Page 6 of Starrily

“Aries Tech will fund the project … under a condition,” Everett said as if he’d read his mind. To be fair, his mentor did know him pretty well.

Or used to, at least.

“What condition?”

“You’ll be one of the people going to the Moon.”

Simon bent forward and coughed out the surprise caught in his throat. “I’m what?”

“Just as a tourist. It’s going to be a terrific PR move. Space tourism is the hottest potential thing right now. Imagine presenting one of our latest phones from space. The shareholders will be wetting their pants with excitement.”

The Moon.Business decisions notwithstanding, that sounded fun. Hell, it sounded incredible. Sure, he had no clue how to behave in space or on the Moon, but the people at QueLabs would run him through a prep course. And beyond that, it would be a little bit dangerous and very exciting—his favorite combination.

“Okay. I’m in.”

“I knew you would be.”

“If that’s all, I’m craving a burger …” Simon stood and headed for the door.

“Actually, it’s not.”

He stopped.

“There’s one more agreement we made.” Everett waited until Simon sat back down. “The funds will go to two separate projects. Your Moon trip is at least two years away. For the next few months, you’ll be shadowing a scientist working at QueLabs. There’ll also be a journalist who’ll write a series of articles about it.”

“The scientist’s work?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you need me there?”

“A publicity thing. People will love it, shareholders will love it, you’ll look approachable and down-to-earth.”

Simon didn’t bother pointing out the irony of looking down-to-earth when the whole point was to get him to the Moon. If Everett ever said anything resembling a joke, one could be assured it was entirely by mistake. Instead, Simon spread his arms. “Am I not already approachable?”

“You know what I mean.”

Publicity stuff, financial stuff, the meaning was somewhere in there. “I’m still not sure how me following some Einstein around is necessary.”

“Simon, my boy.” Everett put an assuring hand on his shoulder. “Trust me. Have I ever led you astray?”

Simon sighed. “Not that I can remember.” Simon wasn’t sure how he’d have handled things without Everett after the accident, and it made sense to appoint him as his Chief Financial Officer for Aries Tech. Everett did even more than his position required—any kind of advice Simon needed, he was there to give it. Advice related to the company, of course; Simon tended not to mix that and his private business.

In fact, since the accident, one could say Simon didn’t mix much of the company stuff into his life at all. But that was fine—it waswhyhe had Everett.

And in the end, he did trust him. “Fine.”

“Good.” Everett lightly slapped him on the shoulder and returned to the desk. “We’re meeting with the people at QueLabs tomorrow. Please, let me not find you skydiving over the Pacific when it’s time for the meeting.”

“I’ll be there.” Who needed skydiving, when he could be going to the Moon instead?

***

Callie’s morning alarm rubbed against her face, then lay on her chest. Callie yawned as she opened her eyes, the imageeventually clearing into the furry, judgemental face of her Birman.

“Morning to you too, Theia.” She nudged the cat off her bed. Theia landed on the ground with a soft thud, meowed, and scampered toward the door. Callie had the alarm set on her phone as well, but she could always rely on Theia to wake her up.

She rose and stretched, then navigated between Theia’s toys and a few pieces of clothing scattered across her bedroom floor, waiting for laundry day. After a quick refresher in the bathroom, she continued to the main living space of her apartment and put a pot of water on the stove to get her morning tea started.