She ignored him, instead collected a handful of partial credits and mineral fragments from the corpses. One goon had a gold tooth—she snatched a shard from a broken bottle and dug that out, too. When she returned, her reply sent shivers down Clay’s spine: “I’m the girl you’ve made a promise to. Don’t let me down.”
“N-no. Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Follow me. We’re getting off this rock.”
After scrubbing his sweaty palms on his jacket, he got up and quick-walked ahead of her to the final corpse. Until he could get a handle on who this crazy broad was, he’d have to play along. If this was to be some kind of business enterprise, he’d better start pulling his weight. He checked the gobshite head to toe but found only a room key and a token for a free case of Bolshoi brandy. “Next one’s on me,” he said.
Lyssa narrowed her eyes at him, then gave an enigmatic nod. “I won’t ask you why you’re on the run. You don’t try and run out on me, ever. Clear?”
“All right. But tell me something first—what convinced you I wasn’t a Kuiper spy?”
“That’s easy.”
“How?”
“You’re not an asshole.” She took his arm, gave him a peck on the lips. “And whatever happens, fella, keep it that way.”
Full Kindle version available here.
***
If you enjoyed Borderline, you might like these other titles by Robert Appleton on Kindle:
Science Fiction:
Sparks in Cosmic Dust
Alien Velocity
Pyro Canyon
Cyber Sparks
The Eleven Hour Fall: Complete Trilogy
The Basingstoke Chronicles
The Mythmakers (also appears in the SFR anthology Impulse Power)
Godiva in the Firing Line
Steampunk:
The Mysterious Lady Law
Prehistoric Clock (The Steam Clock Legacy #1)
Imperial Clock (The Steam Clock Legacy #2, Coming soon, 2013)
The Clockwork Soldier (A Steam Clock Legacy Novella, Coming soon, 2013)
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