"Yes. That's how they crowd out our luna berry crops," Chieftess Therji replied.
"Can you take us to this bog?" Rai asked. "I'd like to have a look."
"Sure, just let me get someone to help us with the boats. Please, wait here." The Chieftess disappeared back into the main farmhouse and Rai heard her barking out names. Rai was once again grateful to be a part of Durmah under the kind hand of Chieftess Kait.
"What are you thinking we'll find out there?" Meik asked, pointing a finger squarely at Rai.
"I'm not sure, but I want to see the place for myself."
"Do you remember where you learned about this thallium stuff?" Laan asked.
"No, but I'm guessing it wasn't at the regular city schools, or you'd all know about it too."
"Perhaps you heard about it at a Temple school? I'm sure they pride themselves on teaching lots of obscure facts," Ponar said.
"Well, I don't remember it." Rai shrugged.
"Whatever the case, if it keeps Durmah from being implicated in this poisoning, we're lucky you knew about it," Ponar replied.
"Thanks." Rai tapped Ponar on the shoulder with her fist, appreciating his support. She looked back to their wagons in the stable yard and saw the Guardian who'd been accompanying them tending to her mount. Suddenly, Rai knew how to prove beyond a doubt whether thallium was to blame in Jonnet's death and the luna berry poisoning.
"Just a moment." Rai walked over to the Guardian.
This Guardian was as tall as a man, red-haired and willowy-framed. Rai read a challenge in her piercing brown eyes at her approach.
"Excuse me, Guardian. Could you please assist me with something?" Rai wondered if asking for her support was too bold a move, but she couldn't see how it would cause any harm.
If the Guardian was surprised, Rai couldn't tell. "What do you require, Mistress Durmah?"
"We're about to head out to one of the Stime Sept's bogs. I have reason to believe that there is a contaminant in the water. Can your scanning device be calibrated to detect such a thing?"
"What are you looking for? What makes you think there's a contaminant?"
"Just a guess," Rai replied, unwilling to divulge any details. "Will you help us?"
The Guardian's nose twitched like a breacat after a bowl of milk. "Sure, it's not as if I was doing anything important. Lead on."
Rai rejoined her Sept-mates and Chieftess Therji reappeared with two men. All eyed the Guardian cautiously.
"You're not thinking we'll find a Terror out there, are you?" Laan joked.
"Oh no," Rai answered. "I'm just looking for definitive proof. Are we ready?" Rai asked the Chieftess.
"Indeed. May I introduce my sons, Liren and Prane. They'll be helping us with the boats."
"This way," Liren said, motioning them toward a well-used path into the swamp.
Within a few hundred feet, they came upon a dock with a half-dozen boats tethered to it. A number of Stime farmhands were unloading freshly harvested luna berries from two of the boats. How many of these berries contain the taint?
Chieftess Therji invited Meik and Laan to join her on Liren's boat, while Rai, Ponar and the Guardian climbed aboard Prane's. Rai took a seat at the prow of the long, thin boat, eager for the view. Ponar sat down beside her, shoulders and hips touching hers on the narrow seat.
"Sorry I didn't tell you we knew which farm the tainted bag came from," Ponar apologized, speaking in hushed tones.
Rai raised an eyebrow. "It was Meik's idea?"
"Yeah."
"How am I not surprised?"
Ponar laughed. "Well, he did prove your nose was right on the money."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"Where did you learn about this thallium stuff, anyway?" Ponar asked.
"My dreams." Ponar gave her a sideways glance. "There was even a label in the dream, with a full description."
"But how do you know what you dreamed was real? I mean, your subconscious could have just made it up to explain the smell."
"Well, I don't know for certain. That's why I invited her." Rai motioned toward the Guardian, who sat alone in the middle of the boat. "I'm hoping she'll be able to detect the poison, or prove its absence."
"Good plan. I'm hoping you're right, that the poison is here. At least then the Temples can figure out a way to remove it, and they won't find Durmah accountable as we helped to find it. If that's not the case, it would mean what you've smelled isn't the problem the Priestess at Resounding Cliffs mentioned to Meik."
"Trust me, I know how important this is to Durmah."
His lips scrunched into a frown. "I don't think anyone doubts your intentions. Even if you can't find out what's going on with this weird smell, you're not at fault for the contamination."
"I'm not sure Meik would agree with you," Rai said. "I don't get the impression he favors me."
"Don't worry about him, he's harmless. Are you okay? You've been a bit on edge since we've arrived."
He reached out and touched her hand, overwhelming Rai with the intimate knowledge of his emotions. It was as if, having previously found the path to her innermost self, he could return in a moment through a simple touch. His desire for her beat steady with tones of curiosity and concern laced through the flow of feelings. Rai knew she'd been right to keep her distance, as she sensed the strong attraction Ponar still held for her.
Rai pulled her hand away. "Oh, I'm all right. I just wish I knew what these dreams are trying to tell me."
"You appear to be doing a good job figuring them out so far."
"I suppose we'll know that soon enough, won't we? Otherwise everyone will wonder if I've gone round the bend."
Ponar laughed. "I doubt that. I'm betting you're right on target."
"Thanks."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, just watching the swamp drift by. Rai didn't know the names for the local flora, but found it beautiful despite the somewhat rank smell of moldy decomposition in the air.
"You know, I can't quite shake this impression that you've been avoiding me," Ponar said.
Rai cringed. Her efforts had been noticed. "Everything's fine, I just didn't want Meik or Laan getting the wrong idea by seeing us spending time together."
"And you don't think they'll wonder why you're avoiding me?"
He had a point. "Sorry, I guess I've been a bit obvious."
"Yes, you have." They shared a laugh. "Besides, I'm dying to know if you've had any memories return yet. You haven't mentioned anything to Laan or Meik."
"That's because there's been nothing to tell, except for these horrible dreams."
"I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like they've gotten worse?"
Rai thought back to her dream with the beach and the flying monster. She shuddered, remembering how the beast's talons had ripped into her belly, and how she'd awoken naked and scraped up under the bed. "You could say that."
Ponar laid his hand on hers. "Sooner or later, you'll pull the pieces together and they'll cease haunting you."
"I can hope, can't I?" Rai covered his hand with hers and squeezed, smiling at his sincerity even though she doubted the truth to his words.
"Looks like we've arrived," Ponar said. Liren's boat had ground ashore on a nearby bank.
Shortly thereafter Prane directed his boat alongside the first, and everyone disembarked, taking care not to become entrenched in the sticky mud of the bog.
Liren lead the group in silence into the swamp along a raised trail of packed, dried mud, which twisted and turned every few steps. Rai wondered how anyone kept his or her bearing in such a dense, overgrown area. Rai found her hearing sharpening, focusing on the muted footfalls of those ahead of and behind her. This focusing somehow also helped her realize the smell of the thallium was indeed stronger here.
Around another few turns, the group emerged into a clearing, and the sun shone across the wide lake in front of them. Iridescent white flowers rode gracefully on thick, bare stalks a few feet above the water. Their green, fern
-like fronds danced just below the water's hazy surface, revealing a slow but present current within the lake.
"They're so beautiful," Rai said.
"They're so irritating, you mean," Prane spat. "Those sweet lilies grow so wild and so fast, nothing else even stands a chance."
"Well, it's good we're not here for the scenery," Meik stated. "What now?" he asked Rai.
"Guardian, could you set your device to scan for thallium sulfate?" Rai asked. The scent was strong here, such that Rai could barely smell anything besides its acrid bite because she was so attuned to its noxious odor.
The Guardian raised an eyebrow, curiosity filling her eyes. She nodded, and began adjusting her scanner.
"Must we resort to such gadgets to solve this problem?" Chieftess Therji asked.
Rai felt a knot form in her belly. "Please excuse this temporary reliance on machines, Chieftess. I'm afraid I knew of no other way to quickly identify the source of the contamination."
The Chieftess frowned. "Our ancestors knew the dangers of using such tools as crutches."
"I can assure you I will complete this task as quickly as possible, Chieftess Stime," the Guardian replied.
After a few moments, the Guardian stiffened, as if readying for battle. "I have a positive detection in the water and plants for the substance." She walked as she talked, passing the device back and forth in front of her as she walked. "It's much higher than expected for trace environmental patterns. Checking density patterns ... difficult with the currents." the Guardian muttered that last bit under her breath.
Rai breathed a sigh of relief. She expected to be right about the smell, but the Guardian's confirmation amazed her. Somehow her dreams were revealing her suppressed memories. If only she could separate the memories from the subconscious ramblings!
"You've got a nose like a bloodhound!" Laan exclaimed, clapping Rai on the back.
"See, I told you it wasn't just a coincidence," Ponar said.
The Guardian walked along the path to their right, continuing to monitor readings via the scanner. Rai followed close behind, and soon the entire group trailed the Guardian clockwise around the rim of the lake.
"Why did you suspect increased thallium levels in this area?" the Guardian asked Rai.
Rai related the story of the tainted luna berries to the Guardian. Chieftess Therji also took a keen interest.
"Very clever of you all, connecting things together like that. Not what I'd expect from mere merchants." Rai couldn't tell whether that was an insult or a compliment. The Guardian came upon a widening in the path and stopped, continuing to scan the area. "What interests me more is how you even know about thallium. Where did you learn about it?"
"I'm not sure, must have been in something I read somewhere," Rai replied, not wanting to trust this Guardian with details of her personal life.
"That's curious. Do you read a lot of chemistry texts?" Her sarcasm made it clear to Rai that she didn't believe her explanation.
"Occasionally," Rai replied. "They aren't as dry as you might suppose."
"Last I checked, only Technicians have access to such information," the Guardian replied. "Oh, and how did you learn a smell from a book?"
Rai flushed, unsure of what to say. Did she come from the Technician's Sept? That might explain her dream with the storehouse. Rai had no idea if Tech's such a storehouse, assuming it was real at all.
"What does it matter?" Ponar asked. "Shouldn't your concern be the source of the thallium contamination?"
"It matters because it's impossible to smell thallium. Although there's enough in this water to poison anyone who consumes it, or I suspect anything that has grown within the bog."
Rai had been so overwhelmed with her perception of the acrid stench and her nightmare she's forgotten that no one else smelled it as she did. Rai had revealed her unusual ability to perceive smells, and in this case smells for things that didn't even normally have them, and to a Guardian no less. How could she have been so careless?
"Who cares about the stupid smell?" Chieftess Therji yelled. "What I want to know is, what's caused this poisoning, and are my other swamps affected?"
"As I've already stated, the poisoning is caused by the presence of thallium deposits within your swamp. I can't say until a thorough scan is done of all of your land, but I'd make an educated guess that, because of the currents I'm picking up, all areas downstream of this spot contain some lesser degree of the poison. As to what's causing the build-up ..." she continued walking forward, and then much to everyone's surprise jumped down into the water.
The Guardian sloshed through the plants and chest-deep muck, oblivious to its stench. She waded out a good thirty feet, now partially hidden from their view by the thick stalks of sweet lily flowers.
"I wonder what she's looking for," Meik asked.
"Did she just go underwater?" Liren asked. "Those Guardians are crazier than I thought."
"You'd better hope she is underwater, saying that within her earshot!" Chieftess Therji. Liren blushed.
The Guardian reappeared, soaking wet, with a few tendrils of swamp grass caught in her hair. She held a black cylinder above the water's surface and wore a grim expression on her face. The cylinder was over three feet in length, and must have been at least four inches in diameter as the Guardian barely managed to get her hands halfway around the tube.
Laan whistled a long, low note. "What is that?"
Rai stared at it, a nagging familiarity stirring at the back of her mind. "It's an aqueous dispersal unit," she answered, knowing it was true the moment the words tumbled out of her mouth.
Everyone turned to look at her, as if she'd spoken complete gibberish.
"Huh?" Meik said. Everyone waited expectantly for her response.
The Guardian answered. "She's correct, although, again, I'm quite amazed at the quality of your schooling." Her eyes fixed on Rai, curiosity now overcast with suspicion. She set the cylinder down upon the bank and then clambered up and out of the water.
"What does that ... thing ... do?" Chieftess Therji asked.
The Guardian picked grass and roots from her hair and clothing. "Aqueous dispersal units were used by the original colonists to terraform Az'Unda. They release mineral and bacterial environmental modifications over an extended period. One of these could seed an area the size of your property for, say, a decade or so, depending on the degree of modification required."
She rotated the cylinder, quickly locating and then pressed a button. A panel slid open on the device, revealing a touchpad and screen. The Guardian keyed in a sequence, and the screen lit up.
"So, in other words, it's an abandoned, ancient artifact?" Meik asked.
"Ancient, yes. Abandoned, no," the Guardian answered.
"It's still active? Wouldn't that mean it's been running for well over 600 years, since the colonization?" Ponar asked.
"According to this, it's been active for less than two years," the Guardian answered.
"But how can that be?" asked the Chieftess.
"Someone must have placed it here and activated it to release thallium salts."
"But who would deliberately setup a device to fill our swamp with poison?" asked Chieftess Therji.
"Unfortunately, the device isn't programmed with that information," the Guardian replied as she continued to investigate the device.
"More importantly, why would anyone want to poison a plant essential to the anti-plague regimen?" Rai asked.
"And who'd have the know-how to use one of those things?" Meik asked.
The Guardian picked up the device and walked back toward the boats. "We're leaving now. I must report my findings to my superiors."
"But what are we to do?" asked the Chieftess, as she sprinted to catch up with the Guardian. "We're already midway through this harvest!"
The Guardian stopped and turned to face the Chieftess. Although Rai was at the rear of the group, she heard the Guardian's edict through the dense overgrowth along the twisted path.
"You can't be serious!" The Chieftess squealed. "How long will it take before we can sell our goods again?"
The group moved forward again at a fast pace. "That depends," answered the Guardian. "A cleanup crew will be sent out to further evaluate the situation and develop a plan to deal with the contamination. Any affected product will be destroyed. I'd guess it might take years before the bog or any affected areas downstream have the quarantine removed. In the meantime we must do anything and everything possible to alleviate the threat to the populace."
"But how can we manage to feed ourselves if we can't sell our product?" Chieftess Therji asked. "They're the only thing we make any profit on!"
"The Temple won't let you starve," answered the Guardian. "Surely they will recognize the sacrifice you're making. Assuming no one in your Sept is found responsible for the poisoning."
The group emerged from the thick canopy to where they'd left the boats. The Guardian urged everyone to board quickly, leaving little time for discussion.
"I can assure you, Guardian, no Stime was involved in this!" Chieftess Therji replied.
"If that is the case, I'm sure the investigation's findings will support your claim," she replied. Chieftess Therji didn't appear at all comforted by her sentiment.
"Don't forget to mention how Durmah Sept helped point you in the right direction," Meik said.
"Have no worries, Sir Durmah. The Temples will receive a full accounting of your actions in my report. I'm sure they will be very interested in your involvement."
The boats pulled away from the bank, Liren and Prane expertly turning them around in the cramped quarters.
Rai leaned in close to Ponar and whispered, "That's what I'm afraid of. How do I explain how I learned of this poison?"
"Well, perhaps we need to keep you busy and away from the city until they finish sorting this out," he whispered back.
"What are you thinking?"
"Well, we're just two, maybe three days from Harper's Sorrow. I bet Jesse can spare you for another week, don't you think?" he winked conspiratorially.
The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1) Page 31
