Chapter One
Matt and Telia were meeting with Owen and Francis in the great room of the lodge. A fire was roaring in a large fieldstone fireplace. The southern wall was glass from the slate floor to the lodge pole ceiling and the north flank of Whiteface Mountain loomed in the distance. Francis let them get settled in for the first week after their arrival then they all started meeting together in the afternoon.
Telia asked him, “How did you start in the Brotherhood, Francis? You seem too young for this job!”
Francis shrugged, “It’s actually a short, simple story. I moved to New York right after college. I had no job, no real prospects. I was from a small city in Indiana. Eventually I got a job in the mailroom at Black Cube. Over lunch we’d go out and play chess. My dad and brothers and I always played, and my dad was really good. Anyway, I just wailed away on everyone. I couldn’t be beat. So, finally, one day Seth comes down to play me, little old me.”
Matt asked, “Did you win?”
Francis was grinning ear to ear. “I did. He is a very talented player, too. Later on that week, he starts inviting me up to the big office and asks advice on different deals without telling me many details--it’s like the wire frame version of these problems.”
Telia said, “So you were like an advisor?”
He shook his head, no. “All the meetings were just a test… Finally, he asks me up there and lays out the details of a bloody, corrupt deal, and asks for my advice. I was appalled. I just turned around and walked out and went back to my crappy little apartment. The other men in that room were staring daggers at me as I got up and left. I just had no idea what the business really was.”
Matt said, “Good for you, Francis! Too bad more people don’t do that.”
Francis nodded, “No doubt. Get this, a couple hours later there’s a knock on my apartment door. I look out the peephole and it’s Seth. Just by himself, no limo, no driver. He comes inside and tells me this completely impossible story about who he is, and what the Brotherhood actually does. It takes hours. He asks for my help. Me. Francis Mouseler from Valparaiso, Indiana.”
Matt wondered, “How long ago was that Francis?”
He shrugged, “I guess that was only about a year ago, now. I spent the past several months just absorbing all this information and history. Believe me, the job we’ve got to do will not be an easy one.”
Owen swirled scotch around in a tumbler. “It’s gotten too big, right?”
Francis patted the arms of the chair. “Possibly. We really need to know what more we can do with the reflector. Can we reform people? Or is our only option destruction of the Brotherhood, which from my perspective is a bad option.”
Telia was surprised, “But I thought you were appalled by it.”
Francis agreed, “It is appalling. Unfortunately, the extent of it and the corruption is so pervasive that destroying it is, well, equivalent to destroying swaths of civil society. I don’t see how to do that without starting a war.”
Matt asked, “We always thought the corruption was pervasive, but as outsiders we don’t really know. So, how bad is it really.”
Francis rolled his eyes. “Believe me, as a normal person with normal morals and a sense of right and wrong, you can’t even begin to imagine. The process that’s used to select these people weeds out all the good ones and you’re left with the worst of the worst. The congress, with a few exceptions, for example, is entirely and comically compromised. Essentially every businessman you see on financial news networks is one of our agents.”
Owen offered a starting point, “Samantha and I have long wondered about ways to help people escape the financial system. This seems to be the basis for much of the Brotherhood’s power.”
Francis agreed, “It certainly is, but that will take too long and expose us too soon. We have a couple things on our side--the element of surprise, and the element of secrecy.”
Matt nodded, “It seems like we need a decisive blow that will split this thing open.” He flicked the pendulum of the not-a-clock that Seth gave him and it started its hypnotic dance. “Owen, have you thought more about ways to harness, wow I still think this sounds weird to say, the Sun?”
Francis sat back to listen. He sucked on an ice cube and looked at the mountain through his scotch glass.
Owen stood up and walked around the carpet. “The Brotherhood successfully put the western world in the underworld, that is, they essentially trapped the minds of men in the mythical underworld, but look out the window. That mountain is not in the underworld, nor is it a figment of our mind, and there’s the Sun, it shines on everyone. This is a problem of myth, of religion, of understanding. You see, the consciousness of men has been focused on this beast, and in turn, it reaches out through them to our world.”
Telia’s face became animated, “We already started on this problem, guys. Before Seth contacted us, we sought to gain funding through contacts of our family. We were going to build two more reflectors.”
Francis crunched an ice cube in his teeth and took another drink. “I agree with the premise, but I worry about the time it will take. Anyway, Seth gave us a test mission. This will show you what we’re up against.”
Owen sighed. He had been worried that they’d run into interference and meddling from Seth. “Alright, what test mission?”
Francis turned a projector on and tapped his laptop mousepad. “You probably recognize this face.” Senator Jonathan Cain’s face popped up on the screen. There were a few short paragraphs explaining his indictable felony offenses. Each had a case number.
Telia gasped. “I don’t know why I continue to be shocked, but this is shocking.”
Francis chuckled. “A good indication of the prevalence of corruption is the number of characters in these case numbers! It’s an alpha-numeric filing system. There is a warehouse filled with records and evidence, actually several warehouses.”
Owen said, “Cain is a promoter of carnage and death. As we are attached and influenced by Samantha, perhaps he’s attached to the Beast.”
Matt asked, “What is the mission?”
Francis said. “Seth thinks the connection Owen’s talking about is not metaphorical. The Brotherhood is compartmentalized. We’re here at the top, and have a good overall view, but not a perfect view, and certainly within the organization there are multiple factions and sub orders. We believe Senator Cain is involved in one, and they are usurping Seth. If we were able to turn the rest of the order against them, then, well, maybe that would be the blow that splits the whole thing open.”
Owen closed his eyes for a moment. “Matt, Telia, Samantha urges caution. This alliance with Seth is new. Also, we worry about the Brotherhood’s loyalty to Seth--he rules through fear, not love.”
Francis held a finger up, “Consider that Seth and Samantha share a common enemy. It’s advantageous for Seth to regain control of the brotherhood for the sake of all of us. Also, even though fear is the main glue that holds this enterprise together, there is certainly an element of respect.”
Matt said, “I think we need to use the reflector to investigate Cain.”
Francis’s eyes lit up and he rubbed his hands together. “Now this is getting exciting!”
Owen nodded. “That’s a safe course of action, though, not without it’s risks. It can be a form of revealing our hand, though not our location on this plane. Allow me to undertake the initial investigation.”
Francis looked at Matt. Matt agreed, “Sounds good to me.”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 12