"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 08 - Under Twin Suns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

damned furbaggin's sisterslicin' place!
Now she glanced again at Cinnabar, who had the satchels full of magnificently-wrought, gemstone-rich jewelry
they had "liberated" from those swinish slav-ing Knormen.
Come on, Cinnabar! Get away from there!
Hellfire backed a couple of paces and decided to start ambling on along the spoke toward the station's center, the
hub. She could have the shuttle schedule checked out and down-transport arranged before the others got here.
Booda's bones, do we ever have a lot to do, on Jorinne!

In the airlock of Karmal Pak's ship, Sergeant Cosi put out a restraining hand. "Just a minute, Sarp." She lifted her
wrist and spoke.
"Cosi here, onboard Pak's ship. What's the name of the ship that just berthed next to it?-in H-2?"
Trouble, Cozy?" her wristchron asked. "Or just suspicious?"
"Uh-huh. Give me the name of the ship, Trigger."
She waited, worrying her lower lip with the edge of her overbite, staring at nothing, thinking. Then:
"Just berthed. Spacer Satana. Captain Naysan commanding."
 "Uh-huh. Captain 'April,' hmm? I thought I recog-nized this group of strangles! The captain's name isn't Naysan,
Trigger. It's Hellfire. Tall very thin woman with hair the color of prass and the disposition of a grunjok. Sound
familiar?"
"Uh-"
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Cosi smiled. Of course not. The dispatcher just had a job. Cosi was a serious policer. She was career-minded and
she did her homework. She'd make prefect or take it to court for a competency test! Chances were that not even Prefect
Havern knew about these people. He didn't study the incoming reports and warnings the way Cosi did. The grunje just
studied the sergeant he called "dec-orative" and "my Cosi."
"Hellfire of Satana," she said, rolling her eyes in Sarp's direction, "wanted in connection with the Delventine raid
months back, and a few charges on Mott-chindi-good old planet Macho. She's very, very dangerous, Trigger. And
right now she's either right around you someplace there in the hub, or on her way down to see what kind of hell she
can raise on Jorinne! Or . . . still in Spoke H on her way to . . . get the prefect on!"
"Not here, Cosi. On break. Not here at all, I mean."
While he has three of us on a detain-and-seal? Cobs, what a fart he is-and after the super-competent rascal I just
met, too! Sergeant Cosi's eyes narrowed and she edged her teeth along her lower lip while she pondered, and tried to
plan.
"All right. Listen, Trigger. She's quick to draw and quick to fire and word is she seldom takes her stopper down off
Three. Brags about it. Extreme caution with her, understand."
"Understood. Are yer sure-"
"Of course I'm not sure! I've just seen three people that left Macho onboard Satana with Captain Hellfire, pirate,
though. And it's a lot of coincidence to put three of the same description on another ship with the same name."
"Umm. Damn. Still fifteen minutes till I go on break."
Cosi rolled her eyes. "Won't work. We can't wait. Listen, I've got an idea. Try this, Trigger, and maybe we can catch
ourselves a real galaxy-wide outlaw, a killer 'stead of a nitty li'l pair of snot smugglers."
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"I'm recording, Cosi."
Cos! nodded. Oh, sure he was. If I'm wrong, the tape will pin it all right on me and blow me out of here. I'll be
back onplanet and lucky to get a job as someone's nightwatch!
She sighed. All right then. She had to take the chance. She started outlining her plan, as hastily as she
had contrived it. Then the sergeant told the dispatcher to move.
2


It seemed a bit odd and maybe even untoward, but Hellfire really couldn't take offense. And for once she was only