Sinthetica Read Online Free Page B

estate.
    Ivan smiled at Isabella and shrugged before hurrying to catch up with his boss.
    Through the floor to ceiling glass, Ivan could see Marina, Molenski’s personal assistant, enjoying a cup of coffee on the balcony that overlooked the estate and the city beyond its walls. The attractive brunette held a small tablet in her hands.
    “What do you have there, Marina?” asked Molenski, sitting down at the table next to her.
    Marina was dressed immaculately in a gray business skirt and crisp white shirt. Her dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun.
    “It’s the control tablet for…”
    She stopped, looking over Molenski’s shoulder at Ivan.
    “It’s fine. He’ll see soon enough.”
    “Okay. Well, it’s the control tablet for your order.”
    The item looked more like a small sheet of glass with words printed in on it than any tablet Ivan had ever seen.
    She held it out, and Molenski accepted the wafer thin object. He read the text on the screen then turned it over, watching as the print on the screen moved and then flipped over to be right side up again.
    “Clever. But not practical. What happens if I drop it?”
    “Genitix guarantees the control tablet for two years, sir, the same as the machine itself. The tablet, like the machine, is supposed to be invulnerable to all but the heaviest abuse.” 
    His eyes narrowed at the emphasis. She looked at him levelly.
    Without breaking her gaze, he suddenly raised the tablet and smacked it against the table they were seated at. Marina flinched and involuntarily clapped her hand over her mouth.
    Her boss held the tablet up and inspected it. It was undamaged.
    He put it on the table as if bored.
    “So, no problems with the delivery?”
    “No sir, the tech was reluctant to deliver the machine without running through a demonstration, but he didn’t argue when I told him it wouldn’t be necessary. I think it might have been his first delivery; he was very nervous...”
    “Come, let’s go and look at it,” he said interrupting her and picking up the tablet again.
    Ivan led the way; Marina followed him and Molenski brought up the rear. The Russian was in a good mood and watched Marina’s ass appreciatively as they walked through to the dock. Molenski was a man of many appetites, and he had a feeling that that one day soon he might have to show the serious young woman a few of them.
    The mainly empty dock consisted of a raised horseshoe shaped platform that delivery trucks could back into. At the rear of the dock on the raised platform stood a tall timber crate. The unmistakable circular Genitix logo marked all four sides of the crate and just in case one missed it, G E N I T I X was also stamped diagonally in large black print across the front and back.
    Molenski, for once, his excitement unrestrained, stepped past Marina, handing her the control tablet as he went. He pushed by Ivan and stopped in front of the crate.
    “Pass me that crowbar, Ivan.”
    Once it was in his hands, he didn’t waste time. He slid the claw end into the top corner of the crate and began to jimmy it open.
    “Grab this edge and pull,” he snapped at Ivan. He then moved the crowbar down a foot and jimmied it again.
    Ivan slipped the fingers of both hands under the edge and peeled the lid away as effortlessly as opening a door. The nails screeched as they came free of the rough pine. Marina’s eyes widened at this display of strength, but Molenski seemed unimpressed as he threw the crowbar to the concrete. Ivan carried the panel he had just removed and propped it up against the wall at the rear of the dock. The reverse side of the panel was lined with Styrofoam insulation, like a cooler box and was heavier than the bodyguard expected. 
    Molenski stepped up to the crate and Marina moved in so she also had a better view.
    A film of clear plastic held back gallons of Styrofoam packing beads. Molenski jabbed his fingers through the barrier and ripped it away impatiently, releasing an avalanche