Not sure what she meant by that, if she was just implying that it was really lucky that I’d met Freya, or if she was insinuating that it couldn’t have happened by chance, but I didn’t get an opportunity to think about it long because the elevator doors popped open then, revealing a couple of security guards waiting for us.
Rather than leading the way, both women remained where they were, so I stepped out first when one of the guards gestured for me to follow. We then walked in a line down the wide hallway, with Winter taking up the rear. Oddly enough, it almost felt like she was Liz’s bodyguard, rather than the other way around, considering the shorter woman’s ability. Although, I knew her height probably had something to do with that perception.
It certainly wasn’t every day that I met a woman who was as tall as I was, though of course there were women even taller.
When he got to the correct meeting room, the guard stopped by the door, so I went ahead and stepped inside.
Jackie Hendricks, a woman with dark brown hair, green eyes, and pale skin, was wearing a normal dark blue blouse, causing me to briefly feel like I’d truly overdressed for the occasion. However, then I realized there were three other people in the room, two women and one man, seated at the long rectangular table on opposing sides.
All three of them were dressed in suits similar to mine.
Jackie looked up at me when I hesitated, a pile of papers on the desk in front of her along with a tablet. She was sitting at the head of the table right next to the door, seeming as if she was the chairperson for the occasion. She smiled warmly when she met my gaze, reminding me of her pleasant attitude back in the hospital after the terrorist attack at the mall.
I recalled her thanking me for everything I’d done for Lexi, including my part in saving her from the situation with Blaze. And, while I knew she had a role to play, I was sure that out of everyone, she was the person most likely on my side in all this.
“Mr. Archer,” she said pleasantly, getting up to shake my hand. “We’ve been expecting you. Please, if you wouldn’t mind, have a seat at the other end. We’re still waiting on a few people.”
I nodded. “Sure,” I agreed simply, only to nod at the three others as I walked down to take a seat. None of them got up to shake hands, with the man and woman on this side of the table giving me especially critical looks.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting of my escorts, but I was surprised when Liz and Winter followed after me as if they were both my bodyguards, though I knew that was far from the case. Still, while I sat, they both took up a position on my left, standing side-by-side not even acknowledging those in the room. On the table in front of me, there was another tablet along with a stylus, which I assumed might be used to sign documents. I ignored them for now.
Without missing a beat, Jackie began to introduce her colleagues as she sat back down as well, gesturing to each person with her hand.
“This is Ms. Connolly, Mr. Pennington, and Mrs. Dolan.”
I nodded to each in turn, taking in their appearances. Both Mr. Pennington and Ms. Connolly were the two critical ones sitting on my right, with the man wearing a black suit – a sharp contrast to his white hair and sharp blue eyes – while the woman was wearing a light gray suit, having extremely dark skin, short curly brown hair, and pink eyes that I assumed must be the color of her reality enhancement contacts.
However, I couldn’t confirm that suspicion like I usually would, due to Liz’s shield.
Alternatively, Mrs. Dolan was sitting closer to me on my left, a plain woman with gray hair and dark brown eyes, who was also wearing a black suit.
“Sam Archer,” I said as a simple greeting to them all.
None of them responded verbally.
Damn, was this part of the negotiation process? Giving me the cold shoulder?
I supposed it was pointless for them to build rapport with the person who they were going to try arguing with about the demands I wanted met.
“We’ll get started once everyone arrives,” Jackie commented, before giving her attention to the papers in front of her again.
The silence didn’t last long though, before a couple of men entered the room, both of them extremely muscular. The guy in front was wearing a military uniform like what I’d expect of a general and was immediately greeted as General Burnham, while the second guy wearing business casual clothing was ignored altogether.
Burnham then proceeded to sit down on my left next to Mrs. Dolan, pulling out his phone, while the other guy, having graying hair and heavily wrinkled red skin, grabbed a chair to sit against the wall, his focus on a tablet in his lap just after sitting down.
A woman in a long white lab coat stepped into the room immediately after, moving to sit down on my right next to Ms. Connolly.
Surprisingly, Jackie didn’t acknowledge her, but Connolly did without hesitation.
“Ah, Mrs. Fairbanks, glad you could make it,” she said in greeting.
Instantly, my heart began racing, the sides of my vision going dark, as a rush of conflicting emotions hit me like a ton of bricks.
Fairbanks.
Fairbanks .
Logically, I knew that was a common last name. Logically , I knew this person was most likely not, in any way, associated with the scientist who both saved Rose and tried to molest her all in the same stroke.
But suddenly I was pissed, enraged, and terrified, all at once.
Because what if this woman was associated?
What if the cloning facility was actually government funded?
What if these people were in on it? What if they were my enemy ?
And then the fear , sparked by movement in the corner of my eye, as the mind reader standing right next to me pulled something out of her pocket. She then proceeded to nudge Liz as she turned around, away from everyone else, and began pulling her black hair up into a ponytail.
Instantly , the room went completely silent, even as the people on my right continued to speak, their mouths moving soundlessly.
“Sam,” Winter hissed quietly, her tone rushed. “Calm down. Remember what my aunt said about grudges. I can’t do this again, so keep it together. Deep breath.”
Immediately, the sounds all rushed back, the hum of the lights, the tapping of Jackie’s pen, the shuffling of General Burnham as he readjusted in his seat, the words spoken by the two women socializing in the room. I quickly folded my hands on the table and took a deep breath as Winter instructed, noticing her turn back around in the corner of my vision, after tugging on her high ponytail to tighten it.
Grudge.
‘One of the most important rules of being immortal is not to get on the bad side of another immortal. Holding a grudge has different implications for those who can’t die…’
Of course.
What Liz said previously made sense, and had implications beyond just me offending her by sharing her personal business. Likewise, they wouldn’t want to offend me. But then, why was Winter really here? She mentioned she had the job of assessing my integrity, but was that for the benefit of the CDS, or for their own benefit? As in, the benefit of the Supreme Guardian and those she truly represented…
Or both?
Either way, it felt like Winter was essentially telling me I could trust her not to share everything on my mind. Especially not stuff that could put anyone I cared about in danger.
Refocusing my thoughts, I looked up as three more people filed into the room, causing Jackie to look up again. The man in front had dark skin, graying curly hair, and dark brown eyes, being finely dressed in a navy-blue suit that was a shade lighter than Jackie’s blouse.
“Oh, Mr. Moulton. Glad you could–”
Moulton abruptly halted in his tracks, his expression pissed as he focused to my left. “What in the hell is Fowler doing here?” he snapped.
Jackie looked shocked. “Oh, I wasn’t aware that you had a problem with–”
Winter abruptly cut her off in a cold tone, her pale green eyes narrow. “Oh, don’
t mind him, Ms. Hendricks. He just never got over me turning him down for a date twenty years ago.”
“Why you little–”
“That’s enough,” Burnham snapped, setting down his phone. “I’ve got to be back on the bird within the hour, so let’s get this moving.”
Moulton gritted his teeth, before leading the other two men to the General’s side of the table, sitting down so that he had two heads blocking his view of Winter. He then mumbled something rude about her shaving her neck to look like a normal person. I glanced at her from the corner of my vision, seeing that her expression was completely neutral again, as if there wasn’t a thing in the world that could bother her.
Or, as if everything was just beneath her, if we were going with the goth chick vibe she was giving off.
Jackie cleared her throat as she sat back down.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin.” She gestured toward me. “As you all know, this here is Mr. Sampson Archer. All of you should be up to date with his, err, exploits , so no need to rehash any of that.” She focused on me. “Mr. Archer, we’re here today to discuss our contractual provisions, contingent upon some of the requests made on your behalf, via our liaison.” She focused on a page in front of her. “Including , media censorship, maximum-level classification on the incumbent’s identifiable information, mission assignment autonomy, utilization of intelligence assets postulante , and Political Sovereignty, along with the associated Absolute Legal Immunity. Let it also be noted that Mr. Archer requested, via our liaison, access to his superpower evaluation, but that has been unequivocally denied.”
She paused to pick up her tablet, making a few taps, only for the tablet in front of me to come to life. I focused down at it, picking it up to look at the massive wall of text displayed on the screen.
She continued. “Now, Mr. Archer, media censorship and classifying your information are inconsequential, so if you would, please sign at the bottom and we’ll move on to discussing your other requests.”
I scoffed. “You can’t really expect me to just sign this without reading it first.”
Surprisingly, she gave me an understanding and patient look. “Yes, well none of these documents will be fully valid until you sign the actual CDS Hire Contract. However, we’ll have you sign what you can as we go over the topics, mostly just to indicate an agreement has been reached, and you’ll be supplied with the final documentation once negotiations have been finalized, prior to your confirmation signature.” She paused. “You may also write ‘contingent upon hire’ next to your signature, if you so desire. Is that acceptable?”
I nodded with a sigh, still trying to quickly skim the information before me, prior to signing it.
However, it appeared to be just as she said. The displayed document, as well as the following one, were entirely regarding the media censorship and classification of my personal information. I still signed both with ‘contingent upon hire,’ as she recommended, but it didn’t appear they were trying to scam me into signing something I didn’t truly want to agree to.
“Perfect,” she said, making a few taps on her tablet, before setting it down. She then interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them. “Now, Mr. Archer, you requested the capacity to reject missions as desired. We’d like to know the reason.”
I nodded, glancing at the other people in the room, all eyes on me. “Yes, well, I don’t actually plan on rejecting missions. However, if an emergency came up, especially one that involved the immediate safety of my family, then I’d like the ability to attend to that first.”
Moulton and Burnham both immediately scoffed on my left, with the General speaking up first.
“So you want to prioritize the wellbeing of a handful of people over possibly millions of innocents,” he grumbled in a harsh tone, brushing off the shoulder of his immaculate military uniform with a look of disgust. “That’s no hero. And in war, that kind of narcissistic behavior is a felony.”
Moulton didn’t miss a beat, his dark skin heavily furrowed at the brow, his eyes narrowed. “Naïve and reckless,” he agreed. “We need soldiers on the battlefield, not an unreliable POG who lacks commitment.”
Okay, I didn’t like the way this was going at all. They needed me more than I needed them, and that fact needed to be crystal clear.
My tone was hard. “Let me rephrase. I don’t care about being a hero . I didn’t come to you guys because I wanted to be a hero . You came to me, offering me a job, and I’m telling you right now that the safety and wellbeing of my family will always come first. Whether you decide to accept my request or not.”
“So then, it’s an ultimatum,” Connolly sneered, her pink eyes narrow, her arms crossed.
My tone was sarcastic, my comment poised as a question. “That I’ll do my job, but in the rare instance when my family’s life might be in immediate danger, I’ll prioritize that? Yeah, it’s going to happen. And if you can’t deal with that, then feel free to retract your offer.”
The room was completely silent.
Jackie finally cleared her throat, picking up her tablet again. “We can offer a security team to be assigned whenever you’re deployed on a mission. However, the risk of you leaving in the middle of an operation is highly problematic.” She met my gaze. “When strategizing for an undertaking, each super fills an essential role in the plan. Eliminating even one piece last-minute can jeopardize the safety of everyone involved, and we can’t risk losing our personnel because one of our incumbents lacks commitment.”
I took a deep breath, interlacing my fingers on the table. “Look, I’m not going to just leave because I feel like it. And I’m not even talking about leaving in the middle of a mission to begin with. I’m asking for the ability to reject a mission in the event that I have personal concerns about my family’s safety – ones in which a typical security force might be unqualified to handle.”
I got a round of scoffs from everyone at that, but no one spoke up this time.
Jackie looked around the room for a moment, as if searching for opposition, before tapping on her tablet again. “We’ll include a rider to the original hire contract that allows for you to opt-out of non-apocalyptic level missions. However…” She paused to look up at me again. “If we are dealing with a threat of that magnitude then rejecting the mission is going to put your family in danger either way.” She glanced down to make a few more taps, causing my tablet to light up again. “That is our offer. You can either sign, and we will move on, or you can choose to refuse, and our meeting ends here.”
Damn, she wasn’t playing around. But I supposed I was fine with that compromise. Not to mention, I intended to have a lawyer go over the final contract before I signed anyway, so worrying about further details at this point didn’t seem as important when we still had to decide on some major issues.
Like, sovereignty.
Taking her word for it, seeing that a section of the text was literally the words she spoke just a few moments ago, I went ahead and signed while adding the ‘contingent upon hire’ part again.
She smiled ever so slightly, bringing up the next subject.
“And now, for your request to have access to intelligence assets to investigate situations as desired. Request granted.”
My screen lit up again.
Shit! That easy?
“However,” Jackie continued, “Personnel hours will be billed to you directly, so please keep that in mind when submitting your requests.”
Of course, there was a catch. I scratched my chin briefly as I thought about that. “Okay, and the offered salary is ten million, correct?”
She nodded.
“Then how many hours can I expect from half of that?”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “T-That would be excessive,” she admitted. “We’d have to limit it to one million per year, or two-thousand hours, whichever is greater.”
Pennington finally chimed in, running his hand through his white hair. “Two-thousand hours is a little excessi
ve ,” he said sarcastically. “He’ll never use more than five-hundred hours in a year.”
I scoffed. “Then what’s the problem with it being two-thousand?” I asked seriously. “If you’re so confident I’ll never burn through five-hundred, then the exact limit shouldn’t matter.”
He glared at me, before focusing on Jackie. “Make it a thousand hours, with a rollover of an additional five-hundred hours, up to a total of fifteen-hundred in any given year. We don’t have the resource flexibility to dedicate so much discretionary time to a single super.”
Jackie nodded, making a few taps on her tablet. “That acceptable?” she asked me simply.
Honestly, the guy was probably right in suggesting that I might not even use five-hundred. I mean, at two-thousand hours that would be the equivalent of hiring a full-time personal investigator for a full year, and I doubted that would be even close to necessary for what I had in mind.
I picked up the stylus, glanced over the text, and then signed.
“And now, Political Sovereignty.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before determination crossed her expression. “This subject has been discussed in-depth, and we have come to a resolute decision. We can offer you Absolute Immunity, but not Political Sovereignty. As part of CDS policy, the contract we are offering you cannot be granted to an individual not directly representing our own country’s interests.”
Shockingly, even before I could say anything, the woman to my left, sitting next to the General, spoke up for the first time. “Are you sure that’s a wise decision?” Mrs. Dolan asked seriously. “Is the CDS really going to risk a deterioration of negotiations on this point?”
Instantly, everyone glared at her, before the room exploded into an uproar, with everyone trying to voice their opinion at once. And surprisingly, it wasn’t all directed at this woman either. Apparently, this was a point that Connolly, the dark-skinned woman with pink eyes, was disapproving of too, though I couldn’t fathom why, when she seemed like she was so against me rejecting missions.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 7
