Discovery part 2 by Ronald Faltus

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For the most point he had reveled in the adventure, shuttling across the galaxy, poking his head in anent ruins, turning up hundreds of artifacts of intrinsic beauty. But just when he seemed to get comfortable at a site, to begin to map it out in his mind, to envision what it was like to live there so many lifetimes ago, the ATPD would pull him out and send him to the next site. When the possibility of finding a profitable relic was exhausted, it was time to move on. Such was the demand for working for a corporate entity, motivated by nothing more then potential cash flow.

At first Gareth accepted the arrangement, assuming that eventually he would eventually gain enough clout in the company to dictate his own assignments. But his uncanny ability to find the best locations to excavate soon turned against him. Vent-Nor decided that it was best to keep their best field agent on the move, and while he reveled in the confidence, Gareth wondered he would finally get the freedom he deserved. Part of him was enjoying confronting his superior over this matter, maybe after he got his way, it might spell a new era in his career, a time when he was afforded the right to make his own decisions without the bureaucratic system of the company making them for him.

Deciding to play his trump card, Gareth tired one last time to impress his position on the matter. "Kenneth, I've been with the company what, three years now. In all that time, have you even known me to sit on a find?"

The supervisor's image shifted in his seat, and responded. "No, usually you are the one pushing the rest of the excavation to keep up."

"So you understand that if I felt no concerns about this hatch, I already would have opened it days ago?"

Exasperated, Kenneth only nodded his affirmative response.

Feeling that the might be making some headway, Gareth continued. "Then you also understand that I can not, nor will not, in good conscience break the seal until I have some explanation of what those symbols mean." Gareth leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms, hoping that Kenneth realized the firmness of his position.

A few uneasy moments of silence followed. Gareth watched as a weariness consumed Kenneth, with him looking down at his desk and shuffle through some files. Not looking up, but visibly reluctant, he asked, "That's you final answer then."

A disturbing thought flashed into Gareth's mind, but failed to process it before he answered. "Yes."

Kenneth brought his eyes up, and shot a stare thought the transmission that crumbled Gareth's confidence. "Then I have no choice but to terminate you position on the grounds of your refusal to comply with the orders of a superior."

Gareth shot forward in his chair bringing both his palms slapping down on the desk top, "What! You can't do that." Gareth tired to hide his shock, but the concept of being fired was so outlandish, that until a few seconds ago he thought it to be impossible. He wasn't just a disposable company asset; he was Gareth Kael, the best zeno-archeologist of his generation.