ECHOES IN ETERNITY

SUNDOWN Part 6

Alexander Aurelius Pella

When I walk back into my office, Henry is waiting for me.

"Why did you cross paths with Elissa? I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that until she fully regained her memories," I say accusingly to Henry.

"I wanted to be sure..." he says pausing, finally completely believing who he's met outside. Doc is as affected by her sight as Elissa was by his appearance. "Besides, she's my godchild. It's been over two centuries since I've seen her. You're not the only one who cares for her, sir," he says in his Southern gentleman tone, his gaze matching mine. "I wanted to see her up close even if it was just for a few seconds."

"You know it's dangerous for her. I don't know what it would do to her. You know the rules!"

"She did not see my face, Alexander!"

"My God Henry, you look like you just walked out of 1802! It may elicit an adverse response in her, and you know that it may be detrimental to her! I can't take the chance. You don't see me dressing up in armor with a cuirass to trigger her earlier memories!" I scold him.

"Maybe you should, Alexander! Because you don't know who will reach her first before you unlock her memories! And besides, I have a mind of my own and know what is best for her well-being. Stop expecting me to hail down to you like one of your former Praetorians, Alexander. Anthony can and is doing that quite well for both of us..." he says smirking, and then adds in a somber tone, "But, I am your friend; it is a title I don't afford loosely to anyone. In fact when I count friends in all my 251 years of existence, the numbers barely sum up more than half a dozen. The longer we live, the more jealous we grow of our existences. But it means nothing to me if I can't lay my life down for you, or Miss Ellie should it come to that,"

I nod somberly knowing the truth in his words. I have existed over 2360 years, but I've never met anyone as loyal as Henry and Anthony in all my existence who is more worthier in being called a friend. I trust both of them implicitly; but I still have to be the final authority; it can't be helped when it comes to Elissa.

"What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Henry asks to change the topic.

Quite a few items... But, have you and your team screened all the approved prospective bidders?"

"Yes. Some of the bottomless coin purses have disputable reputations requiring me to delve more into their business affairs. I will have to get back to you on that. You may have to assess their characters for yourself tomorrow."

"What's the country of origin of those buyers?"

"Peru."

"Anyone we know?"

"No one we've done business with in the past."

"What are they interested in buying?"

"They're supposedly establishing a new tourism company with their own fleet of passenger aircrafts to accommodate all the tourists to predetermined locations."

"Sounds alright..." I observe, but I know there's more.

"That's just it. It only sounds alright up to this point. Then it becomes a shithole. They secured $100 million to purchase five new Airbus 321 with passenger configurations. The company doesn't have a bank vouching for them, and no one has heard of them up until three years ago. The funds appear to be coming from unknown sources."

I think about that for a minute. What does the company have to conceal by hiding their very large monetary sources? If no bank was vouching for them, the money had to come from someplace.