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decisions.
    He’d been informed early on that the ritual
was performed by a Mendaihu working alone, and there were a number
of names already floating around as possible suspects. Finding the
man was the job of the Alien Relations Unit at this point. What he
wanted to know was how the hells this man had gotten up there in
the first place. Like everyone else, he knew that performing an
awakening ritual was an extremely sensitive endeavor. It had to be
contained within a finite space and controlled at all times. To
recklessly awaken an untold number of people without even
performing a closure at the end was not only dangerous but
potentially lethal to those affected. The man was damn lucky that
he was able to complete the ritual and keep it from getting out of
hand.
    And now Anton had to deal with the
aftershock.
    Mendaihu, he thought with a shudder,
as he turned away from the window and back to his desk. Why did the
ritual have to be performed by a damned Mendaihu? Not that he would
have liked it to be a Shenaihu instead, but still…to show such
recklessness and irresponsibility, especially given the timing!
This was a dangerous time to be provoking imbalance between the
Mendaihu and the Shenaihu…it had been a quarter century since the
last uprising, and this man’s actions could have dire consequences.
The last time there had been an uprising between the two spiritual
factions, there had been bloodshed. He’d been just a junior senator
at the time, those twenty-five years ago, and just the same, he did
not want to relive those memories. As long as it was possible, he
would keep this from becoming an all-out spiritual war. He would
rather outlaw these spiritual differences altogether, impossible as
that was.
    Mendaihu . The One of All Sacred
help us all.
    He stepped back out of the small conference
room, finding it no less comforting than his office, and into his
front offices. His secretary Mina had completely ignored him as she
had been trained unless it was a pressing matter or he sought her
attention. She was a jacker, just like most of the upper
governmental office clerks, working better without the idle
chitchat of their employers. Jackers juiced nanotech into their
nervous system by way of a neural implant to connect with the
virtual world, able to swim the ether while conversing with the
real world at the same time. Mina, however, had never been much of
a conversationalist to begin with. She had an immense library of
knowledge in her head…but just preferred not to talk. She was quite
possibly the most unassuming person he had ever employed. It made
him wonder who she really was, behind that introvert façade.
He knew she was Gharné, an Earthworlder human, she lived alone near
Branden Hill Park, dedicated to her job…and that was about it. But
who was she? Was she truly the quiet, lifeless person he’d hired?
Was she Mendaihu or Shenaihu? And belatedly, he thought: could she
have been affected last night by the ritual?
    The distractions helped clear his head
somewhat. He stopped at Mina’s desk and asked if she had any
updates since the meeting’s end. She was surprisingly forthcoming.
“Nandahya Mirades sent you a packet with the latest information she
could gather,” she said. “She’s also given you a list of anyone who
may have been involved with the ritual. General Phillips needs to
know if and/or when his troops may be needed for security purposes.
Jack Priestley is, of course, requesting follow-up every thirty
minutes. Your speechwriters have finished the latest draft, which
I’ve uploaded to your workspace. That’s just in the last hour,
sir.”
    He groaned at the news and rubbed at his
temples. “Damned if I know the answers,” he said, more to himself
than to his secretary. He bristled, having been reminded about that
speech…he’d have to break the news to the province, whether or not
he had all the information. “How long before the news
conference?”
    “Approximately forty-five