The Two Towers Read Online Free PDF Page A

handle something I know can get me where I’m going.”
    Carl smirked. “There’s no doubt in my mind my equipment can take you well and beyond where you want to go.”
    “We’ll see about that.”
    Veridian and Cruncher returned a few minutes later. Judging from his demeanor, Kayla knew he had been able to plant the listening device. He handed her the equipment and she walked over to the lock, confidence in each of her steps.
    “Start the timer, boys, and I’ll show you how it’s done.” She knelt down and placed her frequency detector on the safe. With practiced motions, she slid her lock picking tool into the lock and easily worked through the combinations.
    With a flourish, she pulled the handle and the door swung open.
    “One minute fourteen seconds,” Cruncher said in amazement.
    Xantham chuckled in amusement while Zane stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve never seen anyone work a lock that fast.”
    Kayla sauntered over to Carl, holding out her hand and rubbing her fingers together. “I believe that’s another hundred credits you owe me?”
    “Apparently so.” His eyes skimmed up and down the length of her body, as though assessing and considering her in a new light. “If you’ll join me in my office, I’ll transfer the credits now.” He turned to Zane. “I’ll do your transfer as well. I believe you owe her twenty?”
    Zane nodded sheepishly. “Mind if I take a look at your equipment, Kayla?”
    She hesitated for a moment before handing her equipment to Zane. Motioning for Veridian to stay behind and retrieve the device when Zane had finished trying it out, she followed Carl back toward his office.
    “Protective of your equipment, are you?”
    “I like to keep my toys clean. Nasty things happen when they leave my sight.”
    “But you left them with Veridian,” Carl pointed out.
    “Yes, I did. They’re safer with him than they are anywhere.”
    “You have that much trust in him?”
    Kayla frowned, becoming uncomfortable with the personal direction of the conversation. “You ask a lot of questions, Carl. But, yeah, I do. Veridian is…I guess you could say he’s like a brother to me.”
    “A brother then,” Carl mused. He nodded as though that cleared up some question in his mind. “He mentioned family yesterday. Is that important to you?”
    Kayla shrugged. “Only Veridian. Most other people are a waste of perfectly good oxygen.”
    “I see,” he observed, stepping back into his office. Kayla hopped back on the edge of the desk and watched while Carl initiated the credit transfer. When it was complete, she verified the transaction.
    He put down his comlink and leaned across the desk to study her. “Now that we have that settled, I’d like to talk to you about the reason I asked you to come here.”
    Kayla tucked her hair behind her ear and cocked her head. “Is this the part where you start trying to turn me into a legitimate scavenger?”
    Carl smiled. “Something like that. You’ve met most of my crew, with the exception of Jinx. She’s out mapping some of the sectors right now. I asked the crew to stick around today so you could meet them. But we usually try to do two separate shifts. One group is on one day and the other on the next. It seems to work out well for us.”
    Kayla nodded. Most crews scavenged that way. She was scheduled to be back underground tomorrow.
    “I know what most ruin rats think of us. But we’re not bad people. In fact, the majority of trader crews are made up of former ruin rats.”
    “Yeah.” Kayla blew out a breath. “Ruin rats who decided they’d rather sell themselves and live under OmniLab’s thumb.”
    “It’s not that bad, Kayla,” Carl insisted. “The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I’m prepared to offer you a salary with an added percentage of whatever you scavenge. This percentage would be directly from an OmniLab trader with no negotiation fees attached. It would be far more than you’ve ever seen working with