Outsystem (Aeon 14) by M. D. Cooper

Author:M. D. Cooper [Cooper, M. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-07-02T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

STELLAR DATE: 3227241 / 10.15.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)

LOCATION: District 4A1, Ring 4, Callisto Orbital Habitat (Cho)

REGION: Jovian Combine, Sol Space Federation

Trist cautiously slipped down the service corridor, her silsuit a matte grey that matched the bulkheads around her. She was looking for a good place to hide so that she could look over her find in private. A vertical stack of environmental tubes filled part of the passage ahead, and she crouched down in the gloom they created.

The find was a bundle of plas sheets. Rare to see such a manifest printed out, but some people did like the tactile sensation. She flipped through the multilayer holoplas with care, making certain to focus on each layer of each page in its entirety. It took several minutes to scan the sheets into memory and transcribe them. Once it was in her memory she assimilated it as data and the information was in the forefront of her mind, filtered into a relational structure.

Slipping a small EM charge from a hidden pocket she fried the sheets and dropped them down a crack between the conduit and the deck. Someone would find them eventually, but it would be too late to do anything—even if the information on them could be recovered.

Sue, Trist’s AI, was running through the lists of equipment and storage locations in the data and pulled out several choice items, flashing them over Trist’s vision.

<Well that sure looks like it made this little jaunt worth it.>

<I’d say so,> Sue replied. <We could make enough money to get all of the upgrades both of us want for once.> <We’re going to need help,> Trist said.

<You’re thinking Jesse, aren’t you?>

<I am; she can handle anything I can’t manage, and we’ll need a hand with some of the bigger items.> <Well, we had better go get her. If we wait too long she’ll be on her nightly binge and we’ll miss our window.> Trist rose and left the narrow service passage, taking a few convoluted turns before ending up on a larger concourse. As she walked, the corridors transitioned from deserted to being packed with people and maglev carriers. The utilitarian halls had also given way to the wider boulevards, their walls covered in tarnished filigree—though it was nearly impossible to spot behind all of the holo advertisements that wrapped them.

She looked down at the form-fitting grey outfit and decided it just wouldn’t do. A thought changed its color to a mixture of black and pink, raised the heel on the boots and added a short skirt. The neckline plunged and the fabric ruffled, creating a second layer that formed a jacket.

<Much better, a girl has to look her best.>

<You worry too much about clothing.>

<I don’t know why I even talk to you sometimes. Clothing is everything!>

“Mod freak.”

She almost didn’t catch the muttered words from a man who walked by. He was already past, but she made a rude gesture anyway. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t get the pretty mods and that her left eye was a mass of lenses and actuators.

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