Project - 16 by Martyn J. Pass Read Free Book Online

of her mouth curled
slightly upwards as we made eye contact and I knew that it was a
silent 'hello' and one that seemed so natural it felt like we'd
been friends for years. It was beauty in its best form - genuine
and unsullied by lust.
    “ I don't know,” I said, sipping my coffee and burning my
tongue on it. I suddenly felt very hot and clammy under her gaze.
“There wasn't a single clue I could find.”
    “ Do you want to hazard a guess?”
    “ It wouldn't be fair to sully the names of those lads if
they'd done nothing wrong. I suspect there'd been some kind of row,
a disagreement on what to do or where to go and she'd split from
them. Maybe they kept the pack because they'd given it to her or
something and they saw it as theirs.”
    “ Did you look inside the pack?” he asked.
    “ No,” I said. “I emptied the others, I just...” The Colonel
held up an understanding hand.
    “ No need to explain. I’ve known you a long time, Miller. I
knew your Dad too. He was 'Old School' and you inherited that,
there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, be proud of it because
you're damn sure we'll look in that pack.”
    “ Thanks, Colonel. Anyway, after I found Rebecca...”
    “ Rebecca?” It was the soldier who interrupted me this
time.
    “ Yes, her name was Rebecca,” I replied. “She had I.D on her. I
wrapped her up and took her to the 'Rover, then proceeded to track
the others. When I was sure they were going to the City I drove on
as far as I could and found their trail on the outskirts. I tracked
them into the centre but it was clear that they were being pursued.
There was wild dog spoor everywhere and I quickly came upon the
remains of the first two lads. From there I was able to track the
third who'd retreated inside a train station but had managed to let
the pack in after him. He was dead when I got there.”
    “ Can you confirm that? I'm not being a dick, Miller, but I
have to go back to the families with something concrete. You know
the drill.”
    “ I was able to look inside. The dogs had got him but they were
trapped behind the shutters with him.”
    “ That's a run of bad luck they had out there,” said the
Colonel.
    “ That wasn't luck,” said the soldier. “They were badly
prepared and poorly trained.”
    “ True enough,” he replied. “Miller, I want you to meet Claudia
Riley, retired US Ranger.” She extended her hand to me and we
shook. She had a warm, firm grip. “She's flown over from the States
and could do with your help but before all that, I suppose I should
come clean with you...”
    “ You're leaving,” I said. “I heard.”
    “ I'm afraid so. How aware are you of what's been going on for
the last few years?”
    “ What, just here or on a larger scale?” I asked, not really
understanding the question. I made a point of avoiding the news if
I could.
    “ I'm talking across the world, Miller, and judging by your
response you know fuck and all about the political situation in
this world.”
    “ I had a rough idea that when the Russians marched on Paris
they would start looking this way. Why, what's your angle? Are you
afraid they'll invade? They pretty much levelled the place so their
only interest must surely be to grab some land before...” I held my
tongue. It was obvious what the next Russian move would be and I
guess that's why I was starting to be a little concerned that
America was so eager to just let them take it.
    “ It's not the Ruskies the brass are afraid of,” he said like
he'd read my mind. “It's what's going on within its own borders
that bothers them. There's a lot of talk about revolution on the
streets of the major US cities, of a major government overthrow
that we can't just put down to crackpots any more. The President is
worried. Any kind of trouble he might have to take action against
will cost him votes in the upcoming election. He doesn't want to be
ejected because deep down he believes he's the only one capable of
getting the States through the