when you arrive, and it has been a pleasure working with you.”
Rock chuckled. “I still want to meet you in person, Dispatch.”
“It still isn’t going to happen, Rock. I have seen you cock. I don’t want any part of that thing.”
Laughter rippled along the lines and one by one, the Guardians logged off her frequency. When her head was silent again, she rubbed at her right eye and sighed. She could always see the wrong place at the right time, so why did today’s events seem a little too easy?
There was something about the heist that didn’t seem right, so she set about crunching the data stream to find the pieces of information that she missed.
It was going to take her most of the day, but her going-away presents had already been delivered to the Guardians, so she had plenty of time to work on this problem.
If someone had told her ten years ago that she would end up as a cyborg on an alien world, she would have called them crazy, but here she was, surfing the data stream with nothing more than the flick of her eyelid.
She started her examination of the screens from the day before and slowly let them move forward. There. Someone had moved the cameras to give her the optimum angles and had deactivated two essential monitor cameras for two minutes at the close of business the day before. She took in their features and did a scan and search.
Once she read the names and the rap sheets, she got a distinctly unpleasant feeling. Dorth and Nejan Sokek, famed for capturing rare talents for use in criminal enterprises. As she continued to look into the events of the day, she got quite a shock. Something had been coursing back along the data stream to watch her, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Why would anyone watch her? Jianne was strictly dispatch. Nothing she did couldn’t be done by someone else with the right training and a high tolerance for penis jokes.
“Of course, they could want internal information on the Guardians.” Jianne muttered to herself and put a private call in to Cyber.
“What can I do for you, Dispatch?” Cyber’s voice was pleasant. The Guardian specialised in designing rapid-response programming, and it made her an asset in the field.
“I need a firewall with as many layers you can come up with, as fast as you can.”
“What is up, Dispatch?” There was concern in her voice.
“As far as I can tell, someone is trying to hack me. So, unless you want your preference for leather undergarments to become public knowledge, it is in your best interest to assist me in this matter.”
Cyber laughed. “Not a problem. I will get right on it. Where do you want me to send it?”
“Put it on a crystal and leave it in the Guardian habitat. I will have someone retrieve it.” Jianne’s instincts told her that there was no danger of her being hacked today.
Cyber seemed to catch onto the secrecy. “I will leave it in my quarters, top drawer of my desk.”
“Excellent. Thank you so much, Cyber. I am getting a weird feeling about this.”
“I will get right on it before I have my going-away party.”
“Thanks.”
Cyber asked, “Why did we never meet you, Dispatch?”
Jianne smiled. “Because I can’t bear to lose the people I care about, so I couldn’t care about you. It is a failing that I have always had. I am sorry but that is it.”
“Too bad. I think we could have been friends.”
Jianne closed her eyes and smiled sadly. “I am pretty sure we could have been. Have a good time on Teelik.”
“As soon as I get this done for you.”
“Thanks again, Cyber.”
“Any time, Dispatch.”
Jianne felt the call disconnect, and she sat back and rubbed her neck. She had more data feeds to run through to make sure that this was an isolated incident and that meant more caf. The poor man’s version of alien coffee didn’t satisfy her like the real thing did, but until another world cultivated the coffee bean, she was stuck.
Chapter Two
The new
Rock chuckled. “I still want to meet you in person, Dispatch.”
“It still isn’t going to happen, Rock. I have seen you cock. I don’t want any part of that thing.”
Laughter rippled along the lines and one by one, the Guardians logged off her frequency. When her head was silent again, she rubbed at her right eye and sighed. She could always see the wrong place at the right time, so why did today’s events seem a little too easy?
There was something about the heist that didn’t seem right, so she set about crunching the data stream to find the pieces of information that she missed.
It was going to take her most of the day, but her going-away presents had already been delivered to the Guardians, so she had plenty of time to work on this problem.
If someone had told her ten years ago that she would end up as a cyborg on an alien world, she would have called them crazy, but here she was, surfing the data stream with nothing more than the flick of her eyelid.
She started her examination of the screens from the day before and slowly let them move forward. There. Someone had moved the cameras to give her the optimum angles and had deactivated two essential monitor cameras for two minutes at the close of business the day before. She took in their features and did a scan and search.
Once she read the names and the rap sheets, she got a distinctly unpleasant feeling. Dorth and Nejan Sokek, famed for capturing rare talents for use in criminal enterprises. As she continued to look into the events of the day, she got quite a shock. Something had been coursing back along the data stream to watch her, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Why would anyone watch her? Jianne was strictly dispatch. Nothing she did couldn’t be done by someone else with the right training and a high tolerance for penis jokes.
“Of course, they could want internal information on the Guardians.” Jianne muttered to herself and put a private call in to Cyber.
“What can I do for you, Dispatch?” Cyber’s voice was pleasant. The Guardian specialised in designing rapid-response programming, and it made her an asset in the field.
“I need a firewall with as many layers you can come up with, as fast as you can.”
“What is up, Dispatch?” There was concern in her voice.
“As far as I can tell, someone is trying to hack me. So, unless you want your preference for leather undergarments to become public knowledge, it is in your best interest to assist me in this matter.”
Cyber laughed. “Not a problem. I will get right on it. Where do you want me to send it?”
“Put it on a crystal and leave it in the Guardian habitat. I will have someone retrieve it.” Jianne’s instincts told her that there was no danger of her being hacked today.
Cyber seemed to catch onto the secrecy. “I will leave it in my quarters, top drawer of my desk.”
“Excellent. Thank you so much, Cyber. I am getting a weird feeling about this.”
“I will get right on it before I have my going-away party.”
“Thanks.”
Cyber asked, “Why did we never meet you, Dispatch?”
Jianne smiled. “Because I can’t bear to lose the people I care about, so I couldn’t care about you. It is a failing that I have always had. I am sorry but that is it.”
“Too bad. I think we could have been friends.”
Jianne closed her eyes and smiled sadly. “I am pretty sure we could have been. Have a good time on Teelik.”
“As soon as I get this done for you.”
“Thanks again, Cyber.”
“Any time, Dispatch.”
Jianne felt the call disconnect, and she sat back and rubbed her neck. She had more data feeds to run through to make sure that this was an isolated incident and that meant more caf. The poor man’s version of alien coffee didn’t satisfy her like the real thing did, but until another world cultivated the coffee bean, she was stuck.
Chapter Two
The new
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