Read Online Geek Mafia by Rick Dakan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rick Dakan
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Science-Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Espionage, High Tech, Computer programmers, Software piracy, Video games industry
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pleasantness to it. She held a pot laden pipe to his lips for him to take hits off each time it passed around the circle. Paul was no connoisseur, but he'd seldom had pot go straight to his head as quickly as this did.
Chloe presided over events as the master of ceremonies, telling the story with some incredibly funny (if inaccurate) impersonations of Greg and the rest of Paul's partners. Former partners. She also played a few choice clips from the audio recording she'd secretly made with the microphone hidden in her briefcase. Bee laughed the hardest and loudest, repeatedly lamenting that she hadn't had a chance to put in the cameras so they could watch it all on video. Paul laughed as hard as anyone, and took some good-natured ribbing for his own meek part in the affair.
When she finished her performance, Chloe took a bow as the whole room applauded, whooped and hollered.
She took a second, deeper bow and then popped the CD from the player she'd been using during her story. She held it up along with two other unmarked discs.
"What say you cool cats? Have we well and truly triumphed?" shouted Chloe.
"WE HAVE!!!" the whole room (except Paul) responded. Paul realized that this must be some sort of ritual they'd performed before.
"And have all records been well and truly erased beyond any hope of recovery?" she shouted again.
"THEY HAVE!!!" the room replied.
Chloe singled out Raff, who was standing against the back wall of the room, smiling drunkenly. "What say you Mr. Raff? Are your decks and disks clear?"
"They are!" he shouted. "Clear and ready for new action!" Everyone cheered at this as well, and Raff took a deep draught of his beer in acknowledgement.
Chloe now turned to Bee, who squirmed in Paul's lap. "What say you Ms. Bee? Are your tapes erased and your cameras clean?"
"They are!" Bee shouted. "I never even got to use the cameras. Next time..." The others jeered, pelting her and Paul with popcorn as she giggled uncontrollably. They'd all heard enough about not using the cameras.
Chloe let the impromptu food fight die down before she continued. "Then I, as El Capitan Du Jour, officially certify this latest sortie a success!" Everyone really cheered at this announcement, throwing more popcorn every which way, but mostly at Chloe. She then held the three CD's aloft once more. "And I do further certify that these represent the only remaining record of our adventures."
With that, she snapped the disks in two, one at a time. Paul had never seen anyone do this - it seemed dangerous to him, but no one else seemed scared of the sharp shards of plastic that went flying through the room with each break. Snap! The room cheered. Snap! More drunken revelry. Snap! The biggest cheer of all.
Chloe let the silver pieces fall to her feet.
"What do we always say?" she shouted. "If they're ain't no record..."
CHAPTER 7
35
"NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED!" the room roared in reply.
Paul realized that something bound these people together besides technical ability and miscreant natures. They had done this before, as they freely admitted, and as best as Paul could gather, they had done it a lot. This ritual was old hat to them, as precise and maybe even as meaningful as a Catholic mass. Paul was the outsider here and, although there was a pretty girl in his lap and a beer in his hand, he suddenly felt more like a fish among sharks than a guest at a party. These were criminals. They weren't would-be Robin Hoods or merry pranksters. Maybe it wasn't always about the money, but whatever they did, it was probably very seldom within the confines of the law.
Ok, he thought, time to make my getaway. He was glad - so very, very glad that he'd decided at the last moment to hide his money from Chloe and the rest. He wasn't sure he'd have gotten out of the house with it if he'd brought it back with him. As the ritual wound down around him, he started thinking of excuses to get up and leave. But then Chloe singled him out.
"Now," she
Chloe presided over events as the master of ceremonies, telling the story with some incredibly funny (if inaccurate) impersonations of Greg and the rest of Paul's partners. Former partners. She also played a few choice clips from the audio recording she'd secretly made with the microphone hidden in her briefcase. Bee laughed the hardest and loudest, repeatedly lamenting that she hadn't had a chance to put in the cameras so they could watch it all on video. Paul laughed as hard as anyone, and took some good-natured ribbing for his own meek part in the affair.
When she finished her performance, Chloe took a bow as the whole room applauded, whooped and hollered.
She took a second, deeper bow and then popped the CD from the player she'd been using during her story. She held it up along with two other unmarked discs.
"What say you cool cats? Have we well and truly triumphed?" shouted Chloe.
"WE HAVE!!!" the whole room (except Paul) responded. Paul realized that this must be some sort of ritual they'd performed before.
"And have all records been well and truly erased beyond any hope of recovery?" she shouted again.
"THEY HAVE!!!" the room replied.
Chloe singled out Raff, who was standing against the back wall of the room, smiling drunkenly. "What say you Mr. Raff? Are your decks and disks clear?"
"They are!" he shouted. "Clear and ready for new action!" Everyone cheered at this as well, and Raff took a deep draught of his beer in acknowledgement.
Chloe now turned to Bee, who squirmed in Paul's lap. "What say you Ms. Bee? Are your tapes erased and your cameras clean?"
"They are!" Bee shouted. "I never even got to use the cameras. Next time..." The others jeered, pelting her and Paul with popcorn as she giggled uncontrollably. They'd all heard enough about not using the cameras.
Chloe let the impromptu food fight die down before she continued. "Then I, as El Capitan Du Jour, officially certify this latest sortie a success!" Everyone really cheered at this announcement, throwing more popcorn every which way, but mostly at Chloe. She then held the three CD's aloft once more. "And I do further certify that these represent the only remaining record of our adventures."
With that, she snapped the disks in two, one at a time. Paul had never seen anyone do this - it seemed dangerous to him, but no one else seemed scared of the sharp shards of plastic that went flying through the room with each break. Snap! The room cheered. Snap! More drunken revelry. Snap! The biggest cheer of all.
Chloe let the silver pieces fall to her feet.
"What do we always say?" she shouted. "If they're ain't no record..."
CHAPTER 7
35
"NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED!" the room roared in reply.
Paul realized that something bound these people together besides technical ability and miscreant natures. They had done this before, as they freely admitted, and as best as Paul could gather, they had done it a lot. This ritual was old hat to them, as precise and maybe even as meaningful as a Catholic mass. Paul was the outsider here and, although there was a pretty girl in his lap and a beer in his hand, he suddenly felt more like a fish among sharks than a guest at a party. These were criminals. They weren't would-be Robin Hoods or merry pranksters. Maybe it wasn't always about the money, but whatever they did, it was probably very seldom within the confines of the law.
Ok, he thought, time to make my getaway. He was glad - so very, very glad that he'd decided at the last moment to hide his money from Chloe and the rest. He wasn't sure he'd have gotten out of the house with it if he'd brought it back with him. As the ritual wound down around him, he started thinking of excuses to get up and leave. But then Chloe singled him out.
"Now," she
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