Chapter 1
“Is it really happening?, I thought this was a science thing.”
“Yes! As far as we know.”
Jack smiled sarcastically and sat down with his coffee. Even though work he did for the agency was questionable at best, his training always took control at these situations.
“You don't really believe those conspiracy stories, do you?. I mean aliens in middle east, of all places? ”
“No. Not really, but I do believe in Americans sticking their noses in places, where they don't belong.”
Raj really had nothing to protect or to be afraid of, so he didn't hesitate to express his feelings about
anything. But this was Jack, so he knew where the line was.
“Word is, there is this magical mountain close to the border, covered with trees and plants that nobody has ever seen before.”
“See... that is exactly what I'm saying... Even if that's true, which is really unlikely, what is that has to do with us? ”
Jack was hoping that the story about quarantine teams and American scientists hadn't reached Raj yet.
“Oh! Come on. You know what I'm on about. Rest of the world is not that dumb, despite what you guys think. also people I work for are very interested in this.”
“Yeah! I thought so. But the truth is I'm in the dark too. I'm not exactly in the loop anymore and even if I was, I doubt anybody would read me in to something like this. ”
Raj had to pickup his sister from the mall, he really wanted to keep talking, but he knew how the conversation is going to end.
Relationship between Raj and Jack never had any crossings with their professions. In fact they've only had vague ideas about each others work lives. Raj was born in Southern Sri Lanka but he was
raised in London where his parents lived. This made him very attractive to college girls, because they all wanted the guy with caramel skin and the quirky British accent. Jack on the other hand, was a born and raised New Yorker and everyone at NYU knew who he was because his father was a known politician.
Jack and Raj met in a strange and a bit awkward situation when both of them were dating the same girl. But years went by and they became best friends and even roommates, in their 30s. They often went through lot of wine and beer, trying to remember the name of their matchmaker. It was a lost cause.
“is it still in the shop?”
“Yeah, it's taking longer than I thought, that can't be a good sign.”
“Take mine, just bring it back in one piece.”
“Yeah, yeah.. that joke is not getting old.”
Raj had small a bump-in with another car in a parking lot. His car was fine but being a car guy, his pride was a little hurt.
“I'm off. One of these days, We are going to sit down, and have an honest chat about our work.”
“Amen, Brother!”