Crack in the Kill Code (AmpCore #2)

52 - The Word of a Dead Man

Before Piper could process Bannerman's words, the ping sounded again. She didn't turn with Bannerman, her feet rooted to the spot, her eyes boring out across the bright city skyline. Her fingers squeezed just a little too tight; she felt the glass crack.

Turning, she felt Cassie roil violently inside her. A light fixture across the room blew out.

Clearing her throat through the resulting hubbub of surprise, she started moving, and deposited the glass down on the tray of the nearest server as she went. Glancing down, she saw a thin sliver of red creeping across her palm from where the glass had cut her, already half-cauterised from the heat of her implants. She quickly closed her fist as she reached Odiye.

One of the attendants was already replacing the broken fitting, a murmurs rattling back and forth between the nearby guards as they examined it. Most of the people who'd actually been invited to the gathering didn't pay it much mind.

"You okay?" Odiye whispered into her ear as she took her seat beside him.

"I think so." She reached beneath the table and gave his knee a squeeze of thanks, feeling the warm salve of connection from his implants. "Tell you later."
He nodded, placing his hand over hers for a moment, before they both eased apart. The others dropped into chairs around them, drinks still flowing as they laughed and joked. She bit down the emotions and wrestled Cassie into silence, acutely aware of the glances coming her way from Vinder and Lenor. If anyone else suspected the source of the disturbance, they were keeping it to themselves.

She looked down the table to where Bannerman sat. Bastard couldn't have looked calmer, beer in one hand, speaking quietly with a woman from Skiltron sitting beside him. His eyes flashed towards her a brief moment, but that was all she got.

I think you should find her.

Like it was simple. Like she could look her up in a fucking directory. She didn't know whether to be thankful or infuriated. Piper tried the name out again. Azelle Connor.

She felt Cassie stir again, more gently this time.

You know the name? She dropped the delicate whisper into the back of her mind.

Yes.

And do you think he's right?

I don't know. I recognise the name. It means something. That's all I can say. When we are finished here, I would like to try and find out more.

You and me both.

Their private exchange came to a close when the main doors to the dining room opened again. Cassie sank back down into their den at the base of her mind, and Piper breathed out through her nose, trying to regain her composure as their hosts returned.

Karga and Knox entered the room side by side, guards in tow, both looking merrier than she'd expected, all convivial smiles, and even a comradely slap on the shoulder from Toran's father before they parted to retake their seats at opposite ends of the table. A fresh course arrived with them, the smell of sizzling meat filling the air.

She let one of the attendants pour her a glass of crystalline water, her appetite for alcohol quickly evaporating after Bannerman's revelations. The real steak on her plate fell apart like butter beneath her knife and fork, and it was all she could do not to pick the plate up and tip it into her mouth.

Piper kept the intrusive thoughts at bay, and made it to the next course without incident, before the attention of Hadrian's great and good finally descended on her. She'd been half-listening to the intricacies of the bartering firing back and forth, mostly preliminary trade-offs; tech patents, development contracts, freight consolidation, operational reparations.