Read Online Kraken Mare by Jason Cordova, Christopher L. Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jason Cordova, Christopher L. Smith
Ads: Link
Poole (or Lockhart) said, before being shoved out of the way by Lockhart (or Poole). “Consider it oh jay tee, rookie.” He was replaced by the first guy.
“Knock that off. You two are making me dizzy.” On the job training , I translated internally. Well, it could be worse. People could be trying to kill me with artillery .
Twin grins filled the screen. I sighed and made a silent promise to get their names tattooed on their foreheads once the contract at the station was up.
“Roger Control, will be there as soon as I can. Out.” I clicked off and stowed the PDA. I could still feel the two Kraken watching me. I met their gaze and gave them my best All-is-right-because-I’m-A-Marine grin. “Duty calls. You two play nice.” I pointed at the kraken I’d designated as the husband. “And trust me, buddy, just take out the trash. And tell her she’s got a nice butt or something. Chicks dig that.”
I would’ve sworn the alien gave me a thumbs up in reply.
It only took a few minutes to get to Control, most of the time taken by the elevator ride. I stepped out and walked towards the desk. One of the Things stood up as I approached. Behind him was Neil Frandsen, another guard that everyone else called Bigfoot for some reason. I’d only spoken to him in passing since he typically wasn’t in my shift rotation. He seemed like a decent enough guy.
“I’ll go with you to show you the ropes, rook.” On the PDA, I could only see faces. In person, Poole’s name tag was visible. I sighed with relief. No more guessing games today, thank God. “Don’t worry, you’re starting off with Holomisa. We’ll work you up slowly to the more…difficult inmates.”
We started towards the holding area, Poole in the lead. Bigfoot followed behind. I took this to mean he had the heat today.
Protocol stated one guard per shift carried a firearm, concealed, as well as the standard issue tranq gun. The designation rotated with each shift, and the same guard never carried twice in a row. A message on the PDA prior to clocking in would send the designated guard to the armory to pick up the firearm.
“How difficult is difficult?”
“Well,” Poole said, scratching his goatee, “let’s see—most of them aren’t too bad, just the usual bullshit that comes with prisoners. Wheeling, dealing, trying to get something they don’t have. That would be…” He ticked names off on his fingers. “Wohl, Hernandez, Jones, and Aviotti.”
“And the others?”
“Flynn and Dupay are surly, to put it mildly, but fairly compliant for the most part. The occasional outburst, but loss of a privilege or two for a while brings them back in line.” He paused, frowning. “Gentry and Jou make me nervous. With those two, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before something happens.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing this a while, back home I did a rotation in Leavenworth. I’ve seen the type before. Always probing, looking for something they can use. Information, patterns, weaknesses of any sort. Be careful around them. Gentry will try and get your goat, make you slip up and reveal something about yourself. He’ll use that to mess with you. My advice is to just keep your mouth shut and follow procedure.”
“And Jou?”
“He’s more physical. Don’t move him without a partner. He’ll resist without making it obvious, you know? Passive resistance, when it’s someone that big, could cause some problems.” Poole checked his PDA and jerked his head down the corridor. “We gotta go, they’re expecting us.” We moved on. “With Jou, he’ll make it difficult to restrain him, but nothing overt. He’s strong, though. Very strong.”
I nodded, making mental notes. My ego scoffed at the idea of anyone getting the better of me, but I knew deep down that Poole was speaking of lessons learned from experience. I would heed his words carefully.
I had a list of all of the prisoners and their backgrounds uploaded onto my PDA, but I
“Knock that off. You two are making me dizzy.” On the job training , I translated internally. Well, it could be worse. People could be trying to kill me with artillery .
Twin grins filled the screen. I sighed and made a silent promise to get their names tattooed on their foreheads once the contract at the station was up.
“Roger Control, will be there as soon as I can. Out.” I clicked off and stowed the PDA. I could still feel the two Kraken watching me. I met their gaze and gave them my best All-is-right-because-I’m-A-Marine grin. “Duty calls. You two play nice.” I pointed at the kraken I’d designated as the husband. “And trust me, buddy, just take out the trash. And tell her she’s got a nice butt or something. Chicks dig that.”
I would’ve sworn the alien gave me a thumbs up in reply.
It only took a few minutes to get to Control, most of the time taken by the elevator ride. I stepped out and walked towards the desk. One of the Things stood up as I approached. Behind him was Neil Frandsen, another guard that everyone else called Bigfoot for some reason. I’d only spoken to him in passing since he typically wasn’t in my shift rotation. He seemed like a decent enough guy.
“I’ll go with you to show you the ropes, rook.” On the PDA, I could only see faces. In person, Poole’s name tag was visible. I sighed with relief. No more guessing games today, thank God. “Don’t worry, you’re starting off with Holomisa. We’ll work you up slowly to the more…difficult inmates.”
We started towards the holding area, Poole in the lead. Bigfoot followed behind. I took this to mean he had the heat today.
Protocol stated one guard per shift carried a firearm, concealed, as well as the standard issue tranq gun. The designation rotated with each shift, and the same guard never carried twice in a row. A message on the PDA prior to clocking in would send the designated guard to the armory to pick up the firearm.
“How difficult is difficult?”
“Well,” Poole said, scratching his goatee, “let’s see—most of them aren’t too bad, just the usual bullshit that comes with prisoners. Wheeling, dealing, trying to get something they don’t have. That would be…” He ticked names off on his fingers. “Wohl, Hernandez, Jones, and Aviotti.”
“And the others?”
“Flynn and Dupay are surly, to put it mildly, but fairly compliant for the most part. The occasional outburst, but loss of a privilege or two for a while brings them back in line.” He paused, frowning. “Gentry and Jou make me nervous. With those two, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before something happens.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing this a while, back home I did a rotation in Leavenworth. I’ve seen the type before. Always probing, looking for something they can use. Information, patterns, weaknesses of any sort. Be careful around them. Gentry will try and get your goat, make you slip up and reveal something about yourself. He’ll use that to mess with you. My advice is to just keep your mouth shut and follow procedure.”
“And Jou?”
“He’s more physical. Don’t move him without a partner. He’ll resist without making it obvious, you know? Passive resistance, when it’s someone that big, could cause some problems.” Poole checked his PDA and jerked his head down the corridor. “We gotta go, they’re expecting us.” We moved on. “With Jou, he’ll make it difficult to restrain him, but nothing overt. He’s strong, though. Very strong.”
I nodded, making mental notes. My ego scoffed at the idea of anyone getting the better of me, but I knew deep down that Poole was speaking of lessons learned from experience. I would heed his words carefully.
I had a list of all of the prisoners and their backgrounds uploaded onto my PDA, but I
Similar Books
