Contributor (Contributor Trilogy, book 1) (26 page)

The living room was empty when they entered, but they heard the gentle clink of dishes in the kitchen. They headed that way and found Raj loading the dish sanitizer. He turned and smiled as they entered.

"Contributor Morrow, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, approaching Dara's father with his hand extended.

"Please, call me Joshua. After all you're doing for us—" her father answered, shaking Raj's hand vigorously between his own.

"Oh no, please. I'm just happy to be doing whatever I can to try to help," Raj protested, looking genuinely embarrassed. "How are you, Dara?"

"Relieved," she said.

"Leona is taking a nap. She worked hard today." Raj closed the sanitizer and leaned against the counter, folding his arms over his chest. "She's very motivated to improve, which makes things easier, but she has many challenges ahead of her."

"Do you think she can improve enough to avoid the facilities?" Joshua asked.

Raj's face darkened at the mention of the facilities. "I'm not going to lie to you: I'm not sure that's possible, but I'll do all I can to try to make it so."

Joshua swallowed hard and nodded. Dara's heart sank.

"I honestly believe that, with extensive occupational and cognitive therapy, Leona can regain much of her independence. But she's not going to be the same person she was before," Raj cautioned them. "I'm sorry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't want you to have any illusions about her condition. It's very serious."

"What can we do?" Dara whispered, blinking back her tears.

"The only thing you can do is take it one day at a time. Celebrate her victories and continue to work to overcome her obstacles."

With a nod, Joshua seemed to gather his resolve. He squared his shoulders and straightened his spine. "I agree. Let's just take it step by step."

"I'm going to impose on you as little as I can. I'll bring my own food so that your consumption levels don't look suspicious. I'll slip in and out as unobtrusively as possible. But if you ever feel the risk is too great, all you have to do is tell me, and I'll stay away."

Dara began to protest, but Raj waved it away.

"Trust me, this is the best way of doing things. It's also best if I don't adopt a regular schedule. I can offer you as much time as you want, but I have to ask you to leave the details to me.

"If anyone ever asks about me, you should tell them you had a problem with your trash chute and I came to fix it. If that does happen, please let Letizia know as soon as possible. She'll send me a message alerting me that it's necessary to change plans."

"Of course," Joshua assured him. "But, please, I'd like to compensate you—"

"No," Raj said, adamantly shaking his head. "Helping Leona is all the compensation I need."

"Can you stay for a while tonight?" Dara asked. "I hate to ask you, but my dad could use some rest, and I need to go see Letizia about a project."

"I'd be glad to," Raj said, smiling. "Why don't you go rest, Joshua? If you could take over with Leona when it's time for me to leave, I'd appreciate it. I'll show you a few techniques before I go."

"Thank you," Joshua said, with another vigorous handshake. Raj smiled and nodded, and Joshua headed off to his room.

"Raj, I don't know how to thank you. After how I acted, I—" Dara began.

"I understand, Dara. Really, I do. Let's just never mention it again, okay? It's in the past."

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Why don't you go ahead and go to Letizia's?" He peered at her, a clinical expression coming over his face. "You should try to get more than an hour or two of rest tonight."

She gave him a wavering smile. "Thanks to you, that just might be possible."

He looked at her seriously. "You never have to be alone again, if you don't want to be. There are others beside me who are willing to help."

"That's...it's really comforting," she said.

"It is, isn't it?" He smiled and gestured toward the door. "Go on, now. The sooner you go, the sooner you can get back here and sleep."

"Sounds wonderful," she sighed.

Chapter 32

It felt strange to sit in the conference room with the diminished apprenticeship group. Chen's exclusion continued; Dara hadn't seen him in days. Though things should probably have felt more balanced, somehow, they didn't. Everything had changed, now that Dara had Javier's undivided attention. As Andersen rose from his seat, Dara saw Letizia staring intently at Javier, and she wondered if her master had similar thoughts.

Thanks to Raj's help, Dara had enjoyed a full five hours of sleep, after spending several hours working with Letizia. They had found several ways to make her design more elegant, more innovative, and Dara now felt reasonably confident about it. Javier would have to present something truly mind-blowing to beat her, but Dara knew enough not to let it make her over-confident. He was fully capable of besting her in the end.

Andersen selected Dara to go first, and she eased into her presentation. She felt more focused than she had in weeks, and she knew it showed. Andersen appeared to take in every detail of her schematics, and Javier scribbled furious notes. Letizia even showed signs of approval, something she rarely did, while Walters frowned. By the time she sat down, Dara felt very good.

But then Javier stood up and projected the first of his schematics on the screen, and it was all Dara could do not to gasp audibly. She watched with a combination of amazement and horror as he walked them through his design—though, in actuality, he had not created the design. It was, in fact, a slightly altered version of her rejected design, and she clutched her stylus so hard she half expected the slender metal cylinder to snap in half.

Forcing her shock aside, Dara's eyes greedily drank in every detail, trying to determine if he'd discovered the design's fatal flaw. It didn't take long for her to realize that most of his changes were merely cosmetic, and that both he and Walters had missed the flaw.

Dara glanced at Letizia out of the corner of her eye. Her master studied the design intently, scribbling notes, but Dara couldn't see what she wrote.

"You two have given us quite a bit to discuss over lunch," Andersen said, rising from his seat when Javier finished.

"Thank you, sir," Javier said humbly.

"You may continue with your tasks while we deliberate."

As Dara headed for the door, she wondered if Javier would say anything, if he'd even shoot her a guilty glance, but he didn't. Instead, he headed straight for his station without a word to her and without the slightest trace of guilt on his face.

Ryan was telling the truth, Javier did steal his design,
Dara thought in amazement, as she tried to focus on her work.

Letizia had also undoubtedly noticed the theft, and Dara wondered what her master would do. Dara didn't think Letizia would tell Andersen, but she wondered how Letizia could possibly carry on the charade that the design belonged to Javier. Then Dara realized that Letizia intended to point out the flaw, and that she very likely would enjoy doing so.

An hour before the end of shift, Andersen called them back into the conference room. Walters's face was grim, and Dara knew that Javier's flaw had been discovered. Letizia's eyes shone with a faint glimmer of satisfaction.

"Unfortunately, Apprentice Gutierrez, your promising design contains a subtle but disastrous flaw," Andersen announced. "While it is difficult to detect, it is an unforgivable error." Calling up the schematic, Andersen illustrated the flaw and, for the first time, Dara saw Javier's mask slip. For the briefest of seconds, naked fear showed on his face.

"You do understand that, had this model been put into production, it would have caused the halting of production lines for hours, do you not?" Andersen asked. He rested his hands on the conference table, leaning so close to Javier that their noses were practically touching. The sight disgusted Dara for more reasons than she could count, and she turned her attention to the flaw, blown up in hideous detail.

"I apologize, sir," Javier said, but his voice didn't sound nearly as smooth as it usually did.

"Oh, you apologize. Well, I'm certain that would make up for the loss of millions, as well as the lost hours of productivity." Anderson's vicious voice knifed through the air and, for a long moment, the room was absolutely soundless.

Andersen pushed off the table and walked back to the front of the room, abruptly flipping from the schematic to a blank screen, as if he could no longer stand looking at Javier's error.

"Fortunately, Apprentice Morrow paid more attention to detail. In fact, her design is superior to yours, Apprentice Gutierrez, in just about every way." Andersen launched into a long-winded analysis of Dara's design.

Though she had longed for the praise, she knew Andersen wielded it as a weapon to drive home his contempt for Javier's mistake. It left a bad taste in Dara's mouth, and she had to force herself to play the sycophant when Andersen finished.

"Thank you, sir." She could barely suppress the urge to spit in his smug face. "I'm honored that you're pleased with my Contribution."

"I have had my doubts about you in the past," he informed her, and she was unable to hide the slight flinch his words provoked. The tiniest of smiles appeared at the corners of his mouth. "But perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye."

"It's my honor to prove myself."

Andersen regarded her coldly and then turned to look at the senior engineers. "Letizia, Maxine, we will continue our discussion now."

"Of course, sir," said Letizia. "Dara, I would like to see you tonight at ten o'clock."

"Yes, Senior Engineer D'Angelo. I'll be at your apartment at ten sharp."

Dara strode ahead of Javier as they left the conference room, her hands balled into fists. She grabbed her things and headed straight for the exit.

"I need to talk to Javier," she told Jonathan, keeping her eye on the other apprentice as he headed out into the thoroughfare.

"Okay," Jonathan said, looking perplexed. "Is everything—"

"I'll explain it to you later."

Dara hurried after Javier, weaving through the crowd. "How dare you," she hissed, when she caught up to him.

He glanced over at her, his face unreadable, and then jutted his chin toward the park. "Care for a walk?"

"Why not? I know you like to have your confrontations there."

His eyes grew hooded, and he looked away from her. Dara impatiently walked along the paths with him until they found a secluded spot.

"You lying bastard! I thought Ryan was full of it when I heard him accusing you of stealing his design but he wasn't, was he?"

"No, he wasn't." Javier put his hands in his pockets.

"How can you just stand there so calmly and admit it to me? Don't you feel anything?"

"I don't let myself feel anything."

"I thought you had some shred of integrity, but I couldn't have been more wrong," she spat at him.

"That was your first mistake, thinking that anyone has a shred of integrity," he said wearily. His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Dara was taken aback. "Is this all part of your act?"

He laughed bitterly. "Believe it or not, no, it isn't. For once, you're actually seeing some genuine feeling."

"Why?"

"Because it doesn't matter anymore," he growled, his head snapping up so his angry eyes could meet hers. "You've won now. Just like that idiot LeTour, I'm the cause of my own undoing."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for either of you?"

"No, but you'd also better stop playing the victim."

"I am the victim!" she shouted. She took a few steps back from him, trying to reel in her temper.

"Wake up, Dara, we're all victims here. The system has ensured that," he said harshly.

"And you think that justifies your actions?"

"No. No, I don't." His voice was suddenly tired. "But it does explain them."

"You made a choice, Javier. You could have created your own design."