Disgardium - 05 by Dan Sugralinov

Author:Dan Sugralinov [Sugralinov, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B08S65V188
Goodreads: 58046600
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: 2020-08-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 13: A Hundred Million— Going Once!

MORNING CAME and my comm beeped out an alarm—the security system back at the apartment had gone off. There were three of them, all in holographic masks. The robbers didn’t take anything, judging by the stream from the security cameras. They just searched the apartment, checked the capsules and left before the police arrived.

Everyone except Pollyanna woke to the alarm’s whine. I whispered to the others what had happened, answered a worried call from my parents, and then there was no time to get back to sleep.

Hairo boiled some water, made everyone coffee. Freeze-dried, not exactly tasty, but still better than nothing. Any coffee is good coffee when you can’t remember the last time you slept the night through. Hairo saw me struggling, offered me an orange cardboard pack about as long as my finger. One word was written on it: ‘Booster.’

“Tear off the top and drink. It’ll give you energy and clarity of mind for around six hours, but there’ll be a harsh comedown.”

I downed it and felt better almost right away. While we drank coffee and made plans for the day, Hairo showed me a dossier of the people he wanted to hire.

“I served with them all in the Peacekeepers. We can rely on them.

They’re all free right now and have given preliminary agreement. I haven’t told them the details, of course. Sergei Yuferov, engineer extraordinaire, master of fortifications and defensive structures. Suggested contract: two hundred thousand a year. Yoshihiru Uematsu. I’ve told you about him before. He knows just as much about defenses, only digital instead of physical. He’ll be more expensive than Sergei by around fifty thousand. Maria Saar and Roj van Garderen will be bodyguards. I insist on the last two, and it’s only three hundred thousand for both.”

“Bodyguards? For me?”

I expected jokes from the boys, but none came. My friends were listening carefully and staying serious. Hung even nodded along, agreeing with Hairo, who sighed and began to explain things to me with exaggerated calm as if talking to a grown child.

“You’re one of the most famous people in the world now, Alex. I don’t know if you know it, but not only millions of people are watching you; billions are. You have the power to turn Dis on its head, and everyone is trying to figure out what to expect from you and how all this will affect them. You can destroy entire countries in Dis, or make your own state, bring the noncitizens to the Sleepers, monopolize the markets, not just for ore, but for other resources too. And whatever you do, it’s going to affect everyone; from the bottom to the top of the leaderboard. If you think the Alliance will play fair against you, think again. I know their methods, and they’re dirty. Dirtier than you can imagine. And what the preventer leaders said today is total crap. Just a line to calm down the community. If something happens, Snowstorm won’t be able to prove anything.

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