through the wall and into my shop.”

Poe bowed deeply, as was procedure. “For that
we apologize, edha. We should not have damaged your property. You
may file a complaint with our headquarters on Baird Avenue, and
they will compensate for any damages.”

“Forget the spiel, I’ve already called,” he
waved at him. “Needs a new masonry job anyway. Could you at least
tell those damn freaks not to
phase in
behind my store next
time? They've got the whole fucking block shut down now and I'm
losing money.”

Poe goggled at him. Money? A psychotic
Shenaihu nuhm’ndah was loose in the neighborhood and had nearly
killed someone just behind his store, and he was more worried about
losing a profit? He couldn’t tell if the man was ignorant or just
plain stupid. “Again, we apologize, sir,” was all he could say.

“Pfft. Our saviors,” he crowed and flicked
the cigarette into the alley. “Come back when you get rid of all
those damned freaks, then I’ll be happy.” He pushed the back door
open, and after a lingering glance over his shoulder and a
disappointed shake of the head, he slammed it shut and locked all
the bolts.