Creature of Creation

Part 5 - Chapter Six - The Harvest

"So what do you think? Will you take him up on it?" Marvin asked. He sat with Rufus in his parlour. The plush white couch practically swallowed Rufus up. Marvin remembered when he was just a little boy swinging his feet off the edge as he played with his trucks on the arm of the sofa. It was hard to believe how much he had grown and how far he had come.

Rufus shrugged and nibbled at one of the crackers from the charcuterie board. "It's a hard offer to pass up, but I can't help but feel like we're betraying Father. I know that's stupid but I can't help it."

"I think it's reasonable to feel that way, certainly. There are moments where that thought enters my mind also. You know as well as I do if the tables were turned he would go ahead and do it."

Rufus looked down and distracted himself with a piece of cheese before he answered. "I know that."

"In a way, this is exactly what he wanted. He fought tooth and nail to push every one of us out of the way to be the face of this project, and now he's reaping what he has sown. Montello assured us he and SST are going to do everything they can to bury our association with the project to ensure we start up at the SST headquarters with a clean slate."

"But that means throwing Father and James under the bus. I don't feel good about that."

"Look , I love James, you know I do. Both of you are like sons to me. That being said, James has proven himself time and again to be a liability. I will make sure to keep in touch with him and keep him out of trouble, but he has no one else to blame for his current circumstances. He's actually getting off lucky."

Rufus slid down in his seat and sighed. "I know."

"Don't feel guilty. You have a wife and son to look out for remember? What else will you do if you don't take this job, or heaven forbid, you end up going down with the ship too?"

Rufus groaned and rubbed at his temples. "I don't want to think about that. Of course I'm going to take Montello up on his offer. I'd be stupid not to."

"As Montello said himself, 'your skills are too unique to waste.'"

Rufus laughed. "I think he meant that for both of us."

Marvin shook his head. "I'm just waiting to retire," he said. "You're now the brains of the operation."

"That's kind of you Reggie, but you know that's not true. Father refused to see it, but you've always been the brains. I'll just have to settle for being the beauty I guess."

"Fine then, we're agreed," Marvin slapped his thighs and sat up. "We should probably go back to GreenerPastures tonight then, before too much is destroyed."

"That's probably a good idea. We need to gather as much research as possible in case the team is unable to capture E1."

*****

Anpiel had already curled up at the end of the couch and fallen fast asleep. Sam had placed a throw blanket over her and tucked her in. Zach collected his hand of cards and examined them all carefully.

"You suck at dealing," he said to Sam.

"I guess we know who the old maid is."

A soft thud in the distance caught Clay's attention.  She glanced over her shoulder toward the door.

"What is it?" Sam asked, frowning.

Clay turned back to her hand. "It's nothing. I thought I heard a sound, that's all."

Another thud. This time louder and much closer. Clay shot up from her seat. Her cards fluttered to the floor. 

Her heart crashed against the confines of her ribs and her breath caught at the base of her throat. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. "Take Anpiel and go to the bedroom. Close the door and lock it. Put the dresser in front of the door if you have to."