Read Online Omega Force 3: The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle - Free Book Online

quite spectacular though it scared most of the people in the city. It’s been good getting back in touch. It makes me want to go grab a drink tonight and reminisce.
    “ Oh come on!” Kage exclaimed. “Seriously? You guys can’t actually suck this bad at this.”
    “ Look,” Jason said. “It gets the point across. We’re not spooks, we’re ship captains. Well … she’s a ship’s captain. Anyway, she just gave us a clue as to where we can meet up tonight.”
    “ She did? There has to be hundreds of bars near this spaceport,” Kage said.
    “ Kellea doesn’t drink. Look specifically for tea houses and list them by distance from our current location.”
    “ She doesn’t drink?” Twingo asked. “What the hell do you see in this woman anyway?”
    “ You really have to ask?” Kage said before Jason could answer. He then struck his best effeminate pose and ran all four of his hands over his body in his best imitation of an imagined seductress.
    “ I’m going to go throw up,” Crusher said as he walked off the bridge.
    “ Kage,” Jason said slowly. “That’s the third creepiest thing you’ve done around me. Please don’t ever do it again.”
    “ No promises,” Kage said as he hopped back into his seat and began his search.
    *****
    Jason, Crusher, and Lucky were dressed in their non-descript best as they ambled through the port’s passenger receiving area and tried to blend in with the other aliens milling about. They lucked out; there were four charter flights getting ready to depart so the area was crowded enough to allow them to move through the throng separately and meet up outside without drawing any undue attention.
    The first tea house was well within walking distance so the trio decided to go on foot and get a better feel for the area they were operating in. As they had suspected and feared, there were a handful of agents milling about trying their best to blend in. They reached the first shop that took up the entire first floor of a three-story building that was a little over half a mile from the spaceport.
    The term “tea shop,” when roughly translated and interpreted over a few dozen worlds and just as many languages, came to mean many different things. Less than half of them actually served any sort of tea. This one seemed to specialize in some sort of vaporized narcotic that was fogged into a large glass bowl and then inhaled. Jason stood transfixed as an assortment of aliens sucked in the viscous fumes. The fog seemed alive as it didn’t break up in the air and instead streamed up into the nose, snout, mouth, or proboscis of the patrons.
    “ Since she doesn’t drink I’m going to assume she also doesn’t partake in this foolishness,” Crusher said with disdain as he looked around at the near-catatonic customers. He was careful not to use Kellea’s name aloud now that they were in an area where anyone could be an intel agent.
    “ No, she doesn’t,” Jason said. He then approached the counter and flagged down the attendant, waving away the proffered glass globe. “I’m looking for the closest tea house.”
    “ Good sir, you are in—”
    “ A real tea house,” Jason corrected. “As in, someplace that serves a drink brewed by pouring boiling water over some sort of herbal mix.”
    “ There is one four blocks down and to the left,” the attendant said with disinterest. “There are much more entertaining options available here, however.”
    “ I’m sure,” Jason said flatly. “Thanks for the information.”
    The next establishment was a much more likely candidate. There was dark paneling on the walls and well-dressed customers sipped out of ceramic cups and talked quietly. The strong herbal scent of the shop was slightly sweet and quite pleasant as Jason looked around. Lucky was standing outside as lookout since it would appear a little odd for a synth to be in a store that sold something he had no need for. A quick scan told Jason that Kellea was not in there, so he