Read Online STAR HOUNDS -- OMNIBUS by David Bischoff, Saul Garnell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David Bischoff, Saul Garnell
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arms.
“Feisty little thing. Jitt, take care of her. She can keep her consciousness as long as she’s good. Post guards. I’ll speak to her when the ships are unloaded.”
“But time is of the essence,” Laura cried, desperation causing her to lose control. “I have to get to that base to get my blip-ship!”
Captain Northern had turned to depart, but he halted in his tracks. “Doctor, did I hear her say blip-ship? Do you mean the XT line, young lady?”
“Hmm,” said the doctor. “That would explain the biomech additions to her nervous and skeletal systems.” Captain Northern clapped his hands, immensely pleased. “Young lady, I will talk to you, then, within the hour!”
T he “brig” turned out to be a spartan cabin, with reinforced bulkheads and door. After searching her for concealed weapons, the robots tossed her in and locked the door. She kicked the small bunk furiously then lay down with a wail that died into a whimper.
So what was she going to do now, she wondered. Everything was in the captain’s hands, and he appeared to be raving mad … or at least a drunk. Why did his crew follow him, take his orders? What kind of power did he have over them?
“What did you say your name was?” a voice asked through a speaker. Laura recognized the soft whiny quality; it was the man the others had called Dansen Jitt.
“Is this part of the vaunted interrogation?” Laura asked contemptuously. Jitt had hung back far behind them as they navigated the corridors and lifts that eventually led to this cold, sterile room, carefully training a stun gun on her. She had pegged him as a coward immediately, what with his nervous eyes, his tremulous mouth. Nonetheless, there was a shy, unique beauty to his face, a grace to his gestures and movements that she found attractive, now that she recalled them.
She took a curious comfort in the sound of his voice. After all, Jitt didn’t seem to particularly relish his duties as guard; he certainly didn’t seem to want her hurt.
Besides, she thought, I shouldn’t be nasty to him. I should pump him for information. Maybe I can get an idea of what the captain has in mind for me—and maybe I can find out how to make some kind of deal with him. He seems awfully interested in the fact that I’m a blip-ship pilot.
“Oh no, no, the captain makes jokes sometimes, strange jokes, and that was one of them. Sometimes, though, he is serious when he seems to be joking, and that puts things quite out of whack.”
“I am Laura Shemzak,” she said in a softer voice. Volume and demands would get her nowhere now. “Your captain … is he mentally deranged?”
Jitt laughed. “Oh, you might think so, and he would love to admit it, if that would throw you off. Let’s just say that the mind of Captain Tars Northern has its demons, and it has its angels … and it most certainly has a clown or two. I shouldn’t be talking to you, but I just can’t imagine why you’d want to get on board this crazy ship. Sometimes I think I’d like to get off!”
“Didn’t you hear what I said out there? I just need a ride. I can pay well, and it’s really very important.”
“Well, you should talk to the captain about that, not me.”
“He seemed strangely unmoved by the loss of one of his crewmembers. She was human, or I couldn’t have knocked her out the way I did,” said Laura, hoping to keep the little man talking. He certainly seemed the talkative type, and she could use all the information she could get.
“Oh yes, Lieutenant Kat Mizel. I don’t suppose that, you being a Feddy, you’d comprehend. But you see, Mizel and Northern had a bit of a bond. Captain Northern got drunk on Rook’s World two months ago and woke up married to Lieutenant Mizel. They have a year’s contract, but Kat had been hounding him about making it longer, about having children, and God knows what else. I think Captain Northern is actually quite relieved that today’s events are going to allow the
“Feisty little thing. Jitt, take care of her. She can keep her consciousness as long as she’s good. Post guards. I’ll speak to her when the ships are unloaded.”
“But time is of the essence,” Laura cried, desperation causing her to lose control. “I have to get to that base to get my blip-ship!”
Captain Northern had turned to depart, but he halted in his tracks. “Doctor, did I hear her say blip-ship? Do you mean the XT line, young lady?”
“Hmm,” said the doctor. “That would explain the biomech additions to her nervous and skeletal systems.” Captain Northern clapped his hands, immensely pleased. “Young lady, I will talk to you, then, within the hour!”
T he “brig” turned out to be a spartan cabin, with reinforced bulkheads and door. After searching her for concealed weapons, the robots tossed her in and locked the door. She kicked the small bunk furiously then lay down with a wail that died into a whimper.
So what was she going to do now, she wondered. Everything was in the captain’s hands, and he appeared to be raving mad … or at least a drunk. Why did his crew follow him, take his orders? What kind of power did he have over them?
“What did you say your name was?” a voice asked through a speaker. Laura recognized the soft whiny quality; it was the man the others had called Dansen Jitt.
“Is this part of the vaunted interrogation?” Laura asked contemptuously. Jitt had hung back far behind them as they navigated the corridors and lifts that eventually led to this cold, sterile room, carefully training a stun gun on her. She had pegged him as a coward immediately, what with his nervous eyes, his tremulous mouth. Nonetheless, there was a shy, unique beauty to his face, a grace to his gestures and movements that she found attractive, now that she recalled them.
She took a curious comfort in the sound of his voice. After all, Jitt didn’t seem to particularly relish his duties as guard; he certainly didn’t seem to want her hurt.
Besides, she thought, I shouldn’t be nasty to him. I should pump him for information. Maybe I can get an idea of what the captain has in mind for me—and maybe I can find out how to make some kind of deal with him. He seems awfully interested in the fact that I’m a blip-ship pilot.
“Oh no, no, the captain makes jokes sometimes, strange jokes, and that was one of them. Sometimes, though, he is serious when he seems to be joking, and that puts things quite out of whack.”
“I am Laura Shemzak,” she said in a softer voice. Volume and demands would get her nowhere now. “Your captain … is he mentally deranged?”
Jitt laughed. “Oh, you might think so, and he would love to admit it, if that would throw you off. Let’s just say that the mind of Captain Tars Northern has its demons, and it has its angels … and it most certainly has a clown or two. I shouldn’t be talking to you, but I just can’t imagine why you’d want to get on board this crazy ship. Sometimes I think I’d like to get off!”
“Didn’t you hear what I said out there? I just need a ride. I can pay well, and it’s really very important.”
“Well, you should talk to the captain about that, not me.”
“He seemed strangely unmoved by the loss of one of his crewmembers. She was human, or I couldn’t have knocked her out the way I did,” said Laura, hoping to keep the little man talking. He certainly seemed the talkative type, and she could use all the information she could get.
“Oh yes, Lieutenant Kat Mizel. I don’t suppose that, you being a Feddy, you’d comprehend. But you see, Mizel and Northern had a bit of a bond. Captain Northern got drunk on Rook’s World two months ago and woke up married to Lieutenant Mizel. They have a year’s contract, but Kat had been hounding him about making it longer, about having children, and God knows what else. I think Captain Northern is actually quite relieved that today’s events are going to allow the
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