Terminator Zone: Another Neil and Mavra sci-fi adventure by Terry Persun

Author:Terry Persun [Persun, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Early the next morning, Neil awoke and quietly worked at the desk using only the light from his computer screen. He let Elaine sleep. After reading through a few academic papers on light diffusion and low angle dark field lighting for a variety of vision systems, he got up and left the room quietly. The two guards positioned outside their door had obviously been released, but he felt it would be alright to leave for a few minutes while he ran downstairs and picked up a couple cups of coffee rather than use the coffeemaker in the room. He would leave that coffee for Elaine when she woke up.

He took the elevator to the lobby and found another person getting coffee ahead of him. The short haircut and mannerisms said Army all over it. Neil greeted the man, “You’re part of the detail still at the hotel?”

The man finished filling his cup and turned around. “Yes, sir. And you are Neil Altman, man genius.” He laughed. "Sorry. No offense meant. It’s just what our orders called you.”

“Genius might be going a bit far, but I do have the ability to read two books at a time if I want to. Can’t beat that,” he said jovially.”

The man had a gentle manner, round face, and stood just under six feet. “That’s pretty cool. And close enough. I wish I could do that.”

“No, you probably don’t wish that. It also comes with all kinds of other baggage. So, are you guys going to stick around for a while? I thought I asked the general to ease up on the close monitoring?”

“Don’t know about the general, but orders say we’re supposed to remain in civies and just hang out. Official duty is to watch as you come and go. We won’t be following you or anything like that. We’ve been instructed to allow you to have your space to do what you need to do unless you ask. And to report every few hours or if we think you’ve been missing too long.”

“Good news, except that we’ll be gone most of the day I suspect. I’m afraid too many people around will scare away the person we’re looking for.”

“Sgt. Bird,” the man said as he stepped away from the coffee station.

Neil took two cups set one under the caffeinated thermos and one under the decaffeinated thermos and filled them at the same time. He pushed lids on them simultaneously, too, then picked them both up, one in each hand. “You know his name?”

“I have a buddy who works for Locksford. I hear you’ve been to see him a few times.”

“You are better connected than most.”

“Not really. After a few years of moving from base to base with different crews, you start to meet people. I’m kind of an extravert so that doesn’t hurt either. Well, nice talking with you. I hope you find your man.” He raised his coffee cup and walked away.

When Neil got back to the room, Elaine was missing from the bed.

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.