platter? In case you missed the fine print, Ursula, we're sending you out there to kill this guy for dealing A. What the hell makes you think we have any here, or that we'd let you keep his stash?"
"Because I'm the best damn covert you've got, and the only one who has a chance of finding the guy. And, because you know I won't deal. Look, the headaches have eased off, some, but my head still hurts like a bitch. I need the pills. I know you have some, and you need me. Otherwise, I go back to the wall for a few more days."
Teeth clenched, the commander leaned forward. "I can make it so you stay on the wall a lot longer." His voice held the heat of his anger, but his eyes lacked conviction.
"You could, but I won't be so particular about who I shoot. I know those two idiots in the box with me will meet with an...unfortunate accident. As will others."
Dex stood. "She's right, Commander. I need her, and I've got no problem with her...unusual request for compensation."
As Hadrian's right-hand man, Dex outranked the commander, and his approval settled the matter. Out of bluster, the commander relaxed and leaned back in his chair. "Damn." He pointed a finger at her. "You get it from Dex. Make sure you keep it hidden, and if you're caught with the shit, I'll lock you up myself."
"And my release?" She pasted an innocent look on her face and coated the request in her sweetest voice.
He swiveled to face the computer beside him, connected a thin wire to the port in his neck, and in a few seconds her release spit out of the slot. Without bothering to remove the wire, he took a gold pen from its holder and signed the slip of paper. He scanned it into the mainframe, barked orders, and her new identification and pass slid out of the port.
"There." He shoved the card and documents across the desk. "Dex, get her the hell outta here, and the next time you come back, you'd better have the dealer's head on a pike."
Dex turned, and faster than she'd imagined he could move, pulled her to her feet and took hold of her elbow, not allowing her a chance to make any smartass remarks. "Thank you, Commander, for your time and assistance. Ursula." He picked up the file, ushered her to the door. "I'll give you the details on the ride into the city."
With the door closed behind them, Ursula pulled her arm free of his grasp. "What about my A?"
He kept walking. "Already in the car."
She waited until they were safely seated in Dex's vehicle and on their way before asking the important question. "So, why did you really pull me off the wall? I know a bogus file when I see one, even if the Commander doesn't."
"It's not completely false. He is a dealer, and not just A. If you want something, weapons, ammunition, drugs, any kind of contraband, Niko can get it for you. Charges out the ass for it, but he doesn't deliver knock-offs or low quality merchandise. Tonight is his last drug delivery because the supply of A is dwindling. He knows part of what's happening, though. Guy's got a brain like a frickin' computer."
"Why isn't he working for Palisade? I thought they snatched anyone who was a halfway decent hacker. The geek types make great controllers. Present company excepted, of course." No one would ever describe the man sitting next to her as a geek.
"Of course." Dex smiled at her, and not the usual "I'm humoring you" kind. "Palisade tried to recruit him, a little too hard and a little too enthusiastically. I think that's when he started putting the pieces together. The A, the rumors. A lot of his former clients are on the verge of total brainwave transformation."
On the street, the mech gangs called a failed transformation a "brain blast." Probably a good description. She'd seen it once while in training. Palisade had upped the wattage on the Sentinel energy web early in the morning, and by the afternoon a pink cast coated the sky. The poor guy had spent about thirty minutes on the firing range, hitting the death shot every time. She was a couple of
"Because I'm the best damn covert you've got, and the only one who has a chance of finding the guy. And, because you know I won't deal. Look, the headaches have eased off, some, but my head still hurts like a bitch. I need the pills. I know you have some, and you need me. Otherwise, I go back to the wall for a few more days."
Teeth clenched, the commander leaned forward. "I can make it so you stay on the wall a lot longer." His voice held the heat of his anger, but his eyes lacked conviction.
"You could, but I won't be so particular about who I shoot. I know those two idiots in the box with me will meet with an...unfortunate accident. As will others."
Dex stood. "She's right, Commander. I need her, and I've got no problem with her...unusual request for compensation."
As Hadrian's right-hand man, Dex outranked the commander, and his approval settled the matter. Out of bluster, the commander relaxed and leaned back in his chair. "Damn." He pointed a finger at her. "You get it from Dex. Make sure you keep it hidden, and if you're caught with the shit, I'll lock you up myself."
"And my release?" She pasted an innocent look on her face and coated the request in her sweetest voice.
He swiveled to face the computer beside him, connected a thin wire to the port in his neck, and in a few seconds her release spit out of the slot. Without bothering to remove the wire, he took a gold pen from its holder and signed the slip of paper. He scanned it into the mainframe, barked orders, and her new identification and pass slid out of the port.
"There." He shoved the card and documents across the desk. "Dex, get her the hell outta here, and the next time you come back, you'd better have the dealer's head on a pike."
Dex turned, and faster than she'd imagined he could move, pulled her to her feet and took hold of her elbow, not allowing her a chance to make any smartass remarks. "Thank you, Commander, for your time and assistance. Ursula." He picked up the file, ushered her to the door. "I'll give you the details on the ride into the city."
With the door closed behind them, Ursula pulled her arm free of his grasp. "What about my A?"
He kept walking. "Already in the car."
She waited until they were safely seated in Dex's vehicle and on their way before asking the important question. "So, why did you really pull me off the wall? I know a bogus file when I see one, even if the Commander doesn't."
"It's not completely false. He is a dealer, and not just A. If you want something, weapons, ammunition, drugs, any kind of contraband, Niko can get it for you. Charges out the ass for it, but he doesn't deliver knock-offs or low quality merchandise. Tonight is his last drug delivery because the supply of A is dwindling. He knows part of what's happening, though. Guy's got a brain like a frickin' computer."
"Why isn't he working for Palisade? I thought they snatched anyone who was a halfway decent hacker. The geek types make great controllers. Present company excepted, of course." No one would ever describe the man sitting next to her as a geek.
"Of course." Dex smiled at her, and not the usual "I'm humoring you" kind. "Palisade tried to recruit him, a little too hard and a little too enthusiastically. I think that's when he started putting the pieces together. The A, the rumors. A lot of his former clients are on the verge of total brainwave transformation."
On the street, the mech gangs called a failed transformation a "brain blast." Probably a good description. She'd seen it once while in training. Palisade had upped the wattage on the Sentinel energy web early in the morning, and by the afternoon a pink cast coated the sky. The poor guy had spent about thirty minutes on the firing range, hitting the death shot every time. She was a couple of
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