Страница 27 из 78
By the time the fourth string of characters was entered, Reyes could feel sweat beneath his arms and down his back, and his anxiety only worsened when he detected movement to his left and looked up to see the Orion server once more approaching his table. She was carrying a tray on which sat a glass of dark liquid, which she set down on the table before him. Doing his best to present a casual demeanor, Reyes smiled as he rested his left forearm across the table, concealing most of the gaming console’s screen.
“Will there be anything else?” she asked, leering at him.
Shrugging, Reyes replied, “I’m thinking about di
In response, the Orion bent closer to him and whispered in his ear, “The best selections aren’t on the menu, you know.”
Despite himself, Reyes could not help clearing his throat as he once more forced a smile. “Well, that’s certainly something to think about.”
When the server left to see to other customers, Reyes blinked and exhaled audibly. The effects of Orion women on male humanoids were legendary, but certainly not fictitious. It had been a concern of his since first stepping aboard Ganz’s vessel, knowing that the merchant prince would use every means at his disposal to trip him up and force him to reveal valuable information or otherwise compromise himself. The women were part of that equation, and while he figured a few of the solicitation attempts he had received were no more than those extended to other patrons of the Omari-Ekon’s various “services,” he was certain Ganz and Neera were behind most of the attention being paid to him. For all he knew, his server was at this moment reporting to a superior whatever she might have seen or overheard while at or near his table.
Moving his arm, he noted that a series of messages now appeared on the screen’s inset window. The text was some variant of written Orion—he could not identify the variant—and none of it made any sense to him. “Are you seeing this?”
“ Yes,” T’Pry
The last thing Reyes needed at the moment was a computer technology lecture. Sighing, he reached for his drink and was ready to down a large swallow when he stopped himself. Paranoia was starting to kick in, and he wondered if the glass in his hand might contain something other than brandy.
“Okay, I’m really wanting to get out of here now,” he said, placing the drink back on the table. Following T’Pry
“ I do not know,” T’Pry
His feelings of anxiety begi
Her voice retaining its usual calm, quiet, and controlled tone, T’Pry
“Can you run it through the universal translation program on the station’s computer?” Reyes asked.
“ I can,” the Vulcan replied, “ but not directly. I have copied some of the information to my workstation and I am having it analyzed. It looks to be an obscure Orion dialect which has fallen out of common use. According to the library computer, it was utilized between three and four hundred years ago, mostly by a sect of Orion migrants who founded a colony in the—”
Reyes grunted in growing irritation. “I don’t care, T’Pry
“ At this time? Nothing,” T’Pry
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Reyes hissed, his feelings of exposure mounting with each passing moment. “Are you saying all of this was a waste of time?”
T’Pry
“What the hell is this all about, T’Pry
“ I ca
“The orb,” Reyes whispered.
T’Pry
Following her instructions, Reyes backed out of the system subnet, terminating the interface and returning the gaming console to its normal state. For good measure, he placed a bet and forced himself to play two hands of poker without acknowledging T’Pry
Take your best shot, Ganz,he mused before tossing back his head and downing the drink in a single swallow. He relished the burn of the brandy as it made its way down his throat, grunting in momentary satisfaction as the liquid hit his stomach. If he was going to die, there certainly were worse ways to go.
“ Mister Reyes,” T’Pry
“Listen,” he said as he placed the now empty glass on the table, “given the likelihood that I’ll be dead by this time tomorrow, why don’t you just call me Diego?”
There was a brief pause before the intelligence officer replied, “ Diego, my scans indicate that our efforts escaped detection.”