by Starla Night
The door swung shut on her mutterings, and outside she called out to Taylor, who came to the fence. They had a lively neighborhood chat.
“Good job,” Patty told Elle.
“No negative nellies,” Elle agreed and rolled her eyes at Rose. “You almost missed my signal.”
“We need a code word,” Rose replied just as the gruff, deadly security guard answered the phone. “Kyan? Have you guys come up with any good ideas to save Jasper from the adviser?”
He was silent for a long moment. “You will not release him from your engagement?”
“Actually, I broke up with him yesterday. He didn’t tell you? It’s probably because your idea sucked and my cooperation didn’t help, did it?”
Everyone mouthed at her in shock.
She waved them away, heartened by Kyan’s continued silence. “If you have no better ideas, Jasper’s environmental tech team will do what you guys couldn’t and fight off the adviser.”
“You couldn’t scratch one of her scales with a human weapon,” Kyan growled back. “She’s impervious to anything short of nuclear fusion.”
“Okay, we agree. This is a brainstorming session and everything’s on the table.”
“A dragon nuclear fusion.”
“You know the HVAC system runs off the engine of the first spaceship that brought you to Earth, right? It has a self-destruct sequence, and I know the codes.”
“You know the codes,” Kyan repeated. “Jasper gave you the codes?”
“To shut it off in an emergency if he couldn’t get to it. Anyone can open the doors and self-destruct. I’d rather not, because it would turn the entire planet into a sun, but this is a brainstorming session and nothing’s off the table. We just need to know what we’re fighting against.”
“I’ll be there in one minute.” The phone clicked.
Shawn grinned. The others mirrored him. Elle laid her hands flat on the table. “Don’t piss off the environmental techs.”
Rose agreed, and they worked with a new purpose.
Finally, finally, they were going to fight.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jasper flew over the Onyx Corporation office building for what might be the final time.
The rooftop blinked with spaceship guide lights illuminating the dramatic, never-used top-floor entrance to the corner matriarch’s office. The walls of glass windows rotated outward and Jasper alit on the extended marble-coated ramp. A gentle breeze wafted the distant ocean scents and much nearer loamy fields beneath his nose. The sun burned bright. Adviser Wrathmoda couldn’t arrive in hotter or more fortuitous weather.
A nervous buzz invaded his usual placid calm.
He’d divided his attention between preparing for Adviser Wrathmoda’s visit and putting things right. Rose’s car, her grandmother’s apartment complex, and losing Liam had happened so fast and took longer to fix. After witnessing him multitask, Larimar had released control. Dictating his actions took too long, anyway. He worked faster and more efficiently than she could follow.
The only part of today’s presentation he hadn’t reviewed was the state of the Onyx Corporation office. Why worry? He’d left the building in Rose’s capable hands.
When he waved his contractors into the dramatic entrance, he observed his first mistake.
A musty yellow haze drifted through the warm, ornate room.
Uh oh.
Mal strode forward wearing a suit jacket over his bare chest. “Jasper, you’re here. Ready for the big event?”
“Adviser Wrathmoda arrives in two hours,” he agreed. “Will you activate the coffee machine?”
Mal plugged it in. “Let me know how we can help.”
“Where are the beans Alex acquired? Input them and set the timer to coincide with Adviser Wrathmoda’s arrival.”
Mal looked over the wall-sized machine. “You can do that?”
“I can’t. You revoked my security clearance.”
“I didn’t. But you mean, the coffee machines can do that?”
“Only the machine in here. We acquired superior products for Mother, should she ever visit. Speaking of which, why is the HVAC off?”
“I don’t know.” Mal punched random buttons. “So you’re not running the environment tech anymore, huh?”
“No, of course not. That’s why you hired Peridot.”
“I didn’t hire him.” Mal poked the machine. “Can’t you do this?”
“Press the red button.” Jasper led him through the sequence while supervising contractors in the showroom. “Good.”
“I did it.” Mal wiped glistening sweat off his forehead and sighed. “It’s so hot in here.”
“That’s because the HVAC is off.”
“So that’s why…”
“Why is it off?”
Mal shrugged.
“Where’s Peridot?”
“At Carnelian Clothiers. They’re planning the next product launch.”
“Bring him here.”
Mal called up Pyro while Jasper moved down his list of tasks. He caught up with Jasper at the throne-like main office chair. “Peridot’s busy. Pyro’s on his way over. Make it work without Peridot.”
Normally, Jasper would accept Mal’s ruling and figure it out, but he didn’t have time or clearance. “Does Pyro know how to operate the HVAC?”
“No.”
“Then I need Peridot.”
“Pyro needs him more. One of us will go down and flip the switch.”
Jasper turned and nailed Mal with the steady gaze of an expert who had decades of experience in his field. “First, there is no ‘switch.’ Second, there are two ways the HVAC goes off. One is on purpose. If it’s an emergency shut-off, we must analyze the events leading up to the shut-off to make sure we resolve them before the complex sequence to turn it on again. Otherwise, this office building will turn into a crater. And that’s the best-case scenario.”
Mal blinked. “Crater? My office?”
“Peridot must walk me through what happened these last few days to isolate the problem.” Jasper sniffed the air. “And also tell me the last time he flushed the sewage system because it smells like it’s leaking methane.”
While he finished setting up the room, Larimar arrived in a new business suit. She’d styled her short hair with ice-blue highlights and wore matching blue-striped white nail polish.
Larimar eyed Mal. “What’s wrong? You’re a clothing company that can’t afford a shirt?”
Mal looked down at his bare chest and grimaced. “There were no more shirts in my closet.”
“Why not?”
Mal shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Try the fourth floor, second storage pod, third shelf, behind the kimono fabric,” Jasper commented, only a fraction of his attention on their conversation. “And inform Peridot he needs to restock.”
Mal blinked. “You order my replacement shirts?”
“I review and order supplies every week. How did you think I resupplied your closet?”
“Replicator.”
“Maybe Peridot will upgrade. Get a shirt and meet Pyro at the HVAC control panel. Await my instructions.”
Mal hurried away.
Jasper checked off the last item on his list.
Larimar studied the office with a critical eye. “I thought you said this place was nice.”
“It is the best room in our building.”
She frowned.
Jasper took a moment to envision in his brilliant future.
The cavernous luxury room was dusty; they had moved its massive desk and rotating holograph of red Draconis to one side to make way for the show.
Adviser Wrathmoda would exit her ship, appreciate the fresh air and sunshine of the peak summer day, then shift to human and clothe her dominant form in a dignified silk kaftan. She would continue inside and assume the gold matriarch throne.
Larimar would present the company, its prospects, and sample products.
Once Adviser Wrathmoda approved the final
product, Larimar would point out that Jasper couldn’t leave Earth for marriage. They needed him to run the company. Adviser Wrathmoda would depart alone because, as everyone knew, she only cared about coin.
He’d pursue Rose, and once Rose saw what he’d done to make things right—and the steps he was taking to prevent such mistakes from happening again—she would commit herself.
Larimar scuffed her boot on the floor, returning him to the present. “It was nicer before.”
“The HVAC will clear the air.”
He’d left the office in such good hands, it couldn’t be an emergency. He was just being thorough.
“That’s not the only thing.” The dust on her boots dulled its shine.
Perhaps he was being nostalgic. He called Jeanine. “Can you send Elle to the matriarch’s office?”
“Elle quit days ago,” Jeanine replied in her usual flat unimpressed tone.
“Quit!” Jasper gritted his teeth. Elle had gotten an amazing offer elsewhere? He’d missed the chance to wish her well! “I’m sorry to have missed her. Who’s in today?”
“Nobody.”
“I don’t believe I’ve met Nobody, but if you’ll send him or her up, I’d much—”
“No one. There’s no one left in Environmental Tech.”
Jasper felt a twinge of irritation, like when he’d heard the true meaning of the housing authority vouchers. On a day this important, and after Mal had asked how to help, why hadn’t he scheduled any environmental techs? “Thank you, Jeanine. I appreciate your situational awareness on this matter.”
“Okay.” She hesitated. “It’s good to hear your voice, Jasper. I missed you.”
He was too surprised to answer. Jeanine was almost dragon-like in her unemotional efficiency, even though she kept a human outlook. She hung up and left him staring at his phone.
Fine. He had time. He could get a broom himself from the hall supplies closet and sweep.
Peridot met him at the door looking flustered. “The HVAC isn’t working?”
“Yes.” Jasper paused in the doorway. “When was the last time you cleaned the filters?”
“Filters?”
“It’s a daily task for maintenance. It—”
“Jasper!” Alex swooped into the room with Darcy’s youngest sister, Nicole, in his arms. He released Nicole and jogged the bag of coffee into Jasper’s hands. “I found it. The last bag.”
Nicole crossed her arms. “Oh, you found it?”
“With Nicole.”
“Alex, please.” Jasper gestured at the coffee machine. “My clearance…”
Alex dumped the beans into the machine. “Adviser Wrathmoda had better not enjoy it.”
“Why not?” Larimar picked up the empty bag and sniffed the grounds. “If the Gentleman’s Society will order this exclusively, it is my best chance to win Mother’s approval.”
“The roaster can’t recreate the conditions of the original roasting.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll never believe it,” Nicole smirked, her tattooed arms crossed over her black tank top. “They roasted it in a—”
“—licensed roasting facility overseen by a licensed coffee roaster,” Alex interrupted smoothly. “Who has since retired. And moved to Norway.”
“Norway is closer to Larimar’s headquarters,” Jasper informed him.
“And retired,” Alex repeated. “Very retired. So you will have a supply problem if she likes it.”
Larimar groaned and clenched her hands to her chest. “Please tell me that the chocolate-coated espresso beans are not limited.”
“They’re fine.”
“They’re soup.” Nicole rotated the bowl to show the beans. “It’s crazy hot today. You should have stored them in the refrigerator.”
Larimar gasped. “I did! I was just getting ready…”
“We will fix the HVAC.” Jasper tossed the melted beans. “I prepared more in the small fridge. Don’t take them out until one minute before Adviser Wrathmoda consumes them.”
The group converged on the fridge.
Jasper returned his attention to Peridot. “Filter cleaning. Who did it last?”
Peridot shook his head.
“Can I see the week’s rota?”
“This week?”
“It rotates.” Jasper stepped into the hall as he dialed. Mal and Pyro had positioned themselves to run the HVAC startup sequence on the lowest floor. He continued speaking to Peridot. “Always schedule coverage for special events, in case something goes wrong with the building, as it has.”
“No one was on duty this week.”
Jasper turned around, half-way to the closet. “How did you manage the environment without employees? Is this an austerity measure or an example of aristocrat efficiency?”
Peridot ran a hand through his hair; unusual sweat beaded on his forehead and lower lip. “After I fired Rose, the rest of the staff quit, and no one has answered our hiring notice.”
“You fired Rose?” Jasper thought he had hit his limit for shock but the bar just got set lower. “Why?”
“She rejected the rota. She disobeyed orders. She questioned superiors.”
“That’s not unusual for humans.”
“Well, but…she ignored important staff areas and snuck off to the back rooms.”
“Can you give me an example?”
Peridot gestured around the floor. “I assigned her to the VIP areas, but she rarely cleaned there, and instead tried to escape to the wastewater corridors.”
“You mean the sewage treatment facility? Where the methane filters are?”
“I…Perhaps? I don’t…”
Jasper’s stomach sank.
He opened the supplies closet and twisted the tap.
It gurgled, belched a stinky yellow cloud, and then gurgled again.
“There’s no water,” Peridot said.
Jasper twisted the tap off again. “Negative pressure builds when the sewage pipes aren’t properly scrubbed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Methane erupts into the water system, as does the parasitic mold that grows anywhere it isn’t swept.” Jasper left the broom behind. They had bigger problems than grit on the floor. “Ask Kyan to disable the building’s fire suppression systems.”
Peridot blanched. “With a female dragon visiting? She could burn down the company.”
“And if the fire suppression system is belching methane instead of water, we will only accelerate her destruction.” Jasper glared at Peridot. “Do you still think it was wise to fire Rose?”
“She knew her priorities,” he repeated. “The VIP staff must be comfortable or she’s failed at her job.”
“And you think the lack of water doesn’t affect the comfort of VIP staff?”
Peridot opened his mouth to argue.
“Uh, guys?” Nicole had exited the matriarch’s office and pushed open the women’s restroom door. She called from the doorway, “Your toilets are on fire.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Jasper and Peridot joined Nicole at the door to the women’s restroom.
The toilets smoked. Fizzes bubbled up and licks of fire erupted geysers of flame.
“Inform Kyan,” Jasper said tightly.
Peridot flew to the security center.
Nicole puffed her lips. “Is there another bathroom? It’s not an emergency, but…”
“All water sources in the building are compromised. This should never have happened. Rose was not taken seriously.”
“Sucks not to be taken seriously,” Nicole agreed. “If I were her, I wouldn’t come back, even if they gave me the moon.”
“What would you do with Earth’s moon? It’s a large, airless rock.”
“Yeah, good point.” Nicole smiled wryly at Jasper. “Sorry that we went to the trouble of finding the coffee for you and you can’t even use it. It was a real detective story! I felt like Nicole Drew, I tell you.”
“Yes, it’s odd that Alex wouldn’t simply use
the last bag of coffee in my personal storage.”
Her eyes widened. “You have a bag of coffee? Here? Already?”
“Yes, in the supply closet on the fourth floor, second shelf, behind the new Arabica blend. I can’t fathom why Alex involved you.”
Her expression flattened. She crossed her arms. “Oh, I have an idea.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I do.” She marched back into the matriarch office vibrating with fury.
Jasper was glad not to be Alex right now.
Peridot landed beside Jasper with a thump. “Kyan will shut off the system.”
“Now we know why the HVAC shut down. How long since you performed any maintenance?”
“I don’t know.”
“You weren’t monitoring?”
“I …”
“At all?”
“Well…”
“Are you trying to destroy our company?”
“No.” His face contracted with true misery. “I read the policy manual, but none of your humans reacted properly to my orders. And I didn’t have time to learn your duties and complete my work at Carnelian Clothiers.”
“You’re still assigned your old duties?”
He nodded. Exhaustion grayed his face. “I haven’t slept in three weeks. My girlfriend threatened to break up with me.”
“Who assigned my job to you?”
“No one.” Peridot sucked in a shaky breath. “Not officially. One day, I was scheduled here, and when I asked my scheduler, I was told that Pyro had requested me because of my competence. The job was a small favor. Everyone said your work wasn’t very involved. CEO Malachite, Pyro, my coworkers… Your duties should add only a few minutes to my day, I’d be exempt from meetings, and you would answer any questions in our orientation. The orientation was only supposed to take an hour, most of which would be visiting.
“But our orientation took all day. Everything you told me was different. You perform twice as much as I already did. I worked at this office for eight hours, accomplished only a few daily tasks, and then returned to Carnelian Clothiers and worked another eight hours, every day.”
“For three weeks.”
“When the environmental technicians quit, I thought my work lessened. I didn’t understand.”
