Robot Blues Read Free Page A

“Always got to have their little secrets.”
    “That’s where you found
Dalin Rowan, wasn’t it, Xris?” Amadi said. “That’s where he was hiding. You
found him and you were going to kill him, weren’t you? But he talked his way
out of it. He was the one told you about Armstrong.”
    Xris had to phrase
this next question carefully. Deep inside, he was doing a little exulting, but
he needed to make sure he was right. He took out another twist, took it out of
a golden cigarette case that had the Royal Seal embossed on it. A gift, from
His Majesty, from the first time Xris had done the king a favor.
    “You got it all
wrong, Amadi. I heard about Armstrong from a gypsy fortune-teller. She saw it
in my cards. As to Dalin Rowan, you guys gave him his new identity. I would
have thought you would have kept tabs on him.”
    “We gave him a new
identity to protect him from the Hung. After he testified at the trial, he was
supposed to take his new ID and disappear.”
    Xris leaned back
in the seat, folded his arms. “Let me guess what happened after that—Dalin
Rowan took a new ID, all right, only it wasn’t the one you had fixed up for
him. His disappearing act was for real. Hell, you can’t blame him, Amadi. You
know the Hung. Dalin Rowan all but destroyed them. He put their top men in
prison. He bankrupted their operations. If there’s one person in the universe
the Hung—or what’s left of them—would like to see hanging in a Corasian meat
locker, it’s Dalin Rowan. And yes, the Hung leaders are stashed away on some
penal planet, and yes, they don’t have any cash, but that won’t stop them—”
    “It isn’t stopping
them, Xris,” Amadi said quietly.
    “They have cash,
apparently. Reserve funds we didn’t know about. Their people are still on those
penal colonies, but you and I both know that guards and supply ship captains
can be bribed, that orders and money and drugs and God knows what all flow in
and out of those places. And you know something else, Xris.” Amadi eyed him. “If
we know you have access to Dalin Rowan, the Hung know it, too.”
    “How?” Xris’s lip
curled around the twist. “Got a few more traitors left in the department?”
    “Damn it, Xris!”
Amadi slammed his hand on the steering mechanism with enough force to rock the
vehic. “We need to talk to Dalin Rowan! He’s got information we can use. He’s
bound to know where the Hung kept those reserve accounts. Either that or he can
go through the old files, track the information down. It’s there. It has to be there. We just missed it the first time around.”
    “Sorry, Amadi,”
Xris said coolly. “It’s been years since I’ve seen Dalin Rowan. I guess you’ll
have to crack the Hung on your own.”
    Amadi was grim. “You
think you can protect him, Xris? Think again. You’re good. But you’re not as
good as the Hung. They have the money, the manpower, the resources. Bear
Olefsky’s Wolf Brigade won’t be there to rescue you the next time. Rowan’ll
never know what hit him. We’re his only hope.”
    Xris glanced at
his watch. “Been nice seeing you again, Amadi, but I’ve got to go. I’m going to
be late for my appointment as it is. Are you going to keep following me? If so,
I can make it easy for you. I’ll mail you my itinerary for the next few weeks.”
    He put his hand on
the latch, found it was locked. “Open the door, Amadi. Unless you want me to
kick it open.” Reaching down, Xris pulled up his pants leg, revealed gleaming
steel. “If I use this leg to kick open that door, you won’t have much of a
door.”
    Amadi pushed a
button. The latch clicked.
    “I could make
things tough for you, Xris.”
    “You could,” Xris
conceded, “but you won’t. I just might happen to bump into Dalin Rowan on the
sidewalk one day.” He opened the door, climbed out. “If I were you, I’d go back
to collecting my pension.”
    He slammed the
door shut, waited on the sidewalk for Amadi to drive away.
    Amadi didn’t