Stewards of the Flame (The Hidden Flame Book 1) by Sylvia Engdahl

Author:Sylvia Engdahl [Engdahl, Sylvia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ad Stellae Books
Published: 2008-04-08T18:30:00+00:00

~ 36 ~

When Carla went back to the city for her next workweek, Jesse went with her. Though he still didn’t know how he’d occupy his days while she was working, neither of them wanted to spend more nights apart. They planned to return to the Island almost every offshift, as she had even before his arrival. Once used to the company of telepaths, Group members spent as much free time together as possible, and friends tended to congregate; hers favored the Lodge over the other safe gathering places.

Carla had neither friends outside the Group nor any contact with relatives. “My parents didn’t take me out of the crèche often,” she told him, “and I left home for good right after I finished school.” Having left home himself in youth, Jesse considered this both natural and fortunate—keeping Group membership secret must be awkward and painful for people close to their families. How, he wondered, did anyone hide a transformation as overwhelming as that of the Ritual? He supposed the impact of that miracle would wear off, eventually. But each time he looked down at his unburned hand, he was struck anew by awe at what had happened to him.

Before he left the Lodge, there were formalities. Jesse found that there were, in fact, passwords to learn—he had not met all the members, and in the city might need to identify them. Also, to his surprise, Peter asked for his consent to hypnosis.

“Since Ramón’s death I’ve given hypnotic protection to those at high risk,” Peter explained, “hospice caregivers, for example. It doesn’t interfere with the conscious mind, but does reduce the risk of Group secrets emerging spontaneously from a drugged mind. An expert investigator could extract them, but at least it would keep them from slipping out during casual talk with nurses or other patients.”

“And you think I should have this—protection.”

“Yes, as a precaution, before you live in the city with Carla. But we’re not going to put you at risk of getting caught with bodies, Jesse. Not except as a witness to burials here on the Island.”

“Why not? I’m as willing to take that risk as the rest of you.”

“I know you are, but there are reasons why it wouldn’t be wise.”

“I thought I was supposed to learn to care for the dying,” Jesse protested.

“Yes, eventually, but not in the city with anyone likely to die while you’re present. Originally I assumed that Ian would die at the Lodge, as he has always wished.”

The discussion closed there; Peter would say no more. The hypnosis was done in the lab, and Jesse remembered nothing of it afterward. He was glad of it, however. The idea that he might involuntarily endanger Carla haunted him.

She’d told him few details of her hacking activities. But as they waited on the city dock for a water taxi after mooring Peter’s plane, she said sadly, “If Ian is in a hospice, I suppose I should inactivate his file.”

“No,” Peter told her. “Ian said specifically that we are not to list him as in stasis before he dies.

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