Free Killswitch by Joel Shepherd Page A

being what it was, she could pretty much work from anywhere. Sandy finished pouring muesli, and Ari anticipated her reach for the fruit bowl, grabbing a ripe majo off the top and tossing it hard at her. Sandy caught it with an effortless snap of the wrist, and began peeling it with a rapid motion of knife-blade against thumb.
    "I mean seriously," said Ari, preparing his own bowl with curious glances upward at the stranded bunbun, "we could at least have a few genus of flesh-ripping carnivores ... maybe a poisonous flying reptile or fire breathing fish or something."
    "Yeah, that'd work," said Sandy with amusement, chopping the fruit with eye-blurring flashes of steel.
    "Instead we get ... that." Ari pointed disdainfully up at the chandelier. "Behold all you tiny humans, the pinnacle of the Callayan food chain. He is the bunbun, hear his mighty roar." Jean-Pierre fixed him with a golden-eyed, reproachful stare within an adorably cute, furry brown face.
    "There's more worthwhile things in evolution than teeth and claws," Vanessa retorted.
    "I mean we can't even eat them," Ari continued, "they're all fur and bones. I tell you, it's just as well humans arrived on this planet when we did, the local wildlife certainly wasn't going anywhere without us."
    "How do you know?" Sandy replied. "Bunbuns have opposable thumbs, maybe there'd be a great bunbun civilisation here in another ten million years if we'd left them alone." Leaping to seat herself on the opposing bench, eating her muesli and watching as Jean-Pierre leaned precariously over the rim of the chandelier, nose twitching as he stretched toward Vanessa's outstretched hands. Then the chandelier shifted and swung, and Jean-Pierre scrambled back to a safer perch.
    Vanessa clasped exasperated hands to her hips. "Maybe we could tempt him down with some honey?" Glancing at Sandy with great earnestness, seeking her opinion. Sandy shrugged as she chewed, struggling to hide her amusement. It seemed a curious predicament for two of Callay's most senior soldiers.
    "I'll get him down for you," suggested Ari, reaching for the gun holster inside his jacket and withdrawing a black automatic pistol.
    "Ari!" Sandy scolded. Over on the sofa, Anita fell over laughing. Vanessa glared. Ari shrugged offhandedly, and reholstered the pistol. Rhian came down the steps with a blur of rapid feet. Sandy did a fast double-take, as did Ari-Rhian wore tight denim jeans and a very fashionable cut-off shirt tied into a bow below the breastbone, leaving her tight stomach suggestively bare. She moved with a spring beyond her usual energy, positively cheerful with a broad smile for them all.
    "Good morning!" And, with a glance up at Jean-Pierre's predicament, "Major Rice, if you don't mind me saying so, your animal appears to have a very small brain."
    "He keeps his mouth shut," Vanessa retorted, "which is more than I can say for some."
    Rhian moved swiftly over, and sprang effortlessly off the ground. In mid-air one hand grasped the chandelier, the other pried Jean-Pierre expertly from his perch, then landed with a gentle thump, the startled bunbun now clinging to her arms in bewilderment.
    "Ari, handpass!" She moved to play on, football style, faking the handpass then spinning away, going for a pretend bounce behind the dining table, followed by a drop kick ...
    "Give!" called Vanessa sternly, jumping down from the bench and striding over, hands outstretched. Rhian grinned and placed JeanPierre onto the dining table. The bunbun ran nimbly on furry legs across the table and leaped into Vanessa's arms. Vanessa cuddled him and made cooing noises as Jean-Pierre tried to plaster her face with his little tongue.
    "That animal's so cute it's sickening," Ari observed around a mouthful of breakfast. "You know, Ricey, if you'd treated your men that well you wouldn't be single."
    "Sandy," Vanessa commanded, "silence the boyfriend." Sandy extended a foot from her seat upon the bench, and pushed Ari in the shoulder. "Men