Obsidian: Birth to Venus (The Obsidian Chronicles Book 1)

by Marisa Victus

  “I know. We’ve been worried sick about him,” Diana said. “You know, we haven’t even heard from him this entire time. Complete radio silence. No matter how many times we contacted him, no answer.” Leaning in, Diana arched her gaze upward and smiled at Jai. “The only thing that brought him around was you, apparently.”

  “Me?” Jai was amazed.

  Sean smiled. “We sent word we were all coming here and asked that he join us. He didn’t respond, just showed up on your doorstep at precisely the scheduled time.”

  “Early, in fact,” said Mach, laughing. “I caught the bugger walking the neighborhood this morning as I was driving up.”

  “And, did you see his face at dinner?” Sean said, joining in the laughter. “He really did his best to keep Jai in the dark. He didn’t want her to know anything was amiss. I had to bite my tongue a few times to keep from laughing out loud.”

  “It’s really quite endearing,” Diana said, fondly. “To see that particular man squirm. He did quite well, I’d say, keeping up pretenses, answering every dig we threw at him, with only a hint of his trademark sarcasm. Must’ve been hard, after going cold turkey all those days. I thought he’d jump out of his skin if dinner lasted just one minute longer.”

  “So that’s why dinner seemed like a round of Twenty Questions,” Jai said, smiling.

  “Yea.” Sean shook his head with laughter. “Love that guy to death, we certainly do. We just couldn’t help it. When would we get another opportunity to take advantage of Borda actually restraining himself?”

  “Never,” said Mach, laughing again. “It’s a real testament to you, Jai. He doesn’t do polite or punctual,” Mach reminded, as he nudged Jai’s side with his arm.

  “Nope,” Diana agreed. “Just not in his vocabulary. At least, until now.” She looked at Jai fondly. “Yet another reason to have you in our happy little family.”

  “And, now?” Jai turned anxious. “He’s clearly upset.”

  “Don’t worry, Jai,” Mach said. “He bolted out of here like a bat out of hell, but he’ll be fine. He always is. As apathetic and inattentive as he often seems, he’s actually got a good head on his shoulders.”

  “His temper just needs to chill,” said Sean.

  “Well, I’m going to go find him,” said Jai. She left the three of them to finish the last bottle of wine, the only bottle Borda had left behind. She walked through the sala, to the living room where Avena sat, rubbing Borda’s back.

  Avena walked across the room to meet Jai, his bottle of wine empty in her hands. She said, “I’ll take this to the kitchen and give you guys some time. He’s woozy still. Couldn’t be more tired than I am though. That guy can run.” Jai smiled and patted Avena on the arm. Jai saw him, his knees bent far past the couch, hunched over, as he held a photo of Jai, Darin, and her parents in his large, rough hands. Sitting down beside him, she didn’t say a word. Too often, people had told her “It’ll all be fine” when her family members had died. Inside, she thought the opposite. She sat quietly, for him.

  Minutes passed before he opened his mouth to speak. “Does it get any easier? Has it, for you?” His voice shook, somehow rougher given the sincerity, the plaintive tone of his inflection.

  Jai sighed before answering. “No. Time hasn’t done anything to dampen the pain, the longing. I lost Darin and Dad years and years ago. But, I miss them, just as much as I miss Mom, who’s just passed.”

  Borda grinned as a tear ran down his face. “Thank you, for being honest. They just say it’ll get easier,” he said, throwing his head back, toward the atrium where they were all sitting. “You know them, though. They’d rather cut themselves than cut you. They think it’s better to lift my spirits with a kind word than level with me sometimes. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame them for encouraging me. I know how I can be. But, they don’t really know what it’s like.

  “All their parents are alive. Though I’d like to kick Sean and Avena's parents in the face, if only they’d let me, those black hearts are still beating along. And, Mach and Diana? Well, they’re lucky. One of Mach’s parents is sentient, and both of Diana’s are sentient. So, it’s no wonder they still enjoy a semblance of a normal family. Me? I’ve got two murdered parents. Two humans who meant the world to me, who gave of themselves, gave me every opportunity. Even when I told them I’m sentient, their response was simple. ‘That’s great, son. I always knew you were gifted.’ Gifted!” Borda repeated the word, cynically. “What good did that do? What gift could it have possibly been, when being sentient didn’t help me save them?

  “No, this gift is a curse. Made me wake up, fully healed, only to find them dead, shot on the floor. You know, I could hear their cries as I passed out? I fought it and fought it, tried so hard not to go blank, but the blackness knocked me out. Only to shoot my eyes open a few minutes later. When I came to, their faces were shot off. I could only tell it was them from their clothes.” Jai placed her hands down, to steady his shoulders, as they heaved violently up and down. She held on to him, the couch shaking with his cries until suddenly, his body slumped, his head falling straight into her lap.

  “Shh…shh…I know,” Jai said, stroking his deep blue-dyed hair. He blinked slowly, his eyes beginning to close. “I’m sorry, Borda,” she said. “I know you’ve had it worse than so many in this world. Even I haven’t been through that pain. I wish I could’ve been there to help stop it from happening in the first place. We all do. It’s no wonder you’re going through a hard time. You may have more hard days, you may. But, remember, today is different. Every day is new. And, we’re all here for you. I’m here for you,” Jai repeated it, as she continued to stroke his blue hair. She wondered what his natural hair color was, and noticed he hadn’t styled it in its usual spikey way. No, it was a soft, gentle mess. She looked at him, a mere boy in her arms, and realized how hard it must be, to know someone had murdered the ones you love. Not cancer. Not an accident. Not old age. But, a person, many people, with faces and names and evil plans, plans to rob you of the only family you would ever have. “I’ll help you find the murderers,” Jai said, her eyes growing distant. “They’ll pay for what they’ve done.” And, with a chill in her voice, she promised, “Of that, I’m certain.”

  Chapter 27

  2121

  On the flight back to New York, Jai looked out the window. An overwhelming emptiness enveloped her. She thought back, to the summers she’d spent with her family, long before Darin’s illness, when both he and Dad were still alive, to all the times she and Mom had shared with them. The four of them, so happy traveling the world together. Then, she pictured the columbarium that housed their remains. It was a ship moored, and Jai wasn’t prepared to cast them out to sea. Later, she promised, I’ll do what Joy asked, and scatter all their ashes. She watched the clouds pass by, knowing no matter where she went or what she did, her family would be with her, in her heart.

  When they reached the penthouse, Jai went straight to bed. Through the window, she gazed at the moon shining overhead, and breathed a sigh of relief. That late at night, rooms were supposed to be quiet and dark. Morning was much harder. She struggled to wake up, to pull herself out of bed. There was nowhere to escape. The sun lit all of the rooms. Her mother’s favorite places were all illuminated and unoccupied. She was glad Sean had offered to stay with her through the morning. It was a chance to ease back into reality.

  “Jai,” Sean whispered. He kissed her softly on the head. “I have to take off now, make my rounds at the office and check in with Quaid.”

  “No problem,” she muttered, and pulled a pillow over her head.

  An hour later, the phone rang, jostling her awake. An electric projection flashed above the bed. Caleb’s name hovered in blue with a green accept and red decline button, and an option for video below.

  Unwilling to move, Jai commanded, “No video. Accept,” and Caleb’s voice flooded the room.

  “Dr. Dean, good morning.”

  “Hi, Caleb.”

  �
�My apologies for bothering you so early, but this falls under one of your red flags. It’s Dr. Mace. He’s asked that I get a hold of you. He said it was urgent, a matter of ‘life or death.’”

  “That’s awfully dramatic,” Jai said. The doctor was such a patient man, methodical and even-keeled. “That’s so unlike him.”

  “I thought so too. But, he sounded sincere, frantic even. Shall I arrange the call? He’s actually on the other line if you’d like me to patch him through.”

  “Yes, that’s fine Caleb.”

  “Will do. And, again, my condolences.”

  “Thank you, Caleb. And, thank you for calling me.” Two seconds later and Dr. Mace was on the line.

  “Hello, Dr. Dean.”

  “Yes, good morning, Kevin. How can I help you? Caleb said it’s urgent?”

  “Yes. Is this a secure line?”

  “Yes, I assure you.” He needn’t worry. All of Jai’s lines were secure. Besides, she used her mind to cloak all her business calls. Why not, when she had that special skill at her disposal? It was easy and, by now, a habit, a default. She reminded, “What else would you expect? It took a year before I even let you know my name.” She smiled.

  “Yes, yes. You’re the most private person I know.” He chuckled before correcting himself. “Actually, scratch that. You can’t claim that dubious distinction anymore.”

  “Okay?” Jai said, confused.

  He didn’t pause to clarify. His voice was rough, like he hadn’t slept for days. “Actually, your talent for going off-grid is why I need your help. That, and you’re one of the only people I’d trust with my life.”

  “It’s that high-level?”

  “Yes, unfortunately so. My mentor, the Principal Investigator overseeing my Ph.D. research, he just died.”

  “I see. I’m so sorry to hear that, Kevin.”

  “Thanks. It hasn’t hit the news yet, but it most certainly will. He is — I mean, he was — Dr. Jensen.”

  Jai’s ears perked up. “The Dr. Jensen? As in, Patient X Dr. Jensen?”

  “Yes, the one and only. The Police Department contacted me yesterday. It seems he died under suspicious circumstances. The police are treating it as a homicide. They asked me to come in for questioning. I don’t know anything about his death. I was away at a conference when he died, so the police let me go. The Detectives didn’t reveal much. Just that he’d died, most likely in a fire. But, when I returned home, I found a postcard of a bird that was addressed to me. No return address, just the number three. It’s written in his handwriting. I’d recognize his scribbling anywhere. Plus, there was a brief note, describing a scenic boardwalk where we used to lunch in San Francisco.”

  “San Francisco? I thought all his labs were in Boston, like yours?”

  “Yes, they are. But, we attended a few conferences in San Fran. We always met at the boardwalk over the years. Given the circumstances of his death, I thought it best to visit the boardwalk, just in case. So, I took the next flight there. The postcard had a seagull on it. It’s a pathetic picture, really; like some five-cent illustration from a cheesy beach shop. Not something Dr. Jensen would like. But, there was no doubt in my mind, it was his handwriting; so I stopped at the beach stand where we liked to grab lunch.

  “Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I started wondering if my mind had gotten the best of me. A police interrogation in the middle of the night would disorient anyone. But, then I saw it: a sign to rent digital lockers. There must’ve been a hundred lockers, there were so many rows. Kind of surprising to see they were so old-school; you know, the kind with those digital keypads? The number three was on the postcard, so I checked locker #3. It was locked. It made me remember: Dr. Jensen was always a stickler for security, especially in the years leading up to his big paper.”

  “The one that disclosed X’s birth year?”

  “Yes. Dr. Jensen knew that, as soon as X’s birth year was published, X would become known as the Eldest. Dr. Jensen didn’t want anyone to threaten X’s life or privacy, or that of his lab members, so he took extra measures to secure the lab. He used an algorithm to change the lab’s code on a daily basis. That unlocked the main entry point, but there were actually two more. There was a code for his private office. And, down a passageway hidden in the back, there was a third code for a secret lab he’d built. He’d only shared all three codes with me. Seven years had passed. What were the chances that third and final lab code would work? It actually did; locker #3 popped right open. That’s when I knew this was serious. He obviously knew someone was after him because he set this locker up. He’d left me an unmarked package. So, I grabbed it and got the hell out of there. I just got home and reviewed everything.”

  “And?” The suspense was killing her.

  “It contains all of X’s original data.”

  “I knew it.”

  “More than that, it contains X’s personal information, including his address.”

  Jai gasped. “No one’s known who X is, except Dr. Jensen.”

  “That’s right. You can imagine the value of this information, not just among scientists, but on the black market. Pharmaceutical companies would willingly pay hundreds of millions, if not a billion, dollars for data from the Eldest, the most advanced sentient on the planet. The only person who has access to this data is me. And, soon, you.”

  “Me?” Jai tried to contain herself. For decades, she’d read Dr. Jensen’s publications and wondered who X really was. The entire world wanted to know. But, Dr. Jensen guarded X’s identity and location like he was running a covert op. The lengths to which he’d gone to protect this one patient was a well known joke in the scientific community. He’d taken it quite far, even leaking misinformation, including false clues about X’s current location. But, protecting X was necessary; he was known as the Eldest, after all. His data was the single most valuable scientific resource since sentients had been discovered. For Jai, it didn’t matter that she was far older than X. She felt drawn to X, like understanding his data could untangle the mystery of her own origins. His data was a Pandora’s box, and here was Kevin, offering to give her the key.

  “Yes, you, Jai. You’re the only person I’d trust with this. I know how guarded you are, how much you value your own privacy. You’ve taken great pains to hide being sentient. Some might say you don’t have to, given the number of sentients now. Hell, so many sentients go out of their way to brag when they test positive. But, Dr. Jensen’s murder proves the danger in doing so. He even included a video in the package. Let me play it for you.”

  Kevin clicked the file, and Jai watched as a shaky image projected into the air above her bed. “Kevin,” Dr. Jensen said. At seventy, his hair was more white than gray. He appeared unbathed, a frantic expression on his face. “People will kill to get their hands on this data. I know it. They’re after me. I don’t know who, but they’re coming.” Jai could see papers strewn across the floor, cabinets flung open behind him.

  “I need your help getting X to a safe house. You know I’ve always guarded X’s identity, not only because he demanded it, but because of the dangerous attention this research could bring. The last few months, it’s escalated far beyond the media. There’s something else going on. Someone’s been tracking my movements, our goings-on in the lab. I even found a bug planted in my car yesterday. Clearly, someone’s trying to get their hands on this data and, I fear, X himself. Look at the data. You’ll know why when you do. I’ve given you the only complete data set; the only one in existence.

  “As for the lab, there’s too much data and too little time to scrub the system’s meta-data clean. I won’t be able to know, for sure, if I’ve erased every trace. Get X to a safe location. Figure out the data. Do it. I won’t be able to. Sentient lives depend on it…perhaps human lives too.”

  Jai waited for Dr. Jensen to continue, to provide some further explanation, but the video cut off. Kevin continued, fighting back tears. “To think, after all these years, the world’s lost one of the best scie
ntists it’s ever known. And, such an amazing person, my mentor and long-time friend. You know, unlike most of my human colleagues who distanced themselves when I said I was sentient, Dr. Jensen never did. In fact, he encouraged me to celebrate it, made me feel welcome during the initial backlash against our kind. It’s no wonder he was one of the human champions of our community. It kills me someone came after him, murdered him like that.” Jai could understand the feeling. She couldn’t help but see the fear in Dr. Jensen’s eyes, his body already so defenseless and frail looking. “Based on what the police said, a few days after he made this video, his lab was burned down, with him still in it.”

  “I’m guessing no prints were left behind,” Jai said, doubting a novice was the culprit. No, a well-trained group was likely behind it.

  “None. His body was burnt to a crisp. The systems too.”

  “How much data do you think they could’ve accessed before they torched it?”

  “There’s no way to know for sure, but see…” Kevin said, replaying the video, “There, in the background, there’s a computer screen. It’s got a status bar of only 20%. Given the size of the data set I have, it would take days to handle all the information. He had so little time. He raised the encryption over the years, so that might’ve increased the protection a bit, but it’s safe to assume that the murderers got away with at least some data and the earlier data’s at greater risk. That’s a negative. In the early days, we weren’t as careful with X’s data. We didn’t realize his importance at the time, so there’s bits and pieces, things someone could use to decipher X’s likely location. That’s their next step. All they’d have to do is follow the bread crumbs, and ignore the false reports Dr. Jensen gave in later years. They’re probably close to finding him.”