Chapter Text
“Oh for fuck’s sake! Why me?!”
Nadia looked over at the e-mail opened on my screen and shook her head in sympathy.
“See? This is why I give a solid 60% effort every day. You don’t see me getting selected for special interdepartmental projects with his royal highness, now do you?”
I stifled a laugh, and did my best to glare at her.
“Well excuse me for wanting to do my best work. I don’t see why that means I should be the one punished.”
She rolled her eyes
“It isn’t a punishment. Brannigan is obviously grooming you to be department head when he retires next year. With a successful defense contract under your belt, you’ll be the obvious candidate. Especially since those solar panels you developed are selling so well.”
She did have a point. I may have only been with Lantsov Laboratories for 5 years, but I’d been approached by enough headhunters by now to know the company was very motivated to keep me around. I was a bit young to run the renewable energy department, but it was the next obvious move.
“Besides,” she continued with a salacious wink, “at least the scenery will be nice.”
I made a gagging sound. “I don’t care how attractive everyone thinks he is. Working alongside the son of the CEO is going to be a nightmare.”
“Just remember he doesn’t technically outrank you. I mean, sure he can run to daddy if he wants, but he’s still the basement reject of the family, and you’re the Solar Queen who just made them seven million in profit last quarter. Besides, I’ve heard he is actually quite a nice guy. If you discount the massive ego.”
“Oh, and who did you hear that from? Your girlfriend? They may be drinking buddies, but she doesn’t have to work with him.”
Nadia shrugged. “Maybe not, but it does say something about him that his best friend is a lesbian who could kick his ass. You know, he’s the one who got her the job here.”
“I don’t know why you think him using his influence to hire his friends into high positions is a point in his favor,” I countered.
“I mean, I can’t complain about it. I’m personally VERY glad Tamar is head of security. Otherwise I never would have met her. If you think about it, I owe my entire love life to his tendency towards kumovstvo .”
I had to laugh at that. Nadia had a way of finding the bright side to any situation. With a sigh, I packed up my station and made my way down to lab 64 to meet my fate. Nadia hummed a funeral march behind me as she spread her equipment across my bench, already taking advantage of my absence.
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Lab 64 was located in the basement, behind 3 different security checkpoints. At the start of the hall, a guard with a bored expression took my phone and any other internet-capable electronics, as though this was a normal, every day routine. This was where the company developed military projects. I was nervous about that. The e-mail had been intentionally vague about what exactly we were going to be developing. The only thing I could guess was that it would be solar powered, and probably rather small. I sincerely hoped it wasn’t a weapon. I got into renewable energy because I wanted to make the world a better place, not to find more efficient ways to kill people.
I reached the solid metal door with a 64 on it. It looked like a vault. Or a prison. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths, and to stop thinking about locked doors and basements and being alone in the dark. It’s a normal room in a normal building. You can leave any time you want . I counted to three, then swiped my badge, and stepped inside.
I was surprised, though I probably shouldn’t have been, to discover the top secret security lab was set up in exactly the same layout as the labs upstairs. There were several benches spaced out along the 3 walls, a bank of computers by the door, and a large table in the center. There were even windows with light pouring in, though it was clearly from daylight-balanced bulbs rather than the real thing. Most people probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, since they hadn’t spent years studying the wavelengths of various types of light. It still wasn’t powerful enough to offset the sickly green fluorescent glow emanating from the ceiling. There were two people seated at the table, deep in discussion. One was a rather rumpled looking man with overlarge glasses, shaggy brown hair that stuck out at odd angles, and about 3 days worth of stubble. He was gesticulating wildly at a tablet with an excited expression on his face and I caught the tail end of what was surely a very lengthy explanation on the downsides of waterproof batteries
The man he was talking to was the very person I had dreaded coming to see. Nikolai Lantsov, the younger son of the founder and CEO of Lantsov Laboratories. He was tall, with wavy blond hair perfectly styled in a way that appeared effortless but probably took ages every morning, as well as a trip to the salon every other week. He had the body of someone who had grown up with the money for a nutritionist and a personal trainer his entire life, and a perfectly straight, white smile that suggested thousands of dollars in orthodontal care. Even in the harsh overhead lighting he looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine. I felt a spike of irritation, and intentionally suppressed it. Nadia was right. This project could make my whole career. I couldn’t start off by being surly to my new coworker. I forced my face into a pleasantly neutral expression just as he looked up.
“Hello,” I said, startling the other scientist into silence as I walked over to them. “I’m Alina Starkov, the solar energy consultant you requested.”
The tousled man turned and looked intently somewhere around my left shoulder. “What is the best way to waterproof a battery without risking overheating?”
I blinked. Lantsov gave a welcoming smile and stood up with his hand out. “Hi,” he greeted. “I think what my associate meant to say was, welcome to the defense lab. We are very grateful to have your expertise on board. I’m Nikolai, and this is David.”
I shook his hand and then turned to David, who stood motionless for just a moment too long before Lantsov nudged him with an elbow. He started, as though finally remembering how introductions went, and gripped my hand briefly in what almost passed for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, welcome to lab 64, thank you for your help on the project, now PLEASE help us figure out how to waterproof this battery!”
I took a moment to collect my bearings. David was certainly a different sort of fellow.
“Well, first off, I’m not sure what we’re actually building here. The e-mail I got had most of the details missing. Would you mind getting me up to speed?”
“Certainly,” Lanstov replied. He had the air of someone presenting the prize on a game show as he handed over the schematics. “What we are working on is a new type of handheld GPS that can account for weather patterns and the constant motion of enemy troops and work around them. We have the basics of the software worked out, but we are running into issues with the power supply. It needs to be able to work continually in a variety of terrains, without needing to be recharged. And it needs to be able to run underwater, which is our main roadblock.”
I looked through the work done so far. It was a very impressive project, and I was immediately intrigued. Something like this could really help soldiers to stay safe overseas. I thought of my brother Mal, who had joined the army as soon as he was able, and who I hadn’t seen in almost 8 months at this point. Developing this project might finally be a way to help him for once. I owed him so much at this point. I felt my trepidation over this assignment melt away, replaced with a surprisingly strong passion to see it succeed.
I looked over at least seven rejected models for batteries, and began to see the problem. Well, time to prove myself. Go big or go home. I wasn’t going to spend my life capitulating to the egos of powerful men.
“Your battery will never work the way you want it to with this design,” I told them. “Waterproofing is now a standard feature on many electronics, but those are all devices with much lower power requirements. Overheating would be inevitable on any battery of this size. But that isn’t even the biggest problem I see. In order to be able to run for a full year without recharging, you would need a battery that is either nuclear, which is a terrible idea for something in combat zones, or at least three times the size of the device itself. You are going to have to scrap the entire power supply and start from scratch. And give up on the idea of holding the entire charge from day one. It will be much easier to build a model that can continually draw from environmental energy sources and store power for up to a week at a time. A battery of that size would have no problem being waterproofed ”
I was fully expecting the meltdown of someone who had never been told he was wrong before in his life. So I was a bit taken off guard when Lantsov broke into the largest grin I had ever seen. He jumped in the air and turned to David, who looked equally excited. To my alarm, he picked the smaller man up and spun him around the room. David appeared entirely used to such treatment. He patiently waited to be set back down, then turned immediately back to the table to begin recalculations. Lanstov grinned at me and patted the seat next to him.
“Come on, Solar Queen, show us how to save our project.” I felt a smile spread over my face, entirely against my will. Nikolai Lantsov apparently had an infectious energy that was hard to resist.