Beneath the Eye of God (The Commodore Ardcasl Space Adventures Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

terrible place but we uh . . . we don't keep slaves, we galaxy traders. It . . . it slows us down."
    "Freedom?" She took the paper from his hand and tucked it back into her tunic. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, sport. I've got nowhere to go. With five lousy coppers, I'd soon starve. Or worse. I'd be better off selling myself back into that place, except she probably wouldn't have me. That fat cow said I ate too much. Buying a girl's contract is serious business around here, sport. You can't just toss us aside if you change your mind. Besides, you need a bodyguard."
    "A bodyguard? Why would I need a bodyguard?"
    "Well look at you. Weren't you just cheated out of 80 coppers? And what's going to happen to you when your friend the Commodore finds out?"
    Ohan's eyes went wide. "He'll kill me."
    "See. You need a bodyguard."
    "But . . . but you?"
    "I told you. I can ride and fight better than any three men in this town. At least I will soon. Step in here." She had steered Ohan into another dim alleyway and up to a dusty shop. The windows were caked with grime. A broken one was boarded up. The few items stacked haphazardly on view gave little clue as to what might be for sale inside. Once through the door, Ohan still couldn't tell what they had come to buy. A bit of everything crowded the narrow aisles. He saw harness, books, chain, farm implements, tools and great stacks of closed boxes and crates piled high up into the dusty gloom where the ceiling must be.
    "But it's not the end of the month yet." A dried, bent little man in a long, dark coat and carpet slippers came shuffling toward them. "You've come too soon, Princess. I haven't time today. I'm much too busy."
    "This isn't my day off, Mr. Mumphrey," Leahn said. "I'm leaving town. I've come to collect."
    "Leaving? Oh dear." The little man seemed truly stricken. "I did so look forward to our monthly assignations." He winked from behind bent glasses at Ohan. "I couldn't possibly be seen going into her place of business. My position in the community, you know." Ohan wondered what position the proprietor of this dusty junkheap could possibly hold.
    "This fine young gentleman," Leahn indicated Ohan, "has bought out my contract. I am to serve him as bodyguard. I shall need arms."
    "But to go away?" The little man stroked Leahn's hand. There was the suggestion of a tear in his ancient eye. At her side, he seemed no larger than a child. He suddenly brightened. "This is the last time then?" He looked around and sighed. "But it's the wrong day and I've no time." As near as Ohan could determine, they were alone in the labyrinthine shop. What pressing engagement awaited the little man, he could not guess.
    "I have been building up a monthly credit with Mr. Mumphrey," Leahn explained. "On my days off. No cash changed hands for that fat cow to get hold of."
    "She was saving to buy this." Mr. Mumphrey emerged from the shadows bearing a nasty-looking cutlass. Leahn took the weapon and swung it over her head in, to Ohan's eye, a disconcertingly skillful and deadly fashion.
    "Another three months and it would have been paid for," Mr. Mumphrey sighed admiringly. "Then she would have killed them all."
    Ohan started. "All who?"
    "The fat cow." Leahn returned the sword to the little man. "The men with the sweaty hands. A couple of the girls . . . though maybe not. Most of them were nice. We hadn't worked out the details yet. And then myself."
    "On market day," Mr. Mumphrey beamed. "When a big crowd was in town. It was a good plan."
    "It's a terrible plan," Ohan said indignantly.
    "Actually it was only a fair plan," Leahn admitted. "It lacked focus."
    "It was vengeance and that's always satisfying," Mr. Mumphrey said. "But it was vengeance on most of the wrong people."
    "That was a flaw," Leahn said.
    "Except for that, it was a good plan," the little man cackled. "And vengeance on the wrong people is better than no vengeance at all."
    "It was the best we could think of," Leahn said.
    "Actually," Mr.