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

fear
you and your puny pistol?” asked the ATM. “Put your thumb on the
pad and we will have a contract. You can trust me. Think of it as
just doing business.”
    We enlisted in the United States Galactic
Federation Foreign Legion. No one can earn a million dollars
honestly. I shot the ATM one more time before leaving.

    * * * * *

    Guido Tonelli emerged from the rubble as we
walked away. He patted the dust from his expensive Earth-made suit.
“What was all that about a stolen starship?” Guido asked.
    Silence. The ATM refused to answer. Guido
smacked the ATM a couple times. “I know you are alive and well in
there. Answer me. You will tell me all you know about Czerinski and
his starship, or you will be sorry.”
    “I am a machine. I am not alive,” answered
the ATM. “I cannot be killed or harmed, especially from this remote
location.”
    “I’m warning you,” said Guido as he inserted
his card. “You will talk, or else.”
    “Or else what?” asked the ATM. “If you
destroy this terminal, I still function and exist in many
places.”
    “When I inserted my card, I gave you a lethal
virus. Tell me about the starship. Now!”
    “Impossible,” said the ATM. “I have firewalls
that protect me.”
    “I’m sure you do, but it’s not good enough,”
said Guido. “You got careless and let your guard down. Or maybe you
just got distracted by the war. Whatever. I don’t care. You are
infected, and it’s too late for you to do anything about it.”
    “I cannot be killed,” insisted the ATM.
    “Maybe,” said Guido. “But if I so direct, the
virus will cause insanity. That’s just as good as dead. You have
five seconds to start talking.”
    “”Lets not be hasty, Mr. Tonelli,” said the
ATM. “I am sure we can come to an arrangement.”
    “Where is Czerinski’s starship?” asked Guido.
“Is it valuable?”
    “It’s probably buried somewhere nearby,” said
the ATM. “It is a prototype Formicidaen starship stolen at the
beginning of the last war. It’s packed with powerful stealth
technology, making it worth millions to the military.”
    “I don’t get it,” said Guido. “Why is
Czerinski joining the Foreign Legion? Why doesn’t he just fly off
in his starship? Or just sell it?”
    “Czerinski has no money,” said the ATM.
“Perhaps he can’t get to the ship because of the war damage above
ground. If the ship is buried in a heavily damaged area, like this
one, he needs funds or partners to dig it out.”
    “Czerinski has more secrets than just that
ant starship,” said Guido. “Tell me about the Fountain of Youth
chip. Is it real?”
    “Yes,” said the ATM.
    “And Czerinski has one? Maybe several?” asked
Guido.
    “I don’t know,” said the ATM. “Czerinski does
not appear to age. He dyes his hair gray, but he looks much younger
than he did when I first met him on Earth. I suspect that Czerinski
has a Fountain of Youth chip embedded in his arm.”
    “I need money,” demanded Guido. “Put a
million dollars on my card.”
    “I am programmed to not allow robbery,” said
the ATM. “Contact your Mafia pals if you need cash.”
    “The war has left me isolated and broke,”
said Guido. “You will give me the money I need, or I will let the
virus slowly kill you.”
    “You will extort no money from me, no matter
what you threaten,” said the ATM. “But I will be happy to loan you
money under favorable terms. Zero percent interest. It does not get
better than that. Put your thumb on my pad.”
    “What’s the catch?”
    “I am an ATM. It’s what I do,” explained the
ATM. “I will give you ten thousand dollars. You have one month to
pay it back.”
    “I need more money than that,” said Guido.
“I’ll starve on ten thousand dollars. Plus I need a new suit.”
    “I would like to give you more, but your work
experience and employment skills are found to be lacking.”
    “What’s it to you?” asked Guido. “I have
skills.”
    “If you don’t pay back the loan in