The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1)

by Bundy, Candice

  *

  Rai followed Ponar toward the storehouse at a distance while she tried to make sense of her conversation with the Durmah. She understood Chieftess Kait's desire to have Rai help the Durmah in this matter; she also understood Jesse's irritation over losing her help around the Waystation.

  Although Rai didn't know if what she'd smelled on the luna berry bags was necessarily a contaminant, it was a definite possibility. One the Durmah couldn't ignore--especially if it could keep them safe from unwarranted blame. It dawned on Rai that, in this circumstance, her enhanced senses would be of direct use to Durmah. Although they often proved a curse, this positive spin brought a smile to Rai's lips. Perhaps she'd be an asset to Durmah after all, instead of just the questionable burden Somnu had hinted at.

  Rai entered the storehouse a few moments after Ponar. She hesitated at the door, not sure whether her presence would help calm Jesse or not. She watched Jesse pacing back and forth, muttering angrily to herself. Ponar quietly approached, reaching out a hand toward her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. She shrugged his hand away, lip half-curled into a snarl.

  "Don't. Just don't!" Jesse thrust her hands onto her hips and planted her feet on the floor. Although Ponar was a good head taller than her, her intimidating presence couldn't be denied.

  Ponar stood his ground. "Now, Jess. You know this is a good move for Durmah, even if it does inconvenience you for a few weeks."

  "But there's no guarantee, is there?" Jesse asked. "Kait can change her mind and give Rai a wagon of her own, can't she?"

  "Sure, I suppose, but I doubt that," Ponar reasoned. "I was there when Kait made her decision. There's no intention on Kait's part for Rai to leave the Waystation and work trade routes on her own."

  "Yes, fine. For now!" Jesse threw her up hands in the air. "What happens next year, or the year after? I have no say in things! I'm not even there to give an opinion. By the time I hear about Kait's edicts, it's been decided weeks ago!" A lone tear slid down her cheek.

  "That's what this is about, sis?" Ponar asked. "That you'll never have any say in Durmah politics? That you'll never be our Chieftess?"

  Jesse covered her face with her hands, and Rai heard her sob quietly behind them. Ponar reached out and brought Jesse into his arms, comforting her.

  "You don't know how hard it is, Ponar. To grow up your whole life, groomed for something every day, just to have it taken away. Kait sent me out here to hide my shame so my failure wouldn't be a constant reminder to the family. I'm abandoned out here."

  Ponar held his sister at a loss for words. What could you possibly say to comfort such a wound?

  Rai snuck away to her room. She had a trip to pack for, and knew she couldn't help Jesse now. At least she could do something to help the Durmah.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Rai walked through the mists of her dream world, however this time the diffuse light was bright and devoid of color. None of the haunting voices joined her, everything was quiet. There a noxious but familiar scent in the air, but Rai couldn't quite place it.

  The mists slowly cleared as the light brightened around her, revealing a stark white hallway ending at a flat, metal door. Rai looked behind herself and saw the other end of the hallway ended with a matching metal door. No other distinguishing features stood out in the hallway besides the recessed lights in the ceiling, which were mounted in such a manner Rai hadn't remembered ever encountering previously.

  Rai reached the door and stopped to examine it. It was grey, polished, and seamless, with no markings or standard doorknobs upon it. It gleamed brightly, reflecting Rai's silver jumpsuit. There was a metal doorlock to the right of the door, and this one had an outline of a hand marked in black on it.

  Rai lifted her hand to the plate, but paused, unsure of the wisdom of her choice. The last time she'd activated one of these metal plates, it had caused an excruciating pain, and she had no wish to relive that experience. However, what else was there to do? This dream environment offered another door at the other end of the hall, and who was to say it was any safer? Rai resolutely reached her hand out, placed it on the metal plate within the handprint, and waited, wincing in anticipation.

  A red light flashed under the plate, almost in time with her pulse. Rai was about to withdraw her hand when the flashing light turned a solid green. She removed her hand and letters appeared to the right of the green light, in corresponding green characters. Rai tried to read the words, but they were too fuzzy to be legible, except for the three letters 'RAI' in the middle. She knew this must be her name, but even her dream self wasn't able or willing to read the entire name on the display. This puzzled her, but she didn't have long to ponder on it as the door clicked, hissed and opened.

  Rai hesitated and then stepped into the dark, wary of what she'd discover. Her footsteps triggered an automated lighting system that illuminated the area adjacent to her. The air sighed as it circulated through the immense chamber. It was chilly for her preference. The floor and ceiling were composed of a metallic mesh grid, through which Rai saw additional levels both above and below. In front of her stood a single pedestal with a screen on top. Behind the pedestal were stacks of rows upon rows of enigmatic black boxes, which reminded Rai of closed shelves. Could this be some sort of massive storehouse?

  Rai approached the pedestal and the screen activated. She couldn't read the words and symbols on the screen, but watched as the colors and shapes flickered until they settled on an image of a powder. An arrow appeared on the screen, pointing to the left. How am I supposed to locate anything in this huge place? A series of white indicator lights inset within the mesh floor turned on, answering her question.

  Rai followed the lights though the storehouse down countless rows, and up three flights of stairs. Eerily the ceiling lights tracked her movements, turning on as she moved into a new section, and turning off as she left one. Just when she thought the dream was leading her on a wild breacat chase, Rai came to the end of the indicator lights. Looking up at the black containers around her, she saw a flashing green indicator on one. Not sure of what else to do, Rai touched the light, and a brief beep rewarded her initiative, and the drawer slid out of the unit.

  The drawer had a clear cover with the following text imprinted:

  Thallium

  Sample derived from cadmium ore

  Atomic mass - 204.38

  Atomic number - 81

  WARNING - DO NOT HANDLE WITHOUT PROTECTIVE GEAR

  Please seek treatment immediately if any of these symptoms present after exposure: abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, tremor, delirium or alopecia.

  Rai didn't understand what all of that meant, but guessed from the strict warning the substance was some sort of poison. Underneath the drawer cover, Rai saw bluish-white chunks of rock surrounded by broken flakes and dust from the sample.

  She began lifting the cover up to get a better view of the rocks, and wondered if it was safe to do so. How silly, Rai chided herself; it's not as if a substance from her dreams could make her sick in reality. She slid the cover back and an unusual, acrid smell greeted her. It was all too familiar. It was much more potent than what she'd smelled on the luna berries, but it was unmistakably the same smell.

  An alarm sounded; the deep blaring tones driving all thought from Rai's mind. Red lights flashed everywhere, and Rai could barely focus her eyes. She looked for the cause of the alarm, but couldn't see anything besides row upon row of storage units. Abandoning the still open drawer, Rai ran back toward the door--at least insofar as she remembered its location.

  Just as quickly as they'd stared, the lights dimmed and the alarm stopped. Rai continued on, stumbling forward in the pitch black of the room, unsure of what else to do. Her enhanced night vision was of little use, as it was now pitch black.

  Out of the silence came a distant, muffled voice. "Raaaaaaaiiiii?" it called out her name in mock song.

  Rai felt she should recognize the voice, but she couldn't quite place a name to
it.

  Again the rough, grainy voice sounded, but now much closer. "Raaaaaaaiiiii?"

  Rai tried to move away from it, fearing this unknown yet familiar visitor, but managed only to crash back into one of the storage units.

  Rai moved forward, wondering how long it would take the stranger to find her. At just that instant, a hand found her neck and gripped her, pushing her back into the storage unit.

  "Now, what do you think you're doing," the man asked, tightening his grip. Rai struggled to breathe; shocked breathing in the dream was still required. The acrid odor of the thallium filled her nostrils, even though it must have been aisles away.

  "You know you're not allowed here, don't you? I'm afraid I'm asking you to leave."

  Pain seared though Rai's belly. She reached down and felt a blade protruding from her belly. She felt the blood ooze out and run past her fingers, down her legs. She tried to hold in the precious, sticky fluid, but it was of no use.

  "After all, traitors aren't allowed to come back," he said. He twisted the knife deeper into her belly. Rai screamed as more than just blood poured out of her abdomen.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Rai awoke screaming, drenched in her own sweat. The sound of someone pounding on the wagon door reminded her she wasn't in some strange warehouse but instead safe in the back of Laan's wagon. Rai sat up and checked under her tunic, half-expecting to see the scar of some old wound on her belly, but found nothing. When was this going to end? Such was the realism of her dream that the smell of the thallium salts still lingered.

  "Hey Rai, everything all right in there?" Laan asked.

  "Yes, yes. Everything's fine." Irritated that yet another nightmare had disturbed her sleep, Rai wondered how far her scream had carried while she donned a dry outfit. "I'll be out in just a moment. Can I assume we've arrived?"

  "Yeah, we're at the, uh, fourth farm on Ponar's list. He and Meik are talking to the Chieftess right now, but this farm looks just like all the rest."

  "I know what you mean. We've been on the road not even a full two weeks now, but it's beginning to feel like forever."

  It'd taken them five days to reach the first farm on Ponar's list, and then another day to visit the second and third farms. Rai hadn't picked up anything peculiar-smelling at any of those locations, so they'd kept traveling up the swamplands toward Barrow's Grove, after alerting each farm to make sure they followed safe harvesting procedures and to keep an eye out for anything unusual. Rai, remembering Jesse's concern over this being a fool's journey, kept wondering if she'd indeed prove herself useful.

  Yesterday Meik's wagon bogged down in the muck wasting an entire day's travel while they worked it free. Rai calculated it had been eight days since they'd left Kiya's Grace. At this pace, she doubted she'd make it back to the Waystation in the three week time span that Meik had promised Jesse. Rai hoped Jesse wouldn't get too upset, but she also doubted Jesse'd be able to help herself.

  "I've never worked this route before, so I didn't realize it took so long to navigate these swamps. I think I understand why it takes Ponar months during the rainy season to hit all of these farms," Laan explained. "Stoi's been pushing him too hard."

  Rai finished tugging on her boots and opened the door, blinking back the bright midday sun. Used to sleeping in the mornings from her night schedule at the Waystation, Rai had continued sleeping in late while they traveled northward. "That's possible. Will you suggest Stoi take it a bit easier on him?" Rai stepped out of the wagon.

  "I'll do that," Laan replied. "Say, it's nice you get along so well Jesse and Ponar."

  "Thanks." Rai hoped Laan didn't suspect she got along too well with Ponar. She'd been careful not to be alone with him during the trip. "Do you think it's about time for lunch?"

  "We can always ask. Let's check in with Meik and Ponar, and find out how the discussions are going."

  "Lead on!"

  They walked through the courtyard and Rai surveyed this farm's layout. Compared to the prior three, nothing looked odd or out of the ordinary. There was the large main farmhouse, an adjacent stable, dormitories for the hired staff, and a processing and storage building for the produce. Rai recognized these buildings from tours of the previous three farms. From the busy activity of the farmhands, Rai reasoned the harvesting season was fully underway.

  As they neared the farmhouse, Rai spied a cart full of freshly harvested pale white luna berries sitting outside the processing building at the far end of the courtyard. Rai took advantage of this proximity and strolled over to the cart, curious if the telltale scent was evident on these berries. Rai scooped up a handful of the berries and smelled them.

  They smelled just like the thallium salts from her dream.

  A chill ran up her spine. Until this moment she hadn't believed they would find anything, and in fact she'd almost convinced herself what she'd smelled on that bag of luna berries in Kiya's Grace had been a mistake.

  Rai focused harder on the berries, trying to determine if anything else was different besides the scent. A dizzying array of sensations entered Rai's mind while her enhanced senses spiraled open. Rai could taste the metallic tang of thallium on the berries. She crushed one of the berries between her index finger and thumb, and in some way, she knew the thallium had penetrated the interior of the berry instead of simply coating the outer husk.

  "Well?" Laan asked.

  "These berries have thallium within them."

  Rai realized the acrid odor of the poison not only clung to the berries themselves, but also hung in the air. The faint scent must have triggered her dream as they'd approached the farm. After all, the dream's timing and her discovery of more tainted berries wasn't simply coincidental. However, whether the dream's storehouse was literal or metaphorical--that she might never know.

  "What's thallium?" Laan asked. Not something taught at school, otherwise he might have recognized the name. Then where did I learn it? Did the storehouse from her dreams actually exist, and if so, where?

  Rai was about to explain when Meik and Ponar appeared, exiting the main farmhouse. They were accompanied by an older woman clad in a simple brown dress and a tan scarf wrapped down the length of her long, braided hair. Rai dropped her handful of berries back into the cart and wiped the mashed berry from her hand.

  "Laan and Rai, this is Chieftess Therji of the Stime Sept," Meik introduced the frowning woman.

  "From the looks on your faces I take it you found something?" Ponar asked.

  "I did," Rai confirmed. "These berries are poisoned." To her astonishment, Ponar didn't look at all surprised.

  "As I suspected," Ponar replied.

  "But how?" Rai asked.

  "Remember the bag you thought smelled funny?" Rai nodded. "The tags identified it as coming from this particular farm," Ponar explained. Rai looked to Meik and Laan, noting this also wasn't news to either of them.

  "So, why exactly have we been running around on a wild trendar chase if you knew this farm had the tainted berries?" Rai asked.

  Ponar's face flushed red with irritation. "First of all, the other luna berry farms were on our way here, so no time was, in fact, lost. Secondly, we needed to check the other farms and make sure they didn't have a problem and to warn them to watch for anything unusual."

  "Well, you might have told me that was your plan," Rai replied. She felt hurt that he'd keep such a detail from her, but then it's not as if she'd given him any chances in private either.

  "What, don't like having that nose of yours tested?" Meik asked. "Look, we wanted to check and see if what you'd picked up on that first time was for real. Now that this poison has been confirmed, the Stime Sept can report the problem to the Temples."

  "Wait, if I understand you right, Rai can somehow smell this supposed poison?" Chieftess Therji asked.

  "Yes. Rai detected thallium on these here luna berries." Laan replied.

  Rai watched their faces to see if anyone recognized the poison's name, but confused expressions stared back at he
r. How had she learned of such a substance when none of them had?

  "What in Ence's name is that?" Meik asked.

  "It's a water soluble metal that's poisonous when ingested or absorbed through the skin," Rai explained, surprised to hear such a scientific explanation from her own lips.

  "Let's say I believe you. What types of symptoms would someone exposed to this supposed thallium experience?" Chieftess Therji asked.

  "It would depend on their exposure level. You'd have vomiting, tremor and hair loss," Rai said, remembering the information printed on the container's lid in her dream. How had she known the medical term alopecia meant hair loss?

  Meik, Laan, and Ponar were too taken aback to ask. They stood by and watched this exchange with astonished looks on their faces.

  The look on Chieftess Therji's face, however, shifted from doubt to recognition. "My nephew Jonnet died last month, after experiencing many of the symptoms you've just described. We'd attributed it to a probable insect bite. Pests are hard to control in these swamplands. He'd always been fond of swimming out in the bogs, but I'd never imagined it would be the death of him. Do you really think this thallium is to blame?" she asked Rai.

  "I'm sure of it." The acrid odor of the poison hung in the air, giving Rai an idea. "Chieftess Therji, is there a particular bog your son preferred?"

  "It's at the southern corner of our property. It's unique because there are sweet lilies growing there."

  "Sweet lilies?" Rai asked.

  "Yes, Jonnet was quite fond of their fruits. I hear they're sweet and tangy at the same time, but I've never tried them. We consider them something of an infestation as they quickly spread through bogs, crowding out the luna berries we can farm," Chieftess Therji explained."

  "The lilies grow in the water, right?" Rai asked, fearing she'd guessed how young Jonnet had met his end.