A visitation.

I finished attaching the pistol grip to the Mossberg 500. Re-adjusting the sling and barrel would have to wait until morning. I put it away into the inexpensive nylon case I'd bought for it and zippered it shut. I was exhausted and it was late. I could hear the soft echoes of Aisling's snores from inside the flask that is her mobile home.

I was in one of Laurel's guest bedrooms, with a window facing the San Francisco Bay. I could see the lights of the city off in the distance.

I faded off into a deep sleep.

Not unexpectedly, I found myself back in Ireland, on the sacred Hill of Tara. I saw Ogma standing before me, and I immediately dropped to my knees and averted my eyes.

"Rise, my son.", He spoke to me softly.

"To what do I owe the honor, my father...?" I murmured.

"Not been feeling yourself lately, have you?" He asked, apropos of nothing.

"No," I stammered.

"Perhaps your piety has been slipping a bit of late? It has been some time since you were last in America, and the first time on her other coastline, yes?", Ogma asked rhetorically.

I nodded twice. "I have been struggling, yes, father."

"But what has your misfortune taught you?", implored Ogma

"That sometimes I need to depend on others?", I offered.

"Yes, and?", asked Ogma, in a Socratic manner.

"That I have perhaps been neglecting my geas to you.", I said, looking at the soft grassy ground of Tara.

"Not once did you consider visiting the very modern campus of UNLV....", sighed Ogma.
"...and you, a computer scientist. At least today you came to your senses and visited UC Berkeley; You do know what you need to do, though?"

"I do, father." I said, not lifting my eyes.

"You know Aisling needs reassurance that you are keeping pious and committed to the pursuit of knowledge.", He continued.

"I do, father.", I repeated.

"You have at least drawn emotionally closer to your teammates. Especially this Greek-American woman."

I blushed but said nothing. Ogma let this last sentence hang in the air, and let me writhe in my own conflicted thoughts and fantasies about Laurel. I keep telling myself, "it's just the PTSD talking.", and I know it's true...but it doesn't make it any less painful or my heart any less sick for the moment.

Ogma broke the silence, an act of mercy...

"You do right by the boy Gair, but take care you do not overshadow or smother him. He is a divine cousin, not your brother. We will confer more on this later.
Now look at me my son."

I looked up as I was commanded, into father's eyes.

"I have allowed you to be humbled for a time; your suffering was not without purpose. I am sorry for the pain I let you endure, but I sought to impress upon you the seriousness of these endeavors, and to give a kick to your complacency. You have not been yourself lately. When you wake you will feel differently about yourself. You will find you can do things which seemed only possible in dreams. You will find things you believed you could do in life were merely shadows, dreams, phantoms. It is because you are less pious than many of my Scions that I made you endure this. I expect you to re-dedicate yourself, Breandan, from this day forward. Aisling, too. She has not been put to good use. Your failure to lead her has caused her present confusion, especially with respect to her emotions."

Ogma paused to let the winds gather and blow through Tara before continuing.

"I have been discussing your situation with Lugh. Since you live part of the year in Lyon, France, which was named for Lugh, it seemed appropriate. He will let you understand the ways of the sky and winds, as I have asked. Pursuit of divine knowledge is as equally valid as pursuit of mundane knowledge. But as regards mundane knowledge, you have dallied long enough. Your teammates are counting on you to salvage the computer you recovered from the compound. I am expecting you to do your utmost to help them recover the data. Yours is the best mind for the task. Spend time with the UC Berkeley Computer Science faculty if you must, to regain your confidence."

"This I promise, my father.", I said.

"Good.", said Ogma. "Now rest until the sun rises over the bay of San Francisco."

I awoke with a fuzzy head, and my face wet with tears. Then I remembered Ogma's visitation clearly in every detail. I breathed deeply, looked out across the San Francisco Bay from my window, and decided a shower sounded mighty good to me.