Children of the Old Star

Children of the Old Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

Book: Children of the Old Star Read Online Free PDF
Author: David Lee Summers
help.” He stared at the empty glass. “As to the Cluster. They simply won't believe I've been in communication with it. They think I'm making the whole thing up."
    "What?” Rubin looked toward the bartender and waved him over. He decided he needed a beer. “I can't believe they're going to cashier you over Sufiro."
    "They weren't that upset about Sufiro.” Ellis shook his head. “They canned me because I fainted on the bridge of my own goddamned ship."
    "But you didn't faint,” stammered Rubin. He tried to find words but failed. He might have known what really happened to Ellis, but it could not change how the admiralty saw the situation.
    The second glass of scotch arrived at the same time as Rubin's beer. Ellis picked up the glass and stared into the golden liquid. He returned the cigar to his mouth for a moment. Finally, he set it down to let it burn out the rest of the way. “Besides, they didn't exactly cashier me,” he said quietly. “I could have returned to active duty as first lieutenant aboard a star cruiser."
    Rubin took a long swallow of beer. “You mean you quit?” The lieutenant looked behind the bar, into a large mirror. He looked at his own face, then turned to Ellis again. “Why?"
    "I've got to find the Cluster,” said Ellis just before swallowing the second scotch in one gulp. “I can't do that as first officer of a star cruiser.” He leaned back against the bar. “Besides, what do you suppose the odds would be of my being promoted again?"
    "Pretty damn high,” said Rubin forcefully. “You're a good officer, any captain would see that. The Cluster can't be that important.” Rubin began to turn red. “You can't throw away your career for it!"
    "Who says I'm throwing away my career?” Ellis waved off the comment, turning on the stool, so he wouldn't have to look Rubin in the eye. “I'm still on the reserve list. The admiral says that if an emergency comes up, they'll reinstate me."
    Rubin snorted frustration. “Mark,” he said. Ellis turned as though struck by an electric charge. The use of his first name was almost too much to bear. “Mark, tell me this, how are you going to find the Cluster without the Fleet?"
    "The Ellis family has a little money and my mother has some influence,” said Ellis thoughtfully. “I'll find a way.” Sighing, Ellis returned the glass to the bar. He looked across the crowds of people between the bar and the gate where his ship was docked. “I'd better go,” said Ellis, his head down.
    Frank Rubin sighed. “Take care of yourself,” he said, his normally deep, booming voice quiet.
    Ellis took Rubin's hand. “Godspeed Mr. A-Com Rubin.” He reached out and embraced his one-time first officer. Ellis reached into his uniform jacket and retrieved his last cigar. “I'll be back,” he said with a devilish grin. With that, Rubin watched John Mark Ellis disappear into the crowd.
* * * *
    Clyde McClintlock wrote furiously. He did not write about anything in particular. Instead he wrote down everything that was on his mind. He wrote about his family moving to Sufiro from Iowa. He wrote about his early years in the Gaean military and his decision to leave to assume a career in the military on Sufiro. With a sigh, he wondered if he had abandoned honor for glory.
    Flipping the page in his pad of paper, he started writing down as many of the images the Cluster put into his mind as he could remember. He wrote about a young man, a teenager actually, pulled from his yard in New Granada while teaching his little sister to ride a bicycle. The boy had been forced to work in the Tejan mines. Although Clyde had not been directly responsible for that boy's predicament, he had fought for the country that had stolen the boy from his family.
    Clyde stared at the paper after he wrote this scene. He wondered what would have happened if the Cluster had not put that, and other, images in his mind. If not for the Cluster, Clyde would have been unaware of the downtrodden in New
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