Page 21 of Sublime Target
“I’ll meet them,” he said at last. “After lunch. Until then, they can wait. That will give us enough time to ensure adequate defensive measures. Contact Gage Security. Tell Erasmus I need a full mercenary outfit in the building. He’ll understand.”
“Mr Garner, may I suggest that the Kordolians might not react well to such measures?”
Cooper Garner looked up, his grey eyes full of arrogance. “Dear, this is a negotiation, and we are on my turf. I’m not giving up Copernicus, but certain things might be for sale. I will see the aliens when I am ready, being mindful of the fact that I do not normally grant unsolicited appointments.”
Clarissa did a secret internal eye-roll. This was going to be fun. Extended waiting times and mercenary backup. Yay. “And how might we best entertain the Kordolians in the meantime, Sir?”
Garner waved his hand dismissively. “Well, you’ll have to figure something out, won’t you?”
TEN
With a heavy heart and a cold sensation in her belly, Clarissa rode the elevator down to the ground floor, where the Kordolians and their human ally were waiting.
She a bit like the messenger who was terrified of getting shot.
Somehow, she was supposed to convince them to wait around for hours until Garner was ready to meet them.
Well, they could always leave and come back later, but Clarissa got the feeling these people weren’t used to waiting for anyone.
What was her boss thinking? Didn’t he understand that Kordolians possessed tech that could destroy them all in an instant?
She’d never understood some of Garner’s decisions, but then again, none of them had really affected her until now.
The elevator smoothly reached the ground floor. The doors opened. Clarissa steeled herself and walked into the foyer, heels clicking in a steady, confident rhythm that was the complete opposite of how she felt inside.
She walked past Bea, who was arranging a bunch of long-stemmed electric blue peonies in a glass vase filled with water. The genetically engineered colors they were coming up with these days were getting more and more outrageous.
What next? Polka-dot flowers? Or would they make them glow in the dark?
“You okay, Clarissa?” Bea snipped the end off a long stem. The air was filled with sweet fragrance.
“No,” Clarissa said lightly as she stopped to savor the fresh floral scent. “I’m supposed to figure out how to keep our guests entertained. Any ideas, Bea?”
“Well, you could show them around, I suppose. Lunch? Go all out? They’re potential high-value clients, aren’t they?” Bea rotated the stem in her hands, admiring the flower. She put it to her nose and inhaled deeply. “Company expense account? You rarely ever use it.”
“I suppose it’s justifiable.” Clarissa didn’t mention to Bea that the thought of entertaining the dangerous-looking trio for the next few hours—let alone figuring out how to feed them—was causing a sensation akin to sharpened icicles piercing her chest.
What did Kordolians even eat, anyway? They might be sentient, bipedal, and remarkably similar to humans in appearance—sans the elf ears and the fangs and the different coloring—but she wouldn’t be surprised if their physiology was a little different.
They were aliens, after all.
And she’d just been presented with an opportunity some reckless individuals would go crazy for.
Some humans were fascinated by Kordolians. They idolized them and posted exaggerated accounts of even the slightest encounter all over the Network’s Social Hive.
“You know what?” She took the peony from Bea’s hands and took a deep breath, letting its fresh floral scent envelop her senses. “Maybe that isn’t a bad idea.” She popped the stem into the vase of water. “I’ve never had to deal with anything this unexpected before—not on the job, anyway.”
Bea laughed. “My friend, you deal with those mercurial trillionaires all the time. I’m sure you can handle this. It isn’t as if the aliens have been hostile or threatening. I’m sure they could have torn up the place already if they wanted. All you have to do is turn on the charm. Good luck. You got this.”
“Thanks for the moral support, I suppose.” Clarissa left Bea with her flowers and buried her trepidation as she made her way toward the boardroom of doom.
She decided the best approach was to go on a charm offensive before any of the aliens had a chance to suspect that Garner was dicking them around.
“Gentlemen,” she beamed. “Mr Garner is pleased to meet you, but before we get down to the tedious minutiae of business, he’s asked me to extend you the highest level of hospitality. A tour of the tower, and then lunch at the finest seafood restaurant in Sydney.”
Judging from their stone-cold expressions, neither the Kordolians nor Kai were impressed.
Some people loved this kind of shit—the wining and dining—but this trio obviously saw right through the facade.