Rules of Conflict Read Online Free PDF

flushed out of the patch polymer; the
polymer could then be reworked into some of the best scanshielding Jani had
ever seen. Not on par with the military-grade material lining the bottom of her
duffel, but good enough to allow the occasional cruiser filled with
unregistered, untaxed cargo to flit through the GateWay chain under the noses
of sundry Cabinet branches.
    Jani unrolled one of the pairs of coveralls, then began the tricky
task of pulling off her pants without removing Val’s hikers. Ripping proved
necessary, but that didn’t bother her. The suit, fashionable and delicate,
belonged to someone named Tasia, and Tasia had only minutes to live.
    Laughter trickled in from the packing room. This was, without a
doubt, the happiest smuggling ring she ever worked with. Wonder how long it
will last? No operation like it ever floated for long without springing a
few leaks. The fact that most of the revenue earned by the small network went
to finance colonial secessionist groups didn’t bode well for its life span,
either.
    That was the main reason for her delay, when every nerve in her
body sang for her to get out now . She had to finish out the night, leave
things tight. If it ever went to hell for these people, it wouldn’t be because
of anything she had done. Or failed to do. She might have worked at many jobs,
under many names, on a score of worlds, but Jani Kilian had done them all very
well. The habit had sunk its roots during her short but eventful Service
career. Whatever job you undertake, perform it to the best of your ability,
and see it through to the end . And so she had, now as then.
    Well, no. There had been one particular then when she had
not done her best. Oh, she had survived. No one else had, though, except in her
memory.
    Knevçet Shèràa, the one bad job that outweighed all the good.
    “ Tasia! What’s taking you so long!”
    Jani bundled the ruined trouser suit into her locker and limped
out to the packing room to find Ileana waiting for her, holding a documents
pouch.
    “Guv Hall. Hurry. You have sixteen minutes to file these
quarterlies or those bastards will come after me!” She thrust the pouch into
Jani’s hands, then grabbed her elbow and steered her toward the door.
    “It’s only half a block.” Jani tried to ease out of the woman’s
grip. “I could stop for dinner and get there in time.”
    “Maybe, the way you eat.” Ileana eyed Jani’s coverall with
distaste. “You eat like you dress. No thought. No one would ever mistake you
for a true Feliciana.” She pushed Jani out the door. “Now move!”
    Jani hurried down the street in a lurching double time, her eyes
focused on the brilliantly lit triple towers of Government Hall. Then she
glanced back to see if Ileana watched her, and slowed down when she saw she
didn’t. Her chest ached again. Her thigh muscles trembled. She wondered what
Val was doing. Worming secrets from his sometime love? Or tearing the city
apart looking for her?
    Good old Val . Her steps slowed as she recalled his embrace.
It worried her that it took only a single kind gesture to knock her off-balance
at a time when she couldn’t afford the least wobble. Now more than ever, she
could not drop her guard.
    But I’m tired. Tired of feeling sick, of running, of trying
to remember what her damned name was. Fed up with being alone.
    Jani flashed her Tasia ID for the last time at the Guv Hall
security desk—one of the few benefits of being non-Reg was that she didn’t have
to worry about hand or eye scanning. After she stuffed the pouch in a lobby
drop box, she keyed in a request that the receipt be fiched to Ileana instead
of to her.
    That final loose end tied off, Jani crossed the wide avenue and
headed for the hojea platform, dodging skimmers and jostling through
groups of the well-dressed leaving their businesses for a night on the town.
One, a day-suited man whose night out must have started that morning, bumped
her roughly, then staggered on, muttering