Collision: Book Four in the Secret World Chronicle - eARC by Mercedes Lackey & Veronica Giguere & Cody Martin & Dennis Lee

Author:Mercedes Lackey & Veronica Giguere & Cody Martin & Dennis Lee [Lackey, Mercedes & Giguere, Veronica & Martin, Cody & Lee, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2014-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Start Shootin’

Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin

Red Saviour lit up a cigarette and scowled as it went out. She knew better than to try again. That nekulturny meta that ECHO kept around to prevent her from smoking in the building was hard at work. All he could do was to detect and extinguish very small fires within a limited range, mere sparks or coals, really. If she ever found out which room they kept that person in, she’d have…choice words to share with him.

Foiled of her ability to chain-smoke, she yanked open the door to Bella Parker’s office, brushing past the receptionist and reaching for the door to the inner office with every intent to slam it open. But she was foiled in that, as well, as the door slid smoothly open at her approach. This did not improve her temper.

Nor did the fact that Parker finished whatever she was reading and signed it, before looking up. “Commissar, so pleased you could drop in,” she said dryly. “You know the door is always open to you.”

“And you, Blue Girl. Too busy being petty bureaucrat with desk and papers as of late? I see more of Motherland here every day.”

Her attempt to administer unto the head of ECHO an equal amount of the irritation she had received since entering the doors was met with yet more frustration. “Why, Commissar, I thought that Soviet bureaucracy was the height of modern efficiency,” Bella drawled. “And actually, what I just finished signing was that requisition form for the CCCP—more of those incendiary shells your people designed and we are manufacturing. I took the liberty of doubling what you asked for, because as soon as we find the location of the Thulian HQ, I’ve always thought that ‘too much ammunition is never enough.’”

Natalya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she wished hard for a cigarette right then. “Da, da, fine. Is good. But you bring matter to table; finding the base of operations for fascista. What efforts are being made?”

Now Bella dropped the pretense of serenity and allowed Saviour to see the strain on her face. “Every effort. The problem is we have conflicting evidence for locations, and every damn one of them is even more inaccessible than the North American HQ was. The only place we haven’t got a loc indicator for is, ironically enough, Siberia. Either you sturdy Russkis have always been damned good at keeping them out, or they were never there in the first place.” She sighed. “We’re trying to find them with satellites and spy-planes, but so far, no joy.”

“Why are you not sending physical scouting parties?” Saviour demanded.

“One—” Bella retorted, holding up a finger, “We don’t have the personnel. If we send conventional troops, that means letting the country in question know we’re wanting to go snooping, and that means a high potential for leaks. We can’t send metas because we don’t have enough. Two—” she held up a second finger, “Even if we could send metas,

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