Deep Shallows by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2020-09-25T22:00:00+00:00

5

There was never a more inconvenient time to get an itch on your nose than when your hands are bound behind your back. Wilco could ignore it no longer, so he pressed his face to Bigby’s shoulder, hoping to pressure would push his mask against his nose and relieve his discomfort.

The nearest of Mr. Grey’s operatives kicked Wilco in the chest. “Get back!”

Wilco wheezed and fought to catch his breath. “Just looking for some relief.”

“Hope I helped,” the operative said.

Despite his arrogance, the man had helped. The scuffle offered Wilco the cover he needed to fall back on the splinter of metal he’d spied on the floor minutes earlier. The operatives had shuffled all the crates out of the way, but they neglected to clean with the eye of a man held captive. Through those eyes, any scrap is a potential tool. He palmed the shard.

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” Mao asked Mr. Grey.

“Captain Taliesin Mao,” Mr. Grey answered. “Revered captain of the United Navy. A man disappointingly lacking in foresight.”

“Not us,” Mao shot back. “The people you sold us out to.”

“Admiral Shay Ayala.” Mr. Grey’s mouth turned up in a delighted smile. “I must say, I’ve been in this business for decades, brokered deals between pirates and businessmen. I even negotiated a labor contract for some frontier schoolteachers once. But to be offered a contract by the Navy top brass to sabotage its own parley… That one surprised me.”

“Because Ayala isn’t Navy anymore,” Mao said. “She’s…something else. She’s been corrupted.”

Mr. Grey’s smile widened. “Corrupt people are my best customers.”

Wilco felt a tug in his gut and heard a whisper in the back of his mind. The Void was near. An operative whispered in Mr. Grey’s ear. His smile tightened into a straight line. “Watch them,” he said of the captives. The door slid open and shut again behind Mr. Grey as he left. Three guards remained to watch the Navy and Byers prisoners.

“Whatever internal strife you’ve brought me into,” Amelia said, “I don’t appreciate it.”

“As I said,” Mao repeated. “The Royal Blue is no longer under Navy control.”

“And neither is your admiral? I find that hard to believe.”

“And I find it hard to believe that you would be sent as the Byers representative to this parley without having been briefed on some of the details of what happened at Central,” Mao said. “It’s understood that your father has an extensive intelligence network. I’m sure he has a few paid eyes and ears inside the Navy.”

Amelia did not refute the accusation.

“Perhaps we could continue the parley portion of this affair once we are not being held at blaster point?” Wilco said.

Mao clenched his jaw and stared at Wilco like he was trying to see through his mask and read his scarred face. When the attempt failed, he relented, offering a silent nod of approval.

Wilco stood, pressing his knees together. The guards immediately aimed their blasters at his chest. “I feel compelled to inform you that, if

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.