Shift Point: Book Nine in The Mad Mick Series by Franklin Horton

Author:Franklin Horton [Horton, Franklin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

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Esmeralda, the goddess responsible for reuniting Conor with his sweet tea, had come to the Wardenclyffe from the hospitality industry. Though she’d once worked for Bojangles, she spent most of her career in hotels before moving to cruise ships after her husband passed away. She liked that everything on the ship revolved around a schedule. Depending on your specialty, you knew exactly what you’d be doing on any given day. That routine was comforting to her.

She’d been fortunate to be working on a cruise ship when the terror attacks occurred. That had spared her from much of the hardship that the rest of the country experienced. She’d never had to go without food and power. Then, in a second stroke of good luck, she’d been recruited to work on Lightspeed’s yacht.

Life on the Wardenclyffe was different than working on a normal cruise ship. The focus was on work and not on socializing or partying. She didn’t know what to politely call the people who lived on the ship. She didn’t know if they were technicians, scientists, or what, but the kitchen staff jokingly referred to them as “geeks.” As accurate as that may have been, Esmerelda didn’t use the term in front of them because she felt it was rude.

These people didn’t keep normal hours. They worked sporadically through the day and through much of the night. They were like mad scientists obsessed with their experiments. The kitchen ran twenty-four hours a day, but at night they kept a smaller staff and offered a limited menu like room service in a nice hotel. If one of the guests needed nachos, pizza, or French fries in the middle of the night, they got them. After all, the future of America might depend on it.

Esmeralda and another of the kitchen staff, Vivian, were responsible for preparing the orders tonight. A young man named Colt did everything else. When people ordered meals, he used the hidden service corridors within the ship to deliver them. When he wasn’t busy with that, he did meal prep for the breakfast shift or ran dishes through the commercial dishwasher.

Colt was in his twenties and normally a pleasure to work with. He joked with the older ladies and was quick to jump in when they needed help. Tonight was different. He’d been on edge all evening. He didn’t have much to say and was distracted. Vivian and Esmeralda had discussed it between themselves when Colt was out delivering meals.

He disappeared into the restroom several times that night, appearing more agitated each time he stepped out. Esmeralda began to wonder if he was on some kind of drugs, because she’d worked with people in the past who’d acted that same way. They could be normal, friendly people most of the time, but under the influence of drugs, they became someone else.

Vivian was using the commercial floor mixer to make a vat of biscuit dough when the SEALS detonated the small boat. The ship rocked violently, forcing Vivian to latch onto the counter so she didn’t fall.

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