Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy, Volume One) by Trey Copeland Page A

disclosure to the two of you has not wavered. The issue at hand has only just now revealed itself...a mistake made by me over twenty years ago. A mistake related to the very basic tenets of my original theory."
    Jen nifer, who had kicked into what was a full sprint for most, met his trademark, allusive statement with a flat stare. "Well you had better devise a plan on how to fix it and fast. By my calculations, we have less than six hours before everything becomes corrupted."
    "What about the back up?" Antone chimed in.
    "I'm confident all the back-up data is safe. But we all know, without the farm and mainframe, it's worthless," Jennifer said.
    "Not entirely. Alterian Enterprises would live to see another day. Only a few of our corporate clients would be affected by the problem and only to a minor degree. A mere inconvenience. Nothing money can't take care of." The statement repulsed Stalling before it cleared his lips. The vision had never been about the money or the power. When did either become a concern?
    Disturbed by these thoughts, Stalling turned back around to face Jennifer. Instinctually, sensing Stalling was on the verge of making a critical decision, Jennifer got off the treadmill. Stalling let the silence in his mind settle for several moments, doing his best to clear all selfish thoughts. The action he must take next was clear the moment Clortison's seemingly unrelated words triggered the answer. He just wasn't ready to accept it, until now. His friends and followers made choices over the years using their own free will. This Stalling was sure of despite how persuasive he knew he could be. They trusted he would do the same.
    "In order to save him, he must first die...again," Stalling stated. "Start the shutdown process, the program is going off-line."
     

 
    Chapter 7
     
    "Your health remains my responsibility," Calivera had said, insisting she escort Steffor to the ceremony. He did not attempt to argue or to hide his delight at the prospect of her ongoing presence.
    The remainder of that day she focused on Steffor's rehabilitation: hours of deep tissue massage, Source spas, cleansing steam showers, fo llowed by a deep sleep induced by large doses of chemicals Calivera helped release from his own body. As she laid her head down to sleep soon after, exhausted beyond precedent, Calivera knew Steffor was in perfect physical health. Her lingering concern related to his mental state, an inconsolable melancholy pervading his attitude since his removal from the table. To part ways now, she concluded, would be negligent in her duties as a Healer.
    Accurate as her observations and conclusions about Steffor were and despite her exhaustion, Calivera could not sleep. She was unwilling to accept the consequence of Steffor's abrupt arrival in her life. Saving Steffor had irrevocably changed her and attempts at denying the event taxed her soul with every passing moment. As if thick sediment settled at the basin of her mind, repressed memories stirred, determined to rise to the surface.
    Steffor roused a power within that, up to that moment, she was determined to keep dormant. The emergence and rapid growth of this mysteriou s power aside, before Steffor, Calivera's life had been very fulfilling, finding all the solace she required in the Provider's Law. Now, that past existence read more like a mundane passage from the Deeds then the life she led for the past twenty eight years, or at best, the foggy remnants of a previous life long past.
    Her discovery of the unique ability —one the Mysticnet, after a lifetime of searching, showed no record of any Citizen, alive or past, ever possessing—coincided with her indoctrination as a Healer. She was young and clumsy at that time, her shifting limited to healing minor scrapes and bruises, but even then, she knew her ability to see the wounds of the soul was not normal. She managed to keep it hidden for years, up to the fateful day Master Higfreid, her first teacher and mentor,