Gabriel had been haunted by the last look on Ilana’s face during his entire meeting with the Admiral and her science team. He could barely concentrate as he pulled up the crisis pocket specs. The Admiral’s eyes lit up as the team surrounded his work.
Ilana had appeared stricken and distraught before scurrying away along the outer edge of the command room and onto an elevator platform. Gabriel hadn’t expected to see her there, either. But he never would’ve expected that type of reaction after their time together.
Unless something had gone horribly wrong.
“What guiding philosophy did you use on this project?” the Admiral asked.
“Philosophy?” Gabriel mused. “We just followed the science.”
Elder communications were public under the Freedom of Extra-Galactic Information Act so the Frontier team had access to the same data Maisha had used to brilliantly build their prototype. Gabriel and Maisha owned the tech they developed out of the half-deciphered concepts and code humanity had received before the Elders stopped talking to Earth.
That had happened over a hundred years ago. Gabriel wasn’t sure why the Elders had stopped communicating. Maybe they’d simply lost interest. He’d never paid much attention to the public debate around reestablishing contact. They’d received plenty of material to get through already and humanity had barely made a dent. There was much work to do.
What was the use in knocking at the door of indifferent gods? They would talk to the monkeys only if and whenever they felt like it. If anything, humans should keep a low profile to avoid the attention of any bored immortals.
Gabriel knew Admiral Nguyen supported reestablishing contact. He’d done a bit of research into her career over breakfast. She was an active and outspoken member of the Alliance Citizen’s Extra-Galactic Committee and had sponsored several pro-contact bills over the years. Some had actually passed.
All of her efforts had received the same cosmic response: silence.
The Admiral shot Gabriel an approving look. “My department is interested in buying your tech to use out in the field.”
“That’s great to hear.” While Gabriel and Maisha’s startup had received an Alliance research grant, the Admiral’s department would be their first client. They hadn’t quite started courting interested parties yet, but after the prototype’s performance under crisis yesterday – doing exactly what it was engineered to do – they could move closer to production now.
Gabriel had spoken with Maisha earlier on their call about this exact possibility. He pulled up an invitation shaped like a scroll of paper on his contacts. When he flicked his wrist it became visible to the Admiral. “I’d love to go over the details later this evening. Maisha has invited you and your team onto the Lilium for dinner this evening to discuss.”
“Excellent.” The Admiral reached out and Gabriel’s contact showed her accepting the event. “I look forward to that conversation. Until then, would you mind showing me…”
For three hours, Gabriel performed the product song and dance he must’ve done a dozen times, fielding questions from the Admiral and her team as they annotated the design on the holo. What were the limits of the tech? How long did its protection last? Could they create a version that activated when thrown? Could the bubble take any form other than spherical?
He showed them the data from their field tests, with the caveat that the pocket he’d used in the shuttle crash blew all of their old readings out of the water.
Gabriel’s own composure surprised him. Once upon a time, this process would’ve made him nervous. They worked long enough to eat a lunch catered by a traveling ship food hovercart featuring a replicator menu full of artisanal sandwiches.
As soon as they wrapped in the afternoon, Gabriel rode the elevator down to the concourse and collapsed on a plush seat in the first lounge he could find.
He sat quietly watching the concourse for a full twenty minutes while his mind decompressed. If all went well, his efforts would be worth it. With a client like that…
All their efforts over the years would be worth it.
Finally, he regained the presence of mind to order a coffee with frothed cream. With his first sip, his thoughts settled on Ilana with visions of her from the night before.
Arching into his touch. Crying in pleasure. Coming apart in his arms.
He hadn’t experienced a connection that intense in a while.
This time he wasn’t afraid of the intensity. The ferocity of their encounter energized him just thinking about it. He wanted more. He was a man dying of thirst getting just a single drop. He knew the flavor would only get sweeter and the taste made him desperate for more.
What was going on in her mind, though?
He pulled up Ilana’s contact and started to draft a message. Maisha would be docking her ship in orbit around Luna to receive the Admiral. She’d mentioned inviting friends over later in the night since it had been so long since she’d last visited the sector.
He could invite Ilana. But how to draft the message?
“Hey, sorry we missed each other earlier,” Gabriel dictated, then reconsidered mentioning their non-meeting from that morning. He deleted the text and started over.
Hey, you should come to my friend’s party yacht. Accurate but inelegant.
He created an invitation starting a few hours after their dinner with the Admiral and attached Maisha’s social profile. “Hey, my business partner and I are having some friends over tonight on her ship with a great view of the Silver City. Would you like to join us?”
Straight to the point with a direct question. That would do.
He wondered if she was even still on the ship or if she’d already left for her job.
Only one way to find out.
Sent.
Gabriel returned to his cabin to shower and refresh his clothes by putting them through the instant laundry. The rest of the afternoon, he sat on the chaise next to the window with a treatise on muons in his lap. He read the same sentence at least a dozen times before giving up and simply watching the shadows shifting over Earth and Luna.
Ilana responded to his invitation just an hour before Gabriel was scheduled to take the shuttle over with the Admiral. He didn’t realize how much of his brain had been wrapped up in anticipation of her answer until the tightness released in his chest.
He would see her there.
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