Star Risk - 01 Star Risk, Ltd by Chris Bunch

Author:Chris Bunch [Bunch, Chris]
Format: epub
Publisher: Chris Bunch
Published: 2010-03-23T15:09:08.898000+00:00

He should have ditched the rig and walked back to his hotel, but Goodnight liked to see the results of his craftsmanship.

They came in half an hour.

He'd gotten a pair of stabilized binocs from the glove box, and was patiently watching the business district.

The building he'd left bucked, and flames seared out. The blast wave reached him less than a minute later.

Chas Goodnight reached over his shoulder, and patted himself on the back.

Certainly nobody else was there to do it. So now it was time to turn his transponder back on.

"Hell of a way you take to prove yourself," Hal Maffer complained.

Goodnight shrugged.

"Goddamned Alliance'll probably have a dozen investigators sniffing around, which isn't good for business."

"Life's rough all around," Goodnight said, unworried. He had never been impressed with the Alliance's gumshoes. "So what'd the client say?"

"First was 'Holy friggin' shit,' " Maffer said. "Then he said that all besters are crazy, but there's never been one crazy enough to blow up one of his own offices.

"He's convinced all over the place that you're genuine.

"Man, that office must've had all the records on every Alliance troopie that's come through in the past ten years looking for free-lance work."

"And I don't notice any of them offering to buy me a beer," Goodnight said.

"You think anybody's talking about what happened?" Maffer said. "I sure as hell ain't."

"You're a good little clam," Goodnight said.

"Yeah," Maffer said. "Now, here's the address for the guy who's hiring for the Foley System. Get over to him by yesterday.

"He'll have you out of the system in a day or so, which is none too soon for me.

"You could get in trouble, hanging around with you, Atherton."

"I never have," Goodnight said gravely. "Always found me the best of company, too."

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TWENTY-SEVEN � ^ � Ah," Grok said in satisfaction. "He is on the move." He looked at one of the screens on Patrol Six. "Moving our way, which would suggest that he's passed his testing, has been hired, and is now headed offworld."

"Do you want me to turn off the transponder?" his pilot asked.

"No," Grok said. "When he hits the port, and we track him to a ship, and you put a tracer on it, yes.

"Murgatroyd is just professional, and suspicious, enough to sweep their new hires."

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TWENTY-EIGHT � ^ � There were only seven "recruits" on the ship, a small, obsolete Alliance destroyer escort converted to a fast transport. Goodnight was familiar with the type, since it was frequently used to insert and extract covert operators.

It would have about a fifteen-man crew, maybe twelve if it was skeletonized. Twelve people to carry seven around, Goodnight thought. That wouldn't be profitable from the perspective of someone running a typical crooked operation. Murgatroyd must be thinking like someone who's already very rich. Or someone who's got government experience. Which was one of the questions Star Risk had, and one of the reasons he was here, playing mercenary rogue.

Of the other six men and women who'd joined on Seth V, Goodnight classified one

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