the ensuing experience while the current one was fresh-fiery in his mind. He knew where to go next to satisfy the bloodlust. He knew how to make the whole thing happen, like a match to rice paper, it was as easy as punching a time clock for him. Meditating, using the trance to rest his uneasy brain, he resisted delving into his fantasies. Dreaming was for cowards; people who lived in fear of acting on the urges of the true mind.
۞
Julieta and Wallace sat up late with Mrs. Han, going over everything that had taken place. The old woman fussed over them, bringing tea and plate after plate of food. She was a peanut of a person, with large, dark eyes that seemed to be overflowing with kindness. They hadn’t met her before, but she was very much like her brother, from whose company they had so recently parted.
The truth was much more complicated, as far as Mrs. Han was concerned. She traded on her image, such as it was now, to appear harmless and grandmotherly. Many, many long years ago, her life had been distinctly different. In those days, she had traded on something else entirely.
She had once been known as báiliánjiào, the White Lotus. One might presume, having looked over information on her past, that she had been a dangerous and possibly immoral person. This was what Mrs. Han had aimed to achieve; a curtain from which to operate behind. The real story was certainly far removed from those records of her misdeeds. Truth was rarely easy or straightforward. Truth was dangerous.
It was her duty now to smile and continue to hide behind the façade that she had created. There was finally a ray of hope, however. She could dream that she might get to return home and leave the cold shroud of space behind. It was no mistake that Mrs. Han was on the Nimitz.
She’d been waiting years before the time had finally come. She had been searching, tapping on the rim of the cosmos, watching, until one day, a ghostly echo had eventually returned. Kun had only been able to take two of them at the time. They couldn’t chance moving the entire vessel at that time. Nor had he a ship large enough for all of them.
Yes. She smiled at Wallace and Julieta, and felt the tiny bit of hope expand. The lotus would finally be able to fade away into dust. There were others to take up its mission, and succeed where she and Kun had failed. Their numbers were great enough now. They would win the day, she knew it. All that was needed now was a leader.
“Everything okay, Mrs. Han?”
“Certainly, child. An old woman is given to fanciful thoughts…that is all.”
“Have you heard anything more on the death of the station’s doctor?”
“I needed to hear nothing, Julieta. She was one of theirs. My contact has promised to let us know if it has anything to do with your arrival, or the awakening of the others.”
“When should we go find them?”
“Patience, my dear boy. My brother did not send you all the way here to behave rashly.” She sighed. “I think it best if we proceed slowly. We have no idea whether Warden has sent someone here to clean up after the doctor…or perhaps….”
“You think she might have been pressured into what she did?”
“That much seems possible. We must wait for some of those answers before we act.”
۞
It was a slow morning. Dmitry had his head set on wrapping up the matter of the two mysterious visitors as quickly as possible. He grabbed a few people, and headed for Mrs. Han’s theater. The old woman put on great shows, including the one she ran around her life.
Fortunately for all of them, the only thing she seemed to have a penchant for smuggling anymore was refugees. Her home sat atop the theater, a healthy stairway climb along the side of the building. They entered through the theater doors, antique art deco beauties that must have been worth their weight in gold and freight cost.
Dmitry made his presence known unceremoniously, hoping that his entire day wasn’t about to be taken away from him. A young woman in stage makeup answered the call, giving the unfamiliar faces a once over. She was painted to look like a devil, in dramatic tones of smoke and blood, hair swept back into two separate french twists that rose into horns at the back of her head.
The effect was striking, the girl beautiful. Ordinarily, he’d have changed gears right into pursuit mode. Now, Dmitry found he was ignoring the girl in favor of business. Somehow, unconsciously he’d already promised himself that he wouldn’t do anything that could hurt Maeve. The thought surprised him a little. The devilish girl led them to their destination with disinterested politeness, and with barely a blink of an eye, was gone.
He looked around Mrs. Han’s parlor, soaking in the atmosphere of floor mosaics, glossed wall panels, and tapestries. Mrs. Han appeared from nowhere, standing in diminutive regality as though she had been expecting them. A wave of her small hand ushered them into a sitting room. It was a large, atrium style room, allowing a view of the hallway and lobby outside. Other people were in varied degrees of costume and makeup. There was the show tonight, a production of Faust, which explained the air of wickedness amongst the players.
“What can I do for you, honored guests?” The old woman spoke in a measured tone, while gauze and veil fluttered in the background.
“Well, first you can tell me where to get tickets.” He threw a thumb in the direction of the actors. “Then you can tell me who your new friends are.”
“I have new arrivals all the time. Perhaps if you were a little more specific, Major?”
“Okay, if you want to play it like that, the ones that we watched come into your place last night. Look Mrs. Han, we turn a blind eye to most of what goes on here, mostly because you help a lot of people. This might be different.”
“I can tell you some small thing about them, perhaps. They did come seeking…aid.”
“You must know that I wouldn’t come asking questions if I thought it was as simple as two refugees looking for asylum. We’ve not gotten any indications from your end that you need help.”
“Perhaps it is merely that they are a special case.” The old woman was plainly going to root herself down and not allow him to dislodge her.
“Mrs. Han, I’m simply trying to do my job. I know that I don’t have to remind you of what happens to people who harbor criminals.” He leaned in close to her, and took her tiny, birdlike hand in his much larger one. He was startled at its warmth, but then, who knew what secrets, never mind power, lay in it. His grasp of it did not lessen. “Surely you have heard about the things going on around here.” He watched her hopefully.
She smiled, and patted her free hand on his cheek. He knew it was useless. The others with him snickered softly, relishing the sight of the charm machine being halted dead in his tracks.
“You needn’t worry. I do admire your concern and tenacity, but as you say, I have not yet sought help.” Her dark eyes seared through the space between them, leaving him with a distinct impression of what she had been as a young woman. She was a woman of s sort he recognized.
“Not yet. I wonder what you might mean by that. However, there is also a matter of some individuals whose welfare we are seeing to. I guess you could say that we’re giving them asylum as well.” He took a breath, glanced at his team, and dismissed them. They filed out of the room wordlessly. “Don’t misunderstand me. We, as in the Colonel and myself, have to pay attention to certain facts. Right now, that fact is that someone on our station has been in communication with a group back on Earth that we’d rather not see visiting our station…ever.” At last, her smile faded into a mien of calm concern.
“I assure you, Major, that the two guests who you seek have no ill intentions. A very old and close…acquaintance of mine referred them. You must believe me when I say that I have some personal experience with this group to which you refer. My aim has always been to help those who oppose them.” She watched Dmitry pointedly, willing him to understand. To her relief, he nodded, and made to take his leave.
“You say you help people…perhaps we may be calling on you for assistance soon.”
“Major, if I may, please?” She took
his hand, gently. “In life, we are always called upon to make difficult decisions. You seem to be at that point; I would suggest patience and careful consideration.” He took his hand back quietly and rejoined his team in the theater lobby.
It was difficult to tell what Mrs. Han knew and where her loyalties might truly lie. His gut told him that he could trust her, in spite of the reputation she carried. There was nothing else to do but continue to proceed with caution. He could only hope that Hawke’s last messages, in and outbound, would shed a bit more light on what had gone wrong.
On their way out, a young man barreled through the front door. A traffic jam ensued, nearly taking Dmitry off his feet in the process. He grabbed the heedless stranger’s shoulders to keep him from caroming off his own body. At the same time, he had the strangest sensation that they shared some unknown common ground.
A tattered book wasn’t as lucky; it skittered across the floor, shedding loose papers behind it. Dem went to assist in its retrieval. The other man cut him off, scooping up everything in one sweeping movement.
“Thanks, I’m good though. And lucky for both of us, I’m secure enough in my manhood to not be bothered by you feeling me up.” He was grinning, while Dem recognized at the same time a dangerous light in the man’s frank stare.
“Sure, no problem. Maybe just try walking with your head up next time.” A quick turn on the heel of that remark left him with the last word, and a growing feeling of discomfort. He was put ill at ease by whatever it was that he sensed in the other man. There was something in that exchange, a ghost of an emotion. Dmitry didn’t like those sorts of feelings at all.
۞Earth – Peru
The rainforest hummed the quiet joy of renewal, reveling in an afternoon rain, as a lone figure bounded up a familiar path to a place he had once called home.
“Grandfather, are you out here?” Kun rousted himself from a meditation to hear the footsteps of his only grandson. This was a sound he had anticipated for some time. It had been difficult to see him go, and know that he could not stop the boy. In his role as grandfather, Kun had never pushed, the way he would have as a father or teacher. He had merely waited, and opened his arms when he knew he should. Now was one of those times.
“Tea?” Not, where have you been all this time, and don’t think I’ve missed hearing about your questionable associates. In the face of unconditional love, Boko’s fears receded, while his grandfather prepared tea in the traditional way.
“Yes, please.” Boko sat and watched silently for several minutes. “It took me a while to decide to come here, but I had to think it through.”
Kun merely smiled and allowed silence to float like the tea leaves in their liquid. He handed his grandson the delicate cup, continuing his role as patient elder. Boko stared into his cup, wishing he could read the leaves as they floated, instead of waiting until the cup was drained.
“I want to come back to the jungle. I can’t take the city anymore.”
“Are you certain that it is only the city and not those who inhabit it?” Kun’s voice drifted evenly over to his grandson. The young man looked up sharply. So the old one knew everything.
“What should I do, grandfather?” Despair, fear, and exhaustion were written sharply across his features.
“Wait, as I have done, but also help me, Boko. I need you to continue to be the person you have been with your associates for a short while longer.”
“I just don’t want you to be ashamed of me, grandfather. My life doesn’t make sense anymore, and I want…I need your help.” He hung his head, feeling the specter of Robert Warden hovering nearby, like the shadow of death. Kun placed a hand on