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Mark tried to change the subject, the grief was beginning to come back to him and he didn’t want to break down in front of people he had just met. Talking about these things only made them worse.
“So what will my job be?” Mark asked, trying to change the subject.
“You will be Agnus’s assistant. We hear you are quite smart,” Charles replied.
“But I only know English, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. Besides, Sarah made it sound like you wouldn’t really need anyone’s help.” Mark really didn’t see himself being able to help Agnus, he was just a programmer. What did he know about ancient history?
“Oh Sarah. Did she give you the Agnus is up here, and we’re down here speech?” Agnus said mimicking the hand movements Sarah had used.
“Umm, yes,” Mark replied, clearly confused.
“Well, unlike these recruits, you actually know Sarah. Do you really think there are many people out there smarter than her?” Agnus asked with a half-smile.
“No,” Mark said smiling back.
“Yeah,” Agnus said with a knowing look. “That stuff works on a lot of people, but the people who really know her, they can tell she’s much more than she pretends to be.”
Agnus then grabbed Charles’s hand and put her other arm over Mark’s shoulders. The two of them led Mark to the house Sarah had prepared for him and said their goodbyes.
“We live just down the street, this one is Sarah’s.” Agnus pointed at the small house between hers and Mark’s. “If you need anything, we’re only two houses down. Don’t hesitate to ask. If you don’t feel like coming to work for right away, don’t worry about it. Once you’ve had time to process everything I’ll be at the library.” Agnus pointed up the street to a large building that looked exactly as Mark thought a library should look. Then Charles and Agnus walked down the sidewalk to their door and Mark was left all alone.
Chapter 12
Mark spent the two weeks after arriving in the settlement alone in his new home. This house Sarah had made for him was much too large for one person. Sarah had designed the house for a family of three. There were two bedrooms, a den, a large living room and a moderate sized kitchen. Someone had stocked the house with food in preparation for his arrival so he didn’t even have to leave the house.
He went through all the stages of grief. He found himself mad at Jen for leaving him, Sariel for killing her and at one point even Sarah for not being there to help him through this. He blamed himself, wanted revenge for Jen’s death and had even considered suicide. If it had not been for Katie being alive and safe somewhere he might have actually tried but he couldn’t do that to her. Some day she would find out the truth and she might need him.
After a couple weeks, Mark started going in to work. Slowly at first, he’d come in for a few hours then return to his home to be alone with his thoughts. Agnus was very considerate and never once chastised him for his sporadic schedule. She invited him to share supper with her and Charles several times but Mark always had an excuse for why he didn’t show up. It took months for Mark to get over his depression but when he did, he found Charles and Agnus to be good friends.
Over the next year and a half he spent a good deal of his time at the library. Once he got over his self-declared lack of ability with historical researching, he found that he was actually not bad at it. He even found that he enjoyed translating old documents. It was like a puzzle. He would use the translation software to get a rough translation of the texts then it would be his job to go over every word to make sure it was translated correctly within its context. It was long and arduous work but the end results were beautifully written accounts of man’s first dealings with God and his angels. They were working on documents written about the time between the creation of man and the great flood of Noah. These documents were written by Noah’s descendants in some of the earliest writings known to man. While most of them were trivial things, they were quite interesting, and all of the translations were great accomplishments in their own right. The work at least gave Mark something to focus on to keep his mind off of his grief.
Mark was given his own office in the library and many times he would find himself listening to the radio while he worked. He was particularly fond of one station that reminded him of Katie.
This station was a religious station that covered many topics. It had been started by a billionaire that lost his wife in a car accident. The man decided that since he had no living descendants to give his fortune to he would use his vast wealth to provide a real religious radio station. One that didn’t beg people for donations, in fact, it was forbidden for the station to receive them. The man thought this way the people working there could concentrate on the real message instead of spending so much time worrying about money. This station was non-denominational and provided different slots for many religions. The man had the idea that no religion was the right religion. They were all different views about a power that mankind could barely comprehend. His beliefs brought a lot of controversy but after a few years it was clear that no one was going to change his mind.
