“Unfortunately, what nobody bothered to tell them while they were happily working away in their laboratories is that Petronus has actually been systematically stockpiling their alternative energy discoveries for the sole purpose of keeping the demand – and of course price – for oil at a premium. After all, the company owns roughly forty-three percent of the world’s current untapped oil reserves – and a new alternative energy source could pose a significant threat to the value of all that beautiful crude. So what do they do? They collect all those brilliant ideas from their brightest people and quietly lock them away. Luckily, our five new recruits are going to be heading up research for a corporation that will actually turn their ideas into real-life technologies.”
He turned and looked at Jeri.
“That’s why we took this assignment. Some things are simply too important to be left in the hands of their corporate keepers. Some ideas are too vital to be kept from the world.” He paused and took a drag of his cigarette. “Are you starting to understand the true nature of what we’re doing here?”
Jeri nodded her head. “And then there’s me,” she said somberly. “I was recruited the same way as the others, wasn’t I?”
“Correct.”
“Which means Joe’s Last Stand Saloon is now a smoking pile of rubble and the rest of the world thinks I’m dead.”
“Correct again.”
“And you’re telling me no one else was killed in all this?”
Chilly looked at her in silence for a moment. “Not by us,” he said quietly.
Jeri suddenly spun on her heels and began walking along the edge of the bluff. She walked slowly, deep in thought, before eventually turning and pacing purposefully back to Chilly.
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth from the beginning? Why didn’t you just ask me to be a part of this?”
“Because that isn’t how this works,” Chilly replied, shaking his head. “Look Jeri, I know exactly how you feel right now. You’re coming into this the same way as the rest of us. None of us were asked to do this… none of us. You don’t bring people into an agency like this by asking. There’s too much at stake if someone says no. We’re brought into this brave new world the same way as our clients – without a choice.” He laid his hand gently on her shoulder. “But I promise that once you see what you’ve been brought into, you’ll come to the same conclusion as the rest of us. That there’s nothing else in this world you’d rather be doing.”
Jeri gave him a sharp look. “And what if I still said no?”
“You won’t.”
“But what if I did?”
Chilly took another drag of his cigarette and shrugged. “Well, since no one’s ever left before, I’m not entirely sure. Most likely you’d just get a nice severance check and a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world. Excluding Arizona of course.
Oh, and a shot of diazepam to erase your memory. But that’s about it.”
Jeri watched as a grin slowly creased is face.
“I’m just kidding, Jeri.”
“Sure,” Jeri replied. “About everything but the diazepam.”
Chilly’s expression suddenly grew serious. “Your father only asked two favors of Chip in his lifetime. The first was to take his book and to do something good with it. The second was to look after his daughter when he knew he was dying. That first favor brought this agency into being, and the second brought you into this agency. If that isn’t a textbook definition of destiny, I don’t know what is.”
He stepped forward and stared intently into Jeri’s amber-colored eyes. “So what do you say?” he asked firmly. “Are you ready to get started?”
Jeri turned and looked out at the shimmering blue water beneath her. The wind had lightened to a gentle, sea-scented breeze and the full warmth of the afternoon sun now engulfed her. A memory of her father suddenly filled her mind, his handsome young face smiling at her as he lay stretched out on rock along a mountainside trail. She closed her eyes and let the memory slowly fade into darkness. The pleading cry of a seagull drifted through the air as the wind teased the locks of her hair. She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes, then turned and faced Chilly.
“I’m ready,” Jeri said assertively. “So when do we begin?”
“Tomorrow,” Chilly answered, glancing wryly at the van in the distance. “We’ve got a retirement party already scheduled for today.”
“Fine. Tomorrow it is,” Jeri replied. She then stepped forward and gave him a calm smile. “By the way,” she said, extending her hand, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Jeri… Jeri Stone.”