Anarchate Vigilante (Vigilante Series 4) Read Free

hunger for grilled steaks had grown the farther they traveled away from the Irish colony world of Morrigan and its herds of heifers and steers. But chocolate was essential for the personal happiness of his women pilots like Sarah Vasiliades, Suzanne and Eliana. On his mental periphery he sensed the intense attention of those strong women. He smiled at the hard-skinned arthropod.
    “ Two kilos of chocolate,” he said. “And ten kilos of meat animal body parts.”
    The Brokeet merchant hiss-clicked in what seemed a surprise reaction. “That much chocolate? A kilo of such a popular product is—”
    “How much?”
    “One hundred twenty platinum Standards per kilo,” clicked the Brokeet.
    “Outrageous!” said George in Matt’s mind even as his three allies worked with Mata Hari to maintain an All Surround defense while he spent slow human time on food purchasing.
    “Agreed,” Matt said in Belizel to the Brokeet. “The cost for the meat body parts?”
    “Thirty-seven platinum Standards.”
    Matt showed his own datapad to the Brokeet. “Displayed here is my account code for Standards deposited on our arrival at the dock. Copy and deduct 277 platinum Standards from the account.”
    The Brokeet’s lower arm pair lifted its own datapad to vidimage the code. “Your business is highly appreciated. Delivery will be made to what location?”
    “Our shuttle Ariadne , located in the landing dock chamber. Here is the image and arrival ID of the shuttle,” Matt said as Suit told Matt’s datapad to display an image of Ariadne . “And one more thing.”
    “Yes?” clicked the Brokeet as it looked up from its own datapad.
    “If my account is debited for any amount greater than we agreed, I will come looking for you.” Matt ordered Suit to aim his right shoulder laser pulse-cannon at the giant ant, fixing its green targeting laser between the alien’s two large eyes. “My upset will become your . . . departure from the living. Understood?”
    “Understood!” harshly-clicked the Brokeet as it backed away, then stood behind the display pillar stacked with chocolate tins. “Uh, your chocolate and meat products will be delivered immediately. Or sooner!”
    “Good. Immediate delivery is satisfactory.” Matt turned away from the Brokeet after Suit verified the store had no hidden or stealthed weaponry aimed at him and his allies. “Mata Hari, any word on the captives?”
    “Yes Matthew,” she said over the ir joint mindlink. “Three of my limpet complinks have tied into the fiber optic cables that enter the base’s Control Mind. Up on Level Four. I’ve decrypted the simple encoding. From the data downloaded into the Control Mind by the 22 visiting slaver ships, the three captives arrived aboard ship Medontoktic. One of them is human. They are being held twenty meters above us on Level Four, in a group cell guarded by a Combat Mech and a ship crewperson. A Spelidon ‘rat’, I believe you call the species. Your decision?”
    “Lead us to the cell, but take us along routes normally used by visiting slavers,” Matt said, picking up his stride even as he fought back the urge to go to Nullgrav flight. “What is the Offense readout for this base?”
    The minds of George, Eliana and Suzanne each drew closer in their shared mind communion. Mata Hari fed them the data over their tachlinks. “Matt, there are twenty-one combat suited Guardians in the employ of the base managers. There are sixteen Combat Mechs with Nullgrav floater ability. Plus ten tracked Mechs with artillery level laser cannons. Every place with air has the usual vidimage monitors that feed real-time imagery to both the Control Mind and to three lifeforms serving duty in their Control Station up top, in one of the skyrises. The Control Station has full ecofield control over the entire asteroid.”
    Suzanne’s pale Nordic face fixed on Matt in their mindlink. Her hazel eyes showed worry as she sat atop the green grass that bordered the pond in the Park