Man Who Used the Universe Read Online Free PDF

down his forehead and into his eyes. Around him the sounds of wheezing and outrage echoed through the settling dust and smoke. He shouted for Tembya, for Olin, but it came out a croaking gasp.
    None of his other people were in sight, not even a waiter. Suddenly a figure loomed shadowy before him, the smoke swirling around its stocky silhouette. It didn't move but stood still staring down at him, as inanimate as a piece of furniture.
    Lal's eyes widened and he tried again to scream, but his throat refused to cooperate. The face of the figure was largely obscured by the now dense pollution and the still settling dust, but there was no mistaking that apelike build.
    "Stupid, stupid," Lal whispered toward it. "What good will it do you?"
    "Quite a lot, I think." The breathing membrane of Loo-Macklin's mask gave his deep voice an unusually hollow tone. "I didn't want to do this. I'd hoped to strike out on my own in a couple of years. You forced me into it."
    Lal found he could lift his head slightly. He strained, saw other bodies scattered around the ruined ballroom, looked back toward Loo-Macklin.
    "For somebody who hadn't killed a soul until yesterday, you're sure as hell making up for lost time, mollywobble."
    "I'm not enjoying any of it," came the distant reply. "Just doing what I have to do."
    "So I made a mistake. We all make mistakes." Lal tried to raise himself up, to pull free of the table's weight. Something creaked and the pressure on his hip redoubled. He remembered a time when he could lift twice the weight of anyone centimeters taller than him, but that was many years ago. As his physical strength had ebbed, he'd substituted guile, equally effective and far less strenuous. But he wished he had that thirty-year-old body now, for just a few minutes.
    He reached up with an open hand.
    "You've proved your point. I underestimated you. So did Gregor, or you wouldn't be here now."
    Loo-Macklin nodded.
    "Well, I confess I didn't think much of you, kid, but I'm going to have to revise my opinion. I'm big enough to admit when I've been wrong. Give me a hand up out of this mess and we'll see about finding you a position more suitable to your abilities. How about Gregor's? You've sure earned it."
    "I've earned more than that." Loo-Macklin walked over, reached down and took the proffered right hand. But he didn't move to extricate the syndicate boss from beneath the table.
    "That's better," said the hopeful Lal, smiling but only on the outside. Where the hell were Tembya and Olin? At the first hint of danger they should have rushed to his side. Lousy ghits! Well, they'd suffer for it. Lal had no room in his organization for those who lost either their wits or their guts when the unexpected showed itself.
    In the background he could hear the rising whistle of approaching sirens. Rescue teams responding to the scene of the disaster. Good.
    "I didn't know you knew a damn thing about explosives," he told Loo-Macklin admiringly.
    "I know quite a lot about a number of things you don't know I know about." Loo-Macklin raised the tiny gun in his other hand and touched the muzzle to Lal's forehead.
    At that instant the little warning from his pinkywink came back to Lal, together with sudden realization. There was astonishment in his voice.
    "You put that death threat in the files. You got into the computer somehow."
    Loo-Macklin nodded again.
    "But that's impossible!"
    "I've been planning that for years, too. I thought access might be helpful, not to mention necessary. I was right. As to your little job offer, sorry. See, I'm promoting myself."
    "You can have any position in the syndicate you want." Lal's self-control was beginning to splinter. The plastic muzzle was cold against his forehead. "I'll make you second in line, reporting only to me. You'll be rich and your status will probably double."
    Loo-Macklin sighed. "I played fair and honest with you for six years, Lal. I followed every one of your stinking, degrading orders and did