Free Hazardous Goods (Arcane Transport) by John Mackie

to look into it tonight. Jamar – I’m sorry I can’t find you a solution right away.”
    “Not your fault, Sol. My fault for being too trusting.”
    “All you can do is keep it simple. Stick to routine, no big plans or outings. Hopefully I can find you an answer before things get any worse.”
    “Thanks, Professor.”
    Kara hung up, and we both stared at Jamar. His head was down on the table again. For once, I was happy not to be in someone else’s shoes.

C HAPTER 7
    That night I was getting together with two of my former colleagues from TechnoSoft, John Pepper and Jin Park. John went by the name Chili (Chili Pepper – who would have imagined), a carryover from college that had stuck. We were meeting at Chucks, the local greasy spoon we frequented when I was still with the company.
    Unlike most places on the Airport strip, Chucks was a standalone business – separate building, separate parking lot, separate entrance. Land alone was worth a fortune, but the owner rebuffed all offers. He ran a diner. That’s what he did, and it’s all he wanted to do. Besides, the entire property was toxic with fry grease and stale condiments.
    One great thing about Chucks was the brightness of the place. Three sides lined with floor to ceiling windows, the place was awash with natural light. I doubt they spent a dime on light or heat, other than in the evenings or the middle of winter. They most certainly did not spend a cent on air conditioning during the warmer months, resulting in a greenhouse-like sauna effect.
    The glass walls were lined with booths and standalone tables filling the spaces in between. The entire back wall was a long counter, with two cash registers on one side. On the other side of the counter, a group of men who all appeared related slaved away over countless hot plates, fryers, cookers, and every other type of grease-generating device known to man. That might have explained the thin film coating the aforementioned windows. A sign over the cash said “All Breakfast. All Day.”
    I pushed through the door and the accompanying wave of heat. A tide of scents washed over me – fryers that ran full out from dawn to dusk and grills that warmed the meats of every animal outside a zoo.
    Chili and Jin sat by the windows on the East wall, out of the direct line of sunlight and thus a good five degrees cooler than the West wall at this time of day, which seemed to shimmer in the heat. The moment they spotted me, I felt my shoulders relax. Good to see some old friends.
    “So you’re a partner in the business?”
    “Yeah. The original plan was for me to earn my stake in the business over three years, then Clay would retire and I would earn out his half of the business. But now, I’m not sure. If anything, the whole thing may be accelerated. Either way, I end up owning the company.”
    “So you manage the office? Sales?”
    “Yeah. Manage the staff, sales, deal with customer issues that need to be escalated. And I drive a route too.”
    “No kidding? Donnie Elder in a delivery truck?”
    “Yeah. Well, not a regular route. Depends on what the delivery schedule is for the day. Right now, with Clay off work and business hopping, I’m on the road. Welcome to the world of small business.”
    Jin had a bemused look on his face.
    “What?”
    “I just can’t picture it.”
    “What?”
    “Six months ago, you’re sitting in the boardroom, battling it out with the IT guys and the creative goofs at Pathway on the Version 3.0 Campaign. And you gave all of that up to drive a van and manage a five man office?”
    “Jealous?”
    “Shit, yeah.”
    For the next two hours we traded stories about the goings-on at the company since I had left, and also a lot of great memories. We also chatted about Arcane, and my first week on the job.
    “The guy had a gun ?”
    “Yeah. Can you believe it?”
    “Shit. What did the cops say?”
    “Well, we didn’t end up reporting it.”
    “Why the hell not? Nah, I take that back.