I pause for a second. Then I suddenly lean down and kiss him hard, pushing my tongue inside. His mouth opens easily, wet and sweet. It almost takes my breath away how willing and eager he feels under my touch. Yeah, it’s dizzying, but I need to rein it in, there’s stuff to do.
I straighten, leaving him with closed eyes and an open mouth, lips red and swollen. Is he fighting the heat waves hard?
Focus, Eliano!
Only after letting out a long breath do I dial Storm’s number, glad it’s still during working hours.
He picks up after a few rings.
"Yes?"
"It’s me, Eliano Ferro. I’m calling about something urgent."
"Oh? Right. What happened?" His voice sharpens with surprise.
"Can you also connect Jordan Arnold so this can be a conference call?"
"As it happens, I’m in a meeting with him right now. I’ll put you on speaker."
I do the same so Salt can hear everything.
"Okay, listen…"
I do my best to stay coherent and factual as I summarize everything that’s happened recently, what went down with Jeff and Shane, then Bashir and Fred, and finally what happened today in the breakfast hall, ending with the fact that we’ve just been locked inside our module.
Storm exhales sharply.
"You won’t believe this, but we were just in a meeting about something that recently leaked from the island. A short video showing a beta having dub-con sex with one of their employees. Beta Activation claimed it was fake, but now I’m thinking this might actually be a serious lead…"
"Yes, it’s real. It’s my video."
"We’re concerned, as their business partner." I suddenly hear Jordan Arnold’s voice. "One-third of the pairs in your sector are matched by Fate’s Choice; these people are our clients. We’ve already taken a reputational hit with the bombing attack, and we can’t lose even more public credibility by sending our clients to facilities with such controversial methods of boosting fertility. We may remove their offer from our portfolio."
"Listen, I have something much better for you," I say darkly.
Storm cuts in, "Seriously?"
"Yes. I’m about to send it to you. I think it’ll be solid proof of what’s been happening here if you need leverage in negotiations. We recorded an important incident in the dining hall. I played a major role there, and now they’ve locked us in our unit as a form of punishment, I guess. You can review it, and I really hope you’ll find a way to get us out of here."
"Locked? Oh, wow. We’ll take a look. Send it to this email address. That inbox can handle large files. We’ll get to work."
I also hear Jordan Arnold’s voice.
"Eliano, from this moment on, don’t talk to anyone about this, and especially don’t mention that you contacted us. For now, it’s best if you stay in the background and don’t participate in spreading any information outside. That would be a direct violation of the rules, and they could use it against you if they had proof."
"You’re right. Thanks, Jordan."
They disconnect. I quickly attach the file, which is massive, and start uploading it.
"Damn, at this connection speed it’s going to take like half an hour."
"I don’t think we need to rush," Salt says, peeking outside the window. "I’m guessing Sidorov is working on a plan right now, figuring out what to do and how to handle this. There are two options."
He drops onto the couch.
"One is that he believes he can contain it internally and keep it under control. The other is that if he thinks this got out and might catch the attention of the oversight board, he could try some twisted act of revenge as his final move here. Anything’s possible."
He studies me, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
