Captain Future xx - The Death of Captain Future (October 1995) Read Free Page A

expects everyone to go along with the idea. And he's supposed to be real tough on people ... you might think he was a perfectionist, if he wasn't such a slob himself.”
    I had worked for both kinds before, along with a few weirdos. They didn't bother me, so long as the money was right and they minded their own business. “Ever met him?”
    Schumacher held out his hand; I passed the flask back to him and he took another swig. Must be the life, sitting on your ass all day, getting drunk and deciding people's futures. I envied him so much, I hoped someone would kindly cut my throat if I was ever in his position.
    “Nope,” he said. “Not once. He spends all his time on the Comet , even when he's back here. Hardly ever leaves the ship, from what I've been told ... and that's another thing. Guys who've worked for him say that he expects his crew to do everything but wipe his butt after he visits the head. Nobody gets a break on his ship, except maybe his first officer.”
    “What about him?”
    “Her. Nice girl, name of...” He thought hard for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Jeri. Jeri Lee-Bose, that's it.” He smiled. “I met her once, not long before she went to work on the Comet . She's sweet, for a google.”
    He winked and dropped his voice a bit. “I hear she's got a thing for us apes,” he murmured. “In fact, I've been told she's bunking with her captain. If half of what I've heard about McKinnon is true, that must make him twice as sick as I've heard.”
    I didn't reply. Schumacher dropped his feet and leaned across the desk, lacing his fingers together as he looked straight at me. “Look, Rohr,” he said, as deadly serious as if he was discussing my wanting to marry his sister, “I know you're working under a time limit and how much the Jove Commerce job means to you. But I gotta tell you, the only reason why Captain Future would even consider taking aboard a short-timer is because nobody else will work for him. He's just as desperate as you are, but I don't give a shit about him. If you wanna turn it down, I won't add it to your card and I'll save your place in line. It'll just be between you and me. Okay?”
    “And if I turn it down?”
    He wavered his hand back and forth. “Like I said, I can try to find you another gig. The Nickel Queen 's due home in another six weeks or so. I've got some pull with her captain, so maybe I can get you a job there ... but honest to Jesus, I can't promise anything. The Queen 's a good ship and everyone I know wants to work for her, just as much as nobody wants to get within a klick of the Comet .”
    “So what do you suggest I do?”
    Schumacher just smiled and said nothing. As my union rep, he was legally forbidden against making any decisions for me; as a pal, he had done his best to warn me about the risks. From both points of view, though, he knew I didn't have any real choice. I could spend three months aboard a ship run by a borderline psycho, or the rest of my life jacking off on the Moon.
    I thought about it for a few moments, then I asked for the contract.
* * * *

The three Futuremen who were Curt Newton's faithful, lifelong comrades made a striking contrast to their tall, red-haired young leader.
—Hamilton; The Comet Kings (1942)
    One-sixth gravity disappeared as I crawled through the carousel hatch and entered the bridge.
    The Comet's command center was located in the non-rotating forward deck of the crew module. The bridge was the largest single compartment in the ship, but even in freefall it was cramped: chairs, consoles, screens, emergency suit lockers, the central navigation table with its holo tank and, at the center of the low ceiling, the hemispherical bulge of the observation blister.
    The ceiling lamps were turned down low when I came in—The Brain was mimicking Earth-time night—but I could see Jeri seated at her duty station on the far end of the circular deck. She looked around when she heard the hatch open.
    “Morning,” she