Page 51 of The Sterling Acquisition
“I’m glad they were useful,” Dante replied, settling into the driver’s seat but not starting the engine.
“Oh, more than useful. Revolutionary, really.” Her tone remained bright, but Dante could hear the edge underneath. “The Board is very interested in acquiring a complete sample for analysis as soon as possible. Consider your 8 weeks cut short.”
Meaning not just the partial files he sent, but the full research and possibly a working example of the technology.
“That would require significant risk escalation,” Dante said.
“Risk escalation that the Board feels is justified by the potential returns.” Amalie said with a cheerful finality that meant arguing would be pointless. “They’re particularly interested in the subject profile you mentioned. Test subjects would provide invaluable data about implementation effectiveness.”
Meaning Orion.
“The timeline for acquisition could be complicated by local variables,” he said, forcing his voice to remain steady.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find a way to manage those variables. You’re so very good at creative problem-solving.” The false brightness in her tone was a warning in itself. There was a pause, and when Amalie spoke again, her voice carried a subtle warning. “The Board has expressed confidence that you’ll be able to secure everything we need. Complete samples, research data, and any relevant test subjects.”
Translation: failure to deliver would have consequences that extended far beyond a poor performance review. Dante had seen what happened to operatives who disappointed the Board. They didn’t get demoted; they disappeared into “retraining” and emerged as different people.
“I understand the parameters,” Dante said.
“Wonderful! I knew you would.” The artificial uplift at the end of her sentences—a classic Gensyn manipulation technique, designed to make even execution orders sound like exciting opportunities. “Oh, and Dante? The timeline for extraction is within the next seventy-two hours.”
Seventy-two hours. Three days to steal Project Tether, extract Orion, and deliver them both to Gensyn for analysis.
“That’s an aggressive schedule.” His stomach clenched at the implications, acid rising in his throat.
“The Board feels that waiting longer could compromise the opportunity. There are concerns about SVI accelerating their timeline.” Amalie’s tone remained light, but the implication was clear. “We wouldn’t want all your hard work to be rendered obsolete by competitor priorities.”
“Understood.”
“Excellent. I do so enjoy working with professionals who understand priorities.” The line went quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again, she sounded short of breath. “Dante? Do take care of yourself. The Board values your contributions, but they value results more.”
The call ended, leaving Dante staring at his phone in the gathering darkness of an SVI parking lot. His reflection in the car window looked wrong somehow—still composed, still controlled, but with something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Doubt. Conflict. A hairline fracture in twenty years of perfect compliance.
Seventy-two hours to accomplish what should have been a weeks-long operation.
Dante started the car and began driving toward the apartment, his mind racing through possibilities and contingencies. The suppressants would buy them time, but not much. The extraction would need to happen soon, possibly within the next day or two.
And after that...
The bio-monitor display on his wrist chirped a warning—elevated heart rate, increased stress hormones, breathing pattern disruptions. Signs of emotional compromise that would trigger automatic reporting if they continued much longer. Dante forced himself through thebreathing exercises, the mental compartmentalization techniques that had been drilled into him since his earliest training.
It didn’t work as well as it should have. The image of Orion strapped to a Gensyn examination table kept intruding, disrupting the carefully constructed mental barriers.
By the time he reached the apartment complex, Dante outlined three potential extraction scenarios. None were perfect, all involved significant risk, but the 72-hour deadline left little room for elegant solutions.
The most straightforward approach would be to simply take Orion during their next consultation session—drug him if necessary, get him to a secure location, then proceed with the technology acquisition. But that created a complex transportation problem and left too many variables uncontrolled.
The second option involved coordinating both extractions simultaneously—stealing the technology while removing Orion in the resulting chaos. Higher risk but potentially more efficient.
The third option... the third option wasn’t an option at all. It involved completing only half the mission and facing the consequences from Gensyn. A career-ending move, possibly life-ending depending on how the Board interpreted the failure.
But it kept circling back in his thoughts nonetheless.
Leo answered the door with the kind of relieved smile that suggested his day had gone better than expected. Which probably meantOrion managed to maintain his compliance performance despite the biological chaos.
The suppressants might not even be necessary, but Dante handed over the small package anyway.
“What’s this?” Leo asked, examining the unmarked bottle.
