'What about the baby's father?'

  'There was no record of the father. Peter told Christiana the truth years later, to reassure her the bloodline was intact. Towards the end, in some moment of madness, when Christiana knew her death was near, she told Austin the prophecy was intact, that the plan had failed. That's what brought everyone to Empire, because Christiana wanted to find you. Austin played along, but his real motive was, and still is, to finish what his father started.'

  Silence settled over the room for several long moments.

  'And now,' said Helena, 'the energy is dropping rapidly and there are new reports coming in every day, from all over the world, that the situation is getting worse. In Wild Wood, some of the ancient trees have started to rot. In Wild Water, the fish stocks are lower than they have ever been. Here, the farmers that don't own their land outright are being crippled by debts; they aren't even producing enough to pay the rent they owe. We've got to act, now, before this goes too far. We've got to find out what's in that cylinder in your head, Anita.'

  'Why do you think it contains the answer?' she asked, full of suspicion. 'What do you think it contains? Where does it come from? For all we know, opening it could kill me.'

  Helena sighed. 'When your mother and Jeffrey went to the Wild Lands, they spent a great deal of time in Wild Air, right next to the Cloud Mountain, where the Spirit Leader lives. Clarissa spent virtually all of her time there meditating in the Cloud Temple. If you can believe the Spirit Leader's account of events, her meditative maturity progressed quickly, to the point where a previous Spirit Leader requested she meditate with him.'

  Alexander frowned. 'I thought Spirit Leaders kept their position until they died...?'

  'Strictly speaking they do, however, this particular Spirit Leader's 'death' wasn't conventional, in that he didn't fully die.'

  Helena laughed at the looks on Anita's and Alexander's faces. 'He went into a deep meditation and never came back. They kept his body alive, and a few of the very skilled among them found him in meditation occasionally. He would tell them to keep him going for as long as they could; he had something important to tell someone, whenever they found their way to him.

  'They kept him going for decades, new followers taking over when the old ones died, his body wasting away to virtually nothing. And then, one day, the current Spirit Leader connected with him and he requested to meditate with Clarissa. It was unheard of; he hadn't requested to meditate with a single person in all that time, so they knew Clarissa must be the one he'd been waiting for.

  'She started regularly meditating with the Spirit Leader, not breathing a word to anyone about what happened in the meditations, becoming more and more withdrawn as the days went on. Then, after twelve days, she came out of his chamber and announced he was gone. He'd drifted off during the meditation, telling her it was finally his time to join the Gods.

  'The monks, not to mention the current Spirit Leader, questioned Clarissa endlessly about what was said, what had happened, and the purpose of his staying alive for so long. All she would tell them was that he had given her a precious gift that she had to store until the time was right to pass it on. There was only one person who she could pass the gift on to, and if she tried to give it to anyone else, the cylinder would combust. She wasn't even supposed to tell them it was a brass cylinder. They pounced on her slip, trying to force her to impart more, but from that moment on she refused to say anything more about what had happened.

  'Shortly afterwards, Clarissa and Jeffrey returned from the Wild. In the temple, on the night she'd planned to leave forever, Clarissa planted the cylinder in your head, Anita. You must be the one it was meant for.'

  'Or maybe she never got the chance,' said Anita. 'What if I don't have it?'

  'You do. I know that as well as you do.'

  'And what do you think's in it?' asked Anita, neither confirming nor denying Helena's suspicions.

  'I don't know. It must be something about how we can stabilise the energy though, or how we send the Relic back.'

  'What if it's not? What if it's totally unrelated?'

  'Then we start again. We turn over every stone until we find some way to stabilise the energy and save our world.'

  'How do you know he gave my mother the cylinder?'

  'Aside from the fact she told me, it's the worst kept secret at the Cloud Mountain; monks are surprising gossips.'

  'And the rest of it?' asked Alexander. 'The memories you just showed us don't belong to you, so they must have been Austin's? I can't imagine he would have just given you the memory of the death of his father.'

  'They're not Austin's,' said Helena, standing, pacing. 'For my whole academic career, I've been interested in memories. Not very conventional for a Body scholar, but then again, the mind's a muscle too. It’s always fascinated me, how it can be trained and utilised.

  'Anyway, quite near the beginning of my career, I found a way to extract memories from people after they had passed away. It has to be soon after, before the last trace of their energy has left them, but so long as there’s something left, if you know what you're doing, you can force your way into their mind and take what you want. They have no energy left to resist. But you have to be quick, as if you're still in there when the last of their energy leaves, you die too; it's not without its risks.'

  'You stole Clarissa and Jeffrey's memories?' Anita blurted. 'As if you hadn't done enough already, you violated them when they were all but dead?'

  'I followed Tobias and Austin to the temples. I stayed outside to start with… I didn’t want to get caught, but eventually I went inside. Clarissa was lying there, dying, and I needed to know what had happened.'

  'Only to make sure your secrets were safe,' said Anita, bitterly.

  'That's not the only reason,' said Helena, unable to meet their eyes.

  'Why have you never documented and shared your discovery?' asked Alexander. 'It's ground-breaking research; the council would certainly want to know about it.'

  'Because it's immoral, and I can't trust them not to abuse it. Imagine what Austin would do with such an ability, the things he would learn.'

  'That's rich coming from you,' said Anita.

  Helena looked away again, her energy full of guilt.

  'Who did your orders come from?' asked Alexander. 'You said you couldn't know what the others had been asked to do. Why?'

  'I don't know who the orders ultimately come from. I'm not allowed to know, nor is anyone but the very top echelons of the organisation.'

  'You're not in charge of the Institution now?' asked Anita, an unsettled feeling spreading across her insides.

  'No. Nowhere near. I have a handler I report to and take orders from. He, I believe, takes orders directly from our leader and sits on the Guiding Council, but I don't even know that much for sure.'

  'The Guiding Council?'

  'A group that advises our leader. It's surprisingly democratic; they vote on the best way to proceed, but if there's a disagreement, the leader has the casting vote.'

  'And you don’t know who this leader is?'

  'No. I don't know who it is, where they live, what they do for a living. I think the same leader has been around since your parents were involved, but that's all I know.'

  'And you've never thought to question the motives of your illustrious leader...? Why so secretive? What if they're a total psychopath? What if Austin or someone equally poisonous is the leader?'

  'It's possible, but unlikely. I've been in the Institution all my adult life, and I've never been asked to do anything that contradicts with our aim of energy stability. I reported my misdemeanour and Austin's brass cylinder a few weeks after the fire, and we've been trying to recover it ever since. Melia had orders to try, I've tried, you've now tried, Anita. Everything we've ever been asked to do has been to benefit the organisation; there's nothing to suggest the leader is benefitting personally from our actions.'

  'How do you know that? You don't know the orders of everyone else, you said that yourself,' said Alexander, agitated.

  'I don't know for sure, but sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith, otherwise, what's the point of living? You've got to believe in something.'

  'And what if I believe the way to energy stability is to send the Relic back?'

  'Fine, you may really believe that, but what have you or any of the other Descendants ever done to send the Relic back? Austin banned energy research, for goodness’ sake. You might be friends with Anderson, and I know you've been finding covert ways to support his research, but it's not enough. It's too little too late.'

  Anita could read Alexander's conflict, but Helena was right. The Descendants had done nothing to find a way to send the Relic back. Most Descendants were greedy, selfish people who cared most about sustaining their own comfortable situations. The idea they could no longer rule by right was terrifying to them.

  'Who's your handler?' asked Anita, curious who Helena had to answer to.

  'I'm afraid I can't tell you that. We're not allowed to reveal to anyone the identity of the next level up. I don't know who Melia or Rose's handlers are either.'

  'But everyone here at the farm knows that you, Rose and Melia are all handlers. You must be the handlers for everyone here.'

  'We never confirm or deny anything to anyone. Nobody should know who reports to whom, but in reality, at this level, the secret is less important. Everyone suspects I'm a senior member of the Institution anyway, so it won’t surprise anyone that I've recruited a few people.'

  'And if we agree to help? You become our handler?'

  'I suppose so, yes. But all it really means in practice is that I'm your connection to the leadership. I would provide the communication channel from you to them and back again.'

  'And what if I only agree to help if I can meet the leadership?' asked Anita, purposefully pushing the boundaries Helena had laid down.

  'Impossible,' said Helena, her eyes flashing with annoyance. 'I've never met the leadership. They simply won't meet anyone, regardless who they are or what they could do to help.'

  'Well, that's too bad then, because I'm not sure I want to help someone who won't deign to provide me with the common courtesy of letting me know who they are.'

  'Anita, you could have the key to energy stability, or sending the Relic back, locked in a cylinder in your head. How can you sit on that and say you won't help us?'

  'Because we don’t know what's in the cylinder. It could kill me when I open it, and maybe I’d rather throw in my lot with others, people whose ideologies are more aligned to mine.'

  'Unlikely,' said Helena, dismissively. 'Your mother put it in your head. I doubt very much she would have given you something with the power to kill you, not after the lengths she went to to make sure you were kept safe. And who else is there to work with who has the resources to make a meaningful difference?'

  Anita stood up abruptly. She'd had enough of Helena's tone. It amazed her that even in a situation such as this, where Helena was asking for help, she could be more concerned with establishing control than getting them onside. 'Well, thanks for the history lesson, but I think it's time for us to go. We can't help anyway; the cylinder is lost and won't be found. I guess you'll have to find some other way to stabilise the energy.'

  Helena looked blankly at Anita, her face now tinged a greyish shade. Anita walked out of the potting shed into the bright sunshine outside, Alexander following in her wake.

  When the door had safely slammed shut behind them, Rose stepped in from the secret garden, an unreadable expression on her face. 'That didn't go as well as we'd hoped...'

  '... I know,' Helena snarled.

  'Do you think she was telling the truth about the cylinder being lost?'

  'Honestly, I have no idea.'

  CHAPTER 5

  Marcus stormed through the empty archway and slammed the door behind him. He stopped short when he saw Austin's brooding form slumped over the kitchen table, briefly entertaining the idea of vacating the kitchen and finding somewhere else to be angry, before curiosity overtook him.

  'What's wrong with you?' he asked his distracted father.

  Austin's eyes flicked up. They were a hostile pot of emotion, sneering at Marcus as he replied. 'I see that question applies equally to you.'

  Marcus said nothing. It was best in situations like this to wait for his father's true agenda to be revealed. Austin never let an uncomfortable silence stand for long; it made him feel out of control, so only a few moments passed before he continued. 'I hear you've been to visit your treacherous girlfriend again, and this time, she let you in to see her.'

  Normally Marcus would have been outraged by this invasion of his privacy, but, given what had happened when he'd last seen Anita, he couldn't muster the energy to fight. 'You'll be pleased to hear that Anita broke up with me, so you no longer have to worry about my 'inappropriate' girlfriend. To add insult to injury, she and Alexander have disappeared, so you were probably right; she was probably lying to me the whole damn time.'

  Marcus slumped down on the bench opposite his father at the aged wooden table. The furious tension left his body, and he bowed his head forward, resting it on his hands. 'I can't believe she would do this. Not so soon after breaking up with me...'

  'Unless, of course, as you say, she was cheating on you from the start. Maybe Alexander had her spy on us.'

  Marcus' head shot up. 'Why would Alexander do that?'

  'Or maybe Anita has been using both of you. She's been working with the Institution; it’s the only explanation for her trying to steal that particular cylinder, not that she would have known what was in it.'

  'For the last time, she didn't steal that cylinder,' said Marcus, agitated, emphasising each word.

  'Really? You're sure about that now she's dumped you and disappeared?'

  Marcus opened his mouth to defend Anita, but couldn't say the words out loud… he wasn't sure any longer. Had she been using him the entire time? Had she ever felt anything for him? 'What was in the cylinder?'

  Austin dodged. 'More importantly, where is she now and what's her next move? I'm sure she'll come back, and when she does, we need to be ready for her, Alexander, and the whole Gods-damned Institution, if it comes to that.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'The Institution are spreading rumours that we're causing the food shortages. People are starting to believe their lies, and if we don't stop the momentum, who knows where this whole sorry business could end up.'

  'What if they have a point?' said Marcus, without giving adequate thought to the words escaping his mouth. 'What if it is all to do with the energy, and it could be solved by finding a way to send the Relic back?'

  Austin's fury was plain to see. He set his jaw, eyes cold, brow furrowed. 'Sometimes I wonder if you're truly my son,' he said, venomously. 'Firstly, this is not to do with the energy; there's no proof of that. Secondly, even if we wanted to send the Relic back, it's impossible; the Body bloodline is broken. The prophecy is dead.'

  'What's causing the shortages then?' Marcus snapped, unwilling to roll over with the sting of his father's cruel words fresh in his ears.

  'We've just had a poor year, that's all. Next year we'll be back to the bumper harvests we're used to.'

  'And the fish stocks? And the dead birds falling out of the sky?'

  'All part of the same problem. Bad weather affecting their food supplies.'

  Marcus didn't argue further. Austin wasn't paying any attention to the actual argument; these were standard, rehearsed responses that slid effortlessly off his tongue. 'What do you suggest we do then? Nothing? Sit back and let people starve while we carry on as normal?'

  'Don't be so melodramatic; it's really not that bad. People won't starve as the result of one bad year; it will take much longer than that before people really feel the impact on their lives. Next year, the crop yields will return to normal. What just need to be patient, and we need deal with the Institution before they can stir up enough of a movement behind their lies to cause us real problems.'

  'And how do you suggest we do that?'

  'I don't yet know, but Anita is at the centre of this somehow, so I suggest we start with her.'

  * * * * *

  Anita and Alexander left the farm without telling anyone they were going, walking the miles back to Empire in relative silence. They walked without touching, each agonising over what Helena had told them, Anita thinking about her parent's brutal deaths, and Alexander contemplating his own parents' demise.

  They headed for Cleo's. They needed to go back over all they'd learned, and Cleo would ask the most probing questions, would pick the most effective holes in what Helena had told them. Not to mention, Cleo was one of the very few people they both agreed they could trust. She might be a gossip, but she could keep a secret when it counted.

  They reached Cleo's in what seemed like no time at all, Anita not sure how they had got there. Alexander rang the bell, then surprised Anita by pulling her to him, kissing her forehead before Cleo threw the door open and hastily ushered them inside.

  Cleo was subdued. She gave Anita a welcoming hug then showed them into her vast, open plan living space where Bass was already lounging on one of Cleo's enormous white sofas. Cleo lived in a converted warehouse next to The Island, the space a towering loft full of old industrial paraphernalia converted masterfully into furniture. It was spacious, light and entirely homely, managing a stylish convergence of old and new. Cleo could always be counted upon to be on the leading edge of chic.

  'What's up with you?' asked Anita, Cleo's downbeat mood making her nervous.

  'Several things, actually. Bass has been filling me in on the ever declining energy levels, Dad's sent a couple of letters describing the effects in the Wild Lands, and Bass mentioned that Helena kidnapped you two, which I'm pretty interested to hear all about by the way,' she said, revving up to more usual energy levels. 'What the hell is going on?'

 

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