Alien Earth Read Online Free PDF

sequels to Dumas’s Three Musketeers , for— He forced himself to stop thinking about everything that had been lost long years before he was born. Instead he cleared the litter from a hasty meal off his workspace, putting the packaging down the recycler and the tray itself through the cleanser.
    That done, he seated himself and accessed the communications board from his terminal. He opened a private communications channel on the hobby band usually frequented only by adolescents and oldsters, and increased his security by coding it in for keyboard only. Only the most basic licensees operated here. If the Conservancy went looking for secrets, this would be the last place they’d check. He two-fingered out a message to Ginger and waited. Interminably. This had to be the slowest method of communications ever devised. The waiting was the most annoying part. But this was the only way she’d communicate with him. The “she” was an assumption on his part. He’d never met Ginger, and considering how long he’d been doing business with her, there was a distinct possibility she wasn’t even a single individual. He’d probably never know. She was so security conscious, she bordered on the paranoid. As he watched his unanswered message flashing on the screen, it dawned on him that perhaps that was why he dealt almost exclusively with her these days. One contact meant only one person could give him up to the Conservancy.
    “Acknowledged.” It came onto the screen at last. Ginger used no signature at all.
    “Available?” he tapped in.
    Seventeen titles and authors came up on the screen. John frowned at the paucity of the selections. He knew they represented only a fraction of the works the Conservancy had decided to delete from the public information banks since he was last in port. If this was all Ginger had managed to salvage, she was either getting lazy or the Conservancy was getting more alert to the pirate salvage trade. As he scanned the prices beside her entries, his heart nearly stopped.
    “Gouger,” he muttered. His frown deepened as he reminded himself that he’d better be careful with his funds until he secured a new contract for Evangeline. He set about the painful process of selection, idly noting that Crime and Punishment was on her list. Not to his taste, but … He paused, scowling as he tapped in his selections and received back no reply other than a drop location. He cleared the screen and debated a moment longer. It was stupid to take any kind of chances. But.
    He leaned over, opened a standard ship-to-ship channel. “John Gen-93-Beta on the Beastship Evangeline, calling Beastship Trotter.” It was a long shot that Trotter was even in port right now. But a few moments later the answer came.
    “Beastship Trotter replying. Jason Gen-99-Pollux-Agri-27 speaking. Your message, sir?”
    “Just a personal call, Jason. Have Andrew call me back, will you, on my channel? He knows where I stand by. John Gen-93-Beta, Beastship Evangeline, clear.”
    John listened to Jason clear, then shifted over to a quieter frequency. A few minutes passed before he heard Andrew hail him.
    “Hey, John, when did you get back in? It’s been a while.”
    “Just docking now.” John debated how to phrase his offer. “I wanted to know if you’d have time for a cup of stim and some talk while we’re in port? Because if you do, I think I can arrange a meeting between you and a mutual friend.”
    “Who?” Andrew demanded in confusion.
    “Fyodor.” John paused. “I know, you remember him as sort of an idiot, but he’s gotten past that now. But if you still consider it a social crime that merits punishment …”
    “Oh, yeah. Yes, I do.” Dawning comprehension in Andrew’s voice, and the unmistakable lust and excitement of the collector. “Good old Fyodor. Will he be with you?”
    John hesitated. But Andrew would be good for the money. Maybe that would be the best way, to keep Ginger and her dealings private. Besides, if