The Relic Keeper

by Anderson, N David

“Can I get you anything, before I go?”

  “I don’t think there’s anything that I need that you could get me, thanks. Er, don’t s’pose you’ve found out anything about Paula?”

  “I have not been able to. The records here are restricted; I have no authority to them. I have told you that before,” she said, then leant across him to reset one of the monitors, and said in a soft whisper, “I’m working on something, but keep it quiet.” She moved away and motioned with her eyes to the units above the door, and winked. She gave him a soft smile and disappeared through the sliding door at the side of the room.

  Outside she walked briskly down the corridor and into the elevator. It was hard convincing Mathew that he should be discreet in the room with the sets of watchers monitoring him. While he was free to do and say what he pleased she would not be able to talk freely. She liked the opportunities that existed when she left the room and she escorted him around the empty floor, and they could speak more candidly, but he would keep asking at the wrong times. She exited the elevator, took her coat from the locker and scanned out of the clinic into the street, when suddenly she became aware of someone at her side, and looked over to see James. He took her arm and whispered:

  “Come with me, I think it’s important.” And he led her across the road, down an alley, and into a pub.

  “James, I shouldn’t be in a bar here. What are you doing?”

  “Ok, ok, I just need to talk to you, just not in the clinic, right?” He bustled her across the bar to the corner. “Just sit here for a second. Do you want a drink?”

  “Water.”

  James returned after five minutes carrying two glasses, neither of which looked like water, and accompanied by another man that Rei didn’t recognise. He walked passed James and extended a large hand to Rei.

  “Hello, you must be Miss Ishinomori. My name’s Philip, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m very pleased to meet you in person at last.”

  “Thank you. But I’m not sure what James has told you…or why.”

  “We’ve met before actually, albeit only through an ether connection, I don’t know if you remember?” She looked blankly at him. Evidently she didn’t remember.

  “Here’s your drink, Rei, I forgot what you wanted so I got the same as me,” James said, passing the glass over. Rei sniffed it cautiously and wrinkled her face.

  “Water, James, just a glass of water please.”

  “Sorry, you could keep that anyway, if you like, it’s good.” She extended the glass to him.

  “Thank you, but I’d like water…please.” James reluctantly scuttled back to the bar, and tried to attract the surly waitress’s attention.

  “He must be awkward to work with,” said Philip.

  “I don’t exactly work with him. We are just both employed by the same people.”

  “Yeah, you’re with Walden,” Philip nodded. “Good is it there?”

  “Yes very. I’m sorry, but is there a point to this conversation?”

  “I’m interested in Mathew Lyal, I understand that you’re the nurse who administers to him.”

  “Well firstly, everyone is interested in Mathew. Secondly, I am not a nurse, I’m an intern, and as you are not a doctor, I assume your interest is journalistic.”

  “No. Well, yes, I’m a writer, and a researcher. I’ve interviewed Dr Warwick.”

  “In his office or by kidnapping him in a bar?”

  “You know, you’re quite funny. I had you down as someone with no sense of humour, but really…’

  “I’m very sorry,” Rei interrupted, “but I really don’t know why James brought me here, what he wants, or who you are, Mr…?”

  “Brading. Call me Philip though.”

  “Hmm,” she snorted. “I have better things to do than chat to you about Dr Warwick, Mr Brading. And no doubt you will be asking about Mr Lyal next. So I think I should leave.”

  “I’m sorry, please stay for a second I need to speak to you, and you’re right I do want to talk about Lyal, but I have good reasons.” Rei stood and went to push passed Philip. He knew he had to grab her attention now. “Reiko, he’s in danger you know.”

  She stopped, and looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

  “Really? From whom? You?”

  “No. People want to get to him. There’s a whole lot of people who’ll be only too pleased to see him dead again. It can’t stop with him leaving here, you know. The Church aren’t happy, and it’ll only be a matter of time before someone, some God-freak, tries to blow him away. And the clinic won’t help, you know, they’re getting enough flak as it is. Are you reading the correspondence about this? ’Cos you should you know. The Christians, Muslims and Jews are all condemning this. It’s the first thing they’ve all agreed on for years; only the Hindus are unsure where they stand. Maybe it’s not that strong now, but it will be. There’s pressure from all the main religious groups to raise this with Department of Ethics. This will turn into an ethical issue, and the clinic will drop it like a hot potato when it does. And the clinic’s records aren’t what they want the world to think.” Rei remained standing, but didn’t move to leave.

  “What do you know about the clinic’s records?”

  The girl was Philip’s only chance to get to Mathew. He had to take a gamble that her loyalties lay more with him than with her employers. He carried on in a controlled voice.

  “Warwick’s selling shares. Lots of them. He’s getting out of the company, and he’s doing it now before this whole thing blows up in some blaze of bad coverage. And I know someone at the clinic has already gained to access to Mathew, someone with a history of religious cult membership. Why do you think they’d do that, Rei? Not everyone is like you, trying to do some good for the world. People will want to harm him.”

  “And who do you think has gained illicit access to Mathew? Because I personally know everyone who has spoken to him.”

  “Look, I have sources, and I just know that someone is getting close to him.”

  “You mean James, yes?” she said, nodding at the man at the bar, still waiting to be served. “He’s not trying to harm him, you know. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but I know he’s not trying to harm him.”

  “You don’t know a thing about him. He’s not who he says he is, you know.”

  “I’m not stupid, Mr Brading. I have noticed that James Peacock has grown two inches and changed his hair and eye colour since I first met him. And for some reason he’s now hanging about on a floor that he should not be working on. But it doesn’t make him a threat.”

  Philip was taken aback. “You know he’s an impostor, and you haven’t done anything?”

  “I have done something. I’ve watched him, and I know he’s not a threat.” She nodded over Philip’s shoulder, and he saw that Deon was coming back. “Personality, identity and employment theft is rife in the lower echelons of the health market. It’s hard to get references for a position, but no one ever really checks any details, so people steal jobs or sell their positions when they leave. If we assumed the worst every time a name did not equate to a face, we would never have any porters. It really is not the most heinous crime in London, you know,” she stated. “Who is he then?” she added in a whisper.

  It was time to put his cards on the table and see what happened.

  “The police think he’s been involved in a multiple homicide.”

  Rei laughed at the allegation. “Do you think they’re right?”

  “No, I don’t think I do.”

  “Then we’re agreed.” She took a glass from Deon as he arrived back. “Thank you James. I’ve been speaking with Mr Brading. He has lots of ideas and opinions. Do you know him well?

  “Yeah, we’re great friends, aren’t we?” said Deon, throwing an arm around Philip, which was gently moved off by the reporter. “He thinks Mathew may be in some danger.”

  “So I gather. What do you think?”

  “Me? Well, I dunno.” Deon suddenly felt under scrutiny. Rei urged him to say what wa
s on his mind. He looked from her to Philip, then back, took a gulp of his gin and continued. “I think Mathew’s a nice guy, but I think there’s more. I reckon that maybe there’s a reason why he’s here. I know that there’s a reason why all of us are here, that’s all, you know, critical, it’s all part of the, the whole picture.” He rolled his eyes round the room to demonstrate. “But I think Mathew’s got something to do, something that he has to do.”

  “You mean he has a destiny?” asked Philip, catching Rei’s eye.

  “Yeah, well, sort of.” He lowered his voice as he continued. “We all have a destiny, something God wants us to do.”

  “God?” asked Philip.

  “Yeah,” said Deon, speaking even more quietly.

  “I don’t believe in God.”

  “Well, God’s watching you anyway. So, he’s got a reason for being here, Mathew that is, otherwise he wouldn’t have come back. I don’t know what it is; I doubt even he knows what it is yet. But I think us, you know, us three, have the duty to look after him and let him do whatever it is he has to do. And people will try to stop him, like they did…to Jesus, you know, but we have to keep him safe.” Deon looked at the faces watching him, and smiled slightly. Speaking louder again he added, “Well, that’s what I think.”

  “So you think it’s important to keep him safe,” asked Rei, and made a gesture at Philip.

  “Well of course.”

  Philip sat back in his chair, trying to get a feeling on this guy. He sounded genuine. Ok, he was fucking nuts, but he was genuine with it. He didn’t come over like the type who would set a fire and shoot nearly 200 people. Philip had met religious fanatics before. People who believed that God was working through them by killing, but Deon wasn’t like that. He was too cagey. Maybe Rei was right.

  “So we all seem to think that Mathew could be in danger, and we need to look after him. Right?” said Rei.

  “Guess we’re thinking something like that,” said Philip cautiously.

  “Can I ask what exactly it is that you’re writing about in relation to this, Mr Brading?”

  “I don’t know what I’m writing on this yet, you know. I think it could be a longer piece than I originally expected. I thought I was writing a short article but now I’m thinking it’s a kindle. But I promise you, that I’ll let you see anything I write before it goes to print.”

  “Will you interview Mathew?”

  “I’d like to, but Warwick won’t let me. I don’t really trust him.”

  “Good,” said Rei. “Then you’re not quite as stupid as you look. Call me when you hear anything.” And she stood and left, heading back to her apartment. Philip watched her go as he sat with Deon and finished his drink quickly, not wanting to overextend the time spent with him.

  “She’s a feature, you know,” said Deon, watching Rei leave.

  Philip slapped him lightly on the cheek. “She is so far out of your league, pal, don’t think about it.” He walked to the door, and called back as he left: “You, call me if you hear anything, Right?” He could see this all going horribly wrong for him just because he was trusting some nut who a girl he didn’t know had a feeling about. “This has all the makings of a disaster,” he said to himself, and left the bar. Right on cue thunder started to rumble, and the rain began.

  27

  Rei had been slightly rattled by Philip, although she hoped she hadn’t shown it. Perhaps there was some danger to Mathew. She heard the letters to the papers stating that the procedure that had resurrected him was unethical, but she’d never taken it too seriously. Philip obviously believed that this would get worse, while Rei was expecting it to all blow over. Then as she made her way into the building this morning she was greeted by evidence that things were getting more intense. She turned the corner towards the staff entrance when she heard a noise by the main door. A small crowd was gathered around the front of the clinic shouting at the people entering the building. She rushed through the small staff-door to the side of the main entrance and hurried to the inside of the front entrance, where her colleagues were grouped around the lobby beneath the atrium, alongside the flowing water of the central feature. She sidled up to Roy, an intern in paediatrics whom she knew slightly.

  “What’s happening?”

  “I’m surprised you don’t know, Reiko. It’s your department.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Your patient, Lyal. The Christians are complaining about him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They’ve been bombarding the press all weekend, apparently, and these,” he motioned to the outside crowd, “arrived about an hour ago. I’ve been trying to leave for the last half hour, but security doesn’t think it’s safe to go. The police won’t come until something happens, and this lot of dinlows won’t leave.”

  “What do they want?”

  “As far as I know they want the project you’re on closed down and a ban on any further resuscitations.” They looked out at the crowd who were now shouting at the staff taking sanctuary in the lobby. As more employees arrived they were jeered and an egg was hurled, splattering on the glass of the door.

  “Bloody Luddites,” said Roy. “I bet they’re the first to complain when they can’t get the latest pharmaceuticals. Ethics and progress, they just don’t mix.”

  “No. I wonder what they would like us to do with Mathew,” Rei mused.

  “Probably want to see him burned at the stake. And if we turned all the life support off, would they be happy? No, they’d be calling us murderers then.”

  The crowd kept chanting and shouting and Rei walked back to the elevators. She had more pressing issues than some vociferous protesters today.

  Rei spent the day working with the osteopath in Mathew’s room. The c-pac he had wasn’t allocated news coverage, and Rei doubted that Mathew could work it on his own anyway, so in the safety of the 54th floor he remained oblivious to the demonstration below. But there would come a time when someone would speak to him. She was sure that James was genuine in his intentions, although he actually worried her slightly since this Brading character had linked him to extreme factionalism. She had to put her fears out of her mind for the time being to concentrate on Mathew’s recovery. That, after all, was her main purpose.

  Mathew could just stand on his own and walk a few steps, although he needed a stick for support, but he was becoming far more mobile and the pain seemed to have subsided considerably. He was making exceptionally good progress and the possibility that he could leave the clinic in a matter of weeks rather months was now real. Rei could tell that he was beginning to recover because he was able to talk more about his past, rather than concentrate on his present condition. That would, however, bring out a whole new set of problems and she wondered how he was going to cope psychologically, especially when he left the safety of the clinic. And where would he go? What would he do for money? Could he get a job? There were a million questions that would have to wait. She reset the monitors and prepared to leave Mathew studying the details of twenty-first century living on the c-pac.

  “Rei?”

  “Yes Mathew.”

  “I was just wondering, do you have any of my things?”

  “Which things? Tell me what you need and I can get it for you.”

  “Well, I don’t need anything, it’s just I wondered what had happened to things like my wallet, photographs, my wedding ring. Those sorts of things. I kept them on me all the time but I’ve no idea what would have happened to them.”

  She had no answer. This man’s life had been left behind nearly three-quarters of a century ago, and a great deal had changed in that time. “I’m sorry Mathew. If the clinic kept those possessions I have no clue where they’d have deposited them. They would probably have been left with your wife.” She winced as she realised that she should not have said that. Paula was probably in a cryonic chamber herself. “I’ll try to find out,” she added. He smiled half-heartedly at her.

  “I didn’t expect that you’d b
e able to find them, I just wondered. I had a picture of Jessie in my wallet. I took it at her second birthday, and I….” He laid his head back into the pillow.

  “Should I get you anything, Mathew?”

  “No,” he said quietly. “There’s nothing that I need that you or anyone else can get.” And he closed his eyes and commanded the lights to switch off.

  Rei left him to his thoughts and headed off to try to do something constructive before she left. She took the stairs instead of the elevator and began the slow climb down 22 floors. The stairwell was hardly ever used and the emergency lighting was barely adequate. In the corners piles of rubbish left for years rotted away, and the occasional noise of scurrying animals hurried Rei’s pace. The smell was bad and it seemed unbelievable that beyond the sealed doors on each floor the clinic was superficially a pristine environment. Her shoes echoed as she walked down, although there would be no-one to hear the sound, and she counted the turns to ensure that she exited at the right floor. She wondered if this was how James slipped onto the 54th floor, or had he managed to find a way of making the elevator stop at a level he was not authorised to go to. She doubted it; he’d need to be able to by-pass the retinal scanner to achieve that. She stumbled in the subdued light, bashing into a box, and wished that she’d found out if it was possible to use the elevator. She swore in Japanese and rubbed her bruised leg, then carried on down to the level she needed.

  The door opened more easily than she’d expected and she walked into a darkened corridor. It seemed strange that for all the security and restricted areas in the clinic it was never assumed that people would use the old fire escape to connect floors. Casually she brushed some of the dust and cobwebs from the stairwell and walked slowly down the passageway. There were a series of doors positioned along both walls. They were of standard size, but fireproofed and heavier than any of the others in the building. Rei took the small slip of paper from her pocket and studied the plan. Taken from one of the files that James had managed to extract from their attempt to search the archives several days ago, it listed the layout of the archives, and by cross-referencing it against the old building’s codes she had been able to work out the security codes for each room. There was nothing of the technicalities she was used to; these doors simply had a keypad with a 7-digit code to each. But then there was no reason for high security levels here. There was nothing here less than about 40 years old, and most of the people that these records related to were dead now; although at least one of them was now back in the world.