Exponential Read online

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  “Well Damian? Did you take care of it?” The powerfully built man who spoke with an impressive baritone was obviously in command of the meeting.

  “Yes, it was rather trivial. Caught him snooping around where he shouldn’t have been.” Came the reply from “Damian”, a lanky but remarkably thin man. Damian had an unusual combination of mismatched facial features that produced an exceptionally homely result. Most would feel sorry for him, that is until they met the even homelier personality. Judging from his apparent age of mid-forties, he was suffering from early hair loss along with an evident ignorance of good dental care. Most notable was the scar that ran from his left cheek to a bit below the weak jaw line. Altogether, not an attractive package. In the weakly lit office, he looked even frightful.

  “How much does he know?” The commanding voice seemed to make the man in charge even a little taller.

  “We can’t really tell. Our methods of getting him to converse so far have been, shall I say, somewhat less than effective.” Replied Damian.

  “Our real concern is not what he knows but who else could he have been talking to!”

  After a brief pause, Damian went on. “So far we believe he only had some suspicions which he was unable to confirm. If that’s all, we can simply shut him up for good. According to the intelligence we have on him, he has no real attachments to anyone. The appearance of a simple accident should do just fine.”

  “According to YOUR INTELLIGENCE!? Your ‘intelligence,’ or lack thereof, is what got us into this mess! Don’t get rid of him just yet until we are absolutely certain he didn’t leak information or make contact with anyone else.”

  Damian blinked a few times, somewhat offended by the implied blame that seemed to somehow be settling around him like a bad odor before continuing. “We could move him easily enough. In fact we could use the corporate jet and ‘store’ him away indefinitely for that matter. As soon as we are positive of any important details, then we could lose him.”

  The man in charge spun and pointed a stern finger at Damian. “Since those two knuckle heads you call security agents don’t even share one full brain between them, you need to find out what he was doing in there! I don’t need to tell you what could happen if this gets out!”

  Damian was used to the spirited disposition of his employer. But he was agitated much more than Damian had ever seen him before. Yes, he reflected, while this was serious, Damian didn’t want to be the fall guy on this one. “I’ll put Sonner and Morgan on it, they’re the best. Plus, no one would notice them poking around the systems, that’s what they do anyway. They understand how important this is.”

  “Keep me posted. Let me know immediately if they find anything or if he talks. I think we all have work to do.”

  Clearly dismissed, Damian turned, happy to escape the tense confinement of the meeting.