The Sound of Seas (21 page)

“At once.”

“I also want to circle the tower to have a look at the pool inside, see if we can see some reason for the rising heat. You have wing command,
Femora
.”

Loi's quick, delighted smile said he was surprised by the last part of the order. “All will be done,” Loi said smartly, then departed.

The physician was studying Qala with interest. “So. Finally.”

“You're referring to Loi?”

“You know very well that I'm not,” Zell said. “He is well trained and perfectly suited to handle this run.”

Qala grinned.

Zell continued to gaze at Qala. “You realize what this means?”

“I do,” Qala said. “And that's all right. Children are more of a nuisance than
thyodularasi
. But this boy
has
something.”

“Something you recognize. And are prepared to nurture. Because you cannot give him back. That would crush him.”

“I understand, and I am not just doing this for the boy but for the future of the fleet.”

“There is no truth in what you just said,” Zell remarked. “None.”

“I am not interested in bearing or parenting,” Qala insisted.

“Yet if he doesn't recover his wits, you may find him your responsibility regardless,” Zell pointed out.

“I know,” Qala replied. “But we get ahead of ourselves. First, you must heal him so we know if we have Vilu, or whatever he called himself.”

“Jay-cupo-oh-ha-rayaah,” Zell said. “Which is another puzzle. To suffer from mental illness, yet have such a precise, repeatable name . . . the
two
of them.” The physician gripped the rail as the airship lurched from its moorings. “Which is what we came out here to discuss, before philosophy got in the way—again,” Zell told her. “I do not want to use herbs to try and shock away whatever illness has come over Vilu.”

“Why?”

“The presence—whatever it is, whether real or imagined—must not be subjugated, it must be removed.”

“All right. Why?”

“Because you said yourself, a foreign soul was present in Bayarma, even though the normal Galderkhaani woman is ‘here' now. She could seem normal for a time and then that other personality may return. In both of them it must be found, isolated, and removed.”

“How?” Qala asked.

Zell leaned on the chest-high railing and looked out at the city. In the distance, they heard the plank stowed on the deck, the ropes around and below the bag groaning as the inflated envelope bore the entire weight of the gondola.

“I'll tell you in a moment,” Zell said. “I want to make sure I understand—you did nothing to the woman to cause Bayarma to revert from or to her present state?”

“Nothing,” Qala assured him. “We were talking and it suddenly happened after we walked on a Path of Ancestors,” she said, glancing in the direction of the roadway. “Perhaps that had some effect?”

“Old bones and sinew? I doubt it, unless the ascended souls were still present, which I also doubt.” He shook his head. “I've walked that road many times and never felt anything there.”

“We don't have to explore that now,” Qala said. “It affects those who wish to be affected.”

“Who imagine too much,” Zell said. “But yes, for another time. Right now, we have two, possibly four, lost and conflated beings.”

Both felt the sudden, gentle shift aloft and toward the stern as the airship fully surrendered itself to the sky and its winds. The gondola rocked gently from side to side as the ropes that held it to the bag settled with taut familiarity that was controlled by the personnel of the wing commander. There was a familiar rustling sound as the proud wings unfurled to catch the wind. Qala had not experienced departure from the side of the carriage since she was a young
usa-femora
. Typically she was in the forward cabin. Watching the landscape shift sideways, instead of flying into it, made her smile. As soon as the flight settled, she would go aft to look down into the tower.

“You were saying, Zell?” Qala said.

“Eh?”

“About the boy,” Qala coaxed. “What will you try to reach this other—person?”

“I want to attempt
nuat
,
Standor
.”

Disapproval clouded Qala's open features. “Even the Technologists disapprove of that and they invented it.”

“Discovered,” Zell gently corrected his superior.

“The distinction won't matter to one whose mind . . .
melts
!”

“The result of over-exuberance, not careful application.”

“No, Zell. Not the boy.”

“It
can
be moderated,” Zell insisted.

“The stones
cannot
be controlled outside a ring, you know that,” Qala replied. “They seek, they reach out with . . . with fists, not fingers. And if one is in the way—”

“That is Priestly fear-mongering,” Zell said dismissively. “If properly applied, it is said it can chase bad humors from any mind.”

“You've done it?”

“No.”

“Then that is my answer.”

“I see,” Zell said. “Is it more dangerous than having someone else's spirit inhabit your body?”

“I don't know,” Qala admitted. “It's possible we all do, I suppose.”

“Yes, of course. You're referring to that woman Ula who had her own small airship and flew from town to town displaying the seven or eight voices in her head?” Zell shook his head angrily. “I saw her when I was a boy. It was an act.”

“Others say it was not.”

“They're wrong,” Zell said.

“Even so, ‘One charlatan does not a theory discredit,' ” Qala said.

“That must be one of Vol's sayings. He's a poet, a naysayer for anything that has actual evidence to support it. He conveniently moves on whenever anyone proves him to be a fabulist.”

“ ‘The Priests dream,' ” Qala mused. “And it's not just Vol's idea, that a form of
cazh
can link living and ascended. Perhaps certain stimuli are the triggers.” She cocked her head toward the physician's cabin. “I say again, those two were in the same courtyard. I can't shake the feeling that something there might have done it. Lasha blamed it on bad fish.”

“That's stupid.”

“I agree, but there could be some other medium. They may have interacted with the same
thyodularasi
who actually pulled me to where the boy had fallen.”

“So
its
mind merged with theirs?” Zell said mockingly.

“I don't know. It may have brought something from the sea, a new scent, something that confused their minds,” Qala said.

“Indeed it could have,” Zell said. “The sea is always throwing out surprises. But—and I'm sorry to repeat myself—”

“No, you're not sorry. You like hearing yourself speak.”

“I am orating,” Zell insisted with a knowing smirk. “But the only way to learn more is from the only material we have at hand. That means our two subjects.”

Qala exhaled slowly. She looked out at Galderkhaan. The vista
was both shrinking and expanding: the smaller Falkhaan became, the greater their view of the surrounding lands. There were icy foothills and then the distant peaks of Qala's native valley. One could no longer make out the features of the people but the underbellies of the clouds became more detailed, their movements subtler, swifter in their detail. Qala saw the shadow of her vessel shifting and diminishing over the landscape the higher they went.

“I'm going to have to think about this while I have a look at the tower,” Qala said. “Until I do, my answer stands. Give me other options.”

“Well, I
can
use my compounds to try and communicate with these beings, but language might be an impediment if, as we've seen, the other souls do not speak Galderkhaani. But,
Standor
, I don't know what risks we face there either. If the boy goes away again, he may not return. That is why I return to the more radical—”

“No.”

“Qala, unlike the route we fly, the route we take with those two is uncharted—”

“Which is why we move with caution,” the
Standor
said. She regarded Zell. “Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Zell grumped.

“Thank you.” Qala smiled a little as she shook her head at the persistent physician, then went to take readings of the molten rock and tile luminescence, which were measured using an optical gauge. Filters fashioned from different colors recorded changes from the last readings.

Zell watched her go then turned with sudden urgency toward his cabin.

Qala was right but she was also wrong. And the
galdani
had very little time to decide which it was.

CHAPTER 18

B
en was already on his way to the hospital when he phoned Nancy O'Hara. He didn't know if Caitlin was napping or sedated again, and not wanting to disturb her, he felt it best to communicate through her mother. He told the woman he would be there in minutes and asked her if Caitlin was awake.

“She is,” her mother said. “But she is in her room meeting with Barbara—”

“I see,” Ben said. “When you can, please tell Cai that I just got an emergency notification from NYC on my phone. Tell her that the Group mansion has apparently imploded.”

“The who?”

“Just tell her to check the news. It'll probably be on local TV,” Ben said.

“All right,” Nancy said. “As long as it won't upset her.”

“She needs to know,” Ben assured her and hung up. He didn't want to get into any explanations. It was the reason he was hurrying. This could be sabotage, part of a larger struggle, or it could be something they were monkeying with in the laboratory. Or both. One thing he had learned working at the United Nations is that crises rarely had one underlying cause.

Ben arrived at Lenox Hill within minutes. He went right to Caitlin's floor where he was met by Dr. Yang.

“Doctor, I hear our patient is up,” Ben said, offering his hand.

“I just saw Mrs. O'Hara who told me you were coming,” the physician said. “Dr. Melchior just left. Why does Dr. O'Hara now require a linguist?”

“No, it's not that—I'm her closest friend,” Ben replied.

“And that is the capacity in which you're here?” Dr. Yang asked.

“Yes. Yes, why else?”

“I am not entirely sure,” the doctor confessed.

Dr. Yang wasn't happy with so many nonfamily visitors turning the room into a convention center. But he respected Caitlin O'Hara and while escorting Ben to her bedside, Caitlin assured him there were larger safety issues than her own in play.

“But you cannot elaborate,” Dr. Yang said. “Confidentiality.”

“Yes.”

“Which does not extend to this young man.”

“It does,” Caitlin said. “I need his support.”

Dr. Yang looked at Nancy O'Hara, who didn't seem sure whether she should stay or go. Then he regarded her daughter.

“This is a professional courtesy,” he informed Caitlin before giving them a half-hour with Ben. “Please do not take advantage of that, unless you wish to go back to sleep, Dr. O'Hara.”

“I understand,” Caitlin had assured him. “If we run over, though—”

“Half an hour,” he repeated firmly. “I have other patients and no time to monitor this. Are we clear?”

“We are,” Caitlin said. “Thank you.”

The bed had been raised and Caitlin was sitting up. Ben looked over at Nancy, who was standing beside the night table. She seemed to be using her body to block the TV remote.

“Did you watch?” Ben asked.

“She did not,” Nancy said.

“Watch what?” Caitlin asked.

“Wow. This is important,” Ben insisted. “Didn't you
tell
her?”

“I did not.”

“Tell me what?” Caitlin said. “What are you both talking about?”

Over Nancy's harsh stare, Ben took out his phone and read the alert: “Subject: Notify NYC—NYU vicinity explosion. The New York City Departments of Fire and Police have jointly issued an advisory that the quarantined area around Washington Square Park has been expanded three blocks north along Fifth Avenue due to the unexplained collapse of a structure, in its entirety, at the corner of Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. The area five blocks north between Sixth Avenue and Broadway have also been closed to vehicular traffic to allow emergency vehicles to access the site. Con Edison is also on-site checking for gas leaks. No time has been set for a lifting of these restrictions. For more information or to view this message in American Sign Language . . . etc.”

“Christ,” Caitlin said.

“Yeah,” Ben replied.

“Nothing about casualties?” Caitlin asked.

Ben shook his head.

“I don't think we should concern ourselves with this,” Nancy said to Caitlin. “As we were just discussing, you have decisions to make regarding your situation and that of your son.”

“What decisions?” Ben asked as he eased into the empty chair.

“Family decisions,” Nancy said.

“Ben
is
family,” Caitlin said sharply. “Would you give us a few minutes, please, mother? Please?”

Nancy left without a word, without looking at either her daughter or Ben.

“Jeez, I'm really, really sorry,” Ben said.

“Don't be. You and I have to talk. I'm . . . shit, I don't know what I am! I was starting to doubt myself, but the situation at the Group mansion changes things.”

“You were doubting yourself?” Ben said with genuine surprise.

“It happens, yeah. Especially because people I love and respect are telling me what I'm doing with Jacob is wrong.”

“Back up,” Ben said. “How'd you get to that point?”

“Barbara did a regression, but . . . it wasn't like anything else I've experienced. I didn't settle anywhere, not in past life experiences or in Galderkhaan. I felt like a goddamn stone skipping across a pond. When I finally did stop I was in—you ready for it?”

“Big old thing or scary new one?”

“New,” she said, “which is why I'm questioning my perceptions. Being in another body, back then . . . that's something I can get my arms around.”

“Yeah, I'm still not there yet, Cai.”

“I know,” she said with a hint of impatience, “and let's table that. This other journey—was new, different. I was in this golden, talking light. At least, that's what it seemed to be.”

“Talking . . . how?”

“Not with words but with—this is going to sound crazy—with silence.”

“You're right. That's obviously not possible.”

“True, true. Except that—you know the way that black is the absorption of all color? This seemed to be the absorption of all sound, collected in a place and in a way I couldn't access it. I felt that
something
was out there.”

Ben nodded. “I see. Sort of like—” he stopped.

“What?”

“I was going to say it's the same way you had to ease into communication with ascended and transcended souls,” Ben said. “You had to learn to understand them, change your way of listening. The last ones, they had to reach you through Jacob.”

Inside, Caitlin blessed him for his academic detachment and absence of judgment. He began to restore her faith in herself.

“All that is true, though this was beyond anything I've experienced since we started, which is why I need more information—to know I'm not making this up, acting out on a subconscious level.”

“You know, of course, what you're describing.”

“I do, but people who ‘head toward the light' in near-death experi
ences don't get there by regressing, by missing their train stop—in this case Galderkhaan, where I was trying to go. I saw it, tried to find Jacob, and it was gone before I could stop myself.”

Ben huddled closer to her. “What do you want me to do?” he asked, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Apart from compliment you on your lovely PJs?”

Caitlin didn't smile. That's how he knew this was very, very serious. She looked into his eyes.

“More than anyone, except for my son—who I think knew it before any of us, now that I think back on it—you are willing to allow that what's happening may be real,” Caitlin said. “Or at least, I think, you're closer to believing it. I need to find a way to get to Jacob. Anita told me about the snake.”

“What about it?”

“It seemed to seek him out,” Caitlin said.

“Maybe,” Ben said. “
Big
maybe. I have no explanation for that beyond ‘conjurer's trick,' ” Ben said.

“Oh, come on—”

“Egyptian magicians created similar images thousands of years ago. ”

“Is that what you really think that was?”

“Honestly, Cai, I
was
with a Vodou priestess from Haiti—”

“Which, given the history of that region, should give her added credibility.”

“Well, it didn't . . . maybe because she was so damned recalcitrant. She and her statue of a son. I'm not saying it isn't possible,” he added to forestall debate, “and she did feel your energy on the roof . . . she said.”

“Did she say where she felt it, or how?”

Ben thought for a moment. “She pointed toward the East Village area. With a cigar.”

Caitlin made a fist and shook it. “That's exactly where I sent it,” she said. “How would she know if it wasn't real, if she weren't legit?”

“As I said, I have no answer, Cai. Just a sort of open mind about her.”

“All right, let's put her aside for a moment,” Caitlin said. “There's something else. Even before I knew about the Group mansion, the tiles went dormant. To me, anyway.”

“Suggesting what?”

“I was controlling the lines of power between here and there,” she said. “Between the two stones here and the tiles that are in Antarctica. Something happened to change the arc, to cut me out of the loop.”

“Something at the mansion?”

“Has to be,” Caitlin said. “Flora had one tile in cold storage, I
felt
that, and the other in some kind of acoustic levitation setup. Remove me from the middle and they would have hooked directly into each other. If they were strong enough to whip me back to Galderkhaan and strand me there—if they could tear a hole in time—imagine what they could do to an old mansion.”

Ben sat back. “That is a very, very big leap.”

“Give me some alternative—” And then Caitlin stiffened, like a dog hearing a car approaching. She turned to the door, a glazed look in her eyes.

“Cai?” Ben said.

“It's out there,” she answered.

“What is?”

“Yokane's stone,” Caitlin replied. The first two fingers of her right hand rose, circled, pointed. “I felt it before, when Barbara was here. I'm feeling it again. It's
out
there.”

“Where?” Ben asked.

Caitlin let her fingers drift; like a divining rod, Ben thought.

“North,” she said. “It's stable, just as it was with Yokane. It's no longer communicating with any other stones.”

“So the other one was destroyed?” Ben asked.

“I don't know. I don't see how. It survived the pressure on the bottom of the ocean.” Caitlin lowered the bars of her bed. “I'm getting out of here,” she announced.

Ben leaned toward her, arms extended. “Cai, hold on—”

She brushed them aside and swung her legs from the bed. “A pa
tient has the right to self-determination and autonomy,” she said. “I'm leaving. I have to follow that stone. It's the only way back to Jacob. I would love your help, but I'll do this alone if I have to.”

“I said hold on!” Ben snapped.

“Why?”

“Because this may not be necessary,” Ben said. “Rushing I mean.”

Caitlin regarded him. He had a
there's something I didn't
tell you
tone in his voice. “What is it?” she asked.

“Let me make a call,” he said.

“To?”

He braced himself. “The Technologist I met outside your apartment this morning.”

Caitlin's rising frustration came to a sudden, icy stop. “How was that not your lead item, Ben? Freakin'
how
?”

“In the General Assembly they call that a battering ram,” he answered. “You don't use it unless all else fails. It can cause collateral splintering.”

“Such as?”

“The Technologists and the Priests are apparently still at war and the Group was caught in the crossfire,” Ben said. “Both have obviously been watching you. If you go blundering into—”

“Make your call,” Caitlin interrupted. “Now. I have to get to that stone, connect with the others in the South, and save my son.”

“A few minutes ago you weren't certain that was the way to go.”

“Technologists at my threshold just made me certain,” she said. “Damn you, Ben. You should have told me!”

“I'm sorry,” he said. “It's been a long effin' night and day and journey for me too.”

Caitlin did not reply. She didn't seem to have any words left in her. She looked at Ben. After a moment she touched his cheek in apology, then climbed from the bed and pulled her battle-scarred wardrobe from the tray under the bed.

After a long, unhappy breath Ben called Eilifir Benediktsson.