Read Craig Kreident #2 Fallout for Free Online Page B

his job.   He now wore the same expression she had seen when Aunt Genny had died — a vacant, stricken look that had lost all hope.
    Mike and Genny Waterloo had been frequent visitors to the Mitchell home back in Livermore, alternating visits at Christmas, coming out for the Napa Valley balloon festival.   Their families had lived next to each other in small suburban homes in the early days of the Livermore Radiation Lab, when most of the town had been employed in nuclear weapons work.   Since Genny’s death, Uncle Mike had buried himself in his job, first as a member of a U.S. inspection team traveling in Russia, then appointed to manage the DAF, with all the responsibilities — and headaches — that entailed.
    Including the death of a high-profile Russian disarmament inspector.
    Hearing the security door open behind her, Paige turned to see a red-faced man in a brown Russian military uniform charging ahead of an NTS security escort.   The guard huffed to keep up with the big-shouldered man.
    Paige braced herself as General Gregori Ursov pushed his way into the crowded warehouse area.   Silver-haired Ursov was slightly shorter than Paige, but held himself erect.   His weathered face looked as if it had been chiseled out of hard stone with a blunt instrument.
    “Explain this to me!   I have been able to get no information from DAF personnel.   Is Ambassador Nevsky truly dead?   I intend to file a protest because of this brick-walling!”
    Paige moved to meet him, already trying to choose the best path as peacemaker.   “No one is trying to, uh, stone-wall you, General.   We are still trying to determine —”
    His glance seizing on the fallen crate, Ursov brushed past her and strode to the squashed body.   Ursov stood stoically, staring down at the pool of blood, then knelt in front of his comrade.   He reached out to touch Nevsky’s arm.   “ Idiot ,” he muttered, as if the ambassador could hear him.   The Russian word was the same as English.
    Uncle Mike looked helplessly at Paige, and she stepped forward.   “Sorry, General, but you’ll have to step back.   Please don’t touch anything.”
    Ursov remained squatting, studying, but did not touch the body.   He spoke without turning.   “I demand full reports, full investigations.”
    Paige spoke quietly.   “These people are trying their best to determine exactly what happened, General.   It appears to be a tragic accident.”
    Ursov turned to glare at Paige.   “How could this happen?   This place is supposed to be the most secure facility in all of Test Site.   You insist we have escorts every time we take a piss or blow our noses, and yet Ambassador Nevsky is allowed to wander until a crate falls on his head?   Unbelievable!”
    “The ambassador’s escort left him alone for only a moment, General,” said Uncle Mike.   To Paige, he sounded more forceful than he had in years.   “We don’t know what Ambassador Nevsky was doing over here or what he was looking for.   This is a restricted area, clearly marked, and he should not have trespassed.”
    Ursov raised his eyebrows in disbelief.   “It is after nine o’clock in the morning, Mr. Waterloo.   If this so-called accident happened last night, why wasn’t I notified until now?”
    “We are just beginning our investigation, General.   We’ve been working diligently all night.”
    “It took you all night to identify Nevsky?   Preposterous!”   Ursov pressed up against Uncle Mike as if to intimidate him, though the DAF Manager towered over the Russian by a good half foot.   “You will grant me immediate access to a telephone so I may contact my embassy.”
    “Certainly, General,” Paige said, stepping up to them.   “We will keep you informed of the investigation as it progresses.”
    Ursov remained toe to toe with Uncle Mike.   “Without Ambassador Nevsky, I am now officially in charge of the disarmament team — as I should have been in the first place.