Connor Rix Chronicles 1: Rules of Force Read Free

even moreso than they enjoy now.”
    “No government
could possibly be stupid enough to stage this raid on us,” she said. “If we
identified any such nation, we would immediately freeze them out of any
contracts for the resources we're bringing back from the four asteroids. It
would be economically catastrophic to be cut out of that loop. Plus, since we
are the sole corporation actively clearing out Earth's accumulated orbital
debris, there is enormous international pressure to leave us to our business.
Not to mention we have effective control of low earth orbit, so any nation that
committed violence against us could say goodbye to any com satellites they have
flying around up there.”
    “A rival company,
then?”
    She smiled a
cold smile. “You’ll just have to trust me on this one, Mr. Rix, but we know all
of our competitors very well. And that is simply not a consideration.”
    He was silent at
that. What an astonishing leap of faith.
    “We were hoping
that your experience with the MI underground would be an asset in this search.
The payment will be as you specified. Will you sign on?”
    “Just so I’m
clear, our contract allows me access to Open Sky’s parallel network?”
    She gave him a
level stare. “To the extent that this hypothetical parallel network exists,
sure.”
    “Then can I get
the hypothetical device recognition protocols and access codes?”
    “Hypothetically,
yes.”
    He nodded. “Then
I’m in.”
    “Excellent. I
will be your contact. Please forward any leads directly to me.” She shook his
hand, looking him directly in the eye. “And Mr. Rohm sends his personal
thanks.”
    They left the
room, but this time she led him down another wing of the Great Hall to a
different exit. He tried not to look like a tourist, agog at the Great Hall,
but could not help himself, casting furtive glances at the soaring beams
clasped together overhead and at each new overlook.
    She took him to
an exit with an oversized door, made from some metal he couldn’t identify. It
looked new, yet with a patina that suggested aging. It was hard for his eye to
capture a coherent pattern to the stonework surrounding the door and spreading
along the wall. It was as if the stones had been thrust up from the earth
itself, unguided by the hand of man.
    Two security
guards eyed him with obvious suspicion, despite his escort. With his own
optics, Rix could see the electronic impulses racing across their visors as
they followed him with their eyes.
    “So will I get
the opportunity to meet Mr. Rohm?”
    “Probably not,”
Angie 6 said.
    "Then will
I get to find out why you're Angie number six?"
    She gave a
non-committal half-smile. "Perhaps in time, if we get to know each other
better."
    Rix grinned in
return. "Fair enough. We all have to keep some secrets."
    But at least the
timing was good, with the meeting over. The pain was building up again, great
waves of soreness that traveled the length of his body, from the inside out.

 
    3
     
     
    The night passed
in slow-rolling agony, as he expected. No sleeping position was particularly
comfortable, and just when the pain faded and he was able to drift, a fresh
wave came rolling through, from his bones outward. He sweated profusely, and
several times got up to pace the hotel room to distract himself from the aches.
It was nearly dawn before the pain subsided and he was able to capture useful
sleep.
    Rix had been
through the episodes before, worse even. The bone density regimen had taken the
longest to integrate of all his Modifications. At the end of it, as he nearly
was, his bones would be virtually unbreakable. They had warned him before the
procedure that there would be considerable pain as a byproduct of the muscle
and nerve endings establishing new connections to the harder, denser bone
material. So far he had been able to bear it. Two, maybe three more episodes,
tops, he figured.
    Open Sky had put
him up in a decent hotel on the outskirts of town, part of the