Always Something There to Remind Me (A Black Lightning Jen X Khalil Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Six- Dealing with Evil

Chapter Thirty-Six- Dealing with Evil

Maya's POV

Morgan Blake, esteemed Source Code Corp CEO, was a nervous man. Watching him made the normally stoic Maya Odell uncharacteristically antsy, and she struggled to keep her perfectly manicured nails from drumming impatiently on the narrow oak boardroom table. Percy Odell frowned upon fidgeting, and as he was seated across from Morgan in the small hotel meeting room, Maya could see his eyes narrowing as he gazed at Morgan tapping his fingers against his depleted glass of bourbon.

The sound was loud in the sparsely decorated room as both Maya and Odell waited for Morgan to begin his briefing. When he cleared his throat and started talking, glibly regaling them with SoCo Corp's recent successes, (apparently thinking that the Odells' were hearing his news for the first time, when in fact they had known about it for several weeks), Maya took that opportunity to gaze around the room. It was vastly different from the boardroom of the safehouse where Maya usually had her meetings. They were sitting on the penthouse level of one of Akashic Valley's major hotels, the entire floor leased by Maya for an indeterminate time period. Percy Odell was in town, and he deserved only the best accommodations.

Besides, Maya didn't want her father in her apartment, where he would undoubtedly judge her the entire time, and she wouldn't have a moments peace. No, the hotel was by far the better choice for him to stay, and it just so happened that the Odell family owned shares in that particular hotel chain, and although the room they were in seemed shabbier than the rest of the hotels opulence, it was for a reason. Maya didn't want Morgan to know how far their financial reaches extended. For all intents and purposes, and thanks to Odell, Maya's pockets were deep, and most people had no idea what she did for a living. Just the way she liked it.

She tuned back into the conversation, just in time to hear Morgan proudly proclaim, "As I'm sure you're aware, the SoCo spacecraft- Star1, we call it- did a full rotation of the earth three weeks ago."

He puffed out his chest, beaming self-importantly at both Maya and Odell, who looked at him stonily. Idly, Maya mused that Morgan's announcement might have landed better if she had been unaware of what SoCo Corp had accomplished in the past few weeks. However, she hired people to infiltrate SoCo Corp and keep their ears to the ground for a reason, and the news of not only the spacecraft launch, but also what Star1 had found while rotating the Earth had reached her about the same time it had reached Morgan.

"Yes, there was quite a bit of media attention on the launch," she replied, keeping her voice light. Morgan turned to her, his Cheshire cat smile widening. Maya's next words wiped the smile from his face, replacing it with a look of trepidation which amused Maya greatly. "Truth be told, we were expecting you to contact us sooner, given our substantial contributions to your cause. Remember, people called you foolish for wanting to launch a manned spacecraft to the ionosphere, of all places."

A dawning look of surliness enveloping his sharply handsome face as he realized things weren't going his way, Morgan raised his hand in protest. "Yes, but we-."

"What did that space physicist say?" Maya interrupted him, tapping thoughtfully on her chin as she eyed him. "Oh, yes. It's difficult to get measurements from that part of space, since the air is too thin for a plane, yet too dense to fly most spacecraft," she recited from her eidetic memory. Morgan deflated, almost shrinking down in his seat. "He wanted you to fly a rocket up there, and you were about to until we came along with the funding and the proper government endorsed paperwork that allowed you to pull it off."

Morgan nodded, his hands clasped together. "And of course, we're grateful for your contributions and your assistance, but you also have a stake in this." Maya raises an eyebrow as Morgan continued, his voice regaining confidence. "Pardon my presumption, but you didn't get us the government and NASA endorsement out of the kindness of your hearts."