The Second Sphere

Quincy Laslow wasn’t happy to see me. Clutched in his right hand was a rather fragile blue tea cup. In his left hand was a saucer. He barely raised his head as I entered the office, his eyes flashing at me, then into the space in front of him. After a few moments, he sniffed the coffee then took several small slurps.

I stood there, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence. When he didn’t say anything, I cleared my throat.

After a few more sips of his coffee, Quincy gave me what amounted to a half smile, and pointed at the couch perpendicular to him. When I sat down, Quincy gave me a second half smile. He took a slurp of his coffee.

“I’m disappointed, Orion,” Quincy Laslow finally said. “I thought we’d reached an agreement about you bringing me information.”

“Sir, I’ve been up to my neck in meetings and deadlines. I thought--”

“You thought it wasn’t important to bring me information about Luis Eckhart’s work? You thought you’d listen to Bryant and hold off on passing me this information? Is that what you thought?”

“No, sir, I’ve just been trying to figure out--”

“I understand, Orion. You thought you could put me off as long as possible.”

Quincy behaved like a spoiled child who didn’t want to wait for his dessert. Was this a game he liked to play? Toying with his employees like this? Quincy gestured for me to speak.

“Sir, that was not my intention at all. In fact, I always planned to come see you just after the interview with Ms. Dahlgren. And I was going to tell you all that I could about what we found. I promise you. I was actually hoping to have a bit more information--”

“It’s a good thing that I’ve been keeping a close eye on what’s happening in the Intelligence Division, Orion. Because if I didn’t, I’d be chasing this train from behind.” He took another sip of his coffee, then gasped.

“Do you believe what Luis found to be true, Orion?”

“I believe he’s close to proving it, yes,” I said.

“And what about Newberry? Have you gotten any further confirmation on his information?”

“I haven’t been able to move up the food chain, no.”

“No confirmation on the people who were interviewed?”

“No, sir,” I said. “But we are going to have more information on the throwaway supplier very soon.”

“What Newberry found, this information on the government’s contact with other beings, is of tremendous significance if it can be proven. And thus, we have to make sure that we have more evidence. And this biological agent? Tremendous. This is all information that can help the Laslow Corporation,” he said.

“Help the Laslow Corporation?”

“Orion, I know that you’re in the Intelligence field and haven’t much of an interest in the business side of the operations, but what you’ve found is what we in the business world call leverage. And we’re not talking something insignificant. You’ve done good, Orion.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“In spite of the fact that you didn’t bring this information to me immediately, I know you’ve had a lot of work to do. The terms of our general agreement still stand,” he said. Quincy enjoyed playing the role of the benevolent father, one who could see through the mistakes of his children and find some good. I felt foolish, sitting there listening to him speak this way.

Quincy had asked me to report back to him, yet it was clear that he didn’t need me to do so. He’d been following everything from afar. I wondered why he made a grandiose offer for information already in his view. I didn’t say anything, though, because I knew Quincy had more thoughts for me, a greater indication that in this world of the Laslow Corporation, he was omniscient.

“I listened to the interview with Olga Dahlgren just a few moments ago.” He began to shake his head. “My first reaction was to fire Bryant on the spot.” His eyes moved away from my face and landed on a speck on his suit. He picked it off. “I simply don’t understand what he was doing, letting Malinda sit in on that meeting, then why he didn’t do anything to stop her once she started running her mouth.”

He looked at me as though I might have an answer for him. But, of course, I didn’t.

“And on this Malinda subject,” he said, “there’s something I don’t understand after reading the preliminary report about what happened during the incident with Newberry,” he continued.

“What’s that, sir?” I asked.

“I don’t understand where she was in all of this? Why didn’t she help you?”

“I haven’t worked with her for long, and while I find her grating and abrupt, I believe she wants to do the right thing. Maybe she doesn’t have the best field instincts. But I’m not sure I can blame her for what happened the night Newberry was killed. Being a PI doesn’t exactly put you in situations like that on a regular basis. I’d bet she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

“Since she’s been your partner for the past few days, I thought you might have some insight into her behavior. But clearly you don’t want to see her treated poorly.”

“No sir, I think she’s adequate,” I said.

“Adequate? Not exactly a ringing endorsement.” Quincy waved his hands. “But I will deal with that separately.” He bounded up from the couch as though he’d just remembered an important appointment. I stood, too. We shook hands. “Your unit is ready to catch up with Cody Beans and his supplier?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” I said.

“Come by tomorrow so we can have another chat, after you bring them in,” Quincy said.

I thought back to the day I killed Newberry. Maybe I missed something about Malinda’s role in all of this. Maybe Quincy knew something that I didn’t. Was there a lingering suspicion from another case or had Malinda truly acted inappropriately?

But even more odd was why Quincy kept me so close. He knew about everything in real time. He didn’t need me, and yet he kept asking me back. I wondered what the hell he really wanted.