Is this destiny?

Saturday morning

Sarah entered the conference room where members of the Council are gathered.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen…", Sarah said to the shadows in the darkness, as she took her seat. The people were hidden in the darkness, but thanks to the Eve-lens, Sarah saw them perfectly. "Thank you for accommodating my request for this meeting."

Albert was not happy. He had so many things to deal with, yet this meeting was set up. He would skip it, but he feared that in his absence Sarah will sway the other members to support her, or maybe something worse will happen, so he decided to come.

Rance was also restless, for similar reasons as Albert.

"Where is your army of bodyguards?", Rance asked Sarah.

"They are busy. Something urgent came up.", Sarah responded with a smirk.

Last time, Sarah arrived with many people, this time it was only with Ron and Zula, and the two of them waited outside, by the car. Of course, people in this room don't know that Eve has full control over the electronics in the building, including the invisible drones which are silently hovering in the conference room.

Rance frowned, "Is there anything more urgent than to protect you?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Rance. "Are you saying that I need protection from you? You are just a boss who has his minions to do his work for him, while I…", Sarah's voice trailed off as her left hand increased the grip on the edge of the table.

CRACK!

A crisp sound of wood cracking shot through the room.

"What are you doing? That is priceless!", Albert hissed.

Sarah smirked. "It looks old. You should get another one."

Jarred pinched the roof of his nose. He knew that Sarah will create waves, but this was outside his expectations.

They have several locations around the globe where the Council meets, and each location has one of these tables. However, Albert is right that the table is priceless. They were created at the time the original Council was formed, just after the second world war, and even though members changed, the shapes of medallions didn't.

"Can we have this meeting without bickering?", Sinet asked. "I believe that it's in everyone's interest to finish this quickly."

Sarah nodded. "I agree. As soon as you explain the delay in getting me the information I requested, I can leave. Or even better, give me the data now."

"Who are you to set demands?", Albert asked angrily. His villa was looted and now Sarah is arrogant. He couldn't take it anymore.

"I am the person you want in this Council. You told me that you are some super-power that can shape the world. I asked you for simple information. After a week of waiting, I started suspecting that you lied when you spoke about your might."

Albert saw red. "Who wants you here?! No one needs a pompous brat!"

"Albert!", Sloan exclaimed. "We agreed that she is a good candidate. What are you doing? If you disagree with her becoming a member, express that during voting. You are welcome to explain your reasons but shouting and insulting is not acceptable."

"It's OK.", Sarah said calmly. "I am aware that some of the people in this room met with unfortunate accidents. His irritability is understandable."

Rance frowned at Sarah's words while wondering how much she knows.

"Accidents?", Albert repeated absentmindedly and then he narrowed his eyes on Sarah. "It was you!"

Sarah shrugged. "Whatever it is, unless you have proof, I advise you to stop talking."

Albert glanced at every shadow around the table. "Do you see now? She is the one who robbed my home. She is nothing more than a petty thief! Is this who you want at this table?"

"Why are you so dramatic? There are worse things than someone robbing your home.", Sarah said mockingly. "Things can be replaced with new… assuming that you have enough money."

Rance swallowed hard as he understood Sarah's hint that he might be running low on money. He felt the urgency to check the balance of his bank accounts. Rance reached for his pocket and cursed internally when he remembered that his phone is in the car. Can this meeting be over quickly?

The Council members don't bring electronics into their meetings out of fear that they will be recorded. If the things they discuss get publicized, they will be in a heap of trouble.

Sarah enjoyed Albert's anger and Rance's discomfort, but she wanted to be done with this so that she can return to the hospital. Vasily is stable, but he still didn't wake up and she wanted to be by his side. He might open his eyes any minute! Or at least that is what Sarah hopes for.

"I want to see the list of resources we agreed on during our previous meeting, and if it's not ready, I expect to hear what's causing the delay and when the list will be ready. Or did you give up on making me a member and I can leave?"

The silence after Sarah finished speaking was intense.

Rance's anxiousness swelled while amplified by fear and anger.

Is it possible that Sarah is behind the looting of his home? Rance's bodyguards and hi-tech security were useless. He was right there, and no one saw anything. Even the guard dogs didn't stir, and the robbers took everything! It was like ghosts descended, and everyone alive on Rance's property lost one hour. By the time they came around, everything was gone. Everything. 

Rance grit his teeth while thinking about how things spiraled downward in a flash. By now, he was supposed to share a toast with Albert and enjoy his newly acquired mines, but instead… his house was robbed, and Albert told him that the plan is on hold.

What was Albert thinking to postpone it at the last moment? Albert needed to make a few phone calls, but Rance spent hours communicating with all the people he hired to attack the mines. If another day passes, the weekend will be over, and attacking during a weekday will require much more resources because miners will return to work.

"I can't speak for others…", Suvedini said as she leaned forward so that the light hits her face. "But I prepared a list of my resources."

Suvedini put a black folder on the table and pushed it toward Sarah.

"These are mine.", Sinet said and in a similar way delivered a gray folder to Sarah.

Without a word, another folder reached Sarah. This one was from Jarred's direction.

"I was not aware that this should be delivered individually…", Sloan said. "You will get mine after this meeting. I just need to reach a printer with a secure connection."

With three folders on the table and forth one promised, Albert saw red. "This is not what we agreed on!"

"Come on, Albert.", Ksenia said. "The deadline to deliver these expired four days ago." With a flick of her finger, a scarlet folder reached Sarah.

Sarah nodded toward Ksenia.

When they investigated Ksenia's recent movements and communication, Sarah saw that Ksenia reached out to Maksim. As part of this plan, Sarah asked Maksim to see if he can win over Ksenia and she was not sure if he succeeded. The scarlet folder in front of Sarah answered that question.

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