The Last Archon by Richard Watts & Thomas Plutarch

Author:Richard Watts & Thomas Plutarch [Watts, Richard & Plutarch, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silver Empire
Published: 2020-06-21T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

Hayden rubbed at his dry eyes. He hadn’t been back to Deckard’s house in four days, all of which had blurred by. Between missing two days trying to keep Vivian safe and the actual vote right around the corner, he’d been pulling thirteen and fourteen-hour shifts, mostly at the office.

Wolfe had covered with Bernie, telling him Hayden’s mother had been sick, but even with that the accountant had been more sharp than necessary. Apparently, the big man had taken Hayden’s flakiness as a personal betrayal. Needless to say, Hayden hadn’t received any more donut trays. He had received emails requesting additional work, timed to arrive suspiciously close to the end of the day.

Wolfe himself practically lived at the office, taking phone calls, giving interviews, and organizing staff in between public appearances. He made it all look easy, like he was born to it. Hayden didn’t know where he was getting all the energy.

He picked up a new set of papers to add to his spreadsheet just as someone knocked on the door to his closet office. The door opened, and Marcus Wolfe stepped in, smiling.

“Hey, Hayden. Do you have a second?”

“Sure, Mr. Wolfe. Uh, I’d say have a seat, but…” Wolfe waved the comment down.

“No problem,” he said, closing the door and muting the chatter in the main room to a dull roar. “I don’t have long, anyway. I have an interview regarding the Elevation clinic debacle in about twenty minutes. That’s what I wanted to ask you about.”

Hayden dropped his paperwork to the desk and stood. “Sir, I’m sorry for being out of the loop, but how is that your fault?”

“It’s not, but I endorsed a clinic that failed to vet its workers. Two of them stole drugs and tried to kill a girl who saw them doing it? The optics of the situation are terrible. I need some way to shift this into a positive category. Underlining the need to protect Primes, emphasizing the good they can do. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Hayden tensed under Wolfe’s scrutinizing look. Obviously, Wolfe only had the public story: ‘Evil Primes Prey on Local Clinic.’ Hayden could give him another story: ‘Prime Hero Saves Student.’ Net wash, maybe even net gain in the public eye if Wolfe could spin it into more support for the clinic. The clinic run by a psychotic Nurse Frankenstein, to hear Vivian tell it.

“Hayden, I know you have an identity to protect, but just a word from Arclite could soften this, make it shapeable.”

It took Hayden an agonizing second to respond. Wolfe’s ideas weren’t without merit, but Archon never gave public statements or sought public endorsements. What did it say if Arclite did? Worse, what if someone recognized his voice? It left a bad taste in his mouth, but everything he knew said Deckard was right about this. He had to stay out of the public eye.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Wolfe. I really am. But, a secret identity protects my life and my ability to live it.

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