Willful Child

Willful Child Read Online Free PDF Page A

Book: Willful Child Read Online Free PDF
Author: Steven Erikson
Tags: Fiction, Science-Fiction, Space Opera
twisted round again. “Sir?”
    “Maintain course.”
    “Yes, sir.” She faced forward again.
    “Helm—”
    Sin-Dour leaned close to the captain and said, in a low, velvety voice, “Sir, excuse me for interrupting, but we have left the marine shuttle behind.”
    “Have we? Oh, darn. Well, they’ll have to catch us up, then, won’t they?”
    “Not in a shuttle, sir. That would take months.”
    “No doubt they can hitch a ride on some fast freighter. Don’t worry about them, Sin-Dour. They’re marines. They know how to improvise. They’ll take it as a challenge, I’m sure, and rise to the occasion, as marines are wont to do.”
    “Sir, I was wondering…”
    So was Hadrian, as he breathed in her heady perfume and felt himself tilting in the command chair, as if on some instinctive and wholly animalistic level, he wanted to sink his face between her breasts. “What were you about to say, 2IC?”
    “In your youth…”
    “Yes?”
    “Did you steal private transport vehicles?”
    “Steal?”
    “As in … joyrides, sir.”
    “Why, now that you mention it … but, why ask me this now?”
    “Never mind, sir.”
    She straightened, pulling away from him once more.
    “Why,” he persisted, twisting round to regard her. “Did you?”
    “Not on purpose, sir, but I once found myself in the backseat of a purloined vehicle.”
    “Was it moving?”
    “Sir?”
    “Did you have your clothes on?”
    “Ah, I understand. Yes, it was moving. And yes, I was fully clothed, or as much as a teenage girl living in Northumberland is ever fully clothed.”
    “Hmm, interesting tale, 2IC.”
    “It’s just that, sir, the feeling I had back then … well, I am experiencing it all over again, right now.”
    “How delightful. Take the science station, will you? We’ll leave Buck down with his wrenches and spanners. Engineers are happy to be left playing with their nuts and whatnot, and I see no reason not to indulge him.”
    Adjutant Lorrin Tighe moved up to stand beside his chair. “Captain Hadrian,” she said in a low voice, “do you comprehend the diplomatic incident you are now responsible for? That was genocide!”
    “Genocide? Sin-Dour, what’s the total population of those gasbags on Neptune?”
    “Well, at last count, about twenty million, though it’s difficult to be certain.”
    “Oh, and why is that?”
    Sin-Dour was studying her screen. “Well, sir, it appears that they eat each other.”
    Hadrian rose from the chair and faced Tighe. “Adjutant, are you aware that in their home system, the Purelganni regard those gasbags as vermin? And that their ‘gift’ to us made us the laughingstock of the galaxy? No? Not surprising. Some things just don’t get talked about in official circles. Tell you what, Adjutant, assemble some gift boxes filled with cockroaches in anticipation of first contact. It’s a great way to make friends and signify our deep respect for the poor suckers we run into.” He swung round to address the others on the bridge. “We humans have been the butt end of galactic jokes ever since we stumbled into space. Well, that ends now. Space … it’s a helluva place to kick some ass!”
    “The Purelganni—” Tighe began.
    “Just got served notice by one Captain Hadrian Sawback. Enough with the crap. We play on a level field or we don’t play at all. The Purelganni will get over it. Nasty little creatures anyway and I don’t care if they look like seal pups. Besides, Adjutant, you have to admit, it was a pretty display, wasn’t it?”
    “I don’t know if anything you’re saying is true. I will be logging my report as soon as we drop out of T space, sir. You may well find yourself facing a general court-martial.”
    Hadrian snorted. “Terran Fleet has more important matters to concern itself with, don’t you think? Tell you what, call the scan an accident or something, and I’ll overlook your position at the bridge science station, which, it shouldn’t be necessary to point
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