Testing The Site

In her mind, she was never going to be ready. As the train passed by the estuary, the knot in her stomach tightened, and the earache she’d been suffering from since that morning flared. What was she doing? The eccentric site manager had told her everything was fully prepared, but she was painfully aware that didn’t include her.

A group of teenagers further down the carriage pulled her attention to them with their flamboyant dress and rowdy Ebonics. She wondered where they were going. Was there some Eden for disaffected youth along this line? She glanced at her watch. They probably weren’t heading anywhere productive at 11am on a Thursday. Especially not since two or three of them were wearing elf ears.

Her stomach roiled. She regretted the eggplant lasagne she’d had for dinner the night before. The packaging had looked enticing in the store, but it had barely been edible.

Her phone squawked. The message notification was supposed to be the call of a majestic eagle, but the tinny speakers made it sound more like a constipated emu. She glanced at the screen. It was the site manager, checking she was on her way. She passed the phone from one hand to the other a few times, musing on her options.

It was an important test, and she was an integral part of it. But she was having serious doubts about what they were trying to do. Ever since that construction worker had disappeared the night they first broke ground, she had started to wonder if they were doing the right thing. But there was so much time and effort involved now, not to mention the money the investors had been pouring into the project. She couldn’t turn back now. Not with so much at stake.

She tapped a few keys on her phone.

“Be there in five. Make sure we’re good to go as soon as I get there.”