Prison Ship by Michael Bowers Read Free Book Online Page B

apparent bewilderment.
    With a powerful swipe of his free hand, Steiner knocked the pilot’s feet out from under him, sending him crashing down against the hard surface. While Rathen was still dazed, Steiner whisked the pistol from his grasp.
    “Jake,” Suzanne screamed.
    Steiner spun around in time to see a convict grab her by the wrist and rip her hat off.
    “It’s a woman,” the man exclaimed.
    Steiner aimed both gun muzzles, causing everyone in their sights to drop to the ground. “Let her go,” he ordered, then squeezed the triggers. Energy bolts dug into the table right next to the man holding Suzanne, shattering all the glass mugs on it.
    The convict released her and threw up his hands.
    Silence engulfed the room as all eyes fixed on Steiner. “I’m your new captain,” he shouted. “I won’t be as easy to kill as Barker.”
    Suzanne stepped through the gathering, giving him an irritated glare.
    “I expect all of you to be cleaned up for the launch tomorrow,” he bellowed at the men.
    After handing the confiscated pistol to Suzanne, he yanked Rathen off the counter and dragged him toward the exit. A path split apart for them as they passed through the crowd. Before leaving the establishment, he took a last look at his future crew, making sure they didn’t make any sudden moves. They appeared too surprised to do anything but gape. Behind the counter, Bricket’s bearded face grinned with pleasure.
    Steiner led his prisoner some distance from the bar, then shoved him up against the bulkhead. “Where did you get a pistol?”
    “I can’t remember.”
    Steiner pressed the barrel of his AT-7 into Rathen’s nostrils. “Since I’m a convict, too, it wouldn’t make much difference if I burned your head off right now.”
    “One of the visiting technicians sold it to me,” the pilot blurted out.
    “How many more weapons are on board?”
    “I don’t know—maybe a dozen.”
    Steiner leered at Suzanne. “So much for your tight security.”
    She ignored the remark. “What are you going to do to him?”
    “Throw him off this ship as an example to the others.”
    “You need three pilots. How am I going to find a replacement by tomorrow?”
    “Can you enlist anyone?”
    “Just about. Why?”
    “I know a pilot.”

CHAPTER 6
     
    “I can’t believe I agreed to do this,” Mason said as he looked out a window at the docked P.A.V. “A Peacemaker. They haven’t made one of these in about thirty years. We’ll be outmatched by every vessel we encounter.”
    As Steiner expected, Suzanne responded immediately with her defense. “As I pointed out to you earlier, Mr. Mason, you won’t be required to engage any enemy craft. Your missions will only be of an information-gathering nature.”
    “Oh, I forgot. We’re pirates, working for the U.S.S.” Suzanne rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.
    Steiner hadn’t been surprised that Mason had joined the program. The man probably would have done anything to escape his mundane prison life.
    Sam pressed his face against the transparent glass. “What’s it like traveling through phased space?”
    “You’ve never experienced the fifth dimension?” Mason asked.
    The teenager’s eyes widened as the pilot exaggerated about interphasing in order to traverse the galaxy at greater speeds than physically possible. Mason emphasized the need for highly skilled hoppers, like himself, to make sure that they didn’t collide with anything along the way.
    Steiner smiled, amused by Sam’s innocent excitement. When he had visited Atwood to enlist Mason, he had never intended to bring Sam along. But the boy had begged to come, and suddenly it had seemed like a sort of solution since the alternative was leaving him behind at Big Al’s mercy. Besides, Jake needed a friend he could trust.
    Suzanne drew Steiner back from his fellow shipmates. “How do you know Rick Mason is any good at space piloting? When I did a background check on him, I came up