Retief: Diplomat at Arms by Keith Laumer

Author:Keith Laumer [Laumer, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

When the music stopped, Retief rejoined Chip, who put down his mug and sighed. “Derned if I ever felt right at home so quick before.” He lowered his voice. “They’s some kind o’ trouble in the air, though. Some o’ the remarks they passed sounds like they’re lookin’ to have some trouble with the Sweaties. Don’t seem to worry ’em none, though.”

“Chip,” Retief said, “how much do these people know about the Soetti?”

“Dunno. We useta touch down here regler, but I always jist set in my galley and worked on ship models or somethin’. I hear the Sweaties been nosin’ around here some, though.”

Two girls came up to Chip. “I gotta go now, mister,” he said. “These gals got a idea I oughta take a hand in the kitchen.”

“Smart girls,” Retief said. He turned as Freya came up.

“Bo Bergman and Thor aren’t back yet,” she said. “They stayed to ski after moonrise.”

“That moon is something. Almost like daylight.”

“They will come soon, now. Shall we go to see the moonlight on the snow?”

Outside, long black shadows fell like ink in silver. The top of the cloud layer below glared white under the immense moon.

“Our sister world, Göta,” Freya said. “Nearly as big as Svea. I would like to visit it someday, although they say it’s all stone and ice.”

“Freya,” Retief said, “how many people live on Jorgensen’s Worlds?”

“About fifteen million, most of us here on Svea. There are mining camps and ice-fisheries on Göta. No one lives on Vasa or Skone, but there are always a few ice-wolf hunters there.”

“Have you ever fought a war?”

Freya turned to look at Retief. “Don’t be afraid for us, Retief. The Soetti will attack our worlds, and we will fight them. We have fought before. These planets were not friendly ones . . .”

“I thought the Soetti attack would be a surprise to you,” Retief said. “Have you made any preparation for it?”

“We have ten thousand merchant ships. When the enemy comes, we will meet them.”

Retief frowned. “Are there any guns on this planet? Any missiles?”

Freya shook her head. “We have a plan of deployment—”

“Deployment hell! Against a modern assault force you need modern armament.”

“Look!” Freya touched Retief’s arm. “They’re coming now.”

Two tall grizzled men came up the slope, skis over their shoulders. Freya went forward to meet them, Retief at her side.

The two came up, embraced the girl, shook hands with Retief.

“He has come to help us,” Freya said.

“Welcome to Svea,” Thor said. “Let’s find a warm corner where we can talk.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.