Kenneth Bulmer by The Electric Sword Swallowers

Author:The Electric Sword Swallowers
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-08-27T12:39:41+00:00

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MEETINGS IN SPACE AND AT THE AQUASPHERE POOL

The people at the meeting surprised Ferdie Foxlee.

Herlihey had taken him out to the spaceport in a hired cab and they'd gone at once aboard a small anonymous spacetender. As they entered the lounge the little ship leaped from Kilsona spaceport and went into a middle period orbit about the planet.

"No one is going to spy on us up here," said Doc Ruygens. Sandra and Aleta nodded with satisfaction.

Foxlee saw McMahon there, and Szankiren, and a half-dozen other men whose hard, professional, man-of-the-galaxy faces gave notice that they were here on business.

Ferdie Foxlee felt confused. All these people—all involved in a plot against old Nap and his toy-soldier empire? Somehow, when he contrasted Szenkiren and Ruygens, it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense to compare Aleta with the overpainted women who accompanied the galactic men of business.

But as he listened he found himself forced to an understanding that these people all desired one thing in common: they all wanted the power that possession of the wealthy planet of Knorvarday would bring.

Oh, he had to admit that they wanted that power for different reasons.

McMahon, now, was simply jealous of the prosperity of Varday by comparison with his own planet of Vellen. The businessmen wanted to open up the planet, to bring in their trades and professions, to make money from investments and industry. And Ruygens, now, he wanted to make his eepees useful to the community at large. All these desires seemed to Foxlee simple, naive, not worthy of discussion and, yet, he could not deny their importance—with the exception of McMahon, whom he decided he would not deal with if he could avoid it.

McMahon favored Herlihey and Foxlee with a prune-wrinkling glance. "You had a fair game with my ship. If I'd caught you that day you wouldn't be here now. Still, as it's turned out the way it has, I'll overlook that You two can be useful to us."

Foxlee stopped Herlihey from making a tart retort.

Sandra, holding Herlihey's arm, pulled him across to the bar. The ship went onto automatics. The air of business sharpened. The man with the mahogany-hued face, with the strong chin and resdess hands, with the stamp of absolute authority about his person, addressed them. He was called the Lerhd Ravrados and the others obviously acquiesced in his appointment as their leader. He wore black, an updated version of what Foxlee recognized to be a Spanish Grandee's costume. It suited his dark strength.

"Our plans are going well. I welcome the new members with us today. Soon all Knorvarday will be ours. The Knor system will soon follow. The weak central government on Vavlang will be unable to stop us."

"Them," huffed McMahon is his stone voice. "I'd like to string up every one of 'em." His prune wrinkles shifted. "They fined me a cool million over that contest I ran—and the sobnik of an eepee lost, too!" He glared at his eepee master. Szankiren glanced indifferently at the bulkhead.

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