Page 18 of Ensnared By the Rabbit Genius
I looked between them, not really sure what was going on here. “Um, he’ll come to the surface again. I’m sure?—”
“No, you’ll get himhere.” Stubbins stabbed his finger toward the floor. “He’s going to come back. He’s going to negotiate. And he’s going to give us the damn tech.”
I gulped and looked at Kittredge, but she was no help since she looked as intimidated as I felt.
“We know you’ve left the surface several times,” Stubbins said in a malicious tone. “And we know what you’ve been doing with that animal.”
“No. Hey. Wait a second,” I said even though my heart was racing now. “Norlons aren’t animals any more than we are. Seiwa is?—”
He lunged at me, and I flinched back. “If you don’t get that overgrownrabbitback down here and ready to deal, your career with the FBI is over.” He shoved his finger in my face. “And don’t think I can’t find a way to bring you up on charges for aiding and abetting the enemy, too.”
Before I could say anything, he shouldered by me and ripped open the door. He was marching down the hallway, and all I could think waswhat the actual fuck just happened?
“Just do what you can,” Kittredge said. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
It felt like a great bigyethung in the air between us, and just like that I knew that I didn’t want to work for these people anymore. I’d been proud of my job once upon a time. And even knowing that I would be quitting without another job lined up as someone living paycheck to paycheck under crushing student loan debt, I wouldn’t be coming back here again.
“Make sure you take your phone with you,” Kittredge went on, “and see if the commander will add you to their network.”
Wow. Okay, so in addition to being ordered to convince Seiwa to return to the fucked-up negotiations, I was also being asked to make sure our hackers could use my phone to get into the Norlons’ network.
Yep, I was done.
I didn’t say a word to my former boss as I turned and walked out. I needed to get in touch with Seiwa, let him know what was going on, and figure out what to do. But how? It wasn’t like he was a contact in my phone. Did he even have a phone number I could call with my primitive Earthling technology? Someone at the FBI had to be able to reach him or else he never would’veknown when to show up for all those meetings, but I didn’t trust anyone in this building anymore.
So who else could contact the Norlons?
Oh! The nanobot distribution centers could, right? Or maybe they were in communication with the new medical headquarters in Svalnorland? Well, either way, they might be able to reach someone who could then reach Seiwa. I got in my car, called up the nearest center’s location on my phone, and headed out.
I hadn’t had a reason to visit a center before now, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. This one was tucked into a little concrete building just west of The Flats, not far from the banks of the Old River. Surrounded by brick buildings and businesses that seemed related to the nearby docks just north of here, the center was the only place that looked busy. A line went out to the sidewalk, so I stepped up to the end of it and waited.
I didn’t want to speculate about why anyone was here, but some people looked perfectly healthy while others looked like they’d just walked away from some kind of awful accident. The woman in front of me seemed around my age, but she was gripping a walker and only able to shuffle her feet as the line moved forward. The teenage boy beside her looked like he was stressing over the very real possibility that he’d have to catch her at any minute, and I was now prepped to do the same.
Thankfully, a couple people came out from inside and started sorting us for faster service. The shuffling woman was given a wheelchair, and I could see that she was grateful while the kid looked relieved. When one of the workers said that people here with questions or to pick up standing orders should go over there, I went. It turned out that there was a window on the other side of the building where a cute blond guy wearing a pearl necklace was taking questions. I got in the new line and waited my turn.
“Hi! I’m Andi. How can I help you today?”
“Hey, Andi. I, um, have kind of a weird question.”
“Oh, we don’t judge here.” He rested his chin on his hand. “Go ahead.”
Sweet of him, really. “I actually need to reach someone on the Norlons’ ship, but don’t have a way to contact him. It’s kind of an emergency.”
Andi straightened up. “A specific someone?”
“Yes. Commander Seiwa Heremod.”
“And your name is?”
“Ellis Cole.”
“Okay. That’s definitely a new one on me.” He nibbled his bottom lip as he reached for his phone. “Let me see what I can do. Why don’t you come inside? Head for theStaff Onlydoor at the back and just hang there for a few.”
“Oh, awesome. Thank you.” I walked back around toward the front of the building again as Andi asked for someone else to come replace him at the window.
I got a few looks but no comments as I skirted by everyone in line and headed inside. I didn’t want to walk behind the counters, so I told the woman working the nearest one that I was waiting for Andi and tried not to get in the way. There was plenty going on to distract me as I waited, like the recent burn victim getting one shot and their injuries healing right before everyone’s eyes. I almost started crying with them and their friends.
The door opened and there was Andi with a big smile on his face. “So that was a lot of fun,” he said with a chuckle. “I got routed all over the place before they connected me directly to the commander’s tablet. How cool is that?”
