I have now translated all the chapters of "The Fourth Age", in total the fanfiction has 40 chapters. Until Christmas I will upload a chapter every day and of course I am looking forward to every review. I wish you a lot of fun reading and me as few formatting errors as possible! ;)


A cog in the wheel

I must have looked at him in complete irritation, because Mr. Sattler preferred to stand behind my chair and thus out of sight before continuing. "We checked you out when we saw you in the company of the creature, and it surprised us that you went along with his persuasion. That doesn't fit the profile."

What profile? Creature? What was he talking about? I was about to launch into a question when he continued, "We know you're not the mastermind. But that doesn't change the fact that you got involved." Wait a minute, what was he getting at? Until just now, he had called me a thief, after all. "And that's why I'm offering you a deal: You let us give you our truth serum, and if you really are what you say you are, I'll give you your life back."

I closed my eyes for a moment. This was too much to take in all at once. Time travel, truth serum, Jack Adams. The situation was taking on proportions I no longer understood, only one thing shining like the North Star at the end of the tangle of lies and intrigue: My old life. Could he really give it back to me? He had to suspect that it was what I most desired, but how was that going to work? How could he undo all that had happened? After all, my family and friends had to have noticed by now that I wasn't there. And then there was the charge of murder, which had vanished as if by magic, but which I'm sure many people had seen nonetheless.

"What are you saying?" His voice was so close to my ear that I winced. How had he gotten there so fast? I turned away, but his voice still sounded velvety and coaxing in my ear, making it hard to focus on the real thing. How on earth was he doing that?

I had to be careful, because as trustworthy as he sounded just now, he had been ice cold before. I felt like I was making a deal with the devil himself if I didn't think carefully about his offer.

I cleared my throat. "I'm saying...that I want to know more before I let you inject me with anything."

He sighed. "That's what I thought, you're one hundred percent in line with our calculations there."

"Excuse me?"

He ignored my question and waved the bodyguard over. "David, get the records. I can manage on my own for that long."

The bodyguard nodded and left the room. Mr. Sattler sat back down on the desk and looked out the window. As he did so, he seemed as cool and distant as before, and I couldn't explain the effect his question just had on me. Perhaps it was simply the offer itself, the lure of being able to go home again, to undo what had happened. I rubbed my temples and cursed my thoughts, which buzzed through my head like a startled swarm of bees. This was going to give me a headache. Asking for an aspirin, however, I didn't dare. Who knew what they were mixing in there.…

The silence stretched and finally I asked the first question I could think of to break it. "Why did you ask my permission? Is it an ethics thing?"

This time he really smirked. "No, not really."

"Well then." What else had caused him not to just give me the shot?

"The serum only works if you agree to take it," he finally explained, as if he had read the question right off my face. Then he shrugged. "I would have had to tell you sooner or later anyway."

Instead of that last sentence, he could have said: Whether you know it or not doesn't matter, you're going to agree anyway. He seemed very sure of himself and if I was honest, I had no other choice. What was the alternative? He had already hinted at how our conversation would end if I didn't cooperate. I guess it was really just a matter of time, or in other words, it would be until I played coy or he broke it off. I drew my legs up and rested my head on my knees. As long as the bodyguard was gone, I could still think about what I had learned so far. So go ahead. Get on with it, I thought angrily, but my brain twists seemed to be more viscous than road tar and the harder I tried, the more severe my headache became. What a mess. So here I sat, self-inflicted and exceptionally stupid. But I didn't deserve it any other way. Why was I always hell-bent to get my own way?

Would I get out of here alive? What reason would Sattler have to let me live if he got his information? And what would become of Legolas when I had told him everything? Because it wouldn't come any other way, I was sure of it.

As I changed my sitting position, I noticed that Sattler was watching me. I didn't avoid his gaze and he shook his head slightly. "I'll keep my word, Ina."

A cold shiver ran down my spine as I thought of the person who had said the exact same sentence to me last time. I hadn't given him the chance to prove his promise. "How do I know?", I asked after a pause.

"Because I'm not chasing you. You're just a cog in the wheel, why should I hurt you?"

Oh, he knew exactly what to say. It went down like oil and only made me all the more suspicious because of it. But I was so incredibly tired and exhausted. Wouldn't it be easier to just give him what he wanted?

"Your friend, on the other hand, doesn't."

It was as if a hand closed around my heart and squeezed tightly. Instantly, I was wide awake again. "You think he's the thief."

When Ice Eye didn't answer, I knew I had hit the mark. "I already told you he wasn't. What more do you want?"

Before he could answer, the door opened and the bodyguard came in. "Here are the papers, boss."

"Thank you, David." He accepted the bag and dumped it out on the table in front of me. A brochure, a can of Coke, advertising chocolate, and a vial full of a fluorescent liquid. Sattler leaned down toward me until his mouth tickled my ear. "Prove me right."