Rebel by Mike Resnick Read Free Book Online Page A

walking across the room to intercept Val before she could reach the table.
    "What is it?" she said ominously. "And it better be good. I'd paid for four hours, and they wouldn't give me a refund. You owe me five hundred Far London pounds."
    "I'll pay you when we're back at the ship," said Cole. "But I'm going to need your help first."
    "Doing what?" she demanded.
    "Keep your voice down and listen," said Cole, and something in his tone made her instantly alert. "In about an hour and a half, I'm going to bet five dollars over at the porchii table."
    "That's an alien game," she said. "No human can keep all those rules straight." Then: "It's a signal."
    He nodded his head. "It's a signal."
    "To whom?"
    "An old friend of yours," said Cole. "The Octopus."
    "What does he want?"
    "A meeting. We each bring one protector. You're mine."
    "Damned right I'm yours," said Val. "I'm worth five of Bull Pampas and ten of anyone else you've got on board."
    "And modest, too."
    "Modesty's for those who have something to be modest about."
    "Anyway, the man's fleet has us outnumbered five or six to one, and he's infiltrated Singapore Station to the point that he could single me out and pass word to me about the meet without anyone else seeing or knowing about it. He'll have someone we don't know at the table, ready to spot whether or not I make the bet." Cole paused. "Based on all that, I think he sounds like a good man to know."
    "I know him," replied Val. "'Good' isn't exactly the word I'd use for him. He's the biggest warlord on the Inner Frontier."
    "And I'm the most wanted criminal in the Republic," Cole reminded her.
    "He probably heard about the offer the Duke got, and figures he might as well kill you now and maybe he won't have to waste any ships going up against us. Or maybe he just plans to turn you in for the reward. It's got to be one or the other."
    "That's why you're coming with me," said Cole.
    "I hope he tries," she said grimly.
    "I trust you don't mind it if I hope he doesn't?"
    "All right," said Val. "Have we got anything else to talk about right now?"
    "No."
    "When do you place the bet?"
    "At 2200 hours."
    "Ship's time or station time?"
    "Station."
    "I'll see you at the porchii game then," she said. "In the meantime, I'm going to try my luck at the jabob table. If I have a run of bad luck, I assume you'll honor my marker for up to five hundred pounds?"
    He nodded. "I said I owed it to you."
    "Good," she said, flashing him a smile. "You get to live long enough to place your bet."
    She was on her way to the gaming tables before he could answer.
    "Get your business taken care of?" asked the Duke when he returned to the table.
    "Yeah."
    "Good. I've bought a controlling interest in a discreet little restaurant at the far end of the station, just above the transport level. Why don't the three of us go over there and see if I've made a wise investment?"
    "Later," said Cole.
    "It's got mutated beef from Greenveldt," said the Duke enticingly.
    "I'm not hungry now. I'll catch up with you later."
    "Your loss," said the Duke, getting to his feet. "David?"
    "I'll wait until my old school chum is ready," answered Copper-field. "He shouldn't have to eat alone."
    "But it's all right if I do?" said the Duke, amused.
    "You're a capitalist swine," explained Copperfield. "We're merely consumers."
    The Duke laughed. "How can I argue with that? I'll see you later."
    "You should have gone with him," said Cole.
    "I wanted to stay and see how they contact you."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "Come on, Steerforth," said Copperfield. "I was the biggest fence on the Inner Frontier. Covert contact is my forte. You sit here, you have nothing to say, you practically chase Sharon away, you speak to the Valkyrie where no one can overhear you, you turn down a free meal at the Duke's new restaurant. What else could it be? You're waiting here to be contacted, and Val has something to do with it. Probably she's your protection."
    Cole stared at the little alien for