Aster gulped at that thought. Normally, the stovepiped nature of the R&D process meant that the company board would be wilfully ignorant of the actual research activities, the better to reap high returns from questionable sources, and the better to sweep any incidents under the rug. But if Lawrence had evidence that the company board had direct knowledge of the incident; that would have made him a loose end…
Still staring at the blood red chip, Aster’s head was swimming with unmade decisions. Should she look at the data at all or leave well enough alone? Should she access the data here in the labs or somewhere offsite? Should she hand over the data chip to her employers and risk a criminal complicity charge from the DNI, or give it to the DNI and risk getting permanently blacklisted from the private sector?
The first decision was easy enough. Having taken the data chip, she may as well find out what was on it; but that still left the question of where to access the data from. The board of directors would be scrambling to contain news of the incident and rumours of malfeasance on their part. They would also be vigilant for employees seeking to jump ship by using stolen corporate secrets as leverage.
All computer workstations had spyware installed to guard against corporate espionage from a turncoat employee, so accessing the data here in the lab would necessarily alert her superiors. However, taking the data chip offsite was also out of the question. Even if she could get it past the security scanners undetected, the data was corporate property and she would be stealing from her employers by taking it out of the building.
Finally, whether or not she looked at the data herself, there remained the question of what to do with it. Accessing the data on a computer with company spyware on it would make running to the DNI afterwards a problem, whereas simply giving back what already belonged to the company might make the problem go away.
But there was also Gabriel’s position to consider. There were any number of ways in which she could be caught, all of which could burn Gabriel if his own wife was found to be involved in criminal activity, especially if it involved xenotechnology. Whereas if she went to his bosses instead of her own, it might earn them both points. As much as nepotism disgusted her, surely their marriage had to count for something.
Aster clenched her fist around the data chip to hide it from her sight. People were dead because of the data she was holding, and the blood red colour was a far too literal reminder of that fact. Just looking at it made her stomach churn as much as her mind.
It was also proving difficult to shake the unnerving thought that the company might simply cut her and the others loose once it knew for certain that anything incriminating had been safely locked away. The board of directors had already effectively sacrificed hundreds of their own employees to protect themselves, why wouldn’t they do the same to the rest of their workforce? In that case, there was no reason for Aster to alert them to the fact that she had the data. She would have to hide the chip first, then go to the DNI.
Aster cast a fresh eye around her office. Where could she hide the data chip in case her office was searched again? The workstation was no good, since that was the first place anyone would think to look. What about the furniture? No. A decent scanner would detect anything electronic stuffed under the cushions. She couldn’t dismantle her computer and try to hide the data chip inside, and making a hidey hole in the wall or floor also wasn’t possible.
There were no good hiding spots in her office. Come to think of it, why hide it in her office at all? If she came under suspicion, her office would be the most obvious place to search. She would have to hide the memory chip somewhere else in the building.
Aster stuffed the chip back into her pocket and took a deep breath to calm herself. No one was any the wiser, and Felix had been convinced to drop the issue. She was still in charge of this research section, and in the absence of instructions from the board of directors, everyone was looking to her for direction. That ought to make it easier.
She left her office and took the elevator down to the primary testing floor where the actual ‘project’ was being built. It was a concert hall-sized space, with a dozen little workshops scattered all over, all revolving around the project itself: an experimental fusion reactor the size of a sky-car. The reactor frame was double the size, however, covered as it was in a jungle of wires, cables, and supporting equipment.
It was the work of several years’ research and another year’s worth of construction, and was almost ready for activation; and yet the incident on Loki could sink J.E. Co. and render the whole project redundant. It was a shame to think it might be mothballed before they had gotten a chance to see if it worked. Then again, it was potentially based on xenotechnology research; how many lives had been lost to build it?
Acting as casually as possible, Aster made her way to the side office at the far end of the testing floor. The side office stored a variety of things, mostly spare tools and computers, but in pride of place was the activation key safe. The safe had a biometric lock, preventing anyone except the project-lead or one of the company directors from accessing it.
Aster allowed the scanner to flash-scan her eyes and the safe door popped open in response. Then she plucked the red data chip from her pocket and stuffed it in the far corner of the safe, shutting the door before anyone could walk in on her. The chip was safe for now. Unless, of course, someone with more authority than her decided to look inside.
Aster left the side office and headed back the way she had come across the testing floor, only to freeze up when she saw who was coming the other way. It was Felix – of all people. Had he seen her leave the side office? Would he try and get her to change her mind on something she had just done?
Felix was still walking in her direction, but apparently hadn’t noticed her. She started walking again, trying to keep her pace slow and steady. As they walked past each other, their eyes met for a split second before quickly averting again.
The awkwardness was cringe-inducing, but at least she was safe from suspicion.
* * *
The main conference room in J.E. Co.’s corporate offices was swanky and spacious, with an oval conference table carved from bioengineered wood, and lined with comfortable, high-backed chairs. An entire wall of the conference room was a single pane of glass, providing a sweeping, panoramic view of Asgard City.
No one dared stop to enjoy the view, however, because the boss was furious.
“Who does that bitch think she is?!” Chairman Darius raged at nobody in particular, pounding his fists furiously against the table, “first she shorts my stock, then she brings over some military prick to threaten me, then she rats me out to the fleeking spooks?!”
One of the intimidated spectators opened his mouth to point out that there was no proof Jezebel Thorn had tipped off the DNI, then thought better of it.
“This could sink the entire company,” Darius continued, growing short of breath from the effort of venting his anger, “The Loki rumours alone made the stock price tumble 15%. When the media finds about the DNI raid…or worse still, if they find out about the missing security team we sent in…”
The chairman was silent for a moment as his anger ran out of steam. The assembled staff waited with baited breath, wanting to be sure that their boss’s temper really had died down.
“We’ve…finished screening all the staff.” Someone announced nervously.
Darius looked up with interest, a signal that it was safe to continue talking.
“Based on an analysis of staff members’ personalities, behavioural patterns, and personal circumstances, we were able to cross–”