The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe by Jon Chaisson

know.”
    “Heh...don't look at me, kid,” he joked. “I'm
no Elder.”
    “Well, obviously!” she said, rolling her eyes
at him. “We're getting nowhere with this. What do you say we
actually get some work done before you go meet Christine? Weren’t
you supposed to be running scenarios for the next time Saisshalé
pops up?”
    “You’re no fun,” he said, winking at her.
    “Someone has to be the adult around here,”
she said, and stuck her tongue out at him.

CHAPTER NINE
    Peaceful
     
    Denni drew her knees up to her chin, wrapped
her arms around them, and watched the ten-fifteen shuttle launch
from the Nullport. She sat on the roof deck of her apartment
building in Berndette Sector, a fifteen-story complex overlooking
the corner of Gannon and Feath Streets, and all she wanted to do
was look up . If she crouched down just a bit and leaned
against the deck railing, all visual traces of nearby civilization
would vanish except for the Mirades Tower and the occasional
Nullport shuttle and its contrails. If she couldn’t hide up in that
elsewhere, away from everyone, hiding up here was the next best
thing.
    It was another beautiful clear day, with many
more like this in the forecast. It was already warming up and at
this rate, it was going to be stifling by mid-afternoon. She knew
enough not to cast out her senses at that point, when aggravation
was at its peak.
    Right now, she didn't want to hear anything.
She didn't want to cast out any sensing threads. She didn't want to
speak to anyone, within or aloud. She especially didn't want to
answer to the futile pleading of those too lazy to figure out their
own spirits. The last thing she wanted as the One was to suffer
fools.
    Den? It's Amna. You in?
    Damn, if that girl didn’t have perfect
timing. “Up here,” she said aloud, and knew that her diminutive
friend would hear.
    She pushed herself up, stretched, and headed
towards the roof access door to wait. She'd propped it open earlier
with a banged up cinder block, but she figured it would be rude to
remain hidden away. Amna had been an oasis of relief these past few
days, sticking by her side and keeping her on this side of reality.
She still didn't want to be part of the world right now, and she'd
finally gotten sick of moping in her otherwhere solitude. She knew
exactly why she felt this way. I'm fifteen, for Goddess' sake!
Let have a life before I have to deal with this shit.
    She heard the patter of flat shoes taking the
last corner of the stairway. She acknowledged her presence with a
small ripple of love, and Amna returned it immediately. Amna was a
quick study in what she’d jokingly called Denysian Mendaihuness.
Ignore the conflicting moods and concentrate on the soul's
intentions.
    “Ya-ha-hey, girl!” she sang, bursting through
the doorway and giving her a tight squeeze. “What's the good
word?”
    “Nothing,” Denni grumbled. “I'm bored .”
    “Bored, you?” Amna mocked. “You're not bored,
you're lonely. You forgot how to deal with people. You've been
hiding here ever since the Ascension. You know, the kids are making
fun of you at school.”
    She glared at her. “You’re just making that
up!”
    Amna flashed her a wide smile. “Hate to break
it to you, Denzi. The One of All Sacred is not the only revered holy deity on this planet. God, Allah, Buddha and all the
others are still here as well, and they’re beginning to think
you’re not pulling your weight. And the kids at school think you're
a fesh piann .”
    Denni burst out laughing at Amna's
ridiculousness and her rough Anjshé translation of swelled
head . “You just earned yourself a lot more time in hell for all
that,” she said, and reached to give her a hug. “You are so
weird.”
    “Never underestimate the power of humility,”
Amna winked at her. “Hey, I've got to go do some errands around the
neighborhood, and you've been cooped up in this fortress for days.
Let’s go somewhere.”
    Denni shivered. “Amna, I