Firestorm by Jay Aspen

Author:Jay Aspen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, dystopian, romance, strong female lead, teamwork, political, psychic, post apocalyptic, corporations, ecology
Publisher: Sandfire Publishing Ltd
Published: 2019-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

18

“Well, Colonel Parry, it appears we have a problem.”

Parry avoided a direct reply, wondering which particular problem President Moris might be referring to. Sending in Raine’s team to pull people away from the market? Unofficial review of Burton’s forged pathology report? Or indeed any of a dozen other incidents from the last few days, including conversations with a known outlaw. One careless slip and Burton would take smug satisfaction in serving him up to Moris in return for another step up the promotion ladder.

No doubt that is precisely what he’s just done...

Parry looked around the lavishly furnished presidential office with its backlit pearl-glass walls and deep pile crimson carpet, wondering why Moris had bothered summoning him here if the plan was simply to arrest him.

The last time he had been here, ten years ago, Moris had been surrounded by an entourage of security guards and secretaries so he could make a public example of the nonconformist colonel whose career he was wrecking with a few well-chosen words.

This time, the security detail was parked outside the heavy door and no one else was present in the oversized room. An arrangement that suggested a heavy dose of plausible deniability would probably be attached to the coming conversation.

Parry had remained standing outside the building for several minutes before walking in, gazing at its ornamented, floodlit bulk and the oversized golden dome that gave it its name, wondering why the presidential palace was quite so hideous or whether it was just his personal associations with what it stood for.

Or maybe just its power to make his life extremely miserable and probably short if this meeting went the way he suspected it might.

“In fact, we have several problems.” Moris reached out a pale manicured hand and flipped a switch, bringing the enormous wall screen to life.

Parry snapped out of his uncomfortable train of thought and watched the unfolding video footage of teams of enforcers trying to herd people against the glass doors of the market while Razz and his tigers were fighting to get them out of harm’s way. Then a flash of fire and smoke obliterated the scene as the bomb detonated from inside the building.

Moris looked up and fixed Parry with an unfriendly stare. He was in his early fifties, pale and thin-lipped, his artificially black hair smoothed back and tightly controlled with heavily-scented spray. His voice was very smooth, either reassuring or threatening, depending on context.

“Just before all this started yesterday, those disruptive individuals hacked all the security cameras but missed this one. It had a decoy in front of it.”

Parry shifted his feet on the spongy carpet. “The problem is what, exactly? People being rescued by private citizens?”

Careful. That irritated him. He has one of his devious plans in play here.

Moris glared at him. “After the event, those so-called private citizens discovered they had missed this camera so they tried to intercept and destroy the footage. Presumably so we couldn’t identify and arrest them. When they failed, they downloaded a copy.”

“So?”

Play it dumb, Parry, but not too dumb.

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