It was eight o'clock in the morning when the pounding started. At first, Eric ignored the pounding on his door because it was keeping time with the pounding of his head. Then the yelling started. That was always ignored because, in Eric's injured state of mind, he was having a bad day, and if he had a bad day, then John was surely screaming at him. It all made sense. But at some point in time, the pounding in his head and the pounding on the door separated and became twice as annoying, forcing him to get up and search out water and painkillers for his delicate condition.

"Eric, open up! I hear you in there."

After chewing six painkillers to get them into his system faster, Eric turned towards the door, snarling. "And I can hear you out there, John, and so help me, if you don't shut up and let me wake up, I will thrash you twice as hard and twice as long as I did the time you got us thrown into jail in Tijuana. AM I CLEAR ON THAT, JOHN?!" The pounding stopped. Eric didn't know what was happening, but clearly, he wasn't getting either a day off or time to recover from the night before. After working until far past midnight on the contracts to rent Section E, Victor had insisted on a late dinner and late-night drinking. Or was it early morning drinking? Eric hadn't stumbled to bed until six a.m. with a large amount of vodka in his system. Two hours of sleep wasn't enough time to get the alcohol out of his system, no matter how much he cheated. After a hot shower, a beer, and a pot of coffee, he felt good enough to walk to John's office and begin the day.

Several people were waiting there; they started or continued talking as he entered until he held up a hand for silence. Three people stopped talking; two didn't. Eric said, "Quiet, please." Two people were talking too much to hear him. Ron turned to Eric and started a rant about needing more security to protect their email systems. Randal was yammering about the building being unsuitable for a corporate entity of their level. He was always yammering about that. To Randal, working in a tall, shiny skyscraper was important. Eric walked forward, grabbed Randal by the arm, and dragged him out of his chair. Then he dragged him down the hallway and handed him over to security. "Mr. Jankowitz is no longer employed here. Escort him out. Now."

When he got back to John's office, everyone was silent. "Better. And yes, I am in a bad mood. Bad enough that I am thinking very clearly. Normally, I'm such a nice guy that I let people like Randal continue to try to do the job we pay them for, and that they are failing to do. Nice Eric is still asleep. You woke bad Eric up. Bad Eric fired Randal. Ron? You're now in charge of email and data systems and their security. Do it in-house, or hire someone. Spend money on someone decent if you have to. You obviously know what we need. You have a week. If the rest of you say something that doesn't need to be said, I will find things for you to do. The waste system is backed up again; that's job number one on my list."

It was blissfully quiet for the next ten seconds.

"Now that I've beaten you all into quiet submission, what did you need to see me about, John?"

While Eric poured himself a cup of coffee, drank it in three gulps, and poured another, John put paperwork in front of him. "Someone bought Section E this morning at 6 a.m."

Eric glanced at the paperwork, which he couldn't seem to get his eyes to focus on. "Who? That makes no sense. There was no one looking at this habitat. They've tried for years to get people interested, and it's been openly up for sale with no takers. They were chomping at the bit last night to work with me on a long-term lease."

"Claw Master."

Eric leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "That also makes no sense at all. Why? I can't read right now; summarize those reports for me. I was up until midnight submitting the offers, then had a meeting with Victor until 6 a.m. I'm still half-drunk and half-exhausted."

John was looking sheepish. Eric rarely acted like this, but mentioning Tijuana was a warning. "Certainly. In fact, I think things will be better if this is just the two of us. I'll expect the rest of you back here at 2 p.m. to continue things." Everyone filed out, and John picked up the first page. "I've got lawyers coming in to talk about contesting this. It was my understanding that any major decisions about the habitat would be run by us as a courtesy."

"Was that in writing, John? Because if it's not in writing, your lawyers are coming here to waste your money. Good on their part, but make sure there's at least a chance in hell of succeeding, or you're just bleeding money. The money we need until Belinda turns 18."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Of course, it wasn't in writing. What government employee would do that? You're right. I'll cancel the meeting with the lawyers."

Eric finished the cup of coffee and took the last stale donut from the table. "How are they paying? Find out the financing, and maybe we can torpedo that if it's a bank we deal with. Or delay it."

"They paid for the property upfront and put three billion in escrow for improvements. Three BILLION! What kind of madmen are these?"

That amused Eric. "The kind with billions to spend, who don't screw around when they want something, have a ton of good lawyers and are somehow embedded into the structure of this habitat in ways we knew nothing about. Remember when I warned you about them when the contracts got rewritten? We wracked our brains, trying to figure out who was behind it. Now we know. Someone had plans already in the works for this Habitat before we got here. They're watching us, talking with the people in the habitat. No one spends billions of dollars without a comprehensive study of the entire habitat, business plans, structural analysis, the works. That would take me a year, assuming a good crew. But, we also know how they have the money. They signed a five billion dollar deal with Rhebus and are now dumping it into a habitat section. They have some plans for this place. I wish to hell we knew what they were really up to."

John grimaced. "But the timing! We start to make our move, and they pull this off right in front of us."

Eric laughed. "Yeah, that bothered me, but you figured it out for me, John. You said you had an unwritten agreement, but what if someone else had an earlier agreement? Or paid better? I submitted our bid, which triggered a phone call, forcing Claw Master to pull the trigger to stop us. We weren't prepared to put money down, and Claw Master was."

John thought for a bit. "That makes sense. So really, we didn't screw up. The leak wasn't here. That makes me feel a little better. Fine, and this works out. I never wanted Section E in the first place. Let's go ahead with plans to lease Section G and expand in that direction."

Eric stood up. "Not a problem, John. I'll review the paperwork you put together for me and get right on it. But that won't happen until after I get some sleep."

John's phone beeped three times loudly. "I told them not to bother me. Stay a bit longer; this might be important." He took the call, listened for a moment, then put the phone on speaker and said, "Repeat that, please; I need someone else to hear this."

"Certainly, Mr. Sabbatino. You requested I call you now and then to let you know about upcoming changes to your neighborhood. Remember? I just got out of a meeting where some things were mentioned. The main one is that someone has outright purchased all of Section E. It was quite sudden and done by people far above me."

Eric was already falling asleep and wanted to leave. "Yes, we've heard the news. I'm unsure what favor John offers you, but I need that information before it happens."

"Ah, yes, sorry about that. Like I said, I didn't know. Have you heard about the other sections?"

John and Eric looked at each other briefly, and Eric threw up his hands. What the hell else could go wrong? "No, tell us."

"Well, it's also a bit sudden, but the inquiries came through normal channels. A research firm is going to rent out several sections of the habitat. They plan to set up medical facilities to test experimental procedures and house patients for an extended period of time. It's a very exciting project by one of the world's largest biotech firms. You've heard of Rhebus? I mean, everyone has heard of them."

Eric snapped, "What sections are they taking? And yes, John will be sending you something in the mail."

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Rhebus has put down deposits for leasing six sections for 30 years. X, G, W, U, V, and D. I'll call when I know more, but...well, I know you were interested in several sections, sir. It might be a good idea to firm up your commitment soon. Please let me know if I can help."

John was in a panic, Eric sighed. He wasn't getting more sleep. "We are taking I and have interest in F. I'll have paperwork for you later today." He cut the connection.

"John, I have no idea what is happening or how this damnable place suddenly became hot real estate. All I know is that if Victor needs to drink with someone today or tonight, it will be you." Eric stumbled back to bed, wondering what the hell had changed to turn a rotting habitat into a desirable piece of real estate.