THE FEAR PRINCIPLE by B. A. Chepaitis

Author:B. A. Chepaitis [Chepaitis, B. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Looker sat at the desk in his hotel room, considering the solitaire layout in front of him.

"Much too much in the way of red," he muttered. There was nothing he could move here. Nothing he could shift. Nothing he could do.

He leaned back and riffled the cards in his hand with his thumb.

Diamonds and hearts. Hearts and diamonds. No aces, unless he had one in his hand that was still hidden.

He began pulling from the deck.

More hearts. More diamonds.

Too much red.

His eye was briefly distracted by the blip of a small light on his comlink, a closed-line circuit that ran directly from the Research Center to his files.

He frowned at it, shifted his glasses on his nose, and reached over to flip it open.

He'd told the center not to attempt contact with him except under emergency situations. Though his line was the most secure on the home planet or the planetoids, he didn't want to take any chances. There was too much at stake. And too much had gone wrong already.

He was disturbed at the failed attempts to have Clare disposed of properly, not sure if it was bad luck or bad strategy that caused the trouble. It seemed like the bad end to a series of bad moves that had started with the decision to buy Governor Patricks. Of course, it made sense at the time to do that, and seemed a simple enough business deal to negotiate. They would use their influence to push the sale of the preservation land through so he could have his casinos and, through a complex series of intermediaries, see that he received a generous campaign contribution. He would ensure mining rights and a good price for the pyrite on the land in question. It took a good deal of the raw ore to make one transmission chip, due to the particular chemical process involved in activating its potential for e-wave transmission, and they wanted all they could get, as cheaply as they could get it.

His group had been pleased at the mutually beneficial agreement, but the Governor reneged on his part of it and began talking about taxing the ore, partly to reassure his constituency that the destruction of the preservation land would generate enough money to justify its loss, but partly to remind the Division who was in charge.

There was no point in continuing a business relationship with such a man. He obviously had no honor. Fortunately, the Lieutenant Governor who now held the office was much more trustworthy in these matters.

But Clare had gotten caught. Of all people, Clare—the best they had, on the most simple assignment. She'd done so many hypodermic bubble deaths without leaving a mark, and to leave her—her panties. The Looker had been particularly offended by the tears of the outraged, betrayed Governor's wife. Such scandal it created. Such noise, and visibility. His group had never allowed one of their assignments to become so public, and so messy.

Clare had talked openly on the witness stand when she didn't have to, but at least she mentioned no names.

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