Battle Cruiser Read Free Page A

scan, then carefully sealed it again. When I returned to the cab, the smuggler leered at me.
    “Did you snort it all?” he asked. “Most inspectors leave some for me. Good stuff, isn’t it, peacock-man?”
    I glanced at him sharply, but I ignored the insult. Rude people who were angry with guardsmen often called us “peacocks” as we were considered ineffectual show-offs.
    Without a word, I tapped out a citation and touched his computer with mine. The ticket was instantly transferred and logged.
    “What’s that for?” Edvar demanded.
    “Read it. Resisting search, refusal to obey an officer pursuant, etc. I had to fire across your bow to get you to stop running. That’s a crime.”
    “You dick!” he raged at me. “My customers are big! They won’t like this.”
    I dared hope he would throw a punch—but sadly, he knew better. Instead, he filled the air with invective as Rumbold and I retreated from his ship. When we were safely through the airlock and gone, he fired up his engines and dove down toward Earth. I could see his anger in every course correction.
    “You haven’t lost your touch, sir,” Rumbold remarked.
    “He was hiding something. No one runs from the Guard for the hell of it.”
    “Yeah, probably…but then again, maybe he’s just a man with a vile personality. There are many who become spacers because no one else can stand to have them around.”
    Returning to my station, I found the com light blinking again.
    “Message incoming from Altair , sir,” Rumbold said. “Looks like the boss pulled up behind us while we were inspecting that ship. He’s not in the best mood, I’d imagine.”
    Sighing, I answered the call. Captain Singh’s lips were pulled back to show his teeth. The effect was unpleasant.
    “Mission accomplished, sir,” I said.
    “What mission? You weren’t given orders—”
    “My orders are clear, sir. See the rules of engagement signed March 22 nd —signed by you, Captain. They stipulate what to do in the case of a fugitive with possibly dangerous cargo heading for—”
    “What fugitive? He had nothing! I’ve seen your automatic logs. That was abuse, Guardsman. Pure and simple.”
    I frowned. Singh wasn’t always a reasonable man, but he generally came down on the side of the law. What had Edvar said about having powerful friends? I’d expected perhaps to hear from an irritating space-rights lawyer, maybe even one who would manage to drag me into an auto-court to make a deposition. But this…
    “Sorry if I was overzealous, sir,” I said. “It was my belief that the man was a smuggler. I’m still not sure that he wasn’t hiding something. Searching a spaceship properly takes a full ground crew of yard-dogs.”
    “Oh, are you going to request that next?” Singh demanded.
    I hesitated, but then I nodded slowly. “That might be a good idea.”
    Singh threw up his hands and waved them at me as if I was a misbehaving animal. “Forget I said that. We’re returning to the station. There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
    “What’s that, sir?” I asked, happy to change the topic.
    “Your presence has been formally requested on Earth. You’re going down to the capital tonight. Put on your service dress, and make sure you shave first.”
    I didn’t know what to say for a few moments. “Is this in regard to the incident with the smuggler?”
    “He wasn’t a smuggler. You just confirmed that fact.”
    “I reported that I couldn’t find anything with a cursory inspection.”
    “Never mind. No, this isn’t about your obsession with small-time criminals. I’ve been ‘asked’ by CENTCOM to deliver you to Capital City.”
    “Ah,” I said, understanding at last.
    A major part of my mistreatment among the guardsmen came from the fact I was a member of a prominent family. My father was a Public Servant, one of several hundred such individuals on Earth. Together, they ran what passed for our government. As my father hadn’t approved of my