Concept YUS (Cross-World Murder Cases Book 1) by Set Wagner

Author:Set Wagner [Wagner, Set]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gravadans Publishing
Published: 2017-03-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 23

From the base I contacted Larsen, and before I could ask for an appointment, he demanded that I come to the research field to meet him. “Right now!” he added and hung up.

He was in a foul mood and made no attempt to disguise it when he saw me. No greeting, not even a nod of his head. He waited until I exited the shuttle and, still silent, walked away. I didn’t move. He took a few more steps and then stopped.

“Come here!” he commanded.

“You seem to be looking for a fight.”

“That’s right.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Let’s start then. No time like the present.”

“And I don’t want to hear any more of your sarcasm!”

“As I won’t tolerate your drill sergeant behavior,” I countered.

Larsen bit his lip, measuring me, fury in his eyes. “All right,” he finally snapped and started walking again.

I followed him.

“I’ve been working here for seven months now,” he reminded me when I caught up with him. “Seven months. Nonstop.”

I cast a glance at the wreckage of the Yusian machine as we passed it. “What about the results?” I asked sympathetically. “Are they good?”

“Both good and bad. More importantly, they do exist. Do you follow me?”

“I do,” I confirmed.

He stopped again and turned toward me. “So why do you want to ruin everything?”

We were standing next to another Yusian machine, similar to the one that somebody programmed yesterday to grind stones. The cuts on its front showed that Larsen had been busy studying exactly this one.

“Do you want to ruin everything?” he repeated.

“No, not everything.”

“Who gave you the right to judge what should or should not be ruined!”

“I don’t need anybody’s permission,” I answered. “I’m led only by personal convictions.”

“When did you manage to acquire them?”

“While I was still on Earth. I then strengthened them in the starship, and here on Eyrena they became unshakable.”

“They are directed against establishing the colony, I presume.”

“The way it’s been planned, yes.”

“Do you think that other methods might work?”

“Just one.”

“What is it?”

“To colonize the planet with normal people in normal human towns among normal Earth flora. With no stipulations about thirty years of isolation or anything like that. Also, to establish normal relations with the Yusians.”

“With that last condition, you totally disgrace yourself, Simon. It shows that you are not only an amateur but also naive.”

“Well, you’re entitled to your own opinion,” I noted indifferently.

Larsen ran his palm across his forehead. It was still difficult for him not to snap at me, but obviously his irritation was subsiding. His face returned to its usual expression of austere reticence.

“I’m not going to argue with you,” he said, deciding, “but I will tell you that what happened today should never be repeated. Under any circumstances.”

“What happened?”

“You know perfectly well—your meeting with the Yusians.”

“You’re overstepping your authority now, Larsen. Don’t forget that I am accountable only to the agency that I represent here, not to you.”

“To a certain extent you are.”

Unfortunately, he was right. I was already far out of bounds—I remembered Odesta Gomez’s dead eyes staring up at me.

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