Siege Protocol: The Separatist Wars: Book 3 by Thomas Webb

Author:Thomas Webb [Webb, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Valiant House Press
Published: 2021-02-27T22:00:00+00:00

-15-

Silvio Lima had never been one to screw around.

From the killer instinct he displayed at the futbol camps when he was younger, all the way through his years at university. Those same qualities followed him, naturally, into his recruitment and tenure with the UNIA.

They further developed with his work for Cynthia all those years. Conducting interplanetary paramilitary operations, assassinations, and cultivating galactic intelligence assets—if you could think of a dirty job, Silvio Lima had done it. Then, the Separatist Wars happened.

In all that time, Silvio had always considered himself a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy. Not that it hadn’t cost him. One very brief, very failed marriage was part of that cost. The love had been sufficient to make the marriage work, but the time had not. No time for his spouse, no time to have the children she’d wanted. It was the missions that took precedence. Always the missions. Always the United Nations and the interests of Earth, above everything. Lima had made his choices. Making choices and not having regrets, however, were two vastly different things.

Karl didn’t bother to knock on the office door. He simply walked in, interrupting Silvio’s memories. He and Karl went too far back for simple courtesies like knocking. After all the newly installed protocols at the outer gate, the hangar deck, and in the hanger itself, knocking on Lima’s office door would have been a moot point anyway.

“Looks like a damn war happened out there,” Karl said, before flopping himself down into the chair on the opposite side of Lima’s desk. Karl grinned. “You mind if I have a seat?”

Lima laughed. “Looks like you already have. And yes—I suppose you could say it was a war, of sorts.”

“Yeah.” Karl pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead. “Damn. I forgot how hot it is down here.” Karl stuffed the soggy handkerchief back in his pocket. “You got anything to drink around this place?”

“Of course.” Lima keyed his comms. “X37—could you bring in some refreshment for our guest, if you please?”

The AI came online in an instant. “Right away, Mr. Lima.”

A moment later the drone came in bearing a tray with a bottle, ice, and two glasses.

X37’s drone beeped online. “Gin on the rocks. Is that correct, Mr. Forsyth?”

“Yeah,” Karl replied, giving X37 the side eye. He watched with suspicion as the drone poured their drinks, then quietly exited. When the AI was gone, Karl took a long swallow of his gin. “That thing is something else,” he said, shaking his head. “Gives me the creeps.” He hooked a thumb toward the door where the drone had exited. “It cost as much as I’ve heard?”

Lima shrugged. “Probably more, with the upgrades.” He thought back to how useful the drone and AI package had been. “It has been worth every credit, though.”

“Yeah.” Karl took another drink. “You’re talking about that thing back on Mios, huh?”

“Definitely,” Lima said.

X37 had saved the lives of the entire team, as well as the KRG operative-turned-journalist Anesu Chewasa. The value of that act alone was incalculable.

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