Do No Evil (Aeon Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 12

Reverend Cruz gazed into Willy's face. He'd just poured out his soul to her. She could trust him. And he was trained as a psychologist. He could help her.

"I need your advice, Willy."

"On what, Reverend?"

"You're not a man of faith, are you?"

He looked flustered and lowered his eyes. "No, I can't say I am."

"Don't you feel out of place here?"

He looked back up at her. "Yes, sometimes I do. But I trust in your wisdom."

"My wisdom," she repeated with a sarcastic smile. "Do you know, Willy, that the day my husband's helicopter exploded, the force of the blast obliterated everything in my office. Everything except this, which landed right in my lap." She held out the unsigned Declaration of Independence for him to see.

He took it and read it and then looked back up at her. He looked worried.

"To a person of faith, what must it mean, Willy, that only this document survived?"

He was silent, but he looked at her tensely.

"I can't have children, Willy. My womb is defective. When I was a younger I three fertility doctors gave me all kinds of treatments and nothing worked."

Willy's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Reverend."

"In Kerrville I'd always look at the playground outside the church when I was writing my sermons. Because children are the future. I thought because I was barren I'd never be a part of the future."

"The movement can be your-"

"I'm pregnant, Willy."

He recoiled slightly. "That's-"

"It's a miracle."

"I was going to say that's wonderful."

"It happened about the same time as the helicopter explosion. To a person of faith, these two events taken together have a very clear meaning. God is telling me that the way towards the future is to go to war with the Federal government."

"I'm sure there are other-"

"There are no other ways to interpret it."

She stood up from her chair and walked around her desk so there was nothing between her and Willy. "I can't afford for that to be true, Willy. I know - I know with my own mind - that war with the Federals will be a disaster."

"I'm glad we agree on that point," said Willy equivocatingly, apparently knocked off balance.

"So Willy, you are not the only person who feels out of place here in San Antonio."

Willy's confused expression changed to one of understanding. "How can I help you, Reverend?"

"There are millions of people looking to me to guide and inspire them with the power of my faith. Some of them even think I'm a prophet. But I don't think I can help them. I pray for an end to the famines and freezing weather that plague the nation. But my prayers don't put food in anyone's belly. They don't heat anyone's homes. Each word coming from my lips is a public demonstration of failure and futility."

Willy nodded again. "You're asking how you can go on leading your church when you're confused about your own faith. And how you can go on asking people to sacrifice for your movement when you have nothing to offer in return."

"Yes."

"You do it because you have to."

"Who says I have to?"