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Matthews sat in the security office, reading through the legal proposal that Grayson’s attorneys had drawn up. An amused smile spread across his face. The offer was quite lucrative, but nagging at the back of his mind was whether the deal would stand.
He shook his head. He and Grayson were two superpowers, like reigning Kings of distant lands. History on Earth was compiled of numerous enemy kingdoms having to reach peaceful agreements in order to work together. How had they ever managed to do such a thing? Did one ever fully trust an enemy?
Grayson never seemed to be a man who’d bow down to any sort of hostile takeover, but in this case, did Grayson really have any choice? What repercussions was the tycoon planning, if any? Was the deal legitimate?
It was a chance Matthews was willing to take. He electronically signed the document and submitted it to return to Grayson. The difficulty of working together across the galaxy from one another was in not being able to sit down at a conference table together. Matthews was an expert at reading most people’s character flaws and tells. But setting up a webcam between one another wasn’t successful, either. Everything between Earth and Mars was relayed via satellite transmission. At best, there was a six-minute delay, but on the average, one might wait as long as fifteen to twenty minutes for the response to come in.
Dr. Sheung sat beside Matthews with her hands folded atop the table. Her sour expression hung on her face.
Matthews shook his head when he glanced at her. “I can never tell if you’re in a good mood.”
“You sought me for what exactly?” she asked, ignoring his statement.
“Your counsel.”
“Why me?”
Matthews shrugged. “You contain a wealth of information. Your disdain toward society in general almost equals mine. And I expect your dislike of me will never smooth over, so I respect that you’ll harshly tell me what you think.”
“But you have no way to know whether I’ll always tell you the truth.”
“There is that as well. But in your better interest, I think that you’re more apt to be honest with me than deceptive.”
“And why is that?”
Matthews chuckled. “Because if anything ever happened to me, you’re not capable of running this encampment. You know this, even though you might not want to admit it.”
Sheung offered a grim smile. “No argument from me. Being a dictator has never been in my interests. I feel you wish to keep your enemy close to your side.”
“Kim,” Matthews said softly, shaking his head. “Why do you think I view you as an enemy?”
“Why else call me here about your negotiation with Grayson?”
“Counsel, as I said. Grayson is every bit as cunning as I am. While I find his contract easily acceptable, I have to wonder his true intentions.”
“And he, you,” she replied.
“See? That’s the kind of counsel I seek.”
“I’m certain you had already come to that conclusion.”
“I had. But it’s good to have a voice outside my own head to validate my assumptions.” He slid a paper across the table to her.
“What is this?”
“A list of possible candidates I have chosen to have as high ranked officers and advisors. Most of these I think you should know, so I’d like for you to choose six of them that you believe could benefit us in our Martian government.”
“Us?”
“You’re the head physician here. I consider you to be one of the top members of our regime.”
She stared at him in silence for several moments.
Matthews chuckled and shook his head. “Kim, you have no level of trust at all, do you? Not even a smidgen. My, I hope in time you’ll risk letting go of your overly suspicious nature. While I know that can be difficult, there are benefits in keeping acquaintances that lie on the fringe of friendship.”
“You consider me a friend?”
“Not yet. The possibility is there, however small. Anyway, you give that list a thorough inspection and get back with me about your choices and why. Okay?”
She stood with the paper in hand and nodded as she headed for the door. After she left, Matthews formed a bridge with his fingers and rested his chin upon them. Many ideas formulated inside his brilliant mind on how to make the most of his uncertain relationship with Grayson. Perhaps he should take the advice he had given Dr. Sheung? He shook his head. Even he wasn’t that foolish.
***
Sylvia sat in the pilot’s seat. Carter and Magnus stood to the side.
“According to the computer’s calculations,” she said, “since someone sped up the propulsion acceleration, we should arrive a month earlier than originally planned.”
“So in five months?” Magnus asked.
She nodded.
“The sooner the better,” he said.
“I agree,” Carter said.
Magnus glanced at her. “Other than a little agitation, I didn’t have any problems from undergoing the hibernation process, did you?”
Sylvia shook her head. “No. I did fine. Of course, we have no idea about how Carter would do.”
“Sorry.”
Magnus gave him a stern stare. “This time, we’re hooking you up first.”
Carter sighed heavily but didn’t argue.
“So we could hibernate at least four more months and awaken when we’re about a month out?” Magnus asked.
Carter nodded. “We could, but if we’re going to hibernate, I’d suggest we awaken about two weeks out.”
“Why so late?” Sylvia asked.
“In all honesty, I will sit and worry about our entrance regardless of the amount of time we’re asleep. I’d rather it be two weeks of stress than an entire month,” he replied.
“I get that,” Magnus said. “I could do that provided we had some guarantee that whoever sped up the engines won’t do it again.”
Sylvia shook her head. “It’s highly doubtful they would. We are at the maximum level required by the safety regulation committee. If increased any higher, we could suffer severe engine malfunction or even worse. To Grayson’s credit, he’s never had one shuttle fatality or any crashes. I don’t think he’d risk that over us, especially since this is his coveted shuttle.”
“Okay,” Magnus said. “Carter, get the controls set. I’ll set up the pet feeder and water system for Digger. I hate leaving him alone that long. He did fine for a month. Not sure how he’ll do for four months.”
Carter said, “It’s problematic for all of us.”
“You don’t think our hibernation chambers are safe?” Sylvia asked.
“I’m sure they are. Should we have any major malfunction, including loss of power, the computers bring us out of hibernation. They have a backup generator that kicks on.” He smiled, still a bit nervous. “But like you mentioned Grayson has never had a shuttle accident or fatality, he’s never had anyone die while in hibernation.”
“Good to know,” Magnus said. “Let’s prepare ourselves. It will be nice to know that when we’ve awakened, we’ll have less than two weeks before returning to Earth. Lots to do then.”
Carter nodded. His eyes grew distant, deep in thought.