Diplomats -- Fiction; Life on other planets -- Fiction; Retief (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space ships -- Fiction
"Somebody in the cabin. Get 'em out." He rolled a cold eye at Retief as
he backed out of the room. A short, thick-necked man appeared.
"What are you doing in Mr. Tony's room?" he barked. "Never mind! Clear
out of here, fellow! You're keeping Mr. Tony waiting."
"Too bad," Retief said. "Finders keepers."
"You nuts?" The thick-necked man stared at Retief. "I said it's Mr.
Tony's room."
"I don't know Mr. Tony. He'll have to bull his way into other quarters."
"We'll see about you, mister." The man turned and went out. Retief
sat on the bunk and lit a cigar. There was a sound of voices in
the corridor. Two burly baggage-smashers appeared, straining at an
oversized trunk. They maneuvered it through the door, lowered it,
glanced at Retief and went out. The thick-necked man returned.
"All right, you. Out," he growled. "Or have I got to have you thrown
out?"
Retief rose and clamped the cigar between his teeth. He gripped a
handle of the brass-bound trunk in each hand, bent his knees and heaved
the trunk up to chest level, then raised it overhead. He turned to the
door.
"Catch," he said between clenched teeth. The trunk slammed against the
far wall of the corridor and burst.
Retief turned to the baggage on the floor, tossed it into the hall. The
face of the thick-necked man appeared cautiously around the door jamb.
"Mister, you must be--"
"If you'll excuse me," Retief said, "I want to catch a nap." He flipped
the door shut, pulled off his shoes and stretched out on the bed.
* * * * *
Five minutes passed before the door rattled and burst open.
Retief looked up. A gaunt leathery-skinned man wearing white ducks, a
blue turtleneck sweater and a peaked cap tilted raffishly over one eye
stared at Retief.
"Is this the joker?" he grated.
The thick-necked man edged past him, looked at Retief and snorted,
"That's him, sure."
"I'm captain of this vessel," the first man said. "You've got two
minutes to haul your freight out of here, buster."
"When you can spare the time from your other duties," Retief said,
"take a look at Section Three, Paragraph One, of the Uniform Code.
That spells out the law on confirmed space on vessels engaged in
interplanetary commerce."
"A space lawyer." The captain turned. "Throw him out, boys."
Two big men edged into the cabin, looking at Retief.
"Go on, pitch him out," the captain snapped.
Retief put his cigar in an ashtray, and swung his feet off the bunk.
"Don't try it," he said softly.
One of the two wiped his nose on a sleeve, spat on his right palm, and
stepped forward, then hesitated.
"Hey," he said. "This the guy tossed the trunk off the wall?"
"That's him," the thick-necked man called. "Spilled Mr. Tony's
possessions right on the deck."
"Deal me out," the bouncer said. "He can stay put as long as he wants
to. I signed on to move cargo. Let's go, Moe."
"You'd better be getting back to the bridge, Captain," Retief said.
"We're due to lift in twenty minutes."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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