Vin's Rules (Outer Settlement Agency) Read Online Free Page B

already slinking out the door.
    When Graham looked back, his saccharine smile was once again firmly in place. “See here. I keep accounts of attacks and everything we know so far about these creatures. We’ve never had any problems during the day. Barring another mutation—and really, that could take centuries—we don’t expect to.”
    The first mutation hadn’t taken that long, but Vin kept his mouth shut and nodded. “I assume they kill under threat?”
    “For food.”
    “Those cloth things in the store corners?”
    “Not cloth. Egg sacs or wrapped prey. We’ve had the misfortune of seeing them in action. There’s a plan in place, though. We had a healthy farming community here. Our people never much cared for calorietabs. We like food. Actual meat. Turns out, so do those creatures. “
    Allie cleared her throat. He shot her a look, begging her to keep her mouth shut, but... well... it was fucking Allie, so no.
    “What are their reproductive rates? Your survival, their survival, and the survival of any sort of prey animals don’t seem mutually sustainable.”
    Graham flipped through the handwritten pages of the ragged ledger book. “You’ve got a good mind on your shoulders, I see. The thing is, we have old cloning technology. No point in letting it go to waste. Especially now. We release animals out every few weeks to keep the creatures at bay. Not much. We don’t want their numbers to grow. As far as we can tell, they only produce two to three offspring.”
    Only?
    “Taking around a month for full maturity. The egg sacs in town are destroyed as we encounter them during the day. The ones in the forest are more difficult to find.”
    Allie slammed the edge of the desk triumphantly. “You should modify the cloned animals with pesticides or viruses to destroy the creatures within a few reproductive cycles.”
    Graham’s eyes snapped over. “We are.”
    “Oh.”
    “I understand OSA has the greatest minds in the universe, but we are not idiots.”
    “I didn’t mean it that way.”
    “Mutations take time. Not all are transferred.”
    “She didn’t mean anything by it, Graham. That’s just her way.”
    A tentative knock interrupted the terse moment. The same blue-clad woman from earlier silently rolled in a serving tray. She placed two cups on the table and reached for a third but hesitated, and her hands fell to her sides.
    Allie took a long breath but otherwise kept her cool while the woman poured tea for him and Graham. Keeping her quiet was one thing, but he wasn’t about to let her get weak from thirst. They were a team now, and he needed her full strength.
    “Pour some for my female companion.”
    The serving woman’s eyes locked on the man behind the massive desk. Not until Graham’s nod did she reach for another cup.
    “Thank you, Graham. I need to take care of Allie. Despite her mouth, she’s still a good... well, my...companion.” He paused, letting the implication of his words lay heavy in the room.
    Graham’s eyes drifted over to Allie. “Hardly seems within regulation.”
    Vin prayed to everything in the heavens that Allie would play along. Instead, she lifted her chin defiantly. Here we go again.
    “We hadn’t broken any rules until I was given this assignment. Further, as all review pairings are secret until meeting, I didn’t see the point in holding up someone else because of our...”
    “Agreement,” Vin finished, biting back grin.
    “Exactly. We’re both professionals. I’m not going to tell, and neither is he. I’d appreciate it if we can rely on your discretion.”
    Finally, she seemed to be getting it.
    Their unexpected visit must have put Graham in an uncomfortable position. The mayor of Crazy Town couldn’t kill them or else OSA would show up. He couldn’t just set them free for the same reason. Vin had been aiming for the crazy convert angle - and it was still a good backup - but Allie’s line of Your Secret vs. Our Secret verged on brilliance.
    “You see,