Law's End Read Online Free

been in the actual field where
the work was being done had been almost purely a result of her
almost phobic aversion to space travel of any kind.
Having grown up the daughter of an ambitious
corporate troubleshooter, whose work had taken them all over the
hundred thousand galaxies, Greene had developed a keen love of
routine and predictability. The old adage that there was 'no
substitute for being there' had no weight when she measured it
against 'all the comforts of home'. Her father had risen through
the ranks to achieve his goals and his daughter had worked hard to
create a life for herself that was as much the polar opposite of
what she had grown up with as possible.
It was Greene's own distaste for space travel
that made her involvement in the whole disaster that much more
frustrating. If she'd simply heeded her own wisdom in the first
place she would now be safely at home with her husband. Instead
she'd convinced herself and then her husband to take the job that
had ultimately stranded him beyond Law's End. All the opportunities
that the work would have opened up for both of them had been
greedily pursued against her own common sense.
That it was very likely neither of them would
have a job, if and when they made it back, was of little concern.
Abandonment by the University was just another obstacle to be
overcome, and one quite distant. Questions of 'how' demanded
answers and questions of 'what next' would wait. The only thing
that mattered now was saving the man she'd promised to spend the
rest of her life with.
Ideally they'd have recruited a licensed rescue
and recovery operation, however there simply weren't any both able
and willing to take the job. After that option had been exhausted
word had gotten around and even the salvage crews quickly refused
any part of the rescue. In the end Fitzgerald had been forced to
call upon less reputable resources who wouldn't ask any questions
as long as the money was right.
In the time of plenty and peace that those
alive had been lucky enough to be born into there were few willing
to risk their lives for simple monetary rewards while the vastness
of space rendered pursuits of fame meaningless. The richness of
Laniakea and advances in technology provided even the poorest a
standard of living unimaginable in ages past. It took a special
sort of madness to make someone willingly work in that deadliest of
environments and University professionals sometimes found
cultivating such contacts to be worthwhile.
Under the spinning wheels of commerce and well
below any sense of greater belonging it was the steady flow of
information that was the glue that made things work. Nothing else
came close to the universal appeal of information among the
radically alien and loosely associated civilizations of Laniakea.
Fortunes could be spent but information was eternal, and it was the
University that kept the flow of information going.
Whenever Greene permitted herself to fume
internally for a moment about the University's abandoning of the
expedition the release only served to fuel her frustration. It was
frustrating that all the progress they'd made was now going to be
lost. It was even more frustrating that they'd had to rely on some
kind of space-pirate to do the work more reputable persons would
not.
On its face the idea of a space-pirate was
something Greene found laughable. That someone might fancy
themselves in that image was certainly possible, but it mainly
spoke to mental illness. That anyone could long ply such a trade
was implausible. That the person in question would go to such
lengths to modify a vessel for that purpose was worrying. Taken
altogether the vessel she now looked over told a story that was
equal parts troubling and absurd.
Greene was going over the manifest for the
third time when at the other end of the hanger the space-pirate in
question arrived. Even though the figure was obscured by the bulk
of the spacecraft Greene had already painted a complete portrait of
a