Chapter 19
Colonel Kesse Rombolo leafed carefully through the thin but growing file on the new defector. Earth’s chief-of-station for the entire planet. How fortunate for me, if my luck is to be believed.
The colonel was a very precise man. He was neither tall nor bulky, but he gave the impression of being both because his always-immaculate uniform fit precisely every curve of his rotund body. His curly black hair was cut so close to his scalp that it was almost a knitted cap. The edges of his mustache were as precise as his barber’s razor could make them. He did not believe in waste or ornamentation.
On the surface, this Cheney fellow’s story looked legitimate enough. The TIA was indeed known for its internal politicking, and being on the wrong side of a dispute, as he claimed to be, m
