The Mangrove Suite

by Tim Niederriter

  I had shared the name. Why not? I had not said I thought she was an aeon because that could be dangerous. Of course, the authorities would find her home garden soon if she was an aeon. I delved into a stack of memory that looked like a mountain of light and began rifling through records kept from earlier encounters with previous rogue stars as well as those with Yashelia leading up to when I met her on the train.

  According to records, rogue stars usually appeared in groups, clusters of nonhuman agents from outside the city. Most rogue stars went unidentified even after being killed or driven off. I didn’t find a single record of one taken alive. Whoever designated Yashelia as a rogue star clearly wanted her dead, and only the most respected aeons could assign the designation such that the other aeons would distribute the information through the networks they controlled.

  The elevator reached the Mangrove Suite. The place was dark and closed, the cleans locked in their rooms after the purifiers had sent the clients away. Thomas led Rain and I down a hall opposite the main rooms to a lounge overlooking the shadowy canal and the parks to the southwest. He hit the light switch and the veins in the ceiling pulsed with blue power supplied from some heart far away.

  I sat across from Rain, each of us in a large easy chair, as Thomas went to the cold box in the next room to get us something to eat. Tired, I quickly began to doze as we waited. Rain, who looked more alert now that no purifiers could see us, turned to me. “Don’t fall asleep, Jeth,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  I frowned at her, then lurched forward in my easy chair. I put my hands on my knees. “How much do you remember?”

  “I remember a garden. A tall tree of stone at its center.”

  “Sounds like you’re thinking of an aeon’s garden. They always keep at least one stone tree.”

  “It’s stranger than that,” she said. “This stone tree has grown wild. Branches snare and cross with each other. I watched the whole garden overgrow. She told me not to worry about it, but I knew something was wrong.”

  “Slow down for a second is, she Yashelia?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you remember where this garden was?”

  “Here in the east, west of Lotdel Tower.” She pointed out the window at the darkened city. “It’s by water.”

  “A canal?” I said.

  “Or a reservoir. Maybe a lake.”

  “Standing water?”

  “I think so.” She put both hands to her temples. “It’s getting hazier.”

  “Hang on. Thomas will be back any second now. He knows about cleans. Maybe he can help.”

  Rain glared at me from under her hands. “No human can help me with this. Only the aeon who cleaned me has that power.”

  “Was it Yashelia?”

  “Yes.” Rain pushed herself up from her chair and stood. She paced to the dark window, her skin glowing in the blue lights of the room. “But how can we find her?”

  “It seemed like she was looking for you,” I said.

  “She wanted to take me back. I can’t remember why.”

  “How did Rebecca know Yashelia?” I asked.

  Rain turned from the window. Her eyes gleamed with tears, the first tears I had ever seen on someone who had been cleaned. “Rebecca. She was in over her head. She was afraid of Yashelia before it happened.”

  “Is that all you can remember?” I tried to sound as gentle as I could.

  She took a step toward me. Shadows darkened her face. Her eyes glittered within the darkness. “That’s what I remember.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Jeth, I don’t like being seen like this. I’m fading.”

  I stared at her for a moment. Then I tore my gaze away and nodded. “I’m sorry. I wish I could do more. I will do more. Promise.”

  Her footsteps approached, and she sat down on one large arm of my easy chair. Her legs dangled over the side opposite me. I turned and looked up at her. She shook her head. “I know you will, but don’t get yourself hurt, Jeth. Rebecca would never want that.”

  I took a deep breath. “And what about Rain?”

  Her eyes closed. “Rain never knows what she wants.”

  My hand found Rain’s on the arm of the easy chair. She sat like a statue. The door to the rest of the suite opened and Thomas came in with a plate of food in each hand, his shadow cast in blue lights from the room and yellow ones from the hallway.

  “I hope you’re not too tired, Jeth. I’ve got to tell you something.”

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, The Marya Building

  Not many analysts got awakened by purifiers for work in the dead of night. Once he recovered from the shock, Ryan considered himself lucky to be in such demand. The rogue star they called Yashelia had struck inside Lotdel Tower, in the domain of a law-abiding and well-connected aeon. Now, security and purifier elements would be working together to catch her.

  Ryan stretched as he followed the masked and armored purifier officer down the dimly lit hall from his apartment. They took an elevator to the ground floor where another squad of purifiers who wore Teloite Lawkeeper emblems on their chests met them by the doors inside the lobby. “Analyst Carter,” said one of the purifiers in a firm feminine voice. “Are you prepared?”

  “I’ll need ichor, and a good sensocycler to assist me.” You guys had better pay well, too, for getting me up in the middle of the night.

  “We have both on location for you,” said the woman. “I’m Commander De Vries. You answer to me for this op.”

  Ryan saluted, one fist to his heart and the other arm locked to his side as aeon security forces demanded. “Thank you for the opportunity, commander.”

  She returned the gesture with a lightning fast movement. Then she waved the other purifiers toward the door. “Move people, we’ve got a ticking clock.”

  Ryan hurried out the door with the others. Outside the doors, they were met by cold night air on their way to the armored car. Only the richest aeons could afford this kind of force just to pick up an intelligence specialist. I’m flattered. Flattered and curious. He climbed into the back of the armored car with the purifiers. He sat in the middle of a row of seats along the side of the vehicle. One of the purifiers, it might have been De Vries, but Ryan couldn’t tell thanks to the dark and the armor, handed him a sealed metal canister.

  Ryan cracked the top with a twist of the cap, then drank the ichor within the little bottle like a shot. His world swam with shadows and shapes. Ryan put a hand to his forehead but grinned as his senses expanded. His consciousness accelerated, sharpened, and spread like ice on the surface of a lake in winter.

  As the initial rush faded, Ryan delved into his own mind, clearing his head of all the emotional data that could inhibit analysis. The eyes of his mind looked around the bright hills and valleys of the network while those of his body closed in the dark. On either side of him sat a memetically trained purifier, both with active minds. One of them was indeed Commander De Vries, evidenced by the public packet Ryan received when his mentality peered at hers.

  He skimmed the little document, picked out a few details, and then cross-checked them to verify her identity. Things checked out, and one other element became clear. Her purifier unit operated under a great aeon called Sudhatho, a Teloite warlord. Interesting, Ryan thought, but it makes sense the Teloites want to stop a rogue star.

  The armored car rumbled through iron and wire gates and stopped in front of an office building surrounded by a perimeter of fences and walls. He climbed out, aware of the security officers and purifiers all around him. Commander De Vries led him into the building through double doors. Officers saluted him and De Vries as they passed.

  She led him into a square room with a vacant circular table in the center. In each corner of the room sat a small human form on a chair. They appeared to be children dozing, but Ryan guessed differently. These four were banks, humanlike bodies grown and birthed using surrogate mothers to house data, the m
emories of others. I hope they were never real people, Ryan thought, but that is a possibility.

  De Vries motioned for Ryan to take a seat at the table. He obeyed.

  “Search for Yashelia.” De Vries paced around the far side of the table. “We have all the data we have accumulated about her and the other most recent rogue star in these four. Everything you need should be accessible.”

  Ryan nodded, but his eyes remained on De Vries. “And the sensocycler I requested?”

  “He should report here shortly. Be as discreet with any details you learn from these four banks. They are the property of a power you do not want to cross.” She circled the table and walked back toward the door. “Acquaint yourself with as much information as you can, and contact me when you’ve found anything at all that seems promising.”

  “Understood.”

  “Good. Don’t let us down, Carter.” De Vries marched to the door and left for the hall outside. A moment later, the door opened again and a heavily set man with red hair and a black coat instead of a uniform entered.

  “You must be our new analyst,” said the man. He sat down in a seat beside Ryan. “Carter, is it?”

  Ryan nodded. “And you’re the sensocycler I requested?”

  “Conner Kohl.” The man held out a thick hand and they shook. “You find the data, I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” Kohl said.

  “Glad to hear it.” Ryan released the man’s hand and ran his hands over his temples. “Let’s get started.”

  “Could be a long shift.” Kohl smirked. “Finally, I get to work with someone serious.”

  In answer, Ryan closed his eyes and delved back into the network.

  In the lounge at the Mangrove Suite, Thomas handed a plate to me and the other to Rain, who sat on the arm of my easy chair, then he took the chair across from us. He took a deep breath. “You two have caused a lot of trouble, but don’t worry I’m not about to turn you in as long as we’re open about everything from this point forward. What do you know about Yashelia, Jeth?”

  I shrugged. “Not much. I ran into her on the train to work yesterday. I have no idea why she went after Rain, but she knew who I was on that train.”

  Rain’s hand went stiff beneath mine. She raised her eyes and looked at Thomas. “She was after me.”

  “Why?” asked Thomas.

  She scowled at the floor. “I don’t remember why. Not anymore.”

  “Her memories are fading,” I said.

  Thomas took a deep breath. “I was worried something like that might happen.”

  “You were worried?” I glanced from Rain to Thomas.

  He nodded. “The Mangrove Suite is my brothel, but you’ve never asked me what I did with the proceeds. Why I buy new cleans every year.”

  I started to speak, but hesitated. Ever since I moved into Lotdel Tower I had spent as little time thinking about this floor as I could. Being friends with Thomas had not helped with that. I shook my head. “What are you trying to say, Thomas?”

  “I’ve been connected to a group. They run experiments on cleans, try to figure out what happens to the information aeons take from them, and what cleans really are.”

  “A group. Scientists?” I frowned. “Why haven’t you ever mentioned this to me before?”

  “I figured you wouldn’t like it. They take a few cleans at a time for some credits, but they also share their results with me.” Thomas folded his hands together and hunched forward. “Everyone knows ichor overdose is what gets people cleaned. But my contacts think it’s more than that. The aeon that does the cleaning is tied to every human they’ve cleaned somehow.”

  “Do they not know how yet?” I asked.

  “They don’t know, Jeth.”

  “It was Yashelia’s ichor,” I said. “Just a few drops.”

  Rain nodded. “I tasted it. And I knew she was the one who cleaned me.”

  My eyes narrowed.

  Thomas whistled. “That could explain why she was looking for her.”

  “I don’t want to lose my mind,” Rain said, “but I can feel it happening.”

  I reached for her wrist. She slipped off the chair and stood up. “Let me look at you while I can.” She turned toward me. “Jeth, why did you come to this city?”

  Thomas settled back in his chair and looked at me. I looked up at Rain’s face. “I couldn’t just stay in the valley after you left. I came here to be a memeotect.”

  “You did it.” She smiled, a slight curve of the lips. “I hope you’re happy.”

  “I’ll be happier once we get you back.”

  “Jeth, what are you going to do?” Thomas asked.

  My eyes met Rain’s. “I want to find Yashelia.” My stomach growled, and I looked down at my plate. “But first, I’m going to eat. We’re all going to need to stay sharp.”

  Thomas nodded.

  Rain looked at her plate of food. “I don’t know how long I’ll last,” she murmured, “but you’re right.” She looked at me. “I want to wake up again.”

  I looked at her face. Her smiled had gone as quickly as it had appeared. Thomas sighed but with a hint of a grin on his face. “Nothing but trouble.”

  We ate.

  Beyond Laws

  I woke with an ache in my back and swung my legs out of bed. The covers already lay piled in at the foot of the bed, and the air was chill in my apartment. I stood, walked over to the dresser by my windows where the beginnings of morning sunlight filtered through, and then put on a pair of blue jeans. Only then did I realize the shower was running in the bathroom. Rain.

  She had wanted to stay in my apartment the past night, but I did not remember more after our embrace on the couch in the living room after she told me she was afraid to sleep. Even as dawn crept over the city, and I turned from the window, I hoped Thomas and Rain had been wrong, though I knew she had felt her memories fading.

  I slipped on a heavily woven shirt and walked down the hallway past the bathroom and into my tiny kitchen. I filled my flask with ichor from a plastic container I kept in my all but empty cold box. Footsteps behind me made me turn. Rain stood naked at the end of the hallway. A few droplets of water glistened in her hair and a sheen of moisture gleamed on her light brown skin. I set the flask on the counter and stared at her.

  “Rain?” I said. “Are you alright?”

  “Are you?” Her eyes never met mine, but I glimpsed them, bright and vacant as she turned away.

  Were it not for the strange question she had asked me I would have guessed she was completely clean again. I felt numb.

  “I’m fine. Rain, do you know who I am?”

  She tossed her hair back and took a step toward me. “Jeth?”

  “Yes. That’s my name.” I felt tight as she approached me.

  Her hips shifted and her head tilted back. She looked up at my face. “You seem familiar,” she said. “But I don’t. I don’t remember why.”

  “That’s alright.” I put a palm to my forehead and took a deep breath. “Are you hungry?”

  “No. Full.” Her vacant gaze moved from my face down my body to my waist. “I feel the same as you.”

  Heat raced to my face. I grimaced. “Please, let’s not talk about that.”

  “I don’t want to talk either.” She put her hands to the top of my pants. Her fingers ran along the inside of the waistband from side to front. I stepped back and banged into the counter behind me. Her fingers fell out of my pants. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t.” I will not take advantage of her. She would understand if she remembered more than my name.

  “You seem ready.”

  “I can’t!”

  She drew back, a frown of confusion and hurt forming on her face. She shuddered. I tried to swallow with a dry mouth. Rain backed away, eyes downcast. She prowled around the kitchen counter and into the living room. I turned my head after a glimpse of her from behind. I couldn’t let this get out of hand. I still needed to restore her mind.

  I took a flask of ichor and went back t
o my bedroom. There, I put on my coat, and then I dug into my closet and found the twelve gauge shotgun I had practiced with once. I found a few shells for it, then hid everything in cardboard box under my bed. I didn’t want to be weaponless if something happened or we located Yashelia. Part of me doubted the shotgun would do much to her. Another part of me wanted to think I could at least get more ichor from her that way.

  The third part of me wanted to throw up at both thoughts. I walked through the living room, passing Rain where she had mercifully covered herself with a blanket on the couch. I locked the apartment door on the way out. She glared at me as I left. I took a deep breath and hit the down button for the elevator.

  Thomas was on the elevator when it arrived. He nodded to me.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  I stepped inside and scowled at my feet. “She’s clean.”

  “It wore off?”

  “Yeah. She barely remembers anything.”

  “But she remembers something?”

  “My name. Maybe a few mannerisms. Cleans have recall too, Thomas, but only simple stuff.”

  “Jeth, this a lot better than I would have expected from a single drop of Yashelia’s ichor.”

  I looked up at him, only just focused on his face. “You sure that’s the only ichor that will work?”

  Thomas shrugged with both shoulders. “Positive.”

  I sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator. “That helps a little.” We went down three floors, and then the door opened again. Elizabeth stepped inside.

  A relieved smile formed on her face. “You two. You’re alright!”

  “Yeah,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry again. “Security only wanted to talk to us.”

  “Are you going down for breakfast?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “I was just in the library looking up some things.” Her smile slipped away as she looked at my face. “Jeth, what happened? You aren’t telling me everything.”