Free Superego by Frank J. Fleming

because now I would be very convincing. And being convincingly normal was all that was going to save me.

CHAPTER 8
    Unarmed, wounded, lying in a hospital bed, and about to be questioned by the police—not the best start for a mission. The only defense I had left was my wits. And Dip.
    â€œI contacted Vito. He was surprised to hear you were in a terrorist attack, and he will look into what happened with the person you were supposed to meet.”
    I had surrendered my guns to the authorities, but the internal communicator connecting me to Dip is pretty much undetectable and hard to disable even if found. “He’d better not be his usual useless self this time. I was told this mission is very important, and—not knowing what it is—it looks like it’s ruined.”
    â€œThis certainly is a very unusual circumstance for you, Rico. Usually the violence you commit is reflected negatively in the press, but I notice little negative commentary in the reporting today.”
    â€œI’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time I’ve killed people that the general public was happy to be rid of.”
    â€œStill, your violence has always been seen as criminal. This act of violence is being referred to as ‘heroic.’”
    â€œI killed five murderers—preventing the deaths of others—and took a bolt through my leg in the process. Would you call that ‘heroic’?”
    That took him a second. “I would assume you had ulterior motives, Rico.”
    That made me laugh. But I was alone in my hospital room so no one looked at me funny. “Keep monitoring the news. I need to know if my face is made public.”
    â€œWill that cause you to abandon the mission?”
    â€œIt’s just worth knowing if it happens. How goes the extraction plan?”
    â€œI have a new plan to extract you from Nar Valdum’s capital, which I rate as having a twenty percent chance of success.”
    â€œThat’s a nice round number.”
    â€œThere are many unknowns, so I went with inexact figures.”
    â€œWhatever. I need a better number than twenty percent.”
    Dip was silent again. “When calculating the chance of success, I could give greater weight to the ship’s maneuverability, which would…”
    â€œI don’t mean fudge the numbers. I mean come up with a better plan.” Hopefully I wouldn’t need it too soon. “I don’t know what’s going on with my contact here, so right now you’re my only way out. Get to work.”
    Patching my leg was a simple enough procedure. They held it still in a regenerator, and I just had to wait an hour or so. After that, I’d be back to (my) normal and ready for killing (that is, if I could get back to my hotel room to rearm). I had a video monitor in the hospital room and nothing to do while I waited, so I found a nature show to watch.
    â€œThe delping waits in the river, its gray coloration helping it to blend in with the rocks. When prey is close enough, it strikes by kicking forward with its strong rear legs and expelling all the air in its lungs from two reverse-facing nostrils on the sides of its heads. Using this jet propulsion, with blinding speed it snatches the…”
    â€œNot watching the news?” Walking into my hospital room was a blonde thirty-something—apparently a plainclothes detective who had come to question me. No ring.
    Hello, human female.
    She wasn’t a knockout, looks-wise, but the way she held herself—the authority in it—was very strong and, I guess, a turn-on for me. She smiled at me—I was the hero—but the suspicion was obvious in her eyes. I can assess people quickly, and this was a smart woman. That would potentially be trouble.
    I turned the TV off. It would take my full concentration to pull off this act. “The news would just be a bunch of speculation at this point. I’m actually on vacation. I’m