Driftmetal II by J.C. Staudt

Author:J.C. Staudt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: steampunk, pirates, robots, androids, heist, cyborgs, airship, antihero, blimps, dirigibles
Publisher: J.C. Staudt

7

I stared at Sal for a long time. He was a man I had trusted—that is, I’d trusted him as far as I could’ve thrown a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound tithead with a crooked sense of loyalty. On second thought, I hadn’t trusted him so much as I’d found my uses for him. But he had never let me down. Not in the old days. And he’d been living this double life of his for a long time. Long enough that I wanted him to keep on living it, in case there was ever anything else I needed him for.

“She made all those threats because you wanted to go back to your mundane life of law-loving and bootlickin’?” I said. “The nerve…”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that sounds a little over the top,” Sal said.

“I’m not agreeing with you. I meant the nerve of you! How could you even entertain the idea of puckering up for the cheeks of justice?”

“I wasn’t always this way, you know. When I joined the Corps, I was a fresh, level-headed young lad with high hopes and big dreams.”

“Mutton-headed is more like it. You were suffering from a lifelong bout of insanity that only a good dose of hustling could cure. Once you heard the siren song of the criminal underworld, you came to your senses. I’m glad I never knew you before then, or we would never have become friends. I’d have karate-chopped you in the throat the second I saw you.”

Sal was in no mood to be teased. “I want out, Mull. You don’t know what it’s like, having to wake up and face your children every day, posing as this honorable man when you’re really a miserable degenerate.”

“I enjoy being a miserable degenerate. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”

“Don’t make light of this. I’m trying to make you understand where I’m coming from, but you can’t seem to. The pressure is just too much. It’s not worth it anymore.”

He was right—I couldn’t understand him. So I made my best attempt to raise his spirits. “Cheer up, Sal. This is just a phase. You’ll get through it, and you’ll realize it was worth the struggle.”

“I won’t. It’s true what they say; crime doesn’t pay.”

“Whoever said crime doesn’t pay wasn’t any good at it,” I said.

“There isn’t much that does pay unless you’re good at it.”

I thumbed over my shoulder. “Half your co-workers are evidence against that.”

Sal frowned. “In this case, I hope you’re right; maybe they missed something when they were searching the boat. Something you’d be able to find if you snuck over there and gave it a good look yourself.”

“I can only hope your cohorts are as inept as I’ve given them credit for. I’m willing to bet Sable and Dennel didn’t have a chance to hide all that gravstone before the Civs swarmed in. If I make it to the Galeskimmer, I’m shoving off. This might be my only chance to get her airborne again without a whole mess of law-lovers on board.

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