Atlantis Endgame A New Time Traders Adventure

CHAPTER 1 "sure we have the new software," Ross Murdock said, scrupulously unaware of his landlady peeping up at him over the tops of her spectacles as she drowned her potted plants for what was probably the fourth time that day. "It's a fine spreadsheet. Plenty of new features." Gordon Ashe, following him up the stairs inside the hall, looked amused, but said nothing until Ross had shut the apartment door behind him and locked it. "Nosy landlady, I take it?" Ashe commented. "The tenants here are better than TV, she seems to think. At least from the gossip she rattles off to Eveleen when she can catch her." Ashe and Ross both surveyed the plain living room with its garage-sale furnishings. Eveleen had done her best to add homey touches: a brightly colored braided rug on the floor, a few very hardy houseplants, and one or two ancient artifacts brought up from the pastnothing to raise eyebrows, should anyone drop in who knew about such things. But Ross and Eveleen knew the real stories behind themsometimes even had known the person who had made them, thousands of years before. Ashe shook his head. "Seems like a lot of trouble to go to, if you ask me. Project Star would be happy enough to issue you living quarters, and the ones married couples get are fairly plush. A lot nicer than this, if you want to know the truth." "But underground. And it's still there, under their control. I've worked for the Project just about my entire adult life, and I respect everyone in it, but I want my own place. My own space. And so does Eveleen," Ross added. Ashe opened a hand. "But what happens when you're gone on a mission? It's Project Star that handles your pay and banking, right?" Ross nodded. "Yeah. They renew our yearly lease when it comes up. They cover the utilities. And they pay the cleaning service that comes through here once a week. Those guys dust and even water the plants." Ross gave the leaves of a spider plant a flick. "So, yeah. They hassle the details, but that's only when we're gone." Ashe, amused, said, "I confess I don't see the difference. Plus you've got the added annoyance of a nosy landlady." "But she's not our boss. Maybe it's the street kid in me, but I get itchy at the thought of living under the boss's roof, however benevolent." Ross shrugged, looking sardonic. "Makes no sense, does it?" "Contrary," Ashe replied. To him, it didn't seem all that long ago when he was assigned the nervy, distrustful troublemaker Ross Murdock, straight from juvenile court. Ross had become one of the best agents in the ultrasecret Project Star in spiteor maybe becauseof his readiness to apply action first, and palaver afterward, to unexpected problems. Ashe dropped down onto one of the chairs, giving Ross a skewed smile. Did the landlady also see the signs of the street kid in him? * * * ross brought out a couple of mugs of coffee, giving his old partner an appraising glance. Why was Ashe so silent, staring through the coffee as if he were trying to scry his future in it? Gordon Ashe was a tough, lean man around middle age, sun browned and fit. His blue-eyed gaze was direct and intelligent, his dark hair worn short. His plain brown suit conveyed a semblance of bland city-civilization, but he looked and moved like someone who preferred being out of doors. To break the lengthening silence, Ross said, "The landlady doesn't seem to believe I'm a computer software salesman." Ashe blinked and looked up. &Norton, Andre is the author of 'Atlantis Endgame A New Time Traders Adventure' with ISBN 9780812584158 and ISBN 0812584155.