Author's Note: I'm trying something with this story that I've never attempted to do, and that is Voice Over's for Pete Thornton. I'm not sure if I can make it work, but I'm silly about experiments, so you're stuck with it.
Special thanks to MacBeth for beta reading, trouble-spotting, and pain-free criticism!

The Rainmakers
Chapter Two: Coffee and Cigarettes

Mac’s Voice-over:
Sometimes I wonder if the people who I work for enjoy sending me on these missions with the barest minimum of information. Maybe they lay odds against my survival and gamble on my chances of success. For certain, not all of the faces in that Pentagon Situation Room were happy to see me back safe and whole… I guess they lost their bets! They were glad to see Captain Jim Taylor alive and home again... so I’m pretty sure that I can count on getting paid for this one.

The Boys in the Big Pointy Building don’t pay out bonuses like the guys down at the DXS… but then again, I’m not a company guy; I only work for them part-time. I can’t see doing what I do and working full time…it’s not a healthy combination. I prefer to work on an ‘as needed’ basis. It gives me time for my—Other Pursuits—and it saves the government accountants endless worry over insurance coverages.

Speaking of ‘other pursuits’—I've just remembered that I have an appointment to keep!

So, after a cup of the bitterest coffee I’ve ever attempted to drink and a round of stiff, clammy handshakes, I escaped from DC and caught a flight of opportunity back to the West Coast on board a military transport. It’s not a bad way to travel—if you don’t mind sitting on a partially-assembled warhead with a cargo strap as a seatbelt. I’ve done worse.

I’m just looking forward to getting home in time to catch the window.

⌂

“Hi, I’m Andy Colsen.” Pete Thornton extended a firm handshake as he introduced himself. “I’m your new safety engineer from the Syntex Corporation.”

“Yes, I was told that you were coming.” Charles Burke seemed a little less that entirely enthusiastic to receive a new employee, especially one whom he was certain was a corporate spy, but he returned Pete’s handshake and led him to his new office. After showing him where to put his coat, Burke centered himself and spoke what was on his mind.

“Look, I know you’re just here to do the job that you were sent here to do, but I have to say that I think that this is all really unnecessary. This accident only destroyed a small portion of Dr. Steubens’s ozone research. We are planning to have his partner Dr. Marlow fly in and help him reconstruct as much of it as they can. I know that it is going to be a bit of a setback, but—“

“A bit of a setback!” Pete let himself interrupt Burke with a loud laugh; Burke’s face turn slightly red. “There’s no budget for setbacks like this! Whole files of data lost to a computer virus—all the notes on the launch experiments; gone! I wouldn’t call it a setback… I’d call it a catastrophe!”

“It’s not as bad as that,” Burke answered mildly. He was angry, but he was a calm man and a cool-headed one, and he knew that something more was going on in the Kiva Laboratory than a few random accidents. “I just resent not being allowed to follow this up on my own,” Burke added with a note of defeat, groping absently at his shirt pocket and cursing mildly as he found his cigarette pack empty.

“I understand,” Pete said, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket. It was a habit that he’d been trying to quit since his divorce. Lately he could take them or leave them, but for this undercover role as Safety Engineer Andy Colsen, he had decided to cultivate the habit for the character. He shook out two, lighting both with a lighter from his pocket. “Look, there’s no reason why we have to be on different sides. I’m not here to find a scapegoat… I’m here to find out what really happened. And I still answer to you at the end of the day.”

Burke drew on his cigarette and savored the smoke. Finally, he nodded a little and cuffed Pete on the shoulder. “All right, Colsen. We’re a team. But don’t forget…”

“…Who’s the boss.” Pete punctuated the sentence with an off-hand salute. “Right.”


Pete’s Voice-over:
Right. And right after I answer to Burke at the end of each day, I will be sending out a coded message to the DXS to update them on my progress toward discovering who sabotaged those computer files and whether or not they plan on making more mischief.

I don’t enjoy lying to Charlie Burke… he is a good man…but that’s the nature of this business. I am pretty sure that he’ll come out of this mess without much of a stain on his reputation, but whoever he might try to protect could conceivably drag him down if he hinders my investigation too much. I hope that he’ll play ball.

I’ve been on missions like this before—the guys at the DXS love to send me out on this kind of job, because I’m a born bureaucrat and I have a talent for wading through red tape and paperwork. They prefer those courier missions to the South Seas, dressing up like James Bond and dodging beguiling assassins in strapless evening wear. I’ve had my fill of those, too, and while they can be interesting… give me a nice pile of data and a cup of strong coffee and I’m just as happy.

I just wish I could have contacted MacGyver before I left L.A. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need his kind of help to get to the end of this one without any more ‘accidents’. I’m not sure why… it’s just a feeling. Call it instinct.

An old campaigner like me learns to listen to his instincts.

~~~Link to Chapter 3

All right! Great idea!

Thanks for your help, 'Beth!

I like it!

Any time. Well, not at 3 am. Almost any time!

… give me a nice pile of data and a cup of strong coffee and I’m just as happy.

I like the Pete voice-over. And so far it works! And you're syncing the episode dialog perfectly with your story...