Read Online Random Chance and the Paradise that is Earth by Shawn Michel de Montaigne - Free Book Online Page A

by. Now show the nice
man that you know all about Garky military tech.”
    Random reached into his pocket and pulled
out a small gun. Both Pirate and Mia jumped backward. “Hey! What’re
you doin’?” demanded Pirate. “How did you get through security with
that thing?”
    Mia looked utterly out of place here. Random
felt sorry for her, and for bringing her along. She didn’t know he
had the gun, and didn’t know that he had used both Hewey and Cubey
to dampen security sensors into Vesta City. She gaped at him.
    Pirate looked like he might run, but Random
said without looking at him, “Stay where you are, Pirate. Your comm
link is dead, so it’s no use trying to sound any alarms. Just hang
on for a second. If this console is real, you’re going to find that
I’m a very generous man.”
    He pointed the gun at the key ID and
fired.
    The gun was a high-energy nano-discharger
designed to strip modern alloys. On a low setting it could shave
layers without harming internal hardware.
    The key ID sloughed off the console like a
paper-thin centimeter-wide snake and dropped curled to the floor,
leaving a perfect, smokeless indentation behind.
    As they watched, the snake began
evaporating. Soon it was gone. Random presented the console to him:
the key ID had resolidified in its old place as though it hadn’t
just been stripped off. “Classified Garky tech,” he said. “We’ll
take it.”
    Pirate’s price was almost twenty percent
above the estimated black market price Hewey had researched. Random
paid it without haggling or complaining. Illegal Garky military
tech would be very difficult to keep from the wrong eyes,
convincing holographic walls notwithstanding. He verified the
credit transfer to Pirate’s account and left with the console,
which the shopowner placed into a secured case.
    “Good luck getting out of the city with
that,” said Pirate at the door. “The penalty for Garky military
tech in the hands of civilians is incineration. I never met you.
Have a good day.”
    The door to his shop slid closed.
    “Random!” hissed Mia. “You’ve
got a lot of
explaining to do! How did you get that gun? And how are we gonna
get that console back up to The
Girl ? This was such a bad idea
…”
    “It’s why I want you to have it—to have
Hewey and Cubey with you at all times.” He looked up and around.
“Are you aware that Garky sensors monitor every single public
conversation?”
    “But Vesta isn’t Garky,” she
replied as the lift descended. “It’s Earth and Garky.”
    “I don’t exactly trust Earth sensors either.
Vesta is at the fulcrum of the conflict, and bugs are probably
everywhere. Hewey has altered those monitoring us, including all
visual data. If they check, they’ll think we’re having a completely
different conversation than the one we’re having.”
    The lift doors opened and they
walked out of the building. “I think all-out war is coming,” said
Random. “I saw it in my uncle’s eyes. He wants war. I don’t want
you in harm’s way. Hewey and Cubey will keep you safe—safer. Much safer.”
    “How do you propose we get
state of the art military tech back to The Girl?” she demanded. “How did you
get your gun through? How do I keep the console hidden once it’s
aboard ship? What if Garkies board the ship? I’ll be screwed! We all will
be!”
    He looked up. “Hewey? Are the
city sensors properly, er, attenuated? ”
    “You got it, Rand,” answered Hewey. “I like
that word.”
    Random started walking again. “Let’s
go.”
    When she caught up to him, he said, “The
tough part is coming up—getting this console out of the city. Don’t
worry about the gun. It’s made of an illegal composite that renders
it unreadable to sensors.”
    They passed through a small
park. “The latest Garky tech is easy to hide,” he continued. “It
was designed that way. It’s ironic, but it’ll help defeat the
sensors we need to get it out of the city. I’ll put it beneath