Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy: Volume I) Read online

  Chapter 4

  Stalling tried to meditate to the rhythmic beat of his leather loafers pounding the marble floor. Irrevocable evidence, accumulated by years of practice, had proven that the best way to collect his thoughts was to remove them first. Nevertheless, he struggled now to apply the practice, for it required time and patience, dispositions no longer at his disposal.

  Like a blindsided bladeball block, his contentious meeting with Clortison knocked loose the answer to the question plaguing his thoughts. Knowing the answer, no matter how obvious it now appeared, provided little to the process of figuring out a solution. He listened to his footsteps echo off the glass walls, grateful for the long passage between his private office and the main campus. The trip imposed patience, forcing him to slow his thoughts and figure out his next steps.

  He felt the tension ease as he gazed upon the surrounding, lush evergreen rain forest. One by one, Stalling released the positive thoughts, each floating away as if a bubble caught in a slow breeze. He cleared his consciousness, embracing the emptiness, lost to the rhythmic beat of comfortable shoes echoing off paneled glass.

  When he arrived at the entrance fifteen minutes later, his apprehension about upcoming events, while still present, had diminished. Stalling paused in front of the door, worked his neck and shoulders loose, took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  He connected his link visor back to the Auranet and synced with Antone. "Stop what you are doing, meet me in the lab."

  "I'm here now. Where are you? I've been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes."

  "I'm ten minutes away, what's going on?"

  "Jennifer asked me to review some unusual readings; I sent them to you a few minutes ago."

  Stalling downloaded the file located in the upper right hand quadrant of his view screen.

  "I have only been studying them for a few minutes now but so far I cannot not find any previous data to explain things," Antone said with a note of anxiety.

  The readings corroborated Stalling's newfound conclusions. He was downloading the data so fast he forgot about Antone waiting for his reply. "I know what this all means. I need you, Jennifer and Janison in the lab to discuss."

  "Understood, I'll locate Janison." Antone severed his link.

  Stalling did not think Janison would show, nor was he prepared to handle him if he did, but was sure whatever involvement he played going forward was important. Sadly, the most important issue at hand was not the double-crossing of his friend. The final and most important piece of his covert enterprise was in real jeopardy of never materializing. All the progress made over the past decade would amount to nothing without the completion of this final step.

  Stalling ignored the people hustling from one place to the other as he crossed the small park. On most days, his presence on campus was an open invitation for anyone to approach him. Stalling always made himself approachable but conditioned those who chose to do so to be direct and honest in their intentions. No matter your field of expertise, honed communication skills were required for everyone at Alterian Enterprises.

  Today, he needed to avoid that type of interaction. So he chose to walk along the well-manicured lawn interspersed with small tree groves, versus one of the many intersecting sidewalks. He quickened his pace and managed to reach the lab entrance without incident.

  He stepped into the security booth, waited for the scan to identify him, and then hurried through the twelve inch thick doors before they finished parting. Stalling saw Antone's stocky build halfway down the descending corridor. A sheen of sweat coated the stubble of his balding head, glinting off the soft lighting as he paced from side to side. He barked orders to someone over his link visor, his hands and arms animated with neurotic gestures. Antone, seeing Stalling approach, ended the conversation and turned to meet him.

  "Did you find Janison?" Stalling inquired.

  "Negative. A search is underway."

  "Where is Jennifer?"

  "She's in the lab," he said, gesturing with his head toward the entrance at the bottom of the corridor. "Describing her as anxious to speak with you would be an understatement."

  "That does not surprise me," Stalling said, already moving toward the entrance.

  "Before we go, there is something you need to be made aware of." Antone’s tone indicated it was important. His Chief Operating and Security Officer did not mince words. He had an impeccable talent for getting to the point, bringing only the most vital events to Stalling’s attention.

  "OK. Lay it on me," Stalling said.

  "After observing Janison display several odd behaviors as of late, I chose to investigate further. After three months of surveillance, none of his actions alone merited suspicion but as the frequency increased my gut told me something was not right."

  Stalling empathized with Antone's difficulty in communicating this news. Investigating the second in command at Alterian Enterprises was not a choice Antone would have made lightly. Stalling was overwhelmed with gratitude in that moment, comforted on many levels by the man’s presence in his life. What if I ignored the impulse to take a chance on Antone so many years ago?

  "So what did you discover?" Stalling asked, level and under self-control.

  "More than I imagined possible. Sir, we have been compromised."