Code Breakers: Beta Read Online Free PDF Page A

dealing with a sleeper cell of insurgents, run and manipulated by the ronin and Elliot, we can’t be expected to play fair. Malik lost his dear brother and many friends on the battlefield. Gerry Cardle sacrificed his very body and who knows what else for us. It’s not the time to be weak willed. People fought for our freedom, and I’m damn well not willing to just let that be taken from us again.”
    The woman slammed her fist on the table triumphantly, clearly getting a little excited with her own speech. She wasn’t even anything to do with security. She was an economic representative. She was showing all signs of ‘Silvermania’, which had taken over a portion of the city since Malik Silverman’s heroic acts were promoted around the various media. The suit she wore was a common sight around the city now. Malik even had his own fan club that called themselves the Silvermaniacs.
    Those around the table hid their mirth while muttering their agreement.
    Jimmy spoke up. “President Fuentes, I’m sure Sasha and Malik will show intelligence and restraint. We currently have twenty-three cells free, but I’m not sure we should take the justice approach on this rather than the intelligence-gathering process. I’d like for them to recover this individual and bring him to a cell where we can question him. And, before you object, I’m absolutely not suggesting torture. I’m suggesting we let the boys and girls at Cemprom and young Jess here, analyse the chip in more detail and see if we can crack the encryption. At the very least, we should be able to find some way of tracking the other ronin via their connection if we’re able to reverse engineer it.”
    Rosario Fuentes stood and raised her hand up. “Okay, okay, I’m convinced, but we really don’t have the manpower for a squad. If I take anyone off the streets, I’ll have no one left to deal with the current spate of crime. It’s going to take some time to re-engineer the security protocols without having to resort to using the citywide AIA network, which at this point is not an option until Cemprom can disable the Family-installed functionality.
    “Malik, Sasha, you’ll have to go visit this man on your own. And besides, a full squad will cause suspicion and perhaps scare away the target. Go speak with him quietly, and bring him back here so that Jim...” She coughed, scratching at her face. “Erm... I mean Dr Robertson, can lead a team to crack the encryption.”
    “That’s fine by me,” Malik said.
    “Me too,” Sasha said.
    “One last thing. Keep me informed with developments.”
    As President Fuentes left the room, Sasha noticed a slight blushing on her face. Her earlier slip-up seemed to hint at a more personal relationship with ol’ Jimmy than she had let on. Sasha would have to interrogate him later on that juicy morsel of gossip.
    The rest of Liberty departed the suite, leaving Sasha and Malik behind.
    He stood up, straightened his blue uniform, and smiled at her. “You ready?”
    “Sure, let’s go get this scumbag.”
    As Sasha led Malik out of the room, she couldn’t help but notice in the reflection of the glass doors that he was checking her out. She was wearing her favourite outfit, a form-fitting black suit, and even she had to agree that her butt was looking particularly fine in it. She couldn’t blame him for looking.
    ***
    Benedict Loas, the man they suspected of being a dealer, lived a twenty-minute walk away from the Presidential Suite. They would have taken the tram, but with it being controlled by the network, it too was currently offline. Besides, it was a nice walk. Most of the citizens, although on alert after the recent problems, were going about their business, crowding the sidewalks, making it difficult for Sasha and Malik to make quick progress.
    They passed a group of protestors, no doubt under the influence of a ronin. They stood at the edge of the park with banners decrying the return of the network and its various