America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 2: Reenlistment Read Free

door to my air raid shelter was
in my office. It took me deep underground. I sent General
Kalipetsis an urgent E-mail warning him of the plot and explaining
my actions. General Kalipetsis was skeptical about the mind-reading
technology, but still put the star fleet on alert. A spider fleet
was soon detected and intercepted coming out from its hiding place
on the far side of the moon. The spiders were easily wiped out, but
not before New Colorado took some hits, and all of my casinos were
destroyed. I found out later all of my casino franchises on the
beetle frontier were lost, too.

    * * * * *

    Being hit by a nuclear blast is like being
attacked by a tornado that’s on fire. Afterwards, nothing much is
left. Picking through the rubble with my partner, Manny Lopez, I
could just cry. Smoke still rose from the debris, and the
devastation was complete. An airburst tactical nuke had flattened
everything. “Now what do we do?” I asked.
    “I told you we should diversify,” said Lopez.
“It’s Economics 101. But you never listen to me.”
    “I did listen to you. We put casinos on more
than one planet. We got partners. And we stole the ant ship.”
    “The starship! It’s worth a billion dollars,”
said Lopez. “We can sell it and get back on our feet.”
    “Except it’s buried about a mile deep under
all this rubble. Maybe we can raise the money to dig it out.”
    “That’s too much trouble,” said Lopez. “Just
tell the government where it is and let them dig it out.”
    “That only works if they don’t throw us in
jail and take the ship anyway,” I said. “The feds might consider
that war profiteering or whatever. No, we need to get the ship out
and then negotiate from a position of strength. Otherwise, we get
screwed.”
    “Maybe I can help you raise the needed
funds,” a familiar voice called out. It was a battered but still
powered ATM.
    “He takes a licking, but keeps on ticking,”
said Lopez, laughing. “La ATM es dura.”
    “Not tough enough,” I said, drawing my pistol
and shooting the ATM. “That machine is evil.”
    “Wait a minute,” said Lopez, knocking my gun
hand aside. “You loco? Let’s hear what the ATM has to offer. It
helped us before. We can always say no.”
    “Fine,” I replied. “But no good will come of
it.”
    “You will loan us money?” asked Lopez.
“Enough to help us get back in business?”
    “I will loan you a half million dollars,”
said the ATM. “To Czerinski I will loan one million dollars.”
    “Discrimination rears its ugly head again,”
commented Lopez. “Always the gringos get more. There is no way
Czerinski is worth twice as much money as me.”
    “Czerinski was a brevetted general. You were
his Lieutenant. If either of you fail to pay back your loan in
thirty days you will both be enlisted into the United States
Galactic Federation Foreign Legion,” explained the ATM. “Czerinski
will go in as a captain. You will be a first lieutenant. I am
including a bonus for both of you because you are both highly
decorated war heroes. A million and a half dollars for the two of
you is a fair offer. Take it while I am feeling generous.”
    “We don’t need that much money to clear the
debris and get a small casino up and running again,” I said. “We’ll
put up a big tent at first, if we have to.”
    “All your bank accounts have been frozen and
seized by creditors,” said the ATM. “You owe taxes on your land. If
you fail to pay those taxes, you will not only forfeit your land,
but also all property on it. That includes any hidden treasure
buried under it.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“We’re not pirates. There’s no buried treasure under our land.”
    “I think the ATM knows about the Formicidaen
starship,” said Lopez. “How does he know about the Shenandoah?”
    “If you talk too much, it could be unhealthy
for you,” I warned the ATM, placing my hand on my sidearm.
    “If nukes can’t kill me, why should I