million Far London pounds. If you want to call it off, that’s fine with us. Just pay us off and we’ll leave.”
“And leave us to bear the brunt of their reprisals?” demanded the president. “Never!”
“Then go do whatever you were doing, and let us do our job,” said Cole, breaking the connection.
He didn’t know how soon Khan’s men would arrive, and he hadn’t eaten all day, so he went to the executive restaurant on the building’s top floor, where he found Val, Bull Pampas, and Luthor Chadwick seated at a table and joined them.
“Where’s Jack-in-the-Box and Domak?” he asked.
“Domak’s still at the hospital,” said Val. “The police are there, of course, but she doesn’t trust them to stand their ground if there’s an attack. Personally, I’d rather be protected by one warrior-caste Polonoi than a dozen human cops. The last time I checked, Jaxtaboxl was off trying to find some Mollutei food, but it’s been half an hour now; he should be back any second.”
“Have we got any medical reports on the three survivors?”
“I stopped by the hospital on the way here,” said Pampas. “The woman’s going to lose her hand; Sharon Blacksmith told me to have them bill the Apollo Cartel for her prosthetic hand and for the two men’s treatment. Colonel Blacksmith also told Lieutenant Domak to have the hospital keep them sedated until we told them otherwise.”
“Good idea,” agreed Cole. “I should have thought of it myself.”
“Have you got any idea what we’re expecting, sir?” asked Chadwick.
“Not really,” said Cole. “But it’s got to be something a few levels of magnitude more powerful than the last group. Khan still has no idea who we are or how powerful we are, so he’s not going to increase the size of his force gradually. If we can kill or capture one man and four men, probably we can kill or capture six or ten or a dozen, and he’s got to have a limited number of men to spare, so I imagine this time we’ll see something a lot more impressive.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Sharon’s image appeared above the table.
“I hate to disturb the Captain when he’s busy telling dirty jokes,” she announced, “but you’ve got company.”
“How big?”
“Eight laser and pulse cannons, crew of twenty-seven that we’ve been able to pick up with our sensors so far.”
Her image vanished, to be replaced by a ship only a bit smaller than the Teddy R , displaying no insignia. Even as it appeared, its bay opened and disgorged a shuttle, capable of holding fifteen armed men, which promptly headed down toward Bannister II.
“Well, Val,” said Cole, getting to his feet, “there’s your ship. Let’s get ready to take it.”
12
Cole watched the shuttle as it touched down at the nearby spaceport. Ten Men, three Lodinites, and two Mollutei emerged from it, all heavily armed. They approached the Apollo Building, then fanned out. Only two men actually entered.
“They’re getting smarter,” remarked Cole to Val, Pampas, Chadwick, and Jack-in-the-Box. “They’ve already figured out that their previous parties made it this far and none of them came back, so they’re not all going to walk into the same trap.”
“You want us to keep out of sight at the start, like the last two times?” asked Val.
Cole shook his head. “Don’t bother. They have to know I’m not alone. We’ll handle the ones who come in here, and I’ve asked the police to help us round up the rest of them. They won’t have any idea what’s happened up here or how many of us there are, which should certainly put them at a disadvantage.”
“Weapons out or in?” asked Pampas.
“If you’re holding weapons in your hands, it’ll just encourage them to do the same,” said Cole. “And if that happens, someone’s going to start shooting.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Pampas. “We’ll win, sir.”
“I don’t doubt it,” said Cole. “But they
“And leave us to bear the brunt of their reprisals?” demanded the president. “Never!”
“Then go do whatever you were doing, and let us do our job,” said Cole, breaking the connection.
He didn’t know how soon Khan’s men would arrive, and he hadn’t eaten all day, so he went to the executive restaurant on the building’s top floor, where he found Val, Bull Pampas, and Luthor Chadwick seated at a table and joined them.
“Where’s Jack-in-the-Box and Domak?” he asked.
“Domak’s still at the hospital,” said Val. “The police are there, of course, but she doesn’t trust them to stand their ground if there’s an attack. Personally, I’d rather be protected by one warrior-caste Polonoi than a dozen human cops. The last time I checked, Jaxtaboxl was off trying to find some Mollutei food, but it’s been half an hour now; he should be back any second.”
“Have we got any medical reports on the three survivors?”
“I stopped by the hospital on the way here,” said Pampas. “The woman’s going to lose her hand; Sharon Blacksmith told me to have them bill the Apollo Cartel for her prosthetic hand and for the two men’s treatment. Colonel Blacksmith also told Lieutenant Domak to have the hospital keep them sedated until we told them otherwise.”
“Good idea,” agreed Cole. “I should have thought of it myself.”
“Have you got any idea what we’re expecting, sir?” asked Chadwick.
“Not really,” said Cole. “But it’s got to be something a few levels of magnitude more powerful than the last group. Khan still has no idea who we are or how powerful we are, so he’s not going to increase the size of his force gradually. If we can kill or capture one man and four men, probably we can kill or capture six or ten or a dozen, and he’s got to have a limited number of men to spare, so I imagine this time we’ll see something a lot more impressive.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Sharon’s image appeared above the table.
“I hate to disturb the Captain when he’s busy telling dirty jokes,” she announced, “but you’ve got company.”
“How big?”
“Eight laser and pulse cannons, crew of twenty-seven that we’ve been able to pick up with our sensors so far.”
Her image vanished, to be replaced by a ship only a bit smaller than the Teddy R , displaying no insignia. Even as it appeared, its bay opened and disgorged a shuttle, capable of holding fifteen armed men, which promptly headed down toward Bannister II.
“Well, Val,” said Cole, getting to his feet, “there’s your ship. Let’s get ready to take it.”
12
Cole watched the shuttle as it touched down at the nearby spaceport. Ten Men, three Lodinites, and two Mollutei emerged from it, all heavily armed. They approached the Apollo Building, then fanned out. Only two men actually entered.
“They’re getting smarter,” remarked Cole to Val, Pampas, Chadwick, and Jack-in-the-Box. “They’ve already figured out that their previous parties made it this far and none of them came back, so they’re not all going to walk into the same trap.”
“You want us to keep out of sight at the start, like the last two times?” asked Val.
Cole shook his head. “Don’t bother. They have to know I’m not alone. We’ll handle the ones who come in here, and I’ve asked the police to help us round up the rest of them. They won’t have any idea what’s happened up here or how many of us there are, which should certainly put them at a disadvantage.”
“Weapons out or in?” asked Pampas.
“If you’re holding weapons in your hands, it’ll just encourage them to do the same,” said Cole. “And if that happens, someone’s going to start shooting.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Pampas. “We’ll win, sir.”
“I don’t doubt it,” said Cole. “But they
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