The Oracle Year(111)

The soldier nodded.

“Leuchten,” Will said.

Tony half turned to look at the monitor.

“Get on your knees in front of him.”

“Fuck you,” Leuchten said.

“Do it, or this whole thing’s done,” Will said. “You want that election, you want to save the world? Get down in the sand.”

“I represent the United States of America,” Leuchten said. “I can’t do it.”

“Do you really want that goddamn missile to launch, Tony? You can’t be that stupid. You can stop it right now. I’m telling you, I know what’s going to happen. I’m the Oracle, for fuck’s sake.”

Will smiled at him.

“Sometimes we all have to surrender to a higher power, Tony. Today, that higher power is me.”

Even through the monitor, Will could see Leuchten’s face flush. He slowly turned back to face T?r?kul.

Laboriously, Anthony Leuchten lowered himself to his knees, his eyes far away. Down in the sand, facing T?r?kul, the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America bowed his head.

T?r?kul watched this happen, and then looked back at Will. His attitude had changed; for the first time since their conversation had begun, Will saw a touch of respect in the other man’s face.

“Captain, start translating again,” Will said.

The soldier nodded, waiting.

“So here we are, T?r?kul,” Will said, “you and me. The men with all the power. You say you need to use yours to help your people. I’m using mine for the same thing. I’m giving you my word, right now. When the biys come down from the mountains, the vote will be in your favor, twenty-three to twelve.”

Will waited for the soldier to translate his words, then continued.

“If you wait, you win. If you don’t, everyone dies. I can’t tell you what to do. But think about everything I could have done with all this power I have, and then think about what I actually did here tonight. From one powerful man to another, just consider that I am telling you the truth.”

T?r?kul watched Will’s face. Will felt calm, calmer than he had been in a long time, possibly since the dream.

The warlord glanced at Leuchten, still kneeling silently in the dirt, and then back up at Will. He looked off into the distance, his face blank, unreadable, and remained that way for perhaps thirty seconds.

T?r?kul spoke briefly.

“I will wait,” came the translation.

Will was dimly aware of sounds of relief erupting around him in the helicopter.

“Thank you,” Will said.

Tony Leuchten looked toward the screen, a question on his face. Will kept him waiting for a long moment, then nodded. The other man slowly pulled himself to his feet. Once he was standing, Leuchten brushed sand from his clothes and gave Will a look of pure, burning hatred. Will was severely unimpressed.

“Thank you, Tony,” he said. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy.”

“You’re a son of a bitch,” Leuchten spat.

“Hey, pal, you were the one who wanted to work with me so badly. You get what you get, asshole,” Will said. “Let T?r?kul and his men go. You heard him. He’s going to wait.”

“How do we know?” Leuchten said.

“Because he made a deal with someone he thinks he can trust,” Will said. “Good-bye, Leuchten. I hope I never see you again.”

Will looked at the cameraman in the helicopter.

“Shut it off,” he said.

The cameraman flipped off the monitor and lowered his camera. His face was pale, and his eyes wouldn’t leave Will’s face.

Leigh squirmed past Grunfeld into the helicopter’s aisle, her eyes wide.

“Holy shit, Will!” she said.

“I told you I knew what I was doing.”

“Time to go,” the Coach said. “Step lively.”

She nodded at Grunfeld, who spoke briefly into a radio wired into his collar. A moment later, the door to the helicopter opened, and the Coach’s men appeared, motioning to Jerry and the cameraman to exit. As soon as the door opened, Will heard cheers and screams from outside, and more questions.

The Coach looked at Leigh.

“As I understood the deal, Ms. Shore,” she said, “it’s about time you were headed on out of here too.”

Leigh shook her head and looked at Will. He nodded.

“It’s okay, Leigh,” he said. “I’ll be all right. Just go, be safe.”

“She’s going to kill you, Will!”

“It’s all right,” Will repeated. “Go. We don’t have time.”

“He’s right, you know,” the Coach said. “Get down those stairs in the next ten seconds, or you’re coming with us.”

Leigh abruptly sat down in one of the seats and buckled her seat belt.

“Oh, Leigh, no, come on,” Will said.

“Lady wants to stay, her call,” the Coach said.

“Get us up,” she shouted to the pilot.

The helicopter’s rotors cycled up, their pitch running higher, as the pilot made preparations to return to the sky.

Will collapsed into the seat next to Leigh.

“Why?” he said.

“Come on, Will, shouldn’t you know by now?” she replied. “The story’s not done.”