Sink: The Lost World Read Free Page A

from a Rube Goldberg drawing. Bryan patented the design, and it was one that conservationists later pressed for other companies to adopt. It was less of an eyesore on the natural landscape, in its own way quite beautiful. If companies insisted on pumping for oil, then it was better done in a way that didn’t offend anyone.
    The pump built, the farmer continued to drink his coffee in the mornings, view unspoiled.
    Bryan Angelo used his profits to invest in various energy company stocks. Over the course of fifteen years he developed a lucrative portfolio. But he tired of trading stocks, feeling like he was just pushing paper from one place to another. He sold his stocks and shares just before the economic crash of 2008 and used it to invest in his company.
    He found new entrepreneurial talent, letting them have free reign over their various areas of expertise, stepping in only when the partner wanted to do something too expensive or risky. Bryan had a way with people, encouraging them to take less risky decisions, to shelf their revolutionary ideas until they were more feasible and thus more likely to be a success. Now, Bryan was entering the fracking market. It was familiar, but yet new, territory, and he needed the aid of a research company to look into the potential dangers involved with such a project.
    A seismologist by trade, Zoe had all the experience of working with earthquakes and other natural phenomena associated with fracking, as well as other intrusive digging techniques. She cared very much about nature but understood the ever-hungry need for businesses and consumers to meet goals.
    Rosetta pulled the heavy door open with ease using her robot arm. She had to lean back quite far and position her feet just so, but the door opened with little pressure. The floor was quiet and Zoe could hear the whirring of the hydraulics in Rosetta’s arm.
    “The port for the projector is just under the table here,” Rosetta said. “Light controls are beside the door. If you need anything, just ask.”
    She handed her card to Zoe, but Gavin intercepted it.
    “Is your personal number on here?” Gavin said.
    “No,” Rosetta said. She turned to Zoe. “Good luck.”
    She turned and left through the heavy doors.
    “I swear, I could watch her walk all day,” Gavin said.
    “Give me a hand with setting up my laptop,” Zoe said. “Pervert.”
    “If it’s a perverted thing to admire a beautiful woman, then I guess I’m a pervert,” Gavin said.
    “Congratulations,” Zoe said. “The first step to recovery is accepting you have a problem.”
    “Anyone who doesn’t appreciate beauty has a problem,” Gavin said.
    “Admiring is one thing,” Zoe said. “Ogling quite another.”
    Gavin shrugged.
    “I don’t see Rosetta complaining,” he said.
    “That’s because she doesn’t know you’re doing it,” Zoe said.
    “I like to think she does,” Gavin said. “Bryan Angelo is well-known as a hard ass. Are you sure you can handle this presentation?”
    “I’ve had meetings with him before,” Zoe said. “He always seemed fair.”
    Zoe was underwhelmed when she first met Bryan Angelo. Despite his wealth and power and the prestige of his personal story, there was an everydayness to him that took Zoe by surprise. He wore a suit off the peg, choosing not to splurge on the Hugo Boss variety. This from a man worth two hundred million dollars. Probably an old miser , Zoe had thought. People got rich for a reason, and it was often because they refused to spend anything. But she was surprised again by how young he was. He was in his early forties, in good shape, with piercing blue eyes and wavy blond hair.
    He had seemed slightly stiff during their first meeting, and laid out all his ideas for what he wanted from the report. Zoe asked probing questions, and he’d replied with thorough answers, clearly not a man to leave anything to chance. He had done his homework. It wasn’t until the following few meetings that he began to