The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (68 page)

He felt a small prick of cold touch him on
the back of the neck, just as he was about to walk through. He felt
it again almost immediately, and he looked up. A light snow shower
had just arrived, creating a ghostly cone underneath the spotlight.
One flake hit him on his eyelash and he lifted his hand to brush it
away.

Snow,
he thought with a smile.
The
Rain of Light blesses me tonight.

“Here lies fate,” he said, took a deep
breath, and walked through the door.

###

dramatis personae

Alien Relations Unit, Branden Hill HQ

Caren Johnson
– mid-level Mendaihu
adept [Mendaihu name: Karinna Shalei], Special Agent,
Mendaihu/Shenaihu Relations

Alec Poe
– Mendaihu adept (level
unknown) [Mendaihu name: Alix Eiyashné], Special Agent,
Mendaihu/Shenaihu Relations

Aram Johnson
– high-level Mendaihu
adept; Caren and Denni’s father; deceased [Mendaihu name: Aaramis
Shalei]

Celine Johnson
– high-level Mendaihu
adept; Caren and Denni’s mother; deceased [Mendaihu name: Cheylan
Shalei]

Sheila Kennedy
– mid-level Mendaihu
adept, Caren and Poe’s Team Two

Nicholas (Nick) Slater
– former
Bridgetown police officer, Mendaihu (level unknown); Caren and
Poe’s Team Two

Dylan Farraway
– Chief Inspector,
Mendaihu/Shenaihu Relations. Boss to Caren, Alec, Nick and
Sheila

Cilla Whitman
– ARU Communications
Dispatch

Christine Gorecki
– former ARU agent
and close friend of Caren and Alec; now freelance healer and
investigator

Drew Kaplan
– Special Agent,
Mendaihu/Shenaihu Relations

Friends and Relations

Denni Johnson
– ultrahigh-level
Mendaihu adept; Caren’s younger sister [Mendaihu name: Denysia
Shalei]

Amna Ehramanis
– high-level Mendaihu
adept; Denni’s best friend

Madeleine Jakes
– old family friend
of the Johnsons; lives next door to them

Mendaihu

Nehalé Usarai
– ultrahigh-level
adept, Regenerative Therapist for DuaLife

Kindeiya Shalei
– ultrahigh-level
adept, Nehalé’s direct manager; reality seer

Anando Shalei
– mid-level adept,
freelance spiritual counselor, Nehalé’s friend and student

Akaina (Kai) Shalei
– ultrahigh-level
adept, freelance from NewCanta Province, Ashan’s sister

Ashyntoya (Ashan) Shalei
–
ultrahigh-level adept, freelance from NewCanta Province, Kai’s
brother

Rev. Edward Miriam
– high-level adept
[Mendaihu name: Sidhaki Emmadha], head priest at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral

Emha Sehndayen-né Eprysia Kaalen
(Ampryss)
– Trisandi reality seer, host of Gathering Table on
Trisanda, Bann Dassah Village

Dolan Usara
– Trisandi reality seer,
assistant to Ampryss at Gathering Table, Bann Dassah Village

Elder Crittiqila Nayélha
– ultrahigh
level adept; certified sehndayen-ne, Bridgetown area

Deilo Eiyashné
– Alec Poe’s natural
birth father [deceased]

Shenaihu

Janoss Miradesi
– ultrahigh-level
adept, EdenTree security team

Natianos Lehanna
– ultrahigh-level
adept, EdenTree CPO; Dahné Shenaihu nuhm’ndah

Saone Lehanna
– youngest daughter of
Natianos; Kryssyna’s friend/cho-shadhisi; software programmer,
Swartz Design

Parisha Lehanna
– eldest daughter of
Natianos; Akandia Technologies COO

Kandilia Lehanna
– second-eldest
daughter of Natianos; junior member of Crimson-Null Foundation

Rini Lehanna
– third-eldest daughter
of Natianos;

Kryssyna Piramados
– Saone’s
friend/cho-shadhisi; rookie ARU agent

Shara Eiyashné
– Alec Poe’s natural
birth mother [deceased]

Government

Anton Rieflin
– Governor of
Bridgetown Province

Mina Watanabe
– Governor Rieflin’s
secretary; professional jacker

Jack Priestley
– Crimson-Null
Foundation representative for Bridgetown, member of Provincial
Governor’s Council

Shirai
– Artificial Intelligence for
the Mirades Tower

Gen. Stephen Phillips
– Leader of
Sentinel Force Guard, Bridgetown Unit

Nandahya Mirades
– Meraladian
Councillor, member of Provincial Governor’s Council

Allen Tatreaux
– ARU Commissioner,
member of Provincial Governor’s Council

Mancka Udéma
– Mendaihu
Representative, member of Provincial Governor’s Council

Craig Chiappara
– Bridgetown Sentinel
Force Guard Commander, McCleever District

Kelley James
– former CNF
representative for Bridgetown; currently semi-retired; now an
author

Vigil

Matthew Davison
– leader and chief
planner of the group. Also works as an engineer/programmer for
Khema Jamison Shimura

Jenn Underwood
– second in command.
Also works as a reference librarian at the Data Research
Library.

Colin Strasbourg
– third in command.
Also works as an Alien Relations Unit agent.

Others
, not yet introduced

NOTE
: Pronouns and names usually accentuated
on the second syllable, and regular nouns and verbs accentuated on
the first, though there are exceptions; those are often due to the
Terran appropriation of the word to make it easier to pronounce.
The
dh
diphthong should be pronounced as a ‘d’ with a slight
lisp.

NOTE
: Unless otherwise noted, all names and
words that have spiritual reference to them are capitalized. All
other words, including the first words of an Anjshé sentence, are
rarely if ever capitalized. They are capitalized within the novel,
however, for grammar’s sake.

aiye, aiya:
\
EYE
-yay,
EYE
-yah\
love

alaiadh:
\
ah-
LYE
-adh\
to give

aladh:
\
a-LADH\
to be given in
kind

allei aiya:
\
ahl-
LEY
EYE
-yah\
‘I give my love to you’; used mostly as a
way to say ‘I love you’ but can also be used to convey deep
gratitude

Anjh:
\
ahng\
word
Anjshé:
\
ahng-
SHEY
\
‘Word of
One’; the Meraladian native tongue

cho:
\cho\
Meraladian term for
duality, used in spiritual matters as well as physical and
philosophical.

cho-nyhndah:
\
cho-
NYEEN
-dah\
twin-spirited

cho-shadhisi:
\
cho-shah-
DHEE
-see\
'twin lovers'; soul
mates
chufyo:
\
CHOOF
-yo\
‘unaligned’; weird
or odd

dahla:
\
DAH-lah\
a leader
physically (front of line) or economically (top manufacturer)

Dahné:
\
dah-
NEY\
leader,
specifically in spiritual situations
dayen:
\
DEY-
en\
to know

dayen-ne:
\
dey-
YEN
-ney\
knowledge

dea:
\
DEY
-ah\
rest, or
to be at rest

dehndarra:
\
den-
DAR
-rah\
to believe

D'haff Sshalé:
\
djaff
SHAH
-ley\
‘dark-minded reptile’; old Meraladian
curse, now often used against someone ill-mannered, stubborn or
mean-spirited

dhyn:
\
dheen\
star (or
stars/night sky)

di, d’:
\
dee\
general
conjunction, usually ‘and’ or ‘with’

edha:
\EY
-dhah\
formal male
title

eicho:
\
AY
-sho\
‘male
spirit’; brother

eichi:
\
AY
-shee\
‘female
spirit’; sister

eilee:
\ay-
LEE\
general
possessive (my, your, etc)

emha:
\
EY-
mah\
formal
female title

esha
:
\
EY
-shah\
center

fadayin:
\
fah-
DAY
-een\
father

fadhyané:
\fah-
DHYAH
-nay\
parent or parental
guardian

fadin:
\
fah-
DEEN\
mother

fesha:
\
FEY
-sha\
eyes;
often used to mean 'eyes of the soul'

fesh crahné:
\
faysh crah-NEY\
‘eyes opened’; open-minded, patient, or attentive

fesh piann:
\faysh pyahnn\
‘eyes
closed’; closed-minded, ignorant, or having a big ego

fi, fiyé:
\
fee\
,
\
FEE
-yay\
general pronoun (fi = singular, fiyé
= plural)

Gharné:
\
GAR
-nay\
Earth
human
Gharra:
\
GAR
-rah\
Earth
hra:
\
hrah\
to be

hrrah-sehdhyn:
\
RRAH
sey-
DHEEN\
‘five old stars’; refers to spacefaring
years, specifically a Meraladian five-point maneuver in which five
ships would surround its main focus (whether its prey or the ship
it was defending); this move would purposely cause a stalemate.
[the double ‘r’ is slightly glottal]

iedha:
\ee-
YAY-
dhah\
friend
imhsha:
\
EEM
-shah\
to be afraid

jinko:
\
JEEN
-koh\
(derogatory) unclean or undeserving of spirituality

khera:
\
KAY
-rah\
here,
there

kinléshi:
\
keen-
LAY
-shee\
sibling

kiralla:
\kee-
RAH
-lah\
‘light spirits’; the highest ascended aspect of the Mendaihu

lafiyaah:
\
la-
FEE
-yaah\
freedom [the double ‘a’
is slightly extended]

lumia:
\
loo-MEE-ah\
sight, or
what someone perceives

lumisha dea:
\
loo-
MEE
-shah DEY-ah\
‘the center of
vision at rest’; a deeply personal place set aside for meditation
and relaxation

madin:
\
mah-
DEEN
\
daughter

madayin:
\
mah-
DAY
-yeen\
son

madhyané:
\
madh-YAH-ney\
child,
offspring

mehra:
\
MEH
-rah\
spiritual state

mehridhea:
\
MEH
-ree-
DHAY
-ah\
peace

Mendaihu, Mendaihuza:
\
men-DYE-hoo\
,
\
men-
DYE
-hoo-zah\
Meraladians of
Mendaihu Descent
Meraladh:
\
MER
-ah-
LAHDH
\
‘heaven returned; current Meraladian homeworld after leaving
Trisanda

milédayen-ne:
\ME-ley-DAY-en-nay\ ‘receiving
knowledge’; student

miléya:
\me-LEY-yah\ to receive

né, Né:
\
nay\
one (number), The
One of All Sacred (m) [cap. only when referring to the deity]
nehko:
\
NEH
-koh\
untrustworthy, or to
distrust
nuhm'ndah:
\
NOOM
’n-
dah\
‘dark
spirits’; the highest ascended aspect of the Shenaihu

nyhndah:
\
NYEEN
-dah\
heart, spirit

nyhnd'aladh:
\
NYEEN
-da-LADH\
'I give my heart'; given as an
apology
pashyo:
\
PAHSH
-
yo\
general
exclamation of surprise or frustration

piann:
\
pyahnn\
closed or
closed-minded

rhade:
\
RAH
-day\
general
qualifier to add negativity or warning to a word

sa’im
:
\sah-
EEM
\
general qualifier to add grandness or excitement to a word

sehna:
\
SEY
-nah\
old
sehna lumia:
\
SEY
-nah
loo-
MEE
-ah\
‘old vision’; analogous to Akashic
records, memories of past lives, including actions and thoughts

sehnadha:
\
sey-
NAH
-dhah\
old friend, best
friend
sehndayen-ne:
\
sen-
DAY
-en-ney\
‘old knowledge’; teacher

se’nyhndah:
\
sey-
NYEEN
-dah\
‘old soul; a
particularly strong spirit able to travel past the physical
barriers of Light and physical reality

shadha:
\
SHAH
-dha\
to
love

shadhisi:
\
shah-
DHEE
-see\
‘love’ or ‘from my
heart’; a term of affection