Contract of Defiance by Tammy Salyer

Author:Tammy Salyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9853192-1-2
Publisher: Tammy Salyer

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“Here’s what you’ll do.” Outside of the flight deck window screens, I see nothing but rust-colored rock walls rising from the canyon floor. It must not have been easy to land the Temptation between these tightly abutting cliffs. The cover, however, is excellent. It isn’t the kind of place anyone would happen upon unless they were looking for something, and I know I won’t get far if I try to escape. Damn you, Rajcik. His mind for strategy is probably the most nimble and ruthless I’ve ever seen. The Corps would benefit from having him as their Command General, but the rest of the system would be in serious trouble if that ever happened. As dangerous as he is, it’s best for everyone that he’ll never have that kind of power.

He hands me a disc and continues, “You’re going to take this to Vitruzzi and tell her we’ll be in touch with further instructions.”

“Are these the complete plans?”

He raises a mocking eyebrow at me, daring me to admit that I’d made up any part of the story about Vitruzzi’s crew. If I lied to him about their interest in being involved, this would be my last opportunity to come clean. Not that it would matter. If I admitted to even the smallest attempt to mislead him, he’ll kill me now. Best to say as little as possible. Finally, he answers, “That disc contains everything she needs to know. Except the location.”

“Which you have?” I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me.

Without answering, he gives me a cold look, and says, “Tell Vitruzzi I want to meet. I’ll let her know where and when. Make sure they have the seeds.”

“We don’t have a lot of time, János.”

“I’m aware that there is a sense of urgency on their behalf. However, they’ve waited this long, and as you said, David is probably dead. Is your impatience coming from the fact that you can’t wait to get paid, or is there something else I should know?”

“If you string them along, they may take matters into their own hands.”

“Your job is to stay with them and ensure that doesn’t happen.”

It takes some effort to swallow the golf-ball-sized lump of exasperation lodged in my throat before answering. “Understood.”

“Thompson will take you back to Hell’s Gate. I’m sure you’ll find your way from there.” He flicks on the intercom and orders Thompson to meet me at the Temptation’s transport shuttle.

He turns to leave, but my next question stops him. “When did you have time to go back to Obal 3 and pick up the shuttle?”

His head swivels toward me slowly, the way a cobra rises from a basket. He’s caught and he knows it.

The answer is that he didn’t, couldn’t, have had the time or the opportunity to retrieve the shuttle. If he’d gone back, the Corps would have blasted the Temptation out of the sky. Which means he never sent the shuttle to the rendezvous in the first place, explaining why I couldn’t find it despite following the directions he’d given me.

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