"Come." He took her arm and led her out into the quiet street. It
was almost daylight and the sky was a clear pearl gray. Again a star
detached itself from the translucent disk of the Moon and sped out into
the Galaxy.
_Soon_, he thought, _we'll be on a starship like that one, leaving this
played-out planet for the new worlds up in the sky._
"You're going to let Gabe--the other Gabriel--go?" she asked.
He bent his head to look at her swollen face. "You're free, Helen; I
have my body back; why should we concern ourselves with what happens to
him? He can't hurt us any more."
"I suppose you're right," she muttered. "It seems unfair...." She
shivered. "Still, you have no idea of the things he did to me--the
things he made me do...." She shivered again.
"You're cold. Let's get started."
"But where are we going?" She placed her hand on his arm and looked up
at him.
"Back to the hotel to pick up your luggage. And then--I still think
Proxima is a good idea, don't you? And then perhaps farther out still.
I'm sick of this old world."
"But, Je--Gabriel, you must be mad! The police will be waiting for you
at the hotel."
"Of course they'll be waiting, but with a citation, not handcuffs."
She looked at him as if he had gone extradimensional. He laughed. "What
your ex-husband didn't know, my dear, was that there was a reward out
for Jed Carmody, _dead or alive_."
Her face was blank for a moment. "A reward! Oh, G-G-G-Gabriel!" The
girl erupted into hysterical laughter.
"Shhh, darling, control yourself." He put his arm around her,
protectively, restrainingly. "We'll be conspicuous," for already the
Sun's first feeble rays were beginning to wash the ancient tired
streets with watery gold. "Think of the reward we're going to get--five
thousand credits, just for us!"
She wiped her eyes and pulled down her veil. "Whatever will we do with
all that money!"
"I think it would be nice if we turned it over to the hotel," he
smiled. "I made rather a shambles of their lobby when, pursuant to my
duty as a solar citizen, I exterminated the killer Carmody. Let's give
it to them and leave only pleasant memories behind us on our journey
to the stars." And he couldn't help wondering whether, if things got
really tough, somewhere up in those stars he could find another zarquil
game.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bodyguard, by Christopher Grimm
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account