Episode 4 - Cold Fusion

  Chapter 35 - All Hands

  “Oh shit, Adrian must be up?”

  I lift my head to look over my shoulder and follow Nessa’s eyeline to the hallway. Several people in white medical uniforms pass, wheeling out an IV pole and other medical equipment from the elevator.

  My fingers grow still on my tablet and keypad to watch as the procession of nurses move through the front lobby. Mia greets them, getting up from her desk to usher them out. I watch and wait, just as anxious as Nessa, peeking between the glass walls of the public work areas of the ground floor at Aquila. The moment Mia is back on her desk Nessa stands. “C’mon, you're curious too, right?”

  I nod and follow after her.

  Mia almost rolls her eyes as she sees us approach, Nessa leaning over her desk imposing compared to the smaller lady. “Adrian okay?”

  “Not my business. Not yours either,” insists Mia, not looking up from her typing. She’s one of the older Aquila staff members, her hair wrapped tightly in a head scarf with bright geometric patterns that contrast with the black, metal and plastic of corporate decorative tastes. She always comes across as the mother of the company, given she runs so much of the logistics and ordering for us all behind the scenes. Like almost everyone here, she was never actually licensed to have children or marry, I still don’t know if that is Aquila policy or personal choice, but I suspect it’s policy given the small size of the company and the specialized nature of their work. There's very little room for fat. I wonder if she ever wanted children, she’d be too old for it now.

  “Aw, not even a clue?” begs Nessa. “I’ll put aside some of my muffins next time I make them?”

  “Strawberry and cocoa butter?” asks Mia, raising one eyebrow as she rapidly clicks away at her work.

  “Whatever you want. You’re the one who orders everything.”

  “You’ll need to sweeten the deal more than that.”

  “I’ll come find you? Fresh out of the oven?”

  Mia pauses, purses her lips and looks at me meaningfully before passing her gaze back to Nessa. I don’t know how much everyone else was told about what happened at Diabardi, but I’m sure the rumors are that it was bad given Adrian and Rhett have been out of action for almost a week now, and I was locked downstairs for half of it. I shrink shyly from her gaze, and distract myself looking beyond the lobby out to the street as people, symbionts, and cars pass by.

  “The Vice President of Operational Intelligence has been cleared for work again. Vespa will be active again tomorrow morning. The younger Executive Hawthorne is still in recovery though,” replies Mia finally. I’ve never actually heard anyone refer to Adrian by his title before.

  “Damn, the Wolf Prince is still down?” asks Nessa, using Shion’s nickname for Rhett. “Conrad, what happened?”

  Mia’s eyebrow somehow finds a way to raise higher as she appraises me.

  “Nothing. I can’t talk about it.” I reply. It is technically true.

  “Correct,” returns Mia with a good-hearted annoyance, then she waves her wrists to shoo us off, decorative bangles clanking together as she does so. “Back to work you two. I thought you were doing invoice data entry for Aster?”

  “They were,” comes Aster’s voice from the corridor, leaning out the glass door to find us. His head is bald today, wearing a dress jacket and tie over his blue collared shirt. I’m used to normally seeing him prefer masculine presentations when there is going to be trouble, so I frown slightly at the sight of him dressed this way.

  “Something up?” I ask. Nessa is already pushing away from her position leaning over Mia’s desk.

  “All hands meeting. Mia you too,” replies Aster. “Upstairs, presentation room.”

  “What’s happening?” asks Nessa as we trail behind Aster. He’s taller than both of us, but Nessa comes close. Mia waves an indication she’ll follow in a moment.

  “You’ll see shortly.”

  “Is it about me?” I ask cautiously, Nessa narrowing her eyes as she determinedly tries to hide her excitement at the possibility of gossip.

  “No, Squall. Not everything is about you.”

  “I can’t believe you ratted me out to Regina?”

  Aster holds a hand to his chest coyly. “Me? You intentionally fucked the mission and put Rhett and Adrian into medical care for a week. You think she wasn’t going to have questions?”

  Nessa’s eyes gleam as she looks between us. She’s almost holding her breath waiting for one of us to continue speaking.

  “She didn’t need to know it was my fault. It could have been an accident?”

  “Ah yes, from the numerous possible explosives that commonly occur in water treatment plants?”

  “Oh fucking-”

  Aster spins, stopping me with the palm of his hand. “You got a lot of men killed Conrad. Don’t joke about this.”

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  “I’m not joking. I’m not. I know what I did…”

  “Do you?”

  Aster’s tone brings me to a halt, biting back my words. I can still feel the strips of flesh he metaphorically peeled from me when he chewed me out in the many hours of our return train ride. I can’t say what I really want to say. That I saved their lives. Adrian’s warnings ring in my ears, the need to protect myself by ensuring they underestimate me and never fully know what risk Pooka poses to them.

  But, this is something more, something that makes me and Adrian different. My danger comes from my lack of control paired with my known power. Unlike him, underestimation will eventually get me killed, I'm realizing. And if not that, it will lose me what few allies I have.

  I’m so sick of fucking everything up. In many ways, Regina’s conversation left me with more guilt than I think it would have if she had fired me and turned me out on the streets as an unemployed free-man. I wish I could vomit these feelings up like sickness, then they would be purged and I'd be free of them. Instead they fester in my gut, poisoning my thoughts with self-disgust.

  “Do I get to find out what happened finally?” asks Nessa as the elevator shuts on us.

  Aster and I speak at the same time. “No.”

  “Damn, no fun. First time anything has gone that bad in ages.”

  “You have weird ideas of fun,” I remark snidely.

  Nessa shrugs, a few rings on her ears ringing as her head moves. “Gotta get amusement from something.”

  The presentation room is packed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen all thirty something employees in one place at once. With Adrian out of action most field work must have ground to a halt. Seats are arranged in a half circle with steps down to the central presentation area with a single syn-screen. Regina stands in the middle of the room, chatting with Rishi as his white-winged symbiont flutters wispish above their heads.

  Aster hops down the stairs as we enter, coming to join them at the front. I follow Nessa into a few spare seats next to a couple of faces I recognize and behind Junk.

  “Oi, Junk, what’s happening?” I ask, leaning forward to the older man.

  He leans one shoulder over the edge of his chair, the paperlike skin on his neck bunching as he tries to look round at me. “s’Big company announcement, I guess.”

  “You know what about?” asks Nessa, just as curious. There is a hum in the room from most of the crowd, awaiting in anticipation. “Aster wouldn’t tell us.”

  “You’s think I would know?” asks Junk with a chuckle.

  A few celebratory claps catch our attention and we stop our conversation and look towards the door as Adrian drives himself into the room. He’s thin, but not more disheveled than he usually is, still wearing a few medical bracelets on one arm. Someone has finally retwisted his roots as well. Across his chest, his hive practically pulsates with activity, most of the Vespa must be home. He gives a quick wave of acknowledgement as he parks his chair in the top corner by the door, unable to come lower with the stairs here.

  Rhett stalks in after him while the crowd is distracted with welcoming Adrian back. He’s wearing a sweater, hands tucked in his pockets and heavy bags under his eyes, but he seems alive and mostly recovered compared to the shaking mess he was when I last saw him. Pell is wrapped around the back of his head, legs perched either side of the messy bun he’s tied his hair into.

  His eyes scan the room, searching, and he catches mine and pauses. His jaw stiffens, his lower lip twitching as the muscles clench. Then he breaks eye contact and stalks down to join his mother in front of everyone.

  “Alright, alright!” announces Regina, cutting confidently through the buzz of conversation. “Welcome to our All Hands meeting. We thought we’d give some updates given that so many of you are in person at the moment. First, some announcements-”

  I twist back in my seat to face forward again, watching Rhett lean against the back wall as Regina speaks. He stares at the ground as he listens.

  A few birthdays are listed off, a couple of work anniversaries. Polite claps go up for well known names. Nothing interesting or significant enough that it could warrant the whole company being gathered like this. My heart feels like it climbs into my throat as the meeting continues, anticipation building that there must be something else coming.

  Regina finally claps her hands together. “Right, main business then. We have a few upcoming changes and big projects coming soon. All exciting news of course. Firstly, Aster will be stepping up to start taking some client-facing roles, including a promotion to Director of Operations. You’ve all worked with Aster, and while he will still be in the field as cover support when or where he is needed, he’ll be mostly stepping back from field ops for a while. I am so proud to welcome such a promising new face to leadership at Aquila.”

  Aster lifts a hand as polite claps go around the room. He gives a weak smile, but doesn’t seem happy with the news and I feel a pang of pain that somehow this might be my fault.

  “The big news is that we have had a long term project in the works for several months now and I want to announce our latest success. Apex has been an important client for Aquila for many years now, and we are excited to announce our latest collaborative efforts have been successful. Apex has finally achieved majority ownership of Diabardi operations, the final stake purchased recently in exchange for their support rebuilding some life support systems at Catakalan.”

  My jaw almost hits the floor, then I quickly pull myself together, sinking into my seat and feeling a cold sweat spring on my brow as Regina continues.

  “This has been a long term project to slowly ‘create opportunities’ for Apex and their shells to purchase shares, or otherwise gain leverage and ownership over Diabardi in a discrete, hostile takeover. And our latest operation was a resounding success giving them the final pieces to negotiate and finally come clean on their ownership position. For Aquila, this has resulted in a performance bonus, and continued quality of life security here at Apex City. Many of you have had a hand in the success of this partnership across the last two years of its operation, so as a reward we are having a small party later tonight in the commons.”

  Rhett lifts his cobalt eyes and I catch them across the room. I will my question across the space between us as I glare back, 'did he know anything about this?' He flees my gaze, resigned eyes drifting to the carpet again and sinks lower against the wall.

  “Overall, this has been one of the largest overarching contracts Aquila has ever completed. All thanks to you, and your hard work. Every one of you. Aquila, as always, owes its success to the hard work and dedication you bring to your roles.” I feel like Regina lingers on those last words looking at me. “Please enjoy the food and drink with us tonight, and a few days off work as we get operational again.”

  I’m frozen in my chair as Regina finishes her speech, my legs feel too numb to stand. Nessa rises next to me, looking down as she waits. “You coming? We’ll miss out on any drinks if we don’t get there quick?”

  “Uh, yeah. Give me a minute. I gotta talk to Rhett.”

  Nessa raises an eyebrow.

  “Oh fuck off, not like that. You are a menace," I bark. “Go ahead, I’ll catch up quick.”

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  'Imber' or 'Ymber' (It's alt spelling of the same Latin word. One has got that cool 'y' but also, might be too stupid of a word to look at - comment feelings below if you feel like it). At the pace we are finishing out book 1, we're looking for our final arc (Episode 5) to finish October-ish, putting my pacing at a very nice ballpark of just over 100k words for book 1! (BTW we have 2 more chapters left to finish Episode 4, so next weekend).