The Things We Bury - Part 1: In Anticipation of the End of the World [Completed]

Chapter 12: Situation Desperate (Part 5 of 8)

The first day after training had an inauspicious start, with a long wait in a stark, featureless room that reminded Nat of the student lounge in the faculty basement. It was only missing a microwave and a nearby biology lab, permeating it with the odor of formaldehyde.  His chair was hard plastic, molded for the butt of some other man—some other species.  He tried not to fidget.  He didn't want to show Larry how uncomfortable he was, in case it was taken as a sign of nerves.

The big man slouched forward in the seat next to Nat.  He leaned with his elbows on the table, arms folded and biceps bulging out of his T-shirt.  The position emphasized his muscles and made his upper arms seem as big as his head—a head distinguished by the short bowl-cut hairdo that accentuated his Neanderthal brow.

Who the heck wears jeans and a t-shirt to work?  Someone needed to tell him he was at a prestigious corporation, not the gym at the mall.

Nat adjusted his suit jacket.  He knew the expensive blended wool signaled to others that he was an up and comer at the company.  It said: I'm ready to climb the ladder.  When he signed up, they had told him the sky was the limit for someone with enthusiasm and determination.  SBI was the perfect place for him.

Under his tie, his collar was sweaty.  They had been sitting in silence for too long.  He was already anxious about his first project, but having Larry involved with it made him worried.  What kind of mission were they being put on?  What the heck kind of assignment would require both Nat and an ape like Larry?

They had never met during training, which was suspicious.  When Carbone had introduced them, he had said, meet your fellow new recruit.  So where was Larry, when Nat was killing himself in the company's training program?  Had they given him some kind of pass?  Was he some exec's dimwitted son? 

While they were still shaking hands, Carbone ordered them to sit down, shut up, and wait for their new superior.  There was no chance to ask any questions.  If there was one thing drilled into him in the six months at SBI Security's instruction camp, it was obedience wasn't just expected; it was demanded.

So there they sat with Nat feeling more self-conscious by the minute.  Larry's bulk seemed to eat up the space.

Nat was no lightweight.  He went to the gym five times a week to craft a physique that was both attractive and powerful.  Every morning in the full-length mirror, he'd inspect his body and try to find areas he needed to work on.  The way his caramel skin pulled taut over the well-toned muscles filled him with pride.  But having Arnold-freaking-Schwarzenegger next to him made him feel puny and weak.

When the door finally opened, Nat bit back the words forming on his tongue.  It would have been so easy to put a premature end to his career with the phrase: "Well, it's about time."

Palmer strode in.  There were no introductions.  None were necessary.  Darren Palmer had given a few seminars on surveillance to the recruits.  It had been months since Nat had seen him, but he was immediately identifiable by his stern expression and the deep widow-peaks extending his forehead.

"Gentleman."  He held onto the back of the chair with his left hand instead of sitting down.  He exuded the look of a man too busy to spend time with a couple of chumps like them.  "Congratulations on passing the course.  Having been through it myself, I know how challenging it is.  Most people who attempt it fail.  But you two have succeeded and that makes you valuable assets of SBI Pharmaceuticals."  He paused to let this sink in. 

It was a similar spiel to what Nat had gotten at graduation: he was now a part of an elite organization; his duty was to serve SBI and its subsidiaries; the company was his family and he was their privileged son.  It had been rousing stuff when Carbone had said it from the podium.  Coming from Palmer, Nat felt like he was a newly purchased piece of machinery.