Back to Eveline - Chapter 22
Chapter 23 - The Golden Sword
Eveline's
career as an auction presenter continued to advance as her senior year
in high school progressed. She traveled to places like New York and Los
Angeles, in a private jet with her supervisor and company documentation.
Flying via private jet prevented her from having to get dressed to take
a commercial flight and also saved her a lot of time.
As Eveline became known throughout the auction industry, Nancy decided
to entrust her with presentations that required her to pick up and
actually handle expensive sale items. The change was important, because
it meant that Eveline was holding museum-quality merchandise that often
sold for tens of millions of dollars. She had to wear soft cloth gloves
to prevent getting fingerprints on the merchandise, but otherwise her
presenter's outfit remained the same.
Some of the items were so famous that she already knew about them. For
example, at an auction in Hollywood she presented a gold short-sword
that she had seen in a museum while on a field trip when she was in
middle school. She specifically remembered that sword, precisely because
it was solid gold and 4,000 years old. It was a centerpiece of the
collection and was protected by bullet-proof glass and an advanced alarm
system. And now she was actually holding it.
She wondered why it left the museum and was being sold at auction, but
she also knew better than to ask such questions. The sword sold for $ 30
million dollars.
Eveline got her answer about the short-sword as soon as the auction was
over. It turned out that the buyer was none other than Comandante
Foxtrot. The Supreme Leader had dropped $ 30 million for a single item
like it was nothing, like he was buying something from a souvenir shop.
Well, at least this time he paid fair market value for the sword, unlike
the Niger Heart-Pot, which he had acquired by totally scamming Tri-State
University.
Eveline had been extremely careful to handle the antiquity with the
greatest caution throughout the bidding. However, when the new owner
came up to her, he casually grabbed it and brandished it in front of
several photographers. He put his arm around the naked presenter, held
up the sword, and posed for some trophy-shots.
Eveline forced a smile, but inwardly she was scared out of her wits. An
ordinary person doesn't just grab a 4000-year-old solid gold antiquity
that had been on display in a museum for decades and casually wave it
around, but Comandante Foxtrot was no ordinary person. He owned a
quarter of the African continent. It was obvious his ego was as
grandiose as his wealth and power.
Then there was the question about why Comandante Foxtrot would want that
particular sword and pay $ 30 million dollars for it, along with
whatever bribes he needed to persuade museum administrators to move it
out of their collection and put it up for auction. Eveline knew, through
her pre-auction research, that the sword had a nefarious history, just
like the Niger Heart-Pot.
After the auction, Eveline wondered if Comandante Foxtrot's newest
purchase would make the news, and sure enough, it did. The scandal was
not quite as big as the sale that cost Tri-State University its most
valuable asset, but it did involve the administrators of a U.S. museum
parting with a famous antiquity. The curators tried to justify their
sale by claiming they were going to use the profit to purchase several
famous works of modern art. No one was buying that. A 4000-year-old
golden sword in exchange for some crappy modern art? Seriously? And
then, the curators vanished, along with the $ 30 million dollars.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader returned to the Confederation and added
his new prize to his collection of expensive goodies.
The new scandal had to have a public face and, once again, pictures of
Eveline with the Comandante appeared all over the news. She became a
subject of interest when several reporters wanted to interview her. She
was very nervous from suddenly being the focus of so much attention.
However, she maintained outward calm as she responded:
"Look. I am just an auction presenter. I don't work in the public
relations department. I am not authorized to speak about Emerald
Empire's policies or any particular sales transaction. We have
specialists to handle stuff like what you want to ask. Please talk to
them."
Eveline
knew that she could not avoid any controversy involving Comandante
Foxtrot and stolen antiquities. She was destined to cross paths with him
again in the near future. She figured the next time that he wanted some
important Old World antiquity, Nancy would lead the bidding and she
would be the presenter. And... she would be the subject of yet another
trophy shot and the face of yet another art scandal.
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Since there would be no avoiding the next high-society art intrigue,
Eveline decided that she needed to inform herself as much as she could
about the West African Confederation's Supreme Leader and what items
were likely to draw his interest. She drafted Lance to do much of her
research. She demanded reports, summaries of news articles, academic
research, and talking points. She mercilessly manipulated him by
flirting with him and guilt-tripping him until he dedicated all of his
free time to helping her. As his time at the computer increased, he
dropped his other interests and unwittingly became his girlfriend's
servant.
A strange thing happened shortly after Lance started doing research for
his girlfriend. One afternoon after making love to her, she told him to
sit at the computer without giving him the chance to get dressed. From
that day forward, he always sat naked at Eveline's workdesk, even if
Coach Strickland was in the house.
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Meanwhile, Eveline talked to Nancy about antiquities that were likely to
be offered for sale in the near future. Upon getting the lists from her
supervisor, she did her own research to find out what historical
significance they had. She figured out that Comandante Foxtrot had a
pattern with his purchases. He was not interested in modern art or
anything connected to European or Islamic culture. He only wanted
African and Egyptian items that held political or religious significance
in ancient times. He wanted objects that had been the property of
ancient royalty and that would allow him to claim a spiritual connection
to the past. But, why?
Lance's research provided a likely answer. Ever since he started taking
over the smaller countries of West Africa, Comandante Foxtrot had
invoked ancient religious traditions from the region in his speeches and
political rhetoric. His goal, which he openly admitted, was to unite his
young empire under a new religion that drew upon pre-Christian and
pre-Islamic traditions and beliefs. The antiquities he was purchasing
were the props he would need to lend legitimacy to the new religion
project.
Eveline impressed Nancy by predicting three items that would interest
the Comandante: a sacrificial stone altar, a set of ancient ceramic
cremation jars, and a jade cat statue that had been used as an idol.
Sure enough, when each item came up for sale, the Supreme Leader placed
the winning bid. The two women took advantage of their hunches to pay
special attention to Comandante Foxtrot and feed his ego with subtle
flirting. It was a dangerous game, they both knew. If he took too much
of a liking to either of them, it would be very easy for his henchmen to
grab them, put them on a plane, and deliver them to one of his palaces.
Chapter 24
