Zero Recall by Sara King Read Free Book Online

ranks.
    “This looks
good,” Caus said.  “You in the mood for Ueshi cuisine?”
    Jer’ait twisted
to look down at the restaurant.  “Never was a fan of that poison.”
    “You’ll like
this place,” Caus assured him.  “They make delectable ooma.”
    Jer’ait
grimaced.  “Won’t that kill you if they prepare it wrong?”
    Caus wrinkled
the thin, splotchy green skin around his eyes—the Jahul version of a smile. 
“They won’t.”
    They waited as
Caus’ men cleared the restaurant of its startled patrons and then seated
themselves in a hidden corner.  The Ueshi landlord who approached their table
showed no sign at all that he was disturbed by the sudden visit from the most
dangerous crime boss on Bolan.  They ordered, then he calmly walked out of their
booth.
    “That one is
good at hiding his fear,” Caus said with appreciation at the Ueshi’s retreating
blue-green head.  “I could use a man like him.”
    “For what?”
    “A spy.”
    “He looks like
he does well enough for himself here,” Jer’ait noted, glancing at the lavish
furnishings of the place.  The restaurant even had what appeared to be a
ruvmestin-plated chandelier—at least a fifty thousand credit item, if not
more.  “Doesn’t strike me as a man who would devote his life to crime.”
    “I never said I’d
give him a choice,” Caus said, looking as if he found the idea quaint.
    Jer’ait grunted
and sipped the glass of water that appeared through the table’s trap door.  It,
like all Jahul items, was small to compensate for a Jahul’s short fingers.
    “So tell me of
this trouble you’re having,” Jer’ait said.
    Caus quickly flicked
the switch that closed their booth off from the rest of the restaurant.  Once
they were alone, he said, “It’s bad.”  The old Jahul watched him and Jer’ait
made sure to keep his emotions strictly under check.  It wasn’t very hard. 
Training at Va’ga had left him able to do almost anything with his body or
mind.  Now, he portrayed worry and pity.
    “How bad?”
    “This latest
thing with the border planets.”  Caus made a disgusted gesture at the
restaurant.  “The foodstuffs.  Congress was unappreciative of my involvement,
to say the least.”
    Jer’ait glanced
up at the vent in the ceiling.  Caus followed his gaze. 
    “This place is
not bugged,” Caus said.  “I’ve never been here before.  Read about it.”
    “Ah,” Jer’ait
said.  He motioned for Caus to continue.  “So you stole some food from the
colonies.  Weren’t they having bad times with the military overdraft?”
    Caus snorted. 
“If the supplies were important to them, they would have spent more on guards.”
    “So several million
citizens starved to death due to the shortages.”
    Caus blinked his
inky black eyes.  “Whose side are you on , Dagi?”  He sighed.  “We both
know they all would have lived if it weren’t for the military conscripting too
many of our citizens and therefore consuming more than their share.”
    Jer’ait bowed
his head in concession.  “And now Congress wants you dead.”
    Caus snorted.  “They’ve
tried.  Ever since I orchestrated that freighter of Nansaba colonists to go to
the Dhasha.”
    Jer’ait schooled
his features to show surprise.  “You sold colonists to the Dhasha?  Aren’t the
Nansaba rare?  It takes them hundreds of turns to spawn a child, yes?”
    Caus waved a
disgusted hand.  “They’re worth almost a lobe of ruvmestin apiece and the
freighter was completely unarmed.  Eight hundred thousand of them.  When I see
a karwiq bulb, I pluck it.”
    “And it has made
you very rich.”
    Caus snorted. 
“Oh, you have no idea.”
    Yes I do, you
disgusting bastard, Jer’ait thought, but he didn’t say it. 
    Caus mistook his
rush of anger and laughed.  “Why, my friend,” he cried, slapping a filthy hand
against Jer’ait’s shoulder.  “I do believe you are jealous!”
    “I just fear for
your safety,” Jer’ait replied.