Free Border of the sun by Aditya Mewati

from the frame.
      The day came back to him. It was the hottest day in the month of January that year. Mr. Ford had invited Karthik for an exclusive, private beach party. There were in total five people including Mr. Ford.
      The reason for the celebration was the new product deal, which PharmaGen had acquired because of the hard-work of Karthik, Piper, and Dr. Alex Bill.   
      It was actually his first encounter with Piper.
      He was sitting on the warm sand, under the comforting coolness of a colorful umbrella, massaging the suntan lotion on his skin.  Mr. Ford, Sara and Dr. Alex Bill were playing beach volley in the water.
      "Son!" Mr. Ford cried. “What are you doing there? come here and play with us!"
      "No, sir, I'm doing good here," Karthik said faking a smile.
      "Whatever," Mr. Ford bellowed. Karthik watched them playing.
      "Come on, Karthik," Sara said, "Don't be such a spoilsport."
      "No, I feel like I'm going to have a sunstroke. I better stay here.." Karthik said.
      "Why are you not playing?" she asked Piper, who was sitting next to Karthik, under a bright blue umbrella.
      "No, I don’t feel like playing," Piper said. 
      Sara scowled but did not say anything else.
      "You lied," Piper told Karthik.
      Karthik, who was massaging his leg, jumped in surprise. He had never talked with her. But he knew about her; she was one of the most influential junior scientists in the company.
      "No, I'm not lying," He said sourly.
      "You are because you don't like a person, who is going to have a sunstroke. But why did you lie?"
      "Er-I don't know how to play volleyball," He said.
      She laughed like a little girl. "Neither do I."
      The way she laughed made the butterfly in his stomach to flutter with excitement. He also broke into laughter. Then they together went and played volleyball. 
      Lilly lifted the frame and felt something rough on her fingers. She flipped the frame and found a green color paper wedged behind it.
      "Karthik," she called, "The invitation," She added, brandishing the green envelope.
     

14
     
      Gun Katz, the leader of the S.A.L.F, sat in front of the computer, listening song: gang name style. The room around him was small, and gloomy, and was filled with server boxes and other gadgets.
      The song ended. He reached the mouse, to replay the song. But stopped when the door to his left swung open, allowing the sunlight to pour into the room. A uniformed man stepped in, holding a black walkie-talkie in his hand.
      He said something in Indonesian, brandishing the radio. Katz nodded and grabbed the walkie-talkie. He moved the radio close to his mouth and waited until the uniformed man was out of sight.
      The door closed, throwing the room back into darkness. Katz's face looked strange under the faint blue light that came from the computer screen. He looked like a man who could hardly hurt anyone.
      He pursed his lips and pressed the button on the walkie-talkie.
      The radio crackled. "Gun Katz?"
      Katz grinned (evil grin; he no longer looked harmless). "What's going on?"  He grumbled. His voice was thick and hoarse.
      "You tell me! What's going on?"
      Katz chuckled. "You sound tense."
      "I'm tense! What if he survives the attack. What if our assassin is caught!"
      "Relax, " Katz growled, "He is the best man for the job."
      "I want him dead. Are you listening to me? If Daniel Ford lives. We are screwed. Our dream is screwed!"
      Katz smiled as if he was enjoying this conversation. "If he'll survive today. We'll kill him tomorrow."
      "No! I want him dead. Today. It will be a great publicity for the summit."
      "Is this being the reason you called me?" Katz asked.
      "How are the things going on there?"
      Katz wrinkled his brow. "It's good. Alex Bill is working for us. I just asked him, whether he wants his wife and kids here—he is working. We are still searching for the fourth scientist. And we have already started developing the