Free Audacious by Mike Shepherd Page B

the conversation for a while, then went back to Nelly. B UT WHAT ABOUT THE MEDIA? S OMEONE HAS TO KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON. Y OU CAN’T FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME , Kris said, quoting the prime minister quoting someone.
    T HERE IS A MEDIA, BUT WHAT PASSES FOR MAINSTREAM REPORTING DOES NOT SEEM ALL THAT RELIABLE. N OT IF WE USE OUR OWN OBSERVATIONS. I AM NOW RIDING THE E MBASSY’S SUBSCRIPTION. I T IS AN INTERESTING EXERCISE IN WHAT I SUSPECT YOU WOULD CALL FRUSTRATION. N OT ONLY DID THEY HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT OUR TWO KNOWN INCIDENTS, BUT THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT ANY POLITICAL ACTS OF PROTEST. Y ES, THERE WERE THE ODD FAMILY DISTURBANCES, PEOPLE GOT CUT UP IN BARS, THEIR KITCHEN, EVEN AT SCHOOL, BUT NO GUNS. N O BOMBS.
    A ND SOMETHING I FOUND VERY INTERESTING WAS THE WAY THE NEWS DISAPPEARED.
    I NTO ARCHIVES? Kris asked.
    S OME ARTICLES DID GO INTO ARCHIVES YOU COULD REACH… FOR AN EXTRA SUBSCRIPTION… WHICH OUR E MBASSY HAS. B UT THERE WOULD BE NEW POLICIES ANNOUNCED AND WHEN I WENT LOOKING FOR THE OLD POLICIES, THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE ARCHIVE. I FOUND REFERENCES TO EARLIER SPEECHES IN STORIES, BUT NO SPEECHES OR EVENTS. N O NOTHING. T HE DATA STORAGE IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR A WHOLE LOT MORE DATA. A ND IT’S THERE. T HEY JUST WILL NOT LET ME GET AT IT. K RIS, I DO NOT LIKE TO FAIL ON MATTERS LIKE THIS. Nelly almost spat in Kris’s head.
    Kris squelched a chuckle that didn’t fit into the present bargaining. Nelly did not have a lot of experience with failure. It would be interesting to see how the present state of her computer’s upgrade dealt with this. W HAT ABOUT THOSE OTHER NEWS SOURCES? T HE ONES L IEUTENANT M ARTINEZ AND G RAMMA R UTH MENTIONED.
    T HE EMBASSY DOES NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THEM , Nelly started. I USED P ENNY’S ACCOUNT TO SUBSCRIBE TO BOTH, THEN J ACK’S TO SUBSCRIBE TO TWO MORE OF THOSE MENTIONED. T HE SUBS WERE NOT CHEAP. I REPAID THEM FROM YOUR ACCOUNT.
    T HEY REPORTED BOTH EVENTS WE SAW, BUT NOT ALL THAT MUCH. T HEY KNEW A BOMB EXPLODED ON THE MALL, BUT NOTHING ABOUT A MOTORCADE. T HEY REPORTED SHOTS FIRED IN THE GOVERNMENT DISTRICT, PROBABLY AUTOMATIC WEAPONS. T HEY HAD NO BODY COUNT. I WAS TEMPTED TO FILE A REPORT, K RIS. T HEY PAY MONEY FOR NEWS.
    H AVING ONE REPORTER IN OUR GROUP, N ELLY, IS ENOUGH , Kris said. If Nelly took to selling information along with Abby, Kris would have no hope of privacy.
    The negotiations were getting close; Kris asked Nelly to keep any more for later. Still, as Kris paid more attention to the table, her mind gnawed at what her computer had learned.
    It wasn’t much. Just enough to give Kris a strong hunch that something was rotten in Eden. Still, using the old religious story as a hook to hang things on, she had no idea who the snake might be. No idea even where the tree might hang out. She didn’t even know who was filling the shoes— or bare feet— of the guy and gal.
    Before too long, Kris called a halt for lunch and took her mulling elsewhere.
    Maybe Gramma Ruth did know what her orders were. Absent that, Kris knew she could count on the old woman for some fun talk… and maybe a few more pieces to add to the puzzle laid out on Eden for Kris. Maybe.

14
    Kris did not find a limo waiting to take her to lunch. Instead, three black, hulking, all-terrain city vehicles were parked under the portico of the embassy. Jack joined her, in dress khaki and blues, and flipped a coin.
    “Heads,” he said. “You ride in the middle one.”
    “And if it had been tails?”
    “I’d have flipped it again to see if you rode in the lead or trailing rig,” Jack said, opening the door for her. Penny was already in the far seat, next to the window.
    It looked like Jack intended to take the other window seat, leaving her no place but the center one. “You sure I need all this protection?”
    “Don’t know, Your Highness. But I’m sure that when we get in trouble again, neither one of us will figure you have enough.”
    Kris sat where Jack pointed. In front