Shadow Puppets Page 0,50
of the Hegemon was that she didn't actually have to answer the tedious mail-she could forward it on to one of Peter's secretaries to deal with, since it consisted mostly of tedious attempts of people trying to get her to use her supposed influence with Peter to get him to do something that was not within his power to do, was illegal even if he could do it, and which he would certainly not do even if it were legal.
It left her with very few pieces of mail that she needed to deal with personally.
Most of it could be answered with a few sentences and she dealt with it quickly, if a bit sleepily.
She was about to shut down her desk and try again to get back to sleep when a new piece of mail came in.
To: T%[email protected]
From: Rock%[email protected]
Re: And when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.
What was this? Some religious fanatic? But the address was her most private one, used only by John Paul, Peter, and a handful of people she actually liked and knew well.
So who sent it?
She skipped to the bottom. No signature. The message was short. You'll never guess. There I was at a party-the boring but dangerous kind, with fine china that you know you're going to break, and a tablecloth you're bound to spill India ink on-and do you know what happens? Along comes the very man with whom I wanted to tie the knot. He thinks he's rescuing me from the party. But in fact, he was the very reason I came to the party in the first place. Not that I'll ever tell him. He would BLOW UP if he knew. And then, of course, I'm so nervous I bump into the tureen and hot soup spills all aver everything. But . - - you know met just a big oaf.
That was the complete text of the message. It was really annoying, because it didn't sound like anyone she knew. She didn't have friends who sent letters as empty and pointless as this one. Gossip about a party. Somebody hoping to marry somebody else.
But before she could make any progress on figuring it out, another piece of mail came in.
To: T%[email protected]
From: Sheep%[email protected]
Re: Even as ye have done it unto the least of these - . -
Another biblical quote. Same person? Bound to be.
But the message was not chatty at all. In fact, it continued the scriptural motif from the subject line. It had nothing to do with the previous message.
Ye took me in, but I was not naked. I took you in, because you were foolish. Ye never knew me, but I knew you.
When does the judgment day come? Like a thief in the night. In an hour when ye look not for me. The fool says, He is not coming. Let us eat drink and be merry for he is not coming. Behold I stand at the door and knock In sorrow shall ye bear children, will have the power to crush your head but ye will have the power to bite my heel.
A time to sow, and a time to reap. A time to gather stones together, a time to run like hell.
She who has ears to hear. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet. I come to bring not peace but a sword.
Theresa got out of bed. John Paul had to see these letters. They meant something, she knew that, especially arriving together like this. The number of people who knew this address was very, very small. And not one of them would write either of these letters.
Therefore either this address had been compromised-but who would bother? She was only the mother of the Hegemon-or these letters were meant to convey a message. And it was from someone who thought that even at this address, her mail might be intercepted by someone else.
Who was that paranoid, but Bean?
Big oaf, that's who he said he was. Bean, definitely.
"John Paul," she said as she padded up behind him.
"This is so strange," he said.
She assumed he was going to tell her about a similar pair of messages, so she waited.
"The Chinese have imposed a completely absurd law in India. About rocks! People aren't allowed to carry rocks without a permit! Anyone caught with rocks is subject to arrest-and they're actually enforcing it. Have they lost their minds?"
She found it impossible to be interested in the idiocies of China's policies in India. "John Paul, I