Tritium Gambit (Max and Miranda Book 1) Read Free

Texas, and we’re deploying primary and secondary agents to engage hostiles tonight.”
    “ Yes, sir!” Level nine, I thought! In the four years that I’d been with the Service, there had never been a level nine incident. I’ll bet we get to use the cool toys to handle this one.
    “ We’ll be dispatching two teams in Raptor Sixes armed with Archer III Stingers deployed via the Space Curve Rail. Each agent will be equipped with Wolverine Two-Eighties and Rayshark body armor. However, I’m not sending you.” He paused as he continued his study of the display panels.
    “ What?”
    “ There’s been a ping in northern Minnesota, and I’m sending you in to investigate.”
    “ But Sir…”
    “ Your mission coordinator will brief you. I need somebody who can handle the Minnesota case without assistance. Unfortunately, all I have is you,” he said. “So, this is the plan: get your ass to Minnesota.”
    “ Sir, I could help in Texas and then go to Minnesota.”
    “ Listen, Agent Maximus. We exist to squash problems before they squash the pitiful little humans going about their ordinary lives unaware of the aliens on their planet. If the humans knew how precarious their situation is from day to day, how near doom they are each and every day, they sure as hell wouldn’t worry about whether their neighbor had a nicer Audi or whether their next TV should be plasma or LCD. That’s what they are supposed to be doing, going about their days without a care in the world beyond the utterly mundane. It’s our job to keep them thus oblivious. We let the humans grow at their own pace as a race until they are ready to join the Intergalactic Alliance or they destroy themselves.”
    “ What does that have to do with Texas, Sir?” I asked.
    “ Nothing, but it has everything to do with Minnesota. I dispatch resources to keep the dirty apes on this planet glued to Dancing with the Stars instead of worrying about the future, and frankly, I don’t have to explain my decisions to you. That is all, Agent Maximus.” He sniffed the air again. “Oh, and take a shower.”
    I stood my ground for a second, fighting the temptation to argue, but I knew there was no sense arguing. I wouldn’t get to use the cool toys after all, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d end up in the mess hall cleaning pots instead of investigating pings. At least I got to do this next mission my way. I never liked having teammates underfoot. Then it occurred to me that maybe that’s why Johnson was sending me to Minnesota, because he knew how I hated having a teammate mess things up, get burned to a crisp, or even get smelly.
    As I approached the only door in the command center, it opened extremely sluggishly. AIs can be so temperamental, I thought. I headed for the hangar to find Wendy and get the details of my assignment. I tried to look at the bright side. I wasn’t just an agent in charge. This was a solo mission! I had always thought Johnson didn’t like my methods and the way I bent the rules, but maybe he was starting to like my results. Maybe I was wrong about him.
    When I came to the Hall of Remembrance, where the pictures of fallen agents decorate the walls, I found my parents’ pictures like I always did when in this part of the compound. My mother had olive skin and bright green eyes. On top of her head, where humans have hair, she had small triangular plates growing on her skin. When she wore a wig, anyone would mistake her for a beautiful human woman. My father looked entirely human—because he was. He had brown hair, like me, and piercing blue eyes that missed nothing. He was muscular but not intimidating, and his smile implicated his whole face. I brushed the top of their picture frames to make sure no dust had accumulated since my last visit. None had.
    I examined the ring on my middle finger. My parents had given it to me when I was young, and I wore it on a gold chain around my neck until I was big enough to put it on a finger. The