Paradigms Lost (39 page)

“Then imagine, half a million years later, that you came face to face with her, exactly as she had been when you last saw her, the same smile, the same eyes of the King, the same hair that shone from out of the midst of a crowd, and that you
sensed
her in that moment—sensed her, and knew it was the same girl, the same
soul
.”

I stared at him wordlessly. Sylvie broke the silence. “Verne . . . you mean to tell us that Danielle Lumiere is someone from . . . Atlantaea?”

“Not that she, herself, was transported from Atlantaea, no,” Verne clarified. “But she has been somehow . . . reborn into a body that seems utterly identical to one from five thousand centuries ago. She is even known by a name so very similar, for then she was called ‘Dahnelle,’ and her name in Atlantaean meant, quite simply, ‘the Golden One’; ancient Atlantaea—you should be aware—had virtually no people of fair skin or light hair. It was a rare and remarkable sight indeed for most of us.”

“Holy crap.” I thought for a moment, as Morgan—the only driver we’d trust on this sort of expedition, so far from Verne’s home—put the limousine in gear and started the drive home from New York City. Finally, I said, “I’m guessing that you don’t come across . . . what, reincarnated Atlantaean souls very often?”

“Never,” he said, and there was hollow agony in that single word. “Understand, Jason, Sylvia: the Great Sealing ritual performed on the magical link between our world and the other, Zarathan, was
powered
by the souls of the dying. Those who died that day, nearly to the last man or woman, were
consumed
in the ritual that Kerlamion performed. They were neither reborn into the cycle of life, nor taken to any of the realms beyond life; they simply
ended
, and so none of the millions in the great City, none of my friends and family and colleagues, none of them have been reborn or found their true destination beyond. Only those few who fled before the ritual and survived the destruction were complete . . . and she was—she must have been—one of their primary targets.”

He shook his head. “So she
cannot
have escaped. And yet . . . she is here. Unaware of her past, and I suppose I should leave it so. But I fear that any who remain of our old enemies will wish to complete their work. In that summary of her life, I saw that she has already lost her parents, and—more recently—one of her few true friends of childhood. I wonder already whether this is pure accident, or more.”

“It’s not your responsibility, Verne,” I said. “If she really was the
same
person, maybe, but you yourself say she’s more, what, a reincarnation?”

“Yes. Yes, you are right, Jason. Yet . . . she
would
have been my responsibility, for she was to be wed to the one for whom I was responsible, the Prince himself.” He took one of his rare deep breaths. “But . . . without revealing much that would endanger her in and of itself, there is little I can do. So you are, I am afraid, correct.”

“Verne,” Syl asked after a moment, “what did you mean when you said she had the ‘eyes of the King’?”

He managed a smile. “Ah, of course, that would mean nothing to you. Torline, the Eternal King, had extraordinary eyes, eyes of gray, most often described as of the color of stormclouds reflected on a blade of steel, large and expressive eyes which seemed to look through you. Oh, there are and have been many others with eyes of shades of gray, but
those
eyes,
that
shade of gray . . . only the King, and those of his near blood—within three generations—ever showed
those
eyes, and few even of those.”

That
put a new perspective on a few earlier events. I pulled my laptop out and opened it, as Syl said, “But wait, you said she was supposed to marry the Prince. That would make them cousins or something, wouldn’t it?”

Verne chuckled faintly. “Well, yes, it would. But is it not true that many royal families of your own history encouraged intermarriage?” Syl nodded. “But in this case it is more complicated. Torline and his Queen were married at the dawn of Atlantaea’s rising. It is no exaggeration to say that the fact that they
existed
was what led to Atlantaea becoming what it was. Yet in all that time—one hundred thousand years—they had but
one
child between them. That one, at the end of their reign, was Prince Mikael, and his birth was the greatest joy of the age, for we all knew how desperately the Eternal King and Queen had longed for a child that was theirs
together
, and how they had long accepted that it would never be.

“But the two Immortals, with such life before and after them, were not jealous nor wishing to see their lines end; and so it was not unheard of for someone of great accomplishment to catch the eye of either the King or Queen and become one of their favored; from these unions there were other children, and all saw this as strengthening the Empire of Atlantaea, for how could the child of one of the Eternal Rulers be anything but a strength and blessing to our people?”

“I guess that does make sense,” Syl said after a moment.
I think I still have the files,
I thought, as I searched a couple of directories. “So there were a lot of semi-distant relatives pretty much
everywhere
in the main city.”

“Maybe not just there, either,” I said, and spun the laptop to face Verne. “How about
that
?”

Verne leaned forward, staring at the image of Xavier Ross, and once more he looked as pale as a ghost. “Who . . . who
is
this?” he said finally, and his voice was shocked.

“That’s the kid I think I got killed, Verne. Xavier Ross.”

His head snapped up. “
This
is Xavier Ross?”

“Yes.”

Slowly, he leaned back.

“Do you recall,” he said finally, “how we discussed the changes in the world, and how I felt that you might equally be called the center of these events, as much as I?”

“Yeah, hard to forget it; that was the first time we started really going into details about the world.”

“Well, I must amend that. I believe that there is more to these events than I had yet imagined. You stated once that you did not believe in coincidences. I, also, do not believe in coincidences of such great improbability.”

He looked out the window into the city-lit night. “I think it is time I begin to seek out the meaning behind these events . . . before it is too late to see what the outcome may be.”

CHAPTER 54

Home Security

“But of course, Jason. Indeed, I would be honored. How long will it be?”

I considered. “I’ve put a ‘price no object’ priority on it, and with my various contacts smoothing the way, I figure our new house should be finished in about three months.”

“Then think no more of it, my friend. Your possessions may remain here until that time.”

That was one small load off my mind; I knew that with the moderate-sized wedding Syl had planned we’d still end up with a sea of presents. It seemed that the public actually cared about what happened in my life—my fifteen minutes apparently hadn’t quite come to a close—and so there were likely going to be some attempts at gatecrashing and certainly gifts from all over the place. This ignored people who wouldn’t be at the wedding but that one or the other of us knew well enough that we’d be getting something from them. And Christmas wasn’t all that far away either, so there might be
more
gifts before it was all done.

“You did say something about increasing my security?” Verne prompted.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. You remember that I had Jeri’s people provide you with cover at Miss Lumiere’s party?”

“Naturally. I could hardly forget it, when it was the first time I had dared appear at so public an event in many years.”

“Well, I arranged with the same guy to provide security for both of us—top-level security systems.”

“That would be this ‘Jammer’ person?”

“Yep. They agreed that it was in our best interests to maintain maximum security, so sometime before the wedding, the Jammer will be by to help out. Put up with him; he’s younger than I am, and he has that wiseass geek attitude that I mostly outgrew, but he’s the best of the best.”

Verne smiled tolerantly. “Jason, I assure you that I can ‘put up’ with any temperament. Geniuses are often immature or asocial in many ways. For a greater degree of security, I will have no objections. I will of course emphasize, in my own way, that they are to not leave any special privileges for themselves in the systems.”

I grinned. “I rather thought you might. And someone like you will probably get through his hide.” I saw Kafan going by the doorway. “Hey, Kafan! Is the senator coming to the wedding?”

He smiled. “Paula says that you’d have to lock the doors to keep her away. And she’s bringing Seb—I mean, Jackie—and little Tai!”

I smiled back. Legal wranglings could be murderous, and establishing truths in court almost impossible, but Paula and Tai Lee Xiang had found a way to cut through all the potential barriers. Tai Lee knew, by scent that never lied, that Paula was a devoted mother who loved children; and Paula, from long experience in judging people and promoting children’s rights, could tell that Tai was a loving parent. She also saw Tai and Genshi together often. Once the two recognized the other as someone who genuinely cared about the well-being of their children, they were no longer adversaries, but rather allies who simply had a complicated problem to work out. The storybook tale of the orphans’ father returning was bound to come out soon; in fact, Paula was laying the groundwork for the press releases already. The stories would be of a
fait accompli
, not of a potential legal firestorm. “That’s great. I’m looking forward to meeting them myself.”

“Master Jason, is this list from Lady Sylvia the most accurate?” Morgan inquired as he entered, carrying a sheet of paper.

“I think so. Yeah, that’s the current guest list. All the ones in red have confirmed. The names in black are people we expect to attend but haven’t gotten confirmation for.” It was Morgan’s concern because we were having the wedding and reception here, on Verne’s extensive grounds.

“Very good, sir.”

Suddenly, there was a shout from down the hall, followed by a voice: “Hey! Let me go!”

Verne smiled and leaned back in his chair as Camillus entered, carrying the Jammer in a move-along hold. “Is this the young man you expected, Jason?”

I raised an eyebrow at the Jammer. I should’ve expected he’d try something like this. “Caught so soon? Yes, Verne, but he’s kinda disappointing me.”

The Jammer flushed. “I’d like to know just how you managed to catch me at it, since I know for damn sure not one of your alarms went off.”

Verne gestured, and Camillus deposited the Jammer in one of the chairs. “Mr. Locke—”

“How the hell do you—oh, Wood.”

“To an extent, yes, but I have my own sources. You are Ingram Remington Locke, former resident of Long Island. I know a great deal about you, Mr. Locke.”

That got the Jammer’s attention; he knew that Achernar had mentioned his last name, but not his first. “Damn.”

“As I was saying, Mr. Locke: you are apparently suffering under the misapprehension that my security is only technological. While you are correct in that none of my electronic security systems notified anyone of your presence, I was able to sense you once you entered my demesnes. I then notified Camillus of your whereabouts and the direction in which you were moving, and he was naturally then able to capture you.”

The Jammer rubbed his arm and glanced at the door through which Camillus had left. “Naturally. Well, if you’ve got that kind of warning, I don’t know if you need anything more.”

“Oh, assuredly I do,” Verne said. “I do have to rest, and during that time, my senses are less sharp. There are also various ways in which my senses can be eluded that would not evade properly designed technological security. Magic is not inherently superior to technology, merely different. I would be very pleased if you were to design a top-of-the-line security system for my home. I will not offer you money, since I am sure that is not a major consideration for you; rather, I offer the challenge of making such a large, old, rambling estate secure enough to meet your own exacting standards.”

The Jammer laughed. “Okay, Dracula, you’ve got me pegged pretty well. My friends sent me out here to do a job, but damned if you didn’t go and make it look fun to do, too. I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, but I’m going to keep trying to get in here without you knowing.”

Verne ignored the vampire witticism and nodded. “I expect no less. In fact, I would demand that you try everything at your disposal to enter this place unbidden, so that any flaws which may exist can be fixed, either with your techniques or my own.”

“Then can I get up and start working?”

“By all means.” As the Jammer rose, Verne said, “
However
. . .”

The Jammer froze; Verne’s tone had shifted without warning, to something cold as winter ice, and his level gaze impaled Locke. “Let me make one thing clear, Mr. Locke: your work will remain exclusive to me in this instance. You will have no ‘backdoor’ codes, no special privileges, and no records, after the fact, of the work. This will also be true of Jason’s home. I am aware of the way your sort of person thinks, and I warn you that I will not be amused if I discover anything in my or my friend’s security systems that appears in the least suspicious. Is that understood?”

The Jammer was a shade paler. “Understood, sir,” he answered.

“Very good, then.” Verne’s voice had returned to spring again. “Carry on.”

I watched the Jammer leave. “It’s amazing. When I was younger, I didn’t believe that crap about people with a ‘force of personality’ that you could actually sense. The past year or so has made me a believer. You’ve shaken him up pretty good.”

“My sense of the matter is that he has already encountered someone with a similar force of personality.” Verne commented. “Someone whom he respects and thus associates with my own exhibition in that arena. But I agree; we will not need to worry about him inserting unwanted material in our security.”