Starfist: Blood Contact by David Sherman & Dan Cragg Read Free Book Online Page A

Crew—and when the operation was over, they quietly returned to being hardworking citizens.
    Scanlon planned the forays with the utmost care. For one thing, he never combined piracy with legitimate business. His public affairs were always in perfect order and his accounts open for audit by anyone who wished to see them. And he kept no records on his illegal and highly profitable enterprises.
    No illegal goods were ever allowed into his warehouses on Jenny, and they stayed in the holds of his star-faring vessels only long enough to be offloaded on an uncharted asteroid or one of the small moons scattered throughout various systems where he kept his stashes.
    Other pirate bands, operating along more traditional lines—roving and marauding—also preyed on commerce between the pioneer worlds, and Scanlon made a public show of cooperating with the authorities to wipe them out. But when Scanlon himself "hoisted the Jolly Roger"—he liked that ancient term for raiding—he could be more vicious than any of his competitors. They were aboveboard about what they were and what they did, but Scanlon lived a double life. Piracy was merely business for Scanlon, and to protect his identity he did not leave behind many witnesses. He raided only when the chances of success were assured and the potential profits very high, and he was very good at foisting the blame on other bands for his depredations. Before Cameron came along, Scanlon had been enjoying a string of very profitable heists.
    When Cameron showed up looking for a job at Scanlon's offices at Sodus Bay, the capital city of New Genesee, he was turned down at first. Lowboy, Scanlon's "personnel director," had advised his boss that Cameron was too chancy, and Scanlon agreed. It was dangerous to let someone you didn't know into an operation like his, so Cameron was told to go back to his hotel and look for other work.
    Meanwhile, Lowboy put a tail on the stranger. If he turned out to be a spy for a competitor or working for the Confederation, Lowboy would take care of him.
    Cameron knew a lot about the military and he drank a lot. And he hated the Confederation Marine Corps. "Probably an ex-Marine," Lowboy advised Scanlon. "Probably got kicked out."
    Scanlon thought about that. "We could use someone with a bit of military experience," he mused.
    "Think he really means it? I mean this hard-on for the Marines?"
    Lowboy shrugged. "Sounds like he does. The guy drinks a lot. I mean a lot. No undercover agent would ever make that mistake. Still... He says his name is George Cameron. I checked him out in the Blue Book"—the register of commissioned Marines—"and there's nobody by that name in there, and never has been."
    Scanlon laughed. "Hell, nobody uses his real name around here! Ex-enlisted?"
    Lowboy shrugged again. "He claims to have been an officer."
    "Ask him to come back for an interview," Scanlon said.
    "I don't know, Cap'n—"
    "Ask him."
    Finnegard Scanlon was a good judge of character. He saw several valuable qualities in the young man who called himself George Cameron. For one thing, Cameron appeared as much disgusted with himself as with the Confederation Marine Corps, upon which he blamed all his difficulties with some vehemence.
    When Scanlon asked him what had happened, Cameron became evasive. Scanlon smiled to himself.
    Clearly, the guy had screwed up badly. That was very good; Cameron would be malleable. They talked about infantry weapons and tactics. Yes, Cameron knew them well; maybe he had been an officer.
    Certainly an NCO. He was intelligent, knew weapons, tactics, communications, could handle administrative details.
    That Cameron had showed up for the interview with alcohol on his breath was actually in his favor, to Scanlon's way of thinking. It tended to support his conclusion that Cameron really was an outcast looking to hide himself and get back at society at the same time.
    "How would you like to work for me, George?" Scanlon eventually asked.
    Cameron