Outsystem (Aeon 14) by M. D. Cooper Read Free Book Online Page B

actually in front of you—easier for Angela to monitor them too.
    While the conference room was listed as a nanoprobe-free zone, the records for previous meetings indicated that room sweeps were not normally implanted. She was betting that someone here was used to taking advantage of that and would be in for an unpleasant surprise. Angela was remotely controlling the scanning systems and would alert Tanis the moment she caught any bots moving in the room.
    She eased back in her seat, silently eyeing each person as they entered. Commander Evans took a seat beside her and leaned over whistling softly.
    “Got them all here in person. That’s something I never managed to pull off.”
    Tanis tapped her collar. “It’s the oak leaves. They imply wisdom. Makes people listen better.”
    “I think my two bars must somehow suggest I’m easy to ignore.”
    “I’m sure part of it is that they all want to size me up,” Tanis said. “See how they can mess with me.”
    “There will most certainly be messing, sir.”
    A minute later the last straggler came in: Commander Gren, as Tanis had anticipated. He took his seat across the table from her and held her eye for several moments. Tanis flicked her eyes to the left and blinked rapidly as though she were accessing her Link. She didn’t have any tells, but it never hurt to make people think they had you all figured out.
    “Good afternoon,” Tanis began. “I’d like to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules for this little session.” The stares from around the table were blank, no one revealing anything until they had a better idea of her intentions. “I’ve been going over our records and procedures and I believe we will have to make some changes.”
    “What types of changes might those be?” Lieutenant Caspen asked.
    “Changes at every level,” Tanis replied. “Commander Evans has done an admirable job. However, there have still been security breaches, some minor, others not so minor. Luckily—and I do mean luckily—nothing serious has penetrated as far as the Intrepid itself. However, we need to determine what is the root cause of these breaches if we are to consider ourselves successful.”
    “We already know what the root is,” Sergeant Davidson said. “MOS Sec is very certain the disturbances are originating with small radical groups.”
    “I don’t think you can label what happened today as a ‘disturbance’,” Lieutenant Ouri said. “Those terms are for the press. We nearly had a catastrophe.”
    “Speaking of things that are for the press, and things that aren’t”—Tanis cast a stern eye down the table—“Lieutenant Caspen, please recall your nanoprobes. As I’m certain you are aware, they’re not allowed in here.”
    “I’m not sure I know what you are talking about,” Caspen said. “I don’t have any probes deployed.
    There were several distinct hissing sounds and Tanis smiled. “Not anymore, you don’t.” The lieutenant shifted uncomfortably and Tanis continued. “As I was saying, we need to determine who is behind these attacks. My brief encounter with the enemy proves we are dealing with an organized, well-funded group. They have both physical and net resources beyond what any known anti-colonization group possesses.”
    Lieutenant Caspen spoke up again, “I looked you up, Major. You’re that Tanis Richards. You’ve got a history of going overboard in situations. How can we be sure you’re not doing that now?”
    Tanis and Caspen stared at each other for several long moments before she broke his gaze and looked around the table. “Most of you have read my file. Surprisingly, one or two of you haven’t. You are, of course, seeing only the non-classified portions of it. I’ve battled more radical splinter groups than I’m certain you even knew existed. Most have quality tech, and they are all very dedicated, but none of them would have the funds or the contacts to sneak a nuclear weapon aboard a station