vitamins on your plate. You’ll feel better within a week. Especially since I plan to have you over for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then, in a month or so, you’ll be worth looking at again.”
There was a clatter as the mirror fell, and Vanderveen stood. “No!” she said angrily. “I won’t do it!”
“Oh, but I think you will,” Tragg responded grimly, as he reached for the rifl?e that was leaning against the rail.
“Go ahead,” Vanderveen said defi?antly. “Shoot me! It’s what you wanted to do from the very start.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” the overseer replied dryly, as he worked a shell into the weapon’s chamber. At that point Tragg brought the long gun up in one swift motion, tucked the butt in against his shoulder, and selected a target. Vanderveen shouted, “No!” but the sound of her voice was lost in the fl?at crack of the rifl?e, and the echoes that followed. The bullet fl?ew straight and true, plucked a marine off his rag-wrapped feet, and dumped him on his face. Everyone saw it, and given the way Vanderveen was standing there, it looked as though she was spotting for Tragg. Even Nankool sat stunned as the diplomat took her seat at what was already rumored to be a feast.
But, strangely enough, it was Calisco who came to Vanderveen’s defense. “I know what you’re thinking,” the skinny little offi?cial put in. “But that’s bullshit. She’s stronger than either one of us.” Nankool wanted to believe that, he really did, but found it diffi?cult to do. PLANET ALGERON, THE CONFEDERACY OF SENTIENT BEINGS
There were only two sentries posted outside of General Booly’s quarters, and because it was their job to protect the Military Chief of Staff from deranged soldiers and the possibility of Naa assassins, they had no reason to expect trouble from a squad of marines. Especially given the fact that the jarheads were not only under the command of a hardfaced captain, but marched up the corridor as if on parade and came to a crashing halt. The fact that one of the marines was armed with a sledgehammer should have triggered suspicions, but it wasn’t until the soldiers leveled their weapons at the legionnaires that the sentries understood the true nature of the situation.
One of the legionnaires opened his mouth, as if to speak into his lip mike, and took a rifl?e butt to the head. A marine caught the unconscious body before it could hit the fl?oor. The second sentry surrendered his weapon without protest.
Booly was asleep when the sledgehammer hit the front door and a resounding boom echoed through his dreams. But, having no reason to expect a break-in, it wasn’t until the third blow that the offi?cer sat up and started to turn toward the pistol on the nightstand. But it was too late because the marines had entered the apartment by then.
“Drop it,” the marine offi?cer said, as Booly’s fi?ngers closed around the grip. “Or die in bed.”
Booly took note of both the command and the offi?cer’s failure to use the honorifi?c “sir,” and knew what was taking place. Maylo was sitting up by then with a sheet clutched to her otherwise-naked breasts. “Bill? What’s going on?” Her voice was tight but level.
“I think it’s called a coup d’etat,” the legionnaire replied, as he put the weapon down. “Isn’t that right, Captain?”
But the marine wasn’t about to be drawn into a conversation. A corporal confi?scated the general’s weapon as the offi?cer pointed his pistol at Maylo. “Get up. . . . And keep your hands where I can see them.”
Booly struggled to control his temper. “There’s a closet over there. . . . Perhaps one of your men would be kind enough to get my wife’s robe.”
The marine’s eyes narrowed as the pistol came back to Booly. “Shut up! I won’t tell you again. Now, both of you, get off that bed. Or die right there. . . . It makes no difference to me.”
Both Maylo and Booly could see that the offi?cer wasn’t bluffi?ng, which forced them to stand, something the male marines thoroughly enjoyed. Because although Booly was clad in a pair of boxer shorts, Maylo was completely naked. Her breasts were small, but fi?rm, with brown nipples. Creamy skin led down to a narrow waist, fl?ared hips, and long shapely legs. And rather than attempt to hide her private parts, the business executive held her hands out away from her body. “So, Captain,” she said. “Are you looking for weapons? Or just looking?”
The captain blushed, ordered a female marine to help Maylo get dressed, and turned his attention back to Booly.
“Clasp your hands behind your head and turn around.”
Booly had no choice but to comply. The marine gave a snort of disgust when he saw the ridge of silvery fur that ran down the senior offi?cer’s spine. Evidence of a coupling that some saw as unnatural but many scientists pointed to as evidence that humans and Naa had common forerunner ancestors. “So what they say is true,” the marine said disgustedly. “You are a half-breed freak. And in command of our armed forces, too. Well, President Jakov will soon put a stop to that! Let’s fi?nd some civilian clothes for you to wear—since you have no right to a uniform.”
A feeling of anticipation pervaded the executive dining room as a mix of civilians and military offi?cers stood waiting for the moment that all of them knew was coming. The long dining table had been pushed over against one wall—and a single chair stood on the riser at the south end of the room as the crowd awaited Vice President Leo Jakov. Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, soon to be Secretary of Foreign Affairs Kay Wilmot, was extremely tired. And she had every right to be since the vast majority of the administrative work associated with what she preferred to call “the succession” had fallen to her. But as Jakov entered the room and took his place on the thronelike chair, it was worth it. Because even though exambassador Alway Orno had been assassinated before he could arrange for Nankool to be killed, she felt confi?dent that the new strategy would not only work, but work brilliantly. Especially given the fact that a rescue mission had been sent to Jericho, thereby proving Jakov’s sincerity, even though he was about to assume the presidency. Yes, there was the possibility that the rescue mission would fi?nd Nankool alive, but the battle group that was supposed to extract Team Zebra had been “diverted” to help with a very real threat elsewhere. Which meant no one would arrive to pick them up! So the succession plan was secure. Or would be once certain troublemakers had been dealt with.
There was a stir at the back of the room as more than two dozen hooded fi?gures were escorted into the room. All wore cuffs and leg shackles, which in the case of the Hudathan prisoners, had been doubled to make sure they couldn’t break free. And, judging from the black eyes, cut lips, and swollen faces that were revealed as the hoods were removed, it quickly became apparent that many of the former offi?cials and offi?cers had put up a fi?ght. The purpose of the hoods was to prevent people in the halls and corridors from recognizing the prisoners. Especially General Booly, who, because of his popularity with the troops, was especially dangerous. Later, after a carefully worded indictment had been released, offi?cers recruited by Jakov would take over.
Among those being herded into the room were General Bill Booly, his wife Maylo Chien-Chu, Colonel Kitty Kirby, Major Drik Seeba-Ka, Intelligence Chief Margaret Xanith, Ramanthian expert Yuro Osavi, diplomat Charles Vanderveen and a dozen more Nankool loyalists. All of whom looked grim and defi?ant. One individual was missing, however, and given his history, was a cause for concern. But even though Sergi Chien-Chu was still on the loose, Wilmot felt certain the marines would fi?nd the industrialist and bring him in.
