Starship - 04 - Rebel by Mike Resnick

Author:Mike Resnick
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Pyr
Published: 2011-05-28T07:49:09+00:00

"So what was the kid doing with all those passports and IDs?" asked Cole.

He and the Octopus were sitting in the Duke's private office. Val stood just outside the door to make sure no one interrupted them, and if anyone had been considering it, the look on her face instantly dissuaded them.

"He was on a mission for me," said the Octopus, puffing on a smokeless cigar. "As good as those forgeries were, someone saw through one on Freeport. He'd never have made it if you hadn't intervened."

"We were happy to be able to take out a couple of the Navy's ships," said Cole. "The fact that we also saved your son was just an added bonus." He paused. "He sure as hell doesn't look like any kin of yours."

"The hands," said the Octopus, indicating the six hands growing out of his sides. "Obviously they don't breed on. I suppose that makes me a freak rather than a mutation." He shrugged. "Just as well for the boy. I put up with a lot of shit about these hands while I was growing up."

"What's his name?" asked Cole. "I can't keep on calling him 'the kid' forever."

"Jonah."

"That's not a name you hear very often."

"Well, since I'm the Octopus, it had to be a seafaring name. I toyed with Ahab, but he lost his battle with the whale. I figure Jonah faught his whale to a draw, which is fitting and proper. I want a son as powerful and competent as I am, but I acknowledge no one as my superior, not even my own flesh and blood."

"I thought you were taking orders from me," said Cole.

"That is my own choice. If you had insisted, you'd have another war on your hands."

"Good thing you volunteered, then," said Cole, sipping the drink he'd brought with him.

"It'll be a good fit," replied the Octopus. "You know the Navy and its machinations better than I do, and I know killing and slaughtering at least as well as you do."

"We're not in the killing and slaughtering business," said Cole, "at least not in the long run. We just want to convince the Navy that it's less expensive in terms of lives and vessels to stay out of the Frontier."

"Well, it'll be fun while it lasts."

"You sound like you think it's going to be over relatively soon," noted Cole.

"Probably."

"I don't anticipate an easy victory, not against the Navy."

" Neither do I," said the Octopus. "I figure we'll pick them off one and two at a time until we've got them really annoyed, and then one morning the sky is going to be black with Navy ships."

Cole shook his head. "Not while they're fighting against the Teroni Federation."

"Maybe they'll decide that five thousand ships can take a day or two off from the war."

"They won't," said Cole. "But even if they do, we know the Inner Frontier better than they do. We can lead them a merry chase for a month if we have to. And if they split up, we can also lead them into some pretty deadly traps.

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