Page 85 of Starrily
Callie woke up with the sunshine and a permanent smile on her face. She yawned and opened one eye, and the image gradually cleared into the cabin room, draped in the soft yellow hues of the morning light. Simon was in the bed next to her, still soundly asleep, a lock of hair falling over his eye. She brushed it away and gave him a featherlight kiss on the brow.
“Morning,” she whispered.
He remained asleep, and she rose to sit on the edge of the bed, wiggling her toes. Bubbles of joy floated in her belly, emulating the feeling of waking up after a pleasant dream—only this time, it wasn’t only a dream, and it was much more than just “pleasant.” She giggled to herself, then threw a glance over her shoulder—she hadn’t woken him up.
Should she? No, wait—should she go to the bathroom, make herself presentable, then slip back into the bed and wake him up?
No. That was silly. She got up, washed and dressed, and headed for the door. Theia darted from her hiding placeunderneath the bed, but Callie grabbed her by the middle. She eyed the sleeping Simon, biting her lip.
Don’t be clingy. Let him have his rest.“You stay here,” she said quietly, lifting Theia to her eye level. “Keep Simon company.” She let Theia leap on the bed, scribbled a note, and slipped out.
At the outside restaurant by the main building, she picked a table halfway in the shade and ordered breakfast for two. As she stared at the vase of decorative pine cones in the center of the table, she ran over greeting lines.
Hey, Simon.
Hey, babe.No, no, way too much.
Morning, with a sexy, secretive smile. No, she couldn’t pull off a sexy, secretive smile.
“Just relax,” she ordered herself. This was Simon. She knew him. She could do this.
But to try and relax more, she brought out her tablet and went hunting for new research papers, downloading the ones that piqued her interest. She checked the abstracts of each one, but she’d dive into them later.
In the middle of her browsing, a new email popped up. It was from Dr. Watzmann, and the subject was only???. Callie’s stomach squeezed, but she quickly reassured herself. He’d probably sent her a puzzle with a wrong solution so she, too, could laugh at it.
No—it was a link to an article. Its title, in bold letters, proclaimed,Crisis at Aries Tech: Have They Been Stealing Technology? Callie jerked away from the chair, nearly overturning it. Wait—there was no need to upset Simon yet. It was some ridiculous bait title. He’d never steal technology, and surely, he wouldn’t allow anyone in his company to do so.
She shook her head and sat back down. Stupid press. At least with scientific articles, she could rely on them having the exact, properly descriptive title.
Still, her fingers shook as she scrolled down.
Rumors are circulating about potential trouble at the tech giant, Aries … Not helped by the fact their CEO, Simon Montague, wasn’t present at FranCon two days ago … We asked Dean Everett, CFO at the company, who made the presentation in Mr. Montague’s absence, about any problems with their new project … Denied any issues with it … Aries Tech is funding QueLabs for their mission to the Moon, but they’re also supporting a smaller project by one of their scientists … Dr. Guidry, who, interestingly enough, has also gone underground …
“Underground? Really?” Callie put the tablet down. They truly had nothing better to do if they were concerned about two people disappearing. She didn’t know the reputation of the article’s website, but she wouldn’t be surprised if it were typical yellow press. What was next, assuming she and Simon eloped together?
They’d be partially right, but that was beside the point.
She glanced at the tablet. “You’re not reading any more of it,” she ordered herself.
But what was that about stealing technology in the title? Her hand hovered over the tablet, and she grumbled and continued reading.That’s how they get you. They lure you in with nonsense.
There was information about Callie’s project, which, strangely enough, was all correct; it even mentioned her giving talks on the subject. And then …
For those wondering why Aries Tech would invest in a random, seemingly unimportant project …
“Excuse me? You’re unimportant,” Callie muttered.
We have exclusive information from a source working at the company. Aries Tech are always looking for options to acquire new technologies, but they have to be mindful of the cost of such expansions. Ever since he’d started the company, Simon Montague had shown himself to be a true wonder boy of the business world, with an uncanny feel for when to invest or acquire companies and projects to maximize profits and stay a step ahead of the rest. But with this reveal, we have to wonder how many of those acquisitions were made fairly …
“What do you mean?” Callie whispered. Her hand shook harder as she scrolled further down. A ball of lead settled in her stomach. No matter how much she tried to tell herself this was just a silly article, deep in her bones, she knew something was wrong.
… Which brings us back to Dr. Guidry. Our source revealed exclusive information about Aries Tech intending to steal her groundbreaking software, inserting themselves into her project before anyone—including Dr. Guidry herself—could realize its true value …
The world spun in front of her eyes. She tossed the tablet back on the table and leaned over the side of her chair as if she’d just run a marathon and needed to catch her breath.
Her software? The code she’d been writing to process her data? Sure, she’d been trying new things, and the basis of that code could be useful for many other technologies. That’s why a lot of astrophysicists ended up working as programmers for major companies—the pay was incredible.
Only Aries, apparently, didn’t want to pay.
