Circle's End

by Lisanne Norman

  “Time for me to go, Kitra,” she said, getting to her feet and leaning on her cane. “Conner will think I’ve got lost! You’re all doing a grand job with these younglings, keep it up. I’m more than happy with what you’ve all accomplished in such a short time.”

  Kitra wrapped an arm around Shaidan’s shoulders. “I’m glad to hear that, Noni. These cubs are just so special. They’ve been through a lot, but now they’re home with us.”

  “Indeed, they are,” said Noni. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll see you all when you’re next in the temple.”

  As she left, Noni had much to think about. Of them all, at the two opposites were Gaylla and Shaidan. If Gaylla was slower than the other cubs, then Shaidan was far more mature. He knew exactly their worth to the Sholans, and to their enemies, and he wanted none of it. That was to the good. It meant he’d always be on his guard, not a bad thing for a cub so spectacularly as hybrid as he was.

  As for bringing them back to Shola, well, that was purely a clan matter as far as she was concerned. They should be taken to their home as quietly as possible. There was no need for a big reveal to the authorities. Those that knew about the cubs could find out about them from her as she intended to keep her eye on them. Not because she distrusted them, but just to see how they matured compared to cubs born normally.

  Satisfied they were no threat at this time, she made her way back down to Conner in the temple.

  Palace of Light, Zhal-Oeshi 14th (August)

  Shaidan stopped at the open door to Jerenn, M’Nar, and N’Akoe’s common room and rapped his knuckles on the door frame. Only M’Nar was in.

  He looked up from the booklet he was reading. “Hello, Shaidan. We’re not ready for you yet. We’ve got something new to try out on you! Jerenn’s down at the indoor training room checking it out. Give us about another half an hour.”

  “It was you I wanted to talk to,” he said. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure thing. What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to let you know that I keep a journal,” Shaidan said, walking into the room. “If anything should happen to me, I want you to know where I keep it. Maybe something I’ve written in there will help you find me if I go missing.”

  “This is an awfully serious topic for a youngster,” said M’Nar, putting the booklet down on the coffee table. “What on earth is happening that could make you talk like this? Is everything all right?”

  “Everything is fine right now. I just have a feeling, that’s all.”

  “What kind of things are you putting in your journal? Just day-to-day stuff, or more?”

  “All sorts of things I think are important,” he said. “Right now, they don’t matter, but some day they might.”

  “If you think your writings might be important one day, perhaps you should show them to me now,” said M’Nar. “Some things are not for young people to worry about; they’re for the grown-ups. I know you’ve had to deal with more than your share of grown-up things in your life, but now you don’t have to, Now there’s lots of us all happy to look out for you, take the worries away from you.”

  Shaidan backed off a little, concerned that he’d said too much. “It’s nothing like that,” he said. “I just have a feeling at the back of my mind that something isn’t quite right, that’s all.”

  “So where do you hide this journal?” asked M’Nar.

  “There’s a secret passage in the library,” he began, then the sound of running feet disturbed him.

  Gaylla burst into the room. “We’s ready!” she exclaimed, rushing over to M’Nar. “You take us now to see the surprise!”

  Shaidan took advantage of the distraction to leave the room and head back to the nursery where the rest of his brothers and sisters were still cleaning up after second meal. Brother M’Nar had gotten just a little too interested in his journal. He’d told him no lies. Right now, it wouldn’t make all that much sense to anyone, though he had written about his times with Unity and what Unity was. It was all anecdotal, though, as Brother Jerenn would say, since he had no way to back up what he was saying.

  “Hey, Shaidan, look what I found,” said Vazih, holding out an elaborately crafted bracelet.

  “Can I see it?” he asked, holding out his hand.

  “Here. I found it among the plants in the garden by the elevator.”

  He turned it over in his palm. It was made of silver-colored metal, for a wrist smaller than his own. There were points on it, four of them, only on one side. Each one had a different shape carved into it, like a letter, but in a language he didn’t know. He felt a cold shiver pass down his spine. There was something about the piece of jewelry that just didn’t feel right. “You should give it to Shishu,” he said, passing it back to her. “It belongs to someone, and she’ll be able to find the owner.”

  “I might just keep it,” she said, trying to fit it round her wrist.

  “Don’t!” exclaimed Shaidan, reaching out to stop her.

  The lights in the nursery dimmed, then brightened until all he could see was the glare of them washing out everything else in the room. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to turn his head away from the glare, but he couldn’t. Tiredness flooded through him, making his limbs feel leaden. He fought against it, trying to stay awake, to open his eyes.

  Shaidan, it’s safe, came a mental voice he had grown used to. Let the tiredness fill you, it’s only for a moment and won’t harm you. Rest.

  He came to, standing beside Vazih, but her hand was empty now. She blinked slowly at him.

  “Let’s hurry to the Brother’s room,” she said. “I sensed they have a surprise for us.”

  “Yes,” said Shaidan, looking round the room. Everything was the same, but it wasn’t. Vazih had been holding something that was now gone.

  Unity, what happened? he demanded. I need to know! There were lights, bright lights! But Unity didn’t respond to him, and he knew it wouldn’t.

  He stood there, trying to work out what had happened as his brothers and sister left the room, going to M’Nar and Jerenn’s common room. There was a familiarity about what had happened, an awful familiarity. It was something his papa had experienced as well, something that for him had not been good. He shivered and suddenly ran from the room to where he knew M’Nar still was. There, he flung himself into M’nar’s arms, still shaking with fear.

  N’Akoe was there now, and as M’Nar clasped him close, he knew the Brother signaled her to take the others down to the barracks training room where Jerenn was waiting.

  When the room was empty, M’Nar picked him up and just held him, making soothing noises until he stopped shaking.

  “What is it, Shaidan?” he asked quietly. “What has gotten you so frightened?”

  “The lights,” he said, burying his head deep into the Brother’s shoulder. “There were bright lights trying to make me sleep and forget something.”

  “What? Where were the bright lights? When was this?” demanded M’Nar.

  Shaidan could sense the other’s concern. “Now. It happened now, in the nursery,” he said. “You must have seen them. All the lights have to be connected.”

  “Are you sure? I saw nothing, and if the lights had suddenly gone bright like that, surely the others would have seen it, too?”

  “It made them sleep, M’Nar. It made them sleep! This happened to my papa, too. I remembered it from his memories. Bad things happened to him when the lights went bright!”

  “Hang on, Shaidan,” he said, turning him so he was looking him in the face. “What bad things happened to you just now?”

  “Vazih was showing me something, but it had vanished when the lights went back to normal,” he said.

  “Does Vazih remember showing you something?”

  “No,” he said, “but I told you, the lights made them forget, only I remember. They took it!”

 
“Who took what?” asked M’Nar, his voice remaining reasonable.

  “The ones who made the lights bright. You have to believe me, Brother M’Nar, you have to!”

  “I believe you think something happened,” temporized M’Nar, “but how could something like that happen and no one but you be aware of it? I didn’t even notice anything,”

  “It happened! Ask ZSADHI!”

  “ZSADHI, did something happen to the lights just now?”

  “Yes, Brother M’Nar. Ten minutes ago the lights dimmed and flared.”

  M’Nar looked at Shaidan. “What caused that, ZSADHI?”

  “I cannot tell you, Brother M’Nar.”

  “Did anyone enter the nursery during that time?” he asked slowly as Shaidan’s arms tightened round his neck.

  “I cannot tell you, Brother M’Nar.”

  “Well, it seems the lights did flare, Shaidan, but no one came into your nursery. If they had, then ZSADHI would have known.”

  Shaidan looked at him. “Perhaps ZSADHI is refusing to tell you,” he said. “AIs can keep things to themselves.”

  “Not this one; it’s bound and unable to do or say anything that it isn’t programmed to do. I think you’ve certainly had a fright, and the lights did indeed flare up, but that’s all. Come on, I think we should get down to the barracks now and see what Brother Jerenn’s got for us, don’t you?”

  Slowly, he nodded. “Yes, but I know another AI that can think for itself,” he said, as M’Nar put him down onto the ground and took his hand.

  “You do? Was there one at the General’s home when you were with him on the asteroid base?”

  “No. It lives far from here, but it has nodes here that I can access. It talks to me.”

  “It does?” said M’Nar as they walked down the corridor to the elevator. “Does it have a name?”

  “Unity. It’s told me lots of things about the Cabbarans and the U’Churians.”

  “Are these the things you write about in your journal?”

  “Yes, stuff like that, and other things.”

  “You said you keep your journal in a secret passage.”

  “Yes. Not the one in the banquet hall. The one I use is in the library. It leads down to the first floor. I used it to go outside when I wasn’t supposed to,” he said with a guilty look on his face.

  “How do you open it?” M’Nar asked as he pressed the call button for the elevator.

  “You press the carvings of one of the giant dragonlike creatures,” said Shaidan. “What is the surprise Jerenn has for us?”

  “You sure you want to know? Wouldn’t you rather wait until we get there and he can tell you?”

  “No, because the others will be there already and they’ll know before me.”

  “It’s special reactive armor made for you by the Touibans. When used with their special training guns, if you get hit, your armor lights up in the area where you were hit and you can’t move that body part, like an arm or a leg. If you get hit by a kill shot, then your armor freezes you and you fall over and can’t move at all. The adult version also hurts if you get hit. The idea is it teaches you how to avoid getting hit in a fight and how to use your guns safely. For you, it will be more of a game than anything right now, but it will give you the basics of good weapons control.”

  “Ooh, that sounds like fun,” said Shaidan, cheering up. “Let’s hurry and catch up to the others.”

  Ghioass, same day

  Annuur handed the TeLaxaudin bracelet to Azshuss. “How long this has been there is not known,” he said. “Lucky it was I monitoring the cub and saw what had been found.”

  “Whose arsenal is this from? Why it there?”

  “Why ask me? I only know it dangerous! Cubs could have triggered it and died, had to act. Hunter cub kept awareness. Problematic like father,” he sighed. “Hope none believe him.”

  “I see to safe disposal of bracelet. Thanks to you for fast action,” said Azshuss. “Dropped during the evacuation when K’hedduk was here is likely.”

  Prime world, later the same afternoon

  “So what you’re telling me is that the lights did flare up in the nursery,” said Jerenn.

  “Yes, ZSADHI confirmed it. But he said he couldn’t confirm that anyone else had entered the nursery during that time.”

  “Couldn’t, or wouldn’t because of its programming,” said Jerenn. “Is there any way we can check this out? I know it sounds far-fetched, but from what you said, Shaidan was very clearly afraid and has in his memories something of a similar nature happening to his father.”

  “ZSADHI, when the lights flared in the nursery, did anyone else enter that room?” asked M’Nar.

  “You already asked me that, Brother M’Nar. I told you then that I couldn’t answer that question.”

  “Are you saying you couldn’t answer me, or are you unable to do so because of your programming?” persisted M’Nar.

  “If I was unable to answer you because of my programming, I would be unable to tell you that.” There was a note of censure in the electronic voice.

  “Have the lights flared up like this before?”

  “From time to time, the lights do flare,” agreed ZSADHI.

  “What is the reason for these flares?” asked Jerenn.

  “Fluctuations in the levels of power to the lighting relays.”

  “Is there ever an outside reason for this to happen?”

  “I couldn’t say, Brother Jerenn. It is not my function to monitor power to the lighting units. My function is to handle internal security and to answer the needs of the people living within the Palace of Light.”

  “Not exactly helpful, is it? Who else would know about the lights flaring and people forgetting things? All the people who were working with the Captain are away on this mission on M’zull with him.”

  “Not all,” said Jerenn. “Jurrel is here.”

  “Jurrel wasn’t with him for most of his time here. There are two people who were, though. Doctor Zayshul and General Kezule,” said M’Nar.

  “I am not going to talk to the General about this,” said Jerenn firmly. “He’d likely want our hides as floor coverings for even broaching a topic the rawest recruit would dismiss as nonsense!”

  “The Doctor, then. She’s more approachable. You’re missing something important here, Jerenn. It not only happened to the cubs and everyone on this floor, it also happened while I was here in our rooms!”

  “You have a point,” said Jerenn. “What do we say to her? You don’t just sashay up to someone and ask if they saw bright lights and found themselves having forgotten something! If they forgot it, they probably forgot they forgot . . . if you see what I mean.”

  “We say Shaidan had a nightmare and ask if she’s ever come across something like this,” said M’Nar, getting up. “Let’s go now.”

  CHAPTER 9

  RELUCTANTLY trailing after him, Jerenn followed M’Nar to the security checkpoint outside the hospital.

  “We’d like to talk to Doctor Zayshul,” his sword-brother said to the guard on duty. “Please say it’s Brother M’Nar and Brother Jerenn, and that we work with the Sholan cubs.”

  The guard looked them up and down, then nodded to his seated colleague. “Tell the Doctor she has two visitors from the nursery,” he said.

  “That’s not what I said,” M’Nar muttered to no one in particular.

  Minutes later, Doctor Zayshul came bustling up to them. “Good afternoon, Brothers. How can I help you? Nothing is wrong with the cubs, I hope?”

  “The cubs are fine, Doctor Zayshul,” said M’Nar, exuding a confidence he didn’t actually feel. “We, Brother Jerenn and I—were wondering if we could have a private word with you.”

  A puzzled look crossed her face, but then she nodded and gestured to the room opposite. “Certainly. Let’s use the lounge. It
should be empty at this time of day.”

  The lounge was a pleasant room, with wide windows in the west wall that overlooked the barracks exercise yard.

  Doctor Zayshul took one of the easy chairs near the door and gestured to two opposite her. “Please, be seated. Can I get you a maush or a coffee?”

  “No, thank you, Doctor. We wanted to ask you what seems like an unusual question, if we may.”

  “By all means,” she replied, looking intrigued.

  “When Captain Aldatan was still here in the Palace, did you and he ever experience flickering lights and a memory loss?” asked M’Nar.

  Neither of them were prepared for her reaction. The color drained from her face, leaving her features a pallid, almost deathly pale green.

  “Why do you ask?” she demanded in a faint voice. “Has it happened again? Please tell me that it hasn’t.”

  M’Nar glanced briefly at Jerenn. “I’m sorry, Doctor. We didn’t mean to stir up bad memories,” he said quietly. “Yes. It happened this afternoon to two of the cubs—Vazih and Shaidan, but only Shaidan was aware of it happening.”

  “What happened? What does he remember?” she asked leaning forward. “His father was aware of it happening at times. They are so alike.”

  “Shaidan says Vazih found something that she was showing to him and then the lights flared and the item was gone. ZSADHI sensed nothing. It says no one else entered the nursery during this time.”

  Doctor Zayshul got to her feet and began to pace, wringing her hands in distress. “We never thought to ask ZSADHI if it sensed anything,” she admitted, “but I would believe Shaidan. If he tells you that something was taken, then it was.”

  “What do you know about the lights flickering, Doctor?” asked Jerenn. “Can you tell us anything about it?”

  “Only that it happened frequently here in the Palace at one time.” She stopped, holding onto the back of the easy chair. “Captain Aldatan—Kusac—believed it had something to do with the TeLaxaudin and the Cabbarans. According to Kaid, it happened to them when they were on the Kz’adul, and when it happened to us, there were TeLaxaudin in the Palace.”