It was the smallest and worst on the ship, of course, but the ship was
a beauty. Nolan smiled in real appreciation when he saw the room. The
furniture was glow-tinted plastic; the bed was covered with Earth silk.
"Beat it," he told the mate, and watched the door close behind him.
Then he sat down to chart a course.
Woller might recognize him.
That was the first danger. True, Nolan had been reported dead and
Woller knew nothing to the contrary. It was only a miracle that Nolan
wasn't dead, in fact. Only the incredible chance of his being picked
up in midspace, where he floated helplessly, one shoulder brutally
pyro-scarred and half the air gone from his suit, had saved him then.
That had been one miracle, for even the ranging, avid patrol boats
hadn't been able to find him after his mad leap from a lock of the ship
that was carrying him to the Moon.
But that miracle had occurred. And the second miracle was that the
pleasure craft that saved him was piloted by a man who lived outside
the law but had an iron-clad code of honesty--who wouldn't turn Nolan
in for the bounty money on fugitives. Pete Petersen's scrawny shoulders
bore no wings, but he'd seemed like an angel to Nolan that desolate
day, when he'd seen the flare of Nolan's desperate signal rocket and
swung round in a wide arc to pick him up, eventually to take him to the
lawless safety of the Belt.
To everyone but Petersen, Steve Nolan was dead. And the little shots
of gray now running through Nolan's dark hair, the scar that crossed
one tanned cheek, gave him a new personality. He looked slender and
dangerous as a lunging rapier, and every bit as cold.
But Woller would have good cause to remember Nolan. Woller had sat
there in the courtroom, back on Earth. He'd sat there the whole
dragging week of the trial, with Nolan's eyes on him every minute. He
looked directly at Nolan, even while he was in the chair, telling the
lies that linked Nolan with the Junta--the secret, revolutionary group
of outer-planet malcontents that sought to overthrow Tri-planet Law's
peace and order.
Nolan's lips contorted savagely as he recalled that. A traitor! His
sole crime had been that he knew too much about Woller, his boss!
Woller had been clever about it. The law itself had removed Nolan,
a menace to his lawless schemes. When Nolan, on his own initiative,
had talked and bribed his way into seeing a confessed and condemned
saboteur of the Junta for an interview, he'd found to his sick
astonishment that the man was one he had seen in Woller's own office,
not two months before.
He'd been childishly simple about it, had confronted Woller and
demanded an explanation. Woller had put on his friendliest face and
promised one--later....
And then Woller had turned the dogs loose.
Within an hour Nolan was in jail for the bribery of the prison
officials. The next morning came the incredible indictment: Sabotage
for the Junta!
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