Savages Recruit by Loki Renard Read Free Book Online Page A

that they had yanked her out of her life to do, so the news was somewhat welcome. Hopefully she could get the job done and go home. As nice as the room she'd been assigned was, it wasn't the same as her own apartment that she was free to come and go from as she pleased.
    Early one morning Savage roused her from bed and brought her back down to the C levels. Level 3-C turned out to be a large room filled with computers. There were several military personnel at work, but she didn't have a chance to see what they were working on, the moment she tried to see what was on their screens she was tugged onwards to a far corner that was empty save for one eccentric figure.
    “Zora this is Ethan. He's in charge of communications and intelligence for our team,” Savage said by way of introduction. Ethan was reclining with an outrageously nonsensical pair of sunglasses on his head, wearing a psychedelic tie dyed shirt apparently designed to make him stick out like a sore thumb. His long beard had been parted in twain and fixed at the ends with colored beads. It was almost enough to make him look older than he really was, but his clear rosy cheeks showed that he couldn't have been any older than his mid twenties.
    “Nice shirt,” Zora smiled.
    “Thanks,” Ethan grinned.
    “Ethan is going to give you a crash course in systems and codes. Pay attention,” Savage ordered in no nonsense tones.
    “Righto,” Zora pretended to be amicable. When Savage left she sighed and slumped down in her chair. “That guy is such a fucking hard ass.”
    “You get that around here,” Ethan agreed sympathetically. He held out his box of candy cigarettes. “Smoke?”
    Zora took one with a smile. “So they don't let you smoke here?”
    “They do not,” Ethan confirmed.
    “Don't let you drink either I guess.”
    “Well, not officially,” Ethan looked around shiftily, then reached under his desk and pulled out a hip flask. He handed it to Zora, who unscrewed it and took a tentative sniff. The aroma that rose from the flask was a heavenly blend of sherry aromas mixed with something darker.
    “What is this?”
    The reply came in lowered, secretive tones. “Home brewed bourbon.”
    “Nice,” Zora purred appreciatively. “May I?”
    “Go ahead,” Ethan winked. “Just don't get caught.”
    Zora sipped at the brew and found it just as delicious as it smelled. Almost immediately the warming sensation in her stomach made her feel at ease and she tool a long draught. “Oh god I needed that,” she sighed happily as the fire water ran through her veins, restoring some of her lost sense of normality.
    Ethan slid the flask back into its hiding place. “More later, lets run over the codes first, okay?”
    The taste had made Zora yearn for more, but she agreed. It wouldn't do for Savage to discover that she hadn't done anything all morning. God only knew what kind of punishment he'd dole out then. She applied herself to learning the codes with as much enthusiasm as she could possibly muster under the circumstances. They were easy enough, but there were a lot of them. Fortunately for Zora, her memory had not been affected by the small amount of alcohol in her system and she had no trouble learning them quickly. Numbers had always come more easily than spoken language to her.
    “Impressive,” Ethan said when they ran through them a few minutes later.
    “That's how I got here,” Zora shrugged. “I'm good with numbers.”
    “Yeah I know, I saw your video online and showed it to Savage...” Ethan trailed off as Zora's expression became suddenly vicious.
    “So this is your fault,” she said accusingly. “You're the reason I'm here.”
    “Technically the Bulgarians are the reason you're here,” Ethan argued in his defense.
    “What?” Zora frowned. “What Bulgarians?”
    Ethan clammed up quickly, clearly aware that he'd put not one, but both of his feet in his mouth. “You should ask Savage,” he said, turning back to the computer and tapping