Perception Fault by James Axler

should get you down, there are still snipers—” The major began, but was stopped by Josiah’s upraised hand as he whirled.
    “I’ll ask you once more, Ryan Cawdor—what did you say?”
    Outwardly Ryan remained calm, but his mind raced, already planning tactics and escape routes should this meeting head any further south. Carrington was close enough to reach out and grab, and that would be the only way out—eliminate the bodyguard on the left and take the leader hostage before the other one could react. Krysty could probably get Rachel in the same instant, and then they could negotiate for the others, but that would be fraught with complications. But before he knew whether to strike or split, there was the matter ofanswering the man who seemed poised to throw down on him.
    Squaring his shoulders, Ryan answered, “I said ‘very kind of you, Baron.’”
    Josiah walked up to Ryan, staring him straight in the eye. The black-haired man was aware of the men around him holding their weapons ready enough to cover him again in a moment’s notice if necessary, and despite the potential danger, he had to admire their training. He didn’t even have to look at the bodyguards to know they would try to chill him if he even made the slightest move toward their baron.
    “As my daughter mentioned, you are fortunate enough to find yourself in the Free City of Denver. We have a few simple rules here—respect your fellow men and women as you respect yourself, and do not take that which doesn’t belong to you. The other rule we have, my own personal edict, if you will—” Josiah’s previously calm air vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, unadulterated fury that was astonishing in its savagery “—is never compare me to those power-hungry, bloodthirsty, psychopathic, inbred whoresons out there who claw their way to dominance on the backs of innocent men and women, breaking them for their own amusement and throwing them away to die in squalor and misery. Do you understand?”
    Have to respect his convictions, if they’re real, Ryan thought. He nodded again. “Perfectly, Josiah. I apologize for any insult. It wasn’t intentional.”
    The other man held his gaze for a long moment, then drew back and clapped Ryan’s shoulder. “Excellent! Major, escort Ryan and his companions to the Magnolia, and make sure their every need is seen to. Shall we say dinner at 0600 hours?”
    “We look forward to it,” Ryan said, walking over to Krysty and slipping an arm around her waist. “Until then.”
    “Indeed. Rachel?” Josiah took his daughter firmly by the arm and brought her with him, the pair of bodyguards falling in behind them.
    “As you were, men.” The major surveyed his troops one last time before turning back to Ryan and Krysty. “Well, let’s get you back to the rest of your group, and then we’ll take you into the city proper.”
    He motioned for them to walk ahead of him toward the end of the steel-framed parapet, where a walkway going the opposite way sloped down the wall. Ryan and Krysty descended casually, keeping their eyes and ears open and their mouths shut for the time being.
    The wall was a beehive of activity around them. Men and women were everywhere. Some attended to the wounded, treating them where they lay or helping move them away from the fortifications. Others were busy fighting the stubborn fire on the exterior, flooding sections with water or beating at the flames that were coming through with blankets. Everywhere Ryan looked, people were working together, all joined in a common cause—the defense of their city. Although there were plenty of sec men around, the majority of them atop the wall, no one had to be forced to do their job. Indeed, everyone was executing their duties with swift efficiency, a far cry from what he’d seen in most dirty, squalid villes.
    And that was another thing: the Free City of Denver was clean. It had taken him a few seconds to put that together as they had come