AL:ICE-9 Read Online Free PDF

those people who could lounge around in bed all day. He felt it was proper time for a medical release. As Heather made one of her regularly scheduled rounds, he asked as she made it to his bed.
    “So doc when can I get up?”
    Reviewing his vitals and then poking him in a few delicate spots, while assessing his response, she replied, “So long as you take it easy, you can go now. I have some pain meds for you, don’t skip them and if the pain gets worse, we need to know right away.”
    “So I can go too?” Sharon asked from the next bed, motioning as if to get up.
    “Not likely,” Heather replied, waving her back to bed, “you and I are going to spend some quality time together for a few more days,” she finished with a smile. Clearly, she was enjoying her newfound power over her boss.
    With Sara helping him, Jake gingerly got up and dressed. He made the rounds to visit with all the other patients before leaving the infirmary, Sharon being the last.
    “Ok, you listen to the doc and don’t try to rush your recovery,” he said to her.
    “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” she replied, and then added, “I know Hector has it covered, he’s a good guy. You know he was one of Robert’s men. They were a good find.”
    “Yeah, we talked. And I agree they all seem to be rising to the top,” Jake agreed.
    As they headed out, Sara commented to Jake, “Patti is going to be ecstatic to see you. She just finished up her analysis of the last engagement and is dying to do the review for you.”
    Jake was not so enthusiastic about that news, he was positive it meant a lot more work coming his way.

Chapter 3
    Patti was just finishing the review of her notes for her presentation to Jake and the senior staff. She had received word earlier that day that Jake was heading back to ALICE-1, where she had set up camp, so to speak. She could not speak for anyone else, but she tended to think of ALICE-1 as home. This was her first facility, the one where she first arrived as a recruit. While almost everyone tended to travel between locations, both for training and work, she was able to stay put for the most part and she liked that.
    For the better part of a month, she had been working with the ALICEs and a team of analysts specifically assembled for the task. Their goal was to complete more than a review of the last battle, they were to take a step back and review all their activities and interactions with the NeHaw to date. So far they had defeated the NeHaw three times, a feat beyond reason considering everything involved. The big plus out of all that was they had established relations with the five other alien races in the sector the NeHaw called Nu Tau Beta.
    Terrestrially, Jake and his recruits had occupied six of the eight ALICE facilities and established working relationships with a multitude of stable external communities. With those relationships came an expanded degree of civility to the areas participating, by organizing and arming forces to drive out the lawless. Accomplishing this feat in each local area was a group known as the community patrol. Each patrol, created and supported as an armed unit, was overseen by a nearby ALICE facility. With eyes everywhere, little escaped their attention.
    The main goal of the patrols was to establish order and discourage lawlessness. While it was up to each region to interpret what lawlessness meant, if it violated the 10 Commandments or the Bill of Rights, you could be sure Jake would not approve. Moreover, make no mistake, if Jake did not approve, you were on very shaky ground.
    Though he would never acknowledge it, Jake had the absolute last word, outside or inside the facilities. All the ALICEs identified him as the sole authoritative presence in any location, though the recently discovered new genetic additions, Jake’s two great grandchildren, Patti and her brother, extended that. With over 3,000 occupants and growing in the six activated locations, the staff and