Chapter Three
The first clue the Oberia job might not be the answer to her prayers came her first day when nobody at the reception-security desk knew who she was.
“You’re not on the visitor list.” The bald, purple-faced uniformed guard perused a vertical log he’d brought up atop his console.
“I’m not a visitor. I’m an employee; well, a temp, sent by the GAL Friday agency.”
“I’ve never heard of GAL Friday. Who are you supposed to be working for?” He closed out the log.
“Mr. Stratos.”
“If there’d been a new hire, Personnel would have informed us, and you’d be on the list.” He spread his hands and focused his gaze on the exit.
“What are you saying?” she demanded, fully aware of what he was saying.
But she couldn’t leave. She had no other employment prospects and had paid a huge penalty for breaking the lease on her apartment to take this job.
After being out of work for months, her car breaking down, and then getting hit with the rental penalty, she’d depleted her emergency fund.
She couldn’t go home to Earth. She had no money and no place to live.
“Maybe you’d better check with him,” the other guard said. “Gods forbid there’s a screwup.”
“Right.” He tapped the desktop, and a vertical holographic control panel popped up. He adjusted his headset. “This is Isomar in security. There is a Savannah Mays from GAL Fri—” He broke off. “Personnel hasn’t cleared her—yes, sir. I’ll have to bring her. Yes, sir. I understand, sir.”
I guess Mr. Stratos is expecting me! She shot the guard a smug look while feeling immense relief.
“Follow me,” Isomar said. “His office is on the other side of the complex. We’ll take the tube.”
Tube? Like the London Underground?
The tube resembled a translucent hamster tunnel but with aircraft ejection seats. “Snap in and hang on to your belongings,” the guard said.
After watching how he secured his harness, she did the same and clutched her messenger bag to her chest.
He punched a code into a holographic keypad.
She gave a muted shriek as her chair disengaged from its mooring, shot her through the tube like a cannonball, and jerked her to an abrupt stop about ten seconds later. The chair locked into place with a loud click.
She released her harness and exited on shaky legs.
“This way,” Isomer said.
“The uh, code you entered takes you to the right place?” She followed him down a hall.
“Yes. You key in the destination code and your employee ID number. You can only go where you are authorized.”
He stopped outside a door marked STRATOS, VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. The translator she’d been given when GAL Friday had found her a placement, enabled her to read and speak the local language.
The door peeled open. “Go inside.” Without further ado, Isomar departed.
First day on the job—first time on an alien planet. Here goes nothing. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside.
She expected somebody to greet her, but there was nobody.
The vacant office contained a crescent-shaped transparent console.
Would that be her desk? Behind it was an accompanying ergonomic office chair; in front of it, two standard-issue uncomfortable visitor chairs.
No décor to speak of. But the room did have a magnificent view.
She set her messenger bag on the desk and moved to the huge side window overlooking the busy city at least five floors below. The tube had shot them vertically as well as horizontally. She’d entered the OberTech Industries complex on the ground floor.
Buildings were constructed in a variety of shapes and heights, from the five-storied, sprawling complex to towering cylinders, hexagons, trapezoids, polygons, and pencil-thin columns supporting circular observation stations, all adorned with intricate unfamiliar symbols and architectural details. Can it get more alien than this?
“Are you going to spend all day skygazing, or are you going to come into my office?” grated a harsh voice.
She spun around.
The tall Oberian had a gaze and visage as hard as his voice. “You are Savannah Mays, aren’t you?” He looked like he hoped she wasn’t.
On the heels of the security snafu, his caustic tone and scowl got on her last nerve, but she stifled an angry retort. I need this job. Remember, I need this job. “Yes. Are you Mr. Stratos?”
“It’s just Stratos, and you’re late.”
“I got stopped at security. They weren’t expecting me.”
“I don’t need excuses; I need you to be on time.” He executed a pivot and entered his office.
Should she follow?
“I don’t have all day!” he barked.
Apparently, greetings and welcoming smiles were not the Oberian way. Grabbing her bag, she squared her shoulders and ventured into the lion’s den.
A floor-to-ceiling L-shaped window formed a panorama around his massive lair. Drumming his fingers, he sat behind a transparent desk large enough to be used as a conference table. She guessed it was used as such, because four additional chairs were tucked underneath it on her side.
He didn’t ask her to sit, so she remained standing like a soldier undergoing inspection.
She jutted out her chin and conducted her own assessment of the arrogant, rude a-hole.
Tall. Bulky. Stony-gray eyes matching his personality.
Not a single hair on his lavender head. His beautiful lilac color and the intricate swirling tattoos on the temples were his most attractive features, although they were offset by everything else about him.
The guards had had the tattoos, too, although not the same pattern. Maybe they’re birthmarks?
“The interview shouldn’t take long,” he said.
“Interview? I thought I had the job!” She’d given up everything to come here.
“You don’t have the job until I say you have the job. Why did you leave your last position?”
Well, against my better judgment, I boinked my married boss. I didn’t know he was married. When his wife found out and threatened to divorce him and take half of everything they owned, he claimed I’d come on to him and accused me of sexual harassment.
The day after getting fired, she’d confronted Gavin in the parking lot and gotten him to admit the truth. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen for such a smarmy snake.
“I loved my work, and I was good at it, but I’d mastered all there was to know, so it was time for a new adventure.” All true, although seeking adventure hadn’t come about by choice.
“This is a job, not a vacation.”
“If you love your work, it seems like a vacation,” she said. Working for him would not be a vacation.
“Your expectations are unrealistic.”
Oh, no. I think they’re quite realistic at this point. She didn’t want to work for this alien asshole, and if he sent her packing, it would be somewhat of a relief. Except for her dire financial situation. If she could hang on long enough to rebuild her savings…
“What do you know about Oberia?”
“Your planet is home to eight billion people, divided into five provinces, each with a democratic republic government. Your people elect their representatives, who make the decisions. Your population is homogenous, with 96 percent Oberian, the other 4 percent various alien races. You once believed in a godhead duality, Celsor and Nivara, but religion does not play a big role in your lives anymore.” As soon as GAL Friday had notified her of her planetary assignment, she’d scoured the hypernet for info about Oberia.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “And what do you know about OberTech?”
“It’s a family company with a board of directors. Its mission is to develop innovative products for home and business.”
“That’s what our hypernet site says—in exactly those words.” His tone indicated he was less than impressed.
She’d bet passage to Earth, he knew less about humans than she knew about Oberians.
She looked him straight in his frosty-gray eyes.
“Here’s something not on the OberTech site—you’ve been with the company for seventeen years, the last two as vice president of Research and Development.
You’ve had five assistants in two years.
” Getting a translator the night before departure hadn’t left much time for research, but she had found an Oberian message board about bad bosses.
He’d been a jerk for longer than he’d been an executive.
“And what conclusion do you draw?” He sounded bored. Bored! The boredom did it.
“You’re an asshole,” she said. “Nobody likes working for you.”