Collateral Damage by Dale Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

“I’m his assistant.”
    Mina flushed. So did Jason.
    Zen laughed. Clearly he was going to have to coach Jason a bit on how to deal with reporters . . . and women.
    When they arrived at the lobby floor, the door opened on a small crowd. Zen felt a flicker of trepidation—were all these people waiting to talk to him? But it was a tour group, queuing to get up to their rooms after dinner. He rolled around them, heading down the corridor to a small conference room. Meanwhile, Jason went over and found a hotel employee.
    The man unlocked the door. It was set up for a small talk, with four dozen chairs facing a podium at the front. Zen rolled down the center aisle to the open space near the podium and turned around.
    â€œGrab a chair and fire away,” he told Toumi.
    She hesitated a moment—his slang had temporarily baffled her. Then she took her voice recorder out and began asking questions.
    â€œSo, you know about the accident?”
    â€œI don’t know much about it at all,” said Zen. “I heard earlier that there was a bombing incident in Libya, and there are reports that civilians were hurt. This would be a tragedy, if true.”
    â€œIf true?”
    â€œI don’t know whether it is true or not,” said Zen, trying not to sound defensive. “Certainly if it is true, it would be terrible. Anytime anyone is killed or even hurt in war, it’s tragic. Civilians especially.”
    â€œShould the perpetrators be punished?”
    â€œI doubt it was deliberate,” said Zen.
    â€œBut even mistakes should be punished, no?”
    â€œI don’t know the facts, so we’ll have to see.”
    â€œIn your experience,” boomed a loud voice in American English from the back of the room, “are robot planes more apt to make this kind of mistake?”
    Zen looked up. The man who had asked the question was wearing a sport coat and tie. Someone with a video camera was right behind him.
    Several other people crowded in behind the two men as they came up the aisle.
    â€œAre robot aircraft more prone to this sort of mistake?” repeated the reporter.
    â€œI’m sorry, I don’t know you,” said Zen.
    â€œTomas Renta, CNN.” The man stuck out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Senator.”
    I’m sure, thought Zen as he shook the man’s hand.
    â€œFirst of all, I haven’t received any official word on what sort of planes were or weren’t involved,” Zen told the man.
    It was an obvious fudge, and the reporter called him on it before Zen could continue.
    â€œI’m sure you’ve heard the rumors and saw the YouTube tape,” said Renta. “Everyone is saying it was a UAV.”
    â€œWell, theoretically speaking, unmanned planes are no more likely to have accidents than any other aircraft,” said Zen. “The statistics are pretty close. Frankly, since people have been flying for so long, UAVs look a little better. Statistically.”
    The reporter drew a breath, seemingly gearing up for another question. Zen decided to beat him to the punch.
    â€œBut that doesn’t meant that they can’t have accidents,” he said, looking directly into the camera. “It has to be investigated, obviously. I’m sure it will be. Speaking as a civilian—”
    â€œAnd former pilot,” said another journalist.
    â€œAnd former pilot, yes.” He gestured toward his useless legs. “My perception is, accidents can happen at any time. And they may be terrible ones. But I don’t know what happened here, and I don’t know that it would be of much value for anyone to pass judgment on anything until all of the facts are known.”
    â€œShould the U.S. compensate victims?” said the journalist. Zen thought he remembered him from a conference somewhere—he was an American representing AP overseas.
    â€œI don’t even know if it was a U.S.