Read Robert Charrette - Arthur 03 - A Knight Among Knaves for Free Online Page A

the real world. That's what he needed to be thinking about.
    "Data acquired," the console announced.
    His program had done its job and collected the Westwind file, his ticket out. He dumped the file to chip and pocketed it.
    "Good time on retrieval," Chartain said.
    He didn't need to be told that.
    Holger turned in place. As he did, he took his right hand from the pocket of his greatcoat. Gilmore and Chartain stared at the H&K Viper™ that he held in that hand. The weapon wasn't really a Viper, but it looked like one. Felt like one too, almost. The weight was the same but the balance was a little off. But to all appearances it was a standard-issue weapon. Were they wondering if he had replaced the test's surrogate with the real thing? Chartain's hand was sliding toward his hip and the holstered pistol there. The major would have seen that the safety on Holger's weapon was off. "Entertaining doubts, Major?" Holger asked him. Holger shot them both. A bullet in each neck. Chartain first. They looked surprised. They shouldn't be, especially Gilmore. They should have known that he would be playing to win this little game. Was he supposed to let them raise the alarm before he'd gotten out of the facility?
    The anesthetic in the bullets was fast, but not fast enough. Holger had made the neck shot to minimize the delay in reaction to the drug. Chartain fought it. Holger had to step close and take Chartain's pistol away from him. Chartain didn't struggle long. Holger laid him on the floor beside Gilmore.
    Once he'd instructed the door to seal after he left, and the workstations to simulate activity, Holger plucked Chartain's badge from his pocket and clipped it to the front of his own greatcoat. He took the major's hat from the rack by the door as well. The fit was satisfactory; he hadn't been sure that it would lie. He was pleased. The security officers were considerably less vigilant about checking persons leaving the facility than they were about those coming in. Just as well for him—if anyone looked closely at the photo, he would not pass for Chartain. But no one would be looking closely at him. The hat, the military-cut greatcoat, and the mere presence of the badge would be enough to disguise him as long as no alert was on, and he had just arranged that the alert would be late.
    The next step was to walk out of the Philips Sanitorium as if he had every right in the world to do so. And didn't he? The world outside was waiting.
    CHAPTER
    3
    In weeks of looking, John hadn't found where Spillway Sue slumped. With no money to spread among the streeters, he'd gotten no talk from them. He was still new enough that the locals wouldn't open up to him out of kindness or in hopes of earning his goodwill. Yet, for some reason he didn't really understand, he felt that he needed to try again to find her before he left with Bennett.
    He was sure Sue knew he was looking. She was well established on the street. Surely some of those John had asked were her friends or owed her favors, if not loyalty. They would have talked to her. So why hadn't she come out of hiding? She could have found him anytime; she knew where he slumped. Why hadn't she contacted himl
    John didn't want to believe that Sue was hiding from him, but that seemed the inevitable conclusion. They had only begun to discover each other—he didn't want it to end without a word. He was afraid it already had.
    He drifted through the neighborhood south of 195 near the river. Without knowing where Spillway Sue might be, all he could do was check places where she had been seen and hope that he would run across her. His path was nearly as aimless as the errant leaves that rattled and rasped along the pavement driven by the chill autumn wind. The leaves didn't know where they were going, any more than did John. John's thoughts were as tumbled as the leaves.
    Sue—about whom he knew so little—had spent years on the street, maybe her entire life, while he had been raised in safe corporate