Free Galaxy Blues by Allen Steele Page A

it safely to the ground. I know those lifeboats, kid…I’ve got the same type installed on my own ships…and they’re a bitch to handle. And you managed to land one on your own, with no help from either the Lee or local traffic control. Like I said, I am impressed.”
    â€œThank you.” Yet I remained skeptical. “How do you know I’m not just lucky, though?”
    â€œOnce I found out who you were, I had my people check you out. You’re a rather interesting fellow, Jules. Graduated fourth in your class at the Academia del Espacio . Served as a junior officer aboard the…what was the name of that ship?”
    â€œThe WHSS Victory of Social Collectivism on Mars .”
    â€œOh, yes. Right.” He rolled his eyes in distaste. “Never could understand the Union Astronautica’s penchant for propagandizing ship names.” He frowned. “You might have eventually earned your captain’s bars if it hadn’t been for that business with your brother.” A pause. “You realize, of course, you could’ve saved your career if…”
    â€œYou’re not saying anything I haven’t heard before.” I didn’t like to talk about Jim, particularly not with strangers. And so far as I was concerned, Morgan Goldstein was still little more than a rich guy who’d come to visit me in jail. “So what is it you want me to do? Be your commanding officer?”
    Goldstein stared at me for a couple of seconds, then laughed out loud. “You certainly do have balls, don’t you?” Leaning back in his chair, he shook his head in obvious amusement. “I already have a CO, son, along with a capable first officer. What I need now is someone qualified to fly a shuttle, or just about any other small craft we may have aboard.” His smile reappeared. “I had one or two other people in mind, but when I saw that you’d worked as a longshoreman on Highgate…well, I knew I had my man.”
    If he meant to knock me down a peg or two, he did a good job of doing so. So I wasn’t being recruited for the big chair, nor even for the little one, but for a task that notoriously falls to Academy wash-outs, with my former employment as a pod jockey being the final selling point. If this was a job interview, I might have been tempted to walk out of the room…if I’d been able to, that is.
    â€œThanks for considering me,” I murmured, trying to keep my temper in check. “So happy to hear that I’m suitable for your needs.”
    â€œMore than suitable. You’re the very man I’ve been looking for.” Goldstein became more somber. “That is, of course, unless you want to go home. Then all I have to do is leave and let my friends among the magistrates know that you’re not interested. In that case, they’ll call you in first thing tomorrow morning. The legal system here on Coyote may not be very merciful, but it is quick. You’ll get a fair and speedy trial, and I have little doubt that you’ll be deported. After that…” He shrugged.
    â€œAnd if I sign up with you?”
    â€œThen I put in a good word for you with the maggies, informing them I’m willing to post bail for you if you plead nolo contendere . You get one year probation, the government takes into consideration your petition for political amnesty, and in the meantime you go to work for me.” Another smile. “I’ll even throw in a salary commensurate with that of a first-class spacer…nonunion, of course…and see what I can do about finding you a room at an inn here in town. So what do you say?”
    As if I had a choice? Besides, I had to admit, what he was offering was tempting under any circumstances. In the Union Astronautica, I might have eventually risen to the rank of captain…in which case I would have commanded a Mars cycleship, or even a Jovian freighter, and spent my life shuffling