Night Moves Read Online Free PDF Page A

U.S. Army in any real sense. It had to do with using military troops in civilian situations as much as anything, generally not allowed in domestic situations, but it also had to do with some strange tax law that came out in the new code's recent revisions. He didn't understand it, his boss didn't seem to understand it, and his accountant didn't understand it, but there it was. Because of this. Net Force officer rank was more or less frozen. As CO, he could promote grunts, but only up to NCO. Howard knew he could have stayed in the regular army and, even in peacetime, eventually retired a grade or two up from where he was. Being an African/American helped that, there still being enough white liberal guilt floating around to slant things his way now and again. He never expected to get any higher than bird colonel when he retired and joined Net Force, even though the money--and, more importantly, the opportunities for action--were much better. His direct boss was a civilian, so when it came to brass, he was pretty much it. Julio Femandez, his top kick for as long as he'd been with Net Force and for a long time before that,

delivered the news with obvious glee.
"Say again. Sergeant?" Howard said.
Femandez stood in the hard shade of the gamp leading to the private hangar. He grinned. "Which part didn't the general understand, sir?" "Let me rephrase that, and be succinct, it's already getting warm out here: What the hell are you talking about?"
The two of them walked toward the hangar. Femandez laughed.
"Well, sir, the word is that the colonel will be, within thirty days from one April, offered the rank of Brigadier--that's a grade superior to colonel and inferior to major general, sir--in this bastard National Guard outfit he dragged me into."
"Held a gun to your head, did I?"
"If memory serves, sir."
Howard smiled.
"Come on, Julio, what are you talking about? I haven't heard squat about any promotion, not a whisper." He tried to keep the excitement from his voice. Femandez could be funny, but he wouldn't joke about something like this. Howard had always wanted to be a general, of course, but he'd given that hope up when he bailed from the RA.
"That's 'cause you ain't engaged to the most beautiful and bright woman in the western hemisphere--and probably the eastern hemisphere, too, John. A woman who can make a computer sing, dance, and do back flips without straining her pinkie. I saw the order myself, and it's as official as can be."
Despite his sudden rush of adrenaline, Howard said, "And Lieutenant Winthrop isn't supposed to be snooping in certain areas, now is she?"
Femandez opened his hands, spread his fingers, and held them in an I-give-up gesture. "What can I do? I'm just a sergeant; she's my superior. What I know about computers you can put in your ear, with room left over for your finger. Besides, what's the point in being part of the world's best geek team if you can't poke around in the stuff wherever you want? It's real. Congratulations, John." "Thanks, though I'll believe it when I see it." He felt his spirits soar. General Howard. Now there was a term.
Femandez chuckled, reading his mind.
Howard recovered, tamped down his excitement and ego.

"How is Joanna?"
"Pregnant as a crowded maternity ward. Not due until September, and I have to tell you, I don't think I'm gonna survive it. One minute I'm her angel and I can do no wrong, the next minute she takes my head off 'cause I'm breathing too loud. She eats catsup on mashed potatoes and sprinkles salt on her ice cream. She pees forty-nine times a day." Howard laughed.
"Serves you right. When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?" "June first, so I have been told. She'd rather wait a year, it supposedly takes that long to set up a wedding, though that doesn't make any sense. Failing that, she wants to get married before the baby is born, and she doesn't want to look like a brood sow, so it's got to be by then. It's not up to me, I'm just the groom."
"Weddings