Hard Luck Hank 04 - Suck My Cosmos by Steven Campbell

Author:Steven Campbell [Campbell, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2015-06-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 35

I was lying down in an empty jail cell.

Five Central Officers, armed with all kinds of scary weapons I couldn’t identify, held me cover even though my wretched physical condition made that unnecessary.

A tax examiner read off his findings. I drifted in and out of consciousness. Not so much because I was injured, but because I was so bored.

“…confiscation of household items in main dwelling, furniture, carpet—”

“You took my carpet?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Everyone seemed to like that carpet, but I never did. If it helped pay my tax bill, I didn’t care.

“Jewelry prosthetics…” he continued.

I felt my mouth. They had taken my bottom tooth! That was kind of insulting.

“Evaluation of Trade District property recovered no significant assets for liquidation,” he said.

Hmm. They found nothing at the soup restaurant, which told me they hadn’t found the lab.

“Freezing of funds has begun according to the appropriate Ank regulations.”

It annoyed me that the Ank race, a kind of spindly, faceless species, had remained as the bankers of the galaxy even though they had tried to undertake a major financial coup tantamount to removing everyone’s freewill.

But when all the Ank converged on Belvaille it had been determined that only a portion knew the extent of the plan and the rest were free to continue being the galaxy’s financiers. They weren’t allowed on Belvaille, but I took that more as racial snobbery than any kind of retribution for their sins.

They operated in the Trade Sector and lived on giant banking ships.

“Siphoning of accounts and transference of ownership will continue.”

“I have a bank account?” I asked, surprised.

“You had five, of course,” he said it as if I was some master financial criminal.

“Did I have a lot of money?”

“Not enough to pay your taxes. We may have to auction your Hank Block building.”

“No!”

That was my last hold on Belvaille. If they got rid of that, I wouldn’t be able to support myself here. I’d end up floating out in the Sectors somewhere doing odd jobs again.

“The fees are non-negotiable,” he said in a dead voice.

“How can I owe more than what all my possessions are worth? It was just one extra building.”

He looked at me for the first time.

“You own two buildings on Belvaille. Buildings! There are nobles who manage the trade routes between a dozen solar systems who can’t even afford a condominium here. I am the Comptroller General of the Central Authority. I share a bunk bed with the Deputy Comptroller and we split an apartment with the Chief of Human Resources. I eat every meal in the company cafeteria and all my clothes are provided by the C.A. You will forgive me if I don’t have much compassion for your situation.”

They used a make-shift stretcher to drag me to a larger holding cell. It took eight guys and wasn’t a smooth ride.

There were four other people in the cell. Most wore heraldry, but I was in too much pain to make small talk and find out what landed them in C.A. lockup. They probably stole from their employers.

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