by Dietmar Wehr
It did sound fair the way she explained it, but Hoch was savvy enough to know that the devil was in the details.
“Obviously I can’t speak for the Dresden people, but if I was one of them, I’d accept your offer in principle. What do you want me to do?”
“Contact them by FTL. Explain the offer, who made it, why you think they should take it and that any reply to the offer should be sent to my attention at URS. Will you take my advice about giving up this Earth/Dresden trade route?”
What do you think, Keko?
[I detect no indication of lying, Hoch. I think she believes that you really would be in danger if you keep coming back here. With my help, we should be able to find profitable trades out there somewhere.]
“I’ll take your advice. If I’m not coming back any time soon, I’ll have to acquire some things that I can’t get anywhere else, so my departure will be delayed a bit. I think I’ll be safe enough for now. The local police are keeping an eye on me.”
She laughed. “Yes, I know. I was the one who asked Chief Inspector Magnusson to do that when I learned that you had returned. It seems that we’re done chatting.”
Before Hoch could react, she stepped closer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek that had the scars from the scratches. She sighed. “If you weren’t going away…” She paused, and Hoch wondered if it was his imagination that the perfect, white skin on her face had blushed just a little bit. “Good-bye, Captain, and good hunting,” she said before turning to get back in the limo. The door swung down, and the vehicle gently rose into the air.
Hoch stood there watching the limo until it was out of sight, and then he slowly walked back to his ship. With the profits from brandy exports, the Dresden people should be able to pay for a ship eventually, and he was pretty certain that Toolman and his engineers would love to build one for them. He could see that he would be sending a lot of messages today. Before entering the ship, he turned and took one last wistful look at the part of the sky where the limo had been.
This is the end of Angelfire.
Author’s Comments:
The Avenging Angel series is something very different for me. As most of you know, I tend to write military SF like The Synchronicity War, The System States Rebellion and the Thunder In The Heavens as well as space opera like The Last Valkyrie. If you liked this story, please take a couple of minutes to post a review. Not only do they help boost sales over the long run but I’d love to hear what you think of this new Avenging Angel storyline. Future stories about Hoch Racheengel will depend on how well the first two stories sell. If you haven’t already joined my mailing list, I urge you to do so in order to be kept up to date on news about upcoming books, special offers, etc. If you join my mailing list (click here), you’ll receive a confirmation email plus a welcome email (that is sometimes slow in coming) which contains links to download a free copy of my book The Retro War which is my gift to you. Long Live Space Opera!
D.A.W.