Multireal Read Online Free Page B

the object of their mission. He had come
from nowhere, really, a shameless entrepreneur who had clawed his way
out of the bear pit of bio/logic programming. Nobody was quite sure
how he had wormed his way into Margaret Surina's good graces, or how he had gained control of her MultiReal technology so quickly. Then he had showed up in Len Borda's chambers, mere hours ahead of a major product demo, looking to make a deal: the Council's protection from some group of assassins in black robes that had ambushed him on the streets of Shenandoah-protection from the black code swarming through his bloodstream even now like barracudas. In exchange: access to MultiReal.

    The high executive had kept his word. He had raised his hand and sent three legions of his best troops scrambling for Andra Pradesh. The fiefcorper's product demo had gone off as planned.* _link_
    And what had the entrepreneur delivered in return? Nothing.
    He had failed to show up for half a dozen scheduled meetings over the next week, leaving Magan and his underlings to sit alone in a series of conference rooms feeling foolish. Urgent messages and ConfidentialWhispers had disappeared into the void, unacknowledged and unanswered. Threats had gone unheeded.
    Borda had responded to this charade with the subtlety of someone conducting an orchestra in a suit of armor. He had sent white-robed Council officers to shadow the man twenty-four hours a day, then had those officers parade before the man's windows with dartguns drawn. When that had failed to apply the appropriate pressure, he had ordered the troops to accept no excuses and firmly escort the man to the Council's administrative offices in Melbourne. Still the fiefcorp master managed to elude them. He would disappear for days at a time right under the officers' noses-nobody knew where or how.
    Two days ago, Len Borda's patience had reached its limit. He had called Magan Kai Lee to his chambers in the middle of the night, telling him to drop everything and bring the intractable fiefcorper back to the negotiating table, by force if necessary.

    "In handcuffs?" Magan had asked.
    "In chains," Borda had replied.
    Lieutenant Lee had looked at that weathered face, that bald capstone of a head. The high executive had stared back at him with a gaze
of acid. Magan felt his fingertips flex involuntarily, yearning to take
hold of the dartgun holstered at his side and aim it at that caustic, lichlike countenance. Borda had merely sat there, defenseless but utterly
without fear. He knew that Magan would not break their agreement.
    And Borda was right. In the end, Magan Kai Lee had done what
he was told. He had retreated back to his quarters, filing the impatience away in yet another mental side room that was full dangerously
close to bursting. He had called up Papizon, and the two of them had
sketched out this endeavor, with occasional input from the Blade. The
next forty-eight hours had been a haze of architectural blueprints,
supply requisitions, and scouting reports.
    An incoming blip snapped Magan back to the now. It was time.
    Go.
    All at once, the Defense and Wellness Council hoverbirds blasted
into motion. They quickly shifted into single file as they sped toward
Shenandoah like a poison arrow, with Ridgello's hoverbird the barb
and Magan's VIP ship the fletchings.
    Magan took a parting glance at the crossing of the two rivers. He
thought of the flow of illicit advertising and wondered what kind of
societal parasite would resort to such a scheme.
    Natch, he thought, you brought this on yourself.

    Five hoverbirds darted out from behind the Blue Ridge Mountains,
skirting close to the ground, where they blended in with the snow.
Traffic was a farce this early in the morning. The sun hung close to the
horizon, unsure of itself.

    Papizon, what's your status? said Ridgello.
    Even scrambled, the tactician's voice sounded serene and unhurried. Security is under Council control, he said. We're decompressing the