The Sons of Adam: The sequel of The Immortal Collection (A Saga of the Ancient Family Book 2) (19 page)

My father stood in front of me, looking into my eyes, and held onto my arms, like when I was a boy and he wanted to make sure that I would listen to what he was telling me.

"Urko, I'm just going to ask you this once. Can you swear, without a shadow of a doubt, that that woman is the same woman you knew in 1620, the same one? Isn't there the slightest possibility that she's an impostor, a fake?"

I weighed up the question, I'd been asking myself the same thing since I had sat on the soft
chaise
longe
at the Procope.

"How, father? How could anyone know what I went through in the Plymouth colony? How could I find a double that knew all of our intimate details, the name of our son which I couldn't even remember, what we went through together on that isolated farm? We barely left a trace, we barely knew the hundred Pilgrim fathers we traveled with on the Mayflower, I didn't even tell you about her. How could someone learn the ancient dialects, the details that the history books always leave out?" I asked myself, running my hand through my hair.

"How the hell could someone have a melody on their phone that I haven't heard for the last thousand years?" I shouted. "How!?"

Lür didn't lose his cool, he shoved his hands into his pockets and studied my face.

"Did you tell Lyra, did you ever mention her to Nagorno?"

"No, not that I remember. I don't know, they're minute details, maybe when I was drunk... I don't know, I can't be a hundred percent sure, but I'm ninety-eight percent sure that I didn't. I don't think that I ever shared that identity with any of you."

"Well I don't know either, son. There's always a way, someone who has been following our tracks for a long time, a professional trickster. Someone who hired her to make you fall into some kind of trap."

"But are you listening to yourself? You sound like some kind of conspiracy theorist. Father, you've always been the most sensible out of the two of us."

"Think, son. You're being blinded by the events. I know that you have the sword of Damocles hanging over your head, but there's nothing normal about what's happening here. In just a few days, two longevos have come back into your life, two people we thought were dead. What if there's a link here? What if Marion isn't a longeva, and she's just bait to get hold of information about the research into the longevo gene?"

"I brought her here to see her reaction, although I wasn't expecting it to be your reaction that threw me off. I thought that you'd be excited, father. We're not alone, there are more longevos in the world."

"Or, as I've already said, she's a fraud."

"She's not! I've not been speaking to an actress. Read my lips: I've been speaking to my wife."

"Your wife? Your wife is Adriana Alameda. Have you forgotten about her already? Or are you assuming that she's already dead?"

I grabbed the lapels of his alpaca jacket. I was more angry than I realized.

"How dare you, father? How dare you doubt me?"

He held my gaze, but there was something dark in his eyes that bothered me.              

"We're not talking about Dana, we're not talking about Marion, we're talking about something else."

I let go of him, frustrated, and turned my back on him. I leaned my forehead against the cool window. I could feel the raindrops bouncing off the glass on the other side.

On the other side.

My father and I were not in the same room, something very dark and very ancient was separating us.

"What the hell is it that you're not telling me, father?" I whispered, with my head still stuck to the window. "Have you found something out over the last year? Did you lie to me, did you really go in search of Nagorno? Is there some kind of conspiracy, something bigger that I still don't know about, something that I have only seen a small part of?"

"Who's the conspiracy theorist now?" he repeated, turning up the corner of his mouth. "No son, nothing like that has happened, not that I know of, anyway. But this re-encounter with your former wife is anything but casual and calming, so keep your eyes open and don't get carried away with nostalgia. Watch your back. And I know that you haven't asked me for any advice, but I'm going to give you some anyway, even though you may think that I'm being out of order: beware of the fury of a woman scorned. It can be the most destructive of all weapons."

You don't know what we went through, what Marion did for me.

"You're not telling me the whole truth, I know you're not, and it's got something to do with Marion," I insisted.

"Do you trust her? Don't you find it rather suspicious that she's turned up right now? Doesn't it bother you that she's been spying on you for the last year? Do you really think that she's trustworthy?"

"She has a noble soul, I can assure you of that. I know her well."

"People change, circumstances change, you know that all too well."

"She's noble," I repeated stubbornly, grinding my teeth.

"Don't be so näive, nobody is good or bad. People have goals, everyone does, and based on whether or not they want to be our allies, they are either friends or enemies, that's it."

"No... Lür. That's not it, there's something else. And seeing as that something else could put Adriana in danger, if I find out that you're hiding information that puts her life or safety at risk..."

"Maybe you should be the one putting a bit more thought into Adriana's safety."

"Don't for a minute think that I'm not considering each and every one of the billion possibilities that could explain this," I exploded. "Don't doubt that for one minute."

"Well, let me know when you've finished your analysis and you can share your conclusions with me. And... Iago. Don't forget the most important thing here. I don't want ever want you to think that I'm not trying to help Adriana and you. If this was a war and I had to take sides, you and me would be on the same one, ok?"

"No, father. I'll never forget what's important."

"Good. Well, I'm going to leave you now and keep looking for islands, and then I have a meeting with the staff to explain my return, Adriana's sudden absence and your future resignation as director of the museum.

22

Mother

LÜR

Sungir, current Russia 23,000 B.C.

What kind of strange creature are you?
Lür thought when he set yes on her.

Mother had very unique features. She was tall, there was no doubt about it, but at the same time she was almost delicate. Her face was long, almost too long. Copper skin, a flat nose, somewhat slanted, dark eyes, which vaguely resembled some far-eastern clans that Lür had come across and had not seen again since the cataclysm. Thick, dark hair, braided on either side of her head and ending below her waist. Mother wore a tunic stitched with bright white cowrie shells; he had never seen so many in one place. How many years must it have taken to gather so many of those precious shells?

Lür stopped, giving a slight bow at the entrance to the long hut. He had to agree with his friend: Mother had an almost divine aura. Maybe it was because she seemed somewhat removed from everything that was happening around her, as if she wasn't fully there, but rather in the presence of the Old Fathers.

When his eyes became accustomed to the darkness of the hut, Lür could see that Mother was leaning over the lifeless body of a baby.

"Another Son of Adam who leaves us to make the Transit. I have to console his mother, I have to console my daughter. I have to think of something, I don't know what to do to comfort her."

She wasn't aware of the two men that had entered. She was talking to herself, as if the outside world wasn't of great importance.

Her voice reached Lür's ears, and he thought he could make out accents that he assumed had been forgotten. An ancient flood of emotion ran down his spine.

Negu signalled for him to go over, and as he got closer to her, he could see how Mother was looking at the child's pale face with infinite sadness.

"If I could do something..." she whispered to the baby. "I don't know if I can handle this anymore."

"Yes you can, my lady," Negu said. "I'll help you through this."

She nodded, without looking at him, agreeing with him without believing him.

"Mother, I've brought someone you should meet."

But she ignored him, lost in her own world.

"All my children are weak. I have to make a decision, maybe I should send the trackers toward the Setting Sun. We don't know whether the Cataclysm finished off those lands as well."

"I've come from there, Mother. And there is no life left," said Lür.

Mother turned her face upon hearing a new voice. She seemed to awaken from a daydream.

"Are you a survivor from the West?" she asked, with some interest.

"Yes, I suppose I am."

She left the child in a fur-lined basked and went over to Lür. She took hold of his hands and turned them over, studying the lines. Then she jumped back and covered her mouth with her copper colored hands.

"You're not a normal man," she said, in a whisper that only Lür and her could hear.

"I would like to talk to you, alone. I'm not armed and I represent no danger to an eternal person such as yourself."

"It's ok, Negu. Leave us alone."

Negu clenched his jaw, but followed his orders. Mother continued studying Lür's palms for a while longer, without taking her eyes off him.

"I don't know what it is that makes you special, but I know that you are. I know you are..."

"I heard stories about you many ages ago," Lür interrupted. "Before the Cataclysm. Mother, I was also born a very long time ago, I also remain young and cannot age."

Mother grimaced and let go of his hands, disappointed.

"Ah, another fake."

"Don't you believe me?"

"If you knew how many have come before you and told me the same..."

"But in this case it's true, and you know that there's only one way to find out."

Mother turned her back on him and thought for a moment, until it looked like she had come to a decision.

"Ok, stay with us. Time will pass and we'll see whether or not you age."

I've got nowhere better to go
, Lür thought.
And I don't think I could put up with one more day of solitude, now that I know I'm not the only survivor.

Mother went over to him and began to draw a line with her index finger, starting at his forehead. She ran it down his neck, his chest and his stomach. Finally, her hand closed around his crotch.

"Have you had children?" Mother asked.

Lür tried to kept his calm, feeling uncomfortable, while an erection grew under the heat of Mother's hand.

"Mother, no..."

"Call me Adana. Not many have ever known my Real Name. Call me Adana when there's no one around to hear you."

"Adana?"

"Yes, I was Adam's firstborn child."

Why this gift? Why so soon? Why have you told me so much when you hardly believe what I told you?

"Have you had children?" she asked again.

"Many more than I can remember."

"Maybe one day... maybe if what you're saying is true," Lür thought he heard her say. But it would be impossible to know for sure if that was the case, because Mother only talked for herself.

"You will be my good friend," she finally said. "And we shall act as such."

He nodded his head, although he knew that the look on her face was saying something different.

But there's time, Lür
, he said to himself.
There's time for that. She won't die like the others. There'll be time for that.

And Mother knelt back down next to the baby's body and forgot that Lür was there.

There were happier times, and from that day, Lür joined the trackers, led by Negu. They traveled far, looking for clans that had survived, searching for food underground, following traces of herds, although they almost always found emaciated corpses. The ground was still barren and uninhabitable.

The thaws passed quickly. Lür and Negu became inseparable and considered themselves to be brothers. Negu was an excellent companion during the long nights of walking, listening carefully to every memory that Lür shared with him, and all his questions were wise and rational. They took care of each other when one of them felt weak and both kept a pocketful of supplies for the other without ever speaking about it. One day, Negu gave him one of the small figures he used to carve by the firelight, while Lür told him about his mountain on the other side of the Great Crest.

"Here, brother," he said, placing the small bison in the palm of his hand. "All the Sons of Adam have seen that your words are true. You are as eternal as Mother, but you have yet to find your place on this Earth. Just like this beast, you could also be a wise man if you have the intelligence to know both realities. You will have to make many choices in your life, Lür, deciding between instinct and wisdom. Never lose this carving, remind yourself that you once had a brother who accepted you for what you are and don't stop breathing until every person on earth knows what you are and accepts you as such."