Chapter 22

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Sarah and Michael were concealed in an old boarded up warehouse near Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side of the Upper Bay where the Hudson and East Rivers met the Atlantic Ocean. From here they had a perfect view of the temple. The augmented vision that had been implanted at the same time as their TacWaves allowed them to see the unfolding scene in detail. Sarah and Michael also had enhanced hearing, but the wind was unfavorable and made overhearing conversations difficult at their present distance. Instead, an array of carefully calibrated laser microphones detected and broadcast conversations within the temple.

Their position was hidden by a holographic projector that emitted a façade of normalcy over their location.

In addition to their surveillance equipment, they were also equipped with two tripod-mounted laser rifles with sights that interfaced directly with their TacWaves for precise targeting. They were to use these weapons only in an emergency.

The business of arranging the four boats that now approached the island had been carried out by Greg Silverstein's team of Demon commandos. Greg had rented the boats with cash, and then offered free passage to the Aeons' island temple. It was well known that the Aeons had offered free food and fuel to all comers. The boats had been filled to capacity with eager passengers within two hours, as news of the free ride spread by word of mouth through the dilapidated neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Some of the pilgrims crammed into each of the leaky craft were actually Greg's commandos, ready to take advantage of the Aeons' rare public appearance by arresting them while they were exposed in the temple.

This raid was possible because their spying on the Aeons had started to bear fruit. Michael was extremely adept at breaking into and navigating encrypted networks. His superiority to Sarah in this respect mirrored her advantage over him in using the TacWave for more physical tasks like hand-to-hand combat.

The Aeons, for all their care, could not protect every foot of the thousands of miles of cables they needed to communicate with each other. Michael had found a number of weak points to hack into.

Michael had not found any evidence of the terrorist attacks that they all suspected Laura had masterminded. But he had found strong evidence for insider trading on the public equity and commodity markets by Laura as an individual, and on behalf of Sparkwise.

Colonel Jaeger had decided to jump on the first concrete incriminating evidence his team had found. Moreover, he had insisted the strike proceed in secret, without even first obtaining a court warrant. Rather than risk the information leaking, he would have his commando team arrest the Aeons and then explain his actions later.

It had been almost a month since Sarah and Michael had started talking again, and by now the damage to their relationship that Sarah's affair with Nick had caused was mostly healed.

Michael turned to Sarah. "Are you ready?"

Sarah didn't pull her eyes away from the scene unfolding in the temple. "It's really up to Greg now." She was still heartbroken at losing her chance to convert Nick, yet also ashamed of her obviously unprofessional feelings for him. She wanted to crush her emotions and focus on proving she deserved to be a member of the team. "Let's see if the Aeons react the way we predicted from their psyche profiles."

As Michael had indicated from his first days tracking her, Laura Mayer was clearly the leader, holding influence over the other three Aeons through her strangely charismatic personality and an unwavering self-assuredness. Her preeminence was evident in the way the other Aeons unconsciously arranged themselves around her and, ever so slightly, dipped their heads when conversing with her. Sarah was sure Laura's dominance was just as strong with the more than fifty other Aeons who weren't present today. They might not be as intimately involved in her plans, yet they all looked to Laura for inspiration and direction.

Abril and Kobus were her key lieutenants. Abril tended to agree rather slavishly with Laura's ideas, but was nevertheless a good executive when given clear instructions. She also had a native artistic talent that made her a natural fit for her rapidly growing architecture and construction firm.

Kobus was more of a free thinker, who challenged Laura frequently. He was also a bit of a joker, even a hedonist, making full use of the worldly pleasures that a MindWave could simulate for its user. But when questioning Laura, he usually allowed himself to be convinced by her, and when his hedonistic desires were sated, he became a competent taskmaster.

And finally, there was Nick. Every time Sarah trained her eyes on him, she unconsciously grimaced and reached up to grasp the old necklace she had given him. She had replaced the old silver chain and icon with a new aluminum copy.

She was convinced he was trying to cooperate with the government's ongoing investigations into Sparkwise. And yet, here he was, standing beside Laura in a ridiculous outfit to help inaugurate her bizarre new religion. It seemed Nick had given up on fitting into the real world and was looking for a new place to belong.

Sarah remembered that feeling, from the time after her mother had died and she'd first been sent to an orphanage. She knew how desperate the need to belong could make a person. Unfortunately, whatever guidance Laura was providing Nick was leading him in the wrong direction. 

She felt her heart opening up to Nick again. And she re-experienced her old desire to explain herself to him and bring him to her side. She squashed it. She was a professional, and Nick was an adult responsible for his own actions.

Nick was the first to pick up on his security team's focus on the four boats heading towards Governor's Island. After a moment, he notified the other Aeons.

Sarah noted with satisfaction that each of the four Aeons behaved as she expected. Kobus strode to the edge of the temple to see if he could get a view of the boats for himself but was careful to remain within earshot of Laura. Abril looked like she'd lost her nerve, and looked to Laura for orders. Nick almost seemed like he had his own plan, but then turned to listen to Laura, too.

Laura stepped to the front of the temple and commanded Abril to stand firm. She then exhorted the Aeons to face whoever was in the boats. She appeared fearless, and her leadership pulled the group back together.

In a few moments, the Aeons' two swift security boats had cut off the four slower moving ferries. Two men went aboard each boat. A sniper team was covering the entire scene from the roof the temple, ready to shoot anyone on the vessels who caused trouble. Sarah's TacWave allowed her to eavesdrop on the Aeon radio signals, and she overheard the security services talking on the radio to Laura. "Lady Laura, the passengers on the four boats appear to be pilgrims, but we can't confirm that without searching them."

Laura's response came back quickly. "How long will a search take?"

"As long as you want, my Lady. We can do a cursory search or a full one."

"Fine. Get it done in five minutes. I want these four boats landing at the same time as the ferry from Battery Park."

Several minutes later, Sarah estimated close to one thousand people had landed on the island and were filing onto the broad stairs leading into the temple. She scanned the faces and saw Greg was near the back of the crowd, dressed to look like just another desperate visitor to the island.

"Bravo squad in position," came Olivia Freeman's voice over the radio. She was in charge of Greg's second squad, whose members Sarah could see near the front ranks of the crowd.

There was less conversation among the throng than Sarah would have expected at such a spectacle, but then she remembered that these so-called pilgrims were hungry and tired. They had come for food and fuel, not entertainment or religious guidance. She saw the Statue of Liberty overlooking the scene, and was reminded of the words huddled masses. She ground her teeth in disgust at the borrowed symbolism.

"Surveillance team, give me a threat analysis," Greg ordered over the quantum-encrypted radio channel the Demon squad was using for this raid.

A row of a dozen guards armed with spears stood at the top of the stairway, impeding the crowd from stepping onto the dais where the Aeons stood. Sarah's enhanced vision allowed her to see that under their long white cloaks, the guards were also equipped with submachine guns. She transmitted the information to Greg in an encrypted signal.

Laura nodded to the captain of her guards, who stepped forward to the edge of the dais at the top of the temple stairway and rapped the bronzed butt of his long wooden spear on the stone floor. The sharp noise got the attention of the crowd.

"Pilgrims, we thank you for your visit today, a visit that will be rewarded in due course." At his words, a ripple of excitement went through the crowd, as spectators jostled to be first in line for food and fuel. "But first," he cried, his voice at a volume calculated to settle the crowd back down, "the Lady Laura will address you."

"Alpha squad, engage and detain Aeons on my mark," said Greg through the quantum-encoded radio. "Bravo squad, you handle the guards."

Sarah's radio crackled with a new signal. "Demon Team, this is Colonel Jaeger. Stand by."

Laura stepped forward to faint applause, holding her head high in a shining brass helmet and taking measured steps as if trying to appear majestic.

Sarah thought she looked like a fool playing dress up. Her façade of greatness would collapse the moment Jaeger gave the command for Greg's squad to act.

"Nice hat, Lady!" a huckster in the crowd called, drawing laughter. Sarah smiled. It appeared she was not the only one who thought the whole event deserved ridicule.

Laura gave no response. She simply stood at the edge of the dais, serenely looking down into the crowd with one foot slightly ahead of the other, her arms relaxed at her side.

Another person yelled out, "Where's the food? We're hungry!"

"Yeah, you robbed us so it's damn well time you gave something back!" came another voice.

A few members of the crowd picked up the reference and began chanting, "Give it back! Give it back!"

The crowd was significantly larger than originally planned by the Aeons, and people were jammed tightly into the half-built temple grounds.  Some members of the throng were growing edgy, and Greg's squad members were struggling to hold their positions. Upon the dais behind them, three Aeons also shifted uncomfortably.

"Boo! Get off the stage and give us our food!" Some young men in the first rank of pilgrims were now trying to push their way past the guards, who held their spears horizontally in front of them to form a barrier. But pilgrims further back in the crowd were also pushing their way forward, perhaps afraid they would get to the food bank too late and return home with empty packs. The weight of the restless crowd was threatening to overwhelm the single line of guards.

Still Laura stood at the top of the raised platform unmoved, and unmoving.

"Colonel, give the command. We can't hold position," said Greg.

"Stand down, Demon squad." For once, Jaeger's tone sounded defeated.

Sarah saw that down on the dais, Laura was smiling.

"What's that Colonel?" Greg's voice registered a mix of outrage and disbelief.

"Stand down. I have orders for us to stand down."

"From whom?"

"From the very top. Now, stand down."

"To hell with this!"

Sarah's attention was drawn to a sudden movement from the crowd. It was Bob Eckers, winding up and throwing something at Laura. She saw knife turning end over end as it sailed straight for Laura's unarmored neck. Sarah saw Kobus leaning forward, intending to pull Laura back, but it was obvious he would not arrive in time save her from the weapon.

As the knife flew towards her, Laura calmly raised her hand. The blade stopped in mid-air and floated before her. There was a short gasp from the crowd. People who had been pushing forward took a step back to watch what was unfolding above them.

Laura inclined her head curtly and the knife dropped to the ground with a heavy metallic clank.

"Eckers, stand down. All Demons, exfiltrate immediately." In the crowd, Greg had lunged between several pilgrims to reach Bob and was physically forcing him towards the docks where the boats were waiting.

Sarah heard the Aeons' security team talking over the radio. "I see a dozen, no two dozen, individuals fleeing. Requesting weapons free."

"I got 'em." It was the voice of the sniper on the roof of the temple. "Permission to engage?"

"Demons, enemy sniper is engaging," Sarah barked into her radio as she reached for her tripod-mounted laser and zeroed in on the sniper.

Am I really going to kill this man? she wondered in disbelief.

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