Geneva, Switzerland Note: This is the fifty-second post in Free Fiction Fridays.
These are short stories put up each Friday that you can read for free. By the next Friday the post will be taken down and a new one will go up. Enjoy!
These are short stories put up each Friday that you can read for free. By the next Friday the post will be taken down and a new one will go up. Enjoy!
Dean Geisert bit his lip and stared at the wall.
“I don’t like it either,” Angela Cooper said. Those pert lips of hers drew Dean’s attention and he nodded.
“But what can we do?”
“Not much,” she said with a sigh as she rose up from the chair and headed to the window. Lake Geneva was stretched out before them, the view impeccable from this high up in the Geneva Building.
The President of Landolche & Cie Bank pumped his fist in frustration and cursed under his breath. “Damn those Americans and their cocky swagger.” He winced slightly after saying it. How easy it was to forget that Angela was American – she sure didn’t act like it. Dean scoffed inside. Oh, she acts like it all right.
“It wouldn’t do much good,” Angela laughed, turning back to face her full-time boss and part-time lover, “they’ve already done that to the world.”
“The CERN Hadron Collider doesn’t have to start up again.”
“That’s true, but that’s a rather feeble argument to make at this late juncture, don’t you think?” Angela kept that implacable grin on her face, the one that wasn’t quite a smile but not quite a frown either. Dean hated it.
“They never had to split atoms and particles or anything else,” he said, rising up from his desk in frustration. He walked over to the chaise lounge and ran his hand over the armrest. “Besides, that was never their intention anyways.”
“And don’t forget that it’s far more advanced than anything the Americans could be capable of on their own,” Angela said. “The organizational skills alone point to a much larger power behind the scenes.”
“And the funding too,” Dean added as he moved to the window to stand beside Angela. They both stared out at the early-March weather and its hold on the city. It should have been colder, with more snow.
“The magnets have already overheated once, and there’s a good chance it’ll happen again.”
“And if it doesn’t, then what?”
Dean shook his head at her words. “It will…it has to.”
Angela scoffed. The naïveté of men!
“The Collider will fire up again on March 15 and this time they’re really going to see what she’s made of,” she said. “Before they only reached 6.5 transient earth voltage, but now they’re going for 13 TeV. And that’s not even factoring in the strangelets that have formed and dropped down to the center of the earth. For all we know, they could be ripping holes in the very fabric of space and time, reality as we know it.”
“They know not what they do,” Dean said while shaking his head. “Already the reports of orbs and balls of light are filtering out to the outside world. They’re beginning to realize what they are, the power of evil that they hold.”
“Shakespeare warned us of the Ides of March, but I don’t think he ever saw this coming.”
“No…no I don’t believe he ever did,” Dean said. He shrugged and walked back to his desk, sat down, and pulled out a notebook from the top drawer. Angela’s eyes followed him eagerly.
“We have just nine days before the thing starts up again,” Dean said as he flipped through the pages.
“Or nine days before the world comes to an end,” Angela said. “You know full-well the second that Collider reaches full-capacity it could simply wink us out of existence, tearing the very particles of our beings apart.”
“Don’t remind me,” Dean said, and then stopped on a page. He looked up at Angela.
“There’s still a way we can stop it…but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Angela sidled up to the desk, her seductive smile on full display. “I’m all ears.”
Dean gave a half-smile, half-frown. “You’re a lot more than that.”
“I don’t like it either,” Angela Cooper said. Those pert lips of hers drew Dean’s attention and he nodded.
“But what can we do?”
“Not much,” she said with a sigh as she rose up from the chair and headed to the window. Lake Geneva was stretched out before them, the view impeccable from this high up in the Geneva Building.
The President of Landolche & Cie Bank pumped his fist in frustration and cursed under his breath. “Damn those Americans and their cocky swagger.” He winced slightly after saying it. How easy it was to forget that Angela was American – she sure didn’t act like it. Dean scoffed inside. Oh, she acts like it all right.
“It wouldn’t do much good,” Angela laughed, turning back to face her full-time boss and part-time lover, “they’ve already done that to the world.”
“The CERN Hadron Collider doesn’t have to start up again.”
“That’s true, but that’s a rather feeble argument to make at this late juncture, don’t you think?” Angela kept that implacable grin on her face, the one that wasn’t quite a smile but not quite a frown either. Dean hated it.
“They never had to split atoms and particles or anything else,” he said, rising up from his desk in frustration. He walked over to the chaise lounge and ran his hand over the armrest. “Besides, that was never their intention anyways.”
“And don’t forget that it’s far more advanced than anything the Americans could be capable of on their own,” Angela said. “The organizational skills alone point to a much larger power behind the scenes.”
“And the funding too,” Dean added as he moved to the window to stand beside Angela. They both stared out at the early-March weather and its hold on the city. It should have been colder, with more snow.
“The magnets have already overheated once, and there’s a good chance it’ll happen again.”
“And if it doesn’t, then what?”
Dean shook his head at her words. “It will…it has to.”
Angela scoffed. The naïveté of men!
“The Collider will fire up again on March 15 and this time they’re really going to see what she’s made of,” she said. “Before they only reached 6.5 transient earth voltage, but now they’re going for 13 TeV. And that’s not even factoring in the strangelets that have formed and dropped down to the center of the earth. For all we know, they could be ripping holes in the very fabric of space and time, reality as we know it.”
“They know not what they do,” Dean said while shaking his head. “Already the reports of orbs and balls of light are filtering out to the outside world. They’re beginning to realize what they are, the power of evil that they hold.”
“Shakespeare warned us of the Ides of March, but I don’t think he ever saw this coming.”
“No…no I don’t believe he ever did,” Dean said. He shrugged and walked back to his desk, sat down, and pulled out a notebook from the top drawer. Angela’s eyes followed him eagerly.
“We have just nine days before the thing starts up again,” Dean said as he flipped through the pages.
“Or nine days before the world comes to an end,” Angela said. “You know full-well the second that Collider reaches full-capacity it could simply wink us out of existence, tearing the very particles of our beings apart.”
“Don’t remind me,” Dean said, and then stopped on a page. He looked up at Angela.
“There’s still a way we can stop it…but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Angela sidled up to the desk, her seductive smile on full display. “I’m all ears.”
Dean gave a half-smile, half-frown. “You’re a lot more than that.”
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