Oxygen Series Box Set: A Science Fiction Suspense Box Set
Page 84
The important thing was that she was a kind and friendly person. She was not the type of person who snickered behind her hands at people who were not Normal. He hoped he could have many more interesting conversations with her.
A horn honked. Grant O’Connell’s Lexus appeared at the far end of the building, gleaming in the sunlight.
In San Diego, a Lexus was not stolen as frequently as a Toyota, but that was because more people drove a Toyota than a Lexus.
Dillon made a mental note to remind Grant to lock his car.
The Lexus pulled up next to Dillon. Grant flung open the door and thumped out, his big ruddy face smiling. He had a large bald head with a rim of gray hair around the back. His huge white Santa Claus eyebrows made Dillon a little uneasy, but Grant was a good man and Dillon trusted him.
The passenger door opened and a petite young woman sprang out. She had shoulder-length silky hair of a golden blond color, and she wore a garish pink-and-blue tie-dyed shirt that stretched tight across her chest and did not reach down to her navel. Her faded jeans had a hole in one knee and did not reach up to her navel. She wore an old-fashioned leather fanny pack low around her hips.
Dillon thought she looked like one of those supermodels on the covers of magazines in the supermarket. For a second, he simply stared at her. Then he caught himself and looked down at the ground. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he thought for a moment that he was going to fall over.
Grant came around the car and pounded Dillon on the shoulder. “Dillon, I’d like you to meet our off-site employee, Rachel Meyers. Rachel, this is Dillon Richard. He’s the one I was telling you about—our hotshot in C++ and hardware/software interfaces. Dillon, Rachel just got her Ph.D. from Caltech last year and eats that multiverse thing for lunch. Believe me, you two are gonna have a lot to talk about.”
Dillon looked at Rachel with surprise. Apparently she was not a ditz. “You are a physicist?”
“Biophysicist.” She reached out a hand. “Glad to meet you, Dillon. Uncle Grant’s told me how brilliant you are, and I’m really looking forward to working with you.”
Dillon shook her hand. It was soft and warm and sent a bolt of electricity up his arm and into his brain. He swallowed a large lump in his throat and forced himself to look at Grant. “Rachel is your niece?”
Grant bellowed with laughter. “Virtual niece. She’s the daughter of the kid brother of my roommate at MIT. I changed Rachel’s diapers when she was a baby and watched her grow up, and she’s every bit as smart as her daddy, who happens to teach string theory at Rutgers. Anyway, you’re gonna love her, Dillon.”
Another horn honked behind them. Keryn’s old Honda came jouncing over a speed bump. She pulled in next to Grant’s Lexus and scurried out. “Am I late?”
“Looks like we’re all here,” Grant said. “Let’s get this show on the road. Sorry to make you all come in on a Saturday, especially a great day like today, but let’s get it done.”
Keryn stood there without moving, looking at Rachel with an odd expression on her face which Dillon could not parse.
“You should lock it,” he said.
“What?” Keryn stared at Dillon blankly.
“You should lock your car,” he said. “Hondas are one of the two most commonly stolen cars in San Diego County, and Civics are among the most popular models.”
* * *
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Contents
Book 1: Oxygen
Part 1: Human Factors
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Part 2
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Part 3
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Part 4: Independence Day
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Book 2: The Fifth Man
Technical Note
Epigraph
Part 1: The Fifth Day
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part 2: Bactamination
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part 3: Hypervigilance
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Part 4: The Fifth Man
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Want To Go On Another Adventure?
If You Enjoyed This Book…
About John and Randy
Authors’ Note: The Road Not Taken
Copyright for Oxygen
Copyright for The Fifth Man
Standard Disclaimer
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Sneak Peek at Double Vision