The Goddess Legacy (24 page)

Exploiting his fellow human beings and dooming them to short lives of misery was just the way things worked, and he didn’t judge the morality of it any more than a crocodile hesitated before snapping its jaws tight on a fish. It had always been that way – the strong conquered the weak, and to hope for a different world was foolishness he didn’t engage in. Suri was a pragmatist and understood that if he wasn’t directing operations at the camp, someone else would be.

The boy waited motionless as Suri entered the cave, and then turned and led him along a path polished smooth by generations of feet, deep into the earth, into a hell that was the only reality the child would ever know.

Bhiwani, Haryana, India

Drake pushed his spoon around in his bowl and grimaced at the slop that was the main course for dinner.

“This smells like diarrhea,” he complained, making a face.

“It’s lentils with some sort of spice. It doesn’t taste that bad,” Allie said.

“I can’t believe you’re eating it.”

“A vegetarian diet is good for you.”

He took a morose look at the goop. “I don’t need to live that long. Besides, I eat cows, and they’re vegetarian, so I’m getting a concentrated vegetarian diet already.” He looked around the dining hall. “I wonder if they sell Snickers bars in the store?”

“Not unless they have Swami Baba Raja’s face on them.”

Drake laughed. “You see the toilets in our rooms? Mine’s a hole in the floor.”

“It’s a squat toilet.” She paused. “Do we have to discuss this at dinner?”

He raised his spoon and allowed a glob of lentils to drop back into the bowl. “Don’t know what reminded me about that.”

Allie put her spoon down. “You’re angry I’m doing this, aren’t you?”

“I understand why.”

“But you’re angry.”

“Not at you. At him.”

“It’s the perfect opportunity. I thought we might be here for days.”

“God, no. Does your room have toilet paper?”

“I thought we weren’t going to discuss that.”

“The only reason I ask is because I only bought three pairs of socks at the store, and they’re all in a locker right now.”

“I’m sure you can ask at the reception area. But they use water in most places, so don’t expect a lot.”

“Hope springs eternal.”

Allie checked the time and finished her bowl. “You ready for your errands tomorrow? I got working in the kitchen. Probably because I’m a woman. Not that the swami is sexist or anything.”

“Of course not. I got cleaning crew. Probably put me on the latrines. This is like a waking nightmare.”

She rolled her eyes and stood. “So much drama.”

“How will you contact me after your pillow party tonight?”

“There isn’t any security in the dorms, just guards at the gate and walking the grounds to ensure nobody jumps the fence and robs the place. So I’ll come by your room.”

“That won’t look suspicious?”

“You’re my brother. Plus, I don’t think there’s any rules about comingling. Nobody told me anything, at any rate. You?”

“No. Just that it’s lights out at ten.” Drake eyed Allie. “Which I hope doesn’t mean they actually cut the power. That would suck big time. Especially if I’m mid-squat, or rinse, or whatever.”

“We’ll soon find out. Gotta run. Will you take my bowl back to the kitchen when you’re done?”

“Sure.”

Drake watched Allie walk away with a sinking feeling, and it took every ounce of self-control he could muster not to tear after her and take her in his arms, never to let her go.

Allie slowed as she reached the elaborately carved doors of the swami’s residence, where two attendants waited with four other young women – two locals, the Portuguese girl from earlier, and an Asian-American who introduced herself as Patty from Connecticut. All had arrived within the last few days, and all were excited to have been invited to the special devotional meeting.

Jadhav swung the doors open and invited the women in with a small nod of his head, his expression unreadable.

“Welcome, welcome. This way. As you are aware, inclusion in the Holy One’s night meditation is a high honor. It takes place in his inner sanctum, and everything that occurs is to be treated as confidential, is that clear? He is protective of the higher forms of devotion, which have important symbolic and spiritual significance, and only bestows his attention on the worthy. He feels you are all ready to accept his gift and move to the next level of consciousness.”

“Yes, of course,” they all said, Allie nodding along with the rest.

They reached a marble-floored room with hundreds of candles flickering in wall sconces, two golden vessels resting on wooden tables next to towels reflecting the light. Jadhav offered a bow to the women and a small smile. “The swami will be out shortly. Please, sit, make yourselves comfortable. There is fresh fruit set out for you in those bowls, and nectar in the pitchers. Eat and drink your fill – it is part of the swami’s bounty, which he would like to share.”

Jadhav left and the women took the offered seats, hesitant to touch the fruit or the copper goblets before them. Allie settled into her cushion and was about to reach for an apple when the doors at the far end of the room opened and the swami stepped out, trailed by a cloud of pungent incense.

“Greetings, my special guests,” he said as he approached them. “It is wonderful to see you in this more private setting. Please – I have had my staff select the most perfect specimens of fruit, the sweetest juice, for you. Consider it my most humble offering. Pour yourselves a measure, and enjoy nature’s gift.”

He sat at the table and smiled warmly as one of the locals poured them each a cupful of crimson liquid before topping up her own cup. The swami toasted and everyone drank, except Allie, who noted that the swami only pretended to, before setting down his cup and rising. He moved to a stand and lit an incense cone, and then flipped a switch. Soft music filled the room. When he retook his seat, his eyes roved over the women before settling on Allie.

“This is a joyous time. We are on the earth, savoring each other’s company, brought together by Fate. You are each miraculous in your own way, a perfect creation of the universe, and there should be no shame or hesitation in recognizing such. Part of moving to a higher state of consciousness, of awareness, is a symbolic baptism, the anointing of the chosen with warm oil, which symbolizes rebirth in the spirit eye, closer to godhead.” His eyes drifted to Patty, who seemed entranced. “Please, drink more. The nectar is sweet, is it not?”

The women did as instructed, Allie again pretending to sip, and after five more minutes of blather, the other women’s eyes appeared glassy, their looks faraway. When the swami stood and touched each of their foreheads with cool fingers, Allie did her best to mimic the hypnotized stare and stoned expression.

The swami nodded and held out a hand, palm up. “I will return for the ceremony in a moment. In the meantime, meditate upon the divine bliss that is ours to enjoy as holy treasure – the universe’s reminder of our collective divinity, celebrated in joyous union. It is love energy we are imbued with, the highest form there is, and I will show you how to harness it to speed your enlightenment.” He raised his goblet and toasted them, and all but Allie and Baba Raja drained their cups. The swami carried his goblet with him and slipped through the doorway to his private chambers, leaving them alone.

Patty swayed sleepily to the polyrhythmic beat of the music, and one of the locals ran her fingers through her hair with a spellbound stare. Allie scanned the room for anything that looked like a statue of Kali, but didn’t see anything. Sensing the ceremony would be something she’d rather avoid, she stood and tiptoed to the swami’s doorway and peered past the half-open door into the room. There was a massive bed in an adjoining chamber, its headboard the size of a car, and she eyed the wood-paneled walls of the outer room before her gaze settled on a towering display case in the sleeping chamber, opposite the bed. She gasped when she saw the glowing statue of the dancing goddess, and took a step toward it when she was startled by a sound in the antechamber. A door on the far side of the room opened and the swami stepped out.

He was surprised to see Allie at the door and frowned before composing his face in the familiar, peaceful expression that adorned the countless images of him that filled the ashram. “What is it, my child?” he asked.

“I…I’m sorry. I need to use the bathroom. I…I don’t feel well.”

“Of course. There is one off the ceremony room. Come, I will show you,” he said, and strode toward her.

“Thank you, Swami Baba Raja,” she intoned, doing her best to slur slightly, convinced that he’d drugged the juice to make the women more pliable.

He took her arm and led her out of the antechamber, taking care to close the door before showing Allie to a bathroom around the corner from where the women were sitting in a drugged fog.

Allie entered and noted that, unlike the dorms, this bathroom had the latest high-priced Japanese toilet, as well as gold faucets that poured into an onyx bowl sink. She used the facilities and inspected herself in the mirror, shuddering at the thought that it might be two-way glass, which would be perfectly in keeping with the swami’s tactics. When she returned to the ceremony area, Patti was shedding her top and the Portuguese girl was rubbing oil on her hands in preparation to anoint her, Allie presumed.

“I…I’m sorry, Swami, something’s wrong,” Allie said. “I think I might be having an allergic reaction to the juice. It can happen.”

Baba Raja looked more annoyed than concerned, but nodded in understanding. “Do you have medicine for this…affliction?”

“I carry it in my purse, but the front desk has everything…”

“Tell them it is an emergency,” the swami said, his stare now on Patty’s naked form, her smooth bronze skin shining with oil as the Portuguese girl went to work. “Do not tarry.”

Allie hurried to the main residence entrance, where Jadhav sat in a chair, reading. He looked up in surprise at Allie, who explained that she was having an adverse reaction and needed her medicine.

“I shall accompany you,” he said, his tone alarmed, no doubt afraid of the ramifications of a dead, drugged American at the ashram.

“No need. It’s not fatal, just makes it hard to breathe. I’ll be fine once I get my meds.”

Jadhav looked unconvinced, but nodded. “As you think best.”

Allie ducked out the main doors and rushed to the admission area, where a new woman was humming to herself behind the counter. “Yes?”

Allie explained she needed her bag, and the woman went in search of it. When she returned, she handed the sack to Allie and watched without expression as she rooted around in it for her backpack. Allie dropped her Indian cell phone on the floor with a curse, and the woman leaned to pick it up. Allie palmed her U.S. phone case and slipped it into her waistband at her back as the woman was distracted, and then pretended to extract a small pill before handing the bag back to the woman, who replaced the cell phone in its recesses. “Thank you,” Allie said. “That was my last tablet.”

“Will you be okay?”

“I hope so.” Allie pretended to place the imaginary pill in her mouth and dry swallow it. “Are you open all night, just in case?”

“Yes. Those seeking bliss come when they come. Let us know if you need anything.”

“I will. Thank you.”

The woman watched as Allie walked away, a troubled expression on her face, and then shuffled to the rear of the building with Allie’s sack.

Allie made her way to Drake’s room and rapped softly on the door. After a handful of seconds he cracked it open and she shouldered her way in.

“Guess I don’t need to ask how it went,” he said, eyeing her with a frown.

“He tried to drug me. The other girls went for it hook, line, and sinker. It was getting sexy-time when I bowed out.”

Drake brightened. “You did?”

“I pretended I was having a bad reaction to the dope. He bought it. Besides, he had his hands full with the other four. But the most important part is that I saw the idol.”

“Where?”

“That’s the tough part. It’s in his bedroom, in a case about ten feet off the ground.”

“Can we get in there?”

“I saw some windows. We’ll have to check them out from outside, but they looked wide enough.”

Drake nodded. “So what do you want to do?”

She held her phone aloft with a grin. “Have camera, will travel. I say we wait until everyone’s asleep, and make our move.”

They were interrupted by a pounding on the door. Allie tossed Drake the phone and he slid it beneath his pillow as Allie went to unlock it. When she opened the door, Jadhav stood in the opening, a guard by his side, the little man’s eyes burning like embers in the dark of the walkway.

Delhi, India

Indiana Singh watched three go-go dancers bump and grind to the pounding techno beat of an internationally heralded DJ spinning tunes from his station on the raised stage. Singh took another swig of champagne and closed his eyes, letting the rhythm shake him to his roots, the alcohol a welcome relief after days of sleepless tension.

Kitty Kat, an upscale club that catered to the city’s elite, was jumping. The crush of bodies undulating on the dance floor was a nightly mating ritual for the privileged, and the cost of admission to the exclusive venue exorbitant – but not tonight, on Singh’s last outing in New Delhi on his victory lap.

He was now a rich man; only a tiny fraction of the planet possessed more than he, and he had decided to spend some of it living large for a night on the town before leaving forever, his ticket to Sri Lanka already purchased, a new life calling to him beneath a palm tree on a secluded white sand beach.

The DJ yelled into his microphone and the crowd went wild, hands waving in the air as the computerized lights overhead strobed and spun and changed color. Singh opened his eyes and rubbed them with a trembling hand, suddenly light-headed from the unaccustomed alcohol. A young woman at the bar next to him batted her eyes flirtatiously and he smiled, his teeth glowing white in the black lights shining from the ceiling. She toasted him with a champagne flute and turned to whisper something to her friend, another woman wearing expensive designer jeans and a top that cost as much as his motorbike.