Tritium Gambit (Max and Miranda Book 1) Read Free Page A

inscription was comprised of two elegant symbols from the Rigenerare language that translate as: “Always Together.” My mother knew the risks of being an agent and wanted to make sure we were never completely separated.
    I touched the ring and my mother and father sprang into being near me, holograms that I couldn’t touch but that looked real enough to be them, so real that I sometimes forgot they were memories.
    “ Maximus!” my mother said. Her arms opened to embrace me, but then she gave me a small smile and let her insubstantial arms fall to her sides.
    My father beamed at me. “You’re looking good. We haven’t seen you for some time.”
    “ I’ve been busy,” I said. I kept my voice even so I didn’t play up the news. “I have my first solo mission.”
    “ That’s great, son! Soon you’ll be a great agent, just like your mother,” my father said.
    “ Harold!” my mother gave him a light slug on the arm. “We’re a team! I only made it this far because you were at my side.”
    I couldn’t bear to mention that they hadn’t really made it this far, that they were only holograms. I looked back at the wall that held their pictures. They had double golden stars on either side of their names, the distinction of being Special Agents, the élite group that took on the toughest investigations and dealt with the greatest threats. I didn’t know how they died, and I wondered, if they were the best, why weren’t they still with me in flesh and blood? Unfortunately, their holograms were made before their final mission and had as little idea as I did how their lives ended. The only information I received was a condolence letter from the Service explaining that they died bravely and on duty.
    I turned back to them. “Anyway, I’m about to leave, and I thought you’d like to hear the news.”
    “ Great work,” my mother said. “Make us proud!”
    “ I will, Mom,” I said. I reached for my ring to turn them off.
    “ Don’t wait so long to talk to us, son,” my dad said.
    “ We love you,” my mother said.
    “ I love you, too.” I tapped the ring and they were gone.
    When I walked into the hangar, Wendy was inspecting the engine on an old prop plane. She was slender with straight blond hair she wore perpetually in a ponytail. I noted that her jumpsuit had grease smudges on the front when she turned toward me as I approached. I met Wendy my first day in the Service and had learned to respect her—if for no other reason than she was part-Teslian and could run a strong electrical current through her hand capable of knocking out most people for an hour. She had given me a personal demonstration that first day. I woke up twenty minutes later, but I’m a quick healer. Now that I think of it, maybe that’s the reason that, in the past four years, I was the last person to mention how pleasant her curves are. It wasn’t that she didn’t deserve the compliment, but I don’t think anybody else was brave enough to note her exceptional shape out loud.
    I was a little distracted by said curves when I heard the feminine clearing of a throat behind me. I turned and found a woman with a glowing smile, bright blue eyes, and dark hair in tight waves held in a bun. Strands of hair escaped the bun, but it only made her look more attractive. Her skin was fair with traces of freckles.
    I held out my hand, hoping she wasn’t Teslian. She shook my hand firmly without, fortunately, shocking me to death.
    “ Agent Maximus?” she asked.
    Her smile was so powerful that it was contagious. “Please call me Max, and you are?”
    “ Agent Miranda. I’m your partner on the Minnesota assignment.”
    “ Partner?” My smile faltered, and not just because I felt Wendy’s hand on my shoulder.
    “ I have your credentials here,” Wendy said. “Max Anderson, 24, and your girlfriend Miranda Smith, 22.” She handed us each an envelope.
    Miranda opened her envelope immediately, but I simply stared at Wendy and frowned.