Ellie Quin Episode 5: A Girl Reborn Read Online Free PDF Page A

the point of trying to grow a tree? When it has to pulled down again to meet the next client's wishes? Far more sensible to build a very convincing facsimile in just a few hours?’
    ‘Right, I see.’
    The landscape’s rough geometry seemed to be taking the shape of a gentle valley with a rounded hilltop at either end. ‘So what’s this world going to be?’
    ‘Your classic two-player capture the flag template.’
    She spread her hands. ‘Which means?’
    Shelby rolled his eyes. ‘A defendable redoubt at either end, one for each player and a pretty basic combat arena between.’ He looked at her and sighed wearily. ‘We might insert some interesting terrain features in the middle.’
    ‘Like what?’
    He turned his nose up at her and closed his eyes and let the lids flutter. ‘That would be cheating if I told you. Unlike Graham, I never, ever, cheat.’
    She believed that. Believed that about him. He really didn't seem like the kind of person who could hold onto a dark secret.

CHAPTER 6
    Shitting. Shit. Shit. Shit
.
    Deacon preferred to keep his swearing
inside
his head. He found it unpalatable when other people spat out coarse language like gobs of linguistic phlegm. It made them sound unintelligent and undisciplined; people unable to control themselves or retain any sense of dignity and decorum. Far better to throw around whatever gutter-language you knew
inside
your head, while remaining calm and looking in control on the outside. Appearance was everything.
    Fucking shit, buggeration
…
and buggering fucking hell
.
    ‘Are you okay, Deacon?’
    ‘Perfectly fine Leonard.’
    ‘You look…distressed. And you were muttering something’
    ‘I’m perfectly fine, Lenny,’ he repeated calmly.
    Jesus
.
They
’
ve sent someone. They
’
ve bloody well sent someone!
    The Administration had contacted the Captain of the orbiting marine ship via sub-space resonance to pass on a message to Deacon that they were sending someone 'high up'. Which meant they weren’t happy with how things were going. Deacon knew all too well what happened to people that 'disappointed' the Administration's ruling council.
    Leonard was still staring at him, unconvinced by his answer. 'You are not fine, Deacon. The veins on your forehead are sticking out.'
    Leonard didn’t miss a goddamn thing and definitely sometimes didn't know when to shut up. 'The Administration have sent someone to help us,' he replied.
    ‘Do you know who?’ asked Leonard looking over at the ship.
    'High up' meant one of the members of the Administration’s Ruling Council, There were eight of them, all of them well known across the entirety of Human Space. Elected from Congress, once every fifteen years, most of the current Ruling Council members were second-termers, which meant most of them had gotten used to at least two decades of being in charge, of being the most powerful people in Human Space. That, of course, made the whole lot of them, insufferably arrogant and difficult to deal with. Three women, five men, all in their seventies and eighties. Most of the men, happy to age gracefully, were silver-haired statesmen who allowed their faces to be broadcast without any post-video cosmetic filters applied. However one of them, the Secretary for Trade andIndustry, Councillor Jenson Fforde II, was quite open and honest about the anti-ageing gene treatments he’d been having for the last twenty years. He’d managed to maintain the appearance of a man in his mid-forties despite pushing the top end of his seventh decade. But, it was Councillor Hayden, who had really excelled on that particular front. Rumours about the money she’d spent on cosmetic treatments over the decades were a running joke among the more anarchic holo-comedy shows. And yes…she was the one who'd been sent in the drop ship that had just descended from the marine cruiser in high orbit.
    ‘The Secretary for Defence,’ replied Deacon.
    ‘Lorna Hayden?!’
    ‘Yes.’
    Leonard’s eyes suddenly