Redemption Protocol (Contact) Read Online Free PDF Page B

in his pupils. Exhausted, the condemned man convulsed spasmodically against the grill. He couldn’t scream anymore, instead emitting an undulating moan. The acrid stink was nauseating. Tyburn watched with interest as he looked forward to Forge’s agonizing demise.
    A shot rang out.
    Tyburn spun with his eyes blazing.
    Their leader stared back at him dispassionately.
    “We need to go.”
    Tyburn stabbed a finger at Forge’s corpse.
    “You think it would have been easier for us if we'd been taken?”
    The leader walked away.
    “We need to go.”
    The others followed, moving across the warehouse toward the sliding doors on the far side.
    Tyburn scowled in frustration. He glared at the others with disdain as he retrieved Forge’s weapon and pocketed his wallet. He was worth more than any of these weaklings. The only way to drive back Tyurin's forces was through the ceaseless employment of violence. And moderation in violence was ludicrous; the very idea flawed at conception. Violence was the necessary means and he was one of the few men who had the stomach for it. He was worth a thousand of these bleeding hearts.
    He hurried to catch up. He should be the leader of this group. The separatist movement needed men of his caliber. Men who were ready to seize the initiative and take decisive action, however brutal it might be. Men who understood that nothing matters but victory. Once you have victory, history falls into line. After all, you write it.
    Everyone stopped together. The sound was unmistakable. Incoming tracked vehicles, already close, followed by the low triple beat of a Raptor gunship.
    The men froze in place, strung out across the warehouse.
    Tyburn saw it then – his destiny – so clear. God demanded a sacrifice. And he was strong enough to make that sacrifice.
    His resistance brothers dropped in a ragged line from left to right. Some twisted round at their unexpected end. Death was always a surprise, Tyburn thought. Even for the bastard informer hanging behind him.
    The one who'd just saved his life.
    The noise of the tracked vehicles stopped. Tyburn threw his hot, still smoking, weapon to the floor and shouted at the top of his voice.
    “I'm Claudius Forge, the informer. I'm coming out.”

 4. 
     
     
     
     
    Twenty years earlier.
    Lond.
     
    Havoc first met Stephanie in the elevator of a gym in the diplomatic quarter of Lond, the capital city of the capital planet of the entire Federation. The gym was frequented by visiting diplomats and military types. People didn't need to train to keep in shape, of course, but in the bizarre inverted relationship between prestige and utility that defined status in society, the gym had even more cachet as a result. Besides, it was seen as a great place to network. Not that that meant anything to him, of course. For his purpose it had some top class simulators. Back then he trained every day if possible, wherever he was, wherever he could find a sim – even if he was only in his civilization’s capital for the day. He was there to collect a medal and a citation before flying out for a week of leave.
    She caught his attention the way a hook takes a salmon racing down river. The lure was her sleek figure silhouetted against the huge windows of the seventieth floor.
    He hovered briefly as the barb sank hard. He considered the vectors of approach to the target and the probability of mission success. He decided to wait for a better window of opportunity. If she hadn't been hurtling uphill at a rate of knots, he assured himself, he would have gone for it. There was, of course, no further opportunity – when he came back through the hall she was gone. Carpe diem, you coward , he told himself.
    He was still kicking himself as he stepped adroitly through the closing doors of the elevator. She was standing in the far corner, wearing a blue frock and stiletto heels. There was a crowd of people scattered around the lift perimeter but he had direct line of sight. The crowd was