CHAPTER 23

HAZEL

001001011001110

"Welcome, Hazel.” Sajin looked intently at her, then back at me. “The guard says you know who Charm is?"

I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“A lot of people know who Charm is,” he continued. “He is very well known.”

She gave him a scowl. "The fact you allowed me in, proves what I know is true." She turned to me. "And no, I ain't told no one you Sam' Dejal. Sajin figured 'cause I said I know who you are, I probably know other stuff I shouldn't."

Sajin began to speak, but Hazel cut him of.

"I s'pose you gonna go on with some crazy notion about how you have no idea what I'm talkin' about. Well save it."

Sajin shot me a glance.

I stood, and chose my words carefully. "Hazel. Did you come just to tell me you know who I am, or, do you have something else to share?"

She looked at me tenderly. "Charm, I think Doc Solomon may be dead."

I stared at her. “What? How.. Why do you think he's dead?"

Sajin stepped forward. "What's going on, Charm? Who's Doctor Solomon?"

"Hold on." I held up my hand. "Hazel, why do you think Solomon is dead?"

“‘Cause we was talkin' on the phone, and it went dead.”

“Wait a second. You spoke with Solomon-- through the threads?”

“Heaven's no. We talk when I’m awake, on Earth.

Sajin's expression reflected utter confusion.

“Earth?” I said, “I don't understand.”

She leveled her eyes at me. "I can remember."

I squinted at her. “Who are you?"

"Hazel Brown.” She put her hands on her hips. “I already tol’ you that. And now I’m tryin’ to tell you I remember stuff. You see, I have a condition that makes my brain all wrong, it makes me remember stuff I wish I didn’t have to. Here, there, awake, asleep. I remember it all."

I let this information sink in a moment. “You, remember the world outside Vrin? Where Solomon is?”

“Yeah. It's kinda weird really.”

"Wait. How do you even know Doctor Solomon?"

"We been talkin' for some time now, watchin' you. And he said one of the ten woke up. So I checked with my sources here in Vrin, and sure enough, you awake.

Again I stared at her. "What?"

"There was only four of ya. It's pretty easy to figure. One's awake, the others all still frozen like a cube a ice."

"So, there are others frozen?"

"Yep. Took me some time to find 'em all. Near's I can tell, there's three others. I pieced it together. I know one of the patients woke up, so I goes and sees if any of the ice cubes awake, cause I need me a name. The book tells me stuff, but I need to tell it stuff.”

Sajin and I looked at each other. This was getting weirder by the second. “And what book would that be?”

“Davata Notrals. It tells me stuff. It knows what's gonna happen. It changes in here, but it don't change out there.”

“Davata Notrals, tells you stuff,” I said flatly.

“I puts in a word, and it tells me what's gonna happen in the future. There’s a code hidden in the spaces.”

“I'm going to pretend like I know what that means.” I put my hand to my head. “What do I have to do with this?”

“I need a name. Your name.”

“Why?”

“Cause I need to know what Tardin's gonna do. He's the key, the prophet. But I don't know who he is in Vrin, so I can't ask the book what he’s gonna do. And if I don't know what he’s gonna do, I don't know what I'm s'pose to do.”

I began to pace in frustration.

“I know you struglin' with this, son. I wish it wasn't so confusin'.”

“How do you ask the book questions?”

“Well, it's complicated.”

“Give it a shot.”

“I use a computer. It has a program what was given me by a man in the NSA. He works in cryptography. It lets me look for words in the book. It skips letters. Like I put in Charm, and it finds it in a sentence that has the letters, but they don't appear normal. It might look for the letters every tenth letter, or twentieth letter. That's why we don't see it when we read it normal. It’s hidden.”

“So-- what's the big deal? What does it matter if you can find my name in the book?”

“It's what's 'round it that matters. If I find your name, then I looks at what's before and after it, in the same letter spacin'. Then I know what's gonna happen.”

“Have you tried all the names of the frozen people?”

“Yep, and yours was the most interestin'. But I needed to know you was Tardin before I went and did somethin' crazy.”

Sajin spoke up. “So you know the future?”

She smiled. “Yup.”

“Can you prove it? What does the book say will happen next?”

She winked. “It wouldn't be fair for me to tell y'all how it ends.”

Sajin did not look pleased.

“O-kay,” I said, formulating my question. “Do you know the nature of Vrin?”

“Since I was a child. I could remember where we go when we sleep. Well, we don’t actually go anywhere, we stay in our mind. But that’s beside the point. What I wanna tell you is, I was here before Vrin, and so was you. See, on earth-- that is, when I’m awake, I have a rare form of autism. In many ways I'm simple, but the part of my brain what controls and remembers Dantra, is smart.”

“Dantra-?” Arganis had spoken of The Circle being connected to that place. “What is Dantra?”

“It's the spirit world outside Vrin. It does appear to be another thing altogether, but it ain't. Vrin's made of the same stuff as Dantra. Vrin is thought energy. Robert Helm started it.“

Robert Helm? I was Robert Helm. I opened my mouth to speak, but she gave me a look as if to say all my questions would be answered.

“Robert Helm is Gaza.”

I gave my head a quick shake, my brain was starting to hurt.

Hazel continued. “‘Cause Gaza can form Dantra with his mind like clay, the computer used his mind to form Vrin. I knew this cause of my condition. You see, most people don't understand they in Dantra. They make Dantra into what they like, and can't see it for what it is. When I saw Vrin growin' like a big ball of blue fire in the middle of Dantra, I knew it was unlike anythin' I'd seen before. It scared me, so I went to the elders. They tol' me the conflict between God and Kric' tu was comin' to an end, and that Vrin was the last battlefield. They tol' me I had a special place in God's plan, and that I would go into Vrin with others chosen by God. It was hard for all of us once we was in here, 'specially for me, 'cause I could remember. But the history of Vrin was put into the other’s minds by the computer, and they took it as real.”

“So the people of Vrin are real.”

“Real as anythin'. I started to search for information 'bout Vrin on the inside and the out. This led me to Solomon. He didn't believe me at first, but after awhile he couldn't deny what I knew. And he became grateful, 'cause I knew things he couldn't see. When Solomon started Vrin, he could see what was goin' on, but when God chose others to go into the program, it changed the code, and he couldn't see in anymore. The best he could do was track the data bein' stored on the main frame and read it. And as you know, he also sent a message. When you responded, he thought you was Robert 'cause you understood the programmin'. Anyway, since he made a connection, he could see into the program again. He tracked you in the system as a number, and sorted out which of the ten you was while buildin' a visual representation of the data. It took a while, and the computer figured out who you really was. That was just before you came out of the coma. So I came to make sho' you was Tardin, and you confirmed it for me.”

“So I did wake up from the coma-?”

“Yup. But came back to Vrin when you went to sleep.”

“I knew it!” I started pacing again. “So now that you have what you came for, what's next?”

“Now I check the code again, and make sho' I'm doin' what I'm s'pose to.”

I remembered back to the scriptures I'd read to Kitaya. Was I the one to stop Gaza, or would the prophecy change? “So on the outside the book stays the same?” She nodded. “Can you check a verse for me and tell me what it says?”

Her eyes lit up and she pointed at me. “I knew you was gonna ask that!” She took a journal out of her belly pocket. “What is it?”

I gave her the verse.

“I'll let you know tomorrow,” she said tucking the pad back in her pocket.

“Are you going to come back here?”

“No. You comin’ with me.”

I gave her a look.

“Charm. Gaza prob'ly knows you're here. You'll be safer with me.”

“No offense, but I don’t even know you.” I sized her up again. “That makes it a little difficult for me to trust you with my life.”

“Oh, you'll wanna see my work. Once you see it, you'll understand everthin'. Listen. I'm an old woman, what am I gonna do, bite you?”

“It's not you I'm worried about, it's those you would turn me over to that frighten me.”

“If I wanted to turn you in, you wouldn't a seen it comin', son.”

“Go with her,” said Sajin. “It seems she has information that will help us bring this conflict to a close.”

I looked at Sajin and considered his words. “All right.” I turned back to Hazel. “How far do we have to travel? Time is precious.”

“It's jest the next town over.”

“Then let's be on our way. Sajin I know you have more questions.”

“That's an understatement.” He reached out and gripped my hand. “Just give me the courtesy of keeping me informed.”

“I will do my best.” I shook his hand firmly.

“You have a fantastic journey ahead. Our thoughts and prayers go with you.”

“Thank you, Sajin. I'll try to not let you down.”