by The Awethors
* * *
By the time they got to the aerodrome Danny was totally out of his head. Dorinda had managed to get a little root beer into him for fluids, but he hadn’t eaten anything for over a day. The authorities didn’t question his ID. He looked just exactly like his brother, even had the same DNA, so Colin Mackenzie got admitted into the Grissom City Medical Center for kweesh withdrawal, and nobody thought to ask about how the two of them had gotten to Grissom City in the first place. The way Dorinda figured it, Danny’s daddy had probably already figured out which one of his boys was missing and what he’d gone missing in. Once the hospital contacted him, Mackenzie senior or one of the older boys would high-tail it up to Grissom City to fetch them and her time would be up. So she left Danny to his IV’s and jello and headed off to WMTC headquarters all by herself.
The building was a huge red brick monstrosity in the center of town. It must have been a scary sight for anyone raised on a farm in the Central Drylands, but Dorinda marched right in like she owned the place. The plaque next to the elevator had about two dozen names on it. Right at the top was the name she needed.
“Joseph Wainwright the Fourth, President and CEO,” she read. Dorinda decided that he sounded like just the guy to pull the plug on the evil overlord, so she took a deep breath for courage, turned around, and walked right up to the reception desk.
There was an honest-to-God girl at the desk. Dorinda hadn’t ever met a female under thirty before. There were a couple of older women in Ozyk, the ones who’d braved the dangers of terraforming and ended up surviving the nuclear surprise party, but none even close to her own age. This girl had two inch long zebra-striped fingernails, bright purple hair, and a lovely natural tan.
“I’d like to see Mr. Wainwright, please,” she told her with a friendly smile. The purple-haired one just popped her gum and checked her computer screen.
“Do you have an appointment?” the girl asked in a bored voice.
“No,” Dorinda admitted. “But it’s very important that I see him right away.” The girl looked dubious and kept chewing her cud. “It’s a serious matter,” she hastened to add. “He’s going to lose millions of dollars if I don’t warn him about what’s going on.”
Miss Zebra Nails pursed her lips. “I’m-sorry-but-Mr.-Wainwright-isn’t-available-would-you-care-to-leave-a-message?” she replied, all in one breath.
Dorinda’s smile became significantly less friendly. “No, I would not care to leave a message. When will he be in?” The girl chewed and stared Dorinda down. Dorinda stared right back, until Miss Zebra Nails broke eye contact to look behind her in the direction of the elevators. Swiveling around, Dorinda caught a glimpse of a grey-haired man in an expensive silk suit stepping into the elevator.
On a hunch, she shouted, “Mister Wainwright!” The older man’s head snapped up as the elevator doors shut. Cursing under her breath, Dorinda kept her eyes on the elevator, fidgeting nervously and watching the numbers. Behind her, she could hear the quiet voice of the receptionist as the Traitor to All Womankind called security.
Once the elevator stopped, Dorinda knew her destination. She ducked into the stairwell and started running up the stairs. As she reached the second floor landing, she could hear footsteps tromping up the stairs after her.