Read Online Island Worlds by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani
Ads: Link
the stiffened fingers of his right hand lanced upward beneath the man's sternum. The attacker doubled up, gasping. The vicious blow to the solar plexus could easily render a man unconscious, and this one did.
Thor looked about wildly and saw the other two masked men lying peacefully on the sidewalk. Fu leaned with both hands on the top of his cane, his hat at a jaunty angle, looking fresh and elegant and absurdly resembling a soft-shoe dancer. Thor hadn't heard the impacts of the stick, but they had been effective. A number of people went into or out of the building, sparing no more than a glance for the aftermath of the little battle.
"It worked," Thor said, wonderingly. "It really worked!" He began to notice a burning pain across his back, where the chain had connected after his block.
"Worked just fine," Fu said. "You've never done it for real?"
Thor shook his head and knelt by his first attacker. "I might have killed this one," he said, tugging at the mask. The mask came off, revealing a blotchy, pale face. The man was around thirty and had a scraggly red beard. He was breathing stertorously and was bleeding from the nose, but seemed otherwise undamaged.
"He's fine," Fu said. "A skull that thick would be hard to damage. They'll all live. As I advised earlier, we won't bother the police. These vacuum-heads would just sue us. Come on."
Thor got up and walked with Fu back toward the parking lot. He began to tremble slightly with delayed reaction and thrust his hands into his pockets to hide it. "Would they have killed us?"
"Deader'n hell," Fu assured him. "The courts won't touch them, but don't despair. Baron Samedi is going to be very pissed off at them. Probably turn them into zombies." He thought for a moment. "Not that it'd be much of a change. "
Something struck Thor. "That one I unmasked was white. I thought voudon followers were all black. Haitians, mostly."
"Not any more," Fu said.
They retrieved the car and set out for Fu's apartment. For once, Thor was glad to have an autopilot. The sudden, shocking outburst of violence had shaken him badly. When they were out on the freeway, Fu broke the silence.
"Thor, there's someone you need to contact when you get to Luna. Man by the name of Martin Shaw. He's a cousin, sort of. The name Shaw is Chinese, by the way, not English, like George Bernard Shaw. He doesn't look very Chinese, though. He's a Eurasian from Singapore. Kind of like Lenin, he looks slightly Asiatic to Westerners and slightly European to Asians. Anyway, he's a smuggler these days, strictly respectable, though. And he's a revolutionary, which is what got him kicked off Earth in the first place. He was sent out from Singapore after some indiscretions involving explosives and government buildings. Of course they would've shot him for that, so he let them pick him up for publishing his unlicensed newspaper before the other things could be pinned on him.
"They sent him up to the Tranquillitatis relocation Center and he was running the place in a month. He busted or bribed his way out, I don't know which, and now he's big in the underground economy. The important thing is, he has his own ship and he can probably get you out to the Belt."
"He sounds like a man of many talents," Thor said. "How would I get in contact with him?"
"He's sometimes to be found in the Earthview Room of the Armstrong Hilton. Ask around and use my name. If he doesn't remember me, remind him that I belong to the L.A. laundry-restaurant-and-computer Fus."
At his apartment building, Fu got out of the car, then leaned in the driver's window. "You handled yourself really well tonight, for a Yale man. Keep in touch." He sauntered toward the building, twirling the cane and then breaking into a quick Maurice Chevalier dance step. Thor smiled and set the car for his inn. He hadn't looked forward to a good night's sleep like this in a long time.
THREE
Thor peeled the top from a self-heating plastic can of coffee, He pressed the
Thor looked about wildly and saw the other two masked men lying peacefully on the sidewalk. Fu leaned with both hands on the top of his cane, his hat at a jaunty angle, looking fresh and elegant and absurdly resembling a soft-shoe dancer. Thor hadn't heard the impacts of the stick, but they had been effective. A number of people went into or out of the building, sparing no more than a glance for the aftermath of the little battle.
"It worked," Thor said, wonderingly. "It really worked!" He began to notice a burning pain across his back, where the chain had connected after his block.
"Worked just fine," Fu said. "You've never done it for real?"
Thor shook his head and knelt by his first attacker. "I might have killed this one," he said, tugging at the mask. The mask came off, revealing a blotchy, pale face. The man was around thirty and had a scraggly red beard. He was breathing stertorously and was bleeding from the nose, but seemed otherwise undamaged.
"He's fine," Fu said. "A skull that thick would be hard to damage. They'll all live. As I advised earlier, we won't bother the police. These vacuum-heads would just sue us. Come on."
Thor got up and walked with Fu back toward the parking lot. He began to tremble slightly with delayed reaction and thrust his hands into his pockets to hide it. "Would they have killed us?"
"Deader'n hell," Fu assured him. "The courts won't touch them, but don't despair. Baron Samedi is going to be very pissed off at them. Probably turn them into zombies." He thought for a moment. "Not that it'd be much of a change. "
Something struck Thor. "That one I unmasked was white. I thought voudon followers were all black. Haitians, mostly."
"Not any more," Fu said.
They retrieved the car and set out for Fu's apartment. For once, Thor was glad to have an autopilot. The sudden, shocking outburst of violence had shaken him badly. When they were out on the freeway, Fu broke the silence.
"Thor, there's someone you need to contact when you get to Luna. Man by the name of Martin Shaw. He's a cousin, sort of. The name Shaw is Chinese, by the way, not English, like George Bernard Shaw. He doesn't look very Chinese, though. He's a Eurasian from Singapore. Kind of like Lenin, he looks slightly Asiatic to Westerners and slightly European to Asians. Anyway, he's a smuggler these days, strictly respectable, though. And he's a revolutionary, which is what got him kicked off Earth in the first place. He was sent out from Singapore after some indiscretions involving explosives and government buildings. Of course they would've shot him for that, so he let them pick him up for publishing his unlicensed newspaper before the other things could be pinned on him.
"They sent him up to the Tranquillitatis relocation Center and he was running the place in a month. He busted or bribed his way out, I don't know which, and now he's big in the underground economy. The important thing is, he has his own ship and he can probably get you out to the Belt."
"He sounds like a man of many talents," Thor said. "How would I get in contact with him?"
"He's sometimes to be found in the Earthview Room of the Armstrong Hilton. Ask around and use my name. If he doesn't remember me, remind him that I belong to the L.A. laundry-restaurant-and-computer Fus."
At his apartment building, Fu got out of the car, then leaned in the driver's window. "You handled yourself really well tonight, for a Yale man. Keep in touch." He sauntered toward the building, twirling the cane and then breaking into a quick Maurice Chevalier dance step. Thor smiled and set the car for his inn. He hadn't looked forward to a good night's sleep like this in a long time.
THREE
Thor peeled the top from a self-heating plastic can of coffee, He pressed the
Similar Books
