Page 7 of Omega’s Fold

Time passes.

Twelve-fifteen.

Twelve-thirty.

At twelve forty-five a man comes out of an interior door. He’s in his forties, well-dressed, with a mildly apologetic bearing.

“Mr. Duffield.”

“Yes.”

“David Sun. I’m your liaison.” He doesn’t sit. “I’m sorry about the wait. I’m afraid we haven’t been able to reach Mr. Briggs this morning.”

“I see.”

“He hasn’t responded to the notification. He hasn’t confirmed the appointment. We can’t get through on the number that we have for him. I apologize on the Bureau’s behalf.”

Well, that was a waste of time.

“I’ve done my part,” I say. “I presume it’ll be recorded that I made effort. I’m not going to face any punitive charges?”

“You will not, Mr. Duffield, not if you continue to comply.”

Comply with what? Briggs isn’t here. “If Briggs gets in touch, let me know. I’ll come back for another meeting, but I don’t want to have to keep turning up if he’s not here.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. The next step is that you go to him.”

“You must be joking.”

“I realize that this is inconvenient but matches across country are actually fairly common. As are omegas refusing to come in for the first match, but you don’t need to be concerned. We find that most prime matches are happy to proceed with the match as soon as they meet each other.”

“Two weeks? I have a job.”

“We will compensate you for any time off.”

“Why can’t you make Briggs come to me? I’m not running around after some omega.”

Sun frowns. “Mr. Duffield, this is the process. You presenting yourself at the property is the next step. I want to be clear, Mr. Duffield. If you don’t comply throughout the process, there are penalties.”

This was how they got you. For me, that was my professional accreditations. Having Bureau black marks against my name would trigger a professional accreditation review. It would be goodbye to my partnership.

“I’m aware of how prime matches work.” I sigh. “You’ve got me over a barrel, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid so, Mr. Duffield.”

I ring my mother from the lobby on the way out of the building.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

“Hi, Mom. I’ve got some news.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Oh yes, nothing to worry about that. I’ve had a notification from the Bureau. I’ve got a prime match.”

“Oh Julian, that’s wonderful.”

“I haven’t met him yet, Mom.”