The Space Pirate 1 Read Online Free PDF

entire population was dependent on that slug of a man. It was time for a change.
    Charley felt more confident with every step. The sun beat down on her back and her mouth was parched after five minutes but she was a powerful woman and she would take what she wanted this day or die in the attempt. Where else could she go? She couldn’t go back home and another night in the cold could well kill her.
    Charley was glad she was wearing Silverton’s hat as she traversed the western edge of the shanty town. Boss Pete’s compound came into view to the south. A triple storey building made from mud brick and cable frame. Unlike any other dwelling in Sandflower Downs in that it was actually resistant to sand storms and other meteorological events.
    A cold dread gripped at Charley’s heart for the first time and her confidence faltered as she appraised the compound. She counted five men strolling the perimeter as she approached, plus one in a little guard tower on the north west corner. Occasionally desert crawlers got too close from the open wastes and were taken down by the mounted gun on that tower. How the fuck was Charley supposed to get past that?
    The pistols she’d scored from Silverton were first class for short to medium range combat but couldn’t hope to drop any of these goons from further than 100 yards.
    She was gonna need to have balls of steel and get much closer first. The guard on the tower spotted her first as she approached from the salt pan. She felt ridiculous, despite the weapons she had gained. One woman on foot against the entire compound? Yeah, right. She had a death wish. The sun had gotten to her head.
    Still, every time she thought about turning around she thought of the cold, frigid horrors the night would offer. There was nowhere to stay in Sandflower Downs, not even if she could pay. She had developed a reputation among the locals and no one would trust her to front up with the money.
    So it was the compound or nothing.
    The guard in the tower wolf whistled. Charley nervously dropped her targeting visor which duly reported two extra guards that she hadn’t seen. Great. Eight in total then. A walk in the park.
    “You thinkin’ of coming closer, sister?” the tower guard drawled. “Unless you lookin’ to suck my fat dick?”
    “Maybe I am, maybe I ain’t,” Charley returned, trying to sound seductive. “A girl never tells beforehand.”
    The tower guard grinned and took his hands off the TT33 flak gun. That was his first mistake. The idiot frowned as Charley got closer.
    “Say, where did you get that tech from …?”
    Almost underneath the tower now, Charley dropped to one knee and let the targeting computer light up the man’s face. She aimed at the orange reticule projected by the targeter and squeezed off a round from her right pistol.
    The guard was thrown back, a neat groove cleaved through his head. He fell back over the rail and down into the compound yard. Charley moved up against the outer compound wall and listened to the shouts of the other guards with a satisfied smile.
    The sound of a jeep made her smile again - that was exactly what she was hoping for. These fucker were so lazy. Charley waited patiently in the limited shade provided by the tower. It was difficult to wait but it was the only effective play she had. Soon enough a jeep appeared around the corner of the compound. It was a small vehicle, barely larger than a dune buggy. These things weren’t built for the open salt pan but were useful enough for the men traveling back and forth from the whorehouse or the general store.
    The jeep was piled with four goons. If Charley could take these guys down there’d only be three left in the yard. Plus whoever waited in the villa.
    Charley raised her arms in surrender as the jeep approached. Sometimes being a woman actually paid off in this crazy world. But only because these cretins were probably more interested in raping her than killing her. The jeep pulled up close. Every