The First End Read Online Free PDF Page B

his
feet. The blow lifted the man several inches straight up off the
floor. He came down, eyes crossed and swaying dangerously. Bill
shoved him onto one of the stools, from which the barfly proceeded
to slowly slip off.
    By then, the bigger friend had regained his
feet. With a bellow that seemed more bull than man, he charged
Bill, lowering his head as if he would ram the lawyer right through
the bar. Bill waited until the last second and then spun away,
catching one of the fellow’s arms as he barreled by. He waited for
the man to slam painfully into the bar—which held against the
impact, thank God—and then with a deft twist, pinned it painfully
behind the man’s back. Using leverage and pain to control the
larger man, Bill had him laid out on the floor in a choke hold.
    “Now,” Bill said in a jovial tone of voice. “You
have a choice. I could break this arm, and then continue breaking
bones until you decide to quit, or you can quit now. What will it
be, my friend?”
    For a moment longer, the portly man struggled
against the lawyer’s grip. Finally he relaxed and chuckled. “You
ain’t no lawyer man.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    “Mickey knock lawyer good. You ain’t no lawyer.
You knock Mickey good.”
    Shaking his head at the absurd logic, Bill said,
“So what will it be? You want to go back to your drink?”
    “Yeah. But what about Harold there? You knock
him good too. He out.”
    “He would have drunk himself unconscious anyway.
I just helped him to it faster.”
    The portly man chuckled. “That’s the truth of
it! Okay, we have a deal.”
    Bill let him up and the big man ambled back to
his spot, still chuckling and talking to his oblivious friend, who
had slumped down unconscious between two of the stools. Well,
whatever makes one happy.
    The bartender nodded at the lawyer. “Thanks for
not breaking anything.”
    “My pleasure.” Bill looked around. “But, I
should probably still leave.”
    “That you should, friend. When Harold wakes up,
he’ll be out for blood. The fool could never control his
temper.”
    “Thanks for not calling the cops,” the lawyer
said as he started for the door.
    “They both needed a good spanking, anyways.”
    Feeling better, Bill walked out of the bar. He
didn’t know what he should do, but an idea brought on by his
impromptu fight crept into his mind. Smiling, he hurried towards
his office.

Chapter 6
    General Hynes drummed his fingers impatiently.
He looked over at Major Dobb. “Well? Is he coming or not?”
    Dobb glanced at his computer screen. “Security
logs say Frank Vellore cleared checkpoint Beta ten minutes ago. He
should be here shortly.”
    Hynes went back to his drumming. He hated having
to even talk to the CEO of Wastend, but the President’s
instructions were clear. The ultra-stealth TACAIR prototype had to
be dismantled and destroyed. But Hynes would be hanged if he
allowed any of the technology to fall into the wrong hands. He
would see it destroyed completely or heads would roll. He had no
illusion as to what would happen if certain other governments got
their hands on the technology, and too often decommissioned
technology lying around in a warehouse somewhere just disappeared,
only to turn up in the hands of those who should have never even
known of its existence. No, it would be destroyed…permanently.
    A knock on the door was followed by a plain
looking woman sporting silver lieutenant bars on her shoulders.
“Sir, Frank Vellore is here to see you.”
    “Thank you, lieutenant,” Dobbs said politely,
his voice shifting to a softer pitch. “Please show him in.”
    Hynes frowned. He absently wondered if a budding
romance was developing between the major and the lieutenant.
Shrugging the thought away, he focused on the task at hand.
    Vellore walked in dressed in an expensive Kiton
business suit that Hynes felt sure had set the man back at least
$5,000. Great. There were fewer ways to say, ‘I’m better
than you,’ than by wearing