Chapter 39 Part 2

"So you DID see me!" Sal exclaimed. "Why didn't you try to come and get me???"

"Well, you left of your own accord, so I figured the best thing would be for you to return of your own accord. After all, you and Prilock seemed to establish such a rapport. I wonder why that was?"

Sal waited for an answer. The Rogue didn't offer any. Finally, Sal pressed him. "WHY WAS IT THEN?"

The Rogue chortled. "The easiest way to answer that is to say that time isn't as linear as everyone would like to think. Without your intervention, Prilock would have been killed. Could you hand me your knife, Sal?"

Sal instinctively reached for his pocket. When he patted it, he found the familiar bulk was missing. He began to frantically search his pocket. Maybe the wind had knocked it out? Where the hell was it?

The Rogue chimed in, "I shouldn't think you would need to search your pockets long. The blade is gone. It is gone because it has served its purpose, and the debt it represented has been paid. You are now free to travel lighter, Sal Grimone."

"I don't want to travel lighter," said Sal. "I want my damn knife back!"

"Be careful what you wish for," replied the Rogue. "Because you just might get it!"

Sal fidgeted in his chair and folded his arms.

"I think we have had enough of mystery hour," began the Rogue. Let's get down to the details of why you are here."

"As I said before," the Rogue began, "You are here because you each have a role to play in how time unfolds. You each are already involved in the tapestry. You are here to inform you of the choices at your disposal. You are each here of your own volition, of choices you have made. Uziel decided to trust Hiro. Rei decided to act on Reipawn's suggestion. Sal voluntarily took a job where he discovered some highly confidential information. None of you may have directly known what these decisions entailed as a consequence, but yet here you are." The Rogue took a moment to let that sink in. Then he began again. "The critical point we have come to involves a Shaper--Enoch Tero to be precise. Most Shapers are selected on the basis of their fittedness to be a Shaper, and it is true that Enoch is fitted to be one. Enoch, however, lacks what one might call compassion. He seeks to impose order at any cost. If he is successful then an age of darkness will descend upon us. At this moment, he is conspiring to bring this very thing about--and he intends to deceive the entirety of the Star Council to accomplish it. The details of his plan are less important to each of you. What is important is that every one of you carries a critical thread of the tapestry that will foil his efforts. For you, Uzine, you have your mission with the chimeras. For you, Rei, you have whomever this Reipawn is directing your actions--though to what end you do not yet know. For you, Sal, you have access to information that no one else does on the planet that you intend to use for profit. Each of these things when put together has the power to frustrate Enoch's ambitions. Yet, just as you each had choices in the decisions that brought you here, you continue to have choices now. Depending on what you each do with the pieces you have, then Enoch will be successful or fail. His success or failure creates a critical point in time with evolutionary lines and consequences rippling far into the future."