Phule's Company [3] A Phule and His Money by Robert Asprin; Peter J. Heck

Author:Robert Asprin; Peter J. Heck
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction - Science Fiction, Phule's Company (Fictitious characters), Action & Adventure, Science fiction, Fantasy fiction, Space Opera, Robots, General, Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Fantasy, Suspense, Life on other planets, American, Fiction
ISBN: 9780441006588
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1999-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

"That pair!" said Phule. "I should have known they'd find some kind of trouble to get into at the last minute. "

"They aren't out on business?" said Rembrandt, frowning. "What if they miss the ship-out?"

Phule shook his head disapprovingly. "They might be able to get on something fast enough to catch up with us at the transfer station at Bellevue, but it'll cost them a bundle. "

"And even then they might get caught in a hyperspace loop and get to the transfer point a year late-or early, " said Rembrandt. "Serve them right to pay a years' room and board while they wait for us to show up. " Phule chuckled. "Well, if they do miss the shuttle, whatever it costs to get them back to the company is coming out of their pockets. Sushi's dangerously bright, but I don't think he's figured out all the ramifications of `time is money' yet. "

"This may teach him, " said Rembrandt, laughing. Then her face turned serious. "What if they're in real trouble?"

"Anything those two can't talk their way out of isn't going to get fixed in a few minutes. I can spare a little more than that, but not much. We'll lift at. . .

"-he looked at his watch-"22:15, whether they're aboard or not. I'm going to go give the orders. And Rembrandt. . . ?"

"Sir?"

Phule looked her in the eye. "Don't you get caught behind, waiting till the last second for them to show up. "

"I won't, sir, " she said, and turned back to her seat by the door. She might as well finish reading that Chapter.

"Are you being followed?" said Sushi. He spoke without turning his head, and he'd turned up the volume so the microphone would pick up normal-volume speech at full arm's length. No sense in letting any watchers realize he was using the communicator. He'd have to abandon that trick if he got close enough for anyone to overhear him speaking, but that wasn't a problem yet.

"Can't tell, " came Do-Wop's muffled voice through the speaker. "People around-can't talk much. "

"OK, hurry-and keep your eyes open, " said Sushi. Several blocks back, he and his partner had thought they spotted someone tailing them. It could have been a coincidence, or the security guard back at the casino might have gotten suspicious. They split up-as two legitimate workers would have done. Neither Sushi nor Do-Wop was a novice at eluding pursuit. And if one of them were caught-well, that was better than both.

At the next street corner was an open convenience store. A pair of shabbily dressed men stood on the corner outside the store. Casino strandees, thought Sushi-Lorelei had a "proof of work" requirement for residence, which meant that fired casino workers either got another job right away, or were shipped out. Strandees were more common. Usually they were luckless gamblers who'd hocked the ticket home to finance one more try to beat the house. They could survive for a while by scrounging and hitting an occasional small payoff.

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