Bit of plot stuff here, bringing "Monday" to a close. I'll be taking a break for a couple of days to get some more writing done, then I'll being posting "Tuesday." With a new day will come even more growth!
Also, attached at the end of this post is a document file containing Monday in its entirety. (Also Sunday, for the sake of completeness.)
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In a small building high up a wooded hillside, a man sat in a tall, well-padded chair, watching the sun set over the expanse of Wolf Lake and the Talbot-Lucian chemical plant. He was so still and silent he might have been asleep, or dead, though he was neither. The sound of the elevator in the opposite wall stirred him from his contemplation as one of his subordinates entered his private hideaway via the hidden connection from the plant. The visitor paused at the desk, staring at the back of the chair and waiting to be acknowledged. Anyone who had the right to be in this room knew better than to disturb its owner. Finally the chair swiveled around, allowing the stern-looking silver-haired man seated there to face the newcomer.
“Sir. We have some information regarding the missing truck. You asked to be kept current, sir.”
Benjamin Vannacutt fixed his intense green-eyed gaze on David Kessler, one of Talbot-Lucian's highest-placed executives. “Do tell, Mr. Kessler.”
Kessler swallowed nervously and took a second to try to compose himself. “As you know, sir, the local police believe there was an accident on the road going around the reservoir, and they suspect that a freight truck was involved and crashed into the lake. We're reasonably sure that was our truck.” At Vannacutt's impatient nod, he continued hurriedly. “Well, we've examined our shipping records and have identified the compound that was being carried by that missing vehicle, and which is therefore possibly contaminating the lake. Here's the file, sir.”
Kessler passed a manila folder stamped “CONFIDENTIAL – L5 CLEARANCE REQUIRED” across the desk to the older man. The CEO of Talbot-Lucian examined the documents in the folder. His eyebrows rose briefly, but otherwise his expression betrayed nothing. Kessler was impressed; he'd broken into a cold sweat upon first reading the file and realizing the implications. Shortly, Vannacutt closed the file and addressed him.
“Mr. Kessler. Please take this file to Mr. Marshak in security. Inform him that I'm ordering the Servo Protocols be enacted. He'll know what to do from there.”
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