Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) Read Free Page A

go to war with the Republic.”
    “Yeah, we’re only ten or twelve million ships short,” he said sardonically.
    “You have to start somewhere.”
    “I sent David to bed without his supper,” said Cole. “That’s enough of a start for one day.”
    “Want me to be your negotiator?” offered Val.
    He shook his head. “How far would you get? You’re wanted on almost as many worlds as I am.”
    “But they’re different worlds,” she said.
    “Thanks, but no thanks,” said Cole. “You’re most valuable doing just what you do.”
    She shrugged. “You’re the captain.” Then: “But I wish you’d saved one of those ships for me.”
    “Think about it,” said Cole. “Do you want a ship that can’t beat the Teddy R with four sister ships on your side?”
    “ I could beat it,” said Val.
    He considered the statement for a few seconds. “Probably you could,” he admitted.
    “So next time, don’t kill every last ship.”
    “They were all shooting at us, and they’d damned near englobed us.”
    “You can’t englobe with less than six ships, and twelve is optimum,” put in Malcolm Briggs helpfully.
    “I said ‘damned near,’” said Cole irritably.
    “Next time let me take a shuttle and approach the enemy under a flag of truce,” she said. “Slick can hide on the outside of it until we’ve docked at the ship I want.”
    “Under a flag of truce?” repeated Cole.
    “I promise there won’t be any survivors to file a complaint after Slick and I get done with ’em,” said Val.
    “We’ll see,” said Cole.
    “Okay, but remember what I told you: two ships can get more lucrative assignments.”
    “I’ll remember.”
    “Sir,” said Slick’s voice. “The damage is superficial. I see no reason to address it until the next time we put into port.”
    “The Teddy R doesn’t put into ports, Slick,” said Cole. “It has an aversion to atmospheres.”
    “I mean, the next time we dock at an orbiting station.”
    “I’ll take it under advisement,” said Cole. “Now get back inside the ship. Do you need anyone to help you tend to your Gorib?”
    “No, thank you, sir,” said Slick. “We can manage by ourselves.”
    Too bad , thought Cole. I’ve been on this ship for more than two years, and I still don’t know what you look like without your second skin.
    “We’ve moved out half a light-year,” announced Wxakgini, who seemed to have decided never to add a “sir” until Cole learned how to pronounce his name and stopped calling him “Pilot.”
    “Thanks, Pilot,” said Cole. He turned back to Christine. “Tell Four Eyes he can leave the Gunnery section. It’d probably be a good idea if he went to bed. Someone on this ship ought to be wide awake ten or twelve hours from now.” He looked around, couldn’t find anything else requiring his attention, and decided to go down to the mess hall, where he sat at his usual table in the corner and ordered a sandwich and a beer.
    “You look terrible,” said Sharon Blacksmith, entering the mess hall and sitting down opposite him.
    “Flattery will get you nowhere,” said Cole. “There are a couple of twenty-two-year-old ensigns on this ship who happen to think that I look great.”
    “That’s because they’re young and inexperienced,” said Sharon. “Seriously, when’s the last time you had any sleep?”
    “Let me see. The attack came right at the end of blue shift, and I’d been up for a few hours. Then we fought through red shift, and now it’s about six hours into white shift. So I’ve been up, I don’t know, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three hours.”
    “When you’re through feeding your face, go to bed.”
    “Not ‘come to bed’?”
    “You’d fall asleep in the middle of it,” said Sharon. “My vanity couldn’t stand that.”
    “Well, if you think you’re that uninteresting . . .”
    “Of course, you don’t have to drink all that beer. I could just throw it in your face.”
    “You know,” said Cole after a