The smile of the Keeper came back slightly. “That is what I thought. Now for my second question; if I give this gift to you, you would receive that gift under my service. You will serve me. Are you sure you still want the gift?”
Triana wanted to say no. She wanted to be brave – but the fear was too deep. The sword on her neck was too real. She was very aware of her nakedness beneath the thin sheet and looked around at the room to men who gazed upon her with no emotion. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she refused. She imagined suffering, humiliation, and pain. She couldn’t take that. She was too weak. She had to give in to his demands, even if they were in the form of questions. She nodded again.
She looked at the Keeper. The man – if he could be called that – had a feared reverence among the people of the world. He was the leader of the Klopph.
As the leader of the Klopph, he looked down at Triana and watched the fright consume her thoughts. He gazed at her body beneath the sheet again and thought that perhaps once she fulfilled what he was asking, he would have a further use for her after all.
He pushed those thoughts aside and moved his gaze to her eyes. He asked his final question. “Are you willing to do what is necessary to achieve the gift of ajándék?”
Without hesitation – she had already given up – she nodded a final time.
The Keeper pushed the sword down.
CHAPTER TWO
Babel watched as the tower fell. Dirt and concrete dust filled the air as what had been a building grew accustomed to its new role as a pile of rubble. Babel looked over at the head of the demolition team and nodded. He doubted the man saw him as the demolition team was busy inspecting their work but the nod gave Babel a sense of completion.
Babel was regular guy. He owned his own business. He loved football. He was cursed with being a lifelong fan of the Detroit Lions. Above all other food he enjoyed a good cheeseburger. One characteristic, however, set him apart from everyone else that he knew – he could start fires with his mind.
He had started the construction company right out of college. It began with small jobs, building decks, building fences, small renovations. Business steadily grew until he was adding rooms onto homes. Finally, he was building homes of his own.
At first it was one home at a time, which took as long as six months. He had a small crew that worked with him and soon realized that he needed to hire more men if he was going to grow his business.
He recognized that each house built was a reflection of his company. Because of that, he was very cautious as to who he would trust to run a second crew. He called on a few of his friends from college and soon he had four crews working for him.
After two years, business was moving faster than he could keep up with. He needed someone who could manage the day-to-day operations of each of the sites, allowing him time to meet new customers, follow up on previous jobs, and handle the business-side of the company. Again, he was faced with bringing in someone who shared his same values and integrity in doing the job at the expected high-level. Faced with that decision, he brought in his father as his operations manager.
With his father on board, Babel’s business took off. His father’s military experience made him an excellent organizer and manager of people. He knew how to talk to employees to motivate them. He knew what incentives to offer to make his employees work harder. The teams that worked on each site soon worked more efficiently. Waste, and therefore cost, was cut.
Babel was making more money than he ever had before. Business continued to come in. While other construction companies were cutting back on employees, Babel was constantly hiring. As Babel made more money, he shared the wealth. He gave regular raises and took care of his employees. He provided excellent benefits and people enjoyed working for him. Everything was going extremely well.
That was before the incident.
The morning of the incident, Babel was driving to the office and he knew that something was wrong. Several times in his life he had woken with the same feeling. Each time, the day had ended in circumstances he regretted. That morning the same feeling had returned.
He considered calling in sick. “Dad can handle it.” he said to himself. He picked up his cell phone to call his father at the office and realized that his father was out at a site in a neighboring town. His father didn’t believe in cell phones – outrageous, but the price of doing business with his dad. He would have to wait and call him on the radio at the office.
That morning, Babel had a meeting with a potential new customer, an investor who was interested in building a subdivision and Babel’s company was the leading bid for the contract. Babel was meeting with him at nine to finalize any remaining details.
Babel arrived and found the coffee already made. He poured himself a cup and made the rounds to say good morning to the staff. He reached his office door and asked his assistant to let him know when the investor arrived; she agreed that she would. Babel thanked her and closed the door behind him. Inside, he sat at his desk and gazed out of the window in concerned reflection. “As soon as I’m done, I’m going home for the rest of the day.”
At 8:55am, a message popped up on his laptop
