Unity and Destiny Pt. 06

"His neck was broken," Mark said. "By someone extremely strong, it seems. He died instantly."

"How strong?" Esther asked.

Mark looked at her uncomfortably, then ran a hand through his hair, a rare nervous gesture.

"I could have done it," he said stiffly.

"And you never would have," Esther replied quickly. But her mind immediately fixed on another suspect: Janelle.

Javier and Selena joined them, and she told them what they knew.

"Could Diana have done it?" Javier whispered. "If she had her abilities?"

Esther's stomach lurched. It seemed impossible, but of course they shouldn't rule her out. Mark squinted at Diana, who sat unmoving against her tree.

"Yes, I think," he said.

"But she didn't," said Selena. "Or if she did, she had her memory erased so perfectly that I saw no hint of it. And then, it would have to have been before the vision was sent, surely? It's too complicated. No, another Changed did this. Janelle? What would be her motive?"

"There must be other very strong individuals," said Javier. "That assassin you sensed in Toronto?"

Esther nodded slowly. "I don't think that was Janelle. I would have recognized her, and this person was difficult to sense. We suspected the motive was either an abduction that failed, or simply silencing a powerful Changed who was making herself too visible. All guesswork."

They quieted as Diana got up and walked to join them.

"No one with the slightest understanding of the Way did this. I certainly didn't, and the idea is repugnant. But you already know of attacks like this?"

They looked at each other nervously. Even now Diana's senses were obviously keener than they'd realized.

"Yes," Esther said. "But not much. We were hoping to talk to you about this."

Diana shook her head and silently walked back towards her car. Esther hurried after her.

"Of course we must see to the ones ahead," she said. "But what of Aaron's body?"

"It is not Aaron," said Diana. "I know others have customs, but our memorials will not involve his former body. You may leave it, or do with it what you think appropriate."

Esther nodded, waiting outside the car. "The children are no worse than before. Tired and upset. They have had sufficient food and drink from supplies in the car, and they have fed Peter as well. I assume you'd prefer to meet them alone. We will follow and wait out of sight."

Diana nodded numbly, and started the car. Before she moved on, she looked straight at Esther.

"Tell me the truth. You knew where to find them, even the body. And your group has very strong individuals, ones apparently unaffected by the vision. Tell me you had nothing to do with it."

"We had nothing to do with it," Esther said. "I swear that on everything I believe."

Diana nodded sadly, then drove onward.

Esther joined the others in the minivan, instructing them where to stop on the road. She watched the children's uncertain reunion with Diana, whom they obviously respected more than loved. But shortly they were all hugging her fiercely, clinging to their unexpected savior.

Diana did not tell them about Aaron. But she did tell them she'd had help finding them, from the owl-headed visionary. The children's eyes went wide. They obviously knew of the confrontation in the ancient place, though Esther remembered their guardians keeping them well out of sight at the time.

Eventually Diana turned and beckoned, knowing Esther would see her from around the turn.

"You should stay hidden," Javier said. "Diana may know of your identity, and I suppose you trust her. But you can't possibly trust that entire community."

Esther sighed, getting into the back seat to lie down. Javier pulled the minivan forward into sight, stopping well short of the other car. He walked ahead while Selena worked to get the gas container off the roof.

One of the younger children recognized Javier, giving him a confused stare. Javier asked if they'd been practicing their soccer drills, and soon had the boy distracted and smiling. Javier was so good with children. He'd never brought it up with Esther, but surely he wanted to have some of his own. Didn't most people? Another deep sacrifice he'd would be making, to stay with her. She pushed away those thoughts and slipped into otherspace, feeling for Peter.

He was in agony. All he wanted was to walk into the water and feel it soothe his skin, to feel surrounded by familiar hands and faces and bodies even if their names were slipping away.

"Mark," she said. "Could you go ask Diana if I may try to relieve Peter's pain?"

A short time later Diana returned with Mark.

"If you can help him," the older woman said, "I will forever be in your debt, even more than I already am. Peter deserves as comfortable a life as we can give him."

"I will need to touch him," Esther said. "What I do may be somewhat like Unity. It is rather intimate, and I don't know if it's appropriate. I also don't know if it will work."

Diana nodded. "It doesn't matter. I trust your instincts in this, and I'll take the blame if anyone is stupid enough to think harmony requires Peter in pain. We'll bring him to you."

Peter was small, hunched, and physically frail, and he did not seem aware of the world. Still, he was able to walk to the van with Javier and Diana's support. He moaned when they laid him on the seat, and Javier helped Esther remove his shirt while Diana went back to the children.

Esther didn't like doing this for someone who didn't know her, but she understood that Peter would appreciate the gentle touch if nothing else. Crouching nervously on the floor, she pulled off her shirt and encircled Peter's bony chest, feeling his short fur tickle against her skin.

It was easier than she expected. Peter was living in a world of senses, all of them overwhelmed by the fiery vision. Once she showed him a vision of cool water, he followed her with joy, weaving after her among the strands of the vision, until finally the last connection faded.

Tears flowed down his cheeks as he gazed at Esther.

"My child," he whispered. "Is it finally time to sing?"

"Yes," she said. "Yes, Peter, it is."

* * *

Esther glanced ahead. Peter was singing in the car, and the children had joined him with gusto, laughing when he waved his arms as though conducting them.

"You've given Peter his life back," Diana said, blinking away a tear as she watched him. "You have brought us closer to harmony, after Aaron."

"Peter would have recovered in time, I expect," said Esther. "The vision seems to be fading more quickly now."

"I suppose," Diana said with a squint, no doubt considering the immense pain she still felt. "But I fear Peter has limited time left for joy. And you've given him that extra time."

"You know I could do this for you as well," said Esther. "The others do not want me to, but it is my decision."

Diana looked at her. "Yes, I suppose it is. But it is also mine, and I choose to endure."

"It's not a punishment," said Esther. "How could it be? It was far too indiscriminate for that. I believe it was one powerful person's blunt attempt to stop a catastrophe."

"I find that more plausible than I would have before meeting you," Diana said. "And I certainly agree it was not meant to render balance for every one of us. But it's as I said. It stopped me before I caused a much greater harm than I did. Whether it was a person or an aspect of Unity hardly matters, as it was surely meant for me. And so I have no choice but to welcome it."

Esther nodded. "Be careful. I don't understand the murderer's motives, and so your community may be in danger. You have a phone number you can reach us at."

"And I haven't forgotten your request for more information," Diana said. "Should you wish to meet again, there is a dirt parking area off the highway a mile south of the intersection for the farm. I'll know if someone is there, and come out to meet them. I can draw a map for you."

"No," Esther said. "I know where it is."

* * *

They buried Aaron's body as best they could, under leaves and shallow dirt. Esther recited a few prayers that Javier supposed she'd heard too often. Both of her parents gone, and now she was mourning for a man she didn't know. The casual cruelty of the murder sickened Javier. Surely even Janelle wouldn't have done something like this, would she? Maybe she was willing to kill, but he imagined it would be with a gleeful anger, in the course of a fight. Or maybe against someone whom she thought richly deserved it. Not a harmless man, one with Changes. Mark said there was no sign he'd fought, and perhaps he hadn't even seen it coming.

Selena volunteered to drive, so he cuddled with Esther in back while she repeated what Diana had told her. There was a lot to digest, but Javier was hung up on the murder.

"They said they've been here three days," he said. "Since before you had your senses back. Aaron dithered for a few hours before leaving, and when he did he told the children under no circumstances to leave the car, except to go to the bathroom. He said he'd be gone a while, but they assumed that meant most of a day. Genevieve, the oldest, said she'd guessed it would take hours just to walk to the road and back."

"I asked Diana what she thinks would have happened if he'd managed to flag someone down on the highway," said Esther. "She thought he might have handled it all right. He would have come across as bizarre and maybe not very bright, but he had enough cash with him to fill a container of gasoline, if someone was willing to help him out with the whole process. And I think someone would have been, eventually."

Javier smiled. Esther always thought the best of people. But he had to agree.

Esther continued. "On the other hand, Diana said he could get flustered easily, and he might have been incoherent enough to make a scene somehow. But she couldn't see why someone would kill him for it."

"And the murder couldn't have been random," said Javier. "Mark said it must have been someone with immense strength. There aren't very many of them to begin with. Somehow this person found him in the middle of nowhere, and somehow they had their abilities back already, sooner even than you did."

"The last one concerns me the most," said Esther. "It would explain the second coincidence. Someone able to counteract the vision as I did might also be sensitive enough to find Aaron at a distance. But it doesn't explain why they would commit such a horrible crime. None of it makes sense."

"I have an idea," Selena said from the front seat. "What if this murderer suspected Aaron would blunder into a dumb situation? He might have been picked up by police, and then things would have escalated. No driver's license, an abandoned car with a bunch of confused kids who didn't belong to him, an elderly person who needed care. I don't think this group would have preserved the Chosen's secrets very long. Then the government would have found the Oregon group, and who knows where that would have led them. Some Changed might have found that intolerable."

Javier shook his head. "OK, maybe Aaron was heading towards a big mess. So you're saying a Changed did this, to prevent secrets from being exposed? There are a zillion other ways the murderer could have accomplished that. He could have gotten them some fucking gasoline and sent them on their way. And how would he have even known where to look for Aaron? Or anything about this situation, and what might have happened?"

"Unity," said Selena.

There was a long silence. Javier found he'd made fists of his hands, so tightly he was cutting into his palms with his fingernails. He tried to breathe carefully and relax.

Javier didn't really believe in the predictive power of Unity. But that wasn't quite right. He didn't want to think about it at all, because it was too horrible to take seriously. No free will? Esther being placed with her parents because of destiny, rather than a convoluted set of coincidences?

But this time, it wouldn't have taken much prediction. He and Selena had just predicted an unpleasant scenario themselves, based only on what little they knew. And someone with Esther's skills could have gathered knowledge of a situation like this, as it developed. Even if the murderer had been some distance away, they might have had time to get there and commit the crime.

And then Unity could supply all the motive necessary. Diana had insisted she hadn't understood the likely results had she completed her Black Christmas actions. In Unity she'd seen a particular way to sabotage the gas plant. And though there had the usual discussion among Elders, they'd been willing to go through with it, expecting only that it would cause a power outage.

"I don't like it," Esther finally said. "But that's the best guess so far. Unity, perhaps a version of it among a particularly ruthless group. Once they're willing to murder for their cause, maybe they'd stop questioning whether it's the only way to accomplish something."

"Or maybe there's just a single psychotic Changed person," Javier said. "With a good fraction of both Mark's strength and Esther's powers. No real motive, just tragic coincidence."

"I hope that version is right," said Selena. "It's a shitload less scary, isn't it?"

* * *

Esther and Selena stood with the lawyer in a small room, waiting for the employee of the Reno bank to return with the safe deposit box. It was a week since the Black Christmas attacks, two days before the new year began. Business was resuming, at least where the power was on.

She should have taken care of all of this sooner. After Abuela's death she'd barely been interested in the complicated fortune Abuela had left to her, except for the simplest practicalities. But now she had Jacob's suspicions about other properties Abuela might have owned. Most of the assets were in a byzantine web of trusts and shell corporations, and after hearing that Lukas had nonetheless unraveled her secrets, Esther had called the lawyer and told him to do an even more thorough job of it.

The lawyer's name was Jerome Turman, and Abuela had said she trusted him with everything. He had very slight Changes, and perhaps that was enough to explain how he'd come to Abuela's attention. He hadn't even batted an eyelash when Esther had suggested hypothetically she might have another set of identity papers, and he'd given her several options for this alter ego to use her assets. But even Mr. Turman didn't know what was in the deposit box. It had last been handled by his predecessor, forty years ago.

It was like a treasure chest, and though Esther generally considered herself brutally practical when it came to money, she felt her heart race as she opened it.

Inside were some odds and ends that didn't mean much to her, along with a few old coins. But her eyes were on the few folded documents Mr. Turman carefully extracted.

"Property deeds," he said, smiling slightly. "Held by the trust. No reason they shouldn't still be valid, though it's possible you owe a boatload of back taxes. Don't worry, I'll take care of all of that."

"There," Esther said, scanning quickly through the pages. "I think we'll want to visit that one."

* * *

Nicola had complained about the rental truck from the moment they left the highway near Quincy. "The suspension is shit," she said just as the slammed through a pothole. "See?"

Javier rubbed his head where it'd banged into the door. He suspected the suspension would've been fine if not for Nicola's driving.

This place was barely forty miles from their previous camp, if you were a bird. High forested ridges and plunging river valleys separated the two sites, but everything looked strangely familiar to Javier.

The last mile and a half wasn't a road at all. Maybe it had been, once, but it would need chainsaws and a bulldozer to get there again. They got out to walk on the frozen dirt.

Esther would already know what awaited them, but she was leaving it a surprise to everyone else. And Mark kept his mouth shut as well. When they finally arrived, it wasn't what Javier expected.

It was an old, run-down structure, nestled under a dense cluster of pines. More like a house than the cabins he was expecting. Two stories, with the usual steep-sloped corrugated metal roof to help it shed snow. But a tree had fallen sideways against the house, the roof was heavily rusted, and one of the windows was broken. The exposed wooden porch had rotted and fallen in on itself.

"Well," Nicola said with a sigh. "It'll need work."

But Javier could see how pleased she was, and Mark as well. Those two had truly lost their home, at least until they were convinced everything had blown over. No one knew when or if that would happen. This place was closer than they could have hoped to what they'd left behind.

* * *

Esther lay on her camp mat, eyes looking through the ceiling, through the blue sky, through the great globular cluster in Hercules, towards infinity.

The fixed stars were the absolute frame of reference, an anchor for a woman lying on a spinning planet, revolving around a star, in a rotating galaxy. Einstein and others had wondered if the very existence of these distant stars and galaxies determined that absolute, un-rotating frame, via an average of their motions. Could a woman floating in an empty universe know whether she was spinning at all? Could empty space itself known whether it was spinning? Even Einstein hadn't solved the question to his satisfaction.

Otherspace was not physical space, and in fact spacetime itself was scaffolded upon otherspace's immensely convoluted structure. Aside from black holes, spacetime was remarkably flat in the ordinary four dimensions. And yet in other dimensions it was curved and folded more intricately than anyone could conceive. But Esther was trying. And with every leap she ventured farther. Her mind touched far and wide, exploring for patterns. Looking for new ways of seeing, as much as new information.

Vibrations echoed through the mantle of the Earth itself, ancient patterns mixing with the groans and slips of the unquiet crust. There was something going on at the Oregon farm, but it was not dangerous. Winds carried molecules common and rare, some combinations so specific they could identify a single person. Mark was seven miles to the northeast, sitting by a stream, and that bundle of pheromones had been released twenty-six minutes ago. There was a quiet buzzing, perhaps the vast background connections the Chosen believed Unity relied upon. The collective unconscious, Grace had called it with a smile.

But then it was gone. Esther sighed and sat up, thinking immediately of food. It had been a productive, exhausting morning again. She selected a soda bottle and some snacks from the drawer, and then sat on the creaking chair at the kitchen table. Javier, Nicola, Esther, and Grace were coming, and she wanted to watch this.

Nicola drove up in the first ATV, with Javier crouched behind her. He was wearing a helmet. She wasn't.

A half minute later, the second vehicle arrived, with Grace driving. With helmets off, everyone looked happy, apart maybe from Javier, who looked a little sick from Nicola's driving.

"Welcome to the Creepy Mountain Shack," Javier said as he showed Grace and Kat inside. "We guarantee you will wake up with ghosts whispering in your ears and spiders crawling in your—uh, never mind."

"It's not nearly as big a dump as you claimed," said Grace. "I'm disappointed. And, Jesus Christ, I have to pee."

"Outhouse," Nicola said, pointing towards the back. "I broke open the old door and cleared it out a bit last night. Looked fine, didn't even smell. I don't think it's been used in fifty years."

Grace was already hurrying to the back.

"Make sure you claim it for the women," yelled Kat. "That's how it works. Mark your territory, love!"