sidebar image
Chapter 7 Chapter 9

Alternity - Chapter 8

Job Interview

Time: CY 10089 AD July 5166
Location: the Sinti warehouse district

The main floor of the warehouse was empty; however the office in the loft section was occupied by five men. The room was dark except for a single floodlight. One of the five men was sitting behind a large desk. the floodlight was located behind and slightly higher than his shoulder so that anyone attempting to look at his face would be blinded by the light. A second man was sitting on a folding chair in front of the desk, the light was pointed directly at his face forcing him to shield his eyes and look away from the man at the desk. The other three men were standing, two flanking the man at the desk and one behind the man in the folding chair. All three were impeccably dressed in expensive suits, but even though the suits were well cut there was a telltale bulge near the armpit of each wearer. The man behind the desk was speaking.

"Are you sure, Mr. Harper? One percent of ten million thrones is a great deal of money." The accent and pitch of the voice changed with each word, a sure sign that the person behind the desk was using a voice distorter.

Harper had no idea what the real name of the man behind the desk was, but he was sure it wasn't Howard. He also wasn’t very happy that Mr. Howard had been able to contact him directly. If Mr. Howard knew who he was, he also knew about his family. That's why when he had received a call requesting the meeting he had agreed

The call had arrived early that morning. The caller had used the proper identification codes but wasn't one of his normal contacts. The caller had informed him that 'Mr Howard wished to speak with him that evening concerning possible employment and that a ground car would pick him up at the spaceport operations terminal at 2200 local time.' Harper wasn't interested in a job, but he was very interested in who Mr Howard was, and how he knew how to contact him so he agreed to the meeting. He briefly considered the possibility that it was a setup by the police then discarded the idea. The set up seemed too obvious and what could they charge him with, refusing to perform an illegal act? At precisely 2200 a ground car arrived at the terminal. There were four men in the car, all of whom registered to Harper as hired thugs. At the drivers invitation Harper got in the car and they drove to the warehouse district. Harper recognized the drivers voice as the voice which had spoken to him earlier that day, apparently Mr Howard didn't wish to take the chance of having his voice recorded. When they arrived at one of the warehouses he was searched, his gauss pistol taken from him and then he was led upstairs to meet with Mr Howard.. Harper had expected his pistol would be confiscated but he wasn't entirely unarmed concealed within the sleeve of his jacket was a sharpened sliver of ironwood, 20 centimeters in length and about the diameter of a pencil. It was nearly as hard as steel, virtually undetectable with conventional weapons detectors, and as deadly as a conventional dagger.

The light was painful, but he turned his head towards the speaker, squinting his eyes to protect them from the glare, letting him know that he wasn't going to be intimidated by the light, voice distorter and goons. He kept his voice carefully neutral as he responded. "I'm sorry, Mr. Howard. I agree you are offering a great deal of money but I'm afraid that I'm not the man you need."

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Harper. One and a half percent and that is my final offer." Even through the voice distorter a tone of restrained anger came across.

"It's not a matter of money, Mr. Howard," said Harper as he tried, unsuccessfully to get some idea of the features of the man behind the desk. "I simply have no interest in the job. I have other obligations at the present. I can give you the names and contact procedures for three other individuals who would fit your needs however. I know that they are all currently active."

"I have certain contacts myself, Mr. Harper, but time is of the essence here and none of them are currently here on Sinti, you are."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Howard, but I’m not the man you are looking for." Still keeping his voice level and casual, as if he was the one in control of the situation, but ensuring his hidden dagger was ready for use, he continued. "Now if you will excuse me I need to get back to my ship. I can find my own way back thank you." Harper started to rise from his chair and as he did so the man behind him placed a hand on his shoulder intending to force him back down into the seat , but was stopped by a gesture from the man sitting behind the desk.

"Well if that is the way you feel, Mr. Harper, I'm sorry we couldn't do business. I will attempt to make other arrangements. Hopefully they can be made in time." He spoke to the man behind Harper. "Steven, please escort Mr. Harper to the exit and return his pistol once he is outside."

"Are you just going to let him walk away like that, Mr. Howard?" asked one of the men standing beside the desk after Harper had exited the room.

"For the moment, yes," came the reply, the voice no longer concealed by the voice distorter.. "However, I predict that not too long from now the fortunes of Mr. Harper and his family are going to take a turn for the worse."

Chapter 7 Chapter 9