Rose Gold by David Barker

Author:David Barker [Barker, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Climate Change, Dystopia, Espionage, Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller
ISBN: 9781911583349
Google: 05bpswEACAAJ
Amazon: 1911583344
Publisher: Urbane Publications
Published: 2018-05-09T23:00:00+00:00

19

S im was eying up the skinny chef suspiciously. Beef lasagne is what it said on the label, but this looked nothing like any lasagne Sim had seen before. After lunch with Elsa and James he had spent the afternoon reading up on Yvette’s nuclear fusion project. He had begun to understand the complexities involved, the competing theories and the risks. It was worth it for the unbelievable potential – it would not only provide mankind’s energy needs for the next century but also drastically reduce the water consumed by other forms of energy production. It really did kill two birds with one stone. But all that research had made Sim hungry and now he was deciding whether the chef had killed two birds with one stone when making the food.

“Are you going to choose something or just stare at my cooking all evening?” said the chef.

Sim woke up from his reverie. “Err, thanks, but I’ll go for a sandwich instead.” He moved along the line and chose some cold food and a cup of tea. Turning to face the rest of the dining area he noticed that William was sitting at one of the tables by himself. Sim sat down opposite and placed his tray on the table between them.

“Sorry about the confusion with Cilla,” said Sim.

William grunted. He stood up quickly, knocking the table as he rose. Sim’s tea cup fell over and the hot liquid spread across his tray, soaking into his sandwich.

“Apology accepted,” said William, who turned and left. Somebody else came to sit opposite Sim. It was Lin Chung, the Chief Engineer. “Here, have mine. I’m not hungry.”

Sim eyed the food on offer. Slowly, he took the plate. “Thanks.”

“What do they say in your country? His bark’s worse than his bite? William is alright really. How have your first couple of days been?”

Sim paused, looking closely at Lin for the first time. His round face seemed friendly enough but a bad squint meant Sim could not tell whether he was looking at him or something else completely. That uncertainty added to Sim’s distrust.

“It’s been fine. Got to know the base a bit better. Went out to visit a mower with PK.”

“Good, good. Those monster machines are quite a sight, aren’t they? Helped design them myself.” Lin’s eyes closed and his mouth curled upwards. “And the audit?”

“The what? Oh yes, that. Well, these things can’t be rushed. I need to do a thorough check of everything on site. Not just objects, but safety checks, protocols, that sort of thing.”

Lin’s gaze seemed to shift away from Sim for a moment and become unfocused. “Safety. Yes, very important. That’s what I want for my family. Back in China. Things going badly at the moment. Our leaders won’t admit it, but I can see problems everywhere.” He tapped the side of his nose with a finger.

“Don’t I know it,” muttered Sim as he took a bite of his food. “Pardon?”

“Err, yes, I can imagine that’s right.”

“Do you have a family, Mr Watkinson?”

“Yes.

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