The Privateer by William Zellmann Read Free Book Online

looked at Nabel with a new respect for the old man's capabilities.
    "I'll need you to label all these loose instruments, but mostly I'm impressed. You say the inertial drive came out of a strengl ?"
    The old man bobbed his head with a proud smile. "Yep. I've had her up to 4G's. She'll do more'n that, but I'm too old fer such nonsense, an' I quit at four. Even so, I had to wear a blamed G suit!"
    Cale nodded. "All right. I'll want to try her out, but if she's as good as you say, how much will you take for her?"
    The old man cackled and rubbed his hands together. "It'll cost ya more'n one of them bars, that's fer sure!"
    They finally made a deal. Cale paid four of his bars for the ship, with the stipulation that he could bring it back within three months, and Nabel would buy it back for half price. In effect, Cale was renting the ship for two gold bars. He knew he was overpaying, and there was a chance the old man would refuse to buy L'rak back. However, nobody rents starships. At least no one who wouldn't ask many questions and demand a lot of documentation. Oh, they run charters, of course, but not rentals. This would give him a nearly untraceable ship with which to cash in a few of his sunstones. He figured that by the time word of the first deal got out, he would be able to convert two more stones, return the ship to Nabel, and take off in Scorpion without being traced. Moreover, of course, it appeared L'rak was fast enough to outrun any police or pirate ship in space.
    He used the Yor-Tarken identity on the ship's papers. It would stand up to fairly strict scrutiny, and Cale Rankin could not be tied to the ship. All this rapid and repeated name change stuff was irritating, but it wouldn't be necessary much longer; once he turned his sunstones into negotiable diamonds, he was sure he could assume the Cale Rankin identity permanently.
    Once the old man had labeled his jury-rigged instruments and removed the painted name on the hull, they had moved L'rak out onto the landing field. Cale lifted off.
    He was impressed. L'rak lifted with the quiet smoothness of a new vessel. Once he cleared Torlon space, he opened the throttle. A wide grin spread onto his face as acceleration climbed. He watched the accelerometer as it passed 4G, then five. He throttled back at 5.5G because he was starting to gray out. The little craft was amazing. Its acceleration and maneuverability were unlike anything Cale had ever experienced. He decided this must have been what it was like to pilot a Strengl long-range fighter in the Old Empire Fleet. He began to try to figure out ways he could keep the little monster. It was a shame L'rak would never fit in Scorpion 's tiny hold!
    Satisfied, he returned to Torlon and loaded provisions for his trip. He figured he would have to complete his task in less than a month, which meant short jumps and quick turnarounds. Any more than that, and people, especially law enforcement people and pirates, would begin taking an interest in a man zooming around in a modified Gnat-class with a supply of sunstones and diamonds!
    He waited until dark to sneak back to Scorpion . He reported events to Tess, and left his instructions. No one was to come aboard under any circumstances. In the morning, Tess was to lift off and hide behind the second moon of one of the system's gas giants until she detected L'rak emerging from the jump point. At that time, she would return to Torlon and assume orbit, waiting for Cale's signal before grounding for a quick pickup. Cale was becoming very grateful for Scorpion 's advanced AI. Few ships in space could have executed Cale's orders, but Tess seemed confident she would have no problem.
    Cale had spent many hours with Tess poring over star charts, navigation charts, and Stellar Index entries and working out an itinerary. From Torlon, two short jumps would take him to his first stop, New Chin. New Chin's most famous product was jewelry. John had never been there, but rumor had it that New Chin