Five days of I.V. drips had left her feeling toxic. Every breath was accompanied by the scent of medication. The veins in her arms were bruised; her tongue tasted of metal. After being discharged, she had promised Lydia that she would exercise in order to burn off the drugs in her system, but having awakened with a dull headache, a workout was the last thing on her agenda.
What she really wanted to do was finish her job and leave.
She had arrived more than a month earlier harboring the excitement of a freshman going off to college. While the requisite thirty-six-hour security marathon had tarnished her promotion, she understood the necessity of the interrogation and the five-star accommodations had made up for any bad feelings. But those in charge seemed more interested in testing her loyalty than her actual work. She realized that her personal relationship with Adam and his recent announcements were obviously causing a few members of Council to feel ill at ease, but there were other red flags that were giving her serious doubts about her own career choices.
At a time when climate change was arguably the most serious challenge facing the planet, why was zero-point-energy still being kept from the masses? Equally disturbing — why were alien reproduction vehicles being used to traffic drugs?
Forcing herself out of bed, she used the bathroom and then dressed in her lab attire. No longer trusting room service, she searched her refrigerator for something edible but found nothing.
Locating her hoverboard, she left the apartment, bound for the eatery.
The thoroughfare was busy with the usual morning traffic as the community of techs, security personnel, laborers, and engineers headed off to work. Watching the scene, Jessica realized that none of the commuters were speaking to one another. Even neighbors emerging from their abodes at the same time rarely exchanged a greeting.
They’ve established an Orwellian culture of fear…
Walking out onto the Maglev track, she set down the hoverboard and positioned her feet before giving the power cord a tug. Her pulse quickened as the device rose beneath a cushion of magnetic waves, propelling her forward.
Jessica remained in the pedestrian lane closest to the center divider, her confidence shot since the last accident. She looked around for Logan LaCombe, but the teen was probably still asleep. She passed his parents’ home without so much as a glance in case the authorities were watching her… which they probably were.
Hunger pangs sent her drifting into the faster peripheral lanes and she soon found herself approaching the mall.
Pulling on the power cord, she shut down the device and carried it to the eatery where a breakfast buffet was being served. Her stomach growled as she fixed herself a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and a bagel. Too impatient to wait in line to use the toaster, she poured a coffee and situated herself at the nearest empty table.
“Mind if I join you?”
She looked up, momentarily choking on a mouthful of eggs as Chris Mull occupied the chair across from her.
“Leave or I’ll call security.”
“I am security… counter-intelligence, to be exact. Every new Cosmic Clearance Council member is on probation until a C.I. officer checks them out.”
“And did I pass?”
“If you didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Is that what happened to my predecessor?”
“There’s a reason these facilities were built… a reason for all this security. You and the other eggheads are working with technologies that can alter the path of human evolution. There are two reasons an insider turns traitor — money and morality. We counter the former with an over-generous salary. The latter, unfortunately, can only be resolved one way.”
“You terminated Dr. Hopper?”
“With extreme prejudice; as we do with all traitors. Knowing the repercussions of any of these secrets reaching the masses, what would you do, Jessica?”
She pushed away her tray of food. “I’m not sure what sickens me more — when you refer to me and my colleagues as ‘eggheads’ or when you call me by my first name. Don’t.”
He smiled with his mouth, but the eyes were vacant. “Enjoy your breakfast.”
She waited for him to leave the vicinity before she hurried off for the nearest women’s room. Locating a vacant stall, she barely had time to aim before she lost her breakfast.
It was nearly noon when Jessica exited Elevator-7 onto the third floor. Tea and toast had soothed her upset stomach; a two-hour respite at the apartment settled her nerves.
She hustled through the anteroom and interior corridor, the air stream blasting her in the face as she headed for the Plexiglas barrier at the end of the wind tunnel and entered the Hive—
— startled by the level of activity taking place before her.
The far end of the four-story-high lab had been retracted, revealing the vast space launch complex containing the towering Atlas rockets and their gantries. Moving through the lab was a steady procession of Zeus satellites. Each of the twenty four-ton rectangular devices had been loaded onto anti-gravitic platforms which were floating six feet off the ground in a procession that ended at their assigned Atlas-V rocket — next stop… Earth orbit.
Jessica watched as Dr. Concannon escorted one of the satellites as it rose on its anti-gravity pedestal past the Atlas’s engine and booster before it disappeared into the open payload fairing atop the rocket. Her eyes locked onto Sarah Mayhew-Reece as she flew into the Hive from the tunnel and landed next to her.
“We finished prepping the SATS while you were in the infirmary,” she said, removing her anti-gavitics vest.
“I feel like I should be out there helping.”
“The Zeus crew can handle it.”
“I don’t see Mr. Mull.”
Ignoring Jessica’s comment, Sarah pointed to the ceiling above their heads. “The air conditioner duct leaked again; must have happened the night you were brought to the infirmary. Ceiling panels fell… it was quite the mess. Rats must have chewed through the security system’s electrical wires. They finished repairing everything a few days ago.”
She’s warning you that we’re being watched.
Sarah turned to Jessica, scrutinizing her pallid complexion. “You look peaked my dear; are you hungry?”
“A little.”
“Come with me; I have just what you need.”
Sarah led her across the empty expanse to her office. The stacks of containers holding the zero-point-energy devices were gone and it appeared from the open cardboard boxes on the floor that her assistant was in the process of packing her personal belongings.
“Are you getting ready to leave?”
“My last day is Friday. I’m meeting my husband for a month-long vacation in Hawaii.”
“Sarah, that’s wonderful. When is my last day?”
“I don’t know. I heard Council has meetings scheduled through mid-October; I’m sure you’ll be leaving soon after that.”
“Two more weeks?”
“It’s not so bad; I haven’t seen my family since April. Do you like to cook?”
“Not really. Why?”
“Come with me… I’ll show you the hobby that keeps me sane.”
Sarah led her to a door sealed with a padlock. “I had to put a lock on the door when I caught my staff stealing from my private stash.”
Jessica pondered what kind of secret life her assistant could be leading while Sarah removed a key hanging from a lanyard around her neck and opened the lock and door.