Price of Ransom Read Free

forward to the wall and slammed it with a closed fist. “I won’t hunt my own down, you bastards.”
    “On the record,” said the woman smugly, “it states that when you were first granted your license you agreed that if any saboteurs had broken codified law they would be an acceptable bounty. And you did bring in one ex-saboteur named Trueblood. Seventeen years ago.”
    “Trueblood deserved what he got. He went sour after the war ended, and no matter what you think, there weren’t any of ‘us’ who condoned rape. We killed a guy once—a nice, respectable stationmaster—who we caught trying to do some poor underage Kapellan female who was a refugee from Betaos. Actually,” he grinned, a predator’s look, “ we didn’t kill him. We just got him drunk and convinced him to sleep with a sweet je’jiri girl, and let her clan do the rest.”
    So close to the glass, he could see their bodies react, if not their faces. The second man shuddered, obvious. The woman stiffened, tense and disapproving.
    Only the first man remained unruffled. “I am relieved to hear that there is still honor, of a kind, among thieves. Shall we return to the screen? The alternative, you realize, is that you will be arrested under inter-League law as adopted at the Second Concordance Postwar Convention and immediately sentenced to life in the prison station here at Concord, from which, I might remind you, there have been no—and I mean zero—escapes since its installation.”
    “That’s it, huh? What about my partners?”
    “Their visas will be revoked, and they will, of course, be allowed passage to the nearest Ardakian embassy so that they can return to their home planet.”
    “And I’ll bet you know damned well that they’re not welcome there.” Korey opened his fist, tapped his index finger twice on the shielding wall, and moved to get a better look at the screen.
    Eight faces. He examined them one by one.
    “Apple? He’s dead. You’re Intelligence. I thought you would know that.” He chuckled, low. “Though it makes me feel better to know you didn’t. Jewel. Can’t help you there. She signed on with Yi about six years back and I’m not going to tangle with him.”
    “Ah,” said the first man. The first two pictures flicked off into blackness.
    “Eboi. I don’t know what happened to him. He was as decent as they come, by any standard, and he must be going on old by now. If anyone deserves some peace, he does.” He glanced back at them, scornful. “But I guess you just can’t chance that he might have some latent savagery in him, can you? And you certainly won’t trust my word.” This said with mockery. “And who’s this? Katajarenta?” He laughed, frankly amused. “You’ll never find her.” Dismissed her by moving on to the next photo. “Wing.” He grinned again. “Serve you right to bring her in. She’d cut you to pieces just with her tongue.” He shook his head briefly. “She disappeared a good twenty years ago.”
    “But,” interrupted the woman, “she’s always been closely linked with—”
    “Gwyn?” exclaimed Korey, disbelieving. “You expect me to bring in Gwyn ? You’re crazy. Even if I could find him—”
    “We have a less than two-year-old location on him,” said the woman sharply. “He was last going under the name of Heredes.”
    “You’re crazy,” Korey repeated. “I’m not qualified. Nobody is. He’s the best.”
    “If I may,” interposed the first man smoothly. “I understood there was reason to believe that Gwyn was dead.”
    “Dead? Right, and I have four arms.”
    “I want it substantiated,” said the woman in a voice made more cold by its implacability. “And everyone associated with him tracked down.”
    Korey glanced through the glass again, wishing he could make out her face. A tone in her voice caught at him, and he felt it important that he identify her. He shrugged and looked at the last two pictures. “Hawk? What’s he doing here? He’s in