Space Relics (Galactic Archaeology Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

his debts weren’t going to pay themselves.
    “This is far too dangerous to stand aside and wait,” she insisted. “You’re risking your life and the mission’s success. You’re unlikely to get the Argonaut back if you continue to—”
    A cold knife pressed against Rick’s neck, sending a shiver down his body.
    Damn it. It had seemed too easy to be true.
    “I’ve told you,” Amy continued through the intercom. “You’d have an excuse if I hadn’t told you, but I have. Why don’t you ever listen? And now you’re in trouble again, and I’m not going to say anything apart from I told you .”
    As helpful as always.
    Well, at least Rick was only facing two men. It could’ve been worse.

Chapter 7
    “I’m afraid that you might find your quest more difficult than you expected,” Lord Baylor said, trying to push Rick’s arm aside. Rick held the gun firmly against him. It was the only leverage he had to delay the unavoidable.
    Behind Rick, the mayor had turned out to be less trusting than the lord. With that move, he’d earned several brownie points from Lord Baylor, enough to move him up a step in the otherwise static social ladder. Nothing like performing special services for a nobleman to get a proper reward. And what was better than saving his life?
    It was a pity that Rick’s corpse was going to be the mayor’s stepping stone. He wasn’t good at bleeding, and he didn’t like it either.
    Rick hadn’t seen much action in years. Back when he’d been on Earth, people had always threatened him with knives, guns, and all sorts of creative weapons. He’d left Earth a long time ago, and he’d lost practice. If only he’d brought a proper gun, he’d be able to stun them, or to try to get away with his head still attached to his shoulders.
    “You’ve become very quiet, Lewis,” Lord Baylor said with a light chuckle. “All because you have a gun that doesn’t work and we’ve caught you off-guard.” He pushed Rick’s arm aside and Rick lowered the gun. It was broken; there wasn’t much he could do. “Is it that you expected to defeat me so easily? Such a pity… Capable of finding a lost tomb and an invaluable artifact, but reckless and far too ambitious for your own good.” He walked around the room, inspecting the image cycles in the holographic frames. He ran his finger along the shelves to check for dust and frequently glanced back at Rick to enjoy the situation. “I wonder what your friends will say once they read that you weren’t happy with your expedition’s failure, so you set fire to the whole planet, killed your workers, and got drunk before crashing your transport shuttle against an uninhabited asteroid.”
    A nice story, but nobody was going to tell it if Rick had a say in it.
    A knife to his neck, an inexperienced fighter holding it, and a large man on the other side of the room. There was just about enough space for a hand to get between the mayor’s elbow and Rick’s neck. Enough to stop him from hurting anyone.
    Neither of the men were professional fighters, but the mayor was probably used to getting into occasional fights in taverns. Noblemen spent their days sparring, but their teachers were in awe of their rank and didn’t dare to teach them properly.
    “Tell me,” Lord Baylor said. “Would you like to crash your ship against an asteroid, or would you rather die in space?”
    Okay, that wasn’t the time to think about ways to die. Rick shrugged and started to raise his arms. Lord Baylor’s grin broadened with his perceived victory.
    With a swift move, Rick placed an arm between the mayor’s arm and his neck and used the other arm to elbow his nose. He immobilized the knife hand and turned around to kick his stomach, then his lower guard. The mayor bent forward in pain and Rick threw the knife away, then punched him in the head and knocked him down. He ran towards Lord Baylor and tried to kick him too.
    The lord blocked him and his eyes widened with the adrenaline.