Fort Liberty, Volume Two Read Free Page A

though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, why not?”
    “Maybe,” Petra says, concluding he’s not really all that smart. Can’t be, if he thinks she’s this stupid. “Always up for profit.”
    He slaps his knee. “There you go!”
    “But I don’t like the thought of killing that girl.”
    “It’ll be quick.”
    “I mean… what if she’s more valuable alive?”
    He looks away, shrugs, conceding the point. “I see what you’re getting at, but my friend is not anyone you’d want to cross.”
    “So you say.”
    “It’s the truth. This individual’s got strong opinions, and deep pockets, deep enough to have funded that original militia of ‘subversives’ who tried to kill you before, and then hire me to do this part after they failed… not cheap. This, right here… this is not part of a business plan. This is an insider attack on the system, on the NRM, and the Block 12 corporations, and their research projects, which maybe pose a threat to us all. It’s a reset on the balance of power in Red Filter.”
    “Set to kill the innocent.”
    “Cruel world.”
    She swallows, energy drained, pain seeping up through layers of analgesics, the sting strong enough to bring tears. Show no weakness. Keep him talking. “Can’t bargain your life on the word of the powerful, especially not in Red Filter. Keep the girl alive, and we’ll have something to negotiate with.”
    He considers it again, taking longer this time. “Been trading tech a long time, got my hooks in everywhere. Girls like her have been born on Earth for decades, always hush-hush, something new, something engineered, and extracted by Assaulters when they’re old enough, or when they’re compromised, and brought to Mars. There are rumors about why they’re crazy. The Bounder Army learned to hunt them, found out that they’re not so human, after all. And this Niri… she’s the newest, the latest version, and my Red Filter friend believes she needs to die, or else she’ll give power to the wrong people here, change everything in on this world, and by extension, Earth, where I make my modest livelihood. We all got something to protect, Petra. And maybe killing this girl is the best way to do that. It’s in your interest too, I think, to keep things the way they are. Guard your profit. Let the powerful have their wars.”
    Petra tries to hold his gaze, the pain spreading hot needles under her skin, making it difficult to draw breath though such desperate emotions tend to make lying easy. “My price is high.”
    “Smart girl.”
    “I’ll open the channel, and say what’s got to be said. And you’ll make sure I live, and your friend pays me equal to what you’re getting, minus crew and material expenses.”
    “Done.”
    “Get me my suit helmet. Locator makes the connection.”
    “Not yet, but soon. I have them dose you up to keep the pain bearable, and keep your head clear. Won’t be long.”
    Petra keeps her voice steady. “What happened to my crew?”
    He shrugs, smile never wavering. “They’re alive… for now. They’re aboard our other ship, which will come in and extract us after we’ve met our objectives at BIOSTAT. The extract ship has taken a different route to obscure our full presence on the SAT system, but they’ll arrive at the extract time and provide whatever support is needed. We put your crew on that ship, and they’ll be safely returned to you at the end of this operation.”
    Lies… Petra returns her gaze to the ceiling, knowing what men like this bring with them, knowing what their promises are worth, and how it ends. She’s been at the mercy of such before, men who’ve got the coldest hearts, and the brightest smiles, men who will deceive the dying just to get one more ‘favor’, one more concession out of those they’re busy killing in one way or another.
    Of course, the deal to call Voss is false on both sides, because she’s going to use that connection to warn the colonel of exactly what’s