“Until we do know the meaning behind her words, we must keep her prophecy a secret. We must keep her ability to prophesy a secret. You must be the only one with the gift of Harmony.”
But if Harmony sent a second with the gift, that must mean that Sissy was in danger, that life on Harmony was very precarious. When did he lose control?
Jake sat cross-legged on the ground and gathered as many of the girls into his lap as he could in a group hug. A pitiful six girls. There should be seven. An emptiness opened in his gut. As bad as the day his commandant had told him how his parents and Lance died. He saw the same loss in the eyes of the girls.
He’d barely settled when Sissy pushed herself away from Gregor and joined them. She sat opposite him and pulled Suzie into her lap. The group settled so that all of them were together. Arms and legs tangled and indistinguishable. Important only that they all touch each other.
A unit. A family.
One by one, the mobile pets found them. Cats and dogs, the weasel. But not Godfrey the lizard from another continent that had gotten lost and found haven with Sissy. Nor Red Bird, the exotic bird locked in a wire cage. Both should have died in the wild long ago, prey to larger and more aggressive animals. Sissy had given them a few extra months of comfort.
A tear slipped down Jake’s cheek. He blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the flood of emotion. The dam of his pride and duty wasn’t strong enough. Sissy and the girls had drilled too many holes in it. For just a moment he indulged in the luxury of allowing his true self to surface and dominate.
His grief unleashed a torrent among them all. Enough that he could shift a bit of his own deeper, away from the surface. His senses expanded once more. With new sharpness he noted the position of every person within the immediate vicinity. Gregor, the medics, Gil flapping closer wearing a red silk dressing gown to cover his nakedness. Penelope close on his heels wearing an identical gown.
“I guess Penelope has chosen her color for formal robes,” Sissy whispered on a giggle that ended with a sob.
“Jilly’s prophecy,” Jake started, not knowing quite how to finish. “I know what it means.” He said the last quietly, not meant to travel beyond their circle. The chaos of fighting the fire should cover his words.
Sissy’s eyes widened. The girls quieted, snuggling closer and listening avidly.
“Admiral Nentares, the head of the Spacer caste spoke with General Armstrong da Beaure pa HQ H Prime, the head of my caste,” Jake continued. He took as deep a breath as he could without coughing. “The Confederated Star Systems have sent an offer of peace and trade. Generous terms to Harmony. An alliance against the Marils.”
But were the Marils truly the bad guys in this war?
“Are you suggesting we let foreigners in to taint our lives?” Sissy looked aghast.
“Maybe. Maybe we only need send a single representative out to them.”
“Better to control a trickle of change than clean up after a flood,” Sissy quoted her own prophecy.
“If we don’t do something, both the CSS and the Marils may invade in order to get Badger Metal.” He needed to get into the factory. Out in the desert. Isolated. Protected. Impenetrable.
“Laudae.” Mary tugged on Sissy’s sleeve. “Someone tried to kill you. Several times. Does that break the Covenant?”
Both Jake and Sissy stared at the girl, amazed at her perception. All of them shifted their attention to the flames that reached ever higher, despite the streams of water Professional firefighters poured on them.
“Forgive me for leaving you, Laudae, I must speak with others of my caste. Others who can determine if that fire was accidental or deliberate.” Jake gave Sharan one last hug and shifted the little girl to Sissy’s lap.
“Jake, what do you know?” Sissy asked, accepting the additional burden of another small girl within her embrace.
“I smelled chemicals when the fire started.”
“An electrical . . .”
“Chemicals.” That meant arson. And a murderer getting desperate enough to endanger the entire residential wing of the Temple.
The Covenant with Harmony was indeed broken.
“My Laudae,” Guilliam spoke gently, touching Sissy’s shoulder.
Sissy acknowledged him with a nod. She couldn’t bring herself to look up, to let him see the extent of her grief and confusion. The emotions were too personal, too private.
“My Laudae, the fire is almost out. You should go inside now, where it’s warm and dry. We’re preparing rooms in the old palace.” As ever, Guilliam got things done while Laud Gregor stood around looking important.
“I thank you for your kindness, Guilliam.” Sissy stood up, bringing her girls upright with her. Jake had disappeared into the darkness at the far fringe of the Reserve. “But I am taking my girls home. Where I know it is safe.”
“I don’t understand . . .”
“To the flat where my family dwells.” Sissy set her posture into the haughty stubbornness she’d witnessed Penelope assume.
“My Laudae, there’s no room there. No privacy. No . . .”
“It is my home. We will make room. And privacy is a thing of the mind. We will cope. Now will you summon a car, or shall we walk?” She looked pointedly at the bare feet and scanty clothing of her acolytes.
Suzie and Sharan whimpered slightly, wrapping their arms about themselves in the nighttime chill.
“I must consult Laud Gregor.”
“Consult all you want, after you arrange for a car.”
“Jake? How will he find you? You need to wait.”
“Jake will find me, no matter where I roam in the universe.” That felt almost like a prophecy. She had to ignore the strange implications of those words and continue with what needed to be said. “I need to get my girls to safety. The Temple is no longer a haven for me or anyone else. Someone, some group of someones, fear me so much they are willing to fracture the Covenant with Harmony by destroying the Temple to get rid of me.”
Something clicked in her mind. The strange requisition for charcoal and saltpeter. She knew without knowing how she knew that those chemicals had something to do with the fire or the grenade.
Someone in Temple had close ties to the “no bones” cult.
“Until the Covenant is reforged and these dangerous criminals removed, I cannot reside in the Crystal Temple, nor preside over its rituals.” Resolutely, she began walking toward the gate in the hedge that led to the street. “As High Priestess, I close the Crystal Temple and revoke its authority.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
JAKE TIPTOED INTO THE UNLOCKED apartment registered to Sissy’s parents. False dawn lightened the horizon outside the windows. By that light he spotted a blanket-wrapped lump on the floor surrounded by six smaller sprawls of little girls secure in their sleep.
Gil had given him directions. But Jake had known deep in his heart that Sissy would come here with her girls. She wouldn’t risk staying at the Temple. Hell, she didn’t like living in the Temple when all was peaceful and quiet.
“Shsh,” he breathed into Sissy’s ear as he lay down beside her and confiscated half her blanket. The chill of shock and too many hours without sleep had him shaking. A cup of hot chocolate, or coffee, would work wonders on his system, but that blessed balm was one of the few human luxuries that hadn’t made it to Harmony. Too addictive. The founders of Harmony had left a lot of wonderful things behind in their quest for a peaceful society.
“Jake,” Sissy sighed and relaxed into him.
Her warmth went a long way toward relieving his chills.
“Laudae Shanet will return to Harmony City tomorrow. She and her girls will watch and listen carefully at the Crystal Temple, keep you informed of what Laud Gregor is up to.” He didn’t tell her that he’d told Shanet how to find the listening post.
“Good. I miss her.”
“I also talked to Jeoff. He’ll be the first one into the fire scene as soon as it cools enough to pick through the rubble.”
“What good will that do?”
Jake wrapped his arm around her waist so he could whisper more quietly. She felt better nestled against him than he’d imagined. But his dreams had always set this moment in a more romantic and private situation.
Oh, well, beggars can’t be choosers. He’d take what he could get.
“Jeoff will find out if the fire was arson. He might even be able to find evidence to point toward the perpetrator.”
“This is good.” She turned within the circle of his arm to face him. Her breath tickled his neck and roused new sensations in him. Sensations he had to suppress.
“Go to sleep, Sissy. We’ll sort the rest out in the morning.”
“It is morning. Pop and Stevie will be up soon to go to work. They’ll trip over us. Just like old times before they moved to bigger quarters.” She yawned.
Jake groaned. “I was looking forward to ten minutes of real sleep.”
“I can promise you ten minutes.” She half smiled and snuggled closer. “I like having you beside me. I feel safe with you, Jake. I trust you. Just like I trusted you to find me here. Harmony led you to me.”
“I will keep you safe, Sissy. Always.” My love.
“Who is this person?” Gregor asked Guilliam.
They followed the blond Military man wearing black overalls through the stinking, steaming rubble of the residential wing.
Gregor kicked aside a charred black lump. The outer layer of charcoal crumbled away to reveal the staring blue glass eyes of a doll.
He gagged, thinking again of the little girl who had died of smoke inhalation. A little girl who had shown signs of the gift of Harmony. Prophecy.
Her words still haunted him. They could only reforge the broken Covenant out there, among the stars. Coming on top of his visit from Admiral Nentares he felt he had to listen.
Later. Right now he had to deal with the Temple in shambles, worse than after the quake.
“Colonel Jeoff da George pa Law Enforcement HQ H Prime,” Guilliam answered quietly. “He’s the most expert in his field, forensic investigation.” He dogged the Military’s footsteps, peering over his shoulder with avid curiosity.
“What’s he looking for? We had a fire. Fires happen. Especially when we burn candles and incense,” Gregor protested. He didn’t want to think about any other possibility.
Bad enough that Sissy had removed herself from the Temple. Not just to go to another Temple. But back to her parents’ home. If she was right, that someone had deliberately set the fire . . .
Then a prophet of Harmony had been murdered. Another seriously endangered. The Covenant was broken.
No, he would not believe that. He dared not believe that anyone powerful enough to gain entrance to the residential wing would have so little faith in the Temple, the Covenant, their entire government and culture, that they would commit the ultimate sin.
“This is what I’m looking for,” Colonel Jeoff announced. He crouched before what was left of the wall that separated Sissy’s public office from her private sitting room.
“What am I looking at?” Gregor asked. All he saw was black.
“The way the char marks fan out from this point.” Colonel Jeoff described an arc with his arm.
“Now that you point it out . . .” Guilliam said. He crouched beside the Military and peered at the black-on-gray stains.
“That’s the flash point. Where the fire started.” Colonel Jeoff dug out a small knife from his pocket along with a sealable plastic bag. He scraped some of the black residue off the wall into the bag. “Once I get this back to the lab, I’ll be able to tell the composition of the accelerant. That will point to the perpetrator.”
“Then this is definitely arson?” Guilliam asked.
“From the smell, I’m guessing gasoline. Hard to come by unless you can afford a car and have a license to buy the stuff. That makes it arson. I’m also detecting gunpowder. Highly illegal and almost unknown except among the Military and Spacers.”
Gregor felt sick.
Suddenly he saw a way out. “Lieutenant Jake is Military. He’d know about this gunpowder. Who told you to come today?” Normally the Senior Firefighter would have petitioned for permission to investigate anything suspicious. This man had arrived and started poking around without even announcing his presence. Fortunately, Gregor and Guilliam had been staring at the ruins, wondering how to go about salvage and reconstruction when he showed up.
Whoever called him might very well be the person who set the fire.
“My Laud, I am not allowed to speak of that. You will have to ask General Armstrong da Beaure pa HQ H Prime,” Colonel Jeoff said. He shifted position, still crouched, and collected scrapings from a different area.
“I shall ask him. No one may keep secrets from me.” Not even Laudae Sissy. “Guilliam come with me.” Gregor stalked off, desperately afraid he was losing control over his caste—indeed, over all of Harmony.
“My Laud.” Guilliam touched Gregor’s sleeve and nodded to their left, the direction of the garage where the Crystal Temple stored several vehicles and had a refueling station for their exclusive use. Easy for one of their own to siphon off a little extra for a dirty job.
They didn’t keep records of consumption.
But that was not what had caught his assistant’s attention. A long black car had just pulled up. Laudae Shanet and her seven teenage acolytes spilled out. The priestess who had taken Sissy under her wing marched toward him without pausing. From the set of her chin and the length of her stride, Gregor knew she meant to stir up trouble. Lots and lots of trouble.
When had so many things gone wrong all at once? When did he have to answer to a priestess who didn’t even have Crystal Temple sparkles in her caste mark?
“Deal with her, Guilliam. I have calls to make from my office.”
“Sissy! It’s for you,” Ashel, the youngest of the du Maigrie girls called from the front door of the apartment complex.
“No so loud, Ashel,” Maigrie called back to her daughter. She cringed and winced as if she had a headache.
Sissy cringed and winced in empathy. Her mother had been hesitant and fearful since Sissy and her six remaining acolytes had descended upon the household in the middle of the night. Her mother didn’t like involving her family in anything the least bit controversial. She’d rather hide in the shadows.
Like she had hidden Sissy her entire life.
“Sit,” Jake ordered when Sissy tried to disentangle herself from the circle of her girls combined with her youngest brother and Ashel. “I’ll check it out.”
Sissy returned to the simple finger games and teaching rhymes she’d shown her acolytes, amazed they’d never learned them. But then these girls had the advantage of special schools from an early age. Something Worker children could only dream of. They entered school at the age of seven, learned basic reading, writing, and maths, then started working at the age of twelve.
Temple children began working a little earlier, if you called following a priest or priestess about and running their errands work. They continued their lessons in history, geography, and politics along with their studies of religion and ritual well into their twenties. Even those who never aspired to ordination had the advantage of as much education as they could absorb. Sissy was playing a constant game of catch-up, learning right alongside her acolytes.
“I knew you’d not sit idle and brooding,” Shanet said from the doorway.
Sissy jumped up. Before she could run to embrace her friend, she found herself engulfed in hugs and tears from Shanet’s seven assistants.
“We brought clothing,” Shanet said. She proffered a pile of black cloth edged in purple toward Sissy. “I had to invoke your name to break through the line of laudaes demanding fresh clothing, untainted by the smell of smoke. They had no concept that you had lost everything. No interest in anything but their own minor discomfort. They’ve barely acknowledged your right to be in mourning.” A tear leaked out of her eyes.
&
nbsp; Sissy pulled the older woman closer.
“Clothing is needed. Food is needed more,” Maigrie grumbled. “I haven’t the coupons or credit to feed all these extras. I haven’t a license to buy meat for all them animals.” She stood in the doorway to the kitchen wringing her hands. The smell of hot cinnamon, sugar, and yeasty flour filled the four-flat complex with warmth and the scent of hospitality.
“I had no idea.” Shanet looked amazed. Then a flash of resolution crossed her face. She fumbled in her pockets. “Bethy, paper and pen?” she asked her senior acolyte.
The teenager produced a notebook and pen from her own pocket.
Shanet filled two pages rapidly with her neat handwriting and handed it back to the girl. “Take this to our driver. Go with him and help procure everything on the list.”
“Would help if Laudae Harmony signed it,” Bethy whispered. Briefly she lifted her eyes to Sissy and then lowered them again. “Local merchants don’t know us.”
“The locals don’t even know she’s alive,” Kandy, the next oldest to Bethy, added. “No one has seen her since before the fire.”
“Stevie reported crowds milling about the squares, watching the news. A lot of rumors. More rumors than truth,” Jake mused. He tapped his fingers against his thigh in an arcane rhythm.
“The people need to see you, Laudae Sissy,” Shanet said.
“No,” Maigrie wailed. “They’ll kill her!”
“She’s right,” Jake said firmly. “I can’t protect her out in public.
They all looked at each other, shivering in fear.
Sissy hugged the pile of dresses, undergarments, and shoes close to her chest. They looked much too fine for this neighborhood. Her old brown coveralls felt comfortable, familiar. Loose and unconfining. Like stepping backward in time to before her life had become so complicated and dangerous.
But her girls kept picking at their borrowed clothing as if the coarse weave irritated their skin. Suddenly her own back itched and she craved the tailored fit of one of the silky dresses.
“I’ll get cleaned up. Then we all go out to the square. We let the hover cam take a few pictures. We use Temple credit for food, the animals can stay at the local Temple, then I come back here.”
Harmony Page 35
