Eye and Talon Read Online Free PDF

hear — and I've got pretty good sources, right into the Secretary-General's office — is that the UN's emigration program is majorly screwed. They're not getting the outgo exit numbers they need; emigrant recruitment's creeping along at the one to two percent level. Doesn't mean bupkis against the birth-rate escalation, even in a toxic dump like this town. Still enough live births to jack up the population versus food-source ratio. If things don't improve, you and me are both going to be standing on the streets in full urban-combat gear, along with the regular bull cops, trying to keep the carbohydrate riots down to a low roar.' A corner of his mouth twisted into an ugly partial smile. 'And we won't be succeeding, either.'
    Iris gave a single nod of agreement. In LA, things could get ugly or uglier — in a matter of seconds, especially where food distribution was concerned. If the city's lid came off, there wouldn't be enough private security forces to keep the fortified enclaves from the torch.
    'All of which makes a perfect opportunity,' continued Meyer, 'for the UN's Pacific Rim Tactical Command to raise its profile just a little, especially with the local Chamber of Commerce and the various non-guilded industrial councils. They'll sell out the city government in a heartbeat rather than see their factories and primomaquiladores go up in smoke. If the UN's military wing takes over, they're not going to need a police department anymore; this place will be under direct martial-law administration. Tanks in the streets, curfews and no-go zones, insurrection pre-profiling sweeps . . . the works.' Meyer gave a noncommittal shrug. 'Of course, that could be a good thing for the city, at least in terms of deaning this mess up. But a little hard on people like you and me.'
    No shit , thought Iris. The fear that she didn't feel when chasing escaped replicants now assaulted her, right down in the sinews in the backs of her knees. She and Meyer, and the rest of the LAPD's brass and uniformed and non-uniformed grunts alike, would be more than out of their jobs. They'd be dead. Anybody doing police work in a pressure cooker like Los Angeles inevitably wound up with a list of grievances against him, grudges carried by his opposite numbers, crooks and other scum, who would feel they had died and gone to heaven, to have their shots at former cops without departmental protection to keep them alive.
    'Yeah,' said Meyer, 'that'd be one way of going.' He'd read her thoughts, visible right on the page of her face. 'But not the only one.
    United Nation military types don't like to leave a lot of dangling loose ends around when they set up shop in a new territory. Too much coup potential, if you know what I mean; disgruntled former public employees with weapons experience can be a little volatile. They try to keep it out of the media, but death-squad mode is the usual agenda. And those blue-capped sonsabitches can be real efficient. Peacekeepers, right?'
    'Check.' And who didn't know that the dead were the most peaceful of all? It came with the cop territory. Iris sat down on the corner of the desk, feeling cold.
    'Hey — don't worry about it.' At the edge of her vision, Meyer's sickly smile floated. 'You'll be okay. You and me both.' He leaned forward and patted her with deserved familiarity on the thinly padded jut of her hip. 'Trust me on this one.'
    'How do you figure?' Neither his words or his touch had made her feel any better, so far.
    'As I said.' Meyer's hand lingered a moment before drawing away. 'Reorganization. The whole LAPD is going to get leaner and meaner. Do more with less. What we'll lack in funding, we'll make up with sheer orneriness.' The unintended rhyme seemed to inspire him. 'Violence works wonders, when properly applied. The department will clamp down on this city so hard, somebody pees against a wall, he'll be dancing on the end of a monadnack.' Meyer moved his loosely clenched fists through parallel small arcs, miming