Free Quiet Knives by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Page A

standard years
of vacation time coming. We could go somewhere... like maybe
Panore."
    He favored her suddenly with a grin that
made her sway as she laughed.
    "A couple years vacation? On Panore, is it?
What did you do? Loot the strongbox?"
    His grin faded; and Midj
felt a chill. Suppose he had looted the
joint ?
    "Nah," he admitted wryly, "I didn't. It's
just that I never really took much time off. I mean the Judge
project, it kept me pretty busy. And..."
    "But Panore? I'd have thought you'd forgot
that..."
    He shook his head then, and snorted a quiet
laugh, and kind of talked into his cup for a minute like he was
afraid, or too shy, to look at her.
    "Nah. I always did mean to get out to
Panore, you know. And I always kept hoping there'd be some way I
could maybe get you to go with me. So when I got a chance, I put
some of my money into a condo-building out there... one unit's
mine. "
    He looked up, caught the look of amaze that
had left her mouth half open. She felt the words spill out
unbidden.
    "What? Panore's for fatcats! Do you have any
idea of what it costs to live on a place like that? I, I..."
    He signed a quick yes in pilot's hand-talk
as he finished his 'toot.
    "So yeah, I do know. But now that you
brought it up, why don't we find us a cargo or two that'll take us
out that way, make sure we can still work together. Then, we can
make sure we can still play together."
    He put the cup down, unexpectedly reached
his hand to hers. "Tell me it's a deal, and I'll sign the book as
co-pilot right now, if you like. "
    "Deal," she said, and squeezed his hand
before pulling the logbook out on its trip tray.
    * * * * * *
     
     
     

 
     
    About the Authors
     
    Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
live in the rolling hills of Central Maine with three insistent
muses in the form of cats, and a large cast of characters. Best
known for their work in the Liaden Universe®, Lee and Miller have
seen published seventeen collaborative novels. Baen Books
(www.baen.com) is currently releasing all of the Liaden novels in
several omnibus volumes. The next original Liaden novel, Ghost Ship , will be
published in August 2011.