Salvaged Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page A

would,” Lazlo replied, inching closer to
her on the bench and trying not to slide into her as she turned another corner
to enter a narrow-access corridor. She was small and he was large and he didn’t
want to crush her.
    Del brought the cart to a halt and hopped out to knock on a
plain gray door in the stone wall. As it squeaked on its hinges, a man in a
smock opened the door with a smile and started to haul tubs of chopped-up,
leafy-green odds and ends to the back of the transport. Del grabbed a few empty
tubs and carried them to the door, then had the man sign off on her datpad. The
tubs smelled slightly fermented and sloshed when she flung them up into the
transporter’s bed. It all happened so quickly that Lazlo didn’t have time to
get out and help. She was back in and driving before the man had even closed
his door.
    “That was quick.”
    “No need to dawdle. Tell me about this project,” was her
clipped reply. Delphine Browen was efficient and focused in a no-frills form. She
actually reminded him of Major Sekar. A pretty, nonlethal Sekar.
    “In the condensed version—someone, somewhere in the
bureaucracy has discovered there are some old military items here on Sayre they
want back. They contain some rare elements that we can’t get from AR-42 anymore
and they need those materials for future equipment development.” He paused and
looked at her as she drove along. She looked skeptical. That was a good sign—he
was equally unsure of the idea. “These things are out in the Outlands and I
need your help as a guide to find them. I have some general coordinates for
three possible locations. Some old storage spaces, concealed and probably built
as caches for war games.”
    “So what you’re actually saying is that the military lost
some weapons, wants them back to make new weapons and you need me to get you to
some unknown location and back again with this salvage.”
    He nodded. That was an accurate summary. She was smart as
well as fast.
    “What if I’m a pacifist and I think that lost weapons should
stay lost?”
    “Are you?”
    Delphine grimaced and stopped the cart at another door. Off
she went, knocking on the door, grabbing empty tubs, loading full tubs—this
time mostly soupy tomato bits. Lazlo got off the cart and followed her around,
unable to get ahead of her enough to actually help with anything.
    “I’ll help you,” Lazlo offered again. “Just give me some
warning so I can get out quick enough.”
     
    Del nodded, intrigued enough by his proposal to want to
speed up the collection so she could have some time to contemplate the issue. “Just
do an equal exchange of the containers at the next one. You’ll probably mess up
your nice clothes though.” She looked him over.
    Lieutenant Lazlo Casta looked like he belonged in a
professionally shot digima — digital image—for some recruiting push for security.
He was neatly groomed, with perfectly tailored clothes, and was fit and glowing
with good health and goodwill. It seemed as if the Congressional anthem should
start to play whenever he smiled. She felt like a shabby little creature next
to him.
    Del started up the old transport again, hoping that the
rewire would hold through the rest of the run. Her pa had warned her it had
been temperamental and she certainly didn’t want to have a breakdown with Casta
sitting next to her. He’d probably call in a mechanic, trying to be proper and
helpful, and it would end up costing her a fortune her family couldn’t afford.
    “So are you a pacifist?” he asked with genuine-sounding
curiosity.
    “In theory yes. But we don’t live in a theoretical world, do
we?”
    “No we don’t. What else would you like to know?”
    “Why me?”
    “Bara Kidd, with Information Services, recommended you and
one other person.”
    Del nodded. She knew who Citizen Kidd was. The information
officer had helped her numerous times with finding old geology reports and
bringing in reference works for her to study.