The Descent

'Actually,' Rau said quietly after  Parsifal was gone, 'we shouldn't be so surprised.'

'And why  not?' Thomas said.

'We're  talking  about  old-fashioned  reincarnation.  If  you  go  back  in  time,  you  find versions of the theory  are almost universal. For twenty  thousand years  the  Australian aborigines  have  tracked  an  unbroken  chain  of  ancestors  in  their  infants.  You  find  it everywhere,  in many peoples, from Indonesians to Bantus to Druids. You  get  thinkers like  Plato  and  Empedocles  and  Pythagoras  and  Plotinus  trying  to  describe  it.  The Orphic  mysteries  and  the  Jewish  Cabala  took  a  crack  at  it.  Even  modern  science  has investigated  the  activity.  It's  quite  accepted  where  I  come  from,  a  perfectly  natural phenomenon.'

'But  I  just  can't  accept  that,  in  a  laboratory  setting,  this  hadal's  soul  passed  into another person?'

'Soul?'  said  Rau.  'In  Buddhism  there's  no  such  thing  as  soul.  They  talk  about  an undifferentiated stream  of being that passes from one  existence  to  another.  Samsara, they  call it.'

In  part  goaded  by  Thomas's  skepticism,  Vera  challenged  the  idea,  too.  'Since  when does  rebirth   involve   epileptic  seizures,   homicide,  and  cannibalism?  You   call   this perfectly  natural?'

'All I can say  is  that  birth  doesn't  always  happen  without  problems,'  Rau  said.  'Why should  rebirth?   As   for  the   devastation'   –   and   he   gestured   at   the   TV   view   of destruction – 'that may  have  to  do  with  man's  limited  capacity  for  memory.  Perhaps, as Dr. Koenig described, memory  is a matter  of electrical wiring.  But  memory  is  also  a maze. An abyss.  Who knows where  it goes?'

'What was your  question about lab animals, Rau?'

'I  was  just  trying  to  eliminate  other  possibilities,'  he  answered.   'Classically,  the transfer  occurs  between  a  dying  adult  and  an  infant  or  animal.  But  in  this  case  the hadal  had  only  this  young  woman  at  hand.  And  it  found  an  occupied  house,  so  to speak. Now it's disabling Dr. Yamamoto's memory  in order to make room for itself.'

'But why  now?' asked Mary  Kay. 'Why all of a sudden, like this?'

'I can only guess,' Rau said. 'You told me your  mechanical blade  was  about  to  dissect the  hippocampus.  Maybe  this  was  the  hadal  memory's  way  of  defending  itself.  By invading new territory.'

'It invaded her?  That's  an odd way  of putting it.'

'You  westerners,'  said  Rau,  'you  mistake  reincarnation  with  a  sociable  act,  like  a handshake   or   a   kiss.   But   rebirth   is   a   matter   of   dominion.   Of   occupation.   Of colonization, if you will. It's  like one country seizing land from another, and  interposing its  own  people  and  language  and  government.   Before   long,  Aztecs   are   speaking Spanish,  or  Mohawks  are  speaking  English.  And  they  start  to  forget  who  they  once

were.'

'You're  substituting  metaphors  for  common  sense,'  said  Thomas.  'It  doesn't  get  us any closer to our goal, I'm afraid.'

'But  think  about  it,'  said  Rau.  He  was  getting  excited.  'A  passage  of  continuous memory.  An  unbroken  strand  of  consciousness,  eons  long.  It  could  help  explain  his longevity. From man's narrow historical perspective,  it could make him seem eternal.'

'Who's this you're talking about?' Mary  Kay  asked.

'Someone we're  looking for,' Thomas said. 'No one.'

'I didn't mean to pry.'  After  all she'd shared with them, her hurt was evident.

'It's a game we play,' Vera  rushed to explain, 'nothing more.'

The  video  monitor  on  the  wall  behind  them  had  no  sound,  or  else  they  might  have noticed the initial flurry  of action in  the  laboratory.  Mary  Kay's  pager  beeped  and  she looked down at it, then suddenly whirled  in  her  chair  to  see  the  screen.  'Yammie,'  she groaned.

People  were  rushing  through  the  laboratory.  Someone  shouted  at  the  monitor,  a soundless cry.  'What?' said Vera.

'Code Blue.' And Mary  Kay  flew out the door. A half-minute later, she reappeared  on the monitor.

'What's happening?' asked Rau.

Vera  turned her wheelchair to face the monitor. 'They're  losing the poor girl. She's in cardiac arrest.  Look, here comes the crash wagon.'

Thomas  was  on  his  feet,  watching  the  screen  intently.  Rau  joined  him.  'Now  what?'

he said.

'Those are the shock paddles,' Vera  said. 'To jump-start  her heart  again.'

'You mean she's dead?'

'There's  a difference between  biological and clinical death. It  may  not be too late.' Under Mary  Kay's  direction,  several  people  were  shoving  aside  tables  and  wrecked machinery,  making  room  for  the  heavy  crash  wagon.  Mary  Kay  reached   for  the paddles and held  them  upright.  To  the  rear,  a  woman  was  waving  the  electric  plug  in one hand, frantically casting around for an outlet.

'But they  mustn't do that!' Rau cried.

'They  have  to try,'  said Vera.