Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy: Volume I)

by Trey Copeland

  Chapter 12

  Stalling emerged from the meditation chamber exhausted. He looked outside and noticed with alarm the sun slipping behind the tree line. Sunset already? I guess that makes sense, he rationalized, doing the math in his head. It just doesn't leave us much time to get our arms around what must be done next.

  He turned to his left and located Antone waiting for him in the corner lounge. He walked over, his legs buckling several times, and flopped down onto the couch opposite to him. Antone leaned forward, poured a tall glass of chilled water and handed it Stalling. He took the glass without comment and pounded it with one trip to the lips then leaned back and rubbed his temples with the palm of his hands.

  "Damn, that hurt," he said.

  "Well, you knew going into it the technology was far from honed," Antone replied, tongue-in-cheek. "We have people to test these things you know."

  "Desperate times...." Stalling said dryly, in no mood for humor.

  In his typical Ecifrican manner, Antone cut to the chase, asking, "So, you found the traitor?"

  Stalling brought his hands down to his lap and scowled. Antone held his ground, unapologetic. "Janison is not, nor will he ever be a traitor. He still plays a vital role."

  His strength returning, Stalling got up and walked over to the kitchenette located behind the couch. He reached into the refrigerator, grabbed a protein drink and started to shake it. He stood in silence for several minutes, absently shaking, watching the sun disappear behind the mighty firs.

  "The impact of Janison's actions is far from clear or over," he added, saying more to himself than Antone.

  With that, he twisted the cap, consumed the drink in three gulps, chucked the plastic bottle in the small bin and sat back down on the couch. Recharged, Stalling faced Antone.

  "Janison will arrive by magnarail in two hours."

  "Two hours," Antone said, pondering the implications behind the travel time. "He didn't even bother to leave the province? Hell, did he even want to hide? Don't tell me, let me guess, he was holed up in some cabin, somewhere on the outskirts of Hashler National Forest maybe. How predictable."

  "Where he chose to spend his solitude doesn't matter." Stalling replied, disturbed by Antone's accurate intuition and blatant contempt toward Janison. "He chose to come back and see this through. That is all that matters."

  "What matters, meaning no disrespect, is that Janison chose to download every file related to any proprietary technology or system this company has produced over the past twenty years. He then hand delivered them to the people who not only have the desire to destroy us, but possess the power to do so. And you want me to welcome him back with open arms?"

  "Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you," Stalling stated, regretting in that moment not consulting with Antone beforehand.

  Antone's response to the situation was consistent with his character, traits Stalling had come to rely on over the years. Yes, Antone's free license to be candid could have a biting edge at times. Yes, his headstrong, Ecifrican view of justice could hamper one's ability to "forgive and forget". Yes, Antone was the most loyal and resourceful ally Stalling had ever known.

  "Understood," Antone responded, turning his dejected face to a spot on top of his polished boot resting across his knee. He and Janison will have the opportunity to settle their issues in due time but first things first, Stalling concluded. He studied his friend for the first time since meeting with Janison. So solemn, something else bothers him. What has happened in my absence?

  "Any other updates?"

  "Yes, as matter of fact, there is," Antone said, placing a link visor in the middle of the table. He hit a button on the side then leaned back into the couch with a determined grimace. Stalling watched the holographic video of Bishop Clortison’s insinuating sermon.

  "I did not foresee their use of scripture like that to compound the situation. Very clever," Stalling admitted, wondering for the first time if they were aware of their true motives.

  "It gets worse," Antone said, timing his nod at the projection as it segued to the recording of him and Thortizan's conversation.

  Stalling watched the exchange between Antone and Thortizan in silence. He waited several more minutes once finished before saying: "It appears we have lost our grip on the dragon's tail."

  "Aye," Antone said, nodding in agreement.

  "Let's boil the situation down to its essence," Stalling said, leaning forward. "To date, their government sanctioned strategy to obtain complete control of the company has been thwarted due to the very real need for our compliance. Without it, control of the company's assets means little to them if they cannot maintain the Auranet and entrainment platform."

  "I have never put it past them to destroy it all together over letting us continue to leverage both for our own objectives," Antone added.

  "True, but that predictable, desperate move is a non-issue, assuming we complete our final step. The root of it all boils down to this question: How does the latest development change anything? Assuming we are successful in salvaging the project in the coming hours and fulfill its ultimate mission, can any of the information they obtained from Janison be used to stop us between now and then?"

  "The analytical side of me says no. But, my gut tells me Thortizan has a plan, the wheels of which are already in motion."

  Stalling had read Antone's detailed reports on Thortizan. The more Antone knocked heads with Thortizan and his department over the years, the more the Cardinal became the symbolic face of their adversary. Publicly, his order was responsible for pushing forward any agenda the church believed was in the divine interest of society, some made public but most not.

  In reality, Thortizan dealt in pain, supplying Antium’s addiction to the pervasive illusion of drama. Over the centuries, Thortizan and his predecessors perpetuated this paralysis on society. They did so with the relentless enforcement of the Church of Salvation's fixed, "faith" based worldview.

  The medium of choice was fear, fear of economic instability, social disgrace, Ecifrican uprising, lethal disease or of natural, and some not so natural, disasters. Or their contemporary favorite, fear of imprisonment at Blacadoma Caverns. The means did not matter so long as man remained in competition with his neighbor. Eternal salvation delivered from the one and only true God was the lynchpin sustaining their static institution indefinitely.

  Stalling concluded long ago, negating Drakarle's media triopoly was the key to creating true reform. For the past two centuries, control of the media enabled them to grow and maintain their orchestrated web of deception.

  "It was their hubris that allowed us, right underneath their noses, to construct the very weapon that will lead to their ultimate demise," Stalling reminded Antone. "Despite their recent insight, I believe that handicap of arrogance will continue to prevent them from ever stopping us. It's too late; their day has come and gone."

  “We are all challenged in ways we never imagined. To prevail, for the betterment of all, we must rise above and defeat our ego.” Antone nodded in agreement but the brooding look on his face and stiff posture said otherwise.

  "I believe this to be true, because I know Antone Lartisent will not tolerate any other outcome," Stalling added with a genuine smile. The statement professing his confidence in his friend had the effect he had hoped for, penetrating, if only for a moment, Antone's fortified emotional guard, as his friend looked up and returned his own confident smile.