Unity and Destiny Pt. 08

Kat was sitting at the computer, so the power hadn't gone out. But Esther had her eyes closed, obviously deep in meditation.

Selena spoke first. "Javier, Esther sensed a distant explosion. She's trying to find out more, but she's terrified it was a nuclear blast. Nicola said the emergency alert came on just before Mark got here."

It was the same alert as Black Christmas: shelter in place. Ominously vague.

"The security types on Usenet think it's a false alarm, or possibly a test that triggered the warning system," said Kat. "No reports of power outages. No reports of damage."

Esther opened her eyes a minute later.

"It was over the empty ocean," she said. "But it was immense, for me to have felt it directly. I eavesdropped on that base near Marysville, where they do surveillance, and if I understand correctly, it was a Russian test, and their government warned us immediately beforehand."

"An atmospheric test," Selena said slowly. "Those are banned. No one has done that for decades."

"But still, just a test," Javier said shakily. He leaned over Kat's shoulder as she refreshed her news feed and web browser.

"Didn't they ban those tests because of fallout?" Grace asked. "Where was it, exactly?"

"Nothing nearby," Esther said. "Fifteen hundred miles southeast of Hawaii."

Javier tried to remember his geography while Kat hurried to get a map up on the computer. Esther was right, of course. There weren't even any islands near there. A safe enough place, as far as exploding nuclear weapons went. Though he didn't remember how far the fallout could travel.

"I feel like I'm way too calm," he said shakily. "We should be freaking out, shouldn't we? Like we did in December. Shouldn't we be worrying about more bombs, finding somewhere to hide?"

"Where else would we go?" Kat asked. "And wouldn't the warning have come earlier, if the military actually feared a strike? They notified us only after the blast. Are we worried about some kind of delayed response? A stupid mistake, like, you know, Dr. Strangelove?"

Grace joined Javier behind Kat, and she put her hand nervously on her lover's shoulder. "If they thought we were being attacked, they would have launched all of them. Overwhelming retaliation. They have to decide in minutes. It might have been over before we ever found out."

"I was in college during the Cuban Missile crisis," Selena said distantly.

Javier jerked, staring at her. She never talked about her past, from before she went into the business world. And if she'd been in college at that time, it meant she was—in her fifties. Even older than he'd guessed.

"Was it like this?" Nicola asked. "You didn't know what the fuck you were supposed to be terrified of?"

"Something like that," she said. "We have a lot more sources of information today. But it went on for two weeks, and the Cold War hung over everything anyway. You can't go on living every day fully believing the world is about to end. At the height of the crisis I went out to a bar, all on my own, and I was surrounded by all those other people all on their own. It was ludicrous, because maybe the nuclear bombs would fall, and there was no one there except strangers. But it also made perfect sense."

"But you're with family this time," said Esther.

Selena nodded tightly and abruptly sat down against the wall.

A while later the Internet finally caught up with Esther, who had lapsed into a meditation again.

"An atmospheric nuclear test," Kat said. "An ICBM, apparently."

"They tested an ICBM?" Selena asked incredulously. "That means they flew it practically right over Hawaii."

"The security geeks are going nuts," said Kat. "Apparently the only missile the Russians have that reaches that far is a massive one. It might have carried a twenty megaton warhead. That's huge, isn't it?"

Javier stared at her. "The one in India was three times Hiroshima. Twenty megatons would be a thousand Hiroshimas."

"Kat," Grace said, her strained. "Can you come and just sit with me?"

"We need to know," Kat said distractedly. "This is the fastest way. Maybe there will be another strike, and maybe—"

Grace was shaking her head, and Javier quickly interrupted.

"Kat, go with Grace. I'll tell you if there's anything important."

He pulled on her arm, and she finally looked up, seeing Grace's distress.

After he took over the computer, Javier looked back occasionally, hoping Esther would rouse. Grace and Kat held each other on the couch, and Nicola had settled on the floor in front of Mark's chair, an arm around his legs. He was stroking her hair.

Twenty minutes later, the radio began to report the same things he'd already seen on the Internet. An immense explosion, not so different from the one in the Bikini Islands forty years before. Castle Bravo. The fallout from that blast had been a huge problem for the islanders, and even an unlucky Japanese fishing boat some distance away. But this Russian test had been much more distant from any people. The fallout danger would be minimal. And there were no indications of any immediate response, aside from an official statement of outrage by the Americans.

He got up from the computer and walked over to Esther, who was still somewhere in otherspace.

"Esther, sweetie, it's time to come back. I think we need to all be together right now."

And to his happy surprise, she did come back in just a few seconds.

"I don't know what's happening," Esther said. "I'm trying to listen to the military commanders, or politicians, or someone, but everyone seems confused. So many jumbled bits, but maybe it's always like this. I don't know how to judge."

"It's probably always like that," said Selena. "A giant clusterfuck. The government is a big bureaucracy, and the military is the biggest bureaucracy of all. They should never be forced to make quick decisions."

Javier shook his head. "Let's have dinner early and turn up the stove. And then maybe we can tell ghost stories, or pull out those board games Kat keeps trying to get us to play. Something frivolous."

To his surprise, it worked. People got up to do things. Mark had caught a big fish yesterday, using a net rather than attempting it barehanded. Javier checked the computer for more news, but there wasn't really anything solid. But they weren't completely in the dark. It was so much better than Black Christmas. He called Mamá, and while at times he could barely understand each other over the terrible connection, he was so glad he'd done it.

Javier had forgotten that all of Kat's board games were strategy games, things like Risk, and no one had much interest in that tonight. So after dinner they played cards, and when it got dark they left the lights off, sitting in front of the stove and watching the dancing flames through the glass front.

But it wasn't really their usual routine. Everyone was gathered closer than usual, squeezed on the couch or sitting in front. Esther slouched back on the couch, with Javier on the floor between her legs, his head resting comfortably on her on lap. When Selena returned from the outhouse, she quietly sat on the floor next to him. So close that her leg touched his, and her shoulder leaned against Esther's leg. It should have been astonishing, but instead it just made sense. Family, all of them.

Javier let his eyes relax, his mind quieting until there was nothing but the swirling embers, the rain drumming on the steel roof, and Nicola's singing.

He hadn't even noticed when she began. It was so quiet that the rain nearly covered it. A wordless tune, some improvisation as it always was, the few times he'd been privileged to hear her. Long ago she'd told Esther she'd played the clarinet when she was still in school, that she could repeat anything after hearing it once, and that she'd hated it.

There were overtones in her voice, notes that split and split again into an eerie chorus, and he knew there were frequencies beyond his ear's ability to capture. It all fit beautifully with the dancing flames behind the glass, and he slowly realized that there was a pattern to it, that Nicola was using the fire as an artist's palette, the way she'd done with the water in the lake among the Chosen.

It wasn't just the fire. The sound of the rain striking the roof had altered, the white noise gaining structure and rhythm, the entire house vibrating faintly with its drumming. The air shimmered, and something odd was happening to his vision, as though the log walls were pulsing, becoming slightly transparent.

Esther was holding hands with Nicola, the two women joining their senses and their abilities. And through Javier's tears, he finally understood that this was what the ancient places had been meant for, if they were meant for anything. Esther and Nicola's distant ancestors might have done something like this, on those uncertain nights when their tribe needed some hope that the next morning's sun would rise on a different, better world.

They would all have to talk in the morning, and Javier was terrified of the decisions they might have to make. But they would make them together.

Esther and Nicola's song continued for an hour, or maybe three. At some point Mark had gotten up to add more wood to the fire. When the song finally faded into nothingness, he knew it was probably best if they headed to bed. But no one moved. Esther's body was like a furnace behind him, and Selena's leg rested heavily against his.

Finally Nicola stood up quietly, heading for the kitchen. Starving, no doubt, after using her abilities that way. The rest of them shifted as well, and Esther kissed him before going to get her boots to dash to the outhouse.

Javier felt bad about sitting down at the computer again, but this was the right time, and Kat was peacefully asleep in Grace's arms. When he checked the news, there was nothing really new: more details, more analysis, more diplomatic fallout. The physical fallout would probably raise background radiation levels a hair in North America, a fact that was already being touted endlessly by the media and politicians. Javier checked his messages, and that was when his heart sank. He'd wanted to tell everyone nothing more had happened, that they could sleep and wait until the morning.

When Esther returned and pulled off her boots, she looked at him expectantly, so he beckoned Nicola to join rest of them. Grace woke up Kat and they all turned to him.

"Lukas finally contacted us," he said. "He'll be in Reno in the morning. He wants to talk, on our terms."

* * *

Raj was there to meet them, having driven all the way from the Bay in the early morning hours. Mark and Grace waited in the parking lot, but the rest of them walked out into the deserted municipal park, trying to look as casual as they could. It was ridiculous, but Javier thought anyone who saw them would probably think they were a bible study group, or AA, or something like that.

Esther had confirmed Lukas was alone, as he'd promised. He was sitting at the shaded picnic table, wearing a broad-brimmed hat. Probably it was a functional choice for the fair-skinned man. Until now Javier had only seen him inside windowless rooms. Lukas didn't look any more out-of-place than the rest of them.

Aside from the hat and the different surroundings, he looked exactly as he always had. Neutral, expressionless. If he was physically tired from his all-night travel, it didn't show.

He stood politely as they approached, nodding, and they all settled around the table, leaving Lukas as much space as they could.

"It is good to meet you, Esther," he said. "And you must be Selena."

She nodded from across the table, and looking at her, Javier felt some relief. She had her business face on now, and despite the time he'd spent with her, she looked as inscrutable as Lukas.

"What can we do for you?" Selena asked.

Lukas didn't focus on her. He was looking somewhere behind her, and Javier resisted his impulse to follow his gaze. Lukas would still be thinking, weighing information and memories. And Nicola had described this mannerism as part of his unconscious sense of theater.

"This is a larger group than I expected," said Lukas. "Esther, are you able to hide their presences?"

Esther frowned, then nodded. "Yes. I am also helping to conceal you, though you are doing an adequate job yourself."

Javier winced at the easy way Esther gave away her strength. But he suspected Lukas already knew more than any of them would like.

Lukas nodded. "Have any of you experienced what the Chosen call Union?"

There was a silence. Javier finally broke it. "Why is that important?"

"I think you know why," he said. "Motivations all become suspect under its influence. I know this from first-hand experience."

"You no longer follow the Way, then?" Nicola asked.

He looked at her, allowing a hint of amusement into his face.

"As much now as I ever did, I suppose. Some of my former associates have a much simpler, clearer view of their responsibilities now. But we know how much more complicated the world is, don't we, Nicola?"

"Don't be coy, Lukas," said Nicola. "Tell us what your relationship is with the Chosen. I suspect you already know that I was kidnapped, and that I escaped with the help of all of my friends. As for the Way, it can go fuck itself."

This time Lukas's smile looked genuine, and perhaps it was. But it disappeared quickly, and Lukas's voice remained neutral.

"I thought we could use them," he said. "They seemed like zealots, but harmless enough, and eager to assist. I had a single purpose when we moved to Germany, which was to work for the liberation of our kind. We rescued hundreds from Britain, even those who would likely never have known about their Changes. More from Latvia, Hungary, Russia, and many other countries. The German government gave me more real power than the Americans ever did, and we were undermining the fascist elements in countless ways. But then three of my associates disappeared, and when I followed them, I became trapped as well."

"Was it an ancient place?" Esther asked. "A location that holds a Changed person's attention and makes escape difficult, without the right mental exercise?"

"Yes, exactly," Lukas said. "Just as Nicola was trapped. And you, I now suspect, during that memorable period last summer when you disappeared."

"I was alone then," said Esther. "It was not Unity that trapped me, but a mere echo, and the place itself."

Lukas nodded. "I was trapped more irrevocably than any of my associates, and the Chosen explained that it was my excessive Blessings that caused this. And apparently my particular characteristics also led to what they described as an imbalance within Union."

He paused, but they all stayed silent.

"I never entered Union fully, they told me," he said. "But I wanted it more than I've wanted anything in my life." Lukas glanced quickly at Raj, but the mathematician wouldn't meet his gaze. "My mind couldn't stop working, however. I suspect on one level I never trusted Union. And after Black Christmas, I escaped in the chaos."

"Back up," Selena said. "What was your involvement in Black Christmas, if any?"

He glanced at her.

"None, directly," he said. "As I said, afterwards—"

"Bullshit," Selena interrupted. "Why don't you try answering that again."

Lukas nodded. "My role was indirect, only. The Chosen had their own plans, and I—"

"Stop," Selena said. "I see there's no reason for us to talk any further."

To Javier's surprise, she stood up, giving every indication she expected the rest of them to follow. He glanced at Esther, who looked uncertain.

Lukas nodded again, expression unchanged. "I needed to be sure," he said. "You are as perceptive as I hoped. A priceless skill in the business world."

Selena's expression cracked, just a moment, as she realized how she'd been manipulated. She sat slowly, watching him warily.

"All right, then," she said. "Why don't you tell us your actual story. Alliances are not built on falsehoods."

"But they may thrive despite secrets," he said. "I understand you require this before trusting me for what comes afterwards. But remember that our goals may match perfectly in some instances, even if they do not in others. Yes, I was involved in the Black Christmas attacks, but my understanding of the larger picture was utterly warped by Unity. You see, the British government is using its surveillance state to track suspected Changed, and hiding ourselves in those circumstances is becoming difficult. In the future it will be impossible, if these trends continue worldwide. I resolved to do something about it."

"The internet outage," Kat said. "I knew it was too well-coordinated. The phone lines, even the satellites. That was all your group, wasn't it?"

"Yes," he said. "Not the power outages, or any of the other Black Christmas attacks. I am well aware of the dangers of a complete breakdown in infrastructure. What I wanted was a long pause. A carefully calibrated effort to delay the particular connectivity that spelled doom for our anonymity. There are ways the Internet can be organized that would resist control by any one powerful organization, and which would allow those who wished it to be forgotten."

Kat started to laugh in astonishment. "You're one of those idealists? I have friends who talk like you. It's a pipe dream."

"Perhaps," Lukas said. "And as it happened I was a fool. I distantly perceived the efforts of others, and had no understanding of how radically our visions differed. Rather, I suspect my own desires had been projected into Unity and reflected back. Every person's mind has this unique expertise in deception, but I arrogantly assumed I had trained myself out of it over the years."

"Those downed phone lines killed people," Esther said. "They delayed emergency response, interfered with hospitals, everyone who needed to communicate during the crisis. Even without the other attacks, it would have been a deadly thing to do."

"In a statistical sense, I cannot disagree," Lukas said. "Such is the calculation we must always make. And you must be well aware how much more difficult every decision becomes as your knowledge increases. But none of this is why I have come. And I hope my candor will lend credibility to what we discuss next."

"We'll be the judge of that," said Selena. "So, how is it that our goals align now?"

"There is a man known as the Mexican, and he must be stopped by any means we have available."

There was a long silence.

"No," Esther said. "Not by any means. That is not my way, and it never will be. If he can be stopped in a way that does not permanently hurt him, I am willing to listen. No bombing campaign. No assassinations."

Lukas nodded, expression blank. "I had suspected something like that. You are setting yourself an impossible standard. Every action we take, no matter how subtle, has consequences. Failure to take action also has consequences. These consequences combine and amplify in ways that a mind like yours must be able to contemplate. The only possible route forward is to minimize harm, as best we can."

"That isn't right," Esther said. "Our ignorance isn't symmetric. Taking actions, especially the sort that you or I might take, have more complicated and unpredictable consequences than inaction. And the space of all actions is larger even than the function space of the locally mapped Riemann manifold, because locality itself—"

Lukas's face was lighting up with this discussion, but Raj interrupted.

"Esther," he said. "Now isn't the time. You have your principles, and none of us will disagree. Lukas, can you accept her conditions and move on? If not, I fear we have nothing else to discuss."

"Then I agree," Lukas said easily. "Because I have considered the alternatives, and you are the only way I can see to accomplish this."