Chapter 18

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It had been a shock to see the riots emerge so quickly and violently the previous week. Laura had believed she had the anti-Aeon protest movement well in hand. But the rabble had forgotten their place, and badly overstepped permissible bounds. It was one thing to scream angry slogans, another to take up arms. Nick had been attacked and threatened. He had fled like a dog with its tail between its legs. All in the face of natural men far his inferior.

It was a humiliation. It could never happen again. Laura would make sure that next time, the Aeons were prepared.

Nevertheless, something good may have come of the debacle. Nick's nat girlfriend, Sarah Trenton, was dead. A victim of the riots, burned so badly a DNA test was required to identify her, buried in a common grave with a hundred other victims of the New York Energy Riots.

Nick had reacted to the news by disconnecting from the ether. He was distraught. It was Laura's role to reassure him.

Since she had been a young girl, Laura knew she had a great destiny to fulfill. After she'd received the MindWave, she'd realized the implant was the instrument that would allow her to achieve that destiny, and that all other Aeons would follow her ascent.

And the other Aeons had slowly accepted her beliefs. Some were impressionable like Abril, and accepted the truth without prodding. Others like Kobus were more argumentative and prone to skepticism. Regardless, she had convinced them all to accept their elevated place in the universe by means of promises of glory, tastes of pleasure, or threats and bullying.

All except for Nick. He was the only one she'd been unable to fully convert. It was curious, because at first glance, she'd thought Nick's personality was weak. By now, she had invested more time in him than in any Aeon, and yet his relationship with Sarah was egregious evidence that he persisted in holding onto the misguided values he'd learned before becoming an Aeon.

While Nick was sometimes maddening, his independence also made him intriguing. It wasn't so much that he openly contradicted her; that only happened occasionally. More often he simply kept his own counsel. Laura knew that one day, she would be able to bring him fully over to her. It was part of her destiny.

Perhaps today would be that day. Possibly the trauma of losing his nat girlfriend would finally show Nick the foolishness of sympathizing with an inferior race.

And so Laura pulled herself out of the ether and ordered her driver to bring her from her rented residence in the upper floors of the Empire State Building to Nick's parents' flat on Fifth Avenue. She would be by Nick's side during this moment of pain. She would teach him to understand it was not a tragedy, but an escape, an event that would allow him to reach his full potential.

Her physical body was already clean and made up; she had taught her MindWave to take her through the ritual of combing her hair and applying cosmetics on Autopilot. To match her pale complexion, she donned a flowing, yet flattering, white dress, not unlike some of the ones she wore in the ether. She complemented the dress with fat pearl earrings and a matching necklace.

Her limo slowed as it steered around the debris still clogging some of the streets. During the twenty-minute car ride, she fidgeted nervously with the small electronic device she clutched in her fingers. She was uncomfortable being disconnected from her normal habitat of the ether. Discontent with being limited. Limited by her own senses, to the news broadcast on the radio, to the speed of the car. Why did it take twenty minutes to reach Nick when she should be able to reach him with a thought?

Steel-reinforced security gates were being fitted to the Lal family's building as she arrived. She strode past the workmen, through the threshold and directly to the elevator without even looking down at the squat doorman.

When Laura arrived at Nick's penthouse, and was taken through the piles of shattered glass and broken furniture to his room by the maid, she found him disconsolate, unshaven, wearing a long terrycloth robe at the desk she remembered him recreating in the ether. He did not rise to greet her.

She paused in the doorway, cursing herself for her awkwardness, for not remembering how to interact in the physical world. She would need to relearn these social skills if she was to fulfill her destined role.

Finally she stepped into the room and stood over Nick, clumsily putting an arm across his shoulders.  She soothed him. "Nick, don't despair. You will get through this. We will get through this together."

As Nick continued to sob, Laura looked down upon him and instead of pity and compassion, she felt anger and contempt.

Anger at him for being so pathetic, for being enthralled by a woman so inferior to him, so beneath Laura herself. Contempt for his sadness at the passing of a nat's insignificant life.

After these thoughts had settled in Laura's mind, Nick finally looked up from his despair. She saw the bandage covering the ragged cut across his forehead and realized this symbol of his vulnerability just made her more incensed.

Nick said "Thank you for coming, Laura. The worst part of it is that the last words I spoke to her were cruel. I rejected her, I told her I couldn't trust her."

Laura twisted her lips into a closed mouth smile and said, "Then you finally told her the truth." Her forearm still lingered on his shoulders, her fingers working awkwardly at the base of his skull.

Nick recoiled away from Laura's arm, his eyebrows knitting in outrage. "Why is that the truth?  Why must that be the truth?"

"Because you deserve better. Because we deserve better. Sarah couldn't even decide if she loved you. Soon you will realize it is ridiculous to spend your days crying about a single nat who couldn't see that by your very nature you deserved her devotion. Her worship."

"Wor- worship?" Nick struggled to work his mouth around the word.  He stood, indignant, forcing Laura to step back. She saw now that the cut of his robe emphasized his tall, athletic build.

Just then the maid knocked and entered with a tray of coffee. She discreetly ignored the uncomfortable scene in the room and set the tray down on Nick's desk. Laura was struck by the maid's deferential manner, as if the maid understood Nick's greatness better than Nick himself did.

"Mr. Lal, there is a man here who says he has come with a delivery from..." evidently the maid's training in discretion was outmatched by the news she was delivering, and she swallowed nervously before continuing in a meek voice. "... from Sarah Trenton."

Nick's face went blank and he reached for a bone china cup and the matching coffee pot, as if occupying himself with such a normal routine would help his mind cope with the overwhelming situation.

Laura filled the silence by turning to the maid imperiously and saying, "Send him away. Now's not a good time for Nick, and clearly whatever Sarah sent doesn't matter-"

"No!" Laura turned in surprise at being cut off. Nick looked almost embarrassed by the loudness of his voice, and he continued in a soft tone, looking down at the coffee cup in his hand.  "Let him in. Thank you, Flora." He ignored the irate look Laura shot in his direction.

A moment later, a middle-aged man of average height in an ill-fitting suit was escorted into the room by the maid, who introduced him as a Mr. Ian Zuckerman and then retreated to stand just behind his left shoulder. Laura marveled at how the athletic builds and comely features of herself and Nick contrasted with the squat and unattractive natural humans who faced them.

She turned up her nose and made a long, derisive sigh. She was wasting too much time dealing with nats today.

Nick spoke in a weary voice. "Mr. Zuckerman, please, what delivery do you have?"

Zuckerman looked around the room uneasily and responded in an earthy Brooklyn accent, "This is a day or two late. I had a hell of a time finding you. You are Mr. Nick Lal, right?"

Laura stared at the nat, instinctively chafing that he did not know Nick's name. "Of course he's Vinicius Lal. This is his home."

Zuckerman didn't pay her any mind. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled a black velvet pouch out of an inner pocket. "Your maid tells me Sarah passed away recently. Please accept my condolences." He thrust the black pouch in Nick's direction.

Nick's face drained of color and he backed away towards a corner of the den, his hand shaking so violently that his coffee cup clattered in its saucer.

Laura stepped in front of him protectively. "What kind of bauble could someone like Sarah Trenton ever give Vinicius Lal?"

Zuckerman's eyes narrowed and he looked at Laura with an expression of uncomprehending contempt. It was not worth Laura's time to correct his uncouth manner. She deflected his stare with a mockingly inquisitive smile.

Zuckerman shrugged silently and emptied the contents of the pouch into the thick fingers of his right hand.

Even Laura couldn't help watching Zuckerman's hand as he deliberately reached out towards the desk, and set the gift down with a firm clinking noise. He pulled his hand away to reveal the item to the room.

It was a simple, well-worn silver cross, hung on a long silver chain.

Laura winced as the sound of Nick's coffee cup shattering on the cold, marble floor echoed down the empty hallways of his apartment.

***

Sarah thought back to what had transpired after her fight with Nick. By the time her plane had landed and she was in the white minivan heading back to the ranch, she had been horrified to hear radio reports of chaotic rioting breaking out in New York and other major American cities, but she'd been unable to do anything about it while in transit.

As soon as she'd returned to the ranch, she'd checked the news with her TacWave, only to learn that the situation had deteriorated even further. The riots were centered near Nick's apartment, and the rioters were targeting the wealthy - especially MindWave users. Her only comfort was the knowledge that Nick had at his disposal the means to foresee the riots and escape any danger. No doubt, he had fled New York long before the riots escalated.

"What's going on?" she had demanded as she burst into Willy's office. She saw that Colonel Jaeger was seated in the visitor's chair facing Willy's desk, as if the two were engaged in conversation.

"Sarah, New York is just the tip of the iceberg. The country is close to tearing itself apart," replied Willy grimly, looking up from Jaeger. "Conditions are just getting too bad. It's a harsh winter and no one can afford heating. People are freezing and they know soon they'll be starving. They're taking out their anger wherever they can."

"I know people can't afford heating, but how can we have starvation? I thought we make all the food we need practically for free? That's what Nick's parents' company does."

Jaeger scowled and glanced at Willy at the mention of Nick's name. He turned back to Sarah and explained impatiently, "Langar can make all the food we need in their laboratories. But with energy prices rising so high, we can't ship it around the country at an affordable price."

"Can't the government do anything, sir?"

Jaeger continued, "Until some new genius does for energy what the Lals did for food, energy costs money. And the government is running out of money."

"But..."

"But what?"

Sarah was taken aback, unsure of what to say in the face of Jaeger's sudden scorn.

Willy broke in, "Sarah, it's a difficult time for everyone. It's not your fault."

"Why are people burning down the cities? That won't create food. Why don't they go work on farms instead?" she protested, not really expecting an answer but needing to vent her frustration.

Jaeger rubbed his hands together and rejoined the conversation in his characteristic languid condescending tone. "They're burning things because that's what people do when they're hungry. You want to build a farm? First you need land. Land isn't cheap, and neither is fertilizer. And if you manage to get both, you'll have a crop in six months if you're lucky. What are you going to eat until then?"

Sarah stared at him dumbly as she processed what he was saying. She knew all of these things in the abstract; she'd been watching this crisis slowly unfold for most of her life. She had gotten used to assuming they would always come to a head at some time in the future. Now it seemed that the future had suddenly arrived, and she was caught off guard, barely able to make sense of things.

Jaeger continued, "And they're burning the prosperous neighborhoods because the wealthy still have food and gas, and they aren't sharing. And perhaps the smarter rioters understand that part of the reason energy prices are so high is because of fuel hoarding and speculation by some of those rich."

Sarah instinctively rolled her shoulders to loosen them up. It was time for her to get over her shock and go into action. "What are we going to do?"

Jaeger looked away angrily as Willy stood and walked around his desk and put a sympathetic arm on her shoulder. "For now, nothing."

She looked into his eyes, desperate for him to listen. Nick could help. He wanted to help. How could she explain? "But... but I know some of those rich people. Maybe I can convince them to help. They're good people, really. They know what's happening is wrong, we just have to show them how to cooperate."

"Maybe they are good, and maybe you could convince them," said Willy. He grimaced. "But you can't appeal to Nick now."

"What! Why?" protested Sarah, pulling away from the hand he still held on her shoulder. "Just now, when maybe I can do some good? Nick runs an energy company!"

Willy renewed his firm grip on her shoulder. "The most violent rioting is in his neighborhood. We haven't seen him leave his building, but we did see armed rioters enter it, right around the time his MindWave seems to have been shut off. He could be... in serious trouble."

Nick caught in the riots? How could he have let that happen? The room spun around and she leaned into Willy's arm for support. "We can't let him get hurt. We've got to do something!" blurted Sarah.

Jaeger cleared his throat and Willy took his arm off Sarah's shoulder and walked back around to his desk. Jaeger spoke: "We're not going to do anything, Lieutenant."

Sarah turned to Willy. She felt her voice trembling as she spoke. "Willy, when I first came to the ranch, you promised me I wouldn't have to do any evil. But standing by and doing nothing at a time like this is evil, too. Can't we-"

Jaeger cut her off. "Sarah, a long time ago I graduated from West Point. I spent a foolish amount of money on a shiny golden class ring that displayed my class motto: Do No Evil."

He splayed out his fingers and held out his hands for Sarah to see.

"You're not wearing a ring, sir."

"I took that ring off years ago. Do you know why?"

Sarah shook her head, barely understanding what Jaeger was talking about.

"Because I realized that motto was a lie. To defend a country, sometimes you do have to do evil."

Sarah looked to Willy but he averted his gaze. Jaeger looked her up and down with cold grey eyes. "You've become quite close to Nick, Lieutenant," he said.

"Is that a problem, sir?" She responded in a tone she knew was a bit too sharp. "My intimacy with him gives me more influence over him. Isn't that the purpose of my assignment?"

"Your assignment was to make him have feelings for you, not to develop feelings for him. You've spent weeks going on dates yet you have no valuable intelligence findings to show for it. And now your feelings for Nick are clouding your judgment. That argument you had with him in the middle of the street was ill considered. And wanting to make up for it by charging in to save him from a crisis of his own making is equally misguided."

He paused, apparently happy to let Sarah stammer. She had been afraid of accusations that her judgment was impaired by feelings for Nick. She had imagined ways to defend herself from them, but now, in the moment, she couldn't think of the right words to say in her defense.

Jaeger continued, "Your inability to keep your feelings in check is a cause for concern but it's not the main reason why I'm pulling you off your assignment."

Off her assignment? Sarah blinked hard. Would she never see Nick again? "Why, then, sir?" she managed to choke out.

"Because you've made enemies, and you're too expensive to replace," Jaeger explained in a resigned tone.

"Enemies? What do you mean?"

The Colonel glanced towards Willy, who explained the situation. "Laura Mayer. As you know, she's a close business associate of Nick. And she wants to be even closer to Nick than she is now. You've gotten in her way and she's been taking steps against you."

"I can handle myself," Sarah said, unconsciously putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward slightly.

"You don't know what you're up against. Michael's been raising alarms about this for weeks. You've become an obsession for Laura. Your relationship with Nick is not only making her jealous. It also threatens the whole belief system she's created for herself and tried to push on the other Aeons. She wants to believe she, Nick, and the other Aeons are intrinsically superior to naturals. Yet Nick's devotion to a natural girlfriend ruins that illusion. She's been looking for an excuse to get you out of the picture.

"We gave you layers of cover stories but Laura is resourceful. She'll soon find the cracks. You know her psychological profile. She's paranoid enough to spend hundreds of hours turning over every detail of your identity. Yet she views you as just another nat, not a form of life that's equal to Aeons like her. She'll have no compunctions about harming you if that's what it takes to get you out of Nick's life. And she's a dangerous woman, who uses whatever means are necessary to achieve her aims - bribery, sex, blackmail, and violence."

Sarah clenched her fists in frustration. Damn Michael, he'd probably been so jealous that he'd exaggerated the threat from Laura to speed the end of her assignment with Nick. That was enraging and unprofessional, but at least it was understandable on some level. It made more sense than what Willy and Jaeger were saying.

Willy softened his tone. "Let's assume all she does is blow your cover with Nick. Once your cover is blown, your mission will have to end anyway, and worse yet, Nick will think you've betrayed him. And as you've pointed out, feelings of betrayal can only have negative consequences. It's better to bow out now."

"Damn it, Willy, just give me a chance to fix all of this!" Sarah stepped forward towards Willy. "He's close to coming over to our side."

"Back down right now, Sarah." Jaeger spoke slowly and calmly, yet his voice still carried a layer of understated menace. Even through her anger and desperation, Sarah realized that arguing with Jaeger was just going to make her situation more difficult. She backed out of the room without another word.

She walked slowly down the hallway towards her quarters, hating herself every step of the way. She wasn't so much afraid of Jaeger as she was ashamed and confused at herself. If she loved Nick, how could she have let Jaeger and

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