Free Crystal Deception by Doug J. Cooper Page A

circumstances, walking through courtyards, zigzagging through
side streets, ducking into door stoops, and similar evasive tactics.
    At each transition, he changed his outward appearance. He put
the cap on, then switched his jacket inside out, then put the cap on backward and
took the jacket off. He continued this game until he was on the main street. He
knew he could be traced if anyone chose to devote resources to the task, but he
had made it a little harder for them.
    As he walked in his front door later, he remained unsure what
had motivated the confrontation. Over the years, he’d left a trail of people
who were angry with him. He knew it wasn’t a mugging, but could not tell if
this was retribution for the past or an attack because of his current
activities. Either way, he had to raise his alert level.

 
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    Juice didn’t know what had been
decided or what might happen next, and the uncertainty was making her anxious.
She went on a long run to burn off some stress. Physically tired but emotionally
recharged, she headed to the Crystal Fab building.
    She stepped into the lobby and Brady Sheldon scurried over. To
her dismay, he seemed determined to hold an impromptu meeting right there in
the public space. He didn’t appear to notice that she was panting from thirst and
glistening from her workout.
    “I received an urgent message from Fleet.” He was more
breathless than she in his excitement. “They have some technical questions
about the plans for installing the four-gen on the Alliance . They want
you to go down to Fleet base in person and meet with their design people. They
asked specifically for you.” His heavy-handed management style weighed on her.
“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to be cooperative. We don’t want any more
delays or to give the bastards any reason to slow the project down. You have my
approval to make whatever decisions you think will tighten the schedule for
deployment. The shortest timetable is my highest priority.” As he walked away,
he called over his shoulder, “Call me if I can be of help.”
    The trip took almost two hours, but Juice eventually arrived
at the systems tech building on Fleet’s sprawling base. She was both amused and
disappointed to find that it was located next to the waste treatment station. Feeling
a mixture of anticipation and curiosity, she climbed the steps and entered a building
that a decade ago would have generously been labeled as “aging.”
    She was greeted in a cheerless lobby and escorted back to a
small, windowless room that held a table, four chairs, and little else. She
looked around and thought it seemed more like a holding cell than a technical
conference room.
    * * *
    Cheryl sat with Sid in a small room next
door to where Juice waited. Theirs had a newly installed image projection
system, which they used to watch her.
    They agreed they wanted Juice as part of the team. She had a
positive relationship with Criss and worked closely with Sheldon. If she could
be cleared of any involvement in the intrigue, she would be a great resource
going forward.
    Cheryl was already convinced that she was clean. “Are you positive
we need to do this?” she asked Sid, having second and third thoughts about
their plan.
    “I’ve been fooled before. We’re all here. Let’s take a few
minutes to push on her and see how she holds up.”
    Sid was about to lead off as the bad cop in a “good cop, bad
cop” interview. As a Fleet officer, Cheryl had no training in the technique.
When she expressed this reservation to Sid, he assured her that as good cop,
she would go second. All she needed to do was be her normal, kind self and watch
for signs of deception.
    They got up together, walked the few steps down the hall,
and entered the room.
    “Morning, Juice,” said Cheryl. “Did you have any trouble
finding the place?”
    Juice lit up. “Hey guys, what brings you to engineering?”
    They looked at her without comment.
    “This