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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] neither with any expression. Lights flickered on Turner's biomech body, probably in response to signals he exchanged with Alpha. Neither of them moved. Suddenly Turner relaxed and Alpha's posture became more natural. "Well?" Raze asked. "He is Charon," Alpha said. The other guard had an odd look, as if he didn't know whether to swear or laugh. "He doesn't act like Hud." "This one is an upgraded version." "Upgraded?" "Yes." "Upgraded how?" Alpha shrugged. "Personality modifications." Raze squinted at her. "But he's our employer?" "Yes." Now that Alpha had made her determination, she changed as easily as if she had thrown a switch in her brain. "That is correct." Raze laughed uneasily. "This has to be the strangest job I've ever taken." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Sam watched Turner, unsure what to think. His face was heartbreakingly human, a strange contrast to his limbs. She stepped around Hud's body, biting her lip when she saw how badly Turner had broken him. When she stood next to Turner, looking up, she was aware of his greater height, even more now that the NIA had worked on him, over six feet, no longer the man she had met on her beach. "Sam " He touched her cheek with what had once been his index finger and now was a flexible ridged cable twice that length, with five joints. She couldn't ask if he had truly become Charon. He couldn't say no, not with the mercenaries listening, and she didn't want to hear him say yes. Instead she asked, "What did Hud mean by 'Newcastle was wrong'?" Turner lowered his arm. "I don't know." She glanced at Thomas. "Do you?" "I've no idea," he said. "General Wharington," Turner said. "Can your people take us to a safe house?" "Are you turning yourself in?" Thomas asked. "I'm willing to bargain," Turner said. "Bargain for what?" Thomas asked. "My rights." Turner indicated Alpha. "Hers. All formas." A sultry smile curved Alpha's lips as she looked over Thomas. "I'll take you, too." Sam would have liked to throttle her. Seeing Thomas's alarm, though, she almost smiled. She had known him to face any number of military or political threats without the flick of an eyelash, but Alpha was an entirely different story. Sam could guess what Hud had programmed her for, including a predilection for well-built military types like himself. Sam couldn't fault her taste where Thomas was concerned, but if Alpha touched him, Sam would break both her legs. Thomas focused on Turner. "You said 'bargain.' What do you offer?" "A whole new world, General." Turner raised his hand as if offering an invitation. "Come live on Sunrise Alley." XXI Dawn Sam hadn't put on a business suit in so long, she felt like an alien. Its silk skirt, blouse, and jacket were all woven with discreet mesh-threads that monitored her body temperature, smoothed wrinkles, and could even pick up email. Her high heels had chips that monitored her feet, supposedly so they could Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html alter the shape of her shoes if her feet hurt. It did no good; she still detested the things. But they were part of the whole image, so she endured them. She had swept her hair up into a French roll. Of course tendrils of it had wisped out and were curling around her face. Nothing she did ever stayed neat. Thomas walked with her through the Pentagon, his uniform crisp and fresh, his stars gleaming. She didn't know how he managed to remain so precise all the time. The two days since Charon's death had been a haze of meetings, debriefing, and sleep for Sam. They stopped outside the double doors of a conference room. Thomas watched her with concern. "You're sure you're all right with this?" "I'm okay." She rested her palm on the closed door. Her visit to Thomas's office a few days ago had been her first time at the Pentagon since her father's death. Years ago, at the funeral, she had found it hard to speak with the other officers, though they had given him every honor and treated her with sympathy. She rarely came to D.C. these days. Her father would never have wanted her to feel this anger, but it had stayed with her. She raged against a world where men and women died in wars, declared or undeclared. For all that she had admired his dedication, she had never come to terms with his loss. She stared at the gold doors. "It disappointed him that I had so much trouble accepting his career. He always hoped I would attend the Air Force Academy." "Sam, listen." Thomas drew her around to look at him. "Don't you know? He was so proud of you, I thought he would burst. He would have been happy with any choice you made, as long as you believed it was the right one." Her eyes were hot with unshed tears. "I never had a chance to tell him what he meant to me." At least when her husband had died, she had been with him, holding him. She had said good-bye. Thomas squeezed her shoulder. "He knew." Sam wished that she could cry for her father, that she could release the grief that had penned her emotions for so long. But the hurt was too big. If she let it go, she feared she would never pull herself together again. With a breath to steady herself, she opened the big doors. A conference room stretched out before them, the long table down its center glistening with mesh screens. Glossy holoscreens paneled the walls, discreet swirls of black and dark gold. General Chang sat at the far end of the table. Gray streaked the black hair pulled back from her face, more gray than Sam remembered from the last time they had met. Members of Chang's staff sat on both sides of the table, filling the room with blue uniforms, metal stars, oak leaves, eagles, and bars. Thomas took his seat at the other end while Sam went to a chair on one side. A surprise. The familiar surge of pain didn't come. These past few days had put her grief in more perspective. Her father had died doing a job he believed in; it was her job to live for what she believed in and that included her business here. She had needed her retreat on the beach to heal from these last few years, and she would undoubtedly need it again someday. But perhaps the time had come to stop hiding in the redwoods, to go back, to tackle the issues of her life's work anew. General Chang spoke. "You've all been briefed on what to expect. Suffice it to say that what happens in this room today could affect all human life and the future of our species." She smiled ruefully. "No Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html pressure, ladies and gentlemen, no pressure." As a scattering of laughs went around the table, Sam blinked. She hadn't expected humor, though when [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |