Silver Shark Read Online Free PDF

purse. If I can convince the spouse to leave the premises peacefully, the security would have wasted a few minutes of their time. But if the spouse becomes unreasonable or violent, and I fail to anticipate it, people might become injured."
    "An employee calls you in a panic to tell you there is a fire on the floor below," Venturo said.
    "Alert authorities and initiate immediate evacuation," Claire said.
    Venturo frowned.
    She scrutinized her answer, wishing she could touch his mind and try to figure out what she had done wrong. It was the obvious answer. She could think of no alternative.
    Venturo leaned back, frowning. A focused thought dashed from him toward Lienne, and Claire caught it. His mind was like the beam of a lighthouse.
    "Opinion?"
    "She would make a terrible admin," Lienne answered. "Her thought patterns are consistent with that of an executive. She accepts personal responsibility for every issue. Her answers to the questionnaire demonstrate the same thing."
    Inwardly Claire clenched. She'd stumbled. The military conditioning finally betrayed her.
    "You're looking at the product of a seventy-year war," Venturo's mind said. "She evaluates her environment for threats and defuses them. It's a useful quality."
    Lienne sighed mentally. "Oh no. Ven, please don't tell me you found another lost puppy?"
    Claire studied her hands. Lost puppy...
    "What if the next firm she goes to reject her as well? Eventually she will be deported. Have you seen the images of that place? It's hell."
    "I've read the coverage, too. Chemical warfare, casualties in thousands, and everyone with a drop of kinsmen blood turned into a killer. We have no way of verifying who she is or what she is capable of besides what the Immigration tells us. This is a terrible idea."
    "No kinsman would have made it through the immigration screening. Her mind is completely inert. What harm can she do? Look at it as a good deed for the day."
    In her mind Lienne smiled. "Are you sure you're hiring her because you're buying her hard luck story and not because she looks at you as if you're made of gold?"
    They knew. They both realized her reaction to him. It must've been so apparent, a blind man could've seen it. How embarrassing.
    "Hire her," Venturo's thought communicated. "I can make a difference in her life today and I intend to do so."
    "Then let me put her as one of the junior assistants. As your admin, she would be representing the company. I mean, look at her, Venturo. She looks like a beggar. That hair... The woman obviously has never been inside a salon in her entire life..."
    Deep inside her shell Claire pictured slapping Lienne's mind. The older woman was powerful, but not powerful enough. One slap and Lienne would wake up on the floor an hour or so later, unsure how she got there.
    Venturo's mind focused on his aunt. It wasn't a gesture designed to intimidate; he simply "stared" at her, but the force of that mental "look" was nearly overwhelming. Like standing in the path of an avalanche.
    Mentally Lienne bowed her head. "As you wish."
    Venturo held his aunt in the sniper scope of his mental stare for another long second and glanced back at her. "Claire, how much do you know about extrasensory security?"
    "Nothing." Everything.
    "Most of the computers we use are simply a collection of mechanical parts," he said. "However, certain corporations and government systems require higher level of data processing. They run on biological networks. These networks are vulnerable to psychic attacks. We provide security for these systems. If you choose to work here, you will have to sign a confidentiality agreement. You cannot discuss the nature of your work with anyone. Will that be an issue for your family?"
    "I have no family."
    "You do have a place to stay?" he asked.
    "Yes. The Immigration provided me with an apartment."
    "Good," he said. "You're hired. Lienne will take care of the details."
    "Thank you," she whispered.
    "You're welcome." He rose and walked away