Turn About

Alex 02

The elevator chimed as it reached the lobby and the doors opened onto a sprawling display of faux nature scenery. Miniature waterfalls dribbled over rocks and into rivers that ran through displays of trees. Most of it was artificial or holographic. According to the PR department the trickling sound of water was supposed to be soothing to visitors, but with my nerves so raw it just made me wonder if I needed to pee. The doorman hailed a cab for me as I exited the building, but I waved him away with a hand that must have betrayed some of my anxiety.

"May I assist you in some other way Vice President?"

"No need," I said as I popped out my umbrella, "I'm not going far, I think I'll walk."

He looked at me as if I had sprouted flowers from my ears, but nodded and returned to post. I was just grateful to be on my way again.

The trip to the MagLev station wasn't really that long, but looking over the shoulder adds time to a trip. I knew deep down inside that someone would be after me, the information I had taken was just too valuable and damaging for the company to ignore. Even if I had chosen to leave the files alone, it was likely they would take me out anyway just to cover their bases.

Normally the station would have been packed, but between the weather and the time it was empty. I took a seat on the bench to wait. The station was uniformly colored a light grey and every surface was either plastic or concrete. Like most things inside an enclave, it was sterile. If one bothered to get off at a station in the unclaimed parts of the city they might find litter and bums.

Footsteps rang out across the empty station, so loud they had to be purposeful. I turned on instinct to see who it was, and caught sight of a familiar face. He was a few inches over six feet, wearing an exquisitely tailored business suit, and had his dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail over a face that was sharp and angular.

"Chase," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady, "didn't expect to see anyone this late."

"Ditto," he smirked, "but not all of us can keep steady hours like you researchers. So I guess, I should be more curious about what drags a mad scientist like you out of his lab this late at night?"

"Mini-vacation, figured I'd take a break from the project and see if a weekend away could give me a little more perspective."

Chase walked over to the bench and sat down beside me. He was closer than most strangers would have sat, but still far enough away to not breach my personal space. Instead of speaking right away, his mouth spread into his customary smirk. We knew each other from work, I was a director of R&D and he...actually, I didn't know what he did. I had seen him around the office frequently, but anytime his own work came up he steered the conversation away.

"So what business is keeping you out so late," I asked, my anxiety rising like a fever.

"Right, you don't really know what I do for the company. I have one of those jobs that is boring ninety percent of the time, and then way too hectic the other ten."

"And that job is," I quested.

"Troubleshooting," he answered, "the company has problems and I handle them."

He opened his coat and smoothly drew a pistol, placing it on his knee casually.

I sprang to my feet, and starting backing away from Chase. Picking up my own gun had made my hands shake, but seeing someone else with a gun was turning my knees to gelatin. He made no move to raise the gun or stand up, but I could see the tension slowly building in him. It was not the erratic anxiety of a man on the run, but the controlled tension of a predator about to pounce on his prey.