When Garret Vance entered the room he found exactly what he had expected to. It was rare when he didn't. A man whose star had long fallen, and whose bright and shining future had turned out to be somewhat more ordinary than he had thought it would be. Perhaps it had been good fortune that circumstance had not allowed him to come earlier. If he had encountered Dmitri in his heyday, he would very likely have been turned away at the door.

Science for self-interest and government power grabbing would have been completely unacceptable to a strong and young idealist, fire in his belly and will in his eyes. But now? He had been through a divorce, his children apparently wouldn't talk to him, and the very thing that he had sacrificed so much for, the pioneering and development of the wormhole field, was unlikely to see much change in his lifetime. That was the problem with most men: they let the fire die.

The man was looking at him with more curiosity than hostility. A good start.

"Dmitri Petrov?" Garret asked. He knew damn well who this man was. Maybe knew more about him than he did. But it was important to go through the niceties to avoid spooking the man. Niceties were not to be underestimated.

He felt his way through their conversation, willing himself to be patient while he went through the stages of conversation that it was important to go through. Peeking his curiosity, offering him freedom from his situation. The only question was: was Dmitri desperate enough? Well, there was only so much dancing around he could do. Worst case, there was always the mind wipe team.

"I'm Garret Vance and I work for a clandestine organization called HQ."

The curiosity was now marked with traces of suspicion. Garret rarely remembered or thought about the words of an exchange. The words were, after all, only a small part of a conversation. He looked for meanings, for what was being said on the person's face, in their body language and tone. There wasn't much to read here. Men like Dmitri were transparent to men like Garret and had been since time immemorial. Garret stayed quiet. Saying something might look over eager. Instead he looked blankly at the man, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Get out," he said, pointing at the door proudly. It was all Garret could do to suppress a pitying smile. The last flare of pride, a gesture to remind himself that he was still the man who had come all this way. That he was still intact. Garret knew better. This too was a part of the dance, one he had seen coming. The first offer, after all, was accepted only in the most desperate of situations. Dmitri Petrov was not quite that desperate. Not yet, anyway. In ideal circumstances Garret would drag this out for days. Circumstances were not currently ideal.

"If you want me to go, I'll go. It was my understanding that your intellect and talent were going under appreciated here in the Tower of Science. I must have been mistaken. I just hope that when the time comes to delegate funding they show you a tenth of the loyalty and bravery that you showed them.

"I'm leaving, but in the interest of fairness I should make one thing clear: once I walk out that door you will never see me again. You know what comes next. At best, some young upstart comes and pushes you out of your own division. At worst, funding is quietly lowered each year until you are a forgotten man in a room, looking out at the Auroran skyline and dreaming of better days more than focusing on science. Don't you owe it to humanity to put that great mind of yours to better use? But I suppose it isn't for me to say. Goodbye."

Garret turned at left the room, counting the seconds as he walked toward the door. He reached the door and kept walking. It was important that he not hesitate, not stop for a moment. It was all about symbols, he had known that long before humanity had begun to become aware of the visitors from other planes of existence.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

For Dmitri, this was not simply a man walking out of a door. It was his wife, his colleagues, everyone. He had been unable to stop them all. Would he really give up his last opportunity to accomplish his dreams?

Garret was in the hall now. He began to wonder if he had miscalculated. If he had then things might become....complicated. He would have to mind wipe the man and attempt to persuade him again. But Garret didn't trust mind wipes. They were a sloppy and imprecise tech. It was his belief that something still remained in the instincts, though it was unreachable by the conscious mind. In other words, it would become harder and harder to persuade the man each time.

"Wait. Vance, wait," said Dmitri. Garret breathed a small sigh. Why had he bothered doubting himself?

"Yes, Dmitri?"

"I would...like to hear more about your offer. Can you really deliver what it is that you have promised?"

Garret smiled a charming smile.

"That and more, Dmitri. That and more."

-----------------------------------------------

Dmitri shifted nervously in the hover transport next to the man called Garret Vance from an organization mysteriously named 'HQ'. He was beginning to feel like he had made a deal with the devil. Worse, as if reading his thoughts, Garret would turn to him and smile reassuringly. Strangely, it worked. Despite the overwhelming suspiciousness that Dmitri felt, he was being irresistibly corralled into some government project or another. He hoped that this man would deliver on at least some of his promises. Dmitri got the feeling that it was much too late to turn him down.

"Here we are." Garret said, smiling. He got out of the transport and signaled for Dmitri to follow. They had gone up many floors, further than Dmitri had ever been even with a summons. At the transport lobby there were armed guards. One of them nodded to Vance.

"Good evening, sir," the man said. Garret responded with a curt nod. It was clear that his mind was elsewhere.

"This is HQ?" Dmitri asked.

"Part of it," Garret said, as he breathed into a small device.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Garret," said a cool voice. A large steel door slid open to reveal a wide chamber with scientists moving busily about from terminal to terminal and discussing various subjects while holding clipboards.

"Everyone," Garret said, raising his hands to command silence. Immediately all eyes fell on him. "This is Dmitri Petrov."

The room burst into applause.

"Come, come, Dmitri. Let me show you around. Nothing's in stone, of course, but I hope you'll accept my offer."

Garret led Dmitri through a throng of young scientists that looked at him with admiration.

"I've read all your research papers," one young woman said as Dmitri passed.

"You're the reason I'm here," said another.

Garret brought Dmitri to the large structure in the center of the room. In it, a hologram simulated swirling particles.

"What is this place?" Dmitri asked, but he was already smiling. Garret had won. All that was left was the finishing touches and cleanup and the man would be his.

"It's a wormhole simulator, the only one in existence. It still has a few kinks to work out before its useful to us. So, what do you say, Dmitri? Are you interested?"