Free Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) by Mike Resnick Page A

many artificial parts to give you a courtly bow of sincerity, but try to imagine it.”
    “Fine,” said Val. “Get me my own ship.”

9
     
    “It’s simple enough,” explained David Copperfield when the senior officers met aboard the Teddy R. “It should take a week, two at the most, and we’ll have a million Far London pounds.”
    “How much is that in real money?” asked Forrice.
    “About two million Republic credits, or just under half a million Maria Theresa dollars, give or take,” said Copperfield. “And, if Olivia Twist works it right, there’s every possibility that she’ll wind up with her own ship.”
    “Why not humor me and call me Val?” she said.
    “My dear woman, you’ve had eleven different names just in the time I’ve known you,” answered Copperfield. “Why don’t you humor an old man and let me call you the name that pleases me the most?”
    “Save it, David,” said Val. “You’re probably not old, you’re certainly not a man, and that name was used just once, by Cole not by me, solely to gain entrance to your office.”
    “Details, details,” replied Copperfield.
    “Cut to the chase,” said Cole. “What exactly are we being paid to do?”
    “The Apollo Cartel exports all the gemstones that are extracted from any world within twenty light-years of Bannister II,” said Copperfield. He sighed deeply. “I could have told them not to locate there.”
    “Why not?” asked Forrice.
    “Because it’s right in the middle of the territory controlled by a very minor warlord who has taken the name of Genghis Khan, who controls Bannister and its neighboring systems with an iron hand. He was there five years ahead of them, so it can hardly be a surprise that he’s causing them problems.”
    “Is he human?” asked Cole.
    “With a name like Genghis Khan he’d have to be,” said Christine.
    “Don’t bet on it,” said Cole. “Out here they change names the way you and I change clothes.”
    “But his name—” she began.
    “Is David human?” interrupted Cole.
    “I’m human where it counts,” said Copperfield with dignity.
    “Fine,” said Cole. “Just don’t point to where it counts.” Then: “So is Genghis Khan a Man?”
    “To tell the truth, I have absolutely no idea what race he belongs to,” said Copperfield. “I don’t know anyone who’s ever seen him.”
    “All right,” said Cole. “Someone or something called Genghis Khan thinks he owns the Bannister system, and the Apollo Cartel wants him gone. That explains why they want the Teddy R . But how does it get Val her ship?”
    “Khan sends a representative once a week to collect what I think you would call protection money,” said Copperfield. “This representative travels without any enforcers or bodyguards, because no one in the system, or indeed anywhere in the sector, dares to stand up to Genghis Khan.” He shot Val a smile. “He doesn’t get to Bannister by flapping his arms.”
    “Too easy,” said Cole. “No one’s going to pay us a million pounds to kill a lone man, especially if it’s not Genghis Khan himself.”
    “Of course not,” said Copperfield. “I was answering your question about replacing dear Olivia’s late lamented vessel. That is where she’ll get her ship, if she’s so inclined. As for earning the million pounds, that will require the elimination of Genghis Khan and his followers—or should I call them his horde?—as a threat to the Apollo Cartel.”
    “How many ships has he got and where are they located?” asked Cole.
    “I don’t know,” said Copperfield with an eloquent shrug.
    “Ask the Platinum Duke,” said Cole.
    “He’s just a middleman,” replied Copperfield. “The commission is being offered by the Cartel, which I gather has never even seen the self-styled Emperor Khan, let alone his headquarters.”
    “David,” said Cole, “how do I know this isn’t another assignment that sound easy until we learn that the enemy’s got twenty ships all