“Oh, my! If it isn’t Noah!” Antonietta squealed as soon as she saw him. “Teresa, you weren’t joking! He’s really here.”
“I told you so, didn’t I? He called me earlier,” Teresa gloated to her and the rest of the women. Then she turned to Noah, her face lighting up with satisfaction. “Hello, dear.”
“Hello, Teresa. Ladies.” He smiled, charming them all. “Do you feel like grabbing some breakfast?”
Breakfast together was the excuse, so he and Teresa could tell the rest about hosting the delegates. In reality, his reason for calling Teresa was something else entirely.
Teresa took them to their destination—the food hall on the first floor. Noah had little appetite, so he got just a grilled chicken sandwich, letting Teresa catch her friends up on the delegates’ visit while he contemplated whether to actually eat now or waituntil lunch.
By the time she’d finished talking, he was yet to take even a single bite, but that could wait as the silent pause that followed offered him the perfect chance to slide into the conversation and execute his plan.
Angling his body toward Teresa, Noah said, “I was thinking… I can take you up on that offer for transfer if you could… pull a few strings, maybe? So I won’t have to do the training from the beginning.” If he had to do that, it would slow things down too much, and he didn’t have that kind of patience anymore. He needed a promotion that came with a higher salary, so a stagnant one while his retraining lasted, just wasn’t going to cut it.
“Oh? I thought you liked it in Tech, dear. Doing all your… computer things that you do?”
Noah had to fight off a snort.Computer things.
“I do but… I had a lot of fun assisting you host the diplomats.” One diplomat in particular, but he wasn’t going there right now. Or in the near future, at least until he had his shit together. “I did have a choice between the two programs, I mean… I only picked Tech because I was always decent at it. But now that I’d stepped outside my comfort zone, I think maybe I’d like PR more.”
Teresa flicked a curl back and reached over, cupping Noah’s hand. “Noah, dear. Despite your enthusiasm, I’m afraid that even if I put in a good word, it won’t be enough to let you switch over to PR without having to undergo the training.”
Noah’s excitement took a nosedive. “You can’t do anything about it? At all?” he said, channeling the best puppy eyes he could.If skipping that step wasn’t possible, maybe she could shorten it…
She shook her head, looking genuinely regretful. “I can get you fast-tracked so you don’t have to sitthrough the entire respecialization process, but I can’t save you from having to do the pre-training.”
Shit, that was too long.Two years for the PR stream if Noah wasn’t wrong and then a further two years to get where he was currently.
“Ah, dear, don’t look so disappointed.”
If he couldn’t switch over without losing four years, then realistically, what could he even do to speed this up? He needed money and he wanted the networking opportunities that came with being in PR. He hadn’t considered the latter before, but after meeting the representatives from the Asian Federation? He most definitely did now.
“Well, I do owe you one for helping me out with the representatives on both days,” Teresa put forth when he just stared at her blankly. She settled more comfortably on the plush couch, smiling mischievously. “And it would be a lie to say I’m not thrilled that you want to be part of the department I oversee. So, let’s say that if the need for a technical specialist to our diplomats were to ever arise, then I suppose someone like you, dear, would be the perfect fit for one such role.”
Noah gaped at the woman, unsure if he was catching her drift. Was she suggesting he make a case of it? Demonstrate somehow the need for such a position and put himself forth? He narrowed his eyes, the smugness of Teresa’s sultry smile not changing.
She seemed to register his confusion. “You know, dear, it used to be very common to find offices and equipment had been bugged or hacked before the war. So it was imperative that all our foreign representatives had someone who could ensure their files and data wouldn’t be stolen once they left the home office. We are experiencing a similar problem now, worldwide, as you are likely aware.”
Was Teresa implying he hacked the Church’s systems? To prove a point?No, that was too complicated, not something he thought he could pull off given his current skill set. It would take him too long to make a compelling case. Unless…
Noah left his sandwich mostly untouched, excusing himself as a new wave of excitement flowed through his veins. He had it. The solution to his roadblock, the way forward that would give him both money and shorten his remaining time here in the Holy Empire.
He didn’t need to hack the entire system of the Church; he needed to hack only one instance of it. One network. He was going to target the diplomatic mission in the Asian Federation’s Eastern-Pacific Region and, on top of that, he was going to do it in less than six months.
8
The Cardinal waved his hand, ending the meeting at the Church’s Headquarters in Florence ten minutes earlier. He was in no mood to deal with the back-and-forth that accompanied budget discussions right now, his mind still worried about the disappointing result of the negotiations with the Asian diplomats.
The Church had done its research, it always did, but nowhere in the reports was there a mention about the new representative’s rather… opinionated character.
Indeed, the Cardinal hadn’t prepared for such a problematic development, and while he’d done his best to handle the situation, he hadn’t managed to steer things according to his plan.
The Cardinal laced his hands together and watched the group of ministers trickle out of the room. It was agood thing he had a contingency in place, a Plan B already half-formed in his head in case things didn’t work out.
Heaving a sigh, he stood up and punched the remote control, causing the curtains along the stained glass windows to close. He was going to fix this. It was his holy duty, given to him by God’s messengers themselves. Yes, he’d allowed a mistake, but it was a human thing to do, even by those the Lord had graced with his blessings and trust.
The Cardinal said a quiet prayer for success, lingering for a further few minutes to make sure anyone waiting to ambush and drag him into further conversation had left. He headed out and found the corridor quiet, but not empty. Someone was waiting by the marble column with the hydrangea, but he couldn’t tell who it was until he approached them.
“Father Dorian,” the Cardinal said, annoyance spreading through him.
