The Tejano Conflict Read Online Free PDF

somehow slipped though . . .
    Jo herself preferred manual, she didn’t like to give up the control, but of course, she was an expert operator, and her augmented reflexes gave her an advantage. In a situation where the traffic was bumper-to-bumper, there was no point in doing it yourself—less stressful to let the TCA pilot.
    She tooled the wheeled cart into the hotel’s underground parking. The air had that city smell, hot concrete, dust and mold, leaked cart lube.
    Welcome back to civilization . . .
    â€“ – – – – –
    Gunny parked the cart, and she and Singh alighted, to follow Jo and Kay into the hotel.
    The place was designed to look as if it had been built in the . . . seventeenth—eighteenth?—century. There was a baroque look to it; there were faux oil paintings of men cradling shotguns and servants holding up small, dead animals; more images of women in long dresses and bearing baskets, surrounded by children who seemed miniature adults. Some of the paintings were life-sized, all had ornate, gold frames, and though well lighted, had a dark tone to them. The hotel’s walls were patterned in muted colors, flowers here, geometric designs there. The floors were beset with Oriental carpets. There were overstuffed couches and chairs perched on carved wooden legs, made of leather or what appeared to be crushed velvet in deep shades of red or green.
    The staff wore period costumes: odd-looking trousers that ended just below the knees and long stockings, squared-toed shoes and brass buckles, with frock coats and frilly shirts for the men; long dresses with some kind of hoops under them for the women. All of the clothes were in bright colors, reds, greens, blues, with buttons made to look like shiny brass or bone.
    Must have spent a small fortune on this ornate crap.
    She thought it looked silly, and said as much to Singh.
    â€œBut very posh,” Singh said.
    â€œWhat exactly does that word mean?”
    â€œIt is a term used on my homeworld, originally from Terra. As I understand it, in the days when oceangoing ships were powered by wind, predating electric engines and air cooling, the voyages on such vessels from the colonizer country of Breetan were long and slow, and the trips were often in tropical waters.”
    â€œOkay, so?”
    â€œThe heat was greatest on the side of the ship that mostly faced the sun. Traveling to India, that would be the starboard side, and returning from there, the port side.”
    â€œAh’m still with you, but you been talking too much to Gramps, you are starting to sound like him.”
    Singh laughed. “Sorry, sah. For reasons of comfort, passengers apparently preferred to travel on the shadier side of the ships, so if given the choice, they elected for port-out-starboard-home, which gives the acronym p-o-s-h. It has come to mean luxurious, upper-class.”
    â€œIs that true?”
    â€œWho can say? It might be, and it makes a good story.”
    â€œYou really need to stay away from Gramps, the man is going to infect you with his babble.”
    They followed Jo and Kay to the elevator, paying attention to the patrons of the hotel, several of whom were obviously startled by Kay’s appearance.
    Gunny had tuned that out long ago, and you tended to forget something you became acclimated to after a while. There were still people who had never seen an offworld alien up close though you’d think in a big city, that would be unlikely.
    Of course, Vastalimi were rare away from Vast, and they had a reputation for danger that was, if anything, understated.
    â€œNobody steps into Kay’s path,” Singh observed.
    â€œAh see that.”
    â€œI confess when I first met her, I was myself somewhat nervous. She appears formidable just standing there.”
    â€œShe does that. Because she is.”
    â€œDo we follow them up?”
    â€œWe catch the next elevator, find a spot where we