FM Busby Long View 7 Rebel's Quest

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only brief gym trunks.
And they looked to be identical twins, obviously much involved with
muscle-building routines.
One pushed back his damp blond hair and said, "Done with our workout, captain.
"
The other mimicked the movement, but lefthanded. "A shower will feel good.
Then, may we join you for dinner?"
"Yes may we?"
Ilse Krueger shook her head. "Not this time, Helmuth Gregor. Captain Tregare
and I have business to discuss. "
The two went into the bathroom, and Tregare said, "Couple of brawny lads
there. "
Deliberately he refrained from asking any questions, or so much as raising an
eyebrow. She'd tell him or she wouldn't; he didn't care which.
She did, "They live here. With me. Would you like something more? There's
quite a bit left. "
So Tregare ate again, slowly now for he was filling up. He wished the two
youths would finish their stint in the bathroom he had need of it himself. And
finally he went in, anyway, to find
Helmuth and Gregor fully dressed, just standing there.
He said hello and went to do his business, but Helmuth or maybe Gregor grasped
his arm. "A
word, captain. "
"Yes?"
"Do not involve yourself with Captain Krueger. "
"No?"
"No, " said the other. "We belong to her. You do not. " Then they left, and
finally he could relieve himself.
When he came out, Ilse Krueger had poured coffee and some more brandy. She
talked and he didn't, until she paused and said, "Is something on your mind?"
Tregare shrugged. "Not particularly. " Then, "Well, yes, now that you mention
it. Why did
Ajax and Hercules think they had to tell me to keep hands off you?"
"They did that?" She laughed. "Because they know me, I suppose. " Her eyes
narrowed. "Are you going to obey them? Are you afraid of them?"
"Yes, and no. " She waited, so he said, "If you and I messed around, they'd
sulk on you for a month. But they don't scare me. "
"Why not?"
"Same reason they don't scare you. Those little trunks don't hide much. People
with
Slaughterhouse scars make me cautious. Those boys don't have any. "
Again Krueger laughed. "I should have known. But we won't tell them, will we?
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It would hurt their pride. "
The charade began to irritate Tregare. "Let's cut the games. I have something
important to discuss. " And he told her of his plan to gather a fleet of
ships, the rendezvous at Number One and the approximate timing, and asked,
"You want to be in on this? "
She paused, frowning. "I'll have to think about it. Offhand I like the
idea getting this ship armed, twisting UET's tail. But I have some commitments
first. This network of yours can I let you know by leaving word at message
drops, and with any Escaped ships that pass within talking range?"
He shrugged. "That's how everybody else does it, who's not around to talk in
person. Don't take too long, though, making up your mind. Rendezvous sounds
like a long time from now, but don't forget how a trip or two chews time. "
"I won't. " Now Tregare stood. "Leaving so soon?"
" 'fraid so. I need to run through my checklist and set the hour for
lift-off. No point keeping the troops in suspense any longer than I have to. "
She stood also, put her hands on his shoulders and leaned against him. "Some
other time, Tregare. "
"Could be, at that. " He knew she wanted some sign that he found her
desirable, so he leaned down and they kissed. She was really damned good at
it; for a moment Bran was tempted, and the hell with the muscle twins. But
then he disengaged. "Some other time, Krueger. Yeah. "
Out in the corridor he was glad of the choice he'd made; both of the large
young men were standing there, and he'd bet a stack that they'd been
listening. They still didn't scare him, but not since boyhood had he taken
pleasure in combat. Not since being introduced to the
Slaughterhouse version.
Half-blocking his way, one of them said, "Leaving, captain?"
"That's right. " Bran stepped and looked straight ahead. The man moved aside,
and neither tried to stop him.
8. Fair Ball
A few hours later, picking his exact time to add the best resultant of
planetary motion and rotation to his chosen course. Tregare lifted
Inconnu off South Forty. He did it himself because all the Hats had done it
since his last turn and he didn't want to get rusty. In the direction he
headed, he had several choices of destination. After a while he decided to
look in on a small colony named UETopia. It was pretty well in line with
several choices of a second stop, and the best part was that these shorter
hauls wouldn't hurt him too much when it came to making rendezvous deadline on
Number One.
I just hope to hell enough of us get there on time!
The only trouble with UETopia was that it wasn't there. Either that or someone
had entered the coordinates wrong, or the computer hiccuped on the readout.
Whichever way, no UETopia.
Well, the name irritated him, anyway.
Heading away from that empty space by Tinhead's guidance, Inconnu was up to
point-two c when the comm-tech on Relliger's watch caught a beacon signal from
about a radian off the ship's course. Advised, Tregare got out of bed, into
shoes and pants, and grabbed a shirt which he put on while running upship.
When he got to Control, he shut up and listened. Long enough to learn that the
beacon was from UETs colony Muspelheim. And that without consulting Tregare, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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