Drifter's Run Read Online Free PDF Page B

a voice came from behind.
    "Who the hell are you? And what're you doing on my ship?"
    Lando swiveled his chair around and found himself face-to-face with Captain Ted Sorenson. He had bushy eyebrows, a long straight nose, and a tight thin-lipped mouth. His eyes were bright blue and nearly buried in deep cavernous sockets.
    The rest was tall and thin. An alcoholic's body, starved for nutrients and forced to expend large amounts of energy countering the poison that Sorenson pumped into it.
    "My name's Pik Lando," the smuggler replied, getting to his feet, "and I was trying to save your ship."
    "I hired him, Daddy," Melissa said desperately, stepping in from the side to tug at her father's arm. "You were sick, and Pik brought you back."
    Sorenson looked down at his daughter and his face underwent a sudden transformation. Hard lines turned soft, wrinkles disappeared, and his mouth turned upward in a smile. "You hired him? Well, good for you, honey. I can always count on my little business agent."
    Melissa glowed as her father stepped up to offer Lando his hand. His words were civil, but his eyes were stone-hard and formed a barricade between him and the universe.
    "Sorry, Lando, but that alarm scared hell out of me. What was it? A systems malfunction?" The captain's handshake was brisk and firm.
    "Nope," Lando replied evenly. "It was a ship, a big one, and damned close. It had the name Hercules printed across the port bow in letters fifteen feet high. I tried to move Junk out of the way but was locked out."
    Lando saw the other man's eyes narrow as if the name had some special meaning. " Hercules you say? You're sure of that?"
    "Yes. Why? Do you know her?"
    The other man shrugged thoughtfully. "Sure… everyone knows her. She belongs to Stellar Tug & Salvage. They like to give their tugs ancient 'H' names. You know, Hercules, Hebe, Hecuba, that sort of thing."
    "I see," Lando replied thoughtfully. "Looking back, the whole thing seems deliberate, as if they came that close to scare us or something. Is this Stellar Tug & Salvage outfit known for things like that?"
    "You bet they are," Melissa answered grimly. "They harass all the smaller operators. They want Daddy to quit, but he won't."
    The worshipful way in which Melissa looked up into her father's face made Lando realize that she'd made the transformation from adult back to little girl.
    Sorenson chuckled. "I'm not the hero my daughter makes me out to be. I'd cave in right now if I could afford to. But I can't, Junk 'sall we've got so we tough it out. Let's see what they have to say. Now that I'm here the controls should respond."
    Turning, Lando saw a message waiting light was blinking on and off. He touched it and watched as a com screen swirled to life. What he saw took some getting used to.
    It was a cyborg. Not a sphere like Cy, but a huge thing with a human head and a chrome body. The com screen cut the cyborg off at the waist, but Lando saw that its upper torso had been carefully sculpted into a work of art. A representation of the male form so extreme it verged on parody.
    As the cyborg moved its skin bulged with synthetic muscle, rippled over metallic bone, and shimmered with false life. Each rib was carefully defined, each muscle given its correct and proper size, each limb perfectly proportioned. The whole thing was a work of art, a living sculpture celebrating something lost, a terrible and endless sorrow.
    It smiled and a shiver ran down Lando's spine. There was something frightening about the blond hair, the Adonis-like face, the perfectly modulated voice.
    "Greetings, Captain Sorenson. I tried to speak with you face-to-face, but since you were undoubtedly drunk, this will have to do. You don't recognize me… but you may remember my name. It's Jord Willer, once second officer aboard the Star of Empire, and now captain of the tug Hercules.
    "It's been a long time since we dropped out of hyperspace into the middle of Durna's asteroid belt, hasn't it? Of course