Drifter's War Read Online Free PDF

of the water.
    Rain spattered against the duraplast canopy and kept Lando from sliding it back, but nothing could separate him from the almost overwhelming sensation of speed. And not just any speed, but dangerous speed, as the NAVCOMP calculated and recalculated the wind speed, air temperature, wave action, and prevailing currents thousands of times a second, made minute adjustments, and pushed the boat to the limit of its performance.
    Melissa was fascinated. Her forehead was pressed against the inside of the canopy. The lead-gray sky and sea seemed to fly past the skimmer. There was no noise of an engine, no sound of machinery at work, just the roar of the wind and the patter of rain. The only thing she felt was the bump, bump, bump of wave tops hitting the bottom of the hull.
    Lando remembered the skimmer races that he'd seen and felt a new sense of respect. The racers had some help from an on-board NAVCOMP but were required to provide most of the control themselves. Lando couldn't imagine how they did it. The NAVCOMP interrupted his thoughts.
    "We outran the submersible, sir."
    "Excellent. Let me know if you detect pursuit of any kind."
    "Aye, aye, sir."
    Melissa clapped her hands. "We're free!"
    Lando forced a smile. "Yes, we are. For the moment anyway."

4
    Dee blinked in the bright sunlight. Cap started to slide off her shoulder. She heaved him back into place. If the denizens of Blast Town thought her burden strange they gave no sign of it.
    Blast Town was the name the local residents had given to the run-down mishmash of bars, strip joints, and seedy hotels that bordered the south side of Brisco City's spaceport. The people who lived there saw stranger sights every night.
    Like the time she had bailed Pik out of the local jail with every intention of turning him in. Her car had been ambushed by a psychopath named Jord Willer, she'd been wounded, and Lando had saved her life. It was strange the way things circled around to kick you right in the butt.
    An ancient auto cab sat idling up the street. The words "For Hi e" slid over and around the vehicle's beat-up electro-finish. They wobbled through the dents and blipped over the scratches.
    Dee waved and the cab jerked into motion. The brakes made a scraping sound as they brought the vehicle to a halt in front of her.
    A door popped open and Dee dumped Sorenson inside. He slumped sideways and a leg slid over the edge of the seat. The bounty hunter grabbed the front of his ship-suit, jerked him into a sitting position, and turned him toward the front of the cab. Cap started to topple forward but Dee slid in to prop him up. The cab's interior smelled of smoke, vomit, and chemical disinfectant.
    The cab jerked into motion. "Destination, please," the machine asked pleasantly.

    Dee started to answer but the bleat of a siren caused her to turn and look out the back window. A boxy-looking combat car with the word "Police" stenciled across its bow was headed down the street. There were two, maybe three news vans right behind it, and a gaggle of robo-cams overhead. Vultures headed for the kill. Someone had identified Sorenson, her, or both. The heat was closing in. Dee turned toward the front of the cab.
    "The spaceport and step on it."
    "Right-o," the auto cab replied cheerfully. "Would you like the entire history of the spaceport? It's only two credits more."
    "Shut up and drive."
    The auto cab did as it was told.
    Dee watched the bars and nightclubs give way to warehouses, hangars, and a full-spectrum security fence. It consisted of high-test metal mesh interwoven with a force field. Light shimmered across its surface.
    Just beyond the fence Dee could see acres of blast-scarred duracrete, rows of parked ships, and a terminal building. A ship rose on repellors, skittered into a launch zone, and lifted for space. Thunder rolled across the land.
    The bounty hunter ignored it. Her interest lay with one ship in particular. The tender that Sorenson used as a shuttle. Lando would