(eng) Mike Shepherd - Jump Universe 02 by The Price of Peace

Author:The Price of Peace [Peace, The Price of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Eight

ELIE HAD A nice office at the ministry, a tad too neat for Izzy's taste, maybe running a bit too much to old marble and plush carpets, but nice. "How'd you get these digs?"

"Unity tossed the previous owners out. We took over when they vacated the lease. Someday, I'll have to do some-ning about all the cold marble. Put in real workstations, not these old antiques. We get by."

Elie showed them next door to an even bigger office, then through several more doors until they found themselves in a small lunchroom. There were plastic-wrapped sandwiches and bottles of soda on the table. "Nothing fancy today," Elie said, taking a seat. "We have work to do."

A woman came in, just beginning to show her pregnancy. She talked rapidly with the big man whom Izzy identified only as the toy/spy guy. Mr. Nuu and a half dozen others filed in behind them. Nuu, the woman, and the spy took places at the table; others settled into chairs against the wall. The last two in carried armfuls of printed reports. They distributed them, then, lacking seats, just stood.

"This may take a while," the pregnant woman said. "Rustle yourselves up some chairs." In a moment, the two returned with mismatched chairs and settled in. The woman spoke a moment longer with the man Izzy still had no name for; then, scowling, she closed a folder and looked at Izzy.

"Excuse the informality, Captain, I'm Rita Nuu-Longknife. I once was a ship driver too—transports in the recent war. You've met my father, who's footing the bill for updating that wreck you brought in. In my husband's absence, I've been designated minister without portfolio. Which means I get all of the headaches and he'll have the fun of answering to Parliament when he gets back." Izzy caught the slight inflection on the "when." Not if... when. As important as the Patton and the pirates were to Izzy, she suspected Rita had a higher priority. "My friend here"— apparently even Rita had no name for the spy guy—"has damn near closed the planet's net down to get your files hacked. It appears that he has. Spill it." The large man nodded to a slim woman, who rose from her chair along the wall, plugged a large comm unit into the lunchroom table, and hit a button. The wall in front of Izzy came to life, and the briefing began. "I am Tru Seyd, chief of information warfare. I won't bore you

with the infinite amount of fun this cryptographic problem gave my team. It suffices to say that we started reading these files on Tuesday."

"Tuesday," Izzy interrupted. "Hold it. You promised me as soon as you knew anything, I'd know it. You kept me in the dark for forty-eight hours!" Work on the ship was going fine, but Izzy was still looking for the rub in this setup. She was a long way from trusting these folks enough to break orbit with a ship full of drop troops. As of this moment, her trust was zero.

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