Tech World (Undying Mercenaries Series) Read Online Free PDF

eye. She was a small, shapely woman who was older than she looked and a whole lot meaner. She’d been born a rule-stickler while I’d been born a rule-breaker. I figured we were destined never to get along.
    She made a point of toying with her tablet before addressing me. I stood there, staring at the wall behind her head, waiting.
    Finally, she set the tablet aside and leaned back in her chair.
    “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve ordered you to come here. Correct?”
    “No sir,” I said.
    A frown flickered over her features. She paused, but finally had to ask. “You expected to find me here?”
    “No sir. I meant that I’m wondering who sent those three Hogs—excuse me, Hegemony officials—to my door this morning.”
    “Ah, that,” she said, nodding. “I sent them.”
    For the first time since I’d entered the tiny, dim-lit office, I met her eyes directly. She’d gotten my full attention.
    “Hegemony troops? On the eve of a critical vote concerning our independence? Can I ask why , sir?”
    Turov smiled and steepled her fingers. Her nails were blood red, but cut short. “Because you are who you are, James. I was depending on that. Thank you for the assist. Now, if you would kindly get the hell out of my office and onto the lifter waiting at the Atlanta Spaceport, we can all move on with our lives.”
    I was confused. I’d expected a good reaming at the very least. But here she was, all smiles. Why had she bothered to come down here in the first place? Just to gloat about something? It seemed like she thought she’d won some kind of victory, but I was baffled as to what the prize was.
    Then the implications of her new orders sank in.
    “Sir?” I asked in confusion. “Did you say there’s a lifter at the spaceport?”
    “Yes. Get on it. Legion Varus is mustering out—immediately.”
    I hesitated. While I watched, she stood up and turned around. She removed a beret and jacket from the rack behind the desk. She put them on slowly, almost languidly.
    As she turned away to gather her things, my eyes roved over her. I have to admit, although I was a young guy who usually didn’t stare at women over thirty, I’d always kept Turov on my radar. She liked to wear her uniforms at the tightest, most form-fitting setting. Maybe even a notch tighter than that if the truth were to be told.
    She turned back around and smiled. It was as if she’d put on a little show, and she’d known how it would affect me.
    “Admiring my new patch I see ?” she said. “Or maybe the suns caught your eye?”
    My eyes flew wide. I’d been staring at her butt, naturally. Now that she mentioned it, however, she did have two gold suns on her collar and the wrong legion patch adhered to her shoulder.
    Among the officer ranks, suns were the top insignia that could be achieved. Once you got to suns, it was just a matter of how many you had. I realized that Turov was no longer a Primus. She’d moved up two ranks, to the level of an Imperator. She could command her own legion now if she was assigned one. Or even multiple legions.
    The promotion wasn’t the biggest shocker for me, though. Her legion patch was what got me the most. Where the Wolfshead of Legion Varus should have been riding proudly on her shoulder there was now a blue-green globe.
    I opened my mouth, but no sound came out for a second. When I managed to speak at last, I spoke rudely. “You bugged out? You joined Hegemony?”
    “That’s hardly an appropriate expression of congratulations,” she snapped.
    “Sorry sir.”
    “I’ve moved up in rank. There can only be one Tribune in Legion Varus, and that job is taken by Drusus. The council decided not to give me the legion, but rather to move me into Hegemony.”
    “I understand, sir,” I said.
    And I did understand. She’d been bucking for rank from the very first moment I’d met her, and now she’d finally gotten it. I’m a slow country boy sometimes, but today the light was going on inside my thick,