Post by Lorpius Prime on Jun 13, 2020 4:43:24 GMT -5
Chapter 1
2082
The grav-shuttle's pneumatic struts hissed softly as they pressed into the sandy beach at Hikkaduwa. Pascual sighed and started composing himself for the next leg of his journey. It was another few seconds before he remembered that there was no next leg. The grav-shuttle had taken him directly from the OES campus in Caracas to his destination. No stopovers, no need to even take a car from the airport in Colombo.
"I am never going to get used to that," he said aloud.
The only other people in the shuttle's cabin were Calfuray, his assistant, and two EPS guards. The EPS men were too professional to even glance at Pascual, but Calfuray obliged him with an inquisitive glance.
"Flying around the world that fast. And we're just... here," he spread his hands for emphasis. "No connecting flight in Germany, no train or taxi ride at the end."
"I see. Sir," she said in that polite tone which told him she was just humoring the boss.
Calfuray had been a Major in Chile's Defense Intelligence Directorate. Pascual was a little terrified of how convincingly she played the hapless, innocent aide.
"The area's clear, sir," one of the EPS guards announced, tapping his ear to indicate that he'd been informed of this through his radio. "We can disembark whenever you're ready."
Pascual gestured toward the hatch, and the guard swung it open and hopped out. He let Calfuray precede him down the flimsy stairs which hand unfolded from the bottom of the hatch. Then he followed her out, leaving the second EPS man to take up the rear.
Sand immediately got into Pascual's shoes, and he swore at himself for not wearing sandals. He'd made the same mistake on his very first trip to the Jacksonville Beaches in college. Only now the shoes he was ruining were much more expensive. Calfuray, he noticed, had swapped her shoes for sandals some time during the shuttle flight.
Four more EPS guards formed a protective perimeter a dozen meters out. They had deployed from an advance shuttle which would now be circling overhead and wore full hoplite suits. Pascual wished he could say the level of security was overly paranoid. He knew from bitter experience that it was not.
They walked inland from the beach, toward a paved road and what looked like a sea wall that had been abandoned halfway into construction. Pascual could see two people waiting for them just beyond the road, under the shade of a line of palm trees.
2082
The grav-shuttle's pneumatic struts hissed softly as they pressed into the sandy beach at Hikkaduwa. Pascual sighed and started composing himself for the next leg of his journey. It was another few seconds before he remembered that there was no next leg. The grav-shuttle had taken him directly from the OES campus in Caracas to his destination. No stopovers, no need to even take a car from the airport in Colombo.
"I am never going to get used to that," he said aloud.
The only other people in the shuttle's cabin were Calfuray, his assistant, and two EPS guards. The EPS men were too professional to even glance at Pascual, but Calfuray obliged him with an inquisitive glance.
"Flying around the world that fast. And we're just... here," he spread his hands for emphasis. "No connecting flight in Germany, no train or taxi ride at the end."
"I see. Sir," she said in that polite tone which told him she was just humoring the boss.
Calfuray had been a Major in Chile's Defense Intelligence Directorate. Pascual was a little terrified of how convincingly she played the hapless, innocent aide.
"The area's clear, sir," one of the EPS guards announced, tapping his ear to indicate that he'd been informed of this through his radio. "We can disembark whenever you're ready."
Pascual gestured toward the hatch, and the guard swung it open and hopped out. He let Calfuray precede him down the flimsy stairs which hand unfolded from the bottom of the hatch. Then he followed her out, leaving the second EPS man to take up the rear.
Sand immediately got into Pascual's shoes, and he swore at himself for not wearing sandals. He'd made the same mistake on his very first trip to the Jacksonville Beaches in college. Only now the shoes he was ruining were much more expensive. Calfuray, he noticed, had swapped her shoes for sandals some time during the shuttle flight.
Four more EPS guards formed a protective perimeter a dozen meters out. They had deployed from an advance shuttle which would now be circling overhead and wore full hoplite suits. Pascual wished he could say the level of security was overly paranoid. He knew from bitter experience that it was not.
They walked inland from the beach, toward a paved road and what looked like a sea wall that had been abandoned halfway into construction. Pascual could see two people waiting for them just beyond the road, under the shade of a line of palm trees.