The Szuiltan Alliance (The Szuiltan Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

smoked a cigarette and idly watched the table's extractors suck the smoke away in a fascinating spiral. The man who had served him his food and drink stood behind the counter and behind him, narrow windows looked out onto the walkway. Steve suddenly remembered his reason for being on Festi.
    He rose from his table, leaving the drink unfinished, and walked to the counter.
    "You're looking better than when you walked in," said the man as he took Steve's money.
    "I feel better as well," said Steve, taking his change.
    "You're not from here."
    "Just arrived." Steve did not really feel inclined to embark on a long conversation with this stranger, but he had no wish to offend him by walking away either.
    "Trader by the look of your clothes."
    "I was, and I will be again if I can find a ship."
    "Plenty of dealers here on Festi. Best..."
    "I know, " interrupted Steve. "Best dealers in the galaxy. Unfortunately they're all out of my league where price is concerned."
    "Have you been outside the dome yet?"
    "What? Outside the climate control area? Why would I do that?"
    "Because the weather might be shit, but that's where you'll find the real second-hand bargains. I can give you a name if you like?"
     
    By the time Steve had finished following the man's directions, night was beginning to threaten. Festi's bright twin suns, Jan and Sylve, hung low in a lurid evening sky, pushing long fingers of shadows from the spaceyard's decaying circle of buildings, shadows that clawed their way across the dull concrete of the sales lot to grasp the squat, unattractive ship crouched, almost ashamedly, at its corner.
    The two men standing before it looked from the ship to each other, both thoughtful and mildly nervous.
    The salesman, a middle-aged retired space trader, now settled into an ordered, almost tedious, lifestyle, bit his lower lip and waited. This ship had plagued him for several months, squatting like some ugly malevolent goblin that no one wanted to buy. Perhaps this time...
    Steve shifted his slight weight from foot to foot, hands on hips, unable to decide whether he should buy. Not for the first time he caught sight of the heavy indentation in the bow of the ship, relic of some long forgotten, and apparently unreported, accident.
    "What did you say she was called?" He searched swiftly, but unsuccessfully, for the nameplate.
    "The last owner called her The Seven Deadly Sins. Of course, we could change that for you if you wished. Wouldn't take long."
    The salesman clasped his hands together, a feeling of imminent sale coming over him and warming him against what was turning into a cold night. Out here, beyond the limits of the city's climate dome, the land rental was cheap but you had to contend with Festi's natural weather.
    "The Seven Deadly Sins." Steve spoke the name softly, almost in reverence. It appealed to his, some would say twisted, sense of humour. The ship did have a certain sinful look and the interior, which he had inspected earlier, had done little to alleviate the atmosphere of squalor and mischievous evil. He knew he was talking himself into buying the ship, romanticising the shit out of his reasons, but underlying it all was the simple, cold and uncomfortable truth. The Seven Deadly Sins was about all he could afford.
    He scratched at his head through thick, long, untidy brown hair and smiled wryly. "Ok," he turned to the salesman. "I'll take it."
    "A good decision, if I may say so sir. She's a fine ship."
    "She's shit, but I'm not in a position to argue." It was also more affordable shit than he had found in the numerous other spaceyards he had tried that day.
    The salesman shrugged, his jaw aching grin refusing to slip. "I'm sure you'll feel differently after you've flown her for a while."
    Steve smiled. "You could be right. Now, could we complete the details? I'd like to get going. It's cold out here."
    The salesman nodded, looking to the east where storm clouds were boiling in the ever-darkening sky. Violent