Saints of Evil | Trepidation Trilogy | The Empty World Sequence

BOOK TWO - Eleven

BOOK TWO

The sun was a little red ball on the horizon, shining between palm trunks at the right of the Villa.  It had absolutely no power to harm David, it was dying for a night, it couldn't even make him sleepy.  David turned from the setting star to the beach.  The sand was yellow in this light, the sea a darkling blue.  Orchid was glistening, in thigh high sea water, laughing boyishly, along with the tall winged creature on the beach, at the dolphins who surfaced and sprayed them as they came up for air.

     David walked closer, kicking off his house sandals and walking carefully onto the wet sand.  Orchid smiled on him.  "Look, Murph," he said to the Triquatangel, "It's David."

     "Hello, David," Morpheus said with a laugh. 

     Orchid was petting one of the dolphins.  It was sleek and grey, a Bottlenose.  "Do they look like the same ones?"

     "Yes, I think it's the same pod," Morpheus said. 

     Orchid looked up to David.  "Did you come out to tell me something?"

     "Claudia's back in Poland."

     "Oh," said Orchid as if he did not care.

     "Are they all right?" Morpheus asked.  Something silent passed between he and Orchid that David couldn't catch.  "Well they were nearly caught in some attack in New Orleans.  I heard it was the computers; the humans had known where they were by tracking their messages."

     "I thought Claudia was all 'Hack the Planet!'," Orchid remarked. It was probably a reference to some old thing, because Morpheus laughed.

     "She's fine," David said.  "My father cloned his sister and the girl gave birth to Trip's daughter."

     Orchid walked from the water, he was wearing trunks of course, because he knew reporters on boats passed as close to this beach as they were allowed with their telephoto lenses.  "Seriously?  He can do that?  Made another Caroline?"

     "They call her Mara, but anyway, that was why she wanted me to leave, I suppose.  To help Trip."

     "So...?"

     David shrugged.  "Trip and Mara and their daughter Sadian were in San Francisco with J.J.'s family when Claudia left them.  Thierry was with them.  Claudia says Mara orders him around, and he obeys.  He cloned Cat too, but they left that boy in New Orleans with Theo and Angel as guardians."

     "Theo and Angel, my Lord," Orchid said.  He snapped his head forward then back again to dry his hair.  "Theo and Angel...well Theo's responsible enough I suppose, and Angel's always wanted a child." 

     Morpheus rose from the sand.  "David, Trip and Mara really have a daughter, is she like him?"

     "Yes, same kind of birth, doesn't drink milk.  But she doesn't seem to have the fear about her."

     Morpheus looked to Orchid as if questioning, "We were all so sad for Trip because we thought he would always be the only one."

     "I wonder which is worse," Orchid said, "being alone and feared or having to watch people fear your daughter."

     "But Claudia said she doesn't have—"

     "People always fear whatever is different.  Look here for example: for all the fucking of boys that goes on people still cringe at the thought of two men living together as lovers and talk viciously about them when they are not there..."