Read Online Paradise Burns by J. P. Sumner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J. P. Sumner
Ads: Link
looking
as shocked as I was.
‘Are you working with Dark Rain?’ I
demanded.
‘They recruited me a couple of years
ago, yes,’ she stated.
‘What are they planning?’
‘I don’t know.’
I put my gun an inch away from her
forehead.
‘Don’t lie to me, Clara.’
She remained calm, but she was worried.
‘I honestly have no idea. I was assigned
to Jackson and told to keep him safe. That’s it.’
She was very matter-of-fact, and my
instinct was to believe her. I knew she was good, but I think she was given the
short straw assignment because she’s relatively new to this Dark Rain outfit.
Plus, the look of shock on her face when Jackson mentioned the uranium was genuine.
I turned back to Jackson and put my gun against his forehead instead. He
started crying again.
‘Ted, you gotta start talking. Uranium?
What’s the big picture here?’
‘W-we were going to mine it and then process
it in one of our R&D labs.’
‘Process it, how?’
‘We were using gas centrifuges to enrich
the material highly enough that it became weapons-grade.’
‘Weapons-grade? As in, the stuff that
goes in nukes?’
‘You could use it in nuclear bombs, yeah.
Having control of our own deposit meant we could sell it on for a hundred
percent profit. GlobaTech approached Dark Rain after learning of the mine’s
location and proposed the operation.’
‘So, you were going to sell the land to
Dark Rain, so that they essentially owned the mine? But then you guys were going
to do all the hard work for them, and sell the product that they technically
owned? That doesn’t make sense.’
‘The United States and Russia set up a
joint program back in ‘93 to convert all highly-enriched uranium into nuclear
fuel. Ever since then, practically all weapons-grade material has been disposed
of. We saw an opportunity to fill a massive gap in the market.’
‘That still doesn’t explain why you’d
give it to Dark Rain?’
‘Having weapons-grade uranium isn’t
exactly legal. If they owned the mine, they would have liability.’
‘And you offered to do all the mining
and processing and selling making it look like you’re doing them a favor – but
you were just setting them up to take the fall while you reaped the profits?’
‘That was the plan.’
‘Christ, is there anyone you won’t screw
over?’
Jackson shrugged.
‘If the money’s right, no.’
‘But you essentially gave an underground
militia control of a uranium mine!’ I continued. ‘Is the almighty dollar so
important you’d risk the lives of millions?’
‘Says the hired assassin?’ he scoffed.
‘Don’t try and lecture me on morals,
Teddy, this really isn’t the time.’
We fell silent. I was trying to think of
a plan. How could I put this right?
‘Has the deal for the land been finalized
yet between GlobaTech and Dark Rain?’ I asked him.
He sighed.
‘That’s what I’m in town for. I’ve got
all the papers with me, I just need to sign them and the land’s sold. Then
mining can begin.’
‘And does anyone have any idea what you
were intending to do with the land before you were brought in to broker this
deal?’
‘No, I covered my tracks well enough, I
think.’
‘You were just unlucky, right?’
‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ he said,
gesturing toward me with his head.
I walked over to the desk he was working
at and picked up his briefcase. The same one he had handcuffed to him
yesterday. It had a combination lock on it. It didn’t take much persuading for
Jackson to give me the code, and when I opened it, I saw the documents relating
to the land purchase resting on top of a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
I took the briefcase with me and put it
on the floor in front of Jackson and Clara. I aimed my gun at Jackson once
again.
‘Is this everything?’
He nodded.
‘And I suppose it’s too much to ask for
you to have any information to hand about Dark Rain?’
He shook his head.
‘I never dealt with them
as shocked as I was.
‘Are you working with Dark Rain?’ I
demanded.
‘They recruited me a couple of years
ago, yes,’ she stated.
‘What are they planning?’
‘I don’t know.’
I put my gun an inch away from her
forehead.
‘Don’t lie to me, Clara.’
She remained calm, but she was worried.
‘I honestly have no idea. I was assigned
to Jackson and told to keep him safe. That’s it.’
She was very matter-of-fact, and my
instinct was to believe her. I knew she was good, but I think she was given the
short straw assignment because she’s relatively new to this Dark Rain outfit.
Plus, the look of shock on her face when Jackson mentioned the uranium was genuine.
I turned back to Jackson and put my gun against his forehead instead. He
started crying again.
‘Ted, you gotta start talking. Uranium?
What’s the big picture here?’
‘W-we were going to mine it and then process
it in one of our R&D labs.’
‘Process it, how?’
‘We were using gas centrifuges to enrich
the material highly enough that it became weapons-grade.’
‘Weapons-grade? As in, the stuff that
goes in nukes?’
‘You could use it in nuclear bombs, yeah.
Having control of our own deposit meant we could sell it on for a hundred
percent profit. GlobaTech approached Dark Rain after learning of the mine’s
location and proposed the operation.’
‘So, you were going to sell the land to
Dark Rain, so that they essentially owned the mine? But then you guys were going
to do all the hard work for them, and sell the product that they technically
owned? That doesn’t make sense.’
‘The United States and Russia set up a
joint program back in ‘93 to convert all highly-enriched uranium into nuclear
fuel. Ever since then, practically all weapons-grade material has been disposed
of. We saw an opportunity to fill a massive gap in the market.’
‘That still doesn’t explain why you’d
give it to Dark Rain?’
‘Having weapons-grade uranium isn’t
exactly legal. If they owned the mine, they would have liability.’
‘And you offered to do all the mining
and processing and selling making it look like you’re doing them a favor – but
you were just setting them up to take the fall while you reaped the profits?’
‘That was the plan.’
‘Christ, is there anyone you won’t screw
over?’
Jackson shrugged.
‘If the money’s right, no.’
‘But you essentially gave an underground
militia control of a uranium mine!’ I continued. ‘Is the almighty dollar so
important you’d risk the lives of millions?’
‘Says the hired assassin?’ he scoffed.
‘Don’t try and lecture me on morals,
Teddy, this really isn’t the time.’
We fell silent. I was trying to think of
a plan. How could I put this right?
‘Has the deal for the land been finalized
yet between GlobaTech and Dark Rain?’ I asked him.
He sighed.
‘That’s what I’m in town for. I’ve got
all the papers with me, I just need to sign them and the land’s sold. Then
mining can begin.’
‘And does anyone have any idea what you
were intending to do with the land before you were brought in to broker this
deal?’
‘No, I covered my tracks well enough, I
think.’
‘You were just unlucky, right?’
‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ he said,
gesturing toward me with his head.
I walked over to the desk he was working
at and picked up his briefcase. The same one he had handcuffed to him
yesterday. It had a combination lock on it. It didn’t take much persuading for
Jackson to give me the code, and when I opened it, I saw the documents relating
to the land purchase resting on top of a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
I took the briefcase with me and put it
on the floor in front of Jackson and Clara. I aimed my gun at Jackson once
again.
‘Is this everything?’
He nodded.
‘And I suppose it’s too much to ask for
you to have any information to hand about Dark Rain?’
He shook his head.
‘I never dealt with them
Similar Books
