Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  "Don't be silly. Pran here knows all about our little plans. In fact she and Guardian Clark have been attempting to make it seem like they were replaced by our people, for over a month." He winked at her and gestured toward a chair, the one next to him in fact. She took it, patting him on the back before sitting. They were friends after all. Even if he was an evil body stealer from the past. She was a murderer, wasn't she? Who was she to throw blame around for something like that?

  "I figured. Good, Clark was messing up his role anyway. Acting isn't really a Guardian skill. Tims should be fine, though he's well found out now. I've been appointed to bring him over to our side, so if you two could pass the word to him? It will make it easier all the way around." She glanced at Millis, but not Soros, looking over at Bard Clarice instead, her face calm.

  The woman looked very innocent. Like she didn't understand, except of course, that could be a lie and almost had to be. A Bard in charge of finding all the secret spies and traitors, or in this case, body thieves? Pran grinned.

  "It's a bit obvious, given everything. Well, either you're the one from the past, or Kabrin is. For some reason I don't see that. For one thing, you're very nice to me. Making me a Bard after hearing me play once? Sweet, but not really... Believable. I suppose I have to give that up now, don't I?"

  The woman frowned then and looked away, her face moving into disgust, but she rallied after a few seconds and shook her head, a bit mournfully.

  "I'm doing that poor of a job? Well, so much for you being simple enough to fall for a bit of kindness and a bribe as a distraction. So, what do we do with you, since you know this much? I suppose that we can't get rid of you, not with two Guardians in the house. Are you placing us under arrest?" There was tension in the space, and Doctor Soros pulled a weapon, which was a thing she'd seen before. A sonic. How it worked she had no clue, but it was distinctive, looking like a kinetic pistol, only smaller, with a closed and rounded front on it instead of a hole.

  She waved that away, wondering if she were about to lose consciousness anyway. It wasn't a lethal weapon, so that meant a person might use it very easily, without fear, didn't it? They could just render her useless and silent and sneak out of the house.

  "Don't bother. Clark and Mara, as well as High Guardian Saran already know about all of you." She turned to Clarice and frowned then, meaning it. "Have you told Kabrin? I mean, how else... Then I guess if you didn't know that there were people from the past stealing bodies like this, you wouldn't guess at it, would you?" She looked at the man himself, who seemed so confused it was nearly comedic.

  Clarice sighed, dramatically.

  "No. I was picked for this role, as Clarice, when she was just about to start her first tour. As a singer I was able to learn a few songs in the system that would work, and take over smoothly. The simulations are very good, so I had a chance to practice for a long time before coming back out here. That was... What, thirty-five years ago now? Poor Kabrin doesn't know any of this. I suppose I'll be up all night explaining now too. Can we do that later, dear?"

  Pran interrupted, getting that the man was going to need to know a lot more than he did at the moment.

  "Let me shorten the discussion for you. About three hundred years ago people realized that they'd just about destroyed the world. That meant most of them had to die, but some went to live in a magic world that they knew how to create back then. About three hundred million of them. Now that we've pretty much fixed things, they want it back. Or, if we can believe Doctor Millis here, they want to come and help us have better lives, without making a huge mess of things again. The problem is that they don't have bodies of their own now, and need to take ours so they can move around. The ones they take get to go to their magic world, where they can have anything they like though, so they aren't really dead. There are different factions however, and some of them want to just force us to their will, taking what they want from us, and others disagree, thinking that we should work out a compromise." She looked at Doctor Millis then, and tilted her head a bit. "Is that close?"

  The man smiled, and looked over at Doctor Soros, gesturing for him to put the weapon away again. When that happened the old man, her friend from another time, spoke.

  "More or less. In fact, rather more, except that it isn't magic, really. What do you intend to do, knowing what you do, Pran? I assure you that we have things well in hand and merely removing us from play won't derail the current plan. I think we're going to win, this time, in fact."

  That was directed at her of course. A secret message for her subconscious mind. A bit of theater that only she would get, out of anyone in the whole room.

  Pran always backed the winner, of course. It was the only way to survive.

  "No. What you're going to do, is... Well, first, we're going to make sure that Paul and Twyla have the perfect wedding and not disturb that for them. Then you're going to come forward, with my help, and we're going to find you some bodies that no one will miss. Maybe. I think I know of some, if you... I don't know. I might be wrong." She was confusing everyone at least, even if it was clear to her what she was getting at.

  Looking around she saw that she was the only one. Kabrin hadn't called out that they were all crazy, since it was just possible it was a game, or trick. Something they all played at, until he started to believe it, and then would mock him for it without mercy. It would have been a fun thing to try, if it weren't real.

  Clarice looked a bit taken aback, and Doctor Soros kept his hand near the weapon he had in his pocket now, within easy reach.

  Of all of them only Doctor Millis seemed to be truly calm about it all.

  "Could you explain? We've rather been looking for a situation like that for a while, so if you have one, it would be potentially enough to keep some of our more anxious citizens in the system from becoming violent in trying to take over out here. The plan was never to harm anyone, only to bring back the best of what we once had, in a way that will do no harm."

  Nodding her head slowly, she looked over at him, sitting directly next to her like he was.

  "First, you mentioned to me once, that you could possibly help the kids at the Grange. If they, could they be taken to this magic world of yours safely? Would that work for violent criminals too, or are they all too damaged for the download thing to function that way?" She watched him closely.

  The old man looked at the far wall of the dining room, over the nicely set table, and then started to nod, slowly.

  "It would be work, and take some time to put together, but some of them might work for our purposes. We can help them in the system at any rate, and possibly outside it. Give them a better life, if nothing else, but... Yes. I think we could indeed do that, if it were to be allowed. It would take... Well, most of the High Council would need to back it, and we only hold a few of the places there. If they agreed, then it might be enough. The trick to it is that in order to make this work, we'd need cooperation, which hasn't been very forthcoming in the last hundred years or so. Do you truly think you can improve upon that record?"

  She shook her head.

  "Nope. People are selfish and greedy, and will feel threatened if you try to take away what they have. The only way this will work is if you bring out Michael Morse himself and have him assure everyone that this won't unbalance the energy flow of the world again." She grinned and looked the man directly in the eye. "You said he was a jackass though? Do you think you could make him behave, if it means he kind of wins?"

  Doctor Soros cleared his throat, but Millis laughed, and after a bit, so did Clarice.

  Finally the old Doctor nodded.

  "I think we can do that. You see Pran, I am Michael Morse."

  She blinked, since he didn't look anything like the chubby statue that she'd broken once, but body thieves wouldn't really. It was the kind of thing that she probably just had to take on faith, except that she didn't like to take anything that way. After a bit she took a deep breath through her nose.

  "So... You really
are a jackass? Good to know. I'd hate to think you were saying things like that, without firsthand knowledge." Then she smiled and patted his arm. "Then, as long as you can prove that, in front of a panel of Judges, I think we can make a go of this. After the wedding. Waiting a single day won't hurt anything, I don't think."

  The man seemed to consider her words for a long time and then nodded.

  "Agreed. After that, then, I'll do what you suggest. Hopefully they don't just kill me out of hand... again."

  Then, almost as if by some grand plan, the food came. It smelled really good. Wonderful, in fact.

  Chapter eleven

  A few minutes later Clark and Mara came in, the first course of several already set out for them, waiting. Pran had just started eating, since it was time for it and she was feeling a little bit unsettled. The rules had, once again, changed on her. That was the way of life, but also meant someone might just come and take everything she had away again. It had happened before, not too long in the past.

  The first course was a salad, on a small plate. There was a pleasant and creamy dressing that went along with it, that tasted a bit like honey and something else. Pointing to it, she asked Clarice, since that was the kind of thing you did at the table. She thought.

  The woman took a bite of her own and nodded after a second.

  "Honey mustard. It's rather nice. A new recipe, I believe? Have you had it before Kabrin?" She looked at her husband blandly, but it wasn't working very well.

  In fact he rather blurted out something that was nearly rude.

  "You... lied to me? All this time!" It seemed like he was gearing up for a fight, but did seem to believe the story, which would make things easier later.

  Pran cleared her throat, and took another bite of food, interrupting, then caught up Mara and Clark.

  "Let's see... Um, Clark, word has been passed that you and I aren't downloads, and it turns out that Clarice is one. I think that, provided we don't mess things up and no one lied to me, that I have a possible solution for part of things. We're going to try and use the kids at the Grange and the prisoners at Camp... I forgot the name. The one where they send the worst killers and rapists that can't control themselves?"

  Mara responded first, but neither of them went for a weapon. Not even when Doctor Soros did. In fact they both ignored him rather nicely, which was a thing she hadn't been certain they could do with someone unknown like that.

  "Camp Wallace? Can they do that? I thought that our brains were too different and that meant that insane people would be too?" She looked at Pran, who shrugged, but Doctor Soros grunted a little, getting their attention.

  "Nooo, we'd have to fix any damage or differences first, but it wouldn't be impossible, just take longer. There are factors that we have to match, but if we didn't have to rush things all the time we could make significant modifications to the mental and biological landscape, which would..." Realizing he was saying a lot, and that some people might not enjoy hearing it, he stopped, a disgusted look on his face.

  Doctor Millis nodded.

  "It will take some effort, but I think we can set that up, and ensure a much improved existence for the kids and convicts than either of those places could allow them. In the future, using such techniques, we could help mentally ill people directly, before they end up in a camp. Children too, allowing them a much higher quality of life. I..." There was along and drawn out pause, and then he shook his head. "Really, I should have thought of it myself, long ago. It's right there, and I missed it. We all did. That doesn't excuse me for failing those children however."

  It was Clark that went next, finally glancing at Doctor Soros, who was pointing a sonic weapon directly at him, even though he had both hands on the table top. Mara didn't, which probably meant that, without being noticed, she'd evened the playing field a lot. A kinetic pistol could do that, after all.

  The scarred man spoke slowly, without any particular inflection.

  "Can you do something about the military buildup? If not, then we still have to stop you all."

  The Lament's traveling Doctor didn't nod instantly, but finally let his weathered chin come up.

  "I think so. It will take work, but some still listen to me, even in my dotage. I used to have some pull in certain circles after all. If the people out here, your government, is willing to entertain discussion, that might well do it. People are growing restless, after all this time. We've spent hundreds of years coming up with tricks and techniques to allow the world to return to a technological state without harm. We even have plans for a working Cuvier drive." He shook his head a tiny bit and sighed. "Which means nothing to you. It's a kind of warp drive... A way to travel between stars? We used to have a few, but now we can make them without damaging things. Advances in life span, medicine, computers that run off of the energy of heat in a room, or from a person's body... Organics that will grow in low water areas and provide year round food. Trees that won't freeze in the winters, which are going to become harsher and colder soon. Like they used to be. And trust me, what I'm saying only scratches the surface, and nothing has gotten through our boards that uses more energy than a water powered mill. Most a lot less than that. We simply aren't planning to take over, either. We just want you to have what we, what our ancestors really, took from us all. We should have had better lives and not used up the world, but due to ignorance and greed, we rather destroyed things. We got it back in time, though!"

  Clark...

  Shrugged.

  "Isn't that what everyone says when they're about to do the wrong thing? The others couldn't handle it, but I'm better. It wasn't my fault. Look at the wonders I can do, if only you'll trust me not to ruin the world. The Guardians were formed to guard against that." He looked at the man directly, and got a very sad look in return.

  Doctor Millis ate a bite of salad, which reminded Pran too as well. The second course would be more filling, hopefully, but for now it was what was on her plate.

  The old downloaded human being from another time looked considering then.

  "I know. I didn't put that organization together myself, but I think it was done almost too well, sometimes. Half the problems we've had reestablishing things comes down to the Guardians stopping us at every turn."

  Thinking about it and not really wanting a bloody battle before they finished dessert, Pran nodded, to get attention from everyone.

  "So... Why not run everything past the Guardians? If it doesn't pass the energy use requirements, then it doesn't get made. Just like everyone else has to do? If the things you want to use are as good as you say, you can prove them out, can't you? Even if it takes a long time, well, you have time, right? Hundreds of years? Didn't you say once that the original plan was for you to wait six hundred years or more? Pushing too hard now is just being stupid."

  That got general agreement from the room and people ate for a while, Mara and Doctor Soros doing it with one hand each, which didn't make for easy conversation. It did let the servants come and take the plates away so the next course could be served. It was a tiny portion of meat, cooked to perfection. She didn't know what kind it was, but suspected fish. That wasn't something she'd had a lot of herself before. It was flaky and delicate, tasting faintly of lemon.

  "This is very good, isn't it?" She pointed with her fork, then realized that was probably rude, so she set it down. Clarice beamed at her.

  "Yes, Bard Pran, it truly is. Whitefish, I think?"

  Kabrin, managing to get a hold of himself finally cleared his throat.

  "Tilapia, I believe? Margan was coming in with some earlier this morning as I was leaving for work."

  The others all said it was well done too, because there was very little reason to be rude about things, at this point. Finally, when those plates were cleared, and a nice clear broth was being served, Pran waved at Doctor Soros and then Mara.

  "Say, I know, why don't we all pretend that we're not planning on a spectacular and horrible failure? It sounds like we might actually ha
ve a workable plan forming here, as long as no one decided that death is the best solution. I'd really love to shut down the Grange. This is one way to do it. Otherwise I'm going to need explosives." She'd seen that once. A whole building went up in a giant and very loud fire that made her head ring for hours after it was done.

  Bard Clarice took a sip from her funny shaped extra deep spoon and then looked over at her.

  "Even if we can't bring the rest of this off, we should see to that. So, what's the plan? If not a camp, or torture to get at our secrets?"

  For some unknown reason, they all looked at her, and since Pran was busily taking a sip of her own soup, the clear and salty broth reminding her a bit of onions, she felt awkward.

  "Um..." Well, she'd been the one running her mouth and pretending she knew what to do, so she shrugged. "First, we do very little. We'll chat with Saran and Judge Sims, and some of the other Judges. Then, without using any drugs, Doctor Millis, we'll invite the High Council over for a conversation. At that point we'll get the military build up to, um... go away. The Old People can work on putting together some of the ideas that might get past the Guardians as a sign that they aren't going to try and upset the balance. There are missing elements here, since I don't know everything, but as long as no one tries anything violent, we have all the time we need to discuss things and do this without hurting anyone." She nearly added a plaintive don't we to the end of that, but managed to sound fairly confident instead.

  Like listening to her made sense.

  "Then, Doctor Soros and I come up with some plays and songs to help explain this to people and teach all the Bards we can, around the world, so the message can be spread. I figure it will all take a few decades, but..."

  The middle aged man actually put his weapon away then, which got a delayed, but similar move from Guardian Mara.

  What Pran really wanted to say was that she was just a Bard. Not even that really, since it was most logical that Bard Clarice was going to be removed from office, pretty soon. Admitting that you'd stolen the life of a young girl, even if she still lived in some far off and unreachable fantasy land, wasn't going to play well with the masses. In fact it might be better for them to not mention that part.