Page 114 of Throwing Fire

Kez shrugs and settles more snugly against my side.

“Kez is with me and I’m a Mod. There are some other things thatfit. Don’t know how much Payton told you, but we got a clear connection between B and the Ojos who have been killing Acker’s people on the Clouds. B’s been directin’ and fundin’ the attacks.”

“But not participating himself?” At my nod, Exeter says. “He doesn’t like getting his hands dirty. That would fit with putting a tag on Miz Kerryon.”

“See why we’re payin’ him a visit?”

Exeter looks thoughtful, his brows beetling over the edge of his shades. “What do you hope to find? Civil Patrol won’t do anything about attacks on extreme Mods. You know that. And you’ll need very convincing evidence to connect B to the attempts on Miz Kerryon’s life ... unless you intend to handle the matter yourself.”

“I do.” I tip my chin at the black-on-black corporate logo on his chest. “Don’t worry. I’m not askin’ you to play assassin.”

Exeter shrugs. “My contract is to get you safely from the Clouds to Jielt and back. I’m authorized to use deadly force against anything that threatens your safety.”

Payton gives a satisfied little grunt. I nod my approval at her.

“I’m feelin’ threatened already,” I tell him.

“Me, too,” Kez says.

“Then I’ll bring my really big gun.” Exeter pats a currently-empty holster on his thigh.

“You got clearance for that?” I ask. Although Tyng Tower has an armory, Tyng’s security people don’t have clearance to carry projectile weapons, and I’d have thought Tyng had more pull than an indie security firm.

Exeter smiles. “Trade secret.”

Cagey bastard. “Fuck, you want a full-time job?”

“I have one.” His smile broadens to a grin. “But I like long-term contracts.”

Kez elbows me. “Stop flirting. Whether or not Exeter’s got his big gun, B is going to be pretty tense when we descend on him. I can’t see him admitting to anything.”

“As far as B knows, we’re just there to deal with the emergency he didn’t deal with last night,” I say.

Across from us, Payton nods. “I’ve already plexed the plant this morning to say that we’re sending an Xec response team from the Clouds.”

“Good thinking.” Kez gives Payton a weary smile of approval.

“What’d emergency you come up with, anyway?” I ask Kez.

“Radioactive fungus bloom in the desal tanks,” she responds.

“Smart girl.” We’ve both studied this problem. It’s one of the more uncommon issues with desalinization. But when it becomes a problem, it’s a major problem. The fungus contaminates the entire desalinization process and is extremely hard to kill. In Hemos, a few years back, a bloom resulted in the replacement of the entire plant. The cost was over a billion credits. A real bloom would fuck B’s operating budget all to hell, and there’s no way for him to know it’s a false alarm, since the sensors are all routed through Mother Jo.

“I have my moments,” Kez says.

I give her a squeeze. Yes, she does.

CHAPTER 39

Jielt unfolds beneath us, resolving slowly out of a dusty, desert smear.

Low buildings bracket greenways: strips of terraforming plants put down by the early Colonists, which continue to chew away at the desert, turning the sand into soil. In the center of the city, the buildings are topped by glittering blue and gold domes. Govvie offices; Jielt’s massive central market; the spaceport.

I turn my head and whisper to Kez, “Think that might be our future there?”

“In Jielt? I hope not. It’s a sandpit.”

“Exporting off-world.” If we can find a big enough market for Tyng’s legit products, the company wouldn’t be dependent on the profits from Hex. “Could help us divest faster.”