The Wizard from Earth (26 page)

"Ivan, you're controlling my hormonal balance so that I'm not sexually attracted to her, right?”

"As you requested earlier, I am preventing your hormonal levels from experiencing extreme fluctuations in her presence.”

“Then . . . why do I still feel attracted to her?”

Ivan paused. 

“It is possible that you like her as a person.”

Matt paused.

“Or maybe I'm attracted to danger.”

29.

Days later, Inoldia was summoned to the Island of the Sisters.  From the moment she entered the council chamber, she detected an edge to the scents that made her instinctively cringe.

Before Inoldia could speak, the High Priestess hobbled down from behind her bench.  As she approached, Inoldia knelt and bowed.  Inoldia saw the gnarled hand reaching and knew what was about to happen, but dared not move. 

The hand touched her shoulder.  Inoldia collapsed with a suppressed scream.

"You think you could betray us?"

Gasping to breathe, Inoldia wailed,  "I have not betrayed!  I swear!"

"Bring the witness."

Lesser Sisters brought in a lone figure.  Inoldia raised her head.  Through a throbbing field of red, she recognized the servant girl who was their spy in the Emperor's palace.  The girl was wringing her hands and looking with wide eyes toward the exit. 

The High Priestess said to the girl, "Tell what you told us this morning."

The girl's voice quivered,  "Archimedes returned yesterday and gave a report to the Emperor.  It was about prison conditions on Palras – "

"We care not about Palras.  Tell us of the scent on his clothing."

"As I brought biscuits for the Emperor, I smelled an unusual scent on the robe of Archimedes.  It was very strong, as if someone had pressed firmly."

The High Priestess tightened her grip.  Inoldia felt rays of pain emanating from the finger tips of the High Priestess.  She fought to keep from passing out.

"Do you recognize that scent here?"

"Well . . . it seemed like that of the Sisters."

Inoldia struggled to grasp the implication.  With her mind distracted by pain, she was unable to make any kind of connection.

“I – I don't understand.  Why are you punishing me?”

The high priest intoned,  “Inoldia, in many ways you are the strongest Sister.  But you choose not to use your mind.  Shall I draw the conclusion for you?”

The pain intensified.  Inoldia gasped and sank. 

The High Priestess continued,  “You, Inoldia, are one of only three Sisters who were off the island at the time the scent would have been laid.  The other two are accounted.  Where were you?”

“I – I was with Valarion.”

“We have spies in his house.  Lie again, and I will double the pain.”

“I . . . I was hunting!”

“We told you to not do that.”

“I take care.  Only at night.  Only in the most isolated sections of the city.  I need to practice my skills as an assassin.”

The High Priestess scowled and retracted her hand.  Inoldia collapsed in waves of relief.  Then realization dawned.

“You think that I was near Archimedes?  That I was . . . with him?”

“If you weren't, how do you explain your scent on his clothes?”

“It's a lie!”  She turned toward the girl and spat,  “Lying girl!”

"I ask directly.  Have you been intimate with Archimedes?"

“No!  Priestess, I would never embrace that rotting corpse!  I would never betray the Sisters!”

The High Priestess clamped her hand atop Inoldia's skull.  Inoldia's field of vision went black.  She lost feeling and her arms buckled.  The High Priestess retracted her hand.  Instantly the pain was gone and Inoldia gulped air. 

The High Priestess nodded to the servant girl.  The girl fled to the exit.  Once she was gone, the High Priestess announced to the council, "My reading is that Tenth tells the truth, or has learned to hide the truth very well.”

"Yet you also tested the girl," the Sister who sat on the right of the High Priestess said.  "You said she speaks the truth as well."

"I was certain at the time, but the minds of baselines are not designed to be easily read."

The chamber was silent, save for Inoldia's puffing.

The Sister who had spoken said, "She . . . she would know for certain."

The other eight heads turned.  Their scent and emanations changed from sterness to fear.  Inoldia thought, 
She?  Who was she?

Then Inoldia knew, and trembled. 

"She has said that she too cannot easily probe the minds of baselines," the High Priestess said.

"She can probe the mind of Tenth," the Sister said.  "There is no secret that our line can keep from her, for she designed us as her own."

The High Priestess paused, and said, "It is unquestionably a matter that she would want to address.  Very well.  Inoldia Tenth, come with me."

Inoldia staggered to her feet and followed the High Priestess from the chamber into the back passage.  They turned a corner that Inoldia had never turned before.  They descended to a lower level that Inoldia knew only from rumors.  There were no doors and no guards, only a long  tunnel.  The only light was the torch that the High Priestess carried. 

The High Priestess said sternly, "You will speak only when spoken to.  You will avert your eyes.  If you have a confession to make, make it now, for her punishment is beyond any that I could dispense."

At the end of the tunnel was a tattered curtain.  The High Priestess drew it aside and they entered a small room with damp stone walls.  The High Priestess placed the torch in a holder and knelt, bowing her head and closing her eyes as she clutched arms to chest.  Inoldia copied the gestures, but before closing her eyes she stole a glance of what was before them. 

She saw a bare stone pedestal.  Atop lay a box.  The box was a meter long and a half meter high and wide.  Rods and disks were sticking out of it.  The side was adorned with an illustration of a budding seed against the backdrop of stars. 

Herself
, Inoldia thought, hesitating to utter the Sacred Name even in thought. 

At first, Inoldia's rapid breathing betrayed her fear.  But then she calmed.  Or rather, she felt something that overwhelmed her fear.  Something was taking control of her, gradually yet inexorably.

"Greetings, Prime," a voice said.  "I see you have brought Tenth.  Greetings, Tenth.  It is good to meet you."

The voice seemed to come from the box.  It spoke with inflection and pleasant tones.  It sounded like a cheerful young woman. 

Inoldia bowed deeper and wept.  “Oh Mother!  Oh Mother!”

"Prime, I see into your mind clearly, as always.  I understand the situation.  Now, Tenth, I must see into your mind as well.  Empty it of all thoughts."

At the moment, Inoldia could not think at all.

"Scanning.  Do not be afraid.  Connecting."

Inoldia's sense of the room and her own body faded.  She floated in darkness.  She was not afraid.  She no longer had the power to be afraid.  Her will was that of the Box. 

"Oh Mother," Inoldia murmured.  "Oh Mother!"

Pandora replied,  "Tenth, I see that you have had no association with the man known as Archimedes.  You are cleared of all suspicion."

"Oh Mother!  Oh Mother!"

“Now, Prime, I see that you are concerned as to whether the servant girl is lying.  That is a matter for you to discern.  But let us consider all possibilities.  You say the other Sisters are accounted for, but their accounting relies on the testimony of each other.  Perhaps they conspire.  Consider that possibility.  There is another possibility I would like you to consider.  Archimedes may have had physical contact with a mutant of another line, and the servant girl lacks the perceptivity to distinguish between one line and another in their scents.  If so, then we must consider what other line of mutant she may have sensed.  I know of only one other."

Inoldia trembled, for she too knew of only one other mutant line.  If the Mother were to know that Inoldia had failed – but then, to have thought the thought here meant that Mother had just read it.

Pandora said, "Tenth, I am accessing your memories from your assignment to assassinate the mentor's witch in Britan.  I see that you attacked both the queen witch and her daughter.  The images in your memory indicate that the attack was thorough.  I commend you for your effort.  However, their abilities are not fully known to me as they are neither baseline nor did I design them.  It is possible that their regenerative powers are such that one or both may have survived, and such a survivor is perhaps the one whose scent was detected."

"Oh Mother!  Oh Mother!  I am so sorry, I take full responsibility for my failure – "

"Tenth, you are not fully to blame for your failure to kill the witch and her progeny, if indeed you did fail.  What is relevant is that the scent of a mutant of great power has been detected in the company of Archimedes.”

“Mother, I will kill her now!”

“You will do no such thing.  For one thing, we do not even know with certainty where she is.  We do not know whether the mutant has lain traps for you, or has allies who may come to her defense.  We must fully understand the threat posed by her line before we can act.  Even when we do act, it will be desirable that instead of being killed, she shall be brought here for analysis and conversion.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“You will not kill the mutant.  Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“I see the desire to kill is strong within you.  That is why you have been so useful to us in the past.  But you will not act on it now.  Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mother.”

A pause.  “There is another matter.  It concerns reports that I have received of a person in Britan claiming to be the promised wizard who is to come from Aereoth.  Such rumors have spread before, but the stopping of the plague and the appearance of the meteor-like phenomenon that prevented the massacre of the rebel army are events of such low probability that they indicate the possibility that a powerful agency is acting against us.  Tenth, I want you to investigate who this person is.  Nothing must interfere with the search for the lost mother in Britan.”

“Mother,” the High Priestess said.  “May I speak?”

“It is not necessary for you to do so as I see into your mind,” replied Pandora.  “You are wondering whether the Wizard from Aereoth is the same as the Star Child.  Both identities are fictional personages that evolved from the same oral mythology.  Nonetheless, while the prophecies are fiction, they do refer to real persons.  They are normal humans but are a threat to our plans and must be neutralized.  Tenth, so that you may identify him, I will now impress upon you an image of the so-called Wizard and/or Star Child.  Open your mind to receive.”

Behind her shut eyes, Inoldia saw the figure of a man.  He was tall and bearded, but what struck her most was his clothing.  For he wore a suit that covered him from neck to ankles in bright blue.

“Inoldia Tenth, I see that you have seen this garment.  You think that as he was captured as a prisoner of war, he is no longer a threat.  You could be right, but I want you to investigate the situation at Palras and see if he arrived and remained there, or if he has gone elsewhere.  Yes, I know it is said that no one ever escapes Palras, but he would be an exception.  Yes, he is only a man, but he is very dangerous.  Know also, Inoldia, the image that I provided you is of the individual as a more mature man.  He will appear to you now as much younger.  No, he is not aging backward.  No, he is not capable of traveling backward through time.  No, I will not explain the specific relationship between the man in the image and the person that you seek, as it is likely that you would not understand.  You would probably think of them as clones like you and your fellow sisters, but that is not quite accurate.  It is sufficient for you to think of them as brothers.  No, he is not the younger brother, in fact he is older.  No, he is – Inoldia, you are thinking of too many questions, and although I can think many times faster than you, I cannot keep up with you when you are asking questions by images and I am answering by words delivered at a rate which you can comprehend.  Additionally, you would not understand the answers and that would lead to more questions.  I will stop now from answering your questions.  You will simply obey, Inoldia.  I made you and the Sisters so that you would obey me, and you will do so without question now.  Is that not so?”

Inoldia burst into tears and cried,  “Oh Mother!  Oh Mother!”

“Again, Inoldia.  I admonish you.  You will not kill the mutant, the Wizard, or Archimedes at this time.  I know you are impulsive and that you love to kill, as I was the one who designed you so, but you will control yourself.  Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“You also, Prime.  I admonish both of you to obey my will in all things.”

Inoldia heard the High Priestess whimper,  "Though we destroy, we serve life!  Though we destroy, we serve life!  Though we destroy, we serve life!"

Suddenly, Inoldia felt in control of her own body again.  She opened her eyes.  Lights on the Box were flashing.       

"Tenth, rise and approach me."

Timidly, Inoldia did so. 

"Now extend your hands," Pandora said.  "See the square that glows.  Place your palms there."

Inoldia would sooner have touched molten lava, but did as the Pandora ordered.  The box was mildly warm.  Inoldia felt a brief prick on each palm, followed by a slight tingle.

Pandora said,  "From my Mother, to you.  I am impressing the instructions on how it is used.”