Dead Time Series by Jason Wilcox Page A

back to Triaad and report that Azgiel was done
away with.

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    Caden was
walking through Bridget’s house to put Mags out back when his pocket started
buzzing. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped the lid. “Hey, Robert. We
secure?”
    “Yes.
What’d you need, Caden?” Robert’s voice was cordial, but he spoke quickly.
    “I wanted
to make sure I understood everything correctly-”
    “Wasn’t
the email clear enough?”
    Caden’s
eyebrow rose, unconcerned with Robert’s impatience. “You want us there in two
days, so my men, excluding me, plus Burton’s team can go into Dead Time,
right?”
    “Do you
want to go in?” Robert asked.
    “You
better believe it. I didn’t create the project to sit idly by while others use
it.” Caden smoothed back his hair to calm down. He was letting his emotions get
the better of him.
    “That’s
fine. I just thought you wouldn’t want to go in until all the bugs are worked
out.” Robert expressed no emotion.
    Bugs
worked out? Ha. You already tested the thing on humans without me and behind my
back! Once again, Caden let out a
breath to calm down. He wasn’t sure why the whole thing was getting him so
frustrated. “Well, that’s another thing. I’m not sure if the equipment is safe
to send anyone in yet. We need to do further testing. As it stands, I’d be
worried the material wouldn’t hold and could hurt or kill someone.” He hoped
his comment would pressure Robert to tell him the truth about the tests that
had already been run.  
    “It’ll be
fine. Allen’s already looked over the material and feels he’s found all the
bugs.”
    “Without me?
You told me you weren’t going to work on it until you called me back in.” Caden
swallowed. “Did Allen send someone in to test it? Is that how he examined it,
to figure out if there were any bugs?” Caden wanted to see if Robert would lie
to him or if he would do what he taught them, to be honest with one another.
    “We did
test it on some humans. In fact, it was Steven and Jason. And yes, you’re
right. The material didn’t hold up as it should’ve and killed Jason. Steven is
in poor condition.” Robert coughed on the other end, but it didn’t sound like a
sick cough, more like a nervous cough. “Allen figured out how to try the
material on humans, and my advisors were overly excited to give it a try. So,
we gave it a try. We figured we were going to call you up for the success
party, but I wanted you to get a good vacation.”
    “You
should’ve told me.” Caden knew he was pushing the limits by the way he was
talking to Robert, but he was beginning to doubt Robert’s integrity. The email
he had received in his personal office might actually hold some truth to
it.  
    “You’ve
been told now. If you want to be here when the Burton team goes in for their
first one, I would advise that you get in today, because they’ve just arrived
nice and early as always.” Caden was surprised; it was rare that Robert spoke
to him like that. He had to be under a lot of stress; it was the only time he
ever spoke to Caden harshly.
    “I’ll let
my team know. We’ll be in before the night is out.”
    “Good.
We’ll wait for you. You’ll be impressed with what we’ve done with this thing. I
think you’ll like it.” He began sounding like the normal Robert.
    “Great.
I’ll see you tonight then.” Caden was still frustrated and knew he shouldn’t do
any more chitchatting.
    Caden
closed his cell phone, his brow furrowing, then almost immediately flipped it
back open and called Sally.
    “Hey
Caden?”
    “Well, I
have bad news for the guys,” Caden said. “The main office called and wants us
to get there tonight because the Burton team got there early, and Robert wants
to get going on the project.”
    Sally
chuckled. “The Burton team got there early, huh?”
    Caden
slammed a cupboard door. “His team seems to constantly be a thorn in my side.
Could you call Matt and James for