A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe

by Jon Chaisson

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Gharné

  Governor Rieflin stood at Nandahya Mirades’ office window on the one hundred tenth floor and watched the storm clouds roll in. The wide expanse of North Main Street shot straight from the Tower towards Breed’s Hill and the Crest. The majority of Bridgetown’s historic buildings followed this thoroughfare, from the CNF Building and the Provincial Government House a few blocks down, to the Scientific History Museum and the Data Research Library near Pendergast Boulevard six miles away. “Quite a vantage point you have here,” he said. “How did you manage to get the north side?”

  Nandahya knew a pointed question when she heard one, and continued shuffling the paperwork on her desk. “I was assigned the space, Anton, just like you were,” she said, and gave him a weak grin. “Affairs of Meraladian Society always had a northward office, just as the First Landing plaque faces north.”

  “Why is that?” he asked, turning from the window. “Just curious.”

  “Meraladian trajectory, I suppose,” she shrugged. “We came in from the north when we landed here.”

  Anton took her brush-off as a sign to change the subject. “I see you’ve also got a view of the Waterfront.”

  Nandahya lifted her head. “What does that have to —”

  “Settle down,” he laughed. “Just an observation.”

  “Governor, sir,” she said, glaring at him. “Is there a reason you came in to bother me?”

  “Yes, emha, there is,” he said, and promptly took a seat across from her desk. “In all seriousness, I’m concerned about what’s happening down in that sector.”

  “Have you called Reverend Mackenzie of Saint Paul’s Church? That’s his community, he’d know best.”

  Anton nodded. “He’s been out. Left his office for the warehouse district, just like everyone else.”

  Nandahya bristled, pushing herself way from her desk. “That’s not like Joe to abandon his post,” she said. “At least not without reason. Have you gotten any reports?”

  Anton gave her a shrug and glanced over at the windows briefly before he spoke. “Agents are saying it’s a sort of a street fair right now. They’ve taken over the old Moulding Warehouse on the corner of Holgate and McCleever. It’s been peaceful, really. They’ve all been behaving themselves. I’ll be honest, though…I keep expecting something to happen.” He dropped his head and laughed quietly to himself. “Guess who owns the warehouse?”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “Nehalé Usarai.”

  He nodded. “No big surprise.”

  “So what does this have to do with me?” she asked. “I don’t mean to sound like I’m avoiding you, Anton, because I’m not. But I can tell when that brain of yours is up to something.”

  “Some of our Mendaihu adepts say close to ninety percent of the warehouse crowd is either Mendaihu or Shenaihu, and it’s a pretty even balance,” he said. “Or at least have Mendaihu and Shenaihu abilities but have not fully awakened. Now, I still stand by what I said: this is a peaceful gathering, so I won’t have anyone move in. But you’ve got to admit, when a gathering expands from a few dozen to nearly five thousand in under twenty-four hours, there is cause for concern.”

  Nandahya frowned at him. “You’re expecting violence, sir?”

  “I expect anything,” he said soberly. “And Mancka Udéma is missing. I have no idea where she is, and she’s the only person who could really help right now.”

  “What? Mancka is gone? She’s not downstairs? I just saw her an hour ago!” Her complexion had withered somewhat, and she started to fidget. “She wouldn’t…” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She glanced out her window herself. “She wouldn’t go down there…not alone.”

  “She left no message,” he said, glancing out the window himself. “I think she was summoned there, for lack of a better term.”

  She grimaced at him. “Mancka? No, she wouldn’t do something this reckless.”

  “She must have gone down there, Nandahya, there’s no doubt. Maybe edha Usarai summoned her, maybe she went of her own volition, maybe the spirit called her. It doesn’t matter. But when it’s a member of my council, and at this point in time…”

  “Let’s assume she is down there,” she said warily. “She’d have a good reason for it, sir. I can only hope that she’ll report soon enough.”