Faster Than Darkness

The Client

Right off, I didn't like the client.

He was wearing a black business suit, white shirt and blue silk tie that seemed to shimmer as he moved. He was a big man, probably six foot four, and his build seemed to be all muscle. He had an enormous square jaw that jutted out as if he was trying to run you over with it, and the massive dome of his head was covered in the blond fuzz of a close crew-cut.

It was the eyes, though, that were the worst part. They were an eerily pale green- almost white, with tiny pupils. They made him look more like a lizard than anything, and this impression was accented by the fact that he seemed to be staring past, instead of at, whoever he was talking to.

The bulky customer strode confidently up to Albunoz and shook his hand. "Glad to see you, Mr. Albunoz. And who is this?" He turned his lazy lizard pupils towards me. "I told you our business is confidential."

"Don't worry about him," Albunoz soothed. "This is Mike Conan, one of our top ship prototyping engineers. He's going to be in charge of this project so I figured it was best to have him in on things from the start."

I should have been surprised- I hadn't heard of this project before this morning and Albunoz had just said I was in charge of it. But I wasn't paying attention. I was staring at the man who had followed Lizard Man into the room.

There was absolutely nothing apparently wrong with him. He walked confidently, smiled as he came in, and leaned on the back wall-obviously a body guard. The fact that he was still wearing dark sunglasses was a bit odd, but that wasn't what was bothering me. Dark suit, black tie, brown hair with a receding hair line... He looked so normal, and yet I felt like I was back at Victorin Plain, wallowing in blood and dust and the dark of the moon.

"...Mike? This is Alvin Pire. He's the owner of Pire Lab Systems, the discoverers of the phenomenon." Albunoz's voice broke my trance and I turned to Alvin, or Lizard Man, as I'd already begun to think of him.

"Pleased to meet you, sir." I took the hand he proffered and pumped it vigorously, then gestured to a chair. "Have a seat, why don't you? I heard you were coming so I took the liberty of getting a little something."

As I opened the wine bottle and poured three glasses, Albunoz and Pire got down to business. I was only half-listening to what they were saying, still musing over what was wrong with the man by the door.

"Well, Mr. Pire, we're so glad that you chose Electra to implement this new technology. We're very honored and we look forward to making history with your labs. Now exactly what kind of proposal did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking of a traditional licensing agreement, but of course final payment must be dependent upon successful testing of the craft. With such a new and radical technology, we would, of course, offer significant prototyping and experimentation allowances..."

As Albunoz and Pire rattled on about royalties and fee structures, I handed them their wine glasses, then plopped down into a chair in the corner. I was directly across the room from the body guard, but I tried not to look at him- not only because I was trying to not appear suspicious, but also because a cold sweat broke out along my spine whenever I looked at him.

The two businessmen took their time hammering out the details, and I had plenty of time to think about the man across the room.

Victorin Plain... Why would he make me think of Victorin Plain? He didn't remotely resemble any of the forces we'd fought there. But there was that dream I'd had, when my suit overheated and I was separated from my team for most of an hour... I closed my eyes and tried to think back. I had been hallucinating, and this man was linked to that hallucination, tied to the ravings of an overheated and dehydrated Marine wandering the dark of the moon in the middle of a tiny battle so unimportant most people didn't even know it had happened. It was... It was right there, something just beyond memory, like it was a dream, but not quite a dream...

"Hey Mike? Come look at this. Tell me what you think." Pire the Lizard Man had pulled out a flash drive and plugged it into the console on Albunoz's desk, and Albunoz was poring over the information on his screen. I leaned over his shoulder and took in the numbers as they scrolled past. As the full impact of what I was seeing sunk in, I gave a low whistle.

Pire gave a low chuckle. "Impressed by our technology, Mr. Conan? Most people are."

"Yes, it's pretty impressive," I admitted. "But only assuming these test results are accurate. And in any case, the power requirements will be incredible. The core containment system will have to be the strongest for its size ever made."

Pire hissed slightly between his teeth. "Of course the results are accurate, Mr. Conan. There would be no point in us coming to you otherwise, would there? And I was told that you would be able to deal with the problem of the containment field."

I chuckled. This one was easily flustered. "Of course, Mr. Pire. Electra has made the largest improvements in containment-field technology of any company in the system over the last several years. But I feel like I should warn you, this is going to be one hell of an expensive ship."

Pire shrugged and smiled coldly. "We have the funds, Mr. Conan. That's not for you to worry about. Just tell me- can it be done?"

I chewed on that one for a moment, and answered carefully. "Can we build a ship that will utilize this new technology to its full potential? Absolutely. If that's what you're asking, then yes, we can. But if you're asking if we can break the laws of Einsteinian physics on a massive scale, I don't know. Let's just say, I don't plan on being on board for the maiden voyage."

Pire shrugged. "Build the ship, Mr. Conan, and let us worry about testing it, OK? You stick to engineering and let the scientists worry about the quantum physics."

"Fair enough, fair enough. I always adored Einstein and get a little flustered when people say he was wrong, but for your sake, I hope special relativity is so much hot air."

"I do as well, because I plan to be aboard for the maiden voyage,and would rather not go the same way as the passengers of the Kate Hudson." Pire stood and extended a hand. "Thank you Mr. Albunoz, Mr. Conan. It's been a pleasure. Our administration department will work on writing all this up in a contract."

Pire turned and marched out of the office, followed by his disturbing body guard. And as soon as the door closed behind them, I stopped feeling like I was covered in moon dust and other men's blood.