The Undulating Shadows: A Sci-Fi Suspense Thriller by DC Eastman

Author:DC Eastman [Eastman, DC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror, science fiction, Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: DC Eastman
Published: 2023-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

Brian Duncan swivels away from his glass-top chrome desk. He glares through the glass wall behind his desk over the endless ocean of redwood trees of Wunderlich County Park. It’s not often he gets to see the clear blue sky kissing the lush green canopy. Although the San Francisco sky is deprived of ominous fog this morning, Brian’s mind is not. The last few weeks have been overwhelming, and every suit-wearing piranha from San Francisco to Washington seems eager to take a bite of him. And now, even his own colleagues.

“Brian, this is important. I need an answer before tomorrow’s board meeting,” Liz Becker, CFO of Slikr, says from the other side of the desk. While waiting for his response, Liz rolls her eyes around the office. Although Brian is an incredibly complex human, he prefers his surroundings to be simple. No art, no plants, no couches, no books. Simple. Some might say that his office is as empty as his life.

“Brian! Are you listening to me?”

Brian’s mind returns from the forest, and he swivels back toward her. “I don’t see the issue here, Liz. I’m not doing anything illegal. What I do in my own time, with my own money, is my business. Yes, sure, sometimes I hire some of our contractors to work for me after hours, but this doesn’t affect their capacity or efficiency here at Slikr. What’s the problem here?” Brian folds his arms.

Liz studies his face, his hazel-grey eyes barely visible through his squint. “Do you honestly mean to tell me that you can’t see the ramifications of your little pet projects?” She feels her whole body glowing underneath her pin-stripe suit. Her hands are trembling, and she tries to hide them from Brian by placing them in her lap.

“No. I don’t. It’s nobody’s business what I do at home. Can’t we just tell them that I’m turning my house into a next-gen smart home?”

Liz closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “So, the next time the Pentagon calls, I should tell them that you’re busy installing speakers, microphones, and screens in your house, and you need some of the highest-paid engineers in the world to do that? Brian, listen to me. You have no idea how many fires I fight for you every single day. For years, I’ve been buffering bullshit for you, but this time, I need your support. We need to make a proper declaration, something that makes sense. Something that’ll give us some breathing room.”

“I still don’t understand why this is necessary. I mean, it’s my money, it’s my time, it’s…” Brian is unable to complete his sentence as Liz finally loses her composure.

“Brian, for God’s sake! You’ve developed weapons for the Pentagon. State-of-the-art guidance systems, communication upgrades… Weapons, Brian, and tech so advanced, it would take the Chinese years to catch up. Now, all of a sudden, you spend most of your time working in secret on projects at home, with contractors signed to secrecy, working in silos so that nobody knows what the hell they’re working on.

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