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rainbowfic2015-06-10 12:11 am
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2015-06-10 12:11 am
Amber #6, Or #4, Sedona Dusk #7
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Prime
Colors: Amber #6 (ore), Or #4 (Selflessness), Sedona Dusk #7 (gravel)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Seed Beads, Pastels (origfic_bingo prompt “promises made”)
Word Count: 1,046
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Jan has a problem.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM. Last Amber.
“Hello?” Jan shoved her way through the double doors. They swung back, nearly smacking the protesting office assistant trailing after her in the face. “Can someone explain to me what this is all about?”
Everyone working in the lab looked up, startled. All except Boru, who stood with his white-clad back to Jan just long enough to set her teeth on edge, before smoothly turning toward her, his pale features relaxed, his thin lips set in a patient smile. “Doctor Vandermeer. I was just wondering when you’d show up.”
Liar, thought Jan, just as the panting office assistant drew up next to her.
“I’m sorry, sir, she just barged in.”
Boru waved a hand. “It’s perfectly fine. Doctor Vandermeer is always welcome in the lab, though I do wonder what a naturalist might get out of it.” His smile remained fixed, and Jan had to mentally restrain herself from slapping it off his face.
Instead, she stood up straight and, as calmly as possible, showed him the paper she held. “I received this message on my desk this morning, from this lab. Cryptic, even for you.”
He nodded toward the paper, then made a show of looking at his wristwatch. “Nearly noon. I must say, it did take you a long time to get the message.”
Jan ground her teeth together. “You’ve seen my schedule, Boru. If you were so eager for your message to be first priority, you should have marked it as such.”
And, satisfyingly, the first crack in his facade as his smile slipped slightly and he said, “When I am in the lab, you will please address me as Doctor Matheson.”
“Explain this, Doctor Matheson,” said Jan, thrusting the paper at him again.
He didn’t take it. He clasped his hands behind his back and said, “There’s nothing to explain. The rock--well, I should say, the pieces of rock--you gave us are useless. There is nothing within its physical properties that give even a clue as to how the portal works.”
“That can’t be right. You haven’t run enough tests.” Jan clenched her hand, crumpling the corner of the message. She’d risked so much to get the stone into the right hands, broken laws, sacrificed a large portion of her personal wages to pay off the people she had hired, and then even more to pay others to look the other way. Too much to explain to Accounting once they came asking, and she knew they would. She needed a result, something to show them that what she had done was worth it.
But Boru was shaking his head. “We have run every test it is possible to run. If you want more tests, you will have to invent the methods and technology yourself.” He swept his arm around, and Jan’s gaze followed it to a light table upon which were spread the shards of rock she had procured and given to him at such personal cost to herself. “This is nothing but quartz. There are some unusual refractory properties, but that may have simply been caused by whatever shattered the original rock. It’s impossible to tell.”
“But the priests,” said Jan, but she couldn’t think of an end to that sentence. It didn’t matter; the initial words were enough to make Boru’s patronizing smile slip back onto his face.
“Well, I must say, that is what you get for trusting in the superstitions of the priests.” His lip curled as he spoke their name. “Nonsense and myths, Doctor Vandermeer. Or even outright lies. The priests are no friends to us, no matter what the upper levels say.”
Jan glanced sideways. The office assistant was looking more bold now that she had caught her breath. Her gaze was tight on Jan’s face, her body coiled as if she was about to grab her and haul her away. Jan looked back at Boru, trying to think of something. “If it is only quartz, why would the priests hold it in such value?”
“If it has such value, why would the priests give it to you?”
He had her there. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him that she’d obtained the rock pieces through bribery and theft, and the priests wouldn’t have sent them anything so valuable through official channels. “Maybe it only works when the portal is open.”
Boru turned his back on her. “You’re reaching, Doctor Vandermeer.”
“I’m serious.” She clung to her last thread of hope. “Examine it again when the time comes back around. Run all your tests then. I’m sure you’ll find something interesting.”
Boru snorted. “The portal is closed for another four years. Do you honestly expect me to stop whatever I’m working on at the time to examine your silly quartz again? I will tell you now, that’s not going to happen.”
“Then I’ll find someone else to do it.”
“Provided you are still in your present position.”
Jan shut her mouth. If there was nothing, then there was nothing. She would have to find some other excuse for the large amounts of money she had withdrawn from her account. And she would have to hope it was enough to put off Accounting, because if they opened an inquiry into her actions, she was as good as fired, or worse.
Boru set about sweeping up the rock pieces, depositing them gently back onto the black cloth bag they had been delivered in. He didn’t look at her once, and he was nearly done before she found her voice again.
“Then get rid of them,” she said. “Destroy your test results and pretend you never did them.” It was a plea, made to sound like petulance.
He glanced at her, his face more concern than smugness for just a moment, then it was back to that blank, impenetrable calm. He knew her well enough to understand what she was really asking, which meant he had figured out she had obtained the rock illegally. Whether early on or just during the course of the conversation didn’t matter. He held her life now.
“I will,” he said after a moment. He finished cleaning off the light table. “Mandie, please see Doctor Vandermeer out.”
“Gladly, sir,” said the office assistant, taking Jan’s arm.
kay_brookeStory: The Prime
Colors: Amber #6 (ore), Or #4 (Selflessness), Sedona Dusk #7 (gravel)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Seed Beads, Pastels (
origfic_bingo prompt “promises made”)Word Count: 1,046
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Jan has a problem.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM. Last Amber.
“Hello?” Jan shoved her way through the double doors. They swung back, nearly smacking the protesting office assistant trailing after her in the face. “Can someone explain to me what this is all about?”
Everyone working in the lab looked up, startled. All except Boru, who stood with his white-clad back to Jan just long enough to set her teeth on edge, before smoothly turning toward her, his pale features relaxed, his thin lips set in a patient smile. “Doctor Vandermeer. I was just wondering when you’d show up.”
Liar, thought Jan, just as the panting office assistant drew up next to her.
“I’m sorry, sir, she just barged in.”
Boru waved a hand. “It’s perfectly fine. Doctor Vandermeer is always welcome in the lab, though I do wonder what a naturalist might get out of it.” His smile remained fixed, and Jan had to mentally restrain herself from slapping it off his face.
Instead, she stood up straight and, as calmly as possible, showed him the paper she held. “I received this message on my desk this morning, from this lab. Cryptic, even for you.”
He nodded toward the paper, then made a show of looking at his wristwatch. “Nearly noon. I must say, it did take you a long time to get the message.”
Jan ground her teeth together. “You’ve seen my schedule, Boru. If you were so eager for your message to be first priority, you should have marked it as such.”
And, satisfyingly, the first crack in his facade as his smile slipped slightly and he said, “When I am in the lab, you will please address me as Doctor Matheson.”
“Explain this, Doctor Matheson,” said Jan, thrusting the paper at him again.
He didn’t take it. He clasped his hands behind his back and said, “There’s nothing to explain. The rock--well, I should say, the pieces of rock--you gave us are useless. There is nothing within its physical properties that give even a clue as to how the portal works.”
“That can’t be right. You haven’t run enough tests.” Jan clenched her hand, crumpling the corner of the message. She’d risked so much to get the stone into the right hands, broken laws, sacrificed a large portion of her personal wages to pay off the people she had hired, and then even more to pay others to look the other way. Too much to explain to Accounting once they came asking, and she knew they would. She needed a result, something to show them that what she had done was worth it.
But Boru was shaking his head. “We have run every test it is possible to run. If you want more tests, you will have to invent the methods and technology yourself.” He swept his arm around, and Jan’s gaze followed it to a light table upon which were spread the shards of rock she had procured and given to him at such personal cost to herself. “This is nothing but quartz. There are some unusual refractory properties, but that may have simply been caused by whatever shattered the original rock. It’s impossible to tell.”
“But the priests,” said Jan, but she couldn’t think of an end to that sentence. It didn’t matter; the initial words were enough to make Boru’s patronizing smile slip back onto his face.
“Well, I must say, that is what you get for trusting in the superstitions of the priests.” His lip curled as he spoke their name. “Nonsense and myths, Doctor Vandermeer. Or even outright lies. The priests are no friends to us, no matter what the upper levels say.”
Jan glanced sideways. The office assistant was looking more bold now that she had caught her breath. Her gaze was tight on Jan’s face, her body coiled as if she was about to grab her and haul her away. Jan looked back at Boru, trying to think of something. “If it is only quartz, why would the priests hold it in such value?”
“If it has such value, why would the priests give it to you?”
He had her there. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him that she’d obtained the rock pieces through bribery and theft, and the priests wouldn’t have sent them anything so valuable through official channels. “Maybe it only works when the portal is open.”
Boru turned his back on her. “You’re reaching, Doctor Vandermeer.”
“I’m serious.” She clung to her last thread of hope. “Examine it again when the time comes back around. Run all your tests then. I’m sure you’ll find something interesting.”
Boru snorted. “The portal is closed for another four years. Do you honestly expect me to stop whatever I’m working on at the time to examine your silly quartz again? I will tell you now, that’s not going to happen.”
“Then I’ll find someone else to do it.”
“Provided you are still in your present position.”
Jan shut her mouth. If there was nothing, then there was nothing. She would have to find some other excuse for the large amounts of money she had withdrawn from her account. And she would have to hope it was enough to put off Accounting, because if they opened an inquiry into her actions, she was as good as fired, or worse.
Boru set about sweeping up the rock pieces, depositing them gently back onto the black cloth bag they had been delivered in. He didn’t look at her once, and he was nearly done before she found her voice again.
“Then get rid of them,” she said. “Destroy your test results and pretend you never did them.” It was a plea, made to sound like petulance.
He glanced at her, his face more concern than smugness for just a moment, then it was back to that blank, impenetrable calm. He knew her well enough to understand what she was really asking, which meant he had figured out she had obtained the rock illegally. Whether early on or just during the course of the conversation didn’t matter. He held her life now.
“I will,” he said after a moment. He finished cleaning off the light table. “Mandie, please see Doctor Vandermeer out.”
“Gladly, sir,” said the office assistant, taking Jan’s arm.
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no subject
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I'm worried for Jan
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Thanks for reading!
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I got to say, at first I thought he was lying, but at the end, I think he's really serious and just being a jerk about it.
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Thanks for reading!