Chapter 17 Part 3
Soon Sal felt the sitting sensation of being on a Palcan Transport. As soon as the motion was underway, he suddenly had the feeling of his blindfold being loosened. The blindfold came off, and the next thing Sal saw were the knuckles of a fist approaching his face. When they made contact, he saw stars. When he came to again, there was no sign of Mr. Trigone. Apparently, Mr. Trigone had not gone to etiquette school.
Sal figured a punch to the face wasn't so bad for the information he had gained. The joke was on Felicia and Telray. He had cracked their code, and they were none the wiser. He sipped his drink as he consoled himself with this thought.
Sal glanced at some newcomers. They carried themselves strangely--too officially. These guys were not here for the ambiance or for the sake of relaxation. They had a purpose, and they were all dressed very similarly. Each of them wore a sharp black suit. Sal recognized the suit as an urban adaptive camo. Its default was set to suit, but it could have very easily blended itself into the environment. Since it was not doing so, it could only mean that the men wearing them wanted to stand out--which meant they were likely on official business. The slight bulge of the sleeve meant that these guys were armed--probably with neural incapacitators.
Sal had learned that when official-looking people came searching around an environment, it was best even if one noticed them to pretend that one had not. he turned back to his drink and huddled over it as though it were the sole focus of his world. He had extended his senses, however, to encompass the room behind him so as to be aware of any information concerning the men who had entered.
They seemed to be searching earnestly for someone. Sal could hear them asking patrons if they had seen a particular man. He assumed they were then shown an image. Sal didn't know who these men were looking for, but he knew he felt very uncomfortable.
As the men in suits made their way around the room, Sal saw out of his peripheral vision that one of the patrons had looked hesitantly over in his direction in an uncertain way. The men in suits followed the patron's gaze. One of them nodded slightly and made some movements that indicated he intended to come over to where Sal presently sat. Sal was out of time. He had zero interest in talking to these men, and he intended to make sure he did not. The most obvious hack he could think of involved the audio system. If he could get into it, and he probably could, he could likely create a diversion long enough for him to slip away unnoticed, but he would have to work fast. Sal regretted ordering that Hyperspace Epileptic Tantrum. Fortunately for him, his subconscious skill was more than sufficient for hacking the audio of the place, as most people had no reason whatsoever to want to hack it.
