Council of Peacocks

by M Joseph Murphy

  “Where?” Echo took a few steps and then flipped her wrist. The portal flashed away, leaving only an afterimage on Josh’s eye. “Where are we going?”

  “Greece?” Elaine handed a towel to Echo.

  “No,” Wisdom said. “We can’t risk it if Josh has a tracking device in him. We’ll go to my offices in Hong Kong. I have certain devices set into the building there that will hide us from my father for a time. They should also block Josh’s tracker until we can have it removed. I’m not ready for another round with him just yet, and I think one way or another our next meeting will be our last.”

  Echo straightened her blouse, smoothing out the wrinkles. “I’m not exactly thrilled by this turn of events, Wisdom. You owe me a gazillion favors.”

  Wisdom laughed a strange strangled sound that was closer to a sob than a sound of amusement. “I’m just glad you’re…It’s good you’re still alive. We can talk about repayment later.”

  “You think there will be a later?” Echo flipped her wrist again and a second circle of light splashed into the air with a hissing sound.

  For just a moment, Wisdom faltered. An expression crossed his face; it was just a glimmer of fear and then it was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When they arrived in Hong Kong, it was already late afternoon. Echo’s portal opened in a deserted boardroom filled with cold neon light and mahogany furniture. Wisdom walked straight to a phone on a nearby desk and made arrangements, while the Anomalies filed out of the portal. Moments later, he faded away in a flurry of security guards and a swirl of men and women in dark suits. Elaine and Echo went with him, leaving Garnet in charge of the rest. She slipped back into the role of authority quickly, telling everyone how to get to their rooms.

  On his way to the quarters he’d been assigned, David kept his head down. He felt dirty surrounded by so many impeccably dressed people and the clean business sterility of the building. Although he was hesitant to be alone, as soon as the door clicked closed behind him he peeled off his bloodied and sweat-soiled clothes. He dropped the clothes in the wastebasket in the bathroom. Naked, he felt more civilized than he had in days. He walked over to the window and looked out over the city.

  It reminded him of the movie Blade Runner. Everywhere he looked there was steel and glass and neon signs. Large billboards with television-like screens flashed pictures of smiling Chinese women and pop cans. People and cars filled the streets below like schools of fish swimming in different directions through narrow streams. He was not completely convinced that the little oval of light had not brought them forward in time. He half expected to see air ships moving between the impossibly-high skyscrapers. Toronto was a large city but, compared to this, it seemed intimate and backwater.

  He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. Alone. The silence was oppressive. Thoughts of demons and shadows bubbled over in his mind. Pushing those thoughts aside, he took a long hot shower. As the hot water pounded on him, he thought of the television show Survivor. He remembered watching a group of women relish a simple shower. At the time, it had seemed like a silly reward. Now he understood. There was something extremely civilized about taking a shower. The soft spicy scent of the soap and shampoo erased the dirt and the wildness of the past few days.

  He dried himself off as he walked over to the closet. It was filled with designer clothes and tailored suits, names like Hugo Boss and Versace attached like cattle brands marking wealth. Normally he spurned designer clothes; they were pretentious wastes of money worn by silly people with no respect for their own wealth. Growing up, his family had never had extra money lying around to buy things like this. He opened the top drawer of a nearby dresser and removed a pair of underwear. As he slid them on, he had to admit they were more comfortable than the ones he got at Wal-Mart. Even the socks seemed different when he stepped into them. When he walked around the room, his feet felt cushioned as if he was not really touching the ground. He slid a pair of pants off a hanger and put on a grey high-necked sweater. Both were his size, which, while unnerving, was not completely unexpected.

  As he finished dressing, he shook his head at the amount of money it must have taken to stock this room. He was sure his mother could have fed them for half a year on what it took to buy a few of the suits.

  “Admit it,” he said as he walked over to one of the full-length mirrors that hung on either side of the door leading to the bathroom. “You’re eager to dress up like someone else.” He wore black silk pants, the pleats hanging like something out of a catalogue, and a bulky loose-knit grey wool sweater that rose up his neck and gathered around his face, framing it. It was a very maritime sweater, reminding him of cold nights damp with the wind off the ocean and drinking pints of Moosehead in pubs. His skin was still pale, his hair was as red as ever, but he barely recognized himself. He felt like a movie star. “So that’s it, eh? That’s why people shell out all that money for these clothes. I guess I get it now.”

  Satisfied he was unrecognizable, he moved to the window and looked out into the city from the future. Thirty minutes or so later, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in.”

  Jessica walked into the room, her eyes focused loosely on the ground. She was dressed in a pair of blue jean overalls and a white t-shirt. Maybe it was just the way she moved, but David felt her change in clothing made her a different person, too. There was no sign of the smart-mouthed girl who believed it was natural for her to be the one in charge during a crisis. The way her cotton shirt hung against her chest that had not yet grown breasts, the way her ponytail bounced as she moved, she looked like a young Jody Foster.

  “The last time I was in Hong Kong, Amy and I went for Dim Sum at this really cool restaurant.” She leaned against the wall just to the left of the mirror and kept her eyes on the ground. “Mr. Wisdom took us there. He said it was a special treat for all the progress we had made in class. It seemed like the most important thing in the world back then, doing well in class. Now I just want to run home to my mother. Pretty pathetic, isn’t it?”

  “Jessica, pathetic is the last word I think of when I look at you. I am way more pathetic than you are. Look how you handled yourself against the Edimmu. You were like Ripley and Sarah Connor all wrapped into one little package. Meanwhile, I was the one crying like a loser. Terrified. You feel that way because you’re human. And I mean that. Human. No matter what Elaine or Wisdom says, we’re not monsters. Not if we don’t let ourselves be.”

  Jessica nodded and looked out the window. “It might be easier, you know, if we let ourselves become monsters. I think that’s why Ms. Ryerson tried to convince us we were. I am not psychic – not in the precognitive way, anyway. I don’t really know what’s going to happen to us in the next couple of days, but I think it’s going to be pretty bad. Wisdom is freaked. I can feel it in the way he moves. After he passes through a spot, the air radiates spots of black, like it’s filled with anger and fear. If we were monsters, maybe it would be easier for us to, I don’t know, get through it and all.”

  “But at what cost, eh?” David walked over to where she was standing and got down on his knees, forcing her to look into his eyes. “No matter how hard it gets, we can’t let ourselves become something dark and scary. Listen, maybe our parents were demons and maybe we have a little monster inside of us. I don’t know if I believe that, but let’s just say it’s true. I saw what you were like with Amy. There was nothing monstrous about that. You were a little girl. You still are a little girl. And if you feel like running away from all this crap, that’s good. That’s what a logical, sane person would do.”

  Jessica raised her head. “I think that was actually inspirational, Mr. Ross. You know, Amy liked you. I used to think you were a doorknob. Now I’m thinking she was right.”

  “Well …”

  David stopped as Jessica leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Jessica walked out of the room a
nd David smiled, feeling good about himself for the first time in months.

  ***

  Josh had been in his room for only a few minutes when Garnet was at his door with a stack of manila folders. She handed them to him, then bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. The look in her eyes made it clear she did not feel comfortable around him. She did not step into the room. Josh realized she wasn’t alone. Two armed men in dark suits stood to either side of her.

  “I can’t see how they’re going to do you any good, Josh,” she said. “We don’t even really know what your EFHBs are. Makes it kind of difficult to develop them.”

  “All the same,” he said, trying to be as charming as possible. “Thanks again.”

  Garnet kept eye contact with him for what seemed a very long time. Then shook her head and looked away. “Maybe you are a miracle worker,” she said. “I wouldn’t normally do this sort of thing, but God knows things have been very strange since you showed up.”

  Four hours later, Josh pushed himself away from the desk with a grunt and leaned back in the leather chair. Looking at the files before him made his head hurt. He had always considered himself a good student. He'd spent all of his high school years on the honor roll and carried his average over to university. He was in his second year of classes working toward a degree in electrical engineering. You did not make it past first year if you didn’t know how to study.

  Still, these files were way out of his area of expertise. There were dozens of exercises on how to access certain areas of your mind, control your biorhythms, and focus under extreme stress. A lot of the material seemed like complete Star Trek fiction: page after page dedicated to the energy fields of the body and how they interact with the global electromagnetic fields and sub-atomic structures. He found it hard to believe that a kid like that girl Jessica could comprehend any of it. According to Garnet, though, this was all pretty standard material that the other Anomalies were expected to learn in their first year. He could only imagine what the more advance material was.

  “I need a break.” He pushed away from the desk and walked into the bathroom. He went to the sink, turned the stainless steel faucet and splashed cold water onto his face. He repeated this several times until he could no longer feel the remnants of sweat on his skin. Then he dried off with one of the thick black towels piled on the countertop and turned to meet his reflection.

  “Can I really get used to this?” Only when he said the words out loud did he surrender to the notion that he would never go back to his old life. He had already registered for classes for the upcoming semester.

  “I’m never going to make it back to class. I don’t even know where things stand with me and Jan.” Would she ever want to see him again? How would she react when he told her that even now she did not know all his secrets? Hell, even he did not know all his secrets.

  He closed his eyes, thought back to that day he had snapped orders at those winged monsters. Since Jessica had helped him recover the memory, it was easy for him to remember every detail of it: the heat in his body, the anger he felt towards them, and the way they looked at him. They'd looked at him with warmth and affection because they knew his father. Because they respected and feared him.

  But which father?

  He opened his eyes and followed the lights of a helicopter as it circled a nearby building. There was only one way for him to find out. He would have to sit with Jessica one more time and see what else they could dig up.

  “But not tonight.” He turned away from the window and slipped under the covers on the bed. He left the lights on. When he thought about turning them off, the memory of those monsters flowing out of the shadows kept him from moving. It was a long time before he fell asleep.

  ***

  “Are you mad?”

  Wisdom looked over his shoulder. Echo sat up in bed, her head leaning against the headboard. She wore a piece of frilly pink lingerie. Wisdom could not decide if he liked it on her or not. Echo was far removed from the fragility the lingerie implied, but it was extremely flattering to her physique. He decided not to criticize. He finished taking off his shirt and started unbuckling his pants.

  “No, I’m not angry at you,” she answered. “No more than before. I am, however, curious.”

  “About that new one? Josh?” Wisdom walked over to a hook on the outside of his walk-in closet and took down a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.

  “Yes, about that and about your father’s sudden appearance. I’ve been around too long to believe in coincidence, Wisdom. This thing with the boy’s father, it’s not the sort of thing you usually overlook.”

  Wisdom rubbed his forehead, unable to meet her eyes. “No, it isn’t. How could I not have seen Richard Wilkinson’s son was an Anomaly? How could I miss the connection? I studied that family in depth for months before I ordered the hit. I don’t like overlooking anything. In hindsight, I should have thought something was strange when Elaine missed. She never misses, you know. It’s uncanny.”

  “The way you talk about her, Wisdom...” Echo crossed her arms and looked away. “Are you two…? I have to wonder if your relationship is entirely professional.”

  Dressed in the pajama bottoms, Wisdom slid onto the bed and drew Echo toward him. “I love Elaine like a child, Echo. A daughter. And I would be very surprised if anything I could do would make you jealous. I think we’re both too old for that kind of foolishness.”

  “As old as you are, Wisdom, you should know something about women by now.”

  Wisdom cupped her face with his hand. “No one could ever take your place.”

  Echo leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. “What are you going to do about the boy, Wisdom? Are you planning a visit tonight in the Dreaming?”

  Wisdom reached his free hand down between her thighs. “Assuming you don’t wear me out, yes. If things go badly tomorrow, tonight may be our last night together. Are you finished talking now?”

  Echo answered with a moan.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Josh sat on a tiled floor, cross-legged. He played Jacks with Tommy Delonki, vaguely aware that something was not quite right. He stared at Tommy for quite some time before it hit him.

  “You’re dead,” he said. Yet he saw Tommy, 12 years old, dressed in the Star Wars pajamas he wore that night when the Edimmu came for him. Josh was dressed in blue jeans and a black t-shirt but he was the right age: 20.

  “I’m dreaming aren’t I?”

  Tommy smiled and bounced the pink ball against the tiled floor. In a single swoop he gathered up three jacks.

  Josh looked around. They sat in the middle of the Eaton Center. The mall was deserted, even though the bright lights that shone through the glass ceiling showed it was the middle of the day. The Canadian Geese sculptures slowly flapped their wings, flying but going nowhere.

  “You want to get away from it, don’t you?” Tommy bounced the ball again and took four jacks.

  “Get away from what?” Josh felt a chill against his chest. He looked down and saw he was naked to the waist. He wore only the pair of plaid Joe Boxer bottoms his mother had bought in New York, only they were now big enough for his adult body.

  “Do you know why you’re here?” Tommy threw the ball over his shoulder and it bounced away into the distance. With each bounce the light around them dimmed. By the time the ball stopped, there was almost no light coming down from above.

  “What do you mean? In Toronto? I do not know. Didn’t we come here on a school trip in grade 8?”

  “Yep. We got to share a room. You, me and that Brian guy. I never liked him, you know. He used to call me a nerd. Made fun of me a lot. Do you remember what happened here?”

  “Um…”

  “Think, Josh. Don’t you remember that guy you saw? The one that made you run back onto the bus? It was outside the ROM. Do you remember now?”

  Suddenly the Eaton Center was gone. Josh stood beside Tommy on a street corner. Cars drove by at turtle speed and a cold wind blew his hair. On
the opposite side of the street, a steady flow of people stalked up and down the sidewalk. Then his eyes fell on a figure standing as still as a monument. A tall dark man dressed in a red suit.

  “Wisdom.” Josh put a hand over his mouth, confused. The wind picked up. The cars and the other people disappeared. Suddenly it was just him, Tommy and Wisdom. “I saw him and I knew him. Knew what he was. And it scared me. That’s why I ran back to the bus.”

  “How exactly did you know me?”

  Josh looked to his left. There was Wisdom. This one was not dressed in red. He wore a long charcoal grey robe that swirled in and out of the shadows like oil in water. His forehead shone lightly, almost like a halo hung around his head. He seemed much more solid than anything else in the dream.

  “How…?” He took a step toward the new Wisdom. The city slowly faded away until it was little more than mist.

  “Jessica isn’t the only one who can pop into people’s heads, Josh. I thought it was time for us to have a little conversation, the kind best had away from the others.”

  “You tried to kill my father.” Josh found he had a sword in his hand. It glowed like a lightsaber. Heat and strength ran through his body as he tightened his grip on the hilt.

  Wisdom glanced at the sword but did not seem threatened by it. “I’ve killed a lot of people in my life, Josh, some for a lot less reason than I had to kill your father. I can apologize for it, if it would make you feel better. Sorry. Now can we focus on the matter at hand? How exactly did you know who I was? If I am reading the situation right, you were about 12 years old, right? That would place this little memory about four years before Lebanon. That would be about three years before I was aware of your father and how his little gang was getting in my way. I’m not used to being in the dark. So, how did you know me?”

  Josh shook his head. He looked down at his hand. The sword was gone. “I don’t know. There is so much I don’t know. Can you help me remember? Like Jessica did?”