"Smith, Kristine - [Kilian 2] - Rules of Conflict" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Kristine)

Jani sniffed the filtered air and shivered again. She hated hospitals. Not that this richly appointed corner of Neoclona's far-flung empire resembled in any way the jury-rigged basement in which, eighteen years before, the company got its start and she received a second chance at life. But old memories died hard, and every time she caught a biting whiff of antiseptic no filter could ever totally eliminate, three faces formed in her mind.
The three empire-builders. Eamon DeVries, who hated her guts. John Shroud, who ... didn't. And Valentin Parini, who put out the fires that raged between the two polar opposites like the born fireman he was.
John and Val promised I would be looked after. Their representative had spoken in their namesЧshe had nothing to worry about. She looked up and down the hallway as she trudged after Tellinn. Exit to stairwellЧunalarmedЧsecond hallway to the left of the nurses' station.
"Jesus Christ!" Tellinn slid to a halt so quickly Jani almost walked up his back.
"Not nearly so grand," said the man who had stepped out of the shadowed doorway. "Hello, Hugh."
"Val." Tellinn's voice shrank to a whisper.
RULES OF CONFLICT 5
"Sorry to drop in so abruptly." Valentin Parini riffled a hand through his ash brown hair. His hazel eyes were large and almond-shaped, his nose a finely molded arch, his cheekbones precipitous. Time's passage had left only thread-fine grooves near the corners of his mouth.
"WhatЧare youЧ" Tellinn's complexion, moontan to begin with, had turned downright chalky.
The barest hint of recognition flickered in Val's green-brown gaze as it moved to Jani, then back to Tellinn. "I just punched through the GateWay two days ago. Forgive me for not messaging ahead, but being so near, I didn't see the point." Full lips curved in a cool smile. "Don't worry, this isn't a surprise inspection. John didn't send me to Felix with an agenda."
Tellinn drew the back of his hand across his mouth. "How did you get here? No one mentioned sending out the VIP shuttle."
Val shrugged lightly. "Felix Central Orbital Station to the city shuttleport. Chartered a heliskim. Landed on that new rooftop pad you installed last year. I must say, I do like the sensation of dropping onto my hospital from the clouds."
"Like God Almighty himself," Jani muttered. Val responded to the jab with a knowing smirk, but the glare Tellinn focused on her held murder. And something else. She looked again at Val, who winked.
"Actually, Hugh," he said, pointing to Jani, "I'd like to perform this physical, if you don't mind. I checked the appointment roster at the nurses' station. Another food allergyЧ my, my, they seem to be everywhere these days. They're a pet interest of mineЧdid you know that?" He waved off the other doctor's protest. "However, my role in all this is strictly off-paper. Keep your encode in her MedRec and draw up any scrips yourself. As far as we're all concerned, you're the physician of record." His all-business expression softened. "I'll explain it to you over dinner tonight." Jani swore his eyelashes fluttered. "But only if you can fit me in, of course."
Twin rounds of color bloomed in Tellinn's cheeks. "IЧ did have something, but IЧ-can cancel." He blinked as though dazed, then handed Val the data-recorder board he
6 Kristine Smith
had up to that point been holding in front of his chest like a shield. "I'll be in my office." He shot Val a last, stunned look, then walked slowly down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
Val watched Tellinn leave with the discerning eye a gourmet would direct toward the dessert display. Then he turned to Jani, and the look sharpened. "Oh Captain, my Captain." He pointed to the examining-room door. "In there. No sudden moves. Hands where I can see them."
Jani pushed the panel open; it whined under the force. "You haven't changed a bit, you shameless bastard. You sandbagged him." She held the door open while Val sauntered past. "You're more than he can handle, and you know it."
"But with me as a distraction, he won't give you a second thought, will he?"
"He's in love with you!"
"Yes, well. Believe it or not, after a few days with me, he'll be ready for six months without. I'm the white-chocolate cheesecake in his lifeЧa little piece of me goes a hell of a long way." Val set the recorder on a table beside an analyzer. "But, first things first." To Jani's surprise, he held out his arms. "Just a quick hug, Jan. Because I've missed you. Because knowing I'd be seeing you again scared the hell out of me."
Jani hesitated. Then she walked, a little unsteadily, into Val's embrace. He enclosed her lightly, as though she might break. She squeezed back harder. He wore a crisp linen day-suit in light green; the stiff material crackled in her grasp like leaves.
"If you're trying to wring the years out of me, you're too late." He pulled back so he could look her in the face. His eyes glistened. "You look lovely. My one and only girl." He tugged at one of her short, black curls, then ran a fingertip down the bridge of her nose. "That's held up well, I must say."
Jani batted his hand away. "Social climber. You gave me a Family face. Damned bones you could sharpen blades on."
RULES OF CONFLICT 7
"Bullshit. I passed on the Parini countenance in the only way I cared to."
They grinned idiotically at one another. Then Jani sensed her instincts firing warning shots, and her smile faded. "How did you know I was here?"
Val sighed. "So much for sweet reminiscence." He frowned as Jani extricated herself from his arms. "Well, what can I say, except that there's nothing loyal employees and money can't accomplish. We have spies in every colonial city with a decent portЧour Felician contact spotted you soon after you arrived. When you didn't depart immediately for a more out-of-the-way refuge, John started to worry. We decided I should come. John feared you'd bolt if you saw him."
"Did he?"
"Well, maybe I needed to convince him. Sit on him. Threaten him a little." Val crossed his arms and dropped his chinЧhis skeptical pose. "So?"
Jani shrugged. "I spent all my cash on gear. I needed to earn a berth." She wavered beneath his stare, weighty with paternal gruff. "And I haven't felt good for months."
"That's what John was afraid of." Val fingered the collar of her white trouser suit. "That's very pretty. Tres Felicienne. You've got five seconds to peel out of it. We have work to do."
First came bloodwork, followed by a series of intrusive swabbings and scopings Jani could have done without, thank you. Then came an upper GI scan facilitated by her swallowing of a biodegradable, capsule-sized camera, and completed in spite of Val's insistence that she stand beside him at the display receiver and watch the full-color, three-dimensional workings of her digestive tract. Her equally adamant reply that he'd find himself wearing the camera if she did as he asked put a stop to his goading.
"Last part." Val rolled a stress screen the size of a full-length mirror into the center of the room. "Let's see how those new limbs of yours are doing. Off with the medgown. Get behind the screen. Stand up straight. Move only when I tell you to."
8 Kristine Smith
Jani stripped off the tissuelike gown and stepped behind the dull, milky screen. It brightened to translucent glass and emitted a barely perceptible hum.
She looked down at her left arm, then her left leg. No longer numb limbs driven by half-formed nervenets, but fully functional animandroid, the best Neoclona could produce. Replaced almost six months ago, during her first ever visit to Earth.
"Jani, atten-to!"
She snapped to attention, chin up, shoulders back. The screen mirrored her image; she avoided looking at her face. Her light brown skin held up well under the room's chem-illumination. Her legs didn't look too bad.
But, as always, her eyes drew her in. They looked like two black holes staring back from the screen surface. She didn't like using that filming. It was the same brand holoVee actors used, formulated to show up well in the imaging, and less likely to fissure than commercial brands. But it was too dark for real life. People were starting to comment.
Bet they'd shut up if I let them see what was underneath.
"At ease, Captain. Your whole thorax has gone red. Relax."
Jani took a deep breath and thought about white, puffy clouds. "Can I talk?"
"Yeah. Just don't gesture."
"How do I look?"
"All greens and bluesЧa veritable study in symmetry and stress distribution. The new limbs are fine, of course, but the old musculature has held up very well. We really did an exceptional job on you. I don't believe we've ever topped it."
"Well, you boys always worked best under pressure." Jani's hands clenched, and she thought about clouds again. "Trying to patch me together while holding off the Admiral-General's office and the ConsulateЧcan't imagine much more pressure than that."
"Turn ninety degrees to your right, please." At first, it seemed Val would ignore further mention of their shared past. Then he cleared his throat. "The difficult part was jus-
RULES OF CONFLICT 9