ARIA Read Online Free Page B

regs–”
    “I mean I’m getting voice—no images.”
    “—so, no info is supposed to get out at all, Ryder, buddy. I’m doing a spot of infringing with this audio uplink.”
    “I get it, Manny. No visuals for fear of getting your neck stretched. Tipless opened the case and breached containment forty-eight hours ago. Where’s the case now?”
    “The incident sent shivers down NASA’s straight backs, so it’s been shifted, by jet, to Goddard. It’s in a more secure lab. Say, Ryder, isn’t your sister big at Goddard.”
    “You know how to pick your words. I blame your damn American donuts.”
    “Ha. What I meant was that the pressure’s off me to sneak these feeds to you.”
    “And I’m hellish grateful. Before you go, Manny, what’s going to happen to Tipless? Besides interrogation?”
    “Went with the case to Goddard.”
    “Changing tack, are you and Sheila back on an even keel?”
    “Sheila ran off to her mother’s. Two witches in one cauldron. Signing off, Ryder, before I change my mind and let her back in.”
    “Sorry to hear you’ve split up, Manny. Take care.”
    Eager to see what Goddard Space Flight Centre was doing with the case, Ryder buzzed his sister, even though she’d deny knowing anything, except what the space crew was eating.
    “I’m really busy, Ryder.”
    “Custard gone lumpy?”
    “It’s the best way in space or as a gel. Is that it?”
    “I wondered if you could get me patched through to the alien-case investigation, Karen, dear sister.”
    “On your bike, Ryder. You’re always trying to get me sacked.”
    “It’s about time you had a holiday.”
    “The directorate is remarkably relaxed about that case. Tipless is still in detention. One of my staff has seen him to fill out a diet-need e-form.”
    Ryder smiled. “Do you mean a menu?”
    “He was bewildered.”
    “As in couldn’t decide between mash and fries or didn’t know his name?”
    “He knew his name, job, history all right, but he had no idea why he’s in custody. He even thought he was still at the Dryden labs in Edwards and expected to return to his own lab-bench routine this morning.”
    “Shock does strange things,” Ryder said.
    “True. Maybe he’s blocked the recent truth to keep his sanity.”
    “Or, if I was a cynical copper, Karen, I’d suggest he’s playing dumb to protect someone else.”
    “His entire motive was greed; his bank account overflows with newspaper money. But he might’ve flipped. Gotta go, bro. Love to Teresa.”
    “Yep, and to yours, Karen.”
     
     
    R YDER FLICKED THROUGH recent NASA photographs while he waited for the web-cam window to leap into life. Teresa had wanted them to go for a pub dinner but, because Ryder wouldn’t leave, had to cook instead. He’d hoped she’d have been understanding, but the cacophony from the kitchen denied it.
    He never doubted that Karen would try to get him patched in. But as time drifted, he worried that the pre-emptive activity of Tipless, instead of precipitating the investigation, would fudge it. Politicians might get involved. He groaned. He’d met Caroline Diazem, the President, at a rally. Her arrogance was such that nothing about the case would be released to the public unless the aliens gave her a glorious endorsement.
    The waiting reminded him of his childhood weekends. Ryder’s father was a teacher in order to spend long holidays trekking. Friends were impressed knowing that Ryder had been the world over, peering over the planet from mountain tops every weekend. But the reality was a distant mother, who preferred her Surbiton wine circle to base camp. Rock scrambling over the Peak District scarp slopes was brilliant, but waiting your turn in the cold drizzle at the bottom of a near-vertical cliff drained all Ryder’s enthusiasm for the sport. On the other hand, it gave him time to listen to his digi-media player; music and Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy .
    Ryder’s childhood recollections disorientated his