Chapter 15 — Last Recruit
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***** Chapter 15 — Last Recruit
~ 1 ~ "Hello? This is Tanya, Mr. Leo Roberson’s secretary, calling from Home Construction Company. Am I speaking with Mr. Alberto Mendoza?"
Alberto was final-checking galley proofs for the New University Review. Giving barely half of his attention to the telephone, he answered, "This is Alberto. How may I be of service?" He continued working. Time was pressing.
"Mr. Roberson would like to speak with you about security matters related to the War and Peace Conference. He will be on your campus tomorrow, and he’s hoping that it will be convenient for you to meet with him while he’s there."
The weight of Alberto’s security role pressed yet more heavily on him. With Wanda's connivance, he was stuck with it.
Wanting only to minimize the pressure on himself, he said, "I take a coffee break at 10:00 in the Student Union. I'll be wearing a Panama hat."
"Excellent. Mr. Roberson will be there."
If it's really about security, we can leave the Student Union and take a walk for privacy. The significance of this meeting with Roberson struck Alberto. It was by tailing Mr. Leo Roberson that he had found his Knox Aviation story catapulting above the level of common scandal. The sequence of events passed quickly through his mind: After following Leo to Antonia’s Bar and Grill, Alberto had tracked Leo, Antonia, Hans and Yohanna to an apartment building from which he had seen Yohanna carry the limp body of a woman just minutes before the building was consumed by an eerily unusual fire. He had followed Scott from the destroyed apartment building to New City University’s Natural Sciences building, where he had met Het on the following day. Eventually he had met Esther... Could it be that the War and Peace Conference would become an important part of his ever-growing Knox Aviation Story?
On the next day, as Alberto watched Leo Roberson walking toward him in the Student Union cafeteria, he recalled vividly his first awareness of the man’s existence. In pursuit of information for his scandal story, Alberto had been watching Yohanna Okubo and two other women—one of whom he now knew as Esther—talking together in the Student Union. Uninvited, Leo had sat down with the women, and it had not been long before Alberto had found himself following Leo as Leo followed another man into Reginald Steuben's office. Alberto had been drawn by the excitement of that moment into the Knox Aviation story. Now, the interview with Leo Roberson which he had wanted on that day was at last about to take place, with Alberto sitting near the spot from which he had eavesdropped on Leo’s conversation with the three women. In fact, he might have sat at this very table.
Because of Wanda's insistence that he look the part of Steuben's "security czar", Alberto was wearing a sport jacket and a tie. (Wanda treated him as a younger brother, and privately she called him variants of "My Little Brother Green Card”.)
"I believe you must be Alberto Mendoza." Leo set down his coffee and roll and extended his hand across the table to Alberto.
Alberto slid his chair back and stood up. Shaking Leo’s hand, he said, ”Alberto Mendoza at your service."
"Leo Roberson at yours."
After the two men had sat down, Alberto said, "Your secretary, Tanya, has informed me that you wish to talk with me about a security matter concerning the War and Peace Conference."
Leo smiled at Alberto’s affected formality. "You’ve recalled my secretary’s name, Alberto; you have a good memory. I can understand that it’s important for a newsman.”
Leo was regarding him with such concern that Alberto was surprised. Why was Leo looking at him in the way that Alberto’s father had looked at him while questioning the young Alberto about some trouble in which he was involved? Am I the security matter that he has come to discuss? He said, ”We almost met a year ago, Leo—here in the student union—when I was working on a story."
"Do you know the trade of the man I was following when you were following me, Alberto?”
I'm being interrogated. "No."
"He trades in arms on the black market—very dangerous, very expensive arms."
"Like cloaking technology, Leo?"
Alberto saw a wry smile briefly cover the concern on Leo’s face as he slid a silver pen from his shirt pocket and wrote on a corner of his napkin, which he tore off and rotated for Alberto to read: "Atomic bombs”.
Two men—clearly neither students nor faculty members—were seating themselves at an adjacent table. Leo raised his voice slightly as he said, "I'm pleased, Mr. Mendoza, that you have the afternoon open; it's an impromptu event. As you know, an official tour is scheduled for next week at the Eyrie. Security officials of several foreign nations have requested a preliminary viewing of the Eyrie's physical layout.” Leo wadded up the napkin scrap and slipped it into his pocket.
Alberto frowned. ”I hope, Mr. Roberson, that we have time to finish eating. This is my breakfast."
“It’s mine, too, although this is not my first cup of coffee, of course."
The two men who had sat down at the adjacent table stood and introduced themselves. They were the English and French security officers for the Conference, who—having heard that the Soviets had requested a preliminary tour—had made inquires and had been directed by Tanya to this morning's meeting between Alberto and Leo. Clearly, the security officers regarded Alberto as more important than Leo, whom they saw as only the tour guide. Alberto recognized the men’s names.
They agreed that Leo would drive Alberto up to the mountain-top future salon of the new Countess of Greystone Castle, with the two foreign security officers following in their own cars. Turning his car onto the highway, Leo said, "I understand that you don't have a car befitting your position.”
"How do you know that?"
"Alberto, you did a good job of convincing the French and British security officers that security matters are more safely discussed in public than in closed, bugged offices."
"Okay, I guess you know I don't have an official budget for this job, or even a bugged office."
"Yeah, I guessed it, and my friend Hans Beckerath has told me a little about you and your situation. I think you’re expecting fair payment in kind—which would be information for your news stories."
“That’s right, Leo. Atomic bombs? Are you serious?"
“That's off the record. They’re Soviet-made and they’ve been stolen by the man I was following that day. I'm telling you this because some of the people coming to the War and Peace Conference are coming to deal with this situation—in one way or another.”
"Off the record? Then, why are you telling me this?"
"For your safety, Alberto. You can understand that the people involved in such transactions will not appreciate unwanted press coverage. On the the other hand, Alice T. Cunningham appreciates your having promoted her salon in your Intrigues column and understands that the information that you are gaining is remuneration."
Thinking this over, Alberto was hardly aware of their car’s location. He asked, “Are you delivering some kind of threat to me about my story?"
"No. Although you haven't told me what 'your story' is about, and I’m not asking you about it. I suppose even friendly warnings can seem threatening."
He didn't exactly say that Alice sent him to warn me. "Off the record, Leo, can you tell me why you’ve taken it upon yourself to personally warn me?"
Leo took his eyes off the road for a moment to look seriously at Alberto. "When we’ve finished today's tour, I will, security man to security man, show you some interesting security photographs. They’ll speak for themselves.”
Security officers from many nations were gathered at the Eyrie. Among those nations were the Soviet Union, Mexico and Argentina. Each security officer ranked at the level of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Many spoke to each other by first names. Alberto recognized a few whose names and photographs occasionally appeared in one or more of the many newspapers which he read each day. The Head of the National Police from Argentina knew his father, but the man showed no sign of recognizing Alberto until the tour was over and people were exchanging cards. The Argentine silently offered his card to Alberto, with a wink and a nod of approval.
More than once, Leo had bailed out Alberto when a difficult question had been posed to him during the conference. He had smoothly broken in with some form of, "Alberto and I have discussed that matter..."
At the end of the day, Alberto said with sincere gratitude, "Thanks, Leo for maintaining my credibility with these guys. I was in a tight place a few times. If I hadn’t known about the atomic bombs, I would have thought seriously about quitting after today's ordeal. My gosh, Leo, I am the American security official in this adventure!"
“That's why I delivered your invitation in person, Alberto. You had to be here for your meeting. Let’s go to my office in the contractor’s trailer in the yard."
Walking with Leo to the office, Alberto said, "When I came up here the first time, I was on the other side of the fence, doing some research for my investigative reporting. Construction was just beginning then, and the guards gave me a card with a number to call, in case I was looking for employment. Now the job is practically complete."
“Alberto, that recollection is a good preliminary to viewing the photographs I promised to show you. They were taken on that day, and you are in some of them.”
Also in the photographs was Dominick Mazzatelli, whose place in the world of international organized crime Leo described. Then he said, "You went right to the top, Alberto. There could hardly be a more dangerous man to cross, and he knows who you are, now."
Alberto told Leo about his car being photographed at Dominick's residence, to which he had tracked the female Soviet agent. He refrained, however, from admitting that he had sent his card to Dominick through a bodyguard. I can't change that now, and I'd probably do it again. Is Leo trying to tell me that investigating Knox Aviation is as dangerous as investigating Dominick Mazzatelli?
~ 2 ~ Esmeralda met with Esther for lunch two weeks after returning with Het from their adventure in the Son's House. She found Esther to be a fascinating associate who was far too astute to become one of Esmeralda’s victims. As Mort had said, Esther was a political animal. Esmeralda decided to attempt to cultivate her as an ally, especially as she and Esther both had an interest in Het. She was finding her life much more interesting since she had fallen in with Mortimer Kane. Formerly, Esmeralda had regarded university life as consisting of meaningless games in which she was able to safely play with others’ follies for her own amusement.
It had seemed odd to Esther that Kane had chosen Esmeralda with whom to have an affair, until she discovered that Esmeralda was taking Het with her on her assignment from Kane. Het’s adventure in England with Esmeralda had revealed to Esther a new dimension of Kane’s business. And since his return, Het had been slightly wary of Esther.
During that lunch with Esmeralda, Esther discovered that she and Esmeralda talked more easily about Alberto than they did about Het. That was because of an old agreement between Alberto and Esmeralda to share scandal news. Scandal was of interest to Esther, too. She came to the conclusion that the Dean of Students might sometimes compete with her for Het’s body, but not for Kane’s power. She felt, however, that she should renew her relationship with Alberto, since he might, through Esmeralda, have an indirect relationship with Kane about which she should know.
Sometime later, Esther entered the university parking lot where her Porsche was parked, with her keys in her hand, and found Alberto standing near the Porsche, chatting with a guard. Alberto glanced at her and she smiled at him, thinking that an opportunity was being presented to her for catching up on his activities. She had not spoken with him since the day on which she had persuaded him to take her car and tail Ricardo and an older gentleman who was with him. Alberto's telephone message had told her nothing about the older man’s identity or what it was that he and Ricardo were doing. Alberto had said only that he had found a good taco shop in the neighborhood where he had lost Ricardo. Esther had not bothered to call Alberto back, but things had happened to her since then which renewed her interest in him.
He walked over to her at once. “Esther, please give me a ride out of here. I want to maintain my credibility with that guard; he thinks I’m a rich associate of yours because I’ve used your car. It’s important because he’s a good source of information; he talks too much.”
“Hop in, Alberto; I'm happy to give you cover.” Esther unlocked the car. “Let’s talk about your confidante, Esmeralda. I’ve learned from her that you really did follow Ricardo and his visitor to Yohanna’s neighborhood.”
Esther drove and they talked. After a while she parked the Porsche and turned to look at her passenger. “Alberto, I didn’t ask where you wanted me to drop you off, and while we were talking I just automatically drove home. So come on in for a drink.”
Alberto’s father had warned him, “A young newsmen sometimes has an opportunity for intimacy with one of the rich and powerful people who are a part of the story he's working on. Then, my son, he has an opportunity to gain valuable information—while risking a loss of objectivity and a loss of personal credibility.” The warning had come to Alberto in the letter accompanying his father’s old photograph of the Countess Thersa.
Following Esther into her apartment, Alberto began to consider Esther’s invitation in the light of his father’s wisdom. Before disappearing to freshen up, she said, “Sit down, Alberto. Relax, loosen your tie, get comfortable.” He removed his tie and stuffed it into his jacket pocket before shrugging out of the jacket. Making a leisurely tour of Esther’s living room, he took inventory of the wealth on display there. He felt that Esther was surely inside his story now and no longer simply one of his sources. Her embrace, for which he hungered, would draw him into involvement in the real risk which Leo had convinced him lurked in the Knox Aviation story.
When she returned, he saw that she was dressed almost exactly as she had been on the day of their first meeting in Victor's office—when he had first desired her. To him, she looked far more appealing than Bridget (that bitch!). As Esther looked him over, slowly and approvingly, Alberto’s heart skipped a beat. He recalled the things that Schwartz had told him about Esther’s father. Did her father have dealings with Dominick Mazzatelli? I’ll worry about that later.
”Well, Alberto, how do you like my place?”
“You, Esther, look good enough to eat.”
“I hope being eaten alive is not such a bad thing. Is it?" Esther looked more closely at him, surprised by the complex emotions playing over his face. Does Alberto live in a larger world than Het’s? She did something then which she had never before done at such a moment: She looked away, to think.
“Do I have bad breath, Esther?"
“No, Alberto, not at all.” Esther turned her head and looked directly into his eyes. “Did you come in here with me for sex, or for your Knox Aviation story?”
“…For my story, Esther. Schwartz—the guard—told me who your father is, so I know sex with you carries a political risk for me.”
Esther smiled. “We're in California, not New Jersey. How long do you think Daddy’s reach is?“
"Okay, maybe it’s not transcontinental. But there's another issue, Esther: I sense that your interest in my story isn’t the same as mine anymore."
“How do you know that?" Esther was rapidly reevaluating him, her interest and pleasure growing. He might be dangerous!
Alberto answered her question: “Because you love power more that you could ever love a poor newsman.”
“And you love pulling the truth out of the jaws of deception more that you could love a rich Jewish girl.”
“My mother’s Jewish, so you know I’m telling the truth when I tell you I’ve received an offer from the Knox people—not cash, of course—to promote their side within the bounds of journalistic propriety.”
“Really? Alberto, let’s talk about propriety over a glass of wine." She went to her wine cabinet. "Red? Good. I'll have white. Then, since you’re poor and I don’t cook, I’ll take you out to dinner, wherever you’d like.”
"Like I said, you look good enough to eat…"
"Alberto." Esther settled in next to him on the sofa and set their drinks on the table. "That’s a meal I can serve up right here."
They went out for breakfast together the next morning, both of them very hungry after a night of sharing much, body and soul, while also keeping many secrets from each other.
Gazing thoughtfully at her over his coffee, Alberto asked, "Where will we end up in this story, Esther?"
"Probably not together, love."
~ 3 ~ “Ricardo, when we held our first personal War Thing meeting about Alice, high in the Airs here in the Student Union…” Rhoda was speaking rather formally, considering that they were meeting after a week’s separation. “…I thought then that you looked like an old picture of King David. Now, I need you to be as wise as David’s son Solomon, before he became entangled with women.” Rhoda looked down at her cup of coffee. After a moment she picked it up and held the hot cup between her hands, sipping from it while gazing seriously at Ricardo across the suddenly vast expanse of the cup’s rim. Oh, God! It’s the Bleak Berm.
Ricardo lifted his cup and held it before him in the same manner, so that he and Rhoda were looking into each other’s eyes over the rims and through the steam rising from the two cups between them.
It was early morning yet, and the Student Union’s cafeteria was just beginning to fill. Rolf Wooden, carrying his tray, saw a couple—each one’s field of vision filled by the other beyond their steaming cups of coffee—occupying his favorite table. That particular table was almost always vacant at this time of morning. Rolf was nearly irate. He set his tray on a table adjacent to theirs, and then he recognized Rhoda.
Over a year earlier, Rolf had experienced a severe jolt, seeing Rhoda and Yohanna seductively testing Fr. Aden Haldane. Soon afterwards, he had met Hans, who was, at Yohanna's request, talking with men who might be cases of collateral damage from Rhoda's projection of seductive power. Rolf did not know that gods had projected Rhoda's natural beauty to preternatural levels; he knew only that he felt serious apprehension about his nearness to Rhoda now. He was feeling even greater concern, however, over his need for inspiration regarding the term paper which was required by his upper level Literature class. Rolf began to reread the novel which was to be the subject of his paper.
~ ~ ~
“Let me guess, Rhoda: Solomon fell because he had let himself become entangled with women…”
“And I have a problem, Ricardo, because of my entanglement with a man. It touched my heart and, indirectly, my body, and it touches the War Thing. I feel that until I’ve cleared this up with you, it stands in the way of authentic communion with Thersa.”
Maintaining her position behind her coffee cup, Rhoda explained the affair: “…On the day before our Head Thing, I knew the Foe’s Powers were nearly on me; they were closing fast. I was entering in a hurry through the parlor doors at Home Ranch, and I nearly collided with Diego, who is tall dark and handsome—almost as good-looking as you, honey. Diego himself was feeling agitated that day, because he was expecting to have to deal with an intrusive insurance saleswoman on his first day as Chief. I had, in my effort to evade the Foe’s Powers, removed the Persona in which I had engaged the Foe.”
“So, your full natural self was on display?”
“Yes—in my face—and my heart was unguarded. Diego had worked out my identity, right in my vulnerable moment in which I was feeling an urge to throw myself on him for protection. I knew his psyche was sensing my feelings when I became aware of the Foe and his Powers suddenly drawing closer to me, my relationship with Diego having been revealed to them. My wits returned, and I gathered all of the momentum generated by my rapid exit from the the car and imparted that momentum to my purse in my suitcase. I dropped the suitcase at Diego’s feet, commanded him to bring it upstairs, and dashed up the stairs myself, having reduced my weight to scarcely thirty pounds. I closed my door and secured myself by taking counsel with my sisters through my vanity mirror, while Diego was lugging the rest of my weight up the stairs for me. Thinking that he was my consort, the Foe’s Powers were now trying to close in on him by tracking my momentum to him, whom they took to be the one they really wanted to destroy. Then my sisters in the House of Women raised a diversion in the Commons; it bewildered the Foe's Powers—and saved Diego for Isabel.”
Ricardo sipped his coffee, smiling to himself. Diego’s stunned reaction to a flash of Rhoda’s native beauty probably did deceive the Foe's Powers! “I have to confess, Rhoda, that I’ve had eyes only for you ever since you tricked me in that ping pong game. That has made it easier for me to resist stepping into such temptations.”
“Temptations by whom, honey?” Rhoda set her cup of coffee on the table and grinned at Ricardo. “Now that I’m so wonderfully refreshed by having gotten Diego off of my chest, I wouldn't want to deny you a similar pleasure.”
“In my encounters with temptresses, dear, I have not come to such a pass as have you. However, of the women in our War Thing, it’s Isabel who would—under altered circumstances—have that power over me.” Ricardo imitated Rhoda’s grin.
“So, you do pay attention, my love.”
“It’s man’s nature, sweetheart. I confess that I was most tempted by simple physical desire when I first, unexpectedly, sighted Alice at the Eyrie, back when it was still under construction. I was with Leo, who hadn’t expected you to arrive with Alice that day. When I opened the door to the main room and caught a glimpse of Alice, you quickly stepped between us, blocking her view before she could notice me, and I slipped away after seeing your anxious glance.”
“I remember that moment vividly. I hadn’t expected you to be there, and I’m sure she didn’t see you. When I saw you there in the doorway, I strongly sensed that it was not the right time for you to meet Alice. …What do you mean by saying that you were tempted by ‘simple physical desire’?”
“Rhoda, I suspect that this is what happened: When Ottilie Krüger fabricated Alice as a Persona of Thersa, she blended some of her own pulchritude into the Persona’s affect—the pulchritude that she had once wanted to display to Martin.”
“And you are somewhat like Martin?”
“I think my relationship with you is similar to Martin’s relationship with Ottilie. It’s that general form of our relationship which would have been perceived first, by the gods who service the Alice Persona, so naturally they would have sought to prepare me to receive her glance—which you wisely blocked.”
“Oh, yes. Confusion over the identity of the subjects of relationships is certainly a big cause of error in the acts of gods. And the gods might have confused my relationship with Diego, with my more controlled relationship with Dr. Kerrigan, with whom Alice/Thersa has a carnal relationship."
"Oh. I see now, Rhoda, why you've worried about gods beholding your relationship with Dr. Kerrigan in the same light as they see Alice’s. That could introduce a note of jealousy between you and Alice which would hinder the development of your desired relationship with Thersa."
"Yes. …I see that you’ve thought a lot about your near encounter with Alice.”
Ricardo reached across the table and took her hands. “Yes, and now by placing these stumbling blocks on the table, we’ve set them behind us, sweetheart.”
In high spirits, Rhoda and Ricardo were on their way out of the Student Union when they ran into Leo, who was on a mission given to him by Yohanna. It had not occurred to Leo that Rhoda and Ricardo might not know about his mission.
They had been speaking for a short time when Rhoda said suddenly, "Leo, you're here to try to recruit a man for the War Thing!”
Leo blinked. He said, "Recently, Yohanna became interested in the man—Rolf Wooden—after learning that he had asked Hans to arrange a meeting in which she and Hans would explain to him about "charms"—in particular, the charm that you worked on Fr. Aden Haldane a while back, right here in the Student Union. Rolf's request fell between the cracks when we became involved in the rescue of Isabel and our lockdown in Antonia’s. Then, just recently, Hans mentioned to me having recalled this 'loose end' and informed Yohanna about it—and I found out that he was talking about my cousin Rolf Wooden!”
“ ‘Charms’, Leo?” Ricardo looked at Rhoda.
Leo smiled sheepishly at Rhoda and explained, “Hans said that Rhoda cast a charm on Fr. Aden Haldane right here in the Student Union, and that Yohanna said it didn’t go so well.”
Rhoda turned to Ricardo. “I’ve told you about it, honey, but maybe not all of the details. It opened the door to the Son’s House for us. …Your cousin, Leo?"
“Yes. I told Hans everything I know about Cousin Rolf, and later Yohanna read both my Living Memory and Hans’s concerning Rolf, just the way Ottilie read Living Memories in the Clan Histories. Then Yohanna asked us some questions that proved to Hans and me that she really can read peoples’ Living Memories. Hans was even more surprised than I was."
“Well,” said Rhoda, "Yohanna’s great-grandmother Aretta had the ability to read Living Memories, and Yohanna has also acquired my advanced skill through our entwinement. Yohanna must have sensed that your cousin’s recruitment is a serious War Thing matter. Ricardo, has Yohanna spoken with you about this?"
"No. Yohanna's acting on her own."
"Now I remember that she went back to see Hans on that day, to find out about any men who had been touched by my Laura Net. ...Before she left me to do that, I told her I sensed that the two of us ought to visit the Keep as tourists, but Yohanna said she thought it was more important to follow up with Hans."
Ricardo looked at Rhoda, and then at Leo. “Rhoda, it certainly would have changed the course of the War Thing, had you discovered that the Circle was lodged in the Keep, before you confronted the Foe in person at the stone cabin party.”
Rhoda nodded, “I think it would have been for the worse. ...Leo, tell us more about your cousin.”
"Hans identified only two men who had been affected by your Net. One of them was Alberto Mendoza and the other was my cousin Rolf Wooden.”
Ricardo said, “I know, Leo, that you’ve had ongoing dealings with Alberto Mendoza, who is involved with Dr. Steuben’s War and Peace Conference. But, Rhoda, I hadn’t associated Mr. Mendoza with your little possibly-scandalous affair with Fr. Haldane.”
For the first time, Leo saw Rhoda flash her Miss Innocence face at Ricardo, who winked at Leo. Leo felt himself naturally being drawn deeper into the personal relationship between these two people who had the power to cross swords with gods. He wondered if he would get to see them pick up their weapons, with which—if everything Antonia had told him was true—they had the power to rend heaven and earth.
Leo grinned at Rhoda. “I didn’t know you’d reached out and touched my cousin, too, in your special way."
"Ricardo and Leo, you’re teasing me. What’s a poor girl to do in this world? Leo, is Rolf here in the Student Union now?” Leo nodded. Rhoda followed his eyes, and exclaimed softly, “I recognize him!"
" From where?”
"From Yohanna's Living Memory, which came to me as I was following Leo’s eyes to him.” Rhoda took Ricardo’s head affectionately in her hands and kissed his ear. "I'll share it with you. I think you'll take a special interest in Rolf Wooden."
Leo felt again the strangeness of the relationship between Rhoda and Ricardo, and between them and Yohanna. He knew that Hans was entering into their realm with hesitant, yet willing steps, but he did not want to do that, himself. Yet Leo felt in this weird conversation—as he had felt on other occasions—the presence of the gods with whom Rhoda and Ricardo were keeping company. And he knew what it was that Rhoda meant by saying that Ricardo would have a special interest in Rolf: Rolf was on his way to becoming a real padre just as Ricardo had been, before Rhoda’s crafty move had brought him into the War Thing with her.
~ 4 ~ Leo watched Rhoda and Ricardo leaving the Student Union arm-in-arm. He was left in charge of the task with which Yohanna had charged him, understanding now that Yohanna was of one mind with the War Thing’s co-Heads, truly sharing their authority in it. Her show of authority was not just a show, as he had thought when she took charge at that Alpine lake near Alice's villa.
Could it be that he, too, shared in that authority? He saw, in a flash, that the wisdom, power and authority of the War Thing was a living relationship in which he did partake. In its living light he ambled over to the table where Rolf was sitting, deep in the book before him and occasionally guiding a spoonful of oatmeal to his mouth.
“May I join you, cousin Rolf?"
"Cousin?" Rolf asked in an annoyed mumble, without looking up.
“Yes—Leo 'Quinn y Roberson’.” Leo pulled out the chair opposite Rolf at his table, and sat down. “Rolf, you lived in my parents’ home when I was in the Rangers, but our paths never crossed because you had returned to England by the time I came home on extended leave. My picture was to be seen only on my mother's dresser and in my father's wallet, so you might have missed my mugshot."
"Quinn is my mother's maiden name," muttered Rolf, very reluctantly pulling his attention away from the novel.
“Actually, I added 'y Quinn' to get your attention. Whatcha read’n, Rolf?"
“Ship of Fools.”
"I've read that!”
Cousin Leo’s cowboy hat, his tanned and weathered face, and his redneck style of speech caused Rolf to see him as an unlikely student of literature. "Cousin Leo,” he remarked, “you could have been a passenger on the Vera—the Texan engineer."
"Oh, I've never taken up with prostitutes, and I do speak Spanish as well as English, so I can’t have been that character, although I am a Texan engineer of sorts. Let's see… I understand that you speak German, so you could have been one of the characters, too. Might you grow up to be one of them—maybe the Vera’s captain?"
"I hope not! I'd rather be a passenger in steerage."
“Maybe. Rolf, can you think of a character in the novel who displays the personal fault lines of the author which affect the ambiance of the novel?”
"What do you think is its ‘ambiance’, Leo?”
“Oh, 'The pride of life, the sins of the flesh, and the works of the devil.' ...Did I get that right, Rolf? You're the Scripture student."
Rolf flipped the book’s pages and found the list of the Vera's passengers. “So, do you think 'Jenny angel' is the character who represents the author?"
"Yeah, I’d say that’s the character who displays the author's personal fault lines.”
“Thanks, Leo. I've been wondering how to frame the essay I have to write to complete my ‘Modern Literature’ course. ‘The Author's Fault Lines’ is a title I like. Leo, I'm beginning to remember what I've heard about you. ...I'm sorry about your wife."
"That was years ago, Rolf. ...Not that it’s something you really can get over. It's a risk of marriage. I'm remarried now."
“So, you did get over it."
"Well, Ralph, my Antonia lost her first spouse, too. He was a Ranger like me. He was killed in action. Antonia and I have helped each other a lot in the process of ‘getting over it’.”
“What war?"
“There's always war, Rolf—declared or not. Mostly it's undeclared in these days, because calling it war is bad for business."
"Well, Leo, I don't know much about politics, but I guess I can believe that. What are you doing here at the University?"
"My work brings me here. You might say that I work for Knox Aviation."
Rolf was silent for a moment. "Rhoda Knox?"
"Her father, Martin Knox, actually. I'm head honcho of the Clan's Home Construction company."
"Clan? …Isn’t that the Guild that Uncle James got involved in?"
“Yes. He moved out of Marywood Abbey after he got a calling to Guild work. Do you know, Rolf, that I’ve inherited a claim on a parcel of the old Marywood Abbey property? The manor house parcel, to be exact.”
"No. ...The Son's House, Leo? I toured it once."
"The very place. But I’ve sold my claim."
"Really? For how much?"
"For a stake in the Clan, Rolf."
"I don't understand."
"A stake in the Clan is like an undivided interest in a property to which both revenues and obligations are attached."
"Sounds a little like marriage."
"I hadn't thought of it that way, but there is some truth in what you say. Rolf, I have an obligation to you that came with my stake. A while back you asked Hans Beckerath if you could meet with him and Yohanna to talk about the matter of casting spells."
"Yes! It was about what happened to Fr. Aden—and to me, a little. Rhoda Knox seemed to be the cause of it, and I was afraid to talk to her about it, if you know what I mean."
"I think I do, Rolf. Well, here’s the short answer: It’s really possible to cast a spell, if you exercise command among the right Powers, like Rhoda does."
"Powers?"
“Yes. Powers are gods who command other gods. That’s a Goth definition."
"You mean like angels, Leo?"
“Well, angels are those sent by God, aren't they? So the 'Angel of the Church at Sardis' could mean the bishop of that place, not necessarily a god sent by God. People send gods in spells."
"So, you’ve studied theology as well as literature, Leo."
"No. I've learned that bit of theology from Ricardo."
"Who's he?"
"Rhoda's fiancé.”
“I saw her earlier today drinking coffee with a handsome young guy with a roguish black beard. He looked like a professor, and I think I’ve seen him around before. Was that Ricardo?”
“That sure sounds like him, Rolf. Would you believe that Rhoda sort of tricked him out of a religious vocation? He's Dr. Chavez. You might have heard about him; he's the head of Dr. Steuben's Institute in the Keep."
“Oh. My instructor in English Literature is Dr. Steuben’s wife, Professor Arlene Steuben. Most of us call her Dr. Arlene. Do you know Dr. Steuben? I've been thinking about enrolling in his world literature seminar.”
“Dr. Steuben and I haven't been introduced, Rolf, but Hans's girlfriend, Yohanna—whom you offered to take out to dinner with Hans—has discussed literature with Dr. Steuben. So you might want to speak with her about him. By the way, Hans Beckerath’s quarters are in Ricardo's home, which is a very interesting place up in the hills. It’s called the Cliff Rancho. It's an old ranch dwelling built into the side of a cliff, and they tell me it might have been built by the original holder of the Spanish land grant for the region around New City. It dates from before there was a United States, back when California was under the rule of the Spanish Crown."
"I'd like very much to see it, Leo!"
“Rolf, I do believe that Mom was right: You do have an interest in historical places."
“Yes. I don't know why, Leo, but I’ve always been fascinated by old things—the things that remain when most other traces of their era are gone. It gives me a kind of yearning for something, but I don’t know what it is. Do you understand?"
"Well, Rolf, I can see that it's a real feeling in some people, like you. Mostly, I'm pretty practical. But I'll own to you, cousin, that the sight of fish in their own waters gives me a feeling like that."
"Fish? …Well, maybe… I guess inclinations like these are personal things. Leo, is that Ricardo over there? He does look like a good match for Rhoda. I’ll bet he can cast spells on women!"
”Yep, that's the guy. I’d say Rhoda's father, Martin, has the same kind of look."
~ ~ ~
A week later, after meeting Ricardo, Rolf was standing next to him admiring the Cliff Rancho. “You have a fascinating place, Ricardo. I had no idea that Europeans had built dwellings so far north of Mexico in the mid 1500’s."
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