by Doug Welch
Each person held a world-view. For someone who never strayed more than a few miles from their place of birth, the concept was limited. Not truly understanding the world outside their experience, their memories of place were confined to their own geographical area. In the modern world, people held images of the countries or neighboring areas they’d been to or lived in, and the people they’d met. In Dorri’s case her world view connections had been truncated, limited to the apartment building in Tehran.
Having determined the cause, he examined the labyrinth of connections that led to the effects. Some led to autonomic functions such as heart rate, breathing and digestion and others connected to the areas associated with sleep and dreaming.
Paris thought about what he’d discovered.
He was well aware of the effects of sleep deprivation, having experienced it in Iraq. Violating the stimulus, Dorri’s world view, by leaving her apartment, must result in problems in her heart rate and breathing, easily sufficient to make her pass out. The connections to her digestion likely made it impossible to eat and keep food down, effectively starving her.
The question was what to do about it?
Tracing the connections was almost impossible. Whoever had set the pattern had made them so entwined and complicated it was like unwinding a snare of tangled yarn. He didn’t have time for that.
He wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the brain to attempt to remove the heart rate and breathing connections, let alone the connections to the sleep centers. He might kill her.
Like Alexander the Great, he thought about just using the equivalent of a sword to cut the Gorgon’s Knot of links. However, he couldn’t predict what would happen if he adopted the brute force approach and severed all the strands of the pattern. He abandoned that idea.
Pondering the problem, he wondered if he’d tackled more than his limited skills could accomplish. Maybe he didn’t have the ability to bring Dorri back. If so, they’d lose a well planned but rare opportunity. Unwilling to contemplate the possibility of failure, he dismissed his doubts. Surely a solution resided somewhere, but what was it?
Then it hit him. He’d been concentrating too much on the effect. What about the cause? Could he modify it just enough to get her out of Iran so some more talented Adept could take care of the remainder?
Returning to Dorri’s world view, Paris realized it was composed of recollections of her immediate environment, images of the apartment she lived in and the apartment building but nothing else. All other connections had been eliminated. Searching, he looked for other memories he could use.
This was tricky. The human mind stored millions of memories, particularly those of life changing events. An Adept who explored memories too closely risked being caught in reliving them, wasting precious time. Mentally flushing with embarrassment, he backed out of one spectacularly vivid image of her and Edward together in bed and continued his search.
After what must have been an hour he found them, all grouped together. Dorri’s mother was an English citizen and as a child she’d spent some time in Great Britain. If he could link those memories to her world-view and take her to London, a more accomplished Adept might be able to remove the block completely. He formed a pattern composed of Dorri flying on an airplane to Great Britain, and a memory of living as a child in Scotland and connected them, layering the pattern in her mind.
Hoping he’d done enough, Paris withdrew from her mind. Throwing a cushion on the floor, he lay exhausted on it, instantly falling asleep.
* * *
Someone nudge his foot and Paris groaned. “What time is it?”
“Past time,” he heard Caesar say. “You’ve rested enough, old man. Time to get up and take a shower. Ali will be here in a couple of hours. Did you take care of Aunt Dorri’s problem?”
Paris rolled over, blinked and looked up. “I think I was able provide a temporary fix. But there’s a change of plans. We need to change our plane reservations. Were flying to London, not Canada.”
Caesar’s eyebrows rose. “Well, that may be tricky.”
Paris sighed. “I know. I’ll have to contact the Council. –Another favor I guess.”
Caesar chuckled. “At this rate, we’ll be so deep in obligations we’ll never climb out of the hole.”
“The council still owes me for breaking up the spy network,” Paris said. “But you’re right. This trip will mean we’ll be owing favors for a long time. Is everyone else awake?”
“Yes, you’re the last,” Caesar replied.
“Good. I’ll join all of you in a few minutes.”
Paris showered and used his cell phone to contact Grieg Person on a secure link, arranging for the change in their itinerary. Done, he walked out to the common room and conferred with Caesar.
“I’ve made the changes but it will take at least two days to get it accomplished.”
Caesar looked worried. “Two days? Why so long?”
Paris circled his temple with his index finger. “Grieg’s got to change a lot of hearts and minds in the Canadian Government. Plane tickets are easy by comparison. Personally, I think it’s fast. We’ll just have to sweat it out.” He noticed Audrey perched on the edge of the common room’s divan staring blankly out the window. She sat huddled with her arms crossed in her lap, likely hurting from the realization of what had happened to her.
Crossing the room he sat next to her. “You’ll be leaving Iran today with Ali. His family will take care of you until we can deliver your passport to him, then we’ll fly you back to Canada and eventually the U.S.”
She looked sideways at him, not meeting his eyes. “Why Canada? Why not straight home?”
Paris drew a deep breath. “We need to determine what happened to you and if there are any lingering effects from your abduction. You’ve been through a lot, Audrey. We have excellent doctors there that can help you recover before you have to explain everything to your family. It’s best you have a chance to heal among people who understand what you’ve been through before you return home. You needn’t worry, your family will be notified that you’re safe and then you can rejoin them.”
Audrey laughed without humor. “So I’m still a prisoner.”
“No, Audrey, don’t think like that.” Paris protested. “You’re family, a part of my Shadow Family. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. It’s likely that you’re my half-sister, although I don’t how that’s possible. You’re protected. You’ll be safe.”
Her posture didn’t change. “I can barely stand to look at you. When I do, you remind me of the father of my child and I hate that bastard.”
Paris sighed. “Audrey, I swear to you that I had nothing to do with it. If I’d known where you were, I’d have put you under my protection immediately.”
He drew a breath and continued, “You have to understand. A few months ago, I had only a mother, father and a twin sister. Now I find myself a surviving son, a Shadow who is likely related by blood to at least six other people, people who are twins to me. How do you think I feel? It gets weirder and weirder the more it unfolds. All I know is that some Shadow organization did this to us and I’m looking for payback.”
Her head snapped up. “Six? You mean there are six people who look like me?”
Paris chuckled. “My wife, Elizabeth who’s a doctor, swears it’s impossible that Alex and I are identical twins but then we encountered Kitty. —you haven’t met her, and she changed her objection to ‘it’s absurd’. Once she learns about you, she’ll be foaming at the mouth. You, Kitty and my sister Alex all look identical with the exception of hair color and age. Kitty’s blond. Alex has my hair color but we all share the same color eyes. If you all wore wigs, no one could tell you apart. –Hey! Come to think of it, maybe the man who fathered your baby wore a wig. Did you see his eyes?”
She shook her head. “No, once it started and I realized what they intended to do, I couldn’t look at him.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but closed herself off.
“Is there so
mething more you not saying?” Paris asked.
Audrey was silent for awhile. “I’m feeling guilty I guess. I love my daughter and I want her back, but I’m repulsed by the idea that she might have been born of incest.”
Paris nodded. “I understand that, but none of us have any choice as to who birthed us. I hadn’t given it much thought before. I was here, I was alive and healthy, I had a family, and that was all that mattered. Now, knowing all I know, it still doesn’t matter. I’m here, alive and healthy. I have a family...and quite possibly a new sister.”
At that Audrey broke down and sobbed. Paris rubbed her back as she cried. He was heartened when she didn’t shy away from his touch.
* * *
Ali arrived at noon, bringing clothes for Audrey. He seemed impatient to leave. “I will take her to my warehouse in Karaj where she may rest until all the arrangements are made for the trip across the border. She’ll need to wear the chador and a veil.” He handed Paris a slip of paper. “This is my contact information and some code words to say when Madam Rowan is safely out of Iran. I realize that may take a few days. It is no matter, it will take an equal amount of time to smuggle Miss Warren out.”
Audrey, who’d been listening to Ali’s words, interrupted. “Wait a minute. Don’t I get a say in what’s happening to me?”
Ali turned to her. “No. From this time forward you must behave like a proper Muslim woman. Both of our lives depend upon it. If it will soothe your fears, I swear before God that I will do my best to keep you safe, but you must do your part as well. And that means you remain silent and defer to me even if you’re asked a direct question. Is that clear?”
Audrey swallowed and cast her eyes to the floor, nodding.
Paris knew what it meant for a Muslim to swear an oath before God. It relieved him to hear it from Ali’s lips, but he had one more favor to ask before he left with Audrey. “Ali, I may need the help of eyes and ears in Iran. Audrey’s abduction and her presence here have raised some disturbing questions about Shadow involvement in this region. Questions which I suspect might be as important to you as they are to me. Can I count on you? I can assure you that the result will be beneficial to both you and me, and will not violate your religious principals.”
Ali looked suspicious, his reply neutral. “We will see what transpires between you and I. Then we can speak of further cooperation.”
Part Two- Over Six Months Later
Chapter 7
Audrey’s Home
Audrey lay on her own bed, in her room, in her father’s comfortable home in Minnesota, and trembled. She gazed around at her surroundings: her books, her CD player with a stack of disks beside it, the curtains on her window, and the familiar furnishings, finding comfort and safety in none of it.
Her ordeal of the past two years seemed to have happened to someone else. Some helpless victim from a third word country, not the popular, trusting and naive twenty-two year old girl from Southwest Minnesota. The trip out of Iran had mercifully proved easy in comparison.
No longer quite so naive, she feared any kind of outside contact. The few times her family had enticed her out of the house, she’d cringed when men looked her way. She was terrified among crowds, casting darting glances left and right looking for threats from any source. She hadn’t registered for school because the thought of being away and alone with no one to turn to paralyzed her with fear.
It didn’t help that she couldn’t reveal why she’d vanished. Who’d believe her anyway? If she’d explained about invisible people, she’d have been in a mental hospital now, in a room with padded cells. Instead, with the help of Grieg Person and the Canadian Shadows, they’d concocted a story about being abducted by a white slavery ring and rescued by Canadian Authorities. At least it explained her lost virginity and her reluctance to discuss it with her family.
To her Surprise, her father and stepmother had accepted it without question and welcomed her with open arms, relieved to have their daughter back alive and mostly undamaged. She felt guilty about having to lie to them but they’d never believe the truth.
She’d thought that being back in the comfort and safety of her home would help her heal, but the reality was just the opposite. Looking back almost six months, the time she’d spent with Ali and his family and the recuperation in Canada had seemed more in tune with the dangerous world she’d come to know, than the illusion of safety in her own home.
After Ali had smuggled her across the border between Iran and Azerbaijan, she’d stayed at the home of his son, Faraz Mahmoodi and his wife and children. They’d been gracious hosts, treating her like one of their own family. She’d spent hours trying but not succeeding to blank the ordeal from her mind in the central garden of their home.
Her passport had arrived, and she and Faraz’s family had flown to Canada where they were met by a white haired man named Grieg Person. He’d given them rooms in an old ornate mansion where she’d been questioned, examined and briefed about the Shadow world by Grieg’s staff of Adepts and doctors, until Paris had arrived to take Doctor Mahmoodi’s family to Kentucky.
Grieg had personally flown her to Minnesota explaining it was part of his Shadow Domain and offering to include her under its protection. She’d politely declined, not wanting anything further to do with any organization remotely associated with Shadows.
She’d asked her father for permission keep one of his shotguns, loaded with buckshot, on a shelf in her closet. He’d been surprised and apprehensive but had allowed it. She hated to worry him further, but feared a Shadow could simply walk into her house and drag her back to the hellhole she’d escaped from. They could pass by her family unnoticed, and no one could see or stop them but her.
She jumped when a soft knock sounded at her bedroom door.
The sound of her stepmother’s voice was muffled. “Audrey, honey, dinner’s ready.”
Realizing that she couldn’t help herself by hiding in her room any longer, she reluctantly rolled to the side of the bed. “I’m coming Mom.” Her stepmother, Patricia was the only mother she’d ever known. She’d been there for Audrey her entire life and had bore her father two sons. Her half-brothers, both of them big and strong, were fiercely protective of her. But both of them were younger and naive about the harsh reality of the world, as she’d been before her abduction.
Having dinner with her family had become an ordeal. They were careful with what they said around her, reluctant to talk about any subject that even bordered upon what had happened. The few times they’d tried to approach the subject, she’d broken down and cried, more frustrated about not being able to blurt out the truth, than the horror of the experience itself. Her inability to confess just added to the tension her home life had become and burdened her soul with more guilt.
The dinner progressed silently until her dad cleared his throat and spoke to her. “Have you given any thought of going back to college, Audrey?”
Relieved at hearing the topic of his question, she voiced a suggestion Paris had made.
Looking around the table at the expectant eyes, she replied, “Yes, I have. I’m thinking of enrolling at Kentucky Sate University. I know of a scholarship I can apply for.”
Her father’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Kentucky? Why so far away? It would seem to me you’d want to be closer to home after what happened to you.”
She sighed, “That’s exactly why I need to leave, Dad. Being close to it makes it harder, not easier. I thought I’d feel safer at home but I don’t. Maybe getting away from the place it happened will help me forget.”
“But where will you stay?” he protested. “You’ll be alone. Wouldn’t that be worse?”
“I won’t be alone, Dad. While I was away I met some people who live in Kentucky. They’re friends who’ll provide a place where I can feel safe.” She couldn’t reveal the real reason she wanted to leave. He wouldn’t understand. Paris had offered to pay for college and provide a home where she’d be protected. In addition, she’d be able to talk
freely around Paris’ family, and she’d be able to use his resources to discover what happened to her baby.
Her stepmother reached out and gripped Audrey’s hand, squeezing it. “I think it’s a good idea, Bill. It’s the first time Audrey’s shown an interest in anything but her room.”
Grateful for her stepmother’s support, Audrey knew if she had Patricia behind her, her father would accept her decision.
She lingered at the table as the dishes were cleared, until she sat alone with her father, drinking after-dinner coffee. Glancing at the door to the kitchen to make sure she wasn’t overheard, she said, “There’s something else, Dad. I need you to tell me about my birthmother.”
His eyes evaded her. “I don’t like to talk about that.”
Audrey knew. He’d avoided the subject her entire life, dismissing it as a youthful indiscretion. Despite her repeated attempts to learn the circumstances of her birth, the only reply he ever gave to her questions was that the outcome, Audrey, had been worth it.
“This time, Dad, I’m afraid that’s not good enough. You need to tell me the truth.”
He refocused on her. “Why? Can’t you just drop it?”
She shook her head. “No. I need to know. I can’t explain it, but it’s really important.”
About to reply, his mouth slammed shut when Patricia came back into the dining room.
Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel she asked, “Do you two need anything else?”
Audrey waved her coffee cup. “No, this is fine, Mom, thanks.”
Patricia’s look was wary but she didn’t pry. “Good, I think I’ll go to the living room and watch a little TV. Let me know if you need anything.”
When Patricia left, Audrey swung her gaze to her father. “Well?”
Cringing under her steady look, he replied, “We need to take this conversation outside. If I tell you any of this, I don’t want Pat to have to relive it.”
