Stellar Ranger

by Steve Perry

  “If my suspicions about Tuluk prove out, you won’t need them. You might start thinking about how to make an honest living, Pan.”

  The young man smiled. “Why would I want to do that? I’ll just wait for my sister to croak and take over the pub.”

  “Given the way you behave, little brother, I’ll outlive you by fifty years.”

  “Ah, well.’”

  “How about the rest of it?” Cinch asked.

  “Abrikos and Darah are scouting for the best location. Bedil is, ah ... arranging our transportation.”

  Cinch smiled at the euphemism for stealing a van and a flitter.

  “That’s about it.”

  Cinch nodded again. “Okay. The weathercast says there is a front moving this way, due here tomorrow night. Could produce fog, rain, maybe some hail. Unless you know of any reason not to, we’ll do it then.”

  “Sooner the better,” Pan said. “We’ll be ready.”

  * * *

  Darkness lay thickly over the blueweed field, night having spent half her allotted time creating the starry ebon cloak.

  “What is this guy, a vampire?” Lobang said. “He only comes out at night and when he does, he’s smoke or a bat or something?”

  Tuluk smiled. Now and again, Lobang wouldtum a phrase or make a suggestion that showed he wasn’t completely without wit. On the one hand, it was all too rare a break; on the other hand, you did not want somebody too bright standing behind you.

  Tuluk leaned back against the wall of the shed and said, “What he is is an intergalactic merchant who deals in illegal recreation chemicals. While I personally have never believed it is any of a government’ s business, what you do to your own body as long as you don’t inflict it on anybody else, our man Ulang has broken so many laws on so many planets that he couldn’t serve all the accumulated time if he had a dozen Iifespans at his beck.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve got the doppler cranked up high and perimeter sensors ringing this place. He won’t sneak up on us this time.”

  “The rain will ruin the sensors, won’t it?”

  “I’ll pull them before it starts to rain. Right now, I want eyes. I don’t want him waltzing in on us like before.”

  As indeed he did not; a blip on Lobang’s detection gear indicated the approach of a Iow-flying craft skimming along at almost weedtop level, corning in fast from the northwest.

  “Ah, our guest has arrived. You do have your men in place?”

  “They’re out there. If that flitter doesn’t flash the right code in the next thirty seconds, the boys are gonna open up on it with their 15mm recoilless rifles and it’s gonna be smoking history.”

  But the silent and coded signal must have been delivered by the pulse-radio onboard the vessel, for the night air remained quiet, unshattered by automatic gunfire.

  After a few moments, the flitter carne into sight, sans running lights, and settled into the landing area close to the shack. Tuluk and Lobang walked toward it, the larger man keeping one hand near his pistol as they did so.

  “Evening,” Ulang said, as he alighted from his vehicle. “My compliments on your security. I assume the six men you have hidden in the crop are carrying weaponry capable of downing a flitter like this one?”

  “Yeah, they are,” Lobang said, obviously irritated that Ulang had spotted his troops.

  “Good. Then we won’t be bothered by somebody dropping in unexpectedly,”

  “No,” Tuluk said.

  “Not that I expect there’s anybody on your planet who’d be likely to do that anyhow–except for one man.”

  Tuluk kept his face as blank as he could. How the hell could he know about the ranger?

  “You didn’t mention him when we spoke earlier,” Ulang said. “The ranger, I mean.”

  “It wasn’t necessary. He’s no threat. We have him under surveillance at all times.”

  “M. Tuluk, having some experience in these matters, let me tell you that a Stellar Ranger is always a threat.

  * * *

  Cinch sat up in the bed and pivoted, put his feet on the floor.

  “Where are you going?” Wanita said. Sleep fogged her voice.

  “To the fresher. Then I need to get dressed and head back to Kohl’s.”

  “Why? Somebody expecting you? Somebody young and beautiful, maybe?”

  Cinch chuckled. “Whatever she expects, she isn’t going to get it.”

  “Then why go? Stay here, Let me wake up in the moming and feed you breakfast. I like having you sleep next to me.”

  Cinch thought about it. Why not? He was a big boy, Kohl didn’t keep tabs on him. And even if he had wanted to play games with Baji–which he did not–he wasn’t going to be able to do it tonight, not after what Wanita had just done to him.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, old ranger, I’m sure.”

  “Okay. You twisted my arm.”

  “Was that what that was? Kinda small for an arm.”

  “It gets bigger. Under the right circumstances.”

  “Brag, brag. You’re all alike, you men.”

  He Iaughed, and went to use the fresher.

  * * *

  Ulang was impressed, Tuluk could tell, even though he affected otherwise. The operation wasn’t much to look at, but the numbers were enough to make even a wealthy man think.

  “My scientist’s projections indicate we can expect half to three-quarters of the current test crop to be psychoactive.”

  “Which means, in terms of finished product ... ?”

  “Around three hundred thousand doses, give or take.”

  Tuluk could almost hear the man’s mental gears whirring. Three hundred thousand doses. His wholesale cost, what he would have to pay Tuluk, was somewhere around eighty-five MU a dose, that would work out to more than twenty-five million. He could turn that around for almost twice the price in the trade lanes, so he would net about the same. What the suckers paid for it at the retail end might be two, two-fifty a pop, so it wasn’t a poor man’s chem, but there would be no shortage of buyers. While twenty-five million was not a major fortune, it wasn’t something to spit on, either. But this was just a test crop.

  “I’ll have ten times that much blueweed converted to the Twist within three or four seasons,” Tuluk said. Now there was a major fortune. Five or six years would make both of them multibillionaires, With that kind of wealth, Tuluk could pyramid himself up to a galactic shaker. Since big money was like gravity, the more of it you had, the more you could attract. Only a handful of players had ten billion to work with.

  “Jesus and Buddha,” Ulang said. Now his voice was full of undisguised awe.

  “Indeed. So, M. Ulang, are we in business?”

  Ulang managed a smile, “Oh, I would say so, M. Tuluk. I think you and I are going to make each other very, very happy.”

  * * *

  Morning seeped into Wanita’s bedroom, followed by a less than quiet tapping on the door.

  “What?” Wanita said.

  “If you and your boyfriend can untangle yourselves, he and I have serious business to take care of,” Pan yelled through the door.

  Cinch, snuggled against Wanita’s backside, was not the least bit interested in moving.

  “What makes you think he’s in here?”

  “Come on, big sister, our mother didn’t raise any foolish children. Or deaf ones, either, I heard you two half the night. Cinch? Are your intentions toward my sister honorable?”

  Cinch chuckled. “As honorable as rangers can get, yes.”

  “It’s a good, thing. Well, I’ll be waiting in the pub. PeopIe your age ought to be ashamed of yourselves, behaving that way!” He padded away down the hall.

  Wanita rolled over to face Cinch. “Hi, soldier. New in town?”

  “I’d better get dressed.”

  �
�My little brother needs to learn patience. Let him wait.”

  She giggled and reached for him.

  * * *

  It was half an hour before Cinch made it to the pub, where Pan had the microwave cooker frying steaks and what passed for potatoes on this world. The smell was thick and appetizing.

  “You’d like your meat medium rare?”

  “Close enough.”

  Pan nodded. “She really likes you, you know.”

  “It’s mutual.”

  “It’s been three or four years since she was with anybody. Treat her well, okay?”

  “Best I can. What’s up?”

  “Diji and Po are back, we’ve got the places picked out, I’ve got the map here.” He waved an infoball. “We’re ready if you are.”

  Cinch nodded. “Tonight it is, then.”

  “I hope you’re right about this. But if not, what the hell–it’ll be worth it anyhow.”

  “It’s a risk, Pan. I don’t want anybody getting killed. Wanita would be real unhappy if she had to scatter your ashes.”

  “Don’t worry about me. We’re sons of the desert, the raj, we move like ghosts, we fade into the shadows. You take care of your part, we’ll do ours.”

  Cinch nodded. “I think those steaks must be about ready.”

  “Maybe I’ll get a job as a cook,” Pan said.

  “Maybe you should apply to the Stellar Ranger Academy.”

  Pan laughed. “Right.”

  Cinch put one of the steaks on the platter, but didn’t speak.

  “You serious?”

  “You’re young, strong, not too bright, you’d fit right in.”

  “With my record?”

  “Admissions gives a lot of weight to field recs. I could put in a word for you.” He sawed a piece of the meat off and popped it into his mouth. He chewed the bite. Bland, it needed seasoning. He looked around for condiments.

  Pan appeared stunned, or at least shaken. Cinch smiled inwardly, keeping his face neutral.

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Sure. Why not? I get a couple more suckers enrolled, my curse is lifted and they let me go.”

  “Outside of Wanita and the raj, nobody has ever cared much what happened to me. Thanks, Cinch. I appreciate it.”

  “Well, given the steak, you won’t do real well as a cook.”

  Both men were smiling when Wanita arrived. She looked at them both carefully.

  “What did I miss?”

  “Your boyfriend is trying to get me a job.”

  “That would be a miracle.”

  “Yeah, especially the job he’s talking about. Tell me, do I look like ranger material?”

  “Actually, you look more like rootsacking material.”

  “Thank you so much, sister dearest. You want a steak?”

  “Not if you cooked it.”

  Cinch laughed.

  “WHERE were you last night?”

  Cinch looked at Baji and now he did feel more like her father than potential lover. “Excuse me?”

  “You didn’t come back to the ranch, you must have stayed somewhere.”

  Cinch had returned to pack his gear and to let Kohl know he was still alive, as well as to set up his little caper. He’d been on his way to the man’s study when Baji stopped him in the hall outside his bedroom, She stood looking up at him from a meter and a half away, waiting for his answer. She wore a thin yellow silk bathrobe belted shut at the waist but gaping everywhere else and, as far as he could tell nothing under it. Odd how detached he was about that bare flesh now. Almost amazing, actually.

  He gave her the most innocuous reply he could. “Yes. I stayed somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  Cinch took deep breath. She wasn’t going to let it go and he didn’t have time to play long games with her today. Okay, he would give it a quick try, to be easy on her. He said, “Listen, Baji, you’re a nice girl–”

  She scrunched her face up, mouth tight, eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms and tried to wither him with her glare. “You slept with that slut Wanita, didn’t you? Don’t bother to deny it because I know it’s true!”

  “Yes, I was with Wanita. But–”

  “What? What? Don’t say you’re sorry, I’m not going to forgive you just like that!”

  “I’m not sorry. And it’s not any of your business what I do or who I do it with.”

  He thought for a moment she might explode, figuratively, at least. When she spoke, it was an angry rush of disbelief, an acidic spew, the volume going up with each breath: “You fucked that whore when you could have had me? I’m younger and prettier and richer and smarter and there’s nothing she can do that I can’t do! I’ve been with men, I know what men wantl” This last was a flat-out yell.

  Well, shit. Not any way around it now.

  “Wanita is an adult, just likeI am an adult. We’re both older than your father. You’re still a young woman–”

  “But I’m not a Iittle girl!” She stamped her foot.

  “You’re acting like one. Like a child who hasn’t figured out that she can’t always get what she wants.”

  She was white with rage now. “You wanted me before! You wanted me. a lot! I know, I could tell! You aren’t so damned smart, you aren’t! We’ll see who gets what they want! We’ll see! You’ll be sorry! You will be sorry!”

  She spun and marched away, trying to look haughty he guessed, but only managing a series of stiff, puppetlike bounces. If she wasn’t so upset he would have laughed at how cute she looked. Kind of like a kitten pretending she’d lost interest in a ball of string.

  An old ball .of string ...

  Behind him, Kohl- cleared his throat.

  Cinch turned around.

  “Sorry, Probably they could hear her in town. I can’t say you handled that real well, son, even if it’s all true.”

  “I don’t know what else I could have said. I chose to spend my time with Wanita instead of Baji. No way I can dress it up so it’s anything but a rejection. I get the feeling she doesn’t have to deal with that much.”

  Kohl shook his head. “No, she doesn’t have to deal with it much. Hardly ever. That’s my fault as much as it is hers. I look at her, and I see my life when I was young and stupid. I wanted it to be easier for her than it was for me.”

  “You turned out okay. If the fire doesn’t cook you, it tempers you. She needs to know what heat feels like, otherwise she’ll hurt people because she doesn’t know what it means to get hurt.”

  “Easy for you to say, you’ll be pulling out when this is over. I have to live with her after you’ve gone.” But he smiled to show he understood and didn’t begrudge Cinch for what he’d said. “Well. I suppose she’d have to deal with it sooner or later. Better while she’s young enough to heal quick from it.”

  “I’ll be out again tonight.”

  Kohl raised an eyebrow.

  “Not to town. Attending to ... ranger business. But if I don’t show up in a couple-three days, you might want to pass this along to the Stellar Ranger Sector HQ.” He handed the older man a sealed message tube. In it was an outline, along with his notes and suspicions about Tuluk, all recorded on a hardcast infoball. Hacksaw would know what to do if it showed up, and what that meant.

  “You expecting to run into trouble?”

  “I can’t say no.”

  “You need any help? I can field a few good hands.”

  “Thanks, Gus, but I can handle it. More people wouldn’t do any good.”

  “All right. Take care, then, son.”

  “Thanks, Gus. Hope to see you in a couple of days. I’m sorry about Baji.”

  “It couldn’t be helped. I appreciate you not making it worse by sleeping with her.”

  Cinch left the older man standing there holding the message tube and wen
t to start his caper.

  * * *

  Tuluk couldn’t really be said to be entertaining his guest, but he did in fact have the drug merchant at his ranch. They sat at the long tulipwood table in the formal dining room, enjoying a meal his chef had labored over most of the day.

  Ulang sliced a small chunk of meat from steak and chewed it. Here was a man who had, despite his thinness, indulged himself in good food a time or two. He closed his eyes and savored the flavor, a small smile shining. After he swallowed, he said, “Excellent. What kind of meat?”

  “Infant ularsinga. A type of local lizard.”

  Ulang nodded, cut another sliver of the steak, put it into his mouth.

  “The adults grow to a rather formidable size,” Tuluk said, slicing at his own. “The only way to get the babies is to kill the’ watch parent. One of them stays with the pups while the other forages, until the young are old enough to hunt on their own. Once they reach that age, the meat becomes too gamy.”

  Ulang chewed thoughtfully. “Expensive, I bet. Does it dry freeze for travel?”

  Tuluk smiled. “It isn’t actually for sale commercially, at least not in any quantity. Runs maybe three hundred a half-kilo, if you can find a local rancher who will sell it. But I’d be happy to have the cook block up a few kilos for you to take when you leave.”

  “You are too kind.”

  “Not at all. The least I can do for a new partner. Care for a little more wine? It’s biru buah anggur, made from blue grapes grown in the Bintang Sector.”

  “I believe I will have another glass. It, too, is excellent,” Ulang said. “It complements the meat perfectly.”

  Before he finished speaking, the waiter arrived with the wine bottle and poured a generous amount into his half-empty crystal stemware. The wine cost more than the baby ularsinga would.

  “You are obviously a man of discriminating tastes,” Tuluk said, snipping at his own wine. Even if he was a dope seller, it was interesting to have a gourmet at his table, given that most of the staff were happy to wash down green beef jerky with local beer, belching all the way. One had to take one’s appreciative audience where one could find it, Tuluk supposed.