Gathering Storm (The Salvation of Tempestria Book 2) by Gary Stringer (howl and other poems .txt) 📕

“Did he explain what that could mean for you?”

“Yes, he did.” Cat nodded, solemnly. “He had to make it brief, there wasn’t much time, but yes, everything he did was with my fully informed consent. I had to make a choice quickly and I made it.” She smiled, nervously, and Michael let her go. “Anyway,” she added, trying to lighten the mood once more, “believe it or not, this isn’t even the most ridiculous radical idea I’ve ever had in my life.”

“I believe you,” Michael replied. “Please excuse me, I need to charge up so we can join Daelen as soon as possible.”

Cat decided not to ask what he meant by ‘charge up,’ and simply watch instead. He moved over to a bank of flashing lights in the East wall, pressed some buttons and placed his hand on another ‘control panel hand sensor.’ In response, an alcove sprang to life, buzzing with higher planar energy. Words and numbers scrolled down a screen like some kind of incantation, which meant nothing to Cat but clearly did to Michael who muttered to himself that ‘it’ (whatever ‘it’ was) was now safe.

“By the way,” Cat remarked, “the magic in this place is fascinating.”

Michael explained that it was actually technology. “But your mistake is understandable. How did Daelen put it? Ah, yes: Any sufficiently advanced form of technology would be indistinguishable from magic.”

“Then how do you know it isn’t?” Cat wondered, challenging the concept. “If it’s indistinguishable, by definition¸ you can’t tell the difference. So, if it was sufficiently advanced, even for you, even for Daelen StormTiger himself, how could you be sure it wasn’t really magic, rather than technology?”

Michael considered that for a moment. “I suppose I couldn’t,” he admitted, at last.

“In that case, any sufficiently advanced form of magic would be indistinguishable from technology.”

“I like you,” Michael decided with a grin. “You’re trouble.”

“So I’ve been told,” she agreed, grinning back.

Michael stepped into the alcove and seemed to absorb the energy within. Cat would have expected it to be painful, but if it was, Michael hid it well.

Cat decided to forgo any questions about what he was doing; it was unlikely she would understand the answers. Instead, she latched onto something else.

“This ‘Regeneration Casket,’” she ventured. “Fancy name for healing device, yes?”

“It reverts my body back to its original default settings,” he answered, “but keeps my mind as it is. I wouldn’t be much use if I forgot everything every time.”

“What if you wanted to change something about your body?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Not saying you would, but hypothetically, could you change your…” she stumbled over the unfamiliar words, “default settings?”

“In principle, yes,” he answered, “but in practice, you would need a way to show it what you wanted, and if you already had the default body you wanted, you wouldn’t need the machine to change it.”

“You might if you only had it temporarily without the machine,” Cat mused. Now the big question. “Would it work for a human?”

“Species wouldn’t matter. It would use whatever default settings you programmed it with. Why are you asking all this?”

“Oh, just thinking out loud,” Cat replied, dismissively. Years ago, she’d made a promise to a friend and though she knew she might never see her again, she continued to work on that promise. She’d let Mandalee down once; if ever she gave her a second chance, that would never happen again.

Changing tack, she went back to their earlier conversation.

“When I told you this wasn’t the most ridiculous radical idea I’ve ever had, you said, ‘I believe you.’ What did you mean by that?”

“I simply imagine that being touched by an Angel is likely to lead to a remarkable life, and a spirit that won’t be constrained by what others think is impossible.”

Chapter 8

It took Catriona a moment to process Michael’s answer.

“Touched by an Angel?” she wondered. Then it hit her. “Wait, you recognise me? From all those years ago?”

She had never imagined he would. Frankly, she wasn’t that conceited.

“I have a feeling I would always recognise you,” he replied, cryptically.

Choosing to let that go, Cat asked what he remembered about that day. He told her how sorry he was that he had been unable to stop the void-creature, but promised he had done all he could.

“Void-creature?” Cat wondered. “Is that what that Monster was?”

Michael shrugged. “That’s just my name for it. I have no idea what it really was.”

He went on to tell her about the three figures who appeared and how they, too, tried to stop the void-creature before the Angel turned up.

Cat vaguely recalled something about that, although she’d been much more focused on the loss of her home and the death of her father at the time and then she’d been knocked unconscious by her mother just moments later. Finally, Michael told Cat how the Angel appeared and beat back the Monster before talking to him.

“After that, you know more than I do,” he concluded. “What did the Angel say to you?”

Cat shifted, uncomfortably. As an information trader, she appreciated the value of what he’d given her and she wished she could offer something of equal value in return, but she couldn’t.

“Sorry,” she apologised, “but if my Angel wanted you and the gods kept out of it, I have to assume there was a good reason, so I probably shouldn’t discuss it any further. Same goes for my staff. I’m planning to talk to Daelen about it, but it will have to be just him and me. Sorry.”

The alcove powered down, and Michael stepped clear.

“Not at all, my dear,” he assured her, kindly. “The gifts of Angels are precious, and only a select few may touch them.”

“Maybe, but of course, my visitor wasn’t an actual Angel,” Cat pointed out.

“What makes you so sure?” Michael wondered. “They do exist, you know. Daelen has seen one, though from what he’s told me, I doubt it’s the same one. Anyway, speaking of Daelen,