Soldier of Fortune: A Gideon Quinn Adventure (Fortune Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

atop a stack of crates.
    Gideon used the next half-second to bring the back of his fist to the brother's temple, rendering the he-twin inert before throwing him into the she-twin with enough force to knock her to the ground. Gideon then placed a careful boot on her wrist and applied just enough pressure for her to know he could apply more if she didn't release the shooter.
    She released the shooter and he kicked it across the tarmac. "Backup?"
    She grimaced, possibly because being weighed down by he-twin made it hard to breathe. "Right boot."
    Gideon nodded, checked the boot and sure enough found the knife she'd have thrown into him as he walked away.
    He tossed the blade after the gun, checked the brother's boot and found a (ha) twin to her own, took that, his shooter and a short sword from his belt, and threw all his kit in the opposite direction from his sister's.
    "Tell the general I said hello," he told her. He then grabbed his pack, (dropped during the not-a-fight) and started across the empty airfield towards the gates where, if he recalled correctly, there should be a mag-tram into the city.
    Another time he might have enjoyed the exercise of the brief encounter but here and now he only had space to wonder how Jessup Rand knew he'd be arriving on the Ramushku when he, Gideon, hadn't known he was being paroled until about two hours before the air-barge lifted off from Morton.
    He considered asking the twins, but if they were in Rand's employ, any further interaction with the pair would be skating dangerously close to violating his parole before he was prepared to violate it.
    So rather than attempt an interrogation, he made a slight clicking noise in his throat, waited for Elvis to swoop down to his accustomed shoulder perch, and left the mercenaries tangled on the ground.
    He looked up as a soft rain began to fall, muting the airfield's lights and sheening the tarmac to a mirror finish.
    It seemed the Ramushku's crew had been right about the rain.
    Gideon spared the glistening pavement one look — enough to see his own foreshortened image — before he strode off towards the airfield gates, shattering his reflection with each deliberate step.
     
    * * *
     
    Several minutes after Gideon's silhouette passed through the main airfield gate, a third figure, cloaked and hooded, (against the rain or any watching eyes could not be determined) emerged from behind the crates where Rey — the female half of the mercenary twins — had lain in wait for Gideon.
    "That could have gone better," the newcomer looked down at Rey, currently crouched over Ronan, her unconscious brother, then to the airfield gate, where the city-bound mag-tram had just arrived.
    "I can find him, again," Rey said. "I want to find him." She lay a gentle hand over Ronan's cruelly wrenched arm. "I want to hurt him."
    "Commendable, but unnecessary," the hooded one gestured towards the gate, where another figure detached itself from the bulk of the control center and made its way towards the waiting tram, which Gideon would already be boarding. "Nahmin will take it from here."
    "Nahmin," Rey's eyes narrowed. "And will he be serving in his capacity as valet or assassin, tonight?"
    The cloaked figure turned to Rey who, under that regard, ducked her head in apology.
    "Neither," she was told. "At least, not just yet. His assignment is the same as yours — to contain Quinn."
    "And once Quinn is contained?" Rey asked, though with sufficient respect. "What then?"
    The hood turned back towards the gate. "Then, my dear, you may hurt him."
     
     
     

C HAPTER S IX
     
    STEPPING OFF THE tram at the Lipton Street station, Gideon glanced around to see where he should go next, and to make sure none of the other passengers had any particular interest in him. After the scuffle at the airfield, he didn't feel inclined to take any more chances.
    His glance caught the eye of a Sergeant of Infantry, who had boarded at the third stop with another non-com. From their