Ambasadora (Book 1 of Ambasadora) by Heidi Ruby Miller Page B

railing.
    “The head idiots had us take
out one of our own guys based on bad info,” Vishneu said beside him. He stood
up and screamed, unleashing a torrent of strafing fire upon the contingency on
the floor. His upper body jerked as he took several rounds in the chest. He
fell against the handrail. The entire catwalk shook violently and threw Ariel
backward over the railing. Zak stood up to grab her arm. An explosive round
impacted on his back before he could catch her. He steadied himself against the
handrail only to take another hit to his shoulder. It was enough to throw him
off balance and pitch him forward, over the railing.
    Sean’s heart thudded and his
stomach tightened as Zak’s body went into free-fall. There were no healing
programs to bring him back; those were the rules of training engagement.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he heard the crunch of Ariel’s body hit
the concrete. Zak’s body hit seconds later.
    Sean’s connection was automatically
severed with Zak’s demise, but his physical body back on the Bard responded to the impact. He fought to catch his breath as he frantically pulled
the lenses from his eyes.
    Quivering from the pain of a
hundred virtual broken bones, Sean screamed in the darkness of his own bedroom.
He rolled off the bed and fell to his knees, then he balled his hands into
fists and smashed them into the floor until the pain he felt turned into a numb
afterthought. He concentrated on his breathing, the scent of conductor fluid,
blood, and sweat pushing into his nose.
    Today marked the first time in a
decade he had been killed in virtual combat, but that wasn’t what hurt
most. His mind crept back to one thought: wrongful elimination.
    His breathing became more
labored. Resting his forehead on the cold floor, Sean rocked back and forth in
an attempt to push out the grief…and with it, the guilt.

ELEVEN
    I wish I had brought some
shades.
    By the time David and Soli
stepped off of the magnoramp inside the Embassy, they had to squint against
the sunlight filtering through the six-story chalcedony atrium. A translucent
wall of pale blue light buffeted the huge reception area.
    David looked around the spacious
lobby for somewhere to sit. Several intimate groupings of cushy white couches
and chairs clustered around immense green pillars that spiraled toward the
thirty meter high ceiling. He found an empty couch and motioned for Soli to
join him.
    He sat down heavily in a chair
and put a fist to his chest. After stifling a painful belch, he said,
“Solimar, don’t ever let me eat maznee again. I don’t care if I’m
starving.”
    “Serves you right for going
to that filthy diner. If you were too late for the Embassy dinner, why didn’t
you just go to Oso Negro’s or Yama’s? They’re both right across the
street.” She looked at him with her coffee-colored eyes from under a baby
blue braid. Her blue hair contrasted with her tawny skin in a very fetching
manner.
    “They’re out of my pay
range,” David said, sorry now that he had settled for the special at-what was the name of that place? He couldn’t even remember, though he did remember the
special. It ended up being a fermented bowl of maznee-spiced chowder he had
forced down in three swallows.
    “Do you see a medmarket
anywhere?” He pounded on his chest.
    Soli laughed.
    “Are you enjoying my
misery?”
    “No, it’s just typical
you,” she said. “You get an Embassy stipend for piloting one of their
science cruisers, and you’re afraid to spend even that.”
    “I’m not afraid of anything.
Armadan, remember?” He gave her a wink.
    “Who left the military for
life as a civilian pilot.”
    “Don’t remind me,”
David muttered. “By the way, there’s nothing wrong with being
frugal.”
    “We only get one hundred
sixty cycles if we’re lucky, so I say there’s no need to be frugal.” She
playfully squeezed his forearm.
    He wasn’t going to argue with
her. Soli was used to being pampered and