Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(66)
Derrick spoke up next, his face never portraying anything but the utmost calm. “That will never be up for negotiation.”
Monroe coughed lightly, bringing the attention back to him. “Henry, Sierra, is there anything else you would like to request?”
Henry turned to the arbitrator. “Yes. We would like Brida’s Formula.”
Derrick laughed. “Brida’s formula?”
Henry’s icy stare let everyone know in the room that the Cine Tofa were most serious in their request. Declan threw his hands up, speaking directly to Monroe. “Is this how this arbitration is supposed to go? They are going to ask for something unreasonable, something that is completely unattainable, and then something that does not even exist? I do not even know why we are wasting our time here.”
Monroe sighed. “As you are well aware, they have a right to make any request they want. Are there any other things that the Cine Tofa might like to negotiate for?”
Henry and Sierra shook their head no, an air of smugness surrounding them. Monroe looked back at the Trust end. “Would you like to counter offer at this time?”
Derrick shook his head. “If it pleases you, Arbitrator, we ask that this session be resumed at noon tomorrow so I may confer with my colleges regarding these… requests.”
Monroe bowed his head. “Of course. This session will resume at twelve pm central standard time. May you all have a good evening.”
The three of them made their way back to the lodge in relative silence. Once they were securely in their building, Declan spoke out loud, rage in his voice. “A mockery! The Cine Tofa is making this a mockery! They never had any intent of letting the hostages go.”
Derrick placed a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Declan.”
“Why should I calm down? DiMartino and Smith are holed up with a couple of no-good Inquisitors right this minute being tortured. You know as well as I do that the Cine Tofa is much less ethical when it comes to the use of their Inquisitors.”
Derrick sighed. Caitlyn found his demeanor comforting. “Yes, we know. At the end of this arbitration, they will be freed. But right now we need to focus.” He glanced at the clock. “Listen, why don’t I go get us all some take out and then when I come back, we can discuss strategy. I think cooler heads will prevail when we all have some food in us.”
As the door shut behind him, Declan ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “The Cine Tofa have had some obnoxious requests before, but this… this is just ridiculous.”
“Declan, what is the Leabhar and Brida’s Formula?”
“I am surprised that Garrett did not go over the Leabhar with you.” He sat down at the counter, grabbing a bottle of whiskey sitting nearby and pouring himself a glass. He raised an empty glass and pointed it questionably at her.
Caitlyn figured what the hell. “Sure. Why not?”
He poured some in the tumbler and slid it over to her. “The Leabhar is Gaelic for ‘the book.’ It is the oldest document that we have regarding our history, our beginning. The books entries span over centuries, detailing different abilities and struggles within our society. The keeper of the books job is to record everything in an unbiased way. When there is a new ability that is revealed, the keeper notes it and tries to keep information on how that person performs that ability. I suspect that in the next few months, the keeper will contact you regarding your teleportation ability. When the Cine Tofa separated from the Trust in the eighties, they lost access to the Leabhar. We naturally assumed that they began to use a copy of the Leabhar and update with their own entries, but they do not know our unique talents that have arisen over the past thirty years.”
“So they want to assess what the Trust is capable of?”
“Yes and no. The Leabhar is one of our most important documents. Basically, it’s like they are asking for the Declaration of Independence. It’s something we would never give.”
Caitlyn understood. She would perhaps like to study this document herself at some point. She knocked back her whiskey, placing the empty glass on the counter. “And what about Brida’s formula?”
Declan laughed, grabbing it from her and refilling it. “It’s an urban myth. The mythology behind Brida’s formula began in the late nineties. According to this legend, one of our scientists, Francine Brida, developed this injection that would enhance an Actual’s natural abilities or begin the awakening process sooner in a Potential. But the formula does not exist.”