Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

check. We are going in full nano-armour and I want it perfect fit for everyone and double-checked. I want all of you resting and napping in the evening, people, so plan your day well.’ Heads nodded around the table. ‘Questions, anyone?’

For a few heartbeats no one spoke as they reviewed the holo-display and their own notes.

‘There is a possibility that the security guards will be in full civilian nano-armour. The sleeping darts will have reduced effect against that,’ Palmeiro said eventually.

‘Your question being?’ Ingram challenged. It was clear she wasn’t going to tolerate any crap from him anymore. Yesterday had reminded her clearly that the familiarity she could allow herself with her teammates could never stretch past a certain point without compromising their work. If that meant that she had to eliminate all familiarity to stay focused, so be it. If that meant Palmeiro was about to hate her, that was also perfectly fine with her. As long as he did his job.

‘What are the standing orders on swapping to chemical projectiles or lasers?’ Palmeiro specified. His eyes tried to roll, but he firmly suppressed the urge.

There was more than a hint of certain parts of his body waking up when his mind fed him a stimulating image. Ingram wasn’t wearing much in it.

‘The standing orders are that you are using sleeping darts until otherwise instructed,’ Ingram replied, her dark green eyes boring straight into Palmeiro, daring him to question her. It wasn’t the time to make a scene, but she would give him one if he continued to ask for it. ‘Most of the security guards are likely to be Leeches. Far better-off Leeches than average, given their employment, but Leeches nonetheless. We will not slaughter them simply because they exist.

‘Military-grade sleeping darts do pierce civilian nano-armour,’ she continued, looking around the room. ‘Even with the nanobots from the armour acting instantly to neutralise the drug, it will be sufficient to daze anyone long enough to approach for hand-to-hand combat, which while painful can be easily moderated to remain non-lethal. All of you are trained in hand-to-hand combat, and all of you will be in military-grade nano-armour facing security guards who haven’t seen action in nearly two decades.

‘We are going in for Ms Moretti to connect to their network via one of their main research computers, where we will encounter the fewest counter-espionage blocks. Our aim is to retrieve data, not to kill senselessly.’ Her eyes settled back on Palmeiro as she emphasised the last two words. ‘We are all staying together, watching each other’s backs. If the need arises for us to split up you will be issued new orders. But at all times you are expected to remain non-lethal whenever possible.

‘You are all going to have chemical projectiles and close-combat lasers with you.’ Ingram tore her eyes away from Palmeiro to address everyone again. ‘As a last resort. Not as the go-to whenever you see a shadow lurking. If I find even a single lethal round has been fired without good justification, the person in question will wish they had never come back from Olympus by the time I’m done with them.

‘Tilly is going to keep an eye on live feeds from their security cams. I repeat, our goal is to stay unnoticed, not to leave a trail of dead bodies.’

Watching Palmeiro and Ingram still irritated Gonzalez. It was good to see Ingram’s firmness, but it only underscored that there was a problem. The man was certainly behaving better, but the ragged edge and passive hostility remained. He was determined to challenge Ingram at every opportunity, and while being kept on her toes would do Ingram good, this was neither the time nor the place.

No, Gonzalez, be honest with yourself. Palmeiro isn’t hostile. If he was, she would have shredded him by now.He’s pushing it just short of that. I just bloody wish it wasn’t all happening in front of everyone else.

One thing Gonzalez missed from the regular service, outside of the MIS, was that it still resembled the rank structure inherited from the military forces of the pre–Great Collapse world. There were always more enlisted personnel than officers by a substantial margin. Within the MIS, because of the necessity for highly trained operatives and their expertise, the ratio was significantly different. The MIS simply had limited use for a Leech soldier with only a few months of basic training under his or her belt. Some MIS team leaders preferentially surrounded themselves with Elite officers—not due to snobbery, but because formal education as well as Special Forces training was limited to the Elite. Unless a Leech showed a special talent, like Megan with her computer-hacking skills, the MIS was not the place for them.

The skewed ratio often led to excessive informality. Sometimes, it led to excessive banter and foolishness; at other times, it could get borderline nasty. The current situation seemed to be somewhere in between and had the potential to go either way.

‘Any other questions?’ Gonzalez asked when it became clear Palmeiro wasn’t going to shoot himself in the foot by continuing to argue.

CHAPTER 45

Roc de Chere

Lac d’Annecy

Afro-European Alliance

Wednesday 29 April 2725

DAY 10

‘Are you all right?’ Rivas paused next to Eloise and passed her a glass of orange liquid.

‘Yes.’ Her body seemed tense and focused. She tried to tuck her sweat-soaked hair behind her ears, but the short, misbehaving strands refused to co-operate. Gonzalez had given her a firm yes, allowing her to join the raid, and announced it clearly to everyone else, but she had no doubt that satisfying Ingram’s demands during all the tests was important.

It wasn’t easy.

Ingram had put her through her paces so far, and although Eloise came short of Special Forces standards, she did well enough to surprise Ingram during her fitness test. When she put her mind to it, she had that uncanny ability to press forward while never complaining or making excuses. Frankly, Ingram had expected far worse from her, for no other reason than because