Whispers From the Past
Irene watched as the women emerged from the doctor's examination room, joy written all over their faces. She was happy to hear that everything was going along smoothly and that Helena got along as best she could with the doctor.
The women all returned to the townhouse so Myka could rest even though she was feeling fine. Leena was happy to see the couple and hear that all was well. And she was always pleased to see Irene, who always brought calmness to the house with her presence.
A short time later, Leena brought the prepared dinner of grilled salmon with herbs and lemon, rice pilaf, and green beans with almonds. Helena insisted Leena join them and the four women sat at the dining room table to enjoy the meal.
Helena forgot that when Pete dropped them off, he returned to the basement/laboratory downstairs to help Steve with the shelving. They were just putting the boxes on shelves and weren't unpacking them, which was good because Pete couldn't help but touch anything marked – Do Not Touch. One box was easily opened and Pete peeked in. "Look at this!" he said to Steve as he removed the object.
"What the heck is…?" Steve was asking when Pete aimed it and released the trigger. The grappling hook propelled forward with a mighty force, knocking down several glass containers in its wake. "Cool!" both men uttered, amazed by the velocity of the object. Then they made haste to clean up the mess as Pete put the object back in the box and put it on a shelf. When they were done, they went upstairs to inform their boss.
"What was that noise?" Leena asked because she could heard it over the others talking.
"Noise?" Pete asked and looked at Steve who had zero chance of lying.
"Yes, the crashing, booming, noise?" Leena asked and now a roomful of women looked at them.
Leena noticed the slightest movement of Steve's head inching over to Pete. "Mr. Lattimer?" is all Irene had to say and Pete was spilling his guts about how he didn't mean it and what was that really cool thing anyway. "I'm thinking you could really use that at concerts, you know? Like just –zzzzzippppp -," he said making the sound he heard, "…and you could be sitting with a clear view."
"Aren't those the rafters?" Leena asked.
"Oh, yeah. Anyway boss, the boxes are all put on the shelves. Oh, you need more of those funnel shaped bottles," Pete said as he was set to leave.
"You mean…beakers?" Helena asked.
"Sure," Pete said. And then as Leena took the dishes out to the kitchen and Irene and Myka were going to join Helena in the library, Pete asked one more question.
"Boss, how are they sending this stuff through your private subway station? I mean, we get the boxes cleared and all of a sudden, there are thirty more at the transit system door," Pete pointed out.
"What do you mean?" Myka asked because she thought perhaps the government was ending them Fed-Ex or US Postal System.
"Did you boys eat?" Helena asked and both said no. "Why not have Leena make you up…." she was suggesting when Leena wheeled a cart with tea and dessert cookies into the library.
"Plates are on the counter. I don't want to miss this," Leena said, feeling she was entitled to see how her boss got out of this one. Helena couldn't have disagreed more.
"Have you found the perfect location for the museum?" Helena asked and Leena knew that was her cue to leave.
"Going now," Leena said reluctantly.
Irene poured tea for Helena and coffee for her as Myka politely declined. Then she sat on the couch opposite the one Myka was sitting on. Helena sat next to Myka and when Irene pushed the tea over in front of her, it was met with the look of disdain. "Helena, it's hot water and a tea bag; not hemlock," Irene said, settling back in her seat because she knew she needed to be comfortable.
"Helena, what did Pete mean?" Myka said because she always seemed to manage to pick up where she left off – a habit Helena sometimes found annoying.
Suddenly the tea because enticing and Helena raised it to her lips. "Well, that's what …..(sip) …I was ….(sip sip) ….hoping to talk….(long sip)….about."
Irene watched Helena drain the very substance she equated to poison and murmured - 'oh boy'. Myka exchanged glances with Irene as she pulled her feet up under her and leaned back in her spot. The tea was drained from the cup and Helena put it down on the table.
"Something stronger?" Irene asked and ignored the glare.
"Don't be silly," she chastised Irene. "Now, remember Darling when you asked the Warehouse to return my things?" Helena started by reminding Myka of her part in all of this.
"Yes, and they did. But I thought they were sending it via FedEx or the postal service….," Myka started, but Helena interrupted by scoffing. "Darling, these are priceless journals and inventions….," the writer/inventor pointed out.
"…or private courier or armed guards…," Myka finished her sentence. OK, those were plausible options.
"Yes, well…there's more to it than that and that's why I thought it might be a good idea for you both…," and with that, Helena looked directly at Irene to make sure she knew her part, "…to hear more about my experience with the Warehouse."
Helena's sincerity struck both women and Myka nodded okay as Irene prayed to God to help her keep an open mind. She didn't care for the aggressive feelings she had towards those people.
"I know I have told you some of my history, the way the Warehouse originally found me in London and how I was apprenticed to a darling man name Caturanga," Helena said and a broad smile came across her face at the mention of the man's name. "He recruited me after figuring out that I was indeed the real HG Wells and not Charles. He was always proud of that, even though I took it as a poor sign that others couldn't figure out that simple puzzle. Alas, he enlisted me after I told him I could smell apples when I entered the Warehouse," Helena softly giggled. "Not to worry, Irene, there were other tests and I passed them all."
"Of that I'm certain," Irene said taken with how Helena looked as she sat there reminiscing about her life so long ago.
It reminded Myka that she, too, could smell something in the new location, but dismissed it at the time. It wasn't apples.
"Caturanga and I played chess every day and much to my surprise, I never won," Helena all but laughed. "He taught me a great many things, the least of which was - If the rules don't agree with one, it's sometimes necessary to change them," and with that a tear appeared in Helena's eye at how wonderful a friend he was. "Well, as you know, I had Christina by the time I became an agent and although it was dangerous work, I felt very safe with all the devices that the Warehouse offered me, " Helena said and suddenly a melancholy look crossed her face and lingered. Myka sat up and moved closer, taking Helena's hand. She knew how hard it was for her wife to revisit that life. Helena squeezed Myka's hand and intertwined her fingers before continuing.
"Well, Caturanga was very patient with me and understood after Christina was gone; I searched the Warehouse for something that would help me. He understood that in my grief, I went mad with trying to find a solution until…," Helena said and now her throat constricted at retelling how she hurt innocent people in her quest for revenge. Helena now wiped the tear that cascaded down her cheek, unable to contain it any longer.
"Helena, a mother's grief would be maddening for anyone," Irene said emphatically and Helena smiled her gratitude.
"Even my own invention couldn't bring about the result I wanted and after I realized then that I had become a danger, so I asked to be bronzed," Helena said, her head hanging down now.
Myka could hardly bare to see Helena like this. Two lifetimes meant she carried her pain far more than any human was meant to. She sat closer to her wife, putting her arm around her. Words, phrases rushed through Myka's mind, but she couldn't find any of them to convey her feelings at the moment. None spoke of the depth of how much she admired Helena, how strong she thought she was or how much she loved her.
Irene put her coffee cup down and looked away at the thought of her dear friend cast into such a horrible state for so long.
Helena could feel the warmth of the love these women had for her and she cleared her throat so she could get to the point of this talk. "You see, as much as I believed I deserved that entombment, out of those ashes rose my craving for human connection. I knew the agents weren't allowed in the Bronze sector, but up until yesterday, I thought some of them sneaked in to speak to me."
For Irene, some of these details were new and she was trying to grasp what Helena was telling them. "Helena, are you telling me that …..?"
"The Warehouse is a place of endless wonder, Irene. It usually moves when the Regents feel it is time because it is not safe. That is what was happening when something unusual happened," Helena said.
"The Warehouse moved itself ….to New York," Myka filled in the missing piece.
"Yes," Helena said. "It has never happened before."
"So those people didn't do it? It just moved…. itself," Irene repeated trying to get her head around this.
"Yes, the Warehouse …..is an entity," Helena explained. "It spoke to Myka and me when we were there."
Irene thought standing up to government agents was tough enough; how would she manage an entire building? "So, you think the Warehouse did that ….to be closer to you?" Irene asked.
"It is only in looking back now, do I see what the Warehouse had been doing all along. Not only using voices to keep me up on the world events, but also music that came to me in some of my darkest moments; books that were read to me by unknown individuals, and even pictures that appeared in holographic form so I could see them. All of this, I thought, was the next generations of agents' doings, but it was the Warehouse all along. It's not a parapraxis to confess that it was the very Warehouse that tethered me to the real world and helped me to emerge intact," Helena said.
"It sounds as if …it really wanted to …take care of you," Myka said slowly.
"I realize now …that the whispers…," Helena said, stopping when she thought back to them.
"What kind of whispers?" Myka asked because she was still in protective mode. Even an ounce of pain was hard for her to watch in Helena.
Helena shook her head as if she had trouble believing it even now. "I thought ….I heard someone…..," she smiled as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "…telling me repeatedly …..it was not my fault. Encouraging me to forgive myself. I thought it was someone who perhaps read my file, someone trying to help. But now I believe it was the ….Warehouse, trying to keep me from going further into my madness. I dare say now, it was what saved me. The slightest possibility that I …could be forgiven…is what kept me sane," Helena said.
Myka was beginning to realize the debt she owed the very thing she threatened. She pulled Helena in and hugged her, tighter than perhaps she ever had. Irene sat there, tears streaming steadily down her cheeks and falling without the interference of a tissue.
Helena wanted them to understand her connection to the Warehouse, but with the narrative came the reminder of what this woman had been through for more years than their combined ages.
When Myka finally let Helena go, the Brit finished her monologue. "It not only moved itself to New York, it has managed somehow to connect itself via the transit system. That is how my articles have been arriving."
"It's….. downstairs?" Irene asked, her concern renewed.
"No," Helena smiled at the very thought. "I believe in granting Myka's request, it found a way to safely get the items to me through the underground system. I truly believe it means us no harm."
Myka felt a mix of emotions; happy she orchestrated Helena getting her things back, grateful to the entity that aided Helena, pained that Helena had experienced such tragedy in her life.
"You trust it, Helena?" Irene asked, getting to the point.
"Yes, I do," Helena said softly.
Irene looked at Myka to see where she was on the trust scale and she could tell how much Myka wanted to believe, like Helena did, that the entity was a benefactor, not a foe. Helena thought that if anyone could convince Myka, it would be Irene. But the sage knew what Myka really needed - she needed someone to hold her concern so she could agree with Helena.
"Well, I believe you, Helena, and I will trust that you know best," Irene said and Helena felt relieved, but Myka didn't. "However, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that my protective nature still causes me to be wary."
It was the perfect choice of word because it told Helena she wasn't giving in so easily and it told Myka she would be the one who would stand guard, allowing Myka to side with Helena. Irene wasn't following the script that Helena had carefully laid out and her look displayed her annoyance. But it was the look of relief in Myka's eyes that Irene watched. "Maybe in time," Irene suggested and Helena's look softened. Helena need to know what Myka thought.
"Do you…?" Helena asked and Myka grabbed Helena's hands again and affirmed that she did. "Yes, Helena."
Irene's continued stubbornness wasn't what Helena wanted, but Myka's easing her distrust was – and for that, she was grateful.
"Sometimes I remember …just how much I have forgotten," Helena said to her confidants.
Both Myka and Irene worried about all that was stored away in that memory – much of it resurrected with the reconnecting to her former life. Both worried Helena's darkest moments might be triggered by their pregnancy.
After a long silence, in which Helena relaxed in Myka's comforting acceptance, Irene segued into asking Myka if she liked the doctor.
"She seemed very thorough and very calm," Myka said and she meant – in spite of Helena glaring at her and asking what rank she was in her medical college.
"I found it!" Leena shouted from the hallway and knocked on the door, asking if it was okay to come in. "Helena! Look!," the woman said, sitting next to Irene and showing Helena and Myka a picture of the structure that looked very familiar to them.
"Belvedere Castle?" Myka asked and remembered where she had seen it. Of course.
"Isn't that where the Henry Luce Nature Observatory is?" Irene asked and remembered taking her boys there when they were young.
"Yes, it occupies a small section of the castle. It has microscopes, telescopes, and Discovery kits with maps for kids to find things in Central Park. There's plenty of space for a museum. Look Helena, it was built even before your townhouse and in the Victorian style," Leena said, proud of her research.
"Oh, Helena, it would be right outside our door….sort of!" Myka said, excited at the thought of it being close and within the confines of Central Park.
Myka's enthusiasm was enough for Helena to want it as well. "It will have to be renamed," Helena said, because Belvedere and Luce wouldn't do.
"I don't see that as a problem when you charm the members on the board which you yourself are a member," Irene pointed out because she knew every position Helena held.
"Consider it done," Helena said confidently. "If you think it's a good idea…," she checked with Myka.
"I think it's a wonderful idea, Helena. Your inventions and writings should be shared with everyone," Myka said, her smile radiating how proud she was.
"Now that Mary's book has revealed the truth about HG Wells, I dare say this will be the first time the real HG Wells gets….their due," Helena said, never really wanting to take anything away from Charles.
When it was time to leave, Irene told Leena she would give her a ride home. Then she donned her coat and picked up her pocketbook and started out the door. She turned and hugged Myka as Helena was talking to Leena about starting the process of procuring the location.
"You're okay with all of this?" Irene asked Myka and she meant the Warehouse reconnecting with Helena.
"I think so, yes," Myka answered, because she wanted to trust that the Warehouse was truly the caretaker Helena believed it to be.
"And you're okay that I'm not quite on the same page?" Irene asked.
"Actually," Myka said, biting her lip and looking over to make sure that Helena wasn't listening, "…I'm …glad," Myka said, unable to explain it, but happy Irene would be keeping a different perspective for Helena's own protection. Irene smiled and patted Myka's hand. The two understood each other very well.
Helena rejoined them and thanked Leena for the dinner and Irene for coming. And then in an engagement that only Myka could understand – the two women exchanged words.
"You're truly a remarkable woman, Helena, and I am honored to be a part of your life," Irene spoke sincerely, as she held onto Helena's arms and looked her straight in the eyes.
It was too much emotion for Helena and her jaw tightened and she swallowed. "You failed miserably in your duties tonight," Helena said, trying to sound stern, but her voice cracking.
"Yes, I know," Irene said, smiling before leaving with Leena.
The HR Director had Steve drop Leena off at her apartment before making her way to Queens. She sat in the back of the car, staring out the window and thinking about her conversation with Helena. Her heart ached to think of the pain she endured and yet, it swelled with joy to think that long journey brought her to Myka. Deep in thought she was when her phone rang several times. She took it out of her pocketbook and looked at the number – which she didn't recognize.
"Hello?" Irene said, as Steve pulled up to her house.
"Mrs. Frederic? " the woman asked and Irene said that it was. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mrs. Frederic. Dr. Vanessa Calder suggested I give you a call. My name is Gloria Brown."