Read Online Masterminds by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Free Book Online

achieve it made her feel uneasy.
    She knew she wasn’t done; she had come to the Moon to talk with Noelle DeRicci, who as head of Security for United Domes of the Moon, seemed to be the only representative of the Moon’s government. Gomez had actually had one of her crew, Neil Apaza, research who the best person to contact was, and Apaza had concluded that Gomez’s initial instinct had been right—no one else on the Moon had the kind of political reach that DeRicci did.
    Apaza had wanted to come with Gomez. So had Lashante Simiaar. Like Gomez, Simiaar had taken a leave of absence from the Earth Alliance Frontier Security Service. The EAFSS had no idea that the two women were actually moonlighting, investigating the attacks on the Moon from all the way out in the edges of the Alliance.
    Gomez’s ship, the Stanley , had encountered the PierLuigi Frémont clones fifteen years before, in a strange circumstance on the far side of the Frontier. After the Anniversary Day attacks, Gomez realized that no one had ever acted on the reports she had filed about that enclave of clones.
    Had someone acted, Anniversary Day would never have happened.
    In her long travels to the Moon, Gomez had investigated the clones and other things that had bothered her about the Anniversary Day attacks. She had convincing evidence that the attacks on the Moon had originated within the Alliance—and because she was convinced, she couldn’t send that information along her links.
    She needed to convince Security Chief DeRicci in person.
    And now that Gomez was facing the moment, she felt uneasy. Here she was, a EAFSS Marshal near retirement, coming to the Moon with a fantastical story of betrayal within the Alliance.
    She had to approach DeRicci correctly, so that the woman didn’t dismiss her out of hand.
    Which was why Gomez was going to see DeRicci alone, and why she hadn’t contacted DeRicci before arriving on the Moon.
    Gomez didn’t want to give DeRicci the opportunity to put off a meeting. Gomez needed DeRicci to hear her out immediately.
    Particularly since another set of clones whose original had been a mass murderer had tried to destroy the Moon a second time.
    Whoever—whatever—was after the Moon clearly wasn’t willing to give up after one or two tries.
    Gomez had visited Armstrong at several points in her career, but the last time was decades ago. She remembered it being busy and full of aliens from all over the Alliance.
    The port seemed busier now—the crush of people was intense. They wove around her as they hurried to whatever their final destination was. But she saw very few aliens, and the ones she did see looked like they were heading to the departures area or were waiting near the arrivals lounge for someone else.
    There had been some odd bumps before arriving—the port wanted her ship, the Green Dragon , to declare whether or not it was a multispecies vessel. The pilots had simply declared them a human-only ship without consulting Gomez.
    Simiaar found out about it before Gomez, and gave them a tongue-lashing, reminding them that no one had those rules inside the Alliance. But the crew Gomez had put together hadn’t been inside the Alliance in years except for short stops near the Frontier, which was why they didn’t know Alliance protocols.
    Instead, the crew operated on Frontier protocols, which were to do whatever the port authorities asked for, if the ship really had to land in a particular site.
    Gomez knew that the Moon was on edge, but some of the changes here disturbed her greatly.
    She had always thought of the center of the Alliance as the most civilized place in the universe. To see that some of the basic tenets of civilization were being ignored here or deliberately flaunted really upset her.
    Just like the fact that some in the Alliance were involved in these attacks disturbed her as well.
    She allowed the port map to activate inside her links. She would follow the map to the nearest exit, and then she would