Wildeblood's Empire: Daedalus Mission, Book Three (The Daedalus Mission) by Stableford Brian

Author:Stableford, Brian [Stableford, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Space Opera, sci-fi, space travel, arthur c. clarke
ISBN: 9781434449672
Publisher: Wildside Press
Published: 2012-01-24T13:00:00+00:00

I didn’t pass comment. It didn’t seem necessary.

“I find it difficult to understand,” put in Nathan, “how this happened in the first place. You have us under surveillance twenty-four hours a day, and seem to be sparing no effort in making sure that we’re never alone. What good is all that if a thing like this can happen?”

In all probability, they were wondering the same thing themselves.

“You must understand,” said Philip, smoothly, “that this kind of incident is not usual. There are thieves on the island, of course, but they do not make a habit of attacking people on the roads in so brutal a fashion. It has never happened in that particular wood, so close to the house.”

He stroked his lip thoughtfully. He wasn’t a big man—no more than five seven. His head was rounded and the roundness was accentuated by the fact that he kept his hair cropped very short. If he’d had a little less spare flesh he might have been handsome. As it was, his little gestures looked slightly absurd. They didn’t do anything for his image at all.

“Perhaps it was our presence here that drew them,” I suggested. “It’s possible they were under the impression that I would be carrying things which would be very valuable here.”

“Yes,” said Philip, pensively. “That may be so.”

Somehow, I didn’t like to see him so thoughtful. Maybe it was just part of the image. Maybe he was suspicious. Or maybe he was thinking that a precedent had been set.

I returned my attention to Nathan and Zarnecki. They were standing a long way apart, not looking at one another. But they weren’t being too obvious about it. The duel, for the time being, was shelved. Zarnecki met my eye, and I didn’t like the expression on his face. I couldn’t evaluate it, but I knew it wasn’t friendly. He had taken a dislike to me...maybe for no better reason than the fact that I didn’t play the formal little games which were so de rigueur here, and didn’t even try. Perhaps it was more the fact that I didn’t even care.

There was a further formal exchange of meaningless phrases, and then Philip and Zarnecki—apparently satisfied that there was nothing further to be done—left us alone.

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