Cypher (The Dragon's Bidding Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

She’d grown fond of the antiquated weapon’s stopping power. When
he wanted it back, she’d have to track down the original specs and have a copy
made.
    “All ashore who’s going
ashore,” the ship announced as she opened the airlock and dropped the ramp.
    Wolf might not be here
for this morning’s mission, but his proxy was, in the form of Sergeant
Bartonelli. Doubly suspicious of the Praetorian Guard after the attack at
Ransahov’s coronation, he’d hired his own security team, comprised entirely of
Gold Dragons mercenaries. While he underwent the implantation surgeries, he’d
assigned the diminutive NCO to keep an eye on Fitz.
    For most of the trip,
the mercenary had appeared to be snoozing, her chin against her chest, but as
Fitz reached to shake the sergeant’s shoulder, her head snapped up. She
scrambled to her feet, shouldering her heavy weapon—an over-under pulse rifle
with an EM launcher for kinetic rounds. Her mismatched armor sported a Gold
Dragons emblem on the plastron, and vivid green curls peeked from beneath a
helmet painted to resemble a grinning skull.
    The only Normal of
Fitz’s four-member team, she had the most combat experience, but then a
mercenary like Bartonelli could hardly be considered your run of the mill
Normal. The other three, although augies, didn’t have enough combat time
between them to warrant a single battle ribbon, but she trusted them. So far,
they were the only three to go through her vetting process and be reinstated
since the reassessment of the augie program began.
    Even before the start
of Ari Ransahov’s reign, lobbying to outlaw combat augmentations had been
intense. The general population, and then the newsies, had taken up the cause,
pressuring the Emperor to end the program. Only Fitz had voiced a dissenting
opinion, pointing out that a properly staffed and administered program was
worth maintaining. As a reward for her candor, Ari dumped the job of
reorganizing CyberOps, rooting out all the bad eggs and establishing a small
and tightly controlled organization, into Fitz’s lap—as an adjunct to her
already hectic schedule as Head of Imperial Security.
    At first she planned to
quietly recall all augies and pull their spikes to deactivate their
augmentations until they could be certified for service, but after the newsies
leaked the story, augies scattered like gerbats when the lights flash on.
Sixty-five remained unaccounted for, sixty-five potential superhuman killers
loose in the Empire, and all she had to do was track them down and neutralize
the threat—by any means necessary.
    Fitz paused at the
hatch. “Sergeant, stay with the ship, and make sure no one gets out this way.”
If she got Bartonelli killed, Wolf would be rightfully pissed at her.
    “Begging your pardon,
Chima, but your bossy little ship is quite capable of doing that on her own,
and my orders were to stick with you, no matter what.”
    Fitz clenched her jaw.
“We’re going in hard and fast. You won’t be able to keep up, and when things
get hairy, I can’t take the time to look out for you.”
    Shouldn’t have said
that to the merc.
    “No need to fret ’bout
me, Chima. I got my friend here to watch over me.” The sergeant slapped a fresh
power pack into the rifle and ducked through the hatch.
    The merc had taken to
calling her Chima. Fitz wandered what it meant; no doubt dumb ass from
the looks Bartonelli gave her.
    “Don’t worry, I’ll keep
an eye on her.” Lieutenant Braylin Pike winked and followed the sergeant out.
In his black SpecOps armor, the young man resembled a schoolboy playing dress-up.
He was Fitz’s compiler, an analyst, and not combat tested. Only a year out of
the academy, he hadn’t been an augie long enough to be corrupted by Tritico’s DIS,
and had been the first to come in and surrender his spike after the recall.
    And he seemed to have a
crush on Bartonelli.
    “Cover our backs,
Lizzy.” Fitz herded her remaining two troopers out and followed them