Free The Star Pirate's Folly by James Hanlon

just him, his wine, and the steady stream
of current events unfolding in front of him. He at least deserved a few moments
of peace with all the chaos going on.
    Then a call came through.
    Strump groaned but answered. “What
is it? Quickly, please.”
    An error message came up where
there should have been a face, and the voice that came through was distorted.
“Hello again, Governor.”
    Strump nearly dropped his wine. “It’s
you,” he said with quiet terror.
    “You were very rude to me last
time we spoke.”
    Strump pulled at the neck of his
suit. “Y-yes, I remember. I still can’t just—”
    “That’s on the list of words I
didn’t want to hear from you, Strump.”
    “I—I’m sorry—”
    “Yeah, that’s on the list too. Why
don’t you try yes? ”
    “They’ll kill me—they’ll know it
was me. Jensen Lee got himself seen. The whole police force is after him, I
can’t just let him through the gates,” the Governor said, and put some strength
back in his voice. “No, I won’t do it. I won’t do that for you. I’ll
preserve what dignity I have left. These people voted for me. They believe in
me. I won’t help you.”
    “Oh, come on, Strump. You're only
Governor thanks to me.”
    “I refuse,” Strump declared with
an air of finality, and ended the call.
    The display lenses didn’t respond
to his input.
    “You know, Reginald, I’ve
been helping you out here. Working with you. Tell me with a straight face you
would’ve gotten re-elected without my help. Those people were at your throat a
few months ago, and now they worship you. I’ve given you this much, and I can
take it away just as easily. Open your gates to let my man Lee out and I won’t
touch your city. Or you can continue being difficult and I’ll smash it to
dust.”
    “I won’t do it—”
    “ YOU WILL! ”
    Strump trembled at the shout and
nearly dropped the datapad.
    “I have been lenient with
you, dirtwalker. The streak of paltry victories that kept you your title, Governor ,
were not earned by you, they were given to you. By me. I have allowed
your military to believe it’s dealt with the pirate threat for the moment, but
I will not wait any longer. Give me the map. Let Jensen Lee out of your city,
or I’ll take your head first, Strump.”
    Governor Strump’s only reply was a
mewling sob. The scrambled voice on the other end heaved an exasperated sigh.
    “Look, I want to make this deal
work but my boys are getting very restless, Strump. They don’t want this to
work. They want you to let your pride get the better of you. They want to be in
your cities, eating your fine food and ravishing your fine women. And they know
all I’ve got to do is let them loose. Just a bunch of snarling dogs. Animal
urges, you know. But I just want the map. And if you give it to me I can lead
this pack of howling dogs away. Without that map….”
    “I won’t,” whispered Strump.
    “It’s your head, Strump. We’re
coming.”
    The display window vanished and Governor
Strump, once again alone, collapsed into a dejected heap, sobbing with his head
on his desk.
    ***
    Gim stared out at the stars through the thick window in the
living room of the Governor’s quarters. He had spent the past three and a half
hours standing in the same spot mentally reviewing what he was instructed to
cook for Governor Strump’s post-meeting breakfast. The local ingredients
shifted seasonally: today it would be three grilled venison spice sausages, two
fried warbler eggs, one thinly sliced chilled lotus fruit, and of course the
accompanying lotus tea. Yesterday Strump confirmed his menu for the day ahead,
and he said he would be “looking forward to each meal.”
    Gim considered this unusually high praise. As a fabricant,
most humans didn’t bother to show him the same social niceties they might give
another human. People normally spoke to him as one would any other machine:
they either gave orders or asked for information. The Governor was oddly polite
to