Lockdown, Part 1

Bzzt.

Now? Seriously?

Bzzt. Bzzt.

Fine, great, whatever. I slammed my hand down on the receive button.

“What do you want, Jet?” I said. I tried to keep the edge out of my voice. Not sure if I succeeded.

“Um,” Jet replied. “There are three serious-looking gentleman to see you, sir.” He was almost whispering. Like keeping his head down would avoid upsetting me further.

“Credentials?” I asked. There was a small delay. Presumably because Jet hadn't thought to ask for them before now.

“Central Server Ops, sir,” Jet said. “And they apparently need to see you right now.” The syllables were stressed on the last two words. Almost hissed. They were making Jet nervous. Big surprise. CSO always liked to swing their weight around. As if they had any real authority here.

“Fine. Send them up.” Damn the timing. I'd been on the verge of something here. Something big. Now I'd have to throw everything into lockdown mode to make sure the CSO wasn't probing anything important. I buzzed up Delilah.

“Dee,” I said. “We've got guests.”

“Understood,” came the synthesized female voice. “Lockdown in five.”