Cabal

by David Delaney

  Fantastic.

  Sebastian did his best to ignore the heat, focusing his attention on his current assignment. Food trucks had become all the rage over the last couple of years. Supposed gourmet-quality food served out of the back of an oversized van was not Sebastian’s idea of good eats. But his boss—he refused to call her editor, she had a nose ring, for crying out loud—had told him to cover the story, and so here he was. The crowd that was gathering surprised him a little. There seemed to be an abundance of professionals. Many wore expensive suits and shoes and, from the snatches of conversation he heard, seemed to have jobs that actually mattered.

  Maybe he could create an interesting angle to this food truck story after all. He scanned the trucks once more. They ringed the inside of the parking lot like a modern-day wagon train. Sebastian surmised that this allowed the crowd to navigate to their choice of food more easily and would help with crowd control, keeping any longer lines stretching into the center of the lot instead of spilling onto the local sidewalks and streets.

  Five trucks equaled five different choices of food. Flying Fish served sushi. Tammy’s Tacos served tacos, of course. Mr. Mac’s Cheese served macaroni and cheese seven different ways, and from the line forming, it was a favorite. Genghis Kahn’s served Mongolian barbecue, and the last truck to arrive was Singularity BBQ. The pink and purple paint job was a definite attention grabber, but it was the young ladies running the truck who drew Sebastian over for a closer look.

  They were all twenty something and gorgeous. A blonde and two brunettes, all dressed in what must pass for Singularity BBQ’s idea of a uniform—a white miniskirt, tight pink tank top, and heels.

  No joke.

  They were dressed like rock groupies, not food service workers. Sebastian smiled, he had found an angle for his story that would at least keep him interested. He straightened his shirt, checked his breath, and walked past the long line that was forming in front of the pink and purple restaurant on wheels.

  As Sebastian drew closer to the front of the line, it became apparent that the three ladies of Singularity BBQ were not just good-looking; they were the closest thing to perfection that he had have ever seen. As ridiculous as it seemed, these girls looked like they had been crafted in a lab that turned out ultimate human specimens. Sure, natural selection could and did produce beautiful people—just look at all the freaks in Hollywood—but this . . . this was different. It was as if some mad scientist had combined every desirable human trait and the result had been these three women.

  Sebastian knew he was staring but couldn’t help himself. From the reaction of the other people in line, he wasn’t alone. Both men and women seemed to be drawn to the three miniskirted beauties like bees to honey. A couple of the soon-to-be customers grumbled at him as he passed, thinking that he was line jumping.

  The brunette taking orders pouted at him as he walked up. Sebastian was six foot one, and the dark-haired vision before him was maybe only an inch shorter. Her black hair fell straight and long, and her skin was smooth and honey colored. It was her eyes, though, that froze Sebastian in place. They had an exotic shape—maybe Asian or Persian ancestry . . . he couldn’t quite place it. And they were a deep emerald green. He thought at first that she might be wearing contacts but quickly dismissed the thought. No, this heavenly creature was all natural, it was something he knew instinctively. She fixed him with those blazing green eyes, her mouth still in a pout.

  Sebastian wasn’t surprised that when she spoke, her voice was silky and arousing.

  “Sweetie, your hazel eyes are deliciously tempting, but everyone has to wait their turn,” she said, indicating the line of people behind him.

  Sebastian fumbled in his pocket for a card. “I’m a reporter. I would love to do a story on you and your truck.”

  Her sexy pout turned into a dazzling smile. She accepted the proffered card, and Sebastian couldn’t be certain, but she seemed to let her fingers linger against his hand a beat longer than necessary.

  “A story? On us? How wonderful.” She held his gaze.

  Sebastian wasn’t sure he had enough willpower to stop staring into those eyes. No, he would be content to stand there forever if he could just look at her.

  “Why don’t you stand right over here?” She indicated a spot to her left by the front of the truck. “You can observe and throw out any questions you may have. I can multitask.”

  “Sure. Great,” Sebastian stammered.

  “Well,” she looked down at his card, “T. Sebastian?”

  “Yes. That’s me, but it’s just Sebastian.” He forced a smile but wanted to cringe away in embarrassment. What was wrong with him? He sounded like an idiot twelve-year-old trying to ask his crush to the school dance.

  “I’m Jessie, by the way, and my two partners in crime up in the truck are Megan—she’s the blonde on the grill—and next to her is Kerri, our resident chef extraordinaire.”

  Jessie turned and shouted up to get the attention of the other two women. “Ladies, we have a handsome,” she winked at Sebastian, “reporter out here who wants to do a story on us. What do you think?”

  The blonde, Megan, poked her head out of one of the serving windows and said, “I think he can have anything he wants on the house.”

  “You heard her, T. Sebastian. You can have anything you want. So what’s it going to be?” Jessie asked, wetting her lips with her tongue, waiting.

  Sebastian made sure he had control of his voice before answering. “I’ll have whatever your specialty is.”

  “A number one . . . extra spicy!” Jessie shouted up the order.

  Sebastian was glad when Jessie turned her attention back to collecting money from the customers who had already placed their orders. He slumped against the side of the truck, he had to literally catch his breath. This complete overreaction to a pretty woman confused him. Sebastian did not suffer from false modesty, he knew he was an attractive guy and had been on the receiving end of attention from good-looking women before, but this was different.

  Sebastian was smart enough to understand that Jessie was a saleswoman. She probably flirted with all of her male customers and quite possibly some of the female ones as well. But that didn’t explain what he was feeling. It was like he was drawn to her on some primal level. A deep, dark part of his animal brain desired to be close to her. It was a bit unsettling, because he didn’t like the feeling of being out of control.

  Sebastian watched Jessie work, but more importantly, he watched the other customers interact with her. They all seemed to have the same kind of reaction that he had. It was like watching a bunch of kids swarm around Santa Claus at Christmas. They were excited, almost giddy when it was their turn to talk and stand close to Jessie.

  Sebastian pulled out his iPhone to snap a few pictures. Jessie with the customers—click. The purple and pink Singularity BBQ truck—click. A couple of wide shots that included some of the other trucks—click.

  The digital age had not only brought the print journalist to the edge of extinction, but through collateral damage, it had also taken out many other professions, including the news photographer.

  When there was finally a lull in the line of customers, Sebastian jumped into question mode.

  “So, I get the barbecue part, but what is the significance of singularity?” Sebastian asked, pocketing his phone. “It’s a black hole, astronomy thing, right?”

  “Yes, the term singularity can be associated with astronomy and black holes, but that’s not the reason why we chose the name,” said Jessie. She counted out change for the customer in front of her and turned to face Sebastian. “Google ‘the singularity’ with the name Ray Kurzweil.”

  “Who’s Ray Kurtwheel?”

  “It's Kurzweil—k u r z w e i l. Don’t reporters do research anymore?” she asked, flashing her dazzling smile at him once more.

  Sebastian pulled out his phone again, but instead of searching the net for Ray Kurzweil, he called Lucy, the intern at the office.

 
Lucy was a perky college sophomore and communications major from Cal State Northridge. She had been at the paper for about a week, she talked incessantly and was perpetually happy.

  She drove Sebastian nuts, but she was the only person he could really boss around, and so he put up with her annoying personality. It also didn’t hurt that she was cute. Normally, he preferred long hair on a woman, but Lucy pulled off the short look with ease. She also had a fondness for snug T-shirts and tight jeans, which made it obvious that she was in excellent shape. As a former college athlete, Sebastian appreciated the discipline that a toned physique required.

  “Lucy? It’s Sebastian.”

  “Hey! How’s it going? Is there a ton of awesome food? I once had lunch at an Italian food truck, and it—”

  “Lucy. Lucy. Lucy.” Sebastian almost needed to shout to interrupt her steady stream of words and get her attention.

  “It was super awesome,” she finished quickly. “What do you need?”

  “I need you to Google Ray Kurzweil—spelled k u r z w e i l and the term singularity. You can ignore anything about black holes or space.”

  Sebastian could hear the clicks of the keyboard as she began the search even before he stopped talking.

  “Let’s see . . . Ray Kurzweil wrote a book about . . . oh the Singularity.”

  “The Singularity? As in a specific thing?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yep! Wow, this is interesting,” said Lucy completely oblivious to the fact that he couldn’t see what she was looking at on her computer.

  “Do you mind sharing?”

  “Oh yeah. Kurzweil’s book is called The Singularity Is Near, and the tagline on the front reads ‘When humans transcend biology.’”

  “Wait. What?” Sebastian asked. He looked at the purple and pink truck before him and at Jessie, who was still charming customers and collecting money. What did a food truck have to do with transcending biology?

  “Here’s some more from the back cover,” Lucy continued, pulling Sebastian out of his ruminations. “It’s a quote from Bill Gates . . . let’s see . . . Kurzweil ‘envisions a future in which information technologies have advanced so far and fast that they enable humanity to transcend its biological limitations—transforming our lives in ways we can’t yet imagine.’ Huh? I thought you were doing a story on food trucks?”

  “I am. Can you e-mail me the links to all this stuff? Thanks.” Sebastian hung up without waiting for her answer.

  “Hey, sweetie, your wrap is up,” Meagan called to Sebastian from the truck’s pickup window.

  Sebastian stepped closer and reached up for his spicy beef wrap. Megan teased him by holding it just out of reach.

  “How bad do you want it?” She gave him a very suggestive grin before handing over the wrap.

  Sebastian grabbed a fistful of napkins, having watched several other customers drip juice all over their hands and face. He carefully unwrapped the foil from one end of the spicy beef concoction. If it tasted as good as it smelled, he was in for a treat. He took a small bite, wary of burning his tongue on the hot meat and cheese.

  His taste buds exploded. He immediately chomped down again, stuffing his entire mouth with spicy, beefy, cheesy goodness. It was a total cliché, but all he could think was that he had never tasted anything like this wrap. The Singularity BBQ ladies had somehow managed to create a spicy sauce that was also sweet, so instead of burning the tongue, it kind of . . . tingled. The meat was super tender and had a flavor quality, almost like bacon, that complemented the sauce perfectly. Sebastian couldn’t eat fast enough. He kept stuffing bites into his mouth even before swallowing what he was already chewing on.

  “Slow down, T. Sebastian.”

  He looked up at Jessie, who had sidled up to him, the line of customers taken care of. “I don’t want you to choke. It would be bad for business.”

  “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” he said around a mouthful of beef wrap.

  “I know it is, and if you slow down, you’ll enjoy it longer.”

  “I need to order another one.” Sebastian took a step toward the order window.

  “Whoa there, cowboy. Finish what you’ve got in your hand. Trust me, you won’t be able to eat a second wrap, they’re very filling.”

  “Want to bet?”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll get you another one, but save it for later. They reheat perfectly,” said Jessie, her green eyes communicating that this wasn’t a suggestion but exactly what was going to happen.

  He relented. “Okay.”

  Jessie tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Were you planning on asking us anymore questions for your story, or has our food gone straight to your head?”

  Questions? Yeah, Sebastian thought, I have questions. He stuffed the remaining wrap in his mouth and chewed with his eyes closed, reveling in the last flavorful bites. When he was finished, he wiped his hands and mouth and took a deep satisfied breath.

  “Ready now?” Jessie chuckled.

  “Yes. My first question is, would you be willing to share the secret of that sauce?” Sebastian asked hopefully. Then responding to Jessie’s eye roll, he added quickly, “If not with my readers, how about just with me?”

  “T. Sebastian, do you have any serious questions to ask?”

  “You know, it’s just Sebastian. You don’t have to add the T.”

  “I know.” She arched her eyebrow.

  “Right.” He grinned, happy with the attention. “So tell me about the Singularity. How does the idea of humans transcending biology have anything to do with beef wraps?

  “That is a very good question, T. Sebastian. Selling beef wraps helps us with our real work—making the Singularity a reality.”

  He didn’t know how to react to her statement, so he used the old trick of repeating back the last answer to allow more time to formulate a follow-up question. “Selling beef wraps helps your real work? And your real work has something to do with the Singularity?

  “Don’t sound so confused. It’s really pretty simple. The three of us—Megan, Kerri, and I—are, by all measurable metrics, smart. We use the profits from this food business to fund our research into cutting-edge technology,” said Jessie matter-of-factly.

  “Wait, you’ve lost me. What . . . I guess the best word is qualifies you three to research anything?”

  “How about a combined IQ north of six hundred. Would that qualify us?” said a disdainful voice from behind Sebastian.

  Sebastian spun around and had to stop his mouth from falling open. With no current customers to serve, Kerri and Megan had come down out of the truck. Both were at least as tall as Jessie, and both were as stunningly beautiful. Kerri had skin like a porcelain doll—smooth and creamy white and had large dark eyes. Megan was the definition of a blonde surfer girl—long, shiny hair, a deep tan, and turquoise-blue eyes. Separately, the three women were better-looking than any supermodel Sebastian could think of and would turn the head of anyone in their immediate vicinity. But standing together, they were like a human supernova—brighter and more alive than anyone or anything on the face of the earth.

  It took a moment for Sebastian to shake off the feeling of complete inadequacy . . . the feeling that he was a supplicant standing before a trio of ancient goddesses descended from their celestial abode to grace the local mortals with their presence.

  “I . . . of course not. I mean, I didn’t mean anything by . . . it was just a question. A lunch truck and scientific research seem an odd combination. Don’t most researchers apply for grants or get private funding?” He gave himself an internal kick.

  Idiot.

  He smiled weakly.

  Megan’s face transformed instantly. The accusing glare was replaced with a dazzling smile. She stepped forward, took his arm in hers, and said, “I’m just playing with you, T. Sebastian. Food and science is a weird combo. But science is how we created our signature secret sauce. And by using our own money, we don’t have to bother answering all those pesky quest
ions investors constantly ask.”

  Kerri stepped up to his other side, entwining his other arm, and continued, “Yeah, science rocks. The world is on the edge of complete transformation, T. Sebastian. Are you ready?”

  Kerri and Megan snuggled in close, pressing their amazingly tight bodies against him. Jessie stepped in close, placing her hands on the shoulders of her business partners. He was completely enveloped by the three of them. It was more intoxicating than anything he had ever experienced.

  Megan whispered in a low, breathy voice, “Well, T. Sebastian, are you . . . ready?”

  All Sebastian could manage was a slight nod and a feeble nonsensical “Unghumm.”

  He was a moment away from hyperventilating, and his knees felt rubbery. He wasn’t completely certain that if Megan and Jessie weren’t holding onto his arms, he would be able to stay in an upright position. He was also sure that the three women knew exactly what their closeness was doing to him, and were receiving some kind of perverse pleasure from it.

  The intellectual part of him understood their obvious manipulation and that he should be angry or at least wary. His instincts were almost shouting that he should get as far away from them as possible, as quickly as possible. But that instinctual animal part of his brain—the part that protected our ancestors from becoming dinner to the predators that stalked their world—was being overridden by an all-encompassing arousal.

  Jessie turned abruptly, and just like that, the spell was broken. Megan and Kerri pulled their arms free and followed Jessie into the truck. Sebastian swayed on his feet, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He slowly came back to himself. As he was processing what was happening around him, the Singularity ladies were prepping the truck for departure. Most of the other trucks were already buttoned up and waiting to exit the parking lot. The large lunch crowds were mostly finished with their meals and were slowly migrating back into the surrounding office buildings. A few stragglers finished up their post-lunch smokes.