novel?"
"But you are going?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Then I'm heading for my bulkhead," answered the alien. "I've laid in a supply of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and a bottle of port."
"None of which you can eat or drink."
"You cut me to the quick, Steerforth," said David. "I have never denied my limitations. Why do you take such delight in referring to them?"
"Stop calling me Steerforth and I'll stop pointing out who you are and aren't."
"But you are Steerforth!" cried the alien. "How can you pretend we aren't old school chums?"
"It's difficult, but I manage," said Cole. "Your bulkhead is calling to you. I'll let you know when we've returned safe and sound."
"You make me sound like an arrant coward," complained David.
"I don't think I ever considered the word 'arrant.'"
"It happens to be very comfortable in that bulkhead. I close my eyes and pretend I'm back in Salem House boarding school with you, preparing to go out on a date with Becky Thatcher."
"Wrong book, wrong author."
"Well, all the women in my book were only interested in you" replied David. "Little Emily, Miss Dartle . . ."
"David," said Cole, "you may be the best fence on the Inner Frontier, but you get stranger every day."
"I'll second that," said Sharon's disembodied voice.
"Well, the Platinum Duke appreciates me," said David. "He's letting me teach him a civilized game: whist."
"That's just what we need," said Sharon. "Two of them."
"I know when I'm not wanted," said David, stalking off.
"I thought I was the one who wasn't wanted," said Cole as he walked to the airlift that would take him to the shuttle bay.
"If you were wanted a little less, I'd be a little less annoyed when you act like an asshole," answered Sharon.
"With compliments like that, who needs insults?" said Cole as he entered the airlift.
"Just come back in one piece," said Sharon.
He emerged into the shuttle bay, where Val, Pampas, a Mollute, and a Polonoi were waiting for him.
"Which one?" asked Val, gesturing toward the four shuttlecraft.
"The Kermit," answered Cole, walking over to it.
"You always choose that one."
"So?"
"It's the most expendable," answered Val.
"What makes it any more expendable than the others?" asked Cole.
"It's the oldest."
"So am I," he said, entering the shuttle. He went directly to the back, donned his body armor, and waited for the others—except for the warrior-caste Polonoi, who had almost-impregnable natural armor on the front of his body (and almost none on the back)—to do the same. "All right," he said when they were assembled at their stations. "Once we're inside the ship, no one shoots except on my command."
"Until they kill you," said Val as the shuttle left the Teddy R and began approaching the Navy ship, which hung in space about a quarter of a million miles away.
"Try not to be so optimistic," said Cole. "We don't want to hurt them, and there's no sense taking their insignia or any other ID. All we want is their computer, and there's every likelihood they'll destroy it when they see us approaching rather than turn it over to us. Nothing on that ship is worth anyone dying for."
Val muttered something under her breath, but knew enough not to argue with him in front of others now that the mission had begun. The rest were silent, all eyes turned to the viewscreen, where a hugely magnified image of the Navy ship appeared as a tiny dot.
Cole activated his communicator. "Jacovic?"
The Teroni's image appeared a few feet away. "Yes, sir?"
"It occurs to me that we're depending on the goodwill of a ship that we've helped disable," said Cole. "We're a sitting duck as we approach. Fire a couple of warning shots, not close enough that they'll think we were trying to hit them, but close enough to let them know that you're prepared to take them out if they fire on us."
"Yes, sir."
A moment later a beam of solid light from a laser cannon and a ball of energy from a thumper—a pulse cannon—shot out in the general director of the Navy
"But you are going?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Then I'm heading for my bulkhead," answered the alien. "I've laid in a supply of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and a bottle of port."
"None of which you can eat or drink."
"You cut me to the quick, Steerforth," said David. "I have never denied my limitations. Why do you take such delight in referring to them?"
"Stop calling me Steerforth and I'll stop pointing out who you are and aren't."
"But you are Steerforth!" cried the alien. "How can you pretend we aren't old school chums?"
"It's difficult, but I manage," said Cole. "Your bulkhead is calling to you. I'll let you know when we've returned safe and sound."
"You make me sound like an arrant coward," complained David.
"I don't think I ever considered the word 'arrant.'"
"It happens to be very comfortable in that bulkhead. I close my eyes and pretend I'm back in Salem House boarding school with you, preparing to go out on a date with Becky Thatcher."
"Wrong book, wrong author."
"Well, all the women in my book were only interested in you" replied David. "Little Emily, Miss Dartle . . ."
"David," said Cole, "you may be the best fence on the Inner Frontier, but you get stranger every day."
"I'll second that," said Sharon's disembodied voice.
"Well, the Platinum Duke appreciates me," said David. "He's letting me teach him a civilized game: whist."
"That's just what we need," said Sharon. "Two of them."
"I know when I'm not wanted," said David, stalking off.
"I thought I was the one who wasn't wanted," said Cole as he walked to the airlift that would take him to the shuttle bay.
"If you were wanted a little less, I'd be a little less annoyed when you act like an asshole," answered Sharon.
"With compliments like that, who needs insults?" said Cole as he entered the airlift.
"Just come back in one piece," said Sharon.
He emerged into the shuttle bay, where Val, Pampas, a Mollute, and a Polonoi were waiting for him.
"Which one?" asked Val, gesturing toward the four shuttlecraft.
"The Kermit," answered Cole, walking over to it.
"You always choose that one."
"So?"
"It's the most expendable," answered Val.
"What makes it any more expendable than the others?" asked Cole.
"It's the oldest."
"So am I," he said, entering the shuttle. He went directly to the back, donned his body armor, and waited for the others—except for the warrior-caste Polonoi, who had almost-impregnable natural armor on the front of his body (and almost none on the back)—to do the same. "All right," he said when they were assembled at their stations. "Once we're inside the ship, no one shoots except on my command."
"Until they kill you," said Val as the shuttle left the Teddy R and began approaching the Navy ship, which hung in space about a quarter of a million miles away.
"Try not to be so optimistic," said Cole. "We don't want to hurt them, and there's no sense taking their insignia or any other ID. All we want is their computer, and there's every likelihood they'll destroy it when they see us approaching rather than turn it over to us. Nothing on that ship is worth anyone dying for."
Val muttered something under her breath, but knew enough not to argue with him in front of others now that the mission had begun. The rest were silent, all eyes turned to the viewscreen, where a hugely magnified image of the Navy ship appeared as a tiny dot.
Cole activated his communicator. "Jacovic?"
The Teroni's image appeared a few feet away. "Yes, sir?"
"It occurs to me that we're depending on the goodwill of a ship that we've helped disable," said Cole. "We're a sitting duck as we approach. Fire a couple of warning shots, not close enough that they'll think we were trying to hit them, but close enough to let them know that you're prepared to take them out if they fire on us."
"Yes, sir."
A moment later a beam of solid light from a laser cannon and a ball of energy from a thumper—a pulse cannon—shot out in the general director of the Navy
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