Writers of the Future, Volume 29 by L. Ron Hubbard Read Free Book Online

warm and cloudless. In spite of the lights along the commercial strip, stars shone. One of the two moons was rising, and the docking stations that ringed the planet formed a brilliant necklace. A street vendor was preparing a dish that smelled of curry for a wobbly-looking Scout. As the knee warmed up, my pain eased.
    The railing by the dock’s reception area was filled with expectant Scouts waiting for visitors and new partners. Brushing the hair away from my artificial left eye, I zoomed in for a better view of the disembarking passengers. I had no idea what an A. Lester would look like. A short woman in her late twenties wearing a fresh Scout uniform came out first, long brown hair pulled back from a fine-featured face. Her body was full, lithe, muscular. She carried a large pack on her back.
    â€œOh yes,” I said under my breath, “if there is a good deity, this will be the one. I deserve her after that last mush-for-brains.” The young woman spotted a middle-aged female Scout holding a sign with a name on it, approached, and shook hands. So I reverted to being an atheist.
    The remaining passengers were all civilians. The railing cleared. My knee ached.
    A female flight attendant with short red hair left the hatch, the kind of woman—tall, poised, gorgeous—who managed to look great in the shapeless uniforms the spacelines pack their attendants into. She was laughing and talking to the person behind her.
    A young man ducked out of the hatch. I zoomed in. The kid was nearly two meters tall, with short blond hair, strong features, and a body capable of towing a small excursion vehicle out of a swamp. He joked amiably with the flight attendant who didn’t take her eyes off him. The man carried both of their bags effortlessly in one hand. Hell, he even had a cleft chin. I turned my eyes to heaven. “There is a God: it’s Loki.”
    I made my way to the gate. “You must be my new partner.”
    The young man dropped the bags and sprang to attention. “Scout Private Lester reporting for duty.”
    â€œYeah, yeah.” I turned to the flight attendant. “And you would be?”
    â€œMarina.” She offered a flawlessly manicured hand.
    I handed Marina her bag. “Thanks for keeping the kid safe.” I turned to Lester. “Come on, kid.”
    Lester shrugged and waved goodbye to the crestfallen woman. He fell in beside me. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. Aidan Pastor is a legend in the Scouts.”
    I flinched. “Right, kid.”
    â€œWe study your tactics in Planetary Scout Academy.”
    â€œI better check on my royalties.”
    â€œI can’t wait to take off on our first mission.”
    I waved my credit chit at a ground car, and it opened. We climbed in, and the door swung shut. The seats were too small for Lester. “Scout enlisted quarters building 42,” I said. The car moved out.
    I looked at the eager face and pulled up my left shirt sleeve. “You know what these are, kid?”
    â€œBurns?”
    I nodded. “My last partner played by Academy rules. That’s why I’ve got these. We’re going nowhere till I’m sure you’ve got my rules down to instinct. So what do you do when an unknown lifeform comes at you fast?”
    â€œAttempt to determine if the lifeform is intelligent.”
    â€œWrong. Rule one: if the local fauna or flora starts chasing you, shoot it. My last partner wouldn’t shoot the natives because he thought they might be intelligent. They were intelligent—intelligent enough to have a catapult. The creatures he wouldn’t shoot hit us with a boulder as we tried to get the hell out. It damaged the ship—caught on fire, burned him to death and nearly killed me.”
    â€œIt was bad for you, but it saved the beings.”
    I stuck a scarred index finger into his oversized chest. “Nope. When they hit the ship, there was a radiation leak. Killed