Prison Ship by Michael Bowers Read Free Book Online Page A

inmate.”
    Steiner huffed. “If it murdered once, it will again. Maybe that’s who killed Barker.”
    “That’s not fair. Give him a chance. When you reach your first port, if you still feel you cannot trust him, you can have him transferred off.”
    “I don’t want Tramer here at all—not after what it did.”
    Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Many other members of your crew have murdered people.”
    “But not crumpled their victims.”
    “Listen to me, Jake. I’ve interviewed him in depth several times. He’s the same man who helped us upgrade the Valiant eight years ago.”
    “No,” Steiner shouted, pounding his fist on the table.
    The noise startled several of the convicts close to them. They turned to stare. Steiner ignored them and sipped at his drink as if nothing had happened. The men lost interest.
    “Maxwell is dead,” Steiner said much softer. “Some cyberneticists created their version of life using what was left of his body. Don’t ask me to treat it like anything except what it is: a killing machine.”
    “I would transfer him off if I could, but no facility in the area is equipped with the security needed to house him.”
    “What about its previous prison?”
    “It’s located in the Southern Territory of the galaxy. No vessel is available to transport him there before the P.A.V. launches. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take him as far as the Tycus base. That’s where you’ll get an encrypted Orders disk.”
    “That’s two weeks away. I don’t want that thing on board for a day. Use your prestigious rank to influence someone to take it.”
    Her countenance darkened. “There’s nothing I can do. You’re stuck with him for a while.”
    Steiner wanted to hit the table again but couldn’t afford any more attention. “I can’t understand why you ever enlisted Tramer to begin with,” he said.
    “I gave him a second chance, just like I gave you,” Suzanne replied.
    Loud cheers rose from the counter, where a group of prisoners had rallied together. Bricket grumbled as he backed away from the assembly. A man climbed up on the bar and danced around, shouting for everyone’s attention.
    When the room quieted, the man stood erect. “Do you know who I am?”
    The crowd responded in an unintelligible chatter of individual voices. Steiner recognized him as one of the maintenance personnel but couldn’t remember his name.
    “I’m Captain Barker, raised from the dead,” the man shouted. Boos and hisses rose up in reply. “I’m here to make soldiers out of you all. We’ll start with our daily exercises.” He did jumping jacks while being assaulted by wadded-up napkins.
    “I’m sure they’re just venting their frustrations,” Suzanne whispered.
    Steiner imagined the real Joseph Barker acting like this caricature. Maybe that was why he was killed. Maybe he tried to make this ragged bunch into a model crew.
    “If anyone does anything wrong,” the phony captain threatened, “I’ll punish all of you.”
    “Kill him,” several people chanted.
    Reaching under his tunic, Steiner’s fingers tightened around the handle of his AT-7.
    “Don’t do anything yet, Jake,” Suzanne pleaded. “They’re just fooling around.”
    Louis Rathen, one of the pilots she had briefed him about, jumped onto the counter. The audience went wild as he bowed. “Time to die,” he bellowed at the other actor. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a pistol.
    Steiner sprang to his feet and stormed through the crowd, shoving convicts out of his path. Somewhere behind him, he heard Suzanne shouting for him to stop.
    Louis Rathen pretended to shoot his gun. The “captain” grabbed his chest and fell into the raised arms of nearby patrons. When the mob lowered the actor to the ground, Steiner greeted the man with an uppercut to the jaw. Rage constricted the faces of all the spectators. When Steiner whipped out his AT-7, they backed away.
    Louis Rathen stood motionless on the counter, staring down in