Free Counterweight by A. G. Claymore Page B

building.
Graadt stopped them by the railing and turned to Nid. “Their ship gets back any
day now. Get over to the tether station and let us know the instant word comes
down about them. Yoyeco’s our target and he’ll want to talk to the ‘old man’
when he comes back down here.”
    As Nid moved off, he turned to Kaans, handing him the chip
with the fifty thousand credits. “Get us a midsize vehicle, fully enclosed but
with good tactical specs. Meet me up on seventy-three near the entertainment
zone and we’ll go get our weapons.” He grinned.
    They were about to flush the prey.

A Change of Management
    The Foxlight II, En
route to Chaco Benthic
    R ick
woke with a start. A young man, half naked, was backing away from him; edging
back into the cargo space of the small shuttle. Movement in the cargo bay
caught Rick’s eye and he realized there was a woman, trying to cover her nude
body with a tattered old sweater. He jumped a second time as his helmet,
reading his elevated vital signs, snapped shut. He sub-vocalized a command in
Dheema and it retracted.
    He suddenly understood the cause of the torrid dream he’d
just been jarred out of. The young couple had obviously been using the shuttle
for a romantic encounter. Either Rick had made a noise in his sleep or they had
decided to move the festivities into the cockpit of the small vessel. Either
way, he’d been discovered.
    Ordinarily, he would be awakened by the risk of discovery,
but the dream had distracted him. He remembered a mild feeling of alarm, but he was dreaming of Nell and she had almost always managed to scramble his
abilities.
    Now, however, he was back to full awareness and he gazed at
the young man, probing him with unasked questions. The result was almost as
ridiculous as the conditions of his discovery.
    Their situation was almost as perilous as Rick’s. That their
tryst was forbidden fruit was obvious, even without pre-cog ability. Otherwise,
they would be in their quarters right now, not scrambling to find their
clothing in the back of a darkened shuttle.
    But Rick also knew that their parents would be enraged by
their lack of self-control. The Tauhentan criminal class, it seemed, was
jealously protective of family honor and both of these young lovers were
terrified of their secret getting out. He probed again and discovered they
risked being demoted in their family precessions.
    Not only would they inherit less, they would have to wait
for their younger siblings to wed before them.
    They clearly didn’t want to bring him before the captain for
fear of what he might say and he didn’t want to let this drag out long enough
for them to think of just killing him. He looked at the young man, the first to
finish dressing. “Let’s go see the captain.”
    Without waiting for an answer, he strolled past the young
woman and out the side hatch. He knew where he was going, having left the shuttle
on occasion to forage for food and water. With his fourteen second advantage,
it was child’s play to wander the ship during the dog watches. The hangar bay
was partially filled with spicewood trunks and it gave him a measure of
comfort, a scent of home. The vast majority of the cargo was in the hold, but
they had filled every available space with the wood and the shuttle bay had a
prince’s ransom sitting between the two shuttles used to bring the wood up to
the ship.
    “Ummm, listen,” the young man called, racing to catch up
with Rick “about…” He stopped talking as Rick turned to face him.
    “You’d like me to forget what I saw,” Rick suggested. “Is
that it?”
    An eager nod.
    “Well, I’d like a little support when we talk to your
captain.” Rick shrugged carelessly. “A voice of reason, an offer to keep an eye
on the stowaway, that kind of thing.” He took a step forward and put a calming
hand on the young man’s shoulder, already knowing what his next words were but
trying to reinforce their interdependence before dealing with the new