Nine-Tenths (English) by Meira Pentermann

Author:Meira Pentermann [Pentermann, Meira]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Meira Pentermann
Published: 2011-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Walking through the corridors of the DID the following morning, Leonard moved as if on autopilot — swiping his card, leaning in for retina scans, and punching in his five-digit code. He barely even noticed the three-story portrait, which he now knew to be President Stehlen.

McGinnis had aborted any attempts to chat with him after being met with aloofness from the get-go. This suited Leonard perfectly well. He was not in the mood. Distracted by images of Alina and Max, Leonard sulked defiantly.

Jealous of his wife’s chummy relationship with Max and angry with himself for his own naïveté, Leonard marched along, oblivious to his surroundings. Fatigued, confused, and irritated, Leonard didn’t know where his emotions ended and reality began. He considered the possibility that Alina was having an affair with Max, but dismissed the idea. After all, when would she have time? Then again, when did she find the time to do all the things she claimed to have done in preparation for the escape to Grand Junction? Leonard shook the thoughts from his mind, concluding that exhaustion had severely impaired his judgment.

When he reached the hanger, he did not pause. The enormous facility filled with satellites failed to impress him. Old news. He had been there hundreds of times before. Perhaps Alina was right. Maybe he was the victim of a DID experiment gone awry.

Absentmindedly weaving his way through the cubicle maze, Leonard attempted to focus on the day’s important plans. He needed to double check that Dickens also took lunch at noon. In addition, he had to find a plausible excuse to stay at his desk while his coworkers enjoyed the DID’s delectable sandwich selections.

He passed Sandy Little’s cubicle and nodded casually. Anything but casual, the young woman’s blue eyes pierced his, causing him to stop in his tracks. They locked gazes, neither saying a word.

Sandy.

Through no fault of nature or choice, Sandy Little lost her baby yesterday afternoon at the hands of the Department of Health. In pursuit of some God-forsaken new world order called The New Direction, women like Sandy Little, an L-2 perhaps, were not permitted to bear children. The details of Alina’s confession flooded Leonard’s brain. Images of Sandy screaming and protesting formed in his mind, but he had no consoling words to offer his assistant. The lingering silence suffocated Leonard’s spirit. Only yesterday, this girl had oscillated from chatty to professional in the blink of an eye. This morning, nothing.

Leonard could not decipher the expression behind Sandy Little’s cold eyes. It wasn’t anger. Not even sadness. No distinguishable emotion whatsoever. It was as if her soul had been extinguished. Numb and lethargic, the young woman merely stared.

Does she know Dr. Marsh is my wife?

Leonard broke her gaze and swiftly departed, feeling a bit woozy as he approached his cubicle.

At least an hour passed before Leonard realized that he had been aimlessly flipping from one page to another, perusing the branches of the SSP01 tree without actually absorbing any information. Staring at the Priority Target profile of Stewart Shinskey, aka Alina’s Max, Leonard sat forward.

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