Chapter 16

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Reverend Tracy Cruz' hand froze as she came across the last piece of mail. Paper mail was rare except at this time of year, when some people still sent old-fashioned paper holiday cards to each other. Yet this piece of mail was no holiday card. It was a letter from Sparkwise Energy. "Speaking of the Devil," she said aloud. Sparkwise had come from nothing a year ago to now be the largest energy company in the nation. It was front page news everywhere, because it was being investigated by just about every government body in the world for various acts of corruption and market manipulation.

She shrugged and tore open the envelope to retrieve the letter.

Dear Reverend Doctor Lawson,

Cruz shook her head at the fact that Sparkwise had not updated its database since she had taken over the church from Doc Lawson. Then she continued reading.

Enclosed, please find a small Christmas donation to your church. Se hope that you will remind your congregation that they are held in the highest esteem by their friends at Sparkwise Energy.

Cruz nearly swore out loud when she saw the amount printed on the check at the bottom of the letter. It was enough to support the National Unity Church's activities for months.

She felt her face reddening, and the letter trembled in her hands. She sat like that for a long time. Eventually, she heard Ricardo calling through the doorway that led to the altar. "Honey, the worshippers are here waiting for your sermon."

"Sorry, I was just finalizing the text. I'll be there in a second."

Cruz had planned to give her congregation another of her impotent exhortations to keep their faith in the face of material hardship. Now, as she sat holding the letter from Sparkwise, she realized she had a better sermon to give.

She pulled open the drawer in Doc's old desk and rummaged around his old belongings until she'd found what she was looking for. She thrust the item inside her vestments and headed out of the small office to the altar, where her small congregation was waiting for her.

As always, Ricardo was standing in the back, recording her sermon. He would post it online for those congregants who were too unwell - or too deep in despair - to attend the service. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she felt her sense of agitation harden into resolve.

She stood at the podium and waited until she had the crowd's full attention. "Brothers and Sisters, today our church has received a large donation."

She held up the letter from Sparkwise, check still attached, for all to see.

"But I intend to give it back." She stated.

"Give it back?" gasped an elderly lady called old Ma Watson from the back of the church.

Cruz saw Ricardo looking up from his camera, concern on his features. He will understand, she reassured herself, and continued speaking.

"The donation is from Sparkwise Energy. I don't know why the misguided souls who run this parasitic corporation would extend their largess to our humble congregation. Surely they have taken so much from our community, and other communities all around the nation, that it causes them no inconvenience to offer us this gift."

And now she reached into her vestments and pulled out the item she had found in Doc's desk.

"We will not accept such false charity from the like of the Aeons. No. We will accept nothing from them at all."

She flicked the wheel of Doc's old lighter and a flame burst to life. She raised her voice. "Jesus Christ said to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. I believe we must also render unto Satan what is Satan's."

She touched the flame to the paper, igniting it instantly.

"And so today, before you all, I'm giving it back."

The crowd watched silently as the paper caught fire. After several moments, the flames began to lick at her hand and she dropped the letter to the ground.

"Give it back!" cried out old Ma Watson from the back as she pulled herself to her feet. "Give it back!"

"Give it back, give it back!" echoed one congregant after another.

In moments, they were all on their feet, chanting the mantra so loudly Cruz thought maybe the Aeons could actually hear them.

***

Nick was again attending the weekly Sparkwise energy strategy meeting, debating the next steps for the company with Laura and Kobus. Instead of the vague unease and suspicion he had felt in previous sessions, now he felt betrayal.

During the attack on the Sparkwise servers a few days earlier, when he'd been knocked onto the pile of secret documents, he'd had a few moments to read one of them. And what that letter revealed had obliterated what remained of his faith in Laura and Kobus.

"Bladdy hell, Laura, if we go into Nigeria now, before we have our militia together, the Petro China guys are going to totally fokk with us. You saw what they did to the Hindustani concession a few years back. Ingenieurs going missing, pipelines saboteered, even a hijacked tanker. Vir al wat ons weet, that attack on our servers was launched by Petro China. To play the energy game in Africa, you need muscle." Kobus slapped a white, furry paw on the table to emphasize his point.

"It's definitely a risk, I don't deny it," responded Laura. "But the concession pricing on the table now is the cheapest it's ever going to get. We're only six months away from having an effective paramilitary capability in the region. How much damage can the Chinese do in that time?"

"Ask the Hindustanis! They can do a whole lot of skade, ne."

"We won't even have many assets in the concession area for another year. We'll just have Abril's engineering company digging some small exploratory wells, and finding the gradients for pipelines and roads. We can defend a few small drilling and engineering teams with our Algerians."

"Ja no, we could. If we weren't also counting on the Algerians to train a local militia of Nigerians. If the Algerians are busy babysitting our ingenieurs, how are they also going to train the Nigerians?"

Laura leaned back in her seat and sighed heavily. "Damn. Maybe we can hire more Algerians?"

"Jy sê vir my. You're the one who knows the mercenaries."

Nick knew that he needed to cooperate with the government's investigation into Sparkwise. But while the information he had seen was enough to convince him that Laura and Kobus were dishonest, it was nothing that would lead to their criminal convictions. Even as he turned against his fellow Aeons, he would need to further gain their trust so that they would reveal their most vital secrets to him.

Laura had repeatedly criticized him for not being fully engaged in running Sparkwise. The way to gain her trust was to show he was involved and could help solve their problems. "Algerians, Nigerians. Let's think a little broader than 'gerians."

Both Kobus and Laura stared at him blankly. Perhaps they were surprised by the fact that he was making a constructive comment. They probably thought of him as more of an observer than a participant. That was exactly the impression he needed to change. "Why do the mercenaries have to be Algerians?"

"I know the Algerians. We've used them to guard our export facilities in Marrakesh and a refinery in Abu Dhabi," responded Laura. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

"What about Cameroon? Their government decommissioned a lot of their military about a year ago. They must have some out of work soldiers who would love the chance to guard an oil field. And Cameroon has more cultural affinity with Nigeria than Algeria does; Cameroonian soldiers might even be able to communicate with the local population."

"Groot, so they can apologize in local dialect when they verkragting en roof?" muttered Kobus.

"Oh, come on!" groaned Laura. "That was an isolated incident. The press didn't even find out about it. And in restitution, we docked a month of that soldier's pay and gave it to the girl's family."

Nick held up his hands, palms facing outwards, hoping to avoid an argument between Laura and Kobus. "Well, will the Cameroonians work?"

Kobus thought for a moment and then his face brightened into a toothy, bearish smile. "Ja, it's a goeie idee. Great thinking, bra. This could turn our whole Nigeria operation around. I'll look into it."

Nick waited expectantly.

Laura saw his expression and snapped at him, "Kobus can't find this out using his MindWave. He'll have to get on the holophone with nats. Talking with them takes time."

Nick's lips curled slightly at the term. Nats. How contemptuous of the countless men and women who weren't lucky enough to have a MindWave. It was amazing that Laura had even noticed one of the Algerian mercenaries they had hired to protect their offices in Abu Dhabi had raped and blinded the daughter of a poor Bangladeshi immigrant family. Just one nat swatting another. How could she believe the Aeons' destiny was to save humanity when she had so little respect for her fellow men and women?

If Laura noticed Nick's look of disgust at her words, she didn't let on. She continued with the meeting agenda. "Our final item is our American operation. It looks like we're going to have another harsh winter, and as was true last year, other suppliers are having trouble getting their product to market. On January first, we're making another twenty percent increase in our pricing of heating oil, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel.

"And that's it for today," sighed Laura contentedly. "Meeting adjourned. Are you guys heading over to Abril's Christmas orgy?"

"Ja! Last year Abril created an endless lake of chocolate liqueur populated with dronk nymphs and satyrs.  Ek kan nie wag to see what kind of hedonisme she's got for this year!" replied Kobus. Nick saw that he was already breathing heavily and licking his lips at the thought of the orgy.

They both looked at Nick.

"Uh, I'll catch up later. I have some family Christmas stuff to do..." he responded awkwardly. He knew he should accompany Laura and Kobus in the ether to fully gain their trust. But he had one Christmas engagement he didn't want to cancel.

"I thought you disowned your family. Are you chasing your nat girlf-"

Laura's voice was cut off as Nick disconnected himself from the ether and appeared back in his private apartment in the real world.

***

Sarah was waiting downstairs from Nick's apartment, in the lower level of the finely appointed two-story lobby of his building. But instead of appreciating the beautiful furniture and artwork with which the lobby was appointed, she was tapping her foot with impatience. It was a cold and windy day. Nick was lucky his doorman had let her wait inside and given her some warm tea. Otherwise she'd be even angrier.

"I'm really sorry, Sarah. I got caught up in something," Nick said as he emerged from his private elevator, holding his hands up almost defensively.

"I know manipulating the energy markets is very important to you," replied Sarah with a roll of her eyes. "But given that you have a computerized communications center in your brain that's more powerful than most spy satellites, you might have at least sent me a text message. I've been waiting for twenty minutes."

"I know, I'm sorry!" retorted Nick, testily. "I just got caught up and couldn't get away."

He walked forward through the lobby and pushed through the large glass door, before the liveried doorman could scamper over and open it for him.

Sarah's anger suited the role she was playing as a girlfriend who'd been left waiting. But she didn't have to act. She was disappointed in Nick, and angry at herself for believing in him. She calmed herself; she still had a job to do; she could not let her temper get too hot. "It's fine. Let's just go." She followed him out the door.

"Back to the park again, right?" said Nick, taking a left turn to head towards the Central Park's 86th street transverse entrance, which was only a short walk away.

Sarah could see a few blocks ahead, past the entrance to the transverse, a few dozen people were milling about holding up signs. Probably more protests about unemployment or energy prices, but she was too distracted to read the placards. She was more concerned that Nick had forgotten something they needed.

"Yes, to the park," she said haltingly. "But don't we need the..."

"Oh no." Nick sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. "I forgot to tell the maid to put together a picnic for us! Ah, damn, I'm such an idiot!" His pace slowed.

Sarah waved her hand in the air and walked past him without looking back. "It's all right. I'm sure we can buy something along the way." A gust of frigid winter wind at her from behind, and she instinctively dipped her head down towards her collar.

Nick caught up quickly. "Yeah, I told you, I'm really busy."

Sarah carefully looked at the pavement in front of her to avoid seeming confrontational. "I know, I know. I'm not complaining. The weather's too cold for a picnic even with heat lamps, anyway. Let's just get something indoors. Isn't there a nice deli up ahead?"

Nick seemed to misinterpret her peace offering as sarcasm. "Please don't act this way, Sarah, I'm taking time away from some really important things. My company is facing a tough time and I'm behind on an important project. And I'm even missing my company Christmas party. All because I wanted to talk to you."

The fury rising in Sarah's gut overwhelmed her desire to see the mission through. She had been reprimanded for foolishly defending Nick to Willy, only to learn he wasn't the man she thought he was. And now he was feeding her this bullshit? She planted her legs and put her hands on her hips, furiously thinking of a way to express her anger without stepping out of character. "Company Christmas party? I thought today was our Christmas party!"

Nick stopped and faced her. "I know, I know. Sorry. I'm just busy, that's all!" he said in a mortified tone. Clearly, he was embarrassed. She wasn't sure if he really felt sorry towards her, or was just blanching at the prospect of being seen having an argument on the street. If their raised voices attracted the attention of the protestors down the road, Nick would no doubt be heckled and harassed.

Sarah wasn't going to let him off easy just because they were in public. "Should I feel flattered that the great and mighty Nick Lal has deigned to spend some time away from his more important friends? Or should I feel guilty for being the reason that Nick's other friends are being denied the pleasure of his company right now?" Sarah regretted her loud, sarcastic tone immediately. She was over acting her role.

"You know what, forget it!" said Nick angrily. "I had something important I wanted to discuss with you. But maybe you're not someone I should be trusting with my problems."

The two stood frozen in the pavement for several long moments.

Sarah knew what problems Nick was referring to. It had to be Sparkwise. He must be seeking a way out. She had been right about him after all. She felt a rush of remorse at her anger towards him, and of euphoria that the man she'd fallen in love with really did exist. She needed to restrain those emotions and mend the current situation. She had pushed him away in a fit of pique just when he was going to reveal everything to her. "What's wrong, Nick? I really want to help."

Nick's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Sarah realized her change of tack had come off as unnatural. "I think I'd better join my company party. It would be rude not to. I'll see you again soon." He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and jammed it into her hand. "That's for taxi fare home."

He walked past Sarah, and through the glass doors of his apartment building without looking back, leaving Sarah standing on the sidewalk of Central Park West, desperately grasping for a way to regain Nick's trust.

Before she could think of anything to say, she heard Willy's voice through her TacWave. Sarah, I'm issuing an emergency recall order. Your safety is compromised. Return to the ranch immediately by the fastest means available.

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