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Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.
Farrington had Desmond O'Herlihy. He had him! Not a man on the board would vote for this buy-out, once Farrington presented these facts. Yes, the board was all male. But at least Accurate Engineering now had a black VP. One step at a time.
Things seemed to move again. Farringtion made certain he had everything in his folder. He had to leave the building. Was this an earthquake? He had this sudden image of all the office people trampling each other. Silly. It was after ten at night. Likely the only people here were him and the cleaning lady. Which cleaning lady was on tonight? If it was Mrs. Kluge she'd trample him for the hell of it.
Robert Farrington headed for the door.There was a two foot gap between the edge of the floor and the far wall. There was a two foot gap between the edge of the floor and the far wall. How the hell could there be a two foot gap between the edge of the floor and the far wall? The floor just ended, cleanly. The far wall ended where it should have met the floor. And looking down...
Farrington didn't want to look down. He had a touch of acrophobia, but just a touch. Okay, he looked.
It was just plain wrong. This building wasn't on top of a gigantic bottomless pit. And even if it were, the pit would have started below the basement, not at the fourth floor. Farrington knew for a fact that this building had walls and floors. He'd seen them.
The floor moved slightly, away from the door, widening the gap. Farrington grabbed a small ugly paperweight from his desk, which was now up against the other wall, dropped it down the hole. Apparently the hole was real, it went down forever, and Farrington would like to throw up now, please.
Deep breath. Deep, deep, deep, my God, that must be miles deep. Farrington shook his head. He went to the edge. He could open the door, but it looked like there were no floor there. Well, maybe there'd be floor on the other side. He was in the Twilight Zone here, who knew what the rules were. Clutching his folder, he leaned for the door.
The floor slid a good foot or more, Farrington's palm slammed against the door, he made a sound he hadn't known the human voice-box could make, and he righted himself and ran to the opposite wall, still holding his folder.
How was this possible? It couldn't be a prank by the other VP's. That chasm was real! Nobody at Accurate Engineering could have done that. Hell, even O'Herlihy couldn't do it! It's impossible.
O'Herlihy. Could that bastard have found out that Farrington knew what he knew? Farrington had been careful, but O'Herlihy had resources.
"Did you drug me? Is that it? You couldn't face me so you drugged me?! Am I high?" The word 'high' seemed appropriate considering the apparent depth below him.
But, he didn't feel drugged. His senses, his thought processes, all seemed as sharp as ever, allowing for the panic and terror.
He went to call 911. He didn't know what he'd tell them, but right now he wanted the police. He'd say he was having a heart attack. He practically was, in fact. But the phone was dead. Apparently there are no lines between the real world and The Outer Limits. No internet either, though otherwise his computer worked fine
The floor moved again.
The windows didn't open, because it made the ac work too hard, and because execs are wont to commit suicide by jumping. Farrington pushed the desk away, grabbed his heavy chair.
The people who made this building believed in using only the best materials. The chair bounced off the glass. So did the computer, and everything else of weight he threw. Not a mark. The glass came from a small factory in a town thirty miles from here. Farrington was torn between home-town pride and mind-numbing terror.
The floor moved, and this time did not stop. Farrington prayed. He was against the wall. The desk fell, and the phone dangled by its cord. Farrington grabbed the cord, but it couldn't support his weight. It pulled out of the wall, and Farrington felllll.
Mrs. Kluge found Robert Farrington an hour later in his office, dead. The ugly paperweight was on the floor, his desk was against the wall, the chair was on its side and the computer smashed on the floor, and they too were against the wall. Farrington had ripped the phone cord off the wall. He had an expression of unutterable horror on his face, and an empty folder marked O'Herlihy in his hands.
* * * * * *
And no, we couldn't cut back to Banny and Lissa. Those two are worse than rabbits.
Go to Chapter 57: Hidden In The Mess
Go to Chapter 59: Secrets And Lies
Bring your friends into the Gonspiracy! Tell them about
Banny
And
Lissa
and get their eternal gratitude, and a chance to win $10,000 and a Sony DVD Player, because using your friends for your own personal enrichment, and having them owe you for it, is the gonner way!
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Dave Lerner Stories (note that to use the mailto you'll need to edit it in your 'send to' window. I apologize, but I've already lost one address to spam, and if I get inundated again, I won't have time to read your letters.) - All Rights Reserved. Note that this includes images of the Tricryptogon, and the name "Tricryptogon".