Free Hard Luck Hank: Prince of Suck by Steven Campbell Page A

asked
Peush.
    “I have no interest in his delusions,”
he said calmly.
    That wasn’t really a denial.
    “Yeah, but is this your speech?”
    “Hank, may I have a word?”
    “Watch them,” I told my Stair Boys, who
took up positions between the two groups.
    I walked some distance away with Peush.
    “Hank, we consider you a hero. You
helped instigate the rise of the Second Olmarr Republic. Your name is mentioned
liberally in the Noconeir.”
    I so didn’t care what that was, and gave
a weak smile. But then I realized this was the stuff I had to care about. I
couldn’t just brush it away.
    “What’s the Noconeir?”
    “It is the entire history of the Olmarr
Republics. First and Second.”
    “Sounds long.”
    “If you connected the words end-to-end
it would extend from here to the planet Ue’wantasha.”
    “Must use big words.”
    “The point is, Hank, why are you
bothering yourself with those things? It’s their kind that brought about the
decline of the First Olmarr Republic. They weakened our purity until we became a
Confederation. A failed Confederation. You of all people know how bad the
original empire was.”
    “Maybe, but I don’t know anything about
Republics.”
    “I’d be happy to give you a copy of the
Noconeir.”
    “I don’t have time to read a book that
spans solar systems. And how truthful is it going to be? How many eye witness
accounts do you have from that long ago?”
    “A number of libraries and computers
still exist, and we researched their archives diligently. You’re respected on
the station, Hank, you shouldn’t be walking around every day dealing with this.”
    “No?” I asked, humoring him.
    “You should be taking advantage of your
wisdom and experience, sitting in an office, telling others what to do. Eating.
You should be Governor, let the young people handle security.”
    I smiled.
    “Young people like your Olmarr
Republican guards?”
    “I’m not suggesting that, but we do have
many disciplined and principled members who would be willing to assist. Just
say the word and we would back you. You have to know that you would easily win,
and you could give up all…this.”
    I looked over to Hong, who was doing his
best to stretch the forty feet so he could overhear our conversation.
    Peush was a tough character to figure
out. I knew Hobardi was full of crap. I knew Hong was a zealot for his people.
I had no idea where Peush was. Did he believe all this Second Republic stuff?
    “Do you know Two Clem?” I asked him, and
I looked closely for a reaction.
    “The actor?”
    I saw nothing to betray further
knowledge. Hong was easy to bait. So was Hobardi, who didn’t even try to be
serious. But Peush was calculating and collected. Even if he knew, even if he
was carrying Two Clem on his back right now, I’m not sure he would have
betrayed his poker face.
    “Come on, let’s talk to Hong,” I said.
    We walked back and I got the men
face-to-face, though I stood nearby.
    “I am losing my allotted broadcast
time,” Peush complained.
    “So what!” Hong fired back.
    “How about this, you give your normal
speech, but with a Totki observer?” I offered.
    “I am not going to be censored,” Peush
stated.
    “How about you have me present while you
give the speech? I mean, I could do that anyway, in the name of public safety.”
I turned to Hong. “Does that satisfy you?”
    “No, they say we rats. Say we should
die. Say our children should die. Take all our property.”
    “That isn’t in my speech,” Peush said. “Though
it’s not a bad set of ideas.”
    Three people were on the ground bleeding
before I had even realized a fight started.
    Peush was whisked to the back of his
group and safety, but Hong fought right in the front. The Totki were good warriors,
but the Olmarr had those high-speed, electric chainsaws which were savagely effective.
    “Hank, look out!” I heard MTB shout.
    I turned, not especially concerned, as I
was unable to get very concerned in a