Read Online Digital Venous by Richard Gohl - Free Book Online Page B

them?”
    “Are you serious? I wasn’t paying attention. I’m on some really good gear myself…”
    “Try.”
    The Napean sighed loudly. “Guy had long black hair, was muscle. I actually thought he was a guard—I know you guys like to take that ‘rip and tear’ muscle ‘roid. She was, actually, a stunner. And was she built…?” The Napean nodded to himself smugly, spreading his fingers apart and putting his hands up in front of his face as if he could feel the woman who was standing in front of him. “I mean, she had a body …”
    “When did they leave?”
    The man looked upwards, thinking hard. “Er… half an hour, hour ago. What are they ‘sposed to have they done?”
    Shane replied, “Doesn’t sound like them. Thanks anyway.”
    Shane went back out into the Napean night, reactivated his eye scanner, and headed north. One by one, he slipped into the ground floor of the other three apartments, but they were quiet. He swept back westwards along the edge of the Ancient Orient precinct. This wealthy area had wonderful views north along the range and west out to sea, and was extremely tight on security. Moving north and then east, Shane came to the expansive apartment, vacated for as long as he could remember. It was the last checkpoint in the area. Failing this, he would have to travel south, from gate to gate along the eastern wall.
    There was one peculiarity with the right-hand side, Napean eye at night, and especially a guard using any of the scanners. There was an eerie faint glow in the eye. It was actually very dangerous and Shane knew it. He regularly turned it off.
    Through an open window he looked into the darkness of what had been the foyer of the apartment block.
    Two small organic shapes lit up orange on his iris, high up near the roof. They were just pin points. He shut off the scanner, moved closer, and looked with his naked eye, trying to gauge the distance so he might tell what the objects were. Shane changed to night vision, giving him a clearer view of the landscape. Across on the western side, up high in the building, at the top of ten flights of steps, someone was sitting on the roof, leaning up against something. The door to the roof had been removed, so he could only see their two feet.
    Shane removed his gun from the back of his belt, primed it, and then put it back.
    Keeping perfectly still, he flicked back to his scanner. The person sitting was still there. The feet moved. The person was doing something with their hands, something vigorous. He was shaking or cleaning some equipment. Then Shane saw another figure walk past the gap in the roof and stand, partially obscured, next to the sitting person.
    Female, thought Shane. How did she get in? He could sense them getting ready—but to do what, exactly?
    Then he remembered. The report had stated that the pair were last seen on top of a building in the Roman precinct. Two little birds , thought Shane.
    He moved quickly, silently, around the inside perimeter of the building, looking for a clear line of sight. Briefly he saw a human shape walk to the edge of the building, look around, and then disappear again.
    Shane had the ability for detachment at moments of heightened awareness. Both a blessing and curse, because with courage, foolishness was never far away. He knew it was a remnant shadow trait from his previous twenty-second-century self. Shane had always loved playing virtual war games and frequently came away from a session without sustaining a single hit. It was dangerous to build up this sort of confidence, and he struggled to suppress the idea that he was bulletproof. The key was to work harder and be more cautious in attacking your competitor.
    He had engaged in hundreds of arrests and had been hit by real ammunition, people, or other weapons too many times to remember. If it weren’t for generic body repair and Napean medicine, half of him would be missing.
    He began the climb up the steps. There was no noise and if the two