Number Ten Read online

  I was sipping the hot tea as I watched a man, the special force officer, pace up and down the room. A strongman in armor stuffed with electronics, he kept shooting fiery gazes at Frankenstein who was ruffling through the printouts peacefully, paying no heed to anyone.

  “And?!” the officer asked at last. “What’s going on here? What the hell are you throwing a special squad in the dead of night to…to capture a fucking European server?!”

  My body grew stiff, a block of ice seemed to sink into my stomach. Now Frankenstein will tell him everything, the officer will report up the chain, and they’ll execute me. No, first they’ll interrogate me whether I’m a foreign agent, whether I did it for sabotage, and only then execute me by shooting…twice or thrice…

  “Mister Ivanov, I would ask you to change the tone,” Shterd told him with unusual calmness, yet without a look at me. “You are not in barracks. We were conducting another experiment, all of it agreed with our schedule, as you may check…”

  “Which schedule?” the officer was confused.

  “Were you not submitted the list of the works planned for the next decade?” Frankenstein sounded naturally surprised. Shook his head. “Oh, this bureaucracy…nothing you can trust to them. Well, next morning the schedule will be on your desk. I’ll see to it myself. And, Mister Ivanov…everything is under control.”

  Ivanov glared at the professor as though about to strangle him. But overcame himself, wheeled round on the heels, and marched out of the laboratory. The paratroopers followed him in a hurry, with obvious relief for leaving our “theater of horrors.”

  About the Author

  Nick Troy is an author of several novels in the genres of cyberpunk and fantasy.

  Born October 29, 1983 in Donetsk, Ukraine, he was given the name of Nikolay Borodin. But later he discovered the existence of a living writer with just the same name and hence took the pen name of Nick Troy.

  Before becoming a professional writer, he studied History and Religion, majored in Journalism, went in for drawing, wrote several songs for rock groups and spent some time leading a historical rubric in a local newspaper.

  Published his first book, a post-apocalyptic novel Head in the Noose, in 2011. That was when he chose a full-time career in writing. The next two books, Neironet and Neironet 2: Offline Mode, a cyberpunk series, were also bought by publishers, while his fantasy novel Kill a Hero was self-published on the web.

  A winner of the “Russia For Immortals” writing contest, held in 2011 by “Russia 2045” movement.

  A skeptic, an atheist, and a misanthrope.

  Discover other titles by Nick Troy:

  Contact Nick Troy online:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001167174179

  Twitter: Nikolay_Troy

  Blog: https://n-troy.livejournal.com/

  E-mail: [email protected]

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