Insidious by Michael McCloskey

Author:Michael McCloskey [McCloskey, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Science Fiction, Thrillers, High Tech
ISBN: 9781440192524
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2010-01-13T23:00:00+00:00

***

Chris waited in a large room with five chairs and a beautiful redwood desk. He suspected it must be real, although a good fake would be visually identical to the real thing. It must have been criminally expensive to haul it millions of miles from Earth. He realized that the room had to be an executive’s quarters. He examined an agile plant lazily exploring its surroundings with soft fronds in the corner. It sprouted from a giant crystal vase that looked transparent, although the complex angles of its exterior scattered the light so effectively it was hard to tell. Another costly piece of decoration, he thought. Anything that wasn’t manufactured in space had a cost based more on size and mass than anything else. That plant and its crystal vase were more than ordinary fare, even for Synchronicity.

The thought solidified further: he must be in Alec Vineaux’s personal suites!

“Chris. Please sit down,” said the voice of Alec Vineaux. Chris recognized it instantly. He turned and saw Alec coming through one of the doorways. The executive wore a set of yellow gear. He carried his helmet under his arm. “You may remove your helmet,” he told Chris.

Success! But I lost the challenge …

“Yes, sir,” he said, removing his headgear. He found the nearest plush chair and gently eased himself into it. He examined Alec’s face. The turn of his mouth and the lines around his eyes made him seem sad, even a little drawn.

Alec sat opposite him, across a low glass table with a black iron support wrought to look like an oriental dragon.

“I’m sorry to inform you that you’ve been switched to permanent assignment here on Synchronicity. You will not be allowed to return to Earth in the foreseeable future.”

Chris swallowed. Was that a good assignment or a bad one? Vineaux had said he was apologizing. Was this some kind of joke?

“May I ask why this is, sir?”

“I’ve learned about your plotting against Captain,” Alec said. “Quite frankly, I’m not surprised to see you doing it, given my selection criteria. However, I’m afraid that in this case, your competitive nature has led you to disaster.”

“You want us to be competitive,” Chris said. “You’ve handpicked us that way, trained us—”

“Yes, I understand, Chris. Believe me, I do. But you’re suffering from some false assumptions. You see, Captain is not my … enforcer robot, not my pet, not any kind of test. Captain is an alien creature.”

Chris stared at Alec.

Is he insane? Is this another test?

A small thread of thought caught on to the idea.

What if it’s true?

“I don’t know who they are, or where they come from,” Alec continued. “But I know they possess superior technology. And like it or not, Captain is in charge. Make no mistake. Synchronicity is no longer mine.”

“Uhm,” Chris said. He didn’t know what to say even though he’d opened his mouth. Not a wise course of action when talking with your CEO. “How did they arrive?”

“In a ship. A starship, I believe. It is so advanced we are hard pressed to analyze it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.