intercom bonged gently over his head.
"Yeah?"
"How're you feeling?" The voice belonged to Cap. A day late and a credit short as always, but very solicitous.
Especially after informing Cy and Lando that he'd used their salaries to buy coordinates for what might, or might not, be the Star of Empire, based on a fuzzy photo obtained from a woman in a bar.
It was pure Cap, or crap, depending how you viewed it, and Lando was pissed. But in his present condition the pilot was too beat-up to do more than grit his teeth and go along. "I feel even worse than I look."
"Sorry to hear that," Cap replied, doing his very best to sound sincere.
"Would you know anything about a dead body? We just got a com call from some naval lieutenant. A guy called Itek. He's looking for an Imperial Courier. A man named Nugleo. According to the lieutenant this Nugleo guy turned up missing three or four weeks ago, and for reasons that aren't clear could be orbiting Pylax in a space suit.
"I told him no, we didn't know anything about it, but Mel says you found a body. True?"
All sorts of thoughts raced through Lando's mind. The bounty on his head, the dead body wired to the inside of the trap, and the gold-filled satchel.
Great Sol! The gold! Where was it? Still connected to his suit? Lando hobbled toward the door. "This lieutenant⦠where is he?"
"On his way up from Pylax," Cap answered curiously. "Why? Is that a problem?"
"It might be," Lando answered tightly. "Meet me at the tender."
Fifteen minutes later Lando opened the tender's lock while Cap looked on. The older man wanted to ask a lot of questions but something about the expression on Lando's face kept him from doing so.
The space suit was right where he'd left it, and yes, the satchel was still in place.
Lando unsnapped the satchel and its sudden weight jerked his hand toward the deck. Wincing at the effort, Lando carried the bag to the outer hatch and dropped it into Cap's waiting arms.
Cap staggered, recovered, and did a double take when he saw the Imperial crest that was woven into the satchel's fabric. "What the⦠?"
"Take a look inside," Lando answered impassively. "I think you'll find the contents rather interesting."
Cap fumbled the satchel open and looked inside. Lando smiled at the look of pure unadulterated avarice that came over the other man's face. "That's right⦠gold. Enough gold to keep all of us happy for the next year or so."
Cap looked up. "The courier? You didn'tâ¦"
"Don't be silly," Lando replied scornfully. "The courier had been missing for weeks, remember? No, I didn't kill him, I found him, that's all. He was drifting around Pylax with all the other junk. And that means the gold is ours, right?"
Cap frowned and hefted the satchel with his right hand. "I don't know, Lando . . , our contract gives us salvage rights to whatever we find⦠that's true enough. But Imperial gold? Chances are it's covered in the"fine print."
Lando swore softly as he climbed down and rubbed the back of his neck. Like the rest of his body it hurt. Cap was probably right. It was just like his father had always said: "Governments are all the same, son, they take most of what you make and spend it on themselves."
Lando cleared his throat. "That being the case⦠maybe we should forget the gold. You know, stash it somewhere. After all, somebody killed the courier, that's clear, and your lieutenant will assume they took the gold."
Cap forced his eyes up and away from the gold. "Killed? Why do you say that?"
"Somebody drilled him with an energy weapon," Lando replied patiently. "He was wearing one of those top-end self-sealing suits, but the bolt went clear through, and that made him extremely dead."
The intercom bonged over their heads. The voice belonged to Cy. "Cap, a navy shuttle just came alongside, and a Lieutenant Itek requests permission to come aboard."
There was a long moment of silence during which nothing was said but the two men continued to look
"Yeah?"
"How're you feeling?" The voice belonged to Cap. A day late and a credit short as always, but very solicitous.
Especially after informing Cy and Lando that he'd used their salaries to buy coordinates for what might, or might not, be the Star of Empire, based on a fuzzy photo obtained from a woman in a bar.
It was pure Cap, or crap, depending how you viewed it, and Lando was pissed. But in his present condition the pilot was too beat-up to do more than grit his teeth and go along. "I feel even worse than I look."
"Sorry to hear that," Cap replied, doing his very best to sound sincere.
"Would you know anything about a dead body? We just got a com call from some naval lieutenant. A guy called Itek. He's looking for an Imperial Courier. A man named Nugleo. According to the lieutenant this Nugleo guy turned up missing three or four weeks ago, and for reasons that aren't clear could be orbiting Pylax in a space suit.
"I told him no, we didn't know anything about it, but Mel says you found a body. True?"
All sorts of thoughts raced through Lando's mind. The bounty on his head, the dead body wired to the inside of the trap, and the gold-filled satchel.
Great Sol! The gold! Where was it? Still connected to his suit? Lando hobbled toward the door. "This lieutenant⦠where is he?"
"On his way up from Pylax," Cap answered curiously. "Why? Is that a problem?"
"It might be," Lando answered tightly. "Meet me at the tender."
Fifteen minutes later Lando opened the tender's lock while Cap looked on. The older man wanted to ask a lot of questions but something about the expression on Lando's face kept him from doing so.
The space suit was right where he'd left it, and yes, the satchel was still in place.
Lando unsnapped the satchel and its sudden weight jerked his hand toward the deck. Wincing at the effort, Lando carried the bag to the outer hatch and dropped it into Cap's waiting arms.
Cap staggered, recovered, and did a double take when he saw the Imperial crest that was woven into the satchel's fabric. "What the⦠?"
"Take a look inside," Lando answered impassively. "I think you'll find the contents rather interesting."
Cap fumbled the satchel open and looked inside. Lando smiled at the look of pure unadulterated avarice that came over the other man's face. "That's right⦠gold. Enough gold to keep all of us happy for the next year or so."
Cap looked up. "The courier? You didn'tâ¦"
"Don't be silly," Lando replied scornfully. "The courier had been missing for weeks, remember? No, I didn't kill him, I found him, that's all. He was drifting around Pylax with all the other junk. And that means the gold is ours, right?"
Cap frowned and hefted the satchel with his right hand. "I don't know, Lando . . , our contract gives us salvage rights to whatever we find⦠that's true enough. But Imperial gold? Chances are it's covered in the"fine print."
Lando swore softly as he climbed down and rubbed the back of his neck. Like the rest of his body it hurt. Cap was probably right. It was just like his father had always said: "Governments are all the same, son, they take most of what you make and spend it on themselves."
Lando cleared his throat. "That being the case⦠maybe we should forget the gold. You know, stash it somewhere. After all, somebody killed the courier, that's clear, and your lieutenant will assume they took the gold."
Cap forced his eyes up and away from the gold. "Killed? Why do you say that?"
"Somebody drilled him with an energy weapon," Lando replied patiently. "He was wearing one of those top-end self-sealing suits, but the bolt went clear through, and that made him extremely dead."
The intercom bonged over their heads. The voice belonged to Cy. "Cap, a navy shuttle just came alongside, and a Lieutenant Itek requests permission to come aboard."
There was a long moment of silence during which nothing was said but the two men continued to look
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