Read Vyyda Book 1: The Haver Problem for Free Online Page B

working so hard, to enjoy such spoils.  It wouldn’t take much more than casual observation of her at mealtime to catch on to her attachment to the kabobs.
    She was being taught a lesson of sorts:  i n the eyes of at least one person at HSPB-Luna, the death of Caroline’s bird was an imperative.  After all, as the saying went, one had to draw the line somewhere.  If half-spetchers were allowed to keep pets, they might actually begin to believe they belonged.
    As Caroline pondered what to do with Roland’s body, Zachary Stovall arrived.  Although he was only a G4, Stovall had become Caroline's most trusted friend since his attachment to HSPB-Luna three years earlier.  They could relate to one another.  Stovall was also a non-Earther who strove to get the most out of the opportunities to be found in the Bureau.  Tall and well-built, Stovall had wide-set eyes and a nose that was bent and pushed in from scores of fights waged in his younger years.  Many of the Earth-born agents whispered their insults about Zachary Stovall for fear that the mountain of a young man would do them damage if he heard their barbs; such an attack would surely see him drummed out of the HSPB, but no Earther wanted to sacrifice themselves just to rid the Bureau of another half-spetcher.
    Stovall and Caroline were scheduled for duty in the "comms wedge": communications control center for the installation.  And, even though their shift was set to begin in mere minutes, Caroline couldn’t simply leave the dead bird where it lay.  Stovall's reaction to Roland's fate was less controlled than Caroline's.
    "Bastards," he said repeatedly with a venomous tone until Caroline asked him to stop.
    "I trust you, Agent Stovall.  I tru st you not to tell anyone – and I mean anyone – about this."
    "But..."
    "Can I count on you?  Please?"
    Stovall nodded.  They called one another Agent Stovall and Agent Dahl.  Friends though they may have been, protocol was im portant for agents to follow – particularly for non-Earthers trying to make good.
    "What are you going to do?" Stovall asked.
    "Only thing I can.  Get rid of it."
    "Of him ?"
    "Roland stopped being a him when that spike punctured his head.  Besides, it's ea sier for me to think of 'it' while I dispose of the body."
    Stovall said he'd wait for Caroline to do the deed.  It would make both of them a few minutes late, but she was insistent about dealing with Roland's remains right away.  There had been very specific rules given to her with the bird:  if it was to die or if she decided she didn't want it any longer, Roland had to be turned over to specialists who would eradicate it in the proscribed manner for organics.  She knowingly broke a rule for the first time in her HSPB career by incinerating a dead Earth animal in her lav and sending the charred pieces down the wide drain of her shower.
    Then it was time to go to work.
     
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    "You have to spell decency with a question mark around here," Stovall said as the pair left Caroline's rooms for the shift that had officially started on the opposite side of the installation.  "If you had to guess..."
    Caroline wouldn't have the conversation.  She quickened her pace to pull away from Stovall – no small feat considering that he was over two meters in height; a long stride, indeed.
    He caught up.
    "I think it was Doone," he said just before they passed a trio of agents headed in the opposite direction.
    "Careful, Agent Stovall.  Ears everywhere."
    "Ignoring it isn't going to help.  Word will still get out."
    Caroline stopped, taking Stovall's arm.
    "And how will that happen?  If only you and I know, and we've agreed not to discuss it...how will word get out?"
    "The person who did it, Agent Dahl."
    That was a good point.  The idea behind such a cruel act was to not only strike a blow against half-spetchers, but to be able to brag to compatriots that