(eng) Mike Resnick - Oracle Trilogy 01 by Soothsayer

Author:Soothsayer [Soothsayer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

17.

King Tout's ship was still docked at the Starboat when the communications system was activated.

“Request permission to come aboard,” said the Iceman's dispassionate voice.

“You?” said King Tout, surprised. “You came this far—after them?”

“That's right,” said the Iceman.

“Go away,” said King Tout into his speaker. “I don't even have them any more.”

“Demand permission to come aboard.”

“Permission denied.”

There was a ten-minute silence. Then the Iceman's voice echoed through the ship again.

“I've just placed a small explosive device in one of your ship's exhaust vents. I'm holding the triggering mechanism in my hand. Now, one way or another, I'm coming onto that ship. Whether anyone's alive when I get there is a matter of complete indifference to me.”

“I don't believe you,” said King Tout.

“That's your privilege. You've got 30 seconds to open your hatch.”

The gambler took 23 seconds, then reluctantly ordered his ship's computer to open the hatch, and a moment later the Iceman and the Forever Kid stepped into the small ship.

The interior had been modified so that there were no walls between the cockpit, the galley, and one of the cabins, and the Iceman found himself facing King Tout in an area perhaps fifteen feet on a side. September Morn, no longer in her special protective suit, sat nude in a narrow vat of tinted liquid and stared at them through alien eyes. The Golden Duke, a laser pistol at his side, paid no attention to the Iceman at all, but stared, tense and unblinking, at the Forever Kid.

“Is there a bomb?” asked King Tout.

“Quite possibly,” said the Iceman.

“That's hardly a definitive answer,” said the gambler wryly.

“You noticed.”

King Tout shrugged. “It makes no difference anyway. The people you want are gone.”

“The people I want are right here,” said the Iceman.

The gambler shook his head. “They're gone,” he repeated. “That little girl made fools of us.”

“How?”

“Have you ever heard of the Yankee Clipper?”

“No.”

“He calls himself a trader, but he's nothing but a pirate. He's got a quite a fleet, and he works the area around the Quinellus Cluster. No cargo comes or goes that he doesn't get a piece of, no ship of any kind moves in or out unless they pay a tribute. He's the worst kind of thief.”

“The worst kind of thief steals people, not money,” said the Iceman.

“I resent that remark!”

“Resent it all you like,” said the Iceman. “Now, what about the Yankee Clipper?”

“He was on the Starboat tonight, at the roulette wheel. Somehow, and I still don't know how, the Bailey girl got him to take her away with him. I didn't even know it until after they were gone.”

“And the Mouse?” said the Iceman. “Where is she?”

“They took her, too,” said King Tout. “That's when I found out—when the Duke told me she was gone.”

The Forever Kid looked amused. “You let them steal the Mouse from you?”

“There were 40 of them,” growled the Golden Duke defensively. “What would you have done?”

“Stopped them,” said the Kid.

“I don't blame my associate,” continued King Tout. “It was the child's doing.

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