Children of Junk (Rogue Star Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

coincidences, but it was possible. A quick search turned up the address of the Hungry Kitty, the club was in the next resort east, about three hundred miles. He searched for a landing field and found one on the outskirts of the resort, nothing elaborate like the spaceport, just a small facility that catered to people with their own ships.
    Two minutes into his preflight check his comm beeped. He tapped the flashing red light on the console. “Officer Smith, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
    “Please, call me John. I wanted to tell you my men found nothing unusual at Mrs. Smart’s hotel. She made no calls with the hotel comm and the staff says she was a model guest, never gave them a bit of trouble and no visitors. I hope you’re having better luck.”
    “Too soon to say, but were heading East to check out a lead. I’ll touch base tomorrow if it pans out.” Marcus disconnected and resumed his preflight check. Maybe Iaka was right and the girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but then why take her at all?

----
    “ Y ou know I’m coming with you, right?” Iaka stood, hands on hips, staring at Marcus while he disconnected the straps that held his hoverbike in place at the rear of the hold. “There’s no way you’re going to a strip club on your own.”
    Pained, Marcus looked up at her. “You don’t trust me?”
    “To not cheat on me, yes. To keep your temper under control and not get yourself killed if they don’t tell you what you want to know, not so much.”
    Marcus worked the last strap free and powered up the bike. If he remembered right she was the one that punched the director in the face the first time they met and she worried about his temper? At least she trusted him not fool around on her, not that he could imagine a woman beautiful enough to tempt him. “I appreciate your concern, but I’ve been dealing with people like this since I was a teenager. I grew up around crooks, remember.”
    Iaka frowned. “These people are dangerous and you don’t take them seriously enough.”
    He stood up and took her hands. He loved that she worried. “I take them very seriously. One person is less of a threat than two, plus if they know Vlad then they know a little about me. I’m from their world, even if I’m out of it now. You, on the other hand, come from Earth Force. You can see how that fact might make them nervous.”
    “I guess. You want me to wait here?”
    “Please. I’ll be fine and if I’m not you can come rescue me.” Marcus swung a leg over the bike’s seat and sat down. “I shouldn’t be long. Keep the ship sealed and if anyone gives you trouble fire up Gruesome.”
    He tapped a button on the bike’s control panel and the rear doors lowered. Iaka leaned down and kissed him. “Be careful.”
    He grinned and gunned the engine. The bike shot out the hold onto the tarmac. The little landing field wasn’t all that impressive, nothing, but a flat paved area with landing zones marked off with blinking lights. Off to his right a blue and white garage with three large bays waited to assist visitors with any mechanical troubles, a tanker truck parked beside it.
    Marcus turned left onto a short road that connected the landing area with the main highway to the resort. Five minutes on his souped-up bike and Marcus pulled off the highway into the crowded city traffic. He wove his way through the less nimble cars and trucks, occasionally getting an annoyed honk for his efforts. The ship’s computer automatically downloaded the club’s location into his computer and fifteen minutes after leaving his ship Marcus came to a stop in a space in front of a black and chrome three story building. In the air above it a twenty foot tall hologram of a topless female sporting fantastic proportions and black cat ears jutting up from her head. Classy, this place would fit right in on New Vegas.
    He powered the bike down and activated antitheft devices. It looked like a nice neighborhood,