[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
legs, perhaps, I'd understand."
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It was Katherine Lara who shook her head, taking the lead. "No, thank you. We're fine."
Briggs nodded, relief in his eyes,that's what you think, you people need to bathe, smiling a little.
"Well, that's good. I won't keep you any longer than neces-sary."
So far, not much of a read. Lara was nervous, but obviously still the one to negotiate with. The convict,
Jess, held so very still that Briggs decided he was proba-bly struggling to hold his temper; his profile
suggested anger problems. And Ellis seemed tired, perhaps. Dazed. Briggs couldn't see his alleged
injury and de-cided that it was probably some sort of head trauma. They were all still listening, that was
the important thing; the bit about a Company exec being involved should have erased any doubts they
had about his hon-esty, and his apology for keeping them waiting had es-tablished his sincerity.
Now, then. They're as ready as they're going to be.
Briggs clasped his hands in front of him, as if pleased and excited about what he was going to say next.
Nice, not to have to fake all of it.
The suit was so full of shit, he squeaked. Jess had been a little surprised at the admission of Company
involve-ment, but it was as carefully designed as the rest of his patronizing little act.
"Trust me, I'm your friend" the windup, and . . . here's the pitch!
"The Company has authorized me to make retribu-tion to you, for the terrible losses you've suffered,"
Briggs said, his black eyes shining as though he were about to give them some incredible gift. "Substantial
retribution. Not only will you receive theNemesis's full bonus, we want to make certain that all of you feel
that your futures are secure with Weyland/Yutani."
Arrogant, lying, backstabbing bastard
"Whether or not you decide to continue with the Company, we'll see to it that your contracts are
renego-tiated to bring you the financial gain and freedom that you deserve, for having been the
unfortunate victims in this matter. Whether or not a Company employee was involved, the incident at 949
never should have happened."
Briggs finally paused, apparently having shoveled enough for the moment. The twin muscle boys hovered
in the background, arms crossed, their faces unreadable. Kevin Vincent, the asshole who'd kept them
stuck on the shuttle all day, was the only one with any expression at all and he looked mildly terri-fied.
Jess wanted to spit in the suit's eye, but kept his face as blank as the threatening bookends that flanked
the Max; he'd promised to keep cool, Lara was calling this one and he wasn't going to blow it.
"We appreciate this, Mr. Briggs," Lara said, "really. But all we want is to get back to Earth, try to put
all this behind us."
Briggs nodded, smiling even wider, and for the first time since he'd come aboard, Jess saw the thread of
steel buried beneath the layers of plastic.
Will the real Lucas Briggs, please stand up . . .
"Whatever you want. I'll make the arrangements tonight." The grin sharpened, glittering as brightly as Ms
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eyes. "Although there are a few final details that I need to get confirmation on, before we conclude our
business. Specifically, there was a ship's log that was supposed to be downloaded to theNemesis, from
a Company transport on board the DS station. TheTrader?"
Lara had this one nailed. He's good, but not as good as he thinks.
Lara nodded slowly. "We downloaded it."
Briggs was dancing inside, Jess could see it. He shot a glance at Ellis, but the kid didn't seem to be tuned
in, he was watching the bodyguards. Or maybe the Max.
"ToNemesis?" Briggs asked, too quickly.
Lara shook her head. "No. Well, originally to theNemesis, but there were some problems with the initial
transfer, so we backed it up. I sent a locked copy to one of Pop's Commander Izzard's personal
channels. He had a few accounts that weren't on Company file."
She smiled weakly before pushing on, a sheepish look on her face. Jess was impressed.
"I know it's not reg, but he seemed to think it was important to havea duplicate and itwas an order.
And since theNemesis was destroyed ..."
Briggs tried to put on a look of admonishment, but couldn't quite pull it off. "You're right, it wasn't
regula-tion. Personal transfers of Company information is not only unethical, it's illegal." A pause, a
conspiratorial look that made Jess grind his teeth. "But, since you've admitted it openly and youwere
following his orders, I see no reason for any disciplinary action . . ."
He smiled, the all-forgiving suit once again. ". . . and to be honest, that log is important to
Wey-land/Yutani. I'm just glad it survived the, ah, tragedy." " You used that one already, Briggs, how [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl ocenkijessi.opx.pl
legs, perhaps, I'd understand."
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It was Katherine Lara who shook her head, taking the lead. "No, thank you. We're fine."
Briggs nodded, relief in his eyes,that's what you think, you people need to bathe, smiling a little.
"Well, that's good. I won't keep you any longer than neces-sary."
So far, not much of a read. Lara was nervous, but obviously still the one to negotiate with. The convict,
Jess, held so very still that Briggs decided he was proba-bly struggling to hold his temper; his profile
suggested anger problems. And Ellis seemed tired, perhaps. Dazed. Briggs couldn't see his alleged
injury and de-cided that it was probably some sort of head trauma. They were all still listening, that was
the important thing; the bit about a Company exec being involved should have erased any doubts they
had about his hon-esty, and his apology for keeping them waiting had es-tablished his sincerity.
Now, then. They're as ready as they're going to be.
Briggs clasped his hands in front of him, as if pleased and excited about what he was going to say next.
Nice, not to have to fake all of it.
The suit was so full of shit, he squeaked. Jess had been a little surprised at the admission of Company
involve-ment, but it was as carefully designed as the rest of his patronizing little act.
"Trust me, I'm your friend" the windup, and . . . here's the pitch!
"The Company has authorized me to make retribu-tion to you, for the terrible losses you've suffered,"
Briggs said, his black eyes shining as though he were about to give them some incredible gift. "Substantial
retribution. Not only will you receive theNemesis's full bonus, we want to make certain that all of you feel
that your futures are secure with Weyland/Yutani."
Arrogant, lying, backstabbing bastard
"Whether or not you decide to continue with the Company, we'll see to it that your contracts are
renego-tiated to bring you the financial gain and freedom that you deserve, for having been the
unfortunate victims in this matter. Whether or not a Company employee was involved, the incident at 949
never should have happened."
Briggs finally paused, apparently having shoveled enough for the moment. The twin muscle boys hovered
in the background, arms crossed, their faces unreadable. Kevin Vincent, the asshole who'd kept them
stuck on the shuttle all day, was the only one with any expression at all and he looked mildly terri-fied.
Jess wanted to spit in the suit's eye, but kept his face as blank as the threatening bookends that flanked
the Max; he'd promised to keep cool, Lara was calling this one and he wasn't going to blow it.
"We appreciate this, Mr. Briggs," Lara said, "really. But all we want is to get back to Earth, try to put
all this behind us."
Briggs nodded, smiling even wider, and for the first time since he'd come aboard, Jess saw the thread of
steel buried beneath the layers of plastic.
Will the real Lucas Briggs, please stand up . . .
"Whatever you want. I'll make the arrangements tonight." The grin sharpened, glittering as brightly as Ms
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
eyes. "Although there are a few final details that I need to get confirmation on, before we conclude our
business. Specifically, there was a ship's log that was supposed to be downloaded to theNemesis, from
a Company transport on board the DS station. TheTrader?"
Lara had this one nailed. He's good, but not as good as he thinks.
Lara nodded slowly. "We downloaded it."
Briggs was dancing inside, Jess could see it. He shot a glance at Ellis, but the kid didn't seem to be tuned
in, he was watching the bodyguards. Or maybe the Max.
"ToNemesis?" Briggs asked, too quickly.
Lara shook her head. "No. Well, originally to theNemesis, but there were some problems with the initial
transfer, so we backed it up. I sent a locked copy to one of Pop's Commander Izzard's personal
channels. He had a few accounts that weren't on Company file."
She smiled weakly before pushing on, a sheepish look on her face. Jess was impressed.
"I know it's not reg, but he seemed to think it was important to havea duplicate and itwas an order.
And since theNemesis was destroyed ..."
Briggs tried to put on a look of admonishment, but couldn't quite pull it off. "You're right, it wasn't
regula-tion. Personal transfers of Company information is not only unethical, it's illegal." A pause, a
conspiratorial look that made Jess grind his teeth. "But, since you've admitted it openly and youwere
following his orders, I see no reason for any disciplinary action . . ."
He smiled, the all-forgiving suit once again. ". . . and to be honest, that log is important to
Wey-land/Yutani. I'm just glad it survived the, ah, tragedy." " You used that one already, Briggs, how [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]