The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe Read Online Free PDF Page A

accord it is!” She pulled
him into another tight hug, and this time he reciprocated fully.
“Peace, Love and Light to you,” she whispered into his ear.
    “...and you,” he answered.
    “I don’t have any real position here,” she
said. “I want you to know that.”
    “I figured you wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be like
you.”
    “Indeed.”
    After a few more moments of conversation,
Mancka bade him farewell and made a speedy ascent back up to her
cubicle, a few hops up the ladder rungs and another breathtaking
swing into the high racks. He stood there in awe for a moment
longer, completely amazed by the speed and agility of this Mendaihu
he'd known for years. Though she had flaunted her spirituality, she
had never shown the physical side of it. He was relieved to have
finally found her again. To find her having such a joyous time was
an added bonus, something he could report to the others within the
Tower.
    They continued to tour the rest of the
warehouse. The number of Mendaihu and cho-nyhndah, somewhere close
to two thousand, was unprecedented. According to Anando there had
been a gigantic wave of recently Awakened that arrived soon after
the failed Ascension, then returned to their homes a day or so
later, where they would spread their knowledge. The followers of
the One of All Sacred had seen their faith only in spiritual terms,
where the path to the One was in understanding the
interconnectedness. The basic tenet, dehndarra Né hra
nyhndah , spoke of the One being part of all life, just as all
life encompassed the One.
    Something was brewing, something that could
have unintentional repercussions if it were to grow out of control,
but he trusted the One’s followers would not let it get that far.
He honestly could not vouch for the Shenaihu nuhm'ndah or the
Mendaihu kiralla...no one was quite sure where their intentions
lay. If the either side were to take control of the One and distort
this new spiritual awakening into something aggressive and violent,
he would have no chance but to send his forces in. It was a
delicate balance of Light.
    Anando saw him back to the entrance, thanked
him for his visit and gave him an open invitation to visit again
any time, which he accepted gladly. As he walked back to his
limousine, he noticed the graffiti on the sidewalk again. He
glanced at his watch; he'd spent nearly three hours in the
warehouse. Most of the DPW drones made sweeps of local
neighborhoods, even the seedier ones, every two hours, doing their
light-duty cleaning work of picking up trash and washing off any
and all stains. Surely a drone must have come by recently? He would
have to call Public Works about that.
    Here lies fate .
    Perhaps a gang tag? An erudite one, possibly
a quote from somewhere. One of his security men gestured at it and
asked if he wanted a picture taken, but he declined. A mere spot of
smartpaint on the sidewalk was little to worry about right now.
    He kept his excitement in check on the way
back to the Tower. Those three hours had gone by quickly, but the
things he'd witnessed had opened his eyes far more than he’d
expected. The willingly awakened were common people like himself,
citizens of all levels and races who simply wanted to create a
harmonious future. In the end, if he was in fact witnessing a true
global awakening, it was certainly a blessing to be invited to be
part of it, whether he was a spiritual man or not.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    Mendaihu Gharra
     
    The midday weather in Branden Hill Sector was
unbearably hot and humid for mid-September, and Caren Johnson hated
it. She squirmed as beads of sweat rolled down her back. Despite
the built-in cooling coils and hidden air vents of her uniform’s
overcoat, it was still too hot to wear the damn thing. It clung to
her back and shoulder blades, her undershirt plastered
uncomfortably to her skin. She maxed the settings using the control
panel hidden on the inside of the cuff, but it made little
difference. Bridgetown rarely had