Read Online The Genius Asylum: Sic Transit Terra Book 1 by Arlene F. Marks - Free Book Online

juices to the Nandrians in payment for a piece of alien technology which it was secretly testing on the Zoo and the Hub for purposes not yet made clear — and that deal might have been brokered by Holchuk as well, since the Nandrians liked him.
    His first report to the EIS was going to raise blood pressure, guaranteed.

Chapter 6
    “Mr. Townsend?” The voice emanating from the comm unit just inside the door to his temporary quarters sounded tinny and nasal.
    He wasn’t able to answer right away. He’d been unpacking and had come across Bruni’s gifts tucked in among the clothing and personal items inside his trunk, and a sudden powerful wave of remembered loss had swept through him, robbing him of speech and blurring his vision with unwelcome tears.
    At the sound of his name, Drew forced himself to suck in a long, steadying breath. Then, once he could trust his voice again, he replied gruffly, “Yo! Who’s there?”
    “Jason Smith, Life Support Engineering Specialist. There’s a problem with this piece of — of carpet you brought aboard, sir.”
    That wasn’t what he’d meant to call it. In spite of himself, Drew was smiling as he gently extracted all the precious parcels from their hiding places in his trunk and arranged them in a pile on the bed. “Really? And what problem would that be, Mr. Smith?” he called over his shoulder.
    Drew already knew what the problem was. He’d known what it would be even as he was rolling and tying the rug in his erstwhile apartment. ‘Mom’ had raised an eyebrow when she saw the thing emerge from Devil Bug ’s cargo hatch but had said nothing, just stood aside to let the decon crew pounce on it. If anyone understood the significance of that piece of luggage, it would be Ruby McNeil.
    An audible sigh preceded the engineer’s reply. “Carpeting aboard a space installation is impractical and dangerous, sir. We’re in a closed environment, constantly recycling atmosphere. Carpet fibers trap dust and debris, overworking the air purification system. Pumps can overheat, even burn out. I cannot in all conscience—”
    “—obey a direct order, Mr. Smith?” Drew cut in imperiously. Part of him felt sorry for the young engineer. Smith was just doing his job. He was being logical and reasonable, and he was right; but Townsend was establishing his cover, and in the larger scheme of things that had to take precedence over everything else.
    “Are you ordering me to install it, sir?”
    “No, I’m ordering you to unroll it on the floor in my office and stick a desk on top of it.”
    “Because I want it understood that I’m doing this under protest, sir.”
    “Your protest is acknowledged, Mr. Smith. Now go away.”
    Another sigh. “Yes, sir.”
    Sir, sir, sir. Strangely polite behavior for a bad apple, Drew mused. Then he recalled the final entry in Smith’s biofile: reason for reassignment to Daisy Hub — assault on a fellow officer. Jason Smith had graduated with honors from the Fleet training program. He evidently had no difficulty taking orders. He’d served for five standard years on a starship, working his way up to Assistant Engineering Specialist. And then something had happened. Smith had thrown a punch at a superior officer, and had promptly made things worse for himself by verbally assaulting the other man in front of witnesses. Clearly, he’d been provoked, but an officer should have been able to control his anger. So, Jason Smith had a hot button and had evidently been given a choice: return to Earth as an Ineligible or take reassignment to Daisy Hub. Might Khaloub have inadvertently pushed that button? Could that be why he had died?
    Adding the engineer’s name to the now-burgeoning suspect list, Drew realized it would probably be in his own best interests to find out more about young Mr. Smith.
    Townsend pulled the last of his personal effects out of the trunk and pushed it aside with his foot. For a moment he regretted having brought the brass-studded,