notice of those with orange packets, which corresponded to his own. Each candidate’s packet was a different color according the team they were assigned to. Amir also had an orange packet – of course. The color-coded teams followed a staff member to their assigned workrooms – called pods.
The pod was a large circular room with high white walls and plenty of light. The exterior rim of the room was filled with five workstations, each equipped with an assortment of drafting tools and 180-degree wrap-around computer monitors and desktop touch screens. Luke took an open desk on the far side of the room and opened his packet. Inside was a set of instructions to log on to the company’s internal network, set up encrypted passwords and initiate a series of tests, which were not defined in the packet.
The orange pod consisted of five individuals with varied skill sets. Luke and Amir were engineers, electrical and mechanical, respectively. Meredith Barnes had previously worked with a communications company in Kansas City, managing cellular tower networks. Nadeer Husan was a statistician from Toronto. William Yong was the elder of the group. In his 60s, William was a retired former shipbuilder who had already made it clear he had no idea what the hell he was doing there.
Luke was about to begin setting up his accounts when Kathryn Tate and a woman named Sheryl from Human Resources walked into the pod.
“Before you get started, you’re going to need a tour of the campus,” Kathryn said.
“I think we can manage fine without a tour. We have a lot of work to do,” Meredith said with the tone of someone who preferred to work alone. She spun in her chair, turning her back to the group.
“You misunderstand,” Kathryn said curtly. “Consider this new hire orientation. The tour is not optional and believe me, you are going to be spending a lot of time here and you are going to need to know what Sheryl is about to show you.”
Meredith looked terribly offended, but followed the group out the door.
“Luke, can you hold up a second?” Kathryn asked, stepping in front of him, blocking his path. The rest of the group continued down the hall with Sheryl. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
“No problem.”
Up close she was even more beautiful, he thought. Luke forced himself to maintain contact with her eyes and not wander anywhere else.
“Walk with me and I’ll give you a little tour myself,” she turned and they headed in the opposite direction of the team. “I’ve assigned myself as the liaison for the orange pod and I wanted to let you know that it is because of you.”
That was the shortest corporate spy career on record, he thought to himself. He looked to his right and left, assuming the security guards would converge on him at any moment.
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or something I should be concerned with,” he said, after a moment passed and nobody tackled him.
“It’s a bit of both.”
“I think your work at StuTech is probably some of the most relevant work experience we could ask for, but I also wonder why you would leave after just five years. Especially concerning to me is your relationship with Rachel Evans.”
“That’s exactly why I left, to be perfectly honest,” Luke said, reciting his lines. “Once Rachel and I stopped dating, my work life suffered a lot. She made it very clear that she wasn’t going to make it easy for me at the company and I made the decision to leave, rather than be constantly punished for our failed relationship.”
Making up lies about Rachel was difficult. He was still very much in love with her, although due to the terms of his agreement with Steve Lunsford, they were not permitted to have any contact. Rachel wasn’t pleased with the arrangement, but she supported him – at least she had 11 months ago.
“That’s good to hear,” Kathryn said. “Angry ex-girlfriends are in a class of their own. You’ll find that there is very
The pod was a large circular room with high white walls and plenty of light. The exterior rim of the room was filled with five workstations, each equipped with an assortment of drafting tools and 180-degree wrap-around computer monitors and desktop touch screens. Luke took an open desk on the far side of the room and opened his packet. Inside was a set of instructions to log on to the company’s internal network, set up encrypted passwords and initiate a series of tests, which were not defined in the packet.
The orange pod consisted of five individuals with varied skill sets. Luke and Amir were engineers, electrical and mechanical, respectively. Meredith Barnes had previously worked with a communications company in Kansas City, managing cellular tower networks. Nadeer Husan was a statistician from Toronto. William Yong was the elder of the group. In his 60s, William was a retired former shipbuilder who had already made it clear he had no idea what the hell he was doing there.
Luke was about to begin setting up his accounts when Kathryn Tate and a woman named Sheryl from Human Resources walked into the pod.
“Before you get started, you’re going to need a tour of the campus,” Kathryn said.
“I think we can manage fine without a tour. We have a lot of work to do,” Meredith said with the tone of someone who preferred to work alone. She spun in her chair, turning her back to the group.
“You misunderstand,” Kathryn said curtly. “Consider this new hire orientation. The tour is not optional and believe me, you are going to be spending a lot of time here and you are going to need to know what Sheryl is about to show you.”
Meredith looked terribly offended, but followed the group out the door.
“Luke, can you hold up a second?” Kathryn asked, stepping in front of him, blocking his path. The rest of the group continued down the hall with Sheryl. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
“No problem.”
Up close she was even more beautiful, he thought. Luke forced himself to maintain contact with her eyes and not wander anywhere else.
“Walk with me and I’ll give you a little tour myself,” she turned and they headed in the opposite direction of the team. “I’ve assigned myself as the liaison for the orange pod and I wanted to let you know that it is because of you.”
That was the shortest corporate spy career on record, he thought to himself. He looked to his right and left, assuming the security guards would converge on him at any moment.
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or something I should be concerned with,” he said, after a moment passed and nobody tackled him.
“It’s a bit of both.”
“I think your work at StuTech is probably some of the most relevant work experience we could ask for, but I also wonder why you would leave after just five years. Especially concerning to me is your relationship with Rachel Evans.”
“That’s exactly why I left, to be perfectly honest,” Luke said, reciting his lines. “Once Rachel and I stopped dating, my work life suffered a lot. She made it very clear that she wasn’t going to make it easy for me at the company and I made the decision to leave, rather than be constantly punished for our failed relationship.”
Making up lies about Rachel was difficult. He was still very much in love with her, although due to the terms of his agreement with Steve Lunsford, they were not permitted to have any contact. Rachel wasn’t pleased with the arrangement, but she supported him – at least she had 11 months ago.
“That’s good to hear,” Kathryn said. “Angry ex-girlfriends are in a class of their own. You’ll find that there is very
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