She could practically see the wheels turning. Bioverse had done a background check. Any unacceptable associations would have kept her out. If Brador went ahead and accused her of corporate espionage based on her knowing someone Bioverse had already cleared, she could pull him down into the management courts for defamation of character.
Lynn wouldn't enjoy that, but she'd do it to save her reputation. Then she'd quit, and she suspected Brador knew it.
“It would save the dervishes a lot of trouble if you could debunk the Avitrol comparison for Hagopian.”
“Believe me, Vice President, I intend to try.” I intend to beat his thick skull against the wall, if necessary. “Is there anything else?”
“No, Dr. Nussbaumer, fortunately.” His skin color faded a little. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
“You're welcome.” Lynn cut the connection. “Store recording under file name Brador One,” she told her implant as she stood up.
Lynn walked into the outer office. Both Trace and R.J. looked up, startled.
“Anything else entertaining happening?” Lynn folded her arms and leaned against the wall.
“Well”—R.J. held out a folded sheet of paper—“we found this on the doorstep. It's got your name on it.”
Lynn took it. It did have her name on it, along with the name of the complex, and the street it sat on. Praeis's name and the name of her house had been written on it as well. The packet had been glued tightly shut.
Lynn carefully tore the paper open.
The letter was in t'Therian, except for a few words in English scattered through the text.
From Praeis Shin t'Theria addressing my respected ally Lynn Nussbaumer,
I'm writing you in t'Therian because you obviously need the practice translating. However, don't worry yourself about the Problem, as you call it. That takes years to learn. I'll be happy to give you lessons when everything's more settled down. How are Council and Convinced doing? Have they adjusted to us yet? You must be running them off their feet with all the bioverse that need doing.
I've had word that is going to imprison t'Therians on is on his way from City-Ships.So make sure to tell him, what's the phrase, so getesaph can destroy us for me.
Res and Theia are surrounded by cousins and are loving it. My sisters and I are hardly out of one another's sight. It's magnificent to be part of a family again.
We've sent for the comm station, and I'll be hooked up as soon as I can.
The Queens have given me a special appointment that I'll tell you all about over the net.
Lynn lowered the letter, raised it, and read the English words again. Problem, Council convinced Bioverse is going to imprison t'Therians on city-ships so Getesaph can destroy us.
“What's the matter?” asked Trace. “You're white as a ghost.”
To her embarrassment, Lynn giggled. “Brador's overheating about a web knot.” She held out the letter. “What do you think he'd do if I showed him this?”
Trace read it, blanched, and handed it to R.J.
“Ohmygod,” he whispered, and looked up at Lynn. “How could they …”
“The Getesaph contacted Earth first.” Lynn tapped her fingers against her arm. “So, of course, the t'Therians are wondering what they did it for. It couldn't possibly have been for anything as universally beneficial as stopping the plague.”
“But why …” began Trace. Then she waved her hand. “Never mind. If they think we're working for the Getesaph, of course we're not going to hear about it.”
R.J. stared at the blank walls. “We've really got to get these wired for full video,” he said, patting his palm against the desktop. “So what do we do?”
Lynn puffed out her cheeks and stared at the walls without seeing them. “We go down to the Council chambers and make ourselves available to them. We get Praeis to introduce us to the dissenting voices, and we talk to them. We arrange tours of the ships for Council members and the Queens. We get Keale down here to talk about security measures …” Both her assistants looked sour. “I know, I know. I'm not fond of his approach either. But he takes his job seriously and he puts on an impressive show.” She hadn't told anybody about the conversation they'd had and didn't intend to.
R.J. shrugged. “I just wish I didn't get the feeling he's ready to do more than just his job.”
Lynn looked from R.J. to Trace. “Is there anybody in this corp you two like?”
“Not above junior management,” said Trace calmly.
“I'll play that back when it's time for your review.” Lynn twitched the letter out of R.J.’s fingers and retreated into her office.
Okay, Praeis—she looked down at the letter in her hand—I'm doing what I can on my end. Just give us a couple of days, and we'll have everything smoothed out.