(eng) Mike Shepherd - Jump Universe 06 by Rita Longknife Enemy in Sight

Author:Rita Longknife Enemy in Sight [Sight, Rita Longknife Enemy in]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

21

Major General Ray Longknife looked around the reception at the Society Embassy, on Savannah and found little had changed. It was a bit more dilapidated. The walls were in greater need of a new coat of paint, the carpet a bit more threadbare. The fake flowers were looking down right droopy.

But no one came here for the decor. They came for the conversation or not at all.

He was in his dress dinner uniform. Rita had made a face and pulled one of her civilian gowns from their wardrobe. “I swear, the men who make woman’s uniforms hate us,” she said, for at least the fiftieth time since they’d met.

Before they’d married, she would have swallowed the issue and worn her uniform; she was so proud to be serving in uniform. Now, she muttered and wore something that left Ray wishing his dinner dress still included a sword he could use to cut it off her.

He could also use it to fight off the civilians who would be enjoying the way Rita’s no longer otherwise employed, but not yet shrunken down to size, breasts filled that gown.

He spotted Becky Graven, the Foreign Service Officer who had been his right hand during the recent unpleasantness on Savannah. Or maybe he’d been her right hand.

It was often hard to tell which way it went when good diplomats worked with good troopers.

“I’m glad to see that you two could make it,” Becky said to the both of them.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Rita lied.

Or did she mean it? Mean that she wasn’t about to let Ray loose around Becky.

It’s nice when the wife’s just a tad jealous, Ray told himself.

“I understand,” Rita went on, “that you have the small ammunition manufacturers here who are suddenly short of ammo. Is there some war in the back hill country that you aren’t telling us about?”

“None that I heard,” Becky said, with the hint of an honest frown. “However, I’ve been told I’m not all that up to date on the latest rumors and intel. They’re shipping someone out from Earth. A Trevor Crossenshield. He’s supposed to be some hot shot in the information management business and now he’s to be our expert at managing what little information we have.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. “Is this new news? I should have thought that with the lack of action by the pirates that the interest from Earth would be simmering down.”

Becky shook her head, sending her carefully coifed short blond hair bouncing. “It was sent out here by a priority message. I understand they poured him into a high-speed courier sloop. He’ll be here in a couple of days.”

“Interesting,” Rita said, intrigued, but not enough to be turned from her main interest. “Now, about those ammo salesmen.”

“Let me introduce you to them,” Becky said, and led Ray and Rita that way.

The men were older than Ray would have expected, say mid-fifties. Becky introduced them as men who had only recently gotten back their family businesses from Unity party thugs who had confiscated them in the recent war.

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