Free AGU SCI 1: The Star Brotherhood by Thomas DePrima Page B

done," Blaswetta said into the phone. "Vyx agreed to take the cargo for one point four million GA Credits. I told him the cargo would be delivered to his ship tomorrow morning. He's most anxious to get off this planet. The attacks by assassins have been increasing in frequency."
    Listening for a few seconds, he replied, "No, he's fine so far. I've never seen anyone move so fast. It's like he can see the trouble before it starts. But eventually, the attackers have to get lucky. Nobody's luck lasts forever. If you want him alive to take the cargo, you'd better have it at his ship in the morning. Yes, I'll be there to see him off, but I'm staying in my vehicle as long as I can. I don’t want to get caught in any crossfire."
    "So an Uthlaran female was hiding in the cab and shot at you as the doors opened?" Brenda said with incredulity in her voice. "And you killed her?"
    "I didn't know she was a female until we dragged her corpse out of the cab. But an assassin's gender won't stop me from killing someone who's trying to kill me. All I see is a murderer who's made a choice to kill for fun or profit."
    "After that group of Tsgardis were almost wiped out when they destroyed the first Scorpion ," Nelligen said, "I thought that would be the last of their attempts on you."
    "I admit I never expected their thirst for revenge to carry this far from their home territory, but now that Space Command has bottled them up in their home system, I guess they realized they'd have to farm out a contract if they ever expect to get my head."
    "There must be a way to stop this and nullify that contract," Kathryn said.
    "Short of bombing their home world into oblivion or cutting them off completely from all trade and outside contact, including a complete blackout on off-world communications, I don't see how."
    "I sort of like that latter idea," Byers said. "They're nothing but animals anyway. The GA should just isolate them completely."
    "I'm sure the GA Senate won't approve that for just this one incidence, but if the problem grows, it might be something they'll consider."
    "But putting out a contract such as this means you couldn't even be safe on Earth," Brenda said.
    "We're SCI. Being safe wasn't part of the package when we signed on."
    "Neither was playing target for every assassin hard up for cash," Nelligen said. "This is the third assassination attempt in a week. There must be a way to stop it."
    "I'm open to suggestions. The first attack was by a fool who picked the wrong target, but that seems to have made me enough of a celebrity that my name got passed around and someone discovered the Tsgardi contract. Who knows how long that's been hanging around without anyone knowing who Trader Vyx was."
    "The genie's out of the bottle now," Brenda said.
    "We'll be gone tomorrow, so we should have six months of peace and quiet."
    "Maybe," Kathryn said," but I don't like not knowing what we're carrying or where we're going."
    "I don't either, but I also don't like having a bull's-eye painted on my back. I need time to think about this."
    "In the meantime," Nelligen said, "we'd better check the cargo bay doors and prepare the space."
    "Good idea. We haven't opened the bay doors wide enough for a full cargo container in a couple of years."
    "I'm beat," Byers wheezed, as he flopped onto a pile of cargo blankets in the cargo bay.
    "Come on, Albert," Vyx said. "We almost have it. We just need to clean and lubricate this last set of gears so the bay doors will open to their maximum size."
    "Just give me ten minutes to rest."
    "Move your fat behind and you'll lose some of that lard you're carrying around," Nelligen said.
    "Whatever."
    "Let him rest, Vyx. When he's too tired to argue, he's telling the truth."
    "Come on, Nels, help me get this gear cover off."
    An hour later the maintenance work was done, and the doors opened to their full measure when tested. They would now be able to load the cargo containers that were expected in the morning. The last task