by Jon Chaisson
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Caren
Relax. Caren took a third deep breath. A fourth. Relax, girl. Hra khera…hra mehra…
Poe squeezed her hand. “Caren…are you all right?”
She was far from all right. Her heart was beating hard in her chest, and the spinning in her head hadn’t completely gone away. The mantra did little to calm her this time, other than helping her regain some sense of command of her nervous system. She had managed to cap the surge of adrenalin coursing through her body and she was no longer shaking, but her brain was still stuck in overdrive. The unanswered questions swirled around her head, one leading to another with no end in sight —
— is this all really happening...please don't let this be the Mendaihu fucking with my head...why do I know what I'm hearing and feeling to be true…I can't prove any of it...what is it...is it...have I really awakened...damn you Nehalé for doing this to me...oh goddess don’t let Denni get involved…involved…who else? who is involved...what the hell is Nehalé trying to do...why are the Shenaihu choosing now to attack...no, it’s retaliation...no it can’t…wait, wait, calm down girl...why the Shenaihu at all...and how is Kindeiya involved…Kindeiya, why is he so damn elusive...who else is involved...who else —
— Why am I believing all this? Why do I understand all of this now?
Is Reverend Miriam —
A final stray thought crossed her mind: Miriam. What does Matthew know about me and my family?
“Caren?”
She turned and caught his eyes. What does Alec know about me?
“Vidmat on,” she called out, past Poe's still-kneeling form. “Emergency link to Kennedy-Slater, McCleever Central Sector. Secure.”
Seconds later a fisheye image filled the screen of Sheila sitting behind a steering wheel, shot by the minicam fitted into the visor above her. She was scanning the area outside the car, completely avoiding eye contact with the visor cam above the driver's seat. Her chin rested in her hand, elbow perched on the window, and her eyebrows arched lazily. She looked magnificently bored. “You got Kennedy,” she muttered.
“Sheila,” she said. “It's Caren. Anything to report?”
She grunted in response. Her eyes swept the opposite sidewalk, and then glanced over to the passenger side before repeating again. She arched a brow and glanced up at the camera. “Nothing at all. Nick's across the street from the church right now. I'm at the corner, full view of the place.”
Caren frowned. “No disturbances?”
“Not that I can see. After a drive-by and a stop, we haven’t seen a damn thing. It’s quiet around here.”
Could this just be a false alarm? She glanced quickly at Poe. She could only wonder what he was thinking right now…this was his neighborhood, and they were probably a half-mile away from his apartment building. He knew a lot of his neighbors personally, knew a lot of the visitors as well. Though he didn’t know Reverend Miriam, he certainly knew of him. Matthew’s words echoed in her head again…this time it made sense. The priest was obviously an Elder and complicit in Nehalé’s actions and whereabouts. She was surprised Poe hadn’t figured that out earlier.
“Dispatch didn’t tell you want was going on?” she asked.
“Multiple calls from locals saying they saw and sensed a disturbance and a possible breaking and entering,” Sheila responded, choosing her words carefully. She did another visual sweep before turning back to the camera. “You wouldn’t know it from out here, though. I don’t think anyone even notices an undercover squad car is parked in a tow away zone, to tell you the truth. Just a few locals walking by, a few cars…that’s it.”
“Can you do a sensory sweep?” she asked. Poe looked at her in surprise but she waved him off.
Sheila frowned deeply at the camera. “You’re serious,” she said.
“Just humor me,” Caren said. “I just want to make sure of something.”
She bit her lip, looking away. “You are serious,” she said after a moment. She hadn’t liked the suggestion, but she understood why it was brought up. “I’ll need to pop outside to do that, my mojo isn’t strong right now. Here, let me switch to the outside camera and give you control.” Her hand reached off screen to the dashboard controls. The vidmat image flickered and adjusted for the light difference, and focused on an open stretch of Ormand Street. It was just like any other midday scene, with a fair amount of both pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Caren stepped up to the vidmat and began sliding a finger across the bottom of it. The camera responded by panning off to the left until she could see the front of the church, and tapped again to zoom in. A second later she heard an audible click and the sound of ambient street noise as Sheila turned on her wireless mic. “Bear with me,” she said. “I’m still a bit off from visiting edha Usarai’s place. I’ll tell you about that later.”
Moments later Sheila stepped into view, walking across the front courtyard and stopping near the first set of pillars. She leaned against one of them, facing away from the church, and closed her eyes. She dropped her hands to her side, holding them just above the pillar’s surface as she centered herself again. Finally after a few moments, she let her fingertips graze the pillar, and she twitched and gasped in response. “Oh…!” she said, laughing quietly, her face red. “Wow…hell of a lot of Mendaihu energy going on here. Let me try that again.” This time she slapped both hands flat against the pillar, taking the full brunt of the reading all at once. She twitched again and let out a grunt, but this time rode the wave. “Yeah, okay…” she said, nodding distractedly. “Okay…yeah, it’s damn strong here, I can see why you asked. There’s…wow, there’s at least a hundred Mendaihu inside right now.”
Caren zoomed the camera out slightly until the church’s front doors were centered, leaving Sheila off to the side. Nick had returned and was leaning up against another pillar at the opposite side of the courtyard. He had tapped his own wireless mic on but said nothing. He had so far kept his cool, which was a blessing.
“Any signs of distress?” Caren asked.
“I can’t tell,” she said. “If there are, they’re hiding it damned well.” She exhaled and looked across the way at Nick; she’d sensed his arrival. “Hey,” she said. “You see anything?”
“Did a circuit on the grounds,” he said. “Not a thing.”
Sheila grunted. “That’s what I thought. They put up a barrier.”
Caren frowned. Why would a congregation consciously put up a protective barrier to keep out…? She was about to ask, when Poe’s cellphone went off, startling them both. He picked it up without a word and gestured toward the office door. She nodded, and turned back to the vidmat. “What do you have?” she asked.
“It sounds like…praying,” she said. “The barrier’s at the front doors.” She started to say more, but stopped in sudden realization of something. She quickly turned to Nick. “Hey,” she said. “Make another circuit.”
Nick gave her a wilting look. “Should I be looking for anything?”
“Listening,” she said. “Just do it, and keep the wireless on. I want to hear what you’re hearing. And get as close as you can this time, against the building if you can.” He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he nodded and stepped out of frame again. She waited until he was around the corner before turning back to face the camera. She tapped on her wireless, opening up a private audio channel. “You still there, Caren?”
“Still on.”
“Something’s going down,” she said as quietly as she could. “I can’t sense what, but it’s not going to be good.” She leaned out past the edge of the pillar, glancing at the church again. “I didn’t say anything to Nick…but I’m not just sensing Mendaihu, Caren. There’s Shenaihu in there as well. And you know how well they mix in this kind of situation.”
“Wait…say that again?” she heard from the hallway. She glanced at the door in concern, but she didn’t hear anything further from Poe.
Refusing to be distracted, she turned back to the vidmat.
“That confirms what I thought,” Caren said. “As soon as Nick returns, I want you guys to fall back. Keep watch, but no action unless you deem it necessary.”
Sheila wanted to say something, but thought better of it and nodded. She tapped the wireless again to close the private session and asked Nick for an update. He took his time responding, but had nothing new to offer. He was still skirting the edge of the church grounds and hadn’t heard or seen anything out of the ordinary. Frustrated, she nodded and told him to meet her back out front.
He stepped back into camera view at the opposite pillar moments later. “Dead quiet. I can hear a prayer service going on, but not much else. I —”
His words were cut off by the sound of a crackling snap of the air that sent the both of them scurrying flat up against their pillars, hands on their holsters. It was the sound of displaced air that came with the appearance of someone stepping out of Light, and it was a sound that made many ARU agents nervous. The camera automatically shifted focus, showing a mass of black-suited men and women appearing in front of the church doors.
“Shit,” Sheila muttered under her breath. “Caren, how many?”
Caren shivered and tried to find her voice. “I…f-forty or so, I think.”
Sheila cursed again. “Shenaihu,” she said as quietly as she could. “No question.” She glanced over at Nick and flashed a “four-zero” hand sign, and he gave a short nod in response, the color draining from his face. They had to fall back now, but they couldn’t risk being seen. “What do we do?”
“Hold,” she said unevenly. “Just…be ready.”
Sheila grimaced at the camera, but she understood. They were no match for these Shenaihu…their only choice was to stay out of harm’s way as long as they could.
Out of the forty Shenaihu standing in front of the church, one man in a dark grey suit walked up the steps and stopped at the closed front doors. He reached out and brushed his hand against the wood in very much the same manner Sheila had just moments earlier. She tapped furiously at the screen to try to get a clearer shot of the man’s face, but he was not turning around. Damn it, did he know that he was on a live feed? His shape, the cut of his shoulders was familiar, as if she’d seen him just recently, over the past month or so…who was he?
“Goddess…!” she heard from the other side of the door. “Are…are you sure?”
She shivered…she could feel Poe’s agitation. Again, she forced herself not to focus on that at the moment. Instead she pulled back on the camera, back to the original view from the patrol car. She immediately noticed how empty the street was…no traffic, no pedestrians, nothing except for those forty Shenaihu and her two officers. With a quick tap on the vidmat, she activated all the other external cameras on the car. The closest car was at least three blocks away, and it was presently pulling onto a side street. Even the local storefronts were empty, sidewalk bins pulled in and doors closed…the locals must have sensed something was about to happen and closed up shop. Belatedly she realized that Nick had been the one to make a circuit around the area, not Sheila…he had no sensory abilities at all, and wouldn’t have felt anything. Had Sheila done the rounds and not been distracted by the church, she might have noticed it as well.
Caren was the only one in control.
“Stay where you are,” she said. “The minute — the second I tell you two to fall back, you two get the hell out of there, got it?”
“Confirmed,” Sheila responded.
Caren adjusted the zoom again in an attempt to focus as tightly as she could on that man at the door. She knew him from somewhere…someone from the Mirades Tower, one of the executives she’d met in the past. He’d placed his palms flat against the door now, and tilted his head ever so slightly, as if to listen in. At that moment she could just about make out an angular chin and the makings of a smile, but very little else. His jaw moved, words spoken soft enough that they were not picked up by the wireless mics. His shoulders twitched up and down slightly, like he was laughing. He said a few more words, nodded again, and with great fanfare, pounded on the door with his right fist.
They did not expect to hear the sounds of heavy glass shattering. Sheila gasped and held back a scream, forcibly pulling her hand away from the pillar. “Goddess! The Mendaihu within…” she said as quietly and evenly as she could. “They’re gearing up for a fight.”
“Now!” Caren barked. “Get back now! Go, go!”
The two officers immediately broke into a sprint back towards the car. Caren kept the main camera focusing on the Shenaihu outside the church…apparently they had not heard their movements, or had not cared. Caren breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they were safer now, but it was a temporary relief…the man still stood at that door, pounding on it every few seconds. Every hit was followed by more shattering glass.
“Caren, they’re —” Sheila started, only to have her mic cut off.
“Sheila?” Caren called out. “Are you still there? Nick, can you see her?”
Nick tapped his mic back on. “She’s okay,” he grunted, nearly out of breath. “I have a line on her, she’s across —”
His mic cut off as well.
“Damn it all!” she heard from the hallway. “Look — just keep me posted, all right? As soon as you figure out what the hell is going on.” The door flew open and crashed against the wall as Poe stormed in and crossed the room to his desk, ignoring the vidmat. He threw his phone down on the desk blotter and dropped heavily into his chair, shutting out the rest of the world. He buried his face behind his hands and muttered curses under his breath.
Talk to me, Poe, Caren thought. She watched him with a mixture of worry and frustration, knowing he wasn’t about to say anything. He did it to protect her, but in the process he only hurt himself, keeping everything locked in like that. That had to have been Matthew on the phone. The kid must know what was going on here, and damned if she was going to be left out of it. “Give me your phone,” she said to him.
He looked up in surprise. “What?”
“Just give me the damn phone!”
He winced, but handed it to her. “Don’t you have your own?”
She shushed him and hit the speed dial for Dispatch. Gena, the youngest of the three operators, answered. She heard multiple lines ringing in the background. “Gena, this is Agent Caren Johnson,” she said curtly, interrupting her before she could say anything else. “Patch me through to Special Forces, Agent Craig Chiappara.”
Gena stumbled through an answer, but connected her right away. For a brief moment, Caren felt sorry for her; whatever was going down at the church had to be happening elsewhere if the Dispatch switchboard was that busy. Thankfully, she only had to wait a few more moments and wade through Special Forces’ dispatch team to get to Craig’s desk phone. He was an old friend of her mother’s, and she was damn lucky to have him as a personal contact at a time like this.
“Caren!” he answered. “I can’t say I’m surprised to hear you calling right now. What can I do for you?”
“Hi Craig,” she said quickly. “Need your help — there’s something going down at St. Patrick’s on Ormand Street, south central McCleever District, can you get a team up that way as soon as you can?”
“Already on it, hon,” he said. “I’ve got a group heading that way now. You have anyone up there?”
“Two Agents, Kennedy and Slater,” she said. “They’re retreating as we speak.”
“Confirmed, two agents retreating, confirmed St. Patrick’s Church, Ormand. Anything else?”
She exhaled slowly. How the hell could she say this on an unencrypted call? “Just be careful,” she said finally. “Possible schism in progress.”
It took him a few moments to respond. “Confirmed, schism. You sure about that?”
“Positive,” she said. “And keep me posted…those are my officers, an
d my case. Appreciate it, Craig.” She hung up and handed the phone back to Poe.
The silence was suddenly cut by the frantic sounds of car doors opening, and Sheila and Nick spilling into the vehicle, out of breath and cursing up a storm. The secondary screen switched from the outside view back to that of the visor cam and the two agents strapping themselves in. Caren breathed a sigh of relief, but it was hollow. On the main vidmat screen, the church doors had swung inwards. Everyone held their breath at that moment as the forty bodies outside the church stood there at attention, and the man in the lead stepped forward slightly. He chose not to enter the church, only peer inside. His jaw moved as he spoke briefly to someone within. Caren zoomed the camera in even further until the image began pixelating, but she had to see who the man was and who he was talking to.
She got her answer seconds later in the form of Nehalé Usarai just inside the door, his hands held up defensively. He barked a few words at him, but the man refused to respond in kind, only nodding at him. He stepped aside, and turned away from the door. Caren finally got a look at this mysterious man and pinpointed the camera on his face, capturing and logging it as many times as she could.
“Janoss Miradesi,” she said, shuddering. He was known publicly as part of the upper management at EdenTree, but in Caren’s line of work he was also a known Shenaihu and one of the leaders of the Shenaihu movement down in South City. She’d hoped he wouldn’t be involved, but this had proved otherwise. Goddess…what the hell is he doing there? Is EdenTree behind this? “Sheila, do you see that?” she called out.
“Affirmative,” she said, reaching forward to start the car. “Damn it, I didn’t even read his signature — he was deliberately hiding on us.”
“Did you catch either of them?”
“I’m not familiar with edha Miradesi’s signature,” she said, frowning deeply. “But I am now,” she added in a growl.
“You two get the hell out now, you can’t do anything else there,” Caren said. “We need the Special Forces to calm this one down. Chiappara has a team heading that way now. Check in with them, then back away from there as soon as you can, clear?”
“On it,” she said, and tapped the camera off. The vidmat reverted back to sleep mode, leaving Caren staring at a blank screen. She let out a slow breath, relieved and exhausted at the same time. They were safe, for now.
“Don't get too comfortable,” Poe said, head hung low.
She hesitated, looking at him. “Matthew?”
“Yeah, Matthew.” She felt the chill of the room, and the coolness in his voice. She couldn't tell whether or not it was desperation or resignation. It seemed a curious mixture of the two.
“What did he say?” she asked, her voice softened.
“Nothing good.” He forced himself to sit up straight, and looked straight into her eyes. She shivered, realizing what he was doing…he was looking deeper within, at her own soul. This wasn’t just about the church. “There were four other attacks in this city in the past twenty minutes,” he said, no color to his voice. “All Shenaihu. He's rechecking his sources for confirmation.”
One of All… Caren paled.
They both stood in silence, unsure of what to say next. Caren wanted so much to say something, anything, but whatever words she found meant nothing now. The reality of the situation had hit her, and hit her hard. She had come to the point where she could no longer dismiss what was inside of her, yearning to come out. She could not dismiss the fact that her own awakening had coincided with Nehalé’s ritual, that he might have even accelerated its growth. She looked over at Poe, bit her lip, and said nothing.
