Torchship Read Online Free PDF

ship on local comm. He says those were his cannon rounds. He said if we
don’t give Bobbie Smith to him he’s going to switch to armor-piercing.”
    Billy said, “Well, maybe she
brought a bodyguard along.”
     
    ***
     
    Schwartzenberger climbed up
the ladder into the bridge and bolted the hatch after him. The radio buzzed
with another threat. Mitchie answered in a high-pitched, panicked voice, “I’m
just the pilot! I can’t promise anything! The captain will be here in a minute!”
She closed the mike and turned to the captain. “I spotted him, sir,” she said
in her normal tone. “It looks like a Bolt-class interceptor.”
    Schwartzenberger followed her
finger to a gleam paralleling the ship’s path. He nodded and strapped into the
co-pilot seat.
    “This is Captain Alois
Schwartzenberger of the Fives Full . Who am I talking to?”
    “Call me the Kronos Taxi
Service, Captain.” The voice was cold, calm, male, with a Demeter accent. “I’m
here to give one of your passengers a lift.”
    “I’m sorry, they’ve all
bought round-trip tickets.”
    “You won’t need to give her a
refund. We’ll even compensate you for your trouble.”
    “My passengers are not for
sale, pirate!”
    “Look–I’m taking the girl. I’ve
got armor-piercing loads for the cannon and a few missiles. You can hand her
over and be half a million keys richer … or I can shred your ship and you
freeze out here with your crew and passengers.”
    “Half a million bullshit. It’s
easy to make promises when you’re going to kill us anyway.”         
    “The money’s real. We can
even deposit it in advance. And I won’t hurt anyone if you cooperate.”
    “Double bullshit. You can’t
afford to have witnesses to a kidnapping.” Mitchie handed him a note. He read Sent
tightbeam distress call to Kerberos Base and gave her a thumbs-up.
    “My orders are to have as
many witnesses as possible. Seems that makes it more likely the ransom will be
paid. Doesn’t say much for her family, does it?”
    “So… you actually have a half
mill in cash in your little boat there?”
    “Better,” answered the
stranger. “I say the word and it drops into your trading account on Demeter. Then
you can just float the girl across to me in an emergency pod. Nobody gets hurt.
Not even her.”
    Schwartzenberger sighed into
the mike. “Okay. Make the deposit. We’ll get her ready.” He turned the mike
off.
    “Nice to work with a sensible
man.”
    The captain felt Mitchie’s
stare on him. “We’ll keep stalling for time. I’ll get an empty pod set up to go
over. Your job will be to watch for when they go to pick it up. When they’re
closest pivot and give them a blast with the torch. With luck we can cause
enough damage to break contact until the Navy gets out here.” A sharper tone, “Don’t
look so damn relieved. Buying time is our priority here.”
    “Sorry, sir,” said Mitchie. “Um…
if you want to break contact I might be able to do that now.”
    “Seriously?”
    Mitchie pointed at the rings.
“That’s pretty dense for a spaceship to fly though. I’ve flown through Akiak
mountains in thunderstorms. A bunch of ice doesn’t scare me. That guy–”
pointing at the interceptor “–probably does all his flying by telling the
autopilot where to go. First time he tries to go within fifty klicks of an
unplotted rock it’ll execute an automatic anticollision maneuver. A couple of
those and we should be out of sight. Plenty of places to hide in the rings.”
    “A torchship isn’t much like
flying a winged shuttle, girl. You think you can get through there without
smacking some ice?”
    “I’ve flown sims like that.”
She gave him a hard look. “Captain, I promise I can take us through
there safely.”
    “Well. I can’t argue with an
Akiak promise. We’ll do it. They’re probably still dealing with the money. Best
time.” The captain activated the PA. “ALL HANDS, ALL HANDS. STRAP IN. STRAP IN
FOR ACCELERATION