Read Soulwalker for Free Online Page B

soon.
    “So, Tarris, what sort of work do you do that allows you to go for an idle walk?”
    “Computer input, what else?” she lied.
    “I’m sure you could find something else if you wish to change your profession.” Darmen seemed genuinely interested in her welfare.
    “I don’t really care one way or the other. It’s a job and it pays the bills.” She looked at her friend walking beside her. “And what about you?”
    “Me? Well, as luck would have it, I repair them, my dear.”
    “Then what are you doing here?” She gave him a friendly smile as she asked the question to take the sting out of the inquiry.
    “Sometimes I just appreciate here more than my job.”
    “And you still have a job? You have a very understanding boss.” Tarris wished for a boss like that.
    “You’re looking at him,” he said straight-faced.
    “You’re the boss?”
    “Don’t believe everything you see, Tarris.” She looked at him with new eyes. He certainly didn’t look like an executive. Then again, she didn’t look like an assassin either.
    “Amazing. Do I know the company?”
    “Computronics. But shhh, don’t tell anyone.” He grinned at her.
    “Holy hell!” She was standing next to the boss of one of the largest computer companies in the world. “I… I…”
    “Tarris, now listen to me.” Darmen stopped and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m still the same man as I was last week. I don’t want to lose the friendship we have. It’s nice to be treated as a man and not an icon.”
    Tarris looked into those eyes of gray to see the old man from the park. She really did like him. He was a free spirit who sought freedom in a city, and a job, that allowed very little. “Darmen, I couldn’t care less if you were from the Council itself or a lowly rubbish collector. You’re a nice man, and I’m glad to call you friend.” Friend… yeah, he was a nice friend.
    “I feel the same, my dear. I always look forward to your visits. I hope that won’t change.” Uncertainty filled those eyes, and she could see that he was wondering if he had driven her away with his revelation.
    She lifted her hand to touch his cheek. “No it won’t… my friend.” She had a friend, and a friend who wanted nothing from her but her company. For all of her life everyone she came in contact with wanted something, all except him.
    “I wanted to give you something, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. Now you know who I am, and it’ll be easier.”
    “I don’t want anything from you—”
    Darmen held up his hand to stop her words. “It’s something we’ve been working on, and I’d like you to have it. If it will make it easier to accept, think of it as an experiment. You’re testing out a new piece of equipment for us. How about that?”
    “Testing new technology, huh?” One dark eyebrow rose as Darmen presented a brightly wrapped box to her. “Funny looking official red tape,” she said. He stood idly by as she unwrapped the present and opened the box. “Errr… okay.” She had no idea what the small electronic box was.
    “It’s for finding bugs, monitoring devices, homing signals, and such. The ultimate bug detector.”
    Tarris laughed. “A bug detector? I hope you’re not going to call it that.”
    “Well, its official title is SFGD-13279A, but somehow I don’t think that will convince people to buy it, do you?”
    “Errr… I don’t think so.”
    “We’re working on something a bit more… snappy.”
    “I don’t know what to say, Darmen.” Tarris looked at him. “Darmen? Is that your real name?”
    “No, but I’d like you to call me that. It’s a name especially for you.”
    “For me?” Tarris could see he was smitten with her. “You’re not making a pass at me are you?”
    Shyly, he looked at her. “Maybe.”
    “Look, Darmen…”
    “Okay, enough said.”
    She reached for him. “You are a very special man, Darmen, but it would never work. I think you know that.”
    “Yeah I know,