Privateers Read Online Free PDF

that the country left me. I’m in the business of running factories in orbit. The United States government decided to close down all its space activities and revoke the operating licenses of all the firms working in space. I had no choice. It was either leave the country or go out of business.”
    “Yes, I know that, but …”
    Dan made himself relax and grin. “Now look …” He almost added, “ kid ,” but held it back. “My motto has always been, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going—to where the going’s easier.’”
    Freiberg did not laugh. He merely looked more uncomfortable than ever.
    Dan abandoned his attempt at humor. “The American government gave up all its space operations at the insistence of the Russians. You know that, don’t you?”
    Freiberg nodded glumly.
    “So, in a sense, if I’m working against anyone or anything, I’m working against the Kremlin. I’m carrying on the work that America would be doing if Washington hadn’t caved in to the Soviets.”
    “But it’s not that simple,” Freiberg objected. “A lot of people think you just ran out because you could make more profits in Venezuela.”
    Christ! Dan swore silently. Spare me this neoliberal twaddle!
    “You left a lot of people without jobs here,” the scientist added.
    Dan said carefully, “I brought as many people with me here to Caracas as I could. If I had allowed the American government to shut down Astro Manufacturing completely—as they were going to do—then  all  of Astro’s employees would have lost their jobs. I really had no other choice.”
    “There’s still a lot of resentment here about you. A lot of hostility.”
    “I’m sure there is. But are you going to let that kind of petty jealousy decide the future of your career?”
    Freiberg started to reply, but hesitated.
    “Look,” Dan said, as sweetly reasonable as he could manage to be, “the United States has agreed to halt all its operations in space. Washington turned over the American space station to the United Nations, and you know who runs the UN since they left New York.”
    “There’s still the scientific exploration of the solar system,” Freiberg said, a little stiffly. “We still build the finest scientific probes in the world.”
    “But you have to launch them on Russian boosters. You have to get approval from the Soviet Academy of Sciences or your beautiful hardware sits on the ground and rusts away. Right?”
    “We work in cooperation with our Russian colleagues. Scientists don’t get involved with politics.”
    And rain makes applesauce, Dan thought. He reached across his desk and touched the screen of his phone terminal once, twice, then once more.
    “In the past four years,” he said, glancing from the screen to Freiberg’s solid image and back again, “your group has been allowed to place one vehicle aboard a Soviet shuttle. …”
    “The Saturn Orbiter,” Freiberg murmured.
    “Which is still at Kosmograd because the Soviets haven’t granted you the high-energy upper stage you need to get it to Saturn.”
    “There’ve been some delays. …”
    “I’ll bet there have. And your group’s proposals for Orbiters of Neptune and Uranus have been flatly rejected by the Soviet Academy. Your proposal for an automated prospecting mission through the asteroid belt was turned down. Your proposal for a Titan lander was turned down. …”
    “I know, I know!” Freiberg admitted. “They’re squeezing the life out of us.”
    That’s what Dan wanted to hear. “Dr. Freiberg-may I call you Zachary?”
    “Zach. My friends call me Zach.”
    “Thank you. And my friends call me Dan. I don’t have to tell you what my enemies call me.”
    Freiberg grinned.
    Feeling that he was thawing the youngster at last, Dan said, “Now listen, Zach. And think. Do you believe-I mean, really believe, down deep inside your guts-that the Russians are going to allow more of your scientific missions in the coming years, or