doctor?"
"Where's Lisa Onesi?"
Tim breathed through his nose and thought. "Um, she came by early in the morning while the inspectors were still here. She told me to tell you she'd be at home. To call if we needed her."
"Call her. Tell her to meet me in the main lab."
"Done."
Karin pulled a computer panel from her drawer and scrolled through the information. Who was in charge of the psychological testing … Nathan Aemon. She stood up from her chair and straightened her clothes. She didn't even want to look at her reflection. "Walk with me, Tim."
He stood up from the desk, bringing along a slate. He tapped on it as they walked.
"Draw up dismissal papers for Nathan Aemon and Nicanor Biv."
Solon tilted his head and said, "Absolutely." He pressed lights and asked, "What about Kandall?"
Baraz grimaced and said, "Let me think about it." They entered the laboratory, passing by discarded police barricade plastic and still-overturned equipment. The pair stood in the semi-darkness for several minutes before Dr. Onesi entered the room.
"Dr. Baraz?" she called from the entrance.
"Come here, Lisa."
The young woman crossed the room and stood next to Karin. Only then did she turn to look at the mess caused by the Psilons. "Do we know exactly what happened here?"
"To a point," Karin said. She put her hand on Onesi's shoulder. It was a rare moment of physical contact for her, but one she felt was needed. "Lisa, I need you to be honest with me."
Onesi seemed almost surprised. "Of course."
Karin sighed and said, "How have things been since … since I haven't been here like I once was?"
She licked her lips and then answered, "Not good. After Dr. Hikka's accident, I didn't like the direction Dr. Pankra was leading his teams in. Their attitude was … almost cruel."
Baraz turned toward Tim. "Add Pankra to the list."
"I didn't say anything," Lisa continued, "because they got results. Five new medicines last year alone. An epidemic in Manden, gone."
Karin nodded. "I understand." She released Onesi's shoulder and turned toward the Psilons' canisters. "Those days are over now."
"I see," Lisa said. "What's next?"
"You will be my second." The young woman was shocked. "You know the people here better than I. If any of them fall into the 'cruel' category, they are to be dismissed. Immediately."
"Yes, doctor."
"In the meantime, we should begin again." Baraz walked toward the first casks and let her fingertips brush the plastic. "We won't make the same mistakes."
"So we should awaken the twelve again?" Onesi folded her hands and said, "We can easily sever the connection with the original Psilons, so the new twelve will be like blank slates."
Karin shook her head. "No. We'll wake them all. Every single one of them."
XXXVI
THE MESSENGERS
145 Years Before the End
Centurion Cal Drusus led his group down the slope. Nandian artillery began to thump in the distance. He knew they only had seconds before the hillside began to erupt. "To the rocks!" he yelled.
The soldiers darted for cover behind the huge boulders. Black smoke tore the mossy ground all around them, catching a few as they ran. Drusus was sitting next to a small man made larger by his armor and his weapon.
"Are you afraid?" the centurion asked.
The young soldier hesitated and then said, "Yes, sir."
Drusus smiled and said, "Of course you are." He leapt from his position and then began to run down the hill again.
The soldier peered around the corner of the rock and watched him go. Mortars continued to explode around them but the centurion made it to the next rock outcropping.
Then they heard the metal.
Rhythmic clanging began over the ridge before the Cyclops became visible. Their golden armor caught the light of the sun as they crested and, as soon as they did, they aimed their weapons and began to fire.
Emboldened, the young soldier and his comrades ran out from under the cover of the boulders toward where the centurion now waited. They slammed against the rock as Drusus watched the Cyclops contingent storm down the hill. Artillery continued to barrage the slope, knocking a few of the machines aside. Drusus focused on one and watched it sit back up, check its limbs and then stand again to run and shoot.
"Like them!" Drusus yelled. "Be a Cyclops! We run into the fire and we fire back!"
The centurion leaned out and fired a few shots toward the enemy. Then he ran to another rocky outcropping. The soldiers left behind checked their weapons before doing the same. Once they left the cover of the rock, they saw three low-flying gyrocraft over the Nandian encampment. The gunships were coming this way.
"Move!" Drusus screamed.
The soldiers ran toward him and looked down the hill after the Cyclops. The small detachment assigned to their cohort had already run the length of the slope and was fighting at the barricaded entrance to the base. Artillery, mortars, and rifles were still trained on the hill, though.
The centurion stepped back from the small group of fighters and looked them over. "You're almost there. Feel the fear and use it! Run headlong into battle for your glory and the glory of the Caesar!"
Drusus lifted his rifle and began to charge down the hill. The soldiers began to follow, but as soon as they left their cover, the Nandian gyrocraft opened fire. High-speed bullets lit into the ground and rippled through the centurion. His body flopped lifelessly to the hill but the fighters continued to run as the aircraft swooped overhead.
Drusus' body vanished and the Messenger drifted downhill toward the soldiers he had just been leading. The gyrocraft was turning around for another strafing and the warriors were nearly at the barricades alongside the Cyclops. The Messenger looked into the mind of each of the fighters and felt their overwhelming fear. Despite this, he had used it for days to lead these people into battle.
Fear, the Messenger thought, is a powerful tool.
Minah Gaber sat on the side of the road by a small farm in Ghattaffan. The afternoon sun had set but the heat was not waning in the least. The horizon wavered at one end of the road and she thought she saw someone coming. She wasn't sure until the woman waved.
"Hello," the stranger yelled from dozens of meters away.
Still very tired, Minah returned the wave, but didn't speak.
"Waiting for the bus?" the woman asked.
Minah nodded. The stranger sat next to her on the side of the road and wiped her brow with a small rag. "Where are you going?"
"Just over the hill. To Mafang."
Gaber looked back to the west. She couldn't see the bus yet.
"I'm Aurie." The stranger offered her hand. She looked at it for a second before she decided to shake it. "You?"
"Minah."
Aurie nodded. "You work here at the farm?"
"Yes," Minah said. "I have for many years."
"I see." She put the rag in her pocket and exhaled through pursed lips. "Family?"
Gaber's expression went blank and she looked back toward the west. "Some."
"'Some?'"
Minah nodded. Without looking away from the wavering mirage, she said, "I had a daughter who died ten years ago. My husband and a son died in a truck accident four years ago."
"I am very sorry," the woman whispered.
Gaber nodded. "Some family remains."
"Well, there is an old saying where I am from. 'All is not lost or fades into the din, God is eternal and the world continues to spin.'"
Minah didn't answer.
"You are one of the Faithful, yes?" Aurie asked. She lowered her head, trying to catch Gaber's eyes. "Ramani?"
She finally answered, "I was."
"I understand." Aurie leaned away and tucked her hair under a headband. "If I lost my family … I don't know what I'd do. Much less believe."
; Minah stared at the western horizon again. Why won't the bus come, she thought. I don't want to talk about this.
"I know it doesn't seem like it … I know you don't feel like it, but God does have a plan. Everyone plays their part."
Gaber sighed and turned toward the woman. Giving a withering glare, she said, "'A plan?' What possible plan could God have that includes killing my children and husband?"
Despite the tone of voice, Aurie smiled. "I don't know. God is … God. We don't know, exactly, what he wants." Minah shook her head and turned away. "But I know this, he loves you."
Without looking away from the horizon, Gaber scoffed and said, "'Love.'"
Aurie said, "You just have to have faith."
Minah grit her teeth and balled up her fist. She was ready. When she turned to angrily rebuke the woman, she saw that Aurie was gone.
The Messenger stood nearby, invisible, and watched Gaber recoil, at first in horror, and then in bewilderment. She turned from side to side, looking in every direction. Then the tender saw something glow and grow within the woman.
Faith, the Messenger thought. Very, very powerful. Very useful.
XXXVII
AHLJAELA
145 Years Before the End
The bus rumbled into the lot and screeched to a halt in front of large doors.
"Out!" the foreman shouted.
Rovil and his co-workers stood from the benches and began to shuffle down the narrow aisle and into the dusty air. The lot and roads were not yet paved. The buildings were bare and didn't even have company logos on them yet. The other four buses began to disgorge their passengers and once all were assembled, a man in a suit approached and spoke with the foremen.
"Let's go," the man said.
Everyone walked to the large doors which opened as they got near. Inside,